Katie Brody – Director of Studies K-6

Anti-Bullying Day

The Madrichim planned two role playing scenarios for anti-bullying day this year. We are very proud of the effort and thought that has gone into their planning. These scenarios focused on the message: You don’t need to put others down to put yourself up.

Thank you to the Primary Madrichim: Max Salamon, Sam Salamon, Raphael Harpaz, Niek Nathan, Daniel Newfield, Ashley Cohn, Calle Owen, Gemma Wainstein, Liberty Waldner, Violet Nathanson, Arielle Sharp and Ashleigh Gold for their outstanding efforts.

Canteen closed

Ta’anit Esther: Fast of Esther is Wednesday 20 March and the canteen will be closed.

Purim celebrations –  Thursday 21 March

Students can come to school in appropriate fancy dress based on their class theme and will participate in various activities to celebrate Purim. The costume parades will commence at 8:20am.

No inter-school sport

Inter-school sport on Thursday 21 Marchhas been cancelled due to Purim. Year 3 swimming will still take place and students should be prepared to change at school.

Climate Change Rally

Well done to all of the Years K-12 students involved in the rally and a special thanks to Gabrielle Wynhausen, Sophie Poisel and David Whitcombe for organising the event with the Primary Green Team! 

Primary Parent Teacher Night

The Primary School’s Parent Teacher Night interviews will be held in just a few weeks:

• Monday 1 April (4.00 pm – 9.00 pm)
• Wednesday 3 April (4.00 pm – 6.30 pm)

You will be receiving an email with all the information you need to access the online Parent Teacher Night booking system. Please read the email carefully and feel free to make a booking with the teachers with whom you would like to speak with. This term, specialist teachers (Art, Drama, Music and PE) will be available to meet with Years 3 to 6 parents only. If your child / children are in Years K to 2, you will have an opportunity to meet with the specialist teachers next semester.

Parent Teacher Night is an excellent opportunity to come together with your child’s teachers and have important conversations about your child’s achievements to date, their progress and their approaches to learning. Given that it is still very early in the year, any new anecdotal information you offer the teachers is as important as the feedback they provide for you.

When parents and teachers work in partnership to help support the social, emotional and academic progress of each child, significant gains can be made. Much of what fosters this progress is our shared dedication to  encouraging in each child, ‘a special blend of persistence and passion’. Psychologist Angela Duckworth calls this ‘grit’. If you are interested to understand more about this notion, click here to watch a short clip.

How can we foster in our children this desire to persist and be ‘gritty’ in the pursuit of progress?

World renowned Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck, has been offering advice to parents and teachers for over ten years now. Dweck has proven time and time again, through numerous studies, that the most powerful action we can take as parents and teachers is to model, explicitly teach and praise behaviours that illustrate dedication and effort, persistence and determination, as well as perseverance and endurance over time. Click here to watch a short clip about fostering a growth mindset.

What does that mean for our students? It means that even when learners have high academic potential it does not always result in high academic performance or even regular progress unless there is a deliberate and purposeful approach by the student themselves. It means that if we affirm and encourage the effort they expend toward small, measurable goals (perseverance) and their dedication throughout their journey (passion), these are what matter more than how they would perform on a test measuring intelligence. As Duckworth notes, “Our potential is one thing. What we do with it is quite another.” As such, we are keen to partner with our parents in order to reinforce our students’ efforts so as to encourage and maintain their intrinsic motivation to persist. Parent Teacher Night is a great opportunity for this discussion.