Meg Carroll – Deputy Head of Primary

Cross Country Carnival

On Wednesday 28 April 2021, the Years 3-6 students participated in their cross country races. The carnival took place at Queens Park.

Congratulations to all of the students who participated and cheered one another on. Thank you also to Stuart Taylor, Laura Scahill and Sharon Fairfax for organising the event.

Paws b Mindfulness program (Year 2)

The 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.

Kim Slender and I will be facilitating this program to the Year 2 students this term. Thank you to Kim for helping with this program.

Measurable Results Assessment (MRA)

As a Leader in Me school we are constantly seeking improvements in three areas – leadership, culture, and academics – and have access to the Measurable Results Assessment (MRA) to help us measure performance in these areas. You will receive an email soon inviting you to participate in a survey involving K-6 parents. Details about the survey and how the data will be used will be available to you. Thank you in advance for your participation.

Year 6 student and parent Interrelate session 

On Wednesday 26 May 2021, 6.00 pm – 8.15 pm, Year 6 students and parents will participate in an online session hosted by Interrelate. Interrelate is a specialist organisation with over 90 years of experience in teaching sexuality and relationship education in NSW schools. This year’s sessions will focus on ‘Where did I come from?’ and ‘Preparing for puberty’. This online event is compulsory as it covers content in the curriculum. Therefore, it is essential all Year 6 students attend with at least one parent.

More information will be sent to Year 6 families directly. If you have any questions, please contact your child’s Year 6 teacher. 

Parent Information sessions – Term 2

We are always looking for opportunities to engage parents to deepen their connection to the school and build their thinking in the parenting realm. 

This term we are offering parents the opportunity to be part of an information session involving Dr Kristy Goodwin who will speak on the topic of raising children online. This event will be held online on Tuesday 8 June, 7.30pm – 9.00 pm. Please click here to read more about the presenter and topic as well as to register to attend and submit any questions you might have beforehand. 

We are also recommending that parents look into attending a webinar hosted by the eSafety commissioner about parental control. This webinar will look at how parents and carers can set up devices and apps to help keep young people safer online. The target audience is parents and carers of children ages 4-13 and multiple dates are available.

The webinar will cover: 

• The benefits and limitations of parental controls 
• How to set up iOS and Android devices for safety 
• How to set up popular games and apps like YouTube and Roblox for safety 
• Using family tech agreements and other parenting strategies to manage online risks 
• How eSafety can help when things go wrong

It will include practical tips, demonstrations and advice for parents and carers to help keep young people safer online. To register click here. The first available session is on Tuesday 4 May 2021.

We will continue to advertise upcoming sessions in Ma Nishma so please watch for future events. We look forward to having you be part of these important sessions.

Reconciliation Week

Reconciliation Week takes place from Thursday 27 May 2021 – Thursday 3 June 2021. This year’s themes include More Than a Word: Reconciliation Takes Action and  Under One Sky: Yesterday, Today and Forever. The Primary School children will participate in a range of classroom activities and we look forward to celebrating at School on Friday 28 May 2021.

Students are encouraged to come to school on the 28 May 2021 in yellow, as a part of our celebrations. We will be participating in ‘Wear It Yellow’ day – an initiative from ‘Children’s Ground’ – an organisation that supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Please send your children in with a gold coin to support Children’s Ground. Please diarise this date.

Erika Ktalav

Erika Ktalav will be on leave from Wednesday 5 May to Tuesday 11 May.  Her classes will largely be taught by Oren Thaler, who is a well-known and respected Emanuel teacher who recently resigned as he is returning to Israel mid-year.