Issue 3, 25th February
It’s week 4 and the children have settled in wonderfully to school routines. As I wander around classrooms, I see fabulous work being done, with our teachers and teacher assistants engaging students in activities and tasks. Our Positive Behaviour Support focus for Weeks 4 and 5 is ‘Speaking Positively’. We set this focus early in the year to establish positive ways of interacting with each other, with staff, with you and very importantly, in the internal dialogue they have with themselves.
Whilst our focus at school is encouraging children to speak positively, it’s also a good time to focus on our own interactions, with each other, and with our children. The following is adapted from an article published in Parent & Child magazine (2019).
Speaking positively means being affirmative about what your child is doing right, and framing requests in a way that tells them what you want them to do, rather than what you don’t want. Some examples of framing common phrases positively are:
- Don’t run → Walk, please.
- Stop hitting your sister → Hands to yourself.
- Don’t throw toys → Please keep your toys on the ground.
- Stop interrupting → I can see you want to talk to me. Wait one moment, please.
- Leave him alone → Come over here and play.
- Don’t hit → Only gentle touches, please.
- Stop yelling → Quiet voice, please.
- Calm down → Take a deep breath. We can work through this together.
- Don’t forget to.. → Remember to..
Positive speaking works, with conscious effort and lots of practice. Here are four pointers to keep in mind:
- Collect your thoughts before responding, especially when you are angry, upset, or unpleasantly surprised.
We all prefer to be spoken to calmly and reasonably, rather than harshly or critically. Even in a disagreement, children will respond better when our tone is firm but level
- Acknowledge your child’s emotions. Letting your child be sad, angry, or disappointed and talking that through, helps them to manage and control their emotions as they get older.
- Reinforce what is good about the child’s feelings and actions, even when something goes wrong. Acknowledging the positive before addressing the negative will set the situation up for a better outcome.
- If you do ‘lose it’, sit down when things are calmer and apologise. “I yelled at you when you would not get your lunch out of the fridge this morning, and I’m sorry. Let’s talk about what I would like you to do tomorrow morning”.
Does this mean you should edit everything you say or never use negative language again? Simply put, no. There are times where “No. It’s completely out of the question,” or “Stop right now,” are necessary, particularly when safety is at risk, or after explanations and discussions are continuing to be countered.
When you get off track, work to come back to this approach as it undoubtedly raises more open-minded children who have a greater ability to problem-solve.
I think this article is a good reminder to us as teachers and parents about what we already know, but sometimes forget. It’s very challenging sometimes, when we’re rushing to get out the door in the morning, or our kids are fighting in the back seat for the third day in a row, to frame our expectations for behaviour in a positive way. When we do use positive language, we know that we get better results. We don’t always do it well, and my own children, now in their twenties, would be the first to say that I often had to reset! But, if we’re doing our best, if we recognise when we might need to reset, if we have our children in our hearts, we’re doing a good job!
Children Learn What They Live
If children live with criticism, they learn to condemn.
If children live with hostility, they learn to fight.
If children live with ridicule, they learn to be shy.
If children live with shame, they learn to feel guilty.
If children live with encouragement, they learn confidence.
If children live with tolerance, they learn to be patient.
If children live with praise, they learn to appreciate.
If children live with acceptance, they learn to love.
If children live with approval, they learn to like themselves.
If children live with honesty, they learn truthfulness.
If children live with friendliness, they learn the world is a nice place in which to live.
(Dorothy Law Nolte)
We ask that families please continue to use the following options of communication with the school rather than face-to-face as follows:
- Calling on 6452 1431
- Emailing spc@catholic.tas.edu.au
- Writing messages in your child’s diary
- Contacting teachers via SeeSaw or email
For Assemblies, we ask that people please enter via the front office and use the hand sanitiser upon entry and sign in which is a Government requirement. Please adhere to the 1.5m social distancing and refrain from entering the school if you are unwell.
QR Code to use for school events. Link here for instructions on how to download the app
School fees and levies will be invoiced and sent out this week via email. If you do not receive this or would like a hard copy sent out please contact the office.
A 5% discount will be applied to all fees paid in full by the 31st of March.
If you hold one of the following valid concession cards, you may be eligible for a discount on your fees. You must be the person responsible for paying the fees and your child must be listed on the card. If you are not sure if the discount applies to you, please contact us. If you would prefer to make a confidential appointment with the Principal, you are most welcome to do so.
- CP/CAR (Carer Payment)
- FA (Family Allowance)
- LI/LIC (Low Income)
- FTB (Family Tax Benefit Part A max rate)
- PA (Partner Allowance)
- FH/LHS (Farm Household Allowance)
- PP/PPP (Parenting Payment) (partnered)
- PPS (Parenting Payment Single)
- JSP/JS (Job Seeker Payment) includes old codes NS/NA/SA/NSA (New Start & Sick Allowance)
- SL/SpB (Special Benefit)
- YA (Youth Allowance)
- WA (Widow Allowance)
- DSP (Disability Support Pension) single only
- AU (Austudy)
If you are experiencing any kind of financial hardship please contact Kerrie (Principal) so that options can be discussed.
Congratulations to the following students who were presented with Aiming High Awards last week:
Kinder - Luka & Brock
Prep - Lucas & Oliver
Grade 1 - Harlenn & Brady
Grade 2 - Ella & Carly
Grade 3 - Liam & Dane
Grade 4 - Lara & Hali
Grade 5 - Owen & Charli
Grade 6 - Maddison & Piper
In a previous RE post, I highlighted the fact that Australia is celebrating 200 years of Catholic Education. This will continue to be celebrated and highlighted various ways throughout the year. This week I have taken some information from Catholic Education in Australia website, which has a timeline, indicating how Catholic education was formed in Australia.
