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Pupil Free Day
2021 WOW Highlights
Strengthening Social Skills and Relationships Through Nature Play
Spending quality time with your friends creating, playing, and imagining through nature play is a fundamental stepping stone to developing rich bonds with one another. It helps to build the social fabric of our school.
Our young people were able to share a thought, to communicate an idea, which ignited a spark of wonder, curiosity and engagement with peers who joined in with play to build connections. This week at Prescott Primary Northern we played with natural resources, which captured our imaginations.
I had a great time last Friday night at the last of our WOW programs. We played some great music, sang some songs, played some games and listened to an insightful message from Pastor Roland. I would like to say a big thank you to our chaplaincy team and also to Pr Joel Slade for his help. We also had a beautiful meal prepared by Mr L and his wife and family. As we sat out on the back oval and chatted, I was again touched by the sense of community we have at Prescott Primary Northern. I chatted with several families and we reflected on the challenges this last year has thrown our way, and how blessed we have been to make our way through. If you weren’t able to join us last week, please keep an eye out for upcoming events and opportunities, we would love to have you join us.
A reminder that this week Friday is a pupil-free day. Our teachers are taking this opportunity to do some training and work around curriculum and marking consistently to the Australian Curriculum Achievement Standards.
This week’s article is particularly directed to those families with boys in the upper primary years. Growing into a young man is not easy, and parenting our boys as they do this is also challenging. Please enjoy the article, and if you are interested, there is a free webinar you can be a part of as well.
“The upper primary school years are the start of big physical changes and boys can struggle more than girls. Even though some of our boys are growing physically, this time can be challenging, unpredictable and full of big emotions and awkwardness.
Some anxiety can also occur as the end of primary school approaches and some boys can fight with their physiology. Parents need to be mindful to recognise that for many pubescent boys, every day at school feels like going into a war zone because it is so unpredictable.
The following ideas will help to guide you through this time.
Have realistic expectations
Create a calm, predictable environment to counteract the stress many boys may experience. Parents can do this by avoiding asking too many questions and placing too much pressure especially around homework. Especially avoid criticism, nagging and lecturing — they won’t improve anything.
Keep things light
Boys appreciate lightness and humour, especially when they may be struggling with anxiety or worry. Maybe you could find some funny, goofy cat or dog videos to show them or share some funny experiences that might trigger the beautiful happy neurochemicals in their brain. Be a bit ridiculous – intentionally.
Share developmental changes
Have brief conversations with your son about the coming brain changes, especially pruning, which is a ‘trimming down’ process in the teenage brain where irrelevant/unused mental connections from childhood are lost. These conversations can help him understand why he may be struggling with organisation and be forgetting things that he used to remember. Once he knows there is a reason, he’ll tend to manage it better — indeed many boys are relieved! Help your son to work out ways to remember important stuff.
Make home a welcome base for his friends
Ensure that you make your home a welcome base for his friends, regardless of gender. The hunger to ‘hang out together’ is still strong even for our digital natives, and they will always turn up to a place where they are welcome and where there is a familiar space to gather. It’s really good to give your son’s mates the message that ‘our door is always open for you’. We never know when a family conflict becomes too painful for a boy or that just having some calm down time is what the whole family may need.
Stoke his spark
Help your son identify his passion whether sport, games or music that will keep him engaged in the years ahead. Disengagement is very common among boys in early to middle secondary school and those who have an interest they love and are capable at, tend to struggle less. In primary school boys should sample many activities so that they can discover their real interests.
Help manage anxiety
Many boys experience anxiety as they move toward adolescence and the end of the primary school years. Some boys display anxiety through silliness, inappropriate behaviour, an increase in aggression (often toward siblings), disrespectful language towards parents, changes in eating patterns and struggles with sleep. If you have ongoing concerns check in with your son’s teacher and seek help.
Practise kindness
Even though this sounds counterintuitive if you are experiencing some hot moments with your pre pubescent or pubescent son, kindness especially in small unexpected ways has enormous power. Many boys struggle with low self-worth and when they muck up they struggle even more with feeling acceptable and loved.
