From Primary School

Emma Clemens – Deputy Head of Primary

Paws b Mindfulness – part 3

Throughout this term I have written about the Paws b Mindfulness course that is currently being taught to Year 2 students. Amidst the busyness of life, it is rare to be aware and present. We are often not even aware of our body, eating or breathing. The present moment is squeezed out and we are captivated by our past or future rather than enjoying the blessings of the present. “If you’re not mentally present in the small moments, you could be missing half of your life” (John Kabat-Zinn).

Two key concepts taught in Paws b are Our Storytelling Mind and Learning to Grow Happiness. These are explained below.

Storytelling Mind

Our mind is constantly plagued by thoughts about the past, present and future. Some of these thoughts are positive. They can be exciting, happy, creative and curious. Some of these thoughts are negative. They can be sad, angry and worrying. Thoughts that are worrying can grow, just like a snowball rolling down a hill. Our mind can play tricks on us and tell us stories that aren’t based on reality. When we don’t have all the information that we need about a situation, our mind fills in the gaps. However, when we fill in the gaps we are often guessing and therefore have a tendency to draw on worrying thoughts. To quote Mark Twain ‘Most of the worst events in my life never actually happened’. Our story telling mind often snowballs into a more worrying outcome than what happens in reality.

We need to act like a detective to ascertain if our storytelling mind is playing tricks on us. This involves being aware of our thoughts, feelings, body sensations and actions. These four elements can feed the snowball of worry. Sometimes our mind runs away with stories and we can feel like we are on a hamster wheel going round and round. In Paws b we encourage the students to use a mindfulness breathing exercise to help them stop the hamster wheel of over worry. Rather than being trapped on a hamster wheel, we need to picture our worries as a kite. The worries might tug and pull like a kite flying in the wind. It’s important to notice the tugging of our worries, but to stay strong and not let this pull us off balance. Mindfulness helps us to pause and recognise our thoughts clearly in order to remain grounded and strong against worries that might cause us to fall.

Growing Happiness

We can all recall special moments or celebrations that make us feel happy. Examples might include giving and receiving presents, sharing a special meal, watching a funny movie or going on a fun holiday. Like worrying thoughts, our happy thoughts are influenced by our thoughts, feelings, body sensations and actions. We can grow happiness in the same way we can grow flowers. As water and sun help to grow a flower, we can water and nourish positive thoughts in order to grow happiness in our lives.

Gratitude is a key factor in growing happiness. When we feel happy, it is important to connect to a feeling of thankfulness or gratitude. A happiness or gratitude journal is a wonderful strategy to focus on positive emotions. Research has demonstrated that those who savour happy experiences are able to grow happiness. Another strategy is to take time to thank people for the positive impact they have had on your life. In Paws b Mindfulness we call this a Gratitude Gift.

In my next Ma Nishma article I will write about breathing meditations and how students can use these to help them to be mindful and present when they are feeling anxious or worried.

Years 5 and 6 Science explorations

Year 5 and 6 students had a very exciting time of scientific exploration. Each grade had a particular focus and project-based learning activity. Thank you to the Year 5 and 6 teachers for organising such exciting and engaging learning experiences for the students.

Year 5 students culminated their Science unit with a collaborative challenge. Throughout the term, students had been investigating the question ‘How do we use the properties of liquids and gases in machines?’ Year 5 worked in groups to build a hydraulic or pneumatic machine. In the lead-up to the challenge, the students discussed the skills and dispositions associated with effective teamwork. Following the challenge they reflected on what they learnt about teamwork, the construction process and themselves as learners.

Students first built their machine using instructions and a prototype. Then they innovated on what they’d built to make their machine stronger, more effective or more user friendly. There were three categories for the challenge:

Catapult that launched a Lego piece the greatest distance
Robotic arm that could lift the heaviest mass
Pneumatic device with the best innovation on the original model.

The activity ended with a competition to see which hydraulic arm could lift the heaviest weight and which catapult could send a Lego block flying the furthest. This tight contest was extremely exciting!

Year 6 students were asked to create a presentation using an aspect of light for the inaugural Emanuel VIVID show. Students could create dioramas, experiments, optical illusions or videos. Each presentation had to explain the use of light transfer, reflection, refraction or absorption and explanation about the properties of materials and how these affect light transfer. Students then voted for the winners across a range of categories such as most creative, most scientific, most complex and best presented.

Chess success

The NSW Junior Chess League Schools Championships competition concludes at the end of this term. All students have played incredibly well throughout the competition. The Emanuel A team won their division and will proceed to the next round that commences in Term 3. Congratulations to the Emanuel A team on an outstanding result. Thank you to Michael Todd for his coaching expertise and to Colleen Elkins for supporting the team.

Handball and Ping Pong competition

Over the last two weeks the Primary Madrichim have been running a Year 3 Handball and Year 4 Ping Pong competition. The students have really enjoyed the opportunity to play in a House-based competition refereed by the Madrichim. The finals for both competitions was held this week. In Year 3 handball the finalists were Orlando Gien and Declan Christie playing against Jacob Solomon and Ari Smaller. Both teams were from Cowan. The winners were Orlando Gien and Declan Christie. In Year 4 ping pong Liam Danon was the winner and Zack Gerber, runner-up. Thank you to Ruby Miller and Aaron Khedoori for organising the competition.

Aaron Khedoori, Zac Gerber, Liam Danon and Ruby Miller

Ruby Miller, Orlando Gien, Declan Christie, Ari Smaller, Jacob Solomon and Aaron Khedorri

Year 6 Interrelate presentation

On Monday the parents and children in Year 6 attended the Interrelate presentation. There were two talks ‘Where did I come from?’ and ‘Preparing for Puberty’. Students learnt about how their bodies work, the differences between males and females and how a baby is created and born. This is one of our many Wellbeing programs run in the Primary School. Below is a summary of other programs that we offer.

Term 1	Years K-6 Anti Bullying day Year 1 Play Pals program Year 6 .b Mindfulness
Term 2	Year 6 Interrelate puberty and sexual education Year 2 Paws b Mindfulness
Term 3	Years K, 1, 3 and 5 Protective behaviours with Deborah Blackman Year 3 Great Mates program Year 5 Interrelate puberty Years 3-5 Paws b Mindfulness revision
Term 4	Years K-3 Life Education Healthy Harold
Terms 1-4	The Leader In Me Digital citizenship Made A Difference (MAD) projects
Links	Digital Citizenship program: sites.google.com/site/digitalcitizenshipforschool/home Paws b Mindfulness curriculum: mindfulnessinschools.org/what-is-b/paws-b-curriculum/ .b Mindfulness curriculum: mindfulnessinschools.org/what-is-b/b-curriculum/