Meghan Carroll – Deputy Head of Primary

Online parent information session with Deborah Blackman

On Wednesday 12 August (Week 4a) we will host a virtual event with guest speaker Deborah Blackman. Deborah is a social worker with a background in Child Protection. She has been working with some of the classes in the Primary School (and does so every year) in order to ensure our community is well informed and proactive.

We offer a parent session in Term 3 that focuses on ‘Keeping Our Children Safe’ and is open for all parents of Years K – 6 children to attend. During this one hour presentation, Deborah will explore strategies for parents related to keeping your children safe and how to talk to your children about feelings, secrets, good touch and bad touch, warning signs and skills related to child protection. We think that it is very important that home and school provide the same message about this very important topic. We highly recommend this session to parents who have not participated in previous years.

This year the parent session will be held virtually on Zoom from 7.00 pm – 8.00 pm. If you are interested in participating please diarise the event details listed above. More information will be sent to you by email early next week. 

Please contact Meghan Carroll should you have any questions about this event.

Interrelate Year 5

In Weeks 2 – 4, the Year 5 students participate in the ‘Moving Into Teen Years’ Interrelate Program. This program is run during school hours by an external presenter with the support of classroom teachers. The program covers the following topics: 

• Acknowledging personal differences and promoting respect for and acceptance of others
• Increasing awareness of personal safety and protective behaviours
• Developing students’ understanding of physical development at puberty, and providing strategies for managing these changes
• Discussing different types of relationships and strategies for managing conflict

If you have any questions please contact your child’s teacher. 

Parent Information Sessions: What topics interest you?

As we look ahead and plan for the rest of this year and 2021 we would like to invite parents to complete a short survey focused on topics of interest for Parent Information Sessions. Please click on this link to share your ideas.  
The survey will close at 4.00 pm on 21 August 2020.   

Paws b Mindfulness Program (Year 2)

The six-week Paws b Mindfulness program began running in Year 2 this week. Paws b is an awareness-raising exercise to give all students a taste of mindfulness so that they know about it and can use it throughout their lives if they choose to do so. 

PAWS b covers the following concepts:

• Specific areas of the brain and how these affect our ability to focus, make good choices, recognise when we need to steady ourselves when our body or mind is busy or out of balance.
• Ways that mindfulness can support them in many day-to-day activities, including concentration and memory, behavioural self-management, and in relationships with family and friends.
• Ways to respond rather than react – and therefore make better choices and take best care of ourselves.

Thank you to Kim Slender for helping to facilitate this program with our students in Year 2 this term.