It is VERY interesting how Catholic schools were set up and operated! Please take the time to have a look at the website: https://200years.catholic.edu.au/
1833 – Early Colony schools
By 1833, 10 Catholic schools in Australian Colonies, these early schools were opened and run by lay people.
1836 – Bishop Polding
Bishop John Bede Polding arrived in Sydney in 1835 and took control of Catholic schools. By 1836, there were 13 primary schools in operation, seven are for boys, six for girls and all have government support. Photo: Bishop John Bede Polding (public domain).
1836 – St Marys Cathedral School
In 1836, St Mary’s Cathedral College in Sydney opens.
1838 – Sisters of Charity arrive
In 1838, five Irish Sisters of Charity arrive in Sydney in response to a request from Archbishop Bede Polding. In the early years the Sisters conducted visits to various schools and taught catechesis.
1842 – St Mary’s School Williamston founded
In 1842, St Mary’s School, Williamstown is opened which is the oldest continuously operating Catholic school in Victoria.
1843 – First Catholic school in WA founded
In 1843, the first Catholic school opened in Western Australia by Fr John Joostens. In December 1843, building commenced on a small church, St John the Evangelist, that became Perth’s first cathedral and conducted a school in the building.
1847 – Sisters of Charity arrive in Hobart
In 1847, three Sisters of Charity arrived in Hobart at the invitation of Bishop Robert Willson. Construction of the St Joseph’s School was commenced by Fr Therry years earlier and officially opened on 23 August 1847, with separate boys and girls school, and was staffed by lay teachers. The Sisters provided religious instruction to the girls of St Joseph’s School, located at the rear of St Joseph’s Church on the corner of Macquarie and Harrington Street. The Sisters exercised general supervision of the Girls School, before taking control of it at the beginning of 1848.
Pax Tecum,
Mrs Andrea Jaffray Morf
Deputy Principal
FRIDAY - 19TH MARCH, 2021
We’re proud to be an NDA school!
We’re joining the nationwide movement with schools across Australia to Take Action Together against bullying on Friday 19th March 2021.
Whole school approach: The theme for this year is “Take Action Together”, as Bullying is everyone’s responsibility. We will be empowering our students to have a voice and speak up instead of being a standby. Talk about what works, have conversations and discuss ideas about creating a future without bullying. Lessons on Friday the 19th will be involving activities and whole classroom discussions around developing strategies on how to respond to bullying. Our role is to foster a positive school climate, which features respect and inclusion.
For any further information or support please visit the below website.
https://bullyingnoway.gov.au/RespondingToBullying/Parents
www.kidshelpline.com.au 1800 551 800
www.esafety.gov.au Online bullying.
Congratulations to Ellie on her cake raffle win last Thursday!
On Friday, 19th February, our Grade 6 students participated in their first session of a program targeting student resilience, particularly when facing unfamiliar instances, at the PCYC centre in Burnie.
The Grade 6 students participated in Operation Resilience, which involved all students breaking into two teams and having to work together to complete some very challenging activities with set rules. See photos!
The children well and truly stepped up to the challenges and it was wonderful to witness the communication and respect carried out throughout this session. This was the first of two sessions which are intended to enable the Grade 6's to demonstrate and increase resilience in response to adversity. Resilience building is a process and at SPC, we provide opportunities for our students to learn the skills necessary for them to take on obstacles in life. The second session for the students will take place in Term 4, just in time to help them respond adaptively to their entry into secondary school.
For the previous three weeks the students of Grade 3, 4, 5, and 6 have had the pleasure of learning AFL skills from our guest coaches Emma and Jessie from AFL TAS. Emma is an experienced AFL coach and player for the Ulverstone Football Club, while Jessie is new to coaching in schools, though he is an experienced senior player for Latrobe.
The students learnt a variety of skills through ball handling, handballing and kicking drills all of which culminated into an enjoyable modified game in week 3 of the program. The students learnt a great deal developing their knowledge of and enjoyment for the game. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Emma, Jessie, and AFL TAS for their care and encouragement of all students.
On Wendesday, 3rd March, we are holding our school swimming carnival for student in Grades 3-6.This is a part of our Physical Education Program and also assists us to select students to compete at the North West Swimming Carnival on Thursday, 18th March.
Students will walk to and from SWIRL with the Carnival running from 12:00-2:00pm. Lifeguards will be present on the day to supervise all races. Parents attending the Carnival will need to pay a $2 entry fee. No parents/carers will be able to access the change rooms.
Permisson slips have been sent home or permisson can be given via the Compass app.
The North West Swimming Carnival this year will be held on Thursday, 18th of March.
This year we have had to make some changes to comply with COVID requirements. This also means that, unfortunately we are unable to have parents attend the event.
More information will be sent home closer to the event.
The Lions Eye Health Program will be visiting our school on Wednesday, 10th & Thursday, 11th March to offer free vision screens for students in Kinder to Grade 2. Due to COVID-19 circumstances in 2020, this program was placed on hold, therefore consent forms returned in 2020 will remain current for 2021.
Consent forms, for our current Kinder students and newly enrolled students in Prep-Grade 2, to participate are currently due, however if you have not received one for your child, please contact the school office.
The Royal Flying Doctor Service are offering free dental services at CHAC to families at St Peter Chanel Catholic School.
Anyone wanting an appointment will need to call the Royal Flying Doctor Service. We hold the forms at the office, which will need to be completed prior to appointments, then taken with you to your appointment.
We will have the Dental Van at St Peter Chanel sometime this year, potentially at the end of Term 2, but in the interim this service is available at CHAC in Nelson Street, Smithton.
Just a reminder that Monday, 8th March is a long weekend.