Above all, reassure your son often that you love him fiercely and unconditionally, no matter what.”
Maggie Dent presents a related webinar: Communicating with teenage boys
Our school has a membership with Parenting Ideas. As part of this membership, you can attend the upcoming webinar ‘Communicating with teenage boys’ at no cost.
In this webinar, Maggie Dent shows how using compassionate, empowering communication with teenage boys can better guide them across the bridge to healthy manhood to a place where they feel worthwhile and engaged in respectful relationships.
When: 24 March 2021 8:00pm AEDT
To redeem
- Click this link: www.parentingideas.com.au/parent-resources/parent-webinars/webinar-communicating-with-teenage-boys
- Click ‘Add to cart’
- Click ‘View cart’
- Enter the voucher code COMMUNICATION and click ‘Apply Coupon’ Your discount of $39 will be applied.
- Click ‘Proceed to checkout’
- Fill in your account details including our school’s name to verify your eligibility. These are the details you will use to login to your account and access your webinar and resources
- Click ‘Place Order’
This offer is valid until 24 June 2021. If you’re unable to make the broadcast time, just register anyway and you will get access to the recording.
Have a great week with your kids,
Mark B
WOW Week (Week of Worship) was fantastic last week, and our theme was “Chosen for a Purpose.” During the week we explored the amazing truth that God has chosen us because he loves us.
Peter was one of the twelve disciples chosen by Jesus to follow him, but when Jesus was falsely arrested and condemned, Peter denied that he knew Jesus three times, and he abandoned Jesus when he was taken to be crucified on the cross. Yet, even though Peter failed Jesus badly, Jesus forgives him and again says to him, “Follow me!” (John 21:19).
In the same way, Jesus calls all of us to follow him. And when we make mistakes and fall, just like Peter did, Jesus also says to us, “I forgive you, come and follow me.”
God doesn’t choose us because we are perfect, and we have it all together, God chooses us because he is our Father, and we are his children. So put a smile on your face today, because you are loved by God, and he has chosen you.
God bless,
Roland Talamaivao-Amituanai
Welcome Lucy Anne Watson
We are delighted to welcome Lucy Anne Watson to our Prescott Family. Mrs Tara Watson, and her family, welcomed Lucy into their family on the 17th of February. We wish them all the very best as they enjoy getting to know their precious little girl.
Do's & Dont's of Dropping Your Kids to School
Community Events Committee- WE NEED YOU!
COVID-19 Update
Parents are able to come on site. However, if you want to enter classrooms, you must sign in at the Front Office.
All schools and preschools have been provided with a QR code.
It is not necessary for parents and staff to check-in at the school gate as they enter school grounds.
All adults, including staff and parents, are expected to check in using the QR code when entering classrooms or buildings onsite.
There is a paper version of the sign-in form available in the Front Office.
Uniform Shop
Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have run out of some sizes in the New Sport Uniform. We will notify you as soon as it is available.
Until then, your child is exempt to wear the Old Sport Uniform.
Parents can start making appointments for fittings for the Winter Uniform through the Front Office. Appointments will start from 2nd March and will be for ½ an hour.
Entertainment Books
Daily Health Check
Premier’s Reading Challenge
There are lots of PRC reading records being handed in to the library, which is very exciting! Keep up the great reading, PPN! We would love to see as many students as possible complete the challenge this year. Reading records are available from the library.
New Books
We have quite a few new books in the library that are very popular! We love to see the excited faces of the students when they discover a new book!
Library Bags
A big thankyou to all the students who are using their library bags. These are necessary to protect our books and prevent them from getting lost. All students need a waterproof library bag to be able to borrow from the library.
SACSA Swimming
Prescott College
If you are wanting to book a campus tour on Thursday 18 March, please head to our website prescottcollege.com.au to register. Look forward to seeing you there!
Business Advertising
Many of our school families have their own businesses and if you would like to share your business with our school community please send an email with details through to info@ppn.sa.edu.au and we can look at sharing it in our Community News section of the newsletter.
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