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Year 6 Visits to Prescott College
The Year 6s have completed their first 3-week session of visits to Prescott College. They participated in either cooking in Home Economics, making a pot stand in Industrial Arts or creating slime in Science. It was great interacting with past Prescott Primary Northern students at lunch time and getting to know a high school setting. We continue our adventures with Prescott College in Term 2, Weeks 4, 5 & 6. We'd like to thank the new leadership team of Jane, Daniel, and Kenny for making us feel so welcome in 2022!
















Foundation Playdate
On Monday, our Foundation students were very excited to share a fun-filled morning with their parents, special people, and younger siblings at our Foundation Playdate.
The theme of the morning was 'Living and Non-Living Things', and armed with a treasure map, the children were keen to explore, learn, observe, and create. Their incredible creativity and imagination showed in the beautiful painted rocks and salt dough animals that were made, as well as the amazing structures that were built from the loose parts that were provided. The reading space was a big hit and provided a nice break from the various activities where the children could read all about different living things. The weather was perfect and with a yummy fruit snack for the kids and hot drinks for the adults there were lots of happy faces enjoying some quality time together.














Nature Play Week
Involving children in Nature Play doesn’t have to be expensive or even time-consuming, it can be as simple as a visit to the local park where the kids can roam free. Nature Play Week is a great place to get started.
This week, during Nature Play Week, PPN student have been given the opportunity to do more learning outside. There is a growing body of evidence that suggests children do better outside and that is no different at school. Our students have had the chance to play with loose parts, creating all sorts of amazing forts and camps, and participated in other outdoor learning activities. We have also celebrated the story of Easter, retelling the story through the creation of a Resurrection Garden. It has been such a fun week doing more outside. This week, why not try and do more outside as a family!
The final week of our term has rolled around, and it is a timely break for our kids and staff. I would like to take the opportunity to say thank you to all of our families, students and staff.
Thank you to our families for all the extra effort you have put in to take children with symptoms for testing. Thank you for being extra careful and keeping children home when they have even mild symptoms, and for rearranging your work and family schedules when children have needed to isolate or learn from home. Please know that the extra burdens and efforts are very much noticed and appreciated.
Thank you to our students who have continued to learn, either at home or at school, with various restrictions that don’t allow the “together” experiences we love so much.
I would also like to thank our staff for all the extra hours and effort they have put in to keep our kids learning and growing. There have been tremendous additional pressures put on our Front Office and Student Services staff, SSOs, bus drivers, maintenance staff, IT staff, Uniform Shop staff, Library staff, teachers, and MyOSHC team. The way that people have stepped in to help cover one another when staff are away, makes me so proud and feel so blessed to be a part of a team dedicated to our kids.
I would also like to say a huge thank you to our school leaders - our Assistant Deputies, Level Leaders, Deputy Principals, and particularly Miss Bernoth, who was Acting Principal in my absence earlier in the term. These are not easy times to lead staff and students, but they have been rock solid for our school in changing times. I am honoured to be a part of such a wonderful school family.
We are heading into one of the most important seasons in the Christian Faith. Easter is a time when Christians celebrate the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is a time when we remember the tremendous sacrifice that the all-powerful, life-giving, immortal God of the universe represented in human form, made as He tasted one of the most challenging of human experiences – death.
The story continues with the good news that the grave could not hold Him, and He was resurrected to new life. One of my favourite facets of Easter is that it so accurately reflects the experiences we all face in our lives.
We all encounter challenges, some of them seemingly insurmountable, and there are times we can’t really see a way forward, or the odds seem firmly stacked against us. Then, there is the Sunday morning part of the Easter story. The part where God steps in, and the impossible becomes not just possible, but a reality in our everyday lives, and comes with the promise and hope of a better place to come.
It is my wish that this Easter, we all take some time to reflect on the life changing power God offers to us that makes a difference in the everyday-ness of life - in both the challenges and the joys.
Have a great Easter and safe holidays with your kids,
Mark B
Can you believe that Term 1 is over just like that?
This term has gone fast and for some, schooling would have been a mixture of at-home learning and at-school learning. To begin our holidays this year we are fortunate to be able to celebrate Easter.
This week in Chaplain's time I have been sharing the message of Easter with the students, learning about why Jesus died for us. We have learned that Easter isn't just about getting chocolate Easter eggs, and there's the deeper meaning of Salvation from Christ.
When we read the story in the Bible of Jesus' crucifixion it says, 'He died for us' - did you know the word 'for' also means 'instead of'? He did it because He loved us and did not want us to have to pay the price of sin. When He died on the cross for us He was saying, 'I will take all those things on myself'.
He died for us!
John 3:16 says, "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."
I hope that you have a blessed Easter weekend and holidays, and look forward to seeing everyone back at school next term!
Blessings,
Pr Tiana
Three things you need to do this weekend
How is your household celebrating Easter this weekend? At school, we’ve spent the week reflecting on the first Easter – the weekend, 2,000 years ago that Jesus not only died, but rose again for us. It was a miracle, it was love filled, and it changed the world forever.
Many of us will spend our weekend reflecting on this.
But no matter how you celebrate Easter (or don’t) there are three important things we need to do this weekend - or at least sometime soon.
After a stressful, and change-filled term now more than ever both parents and our children need time to REST, RECOVER and RECHARGE.
Our bodies have been on high-alert for months.
With so much change and uncertainty in today's world, stress has become the new normal. And, while technology has helped us make life easier in many ways, it has also blurred boundaries between work and home leaving little opportunity for down time or rest.
We feel pulled in different directions by competing demands. We live on high alert in our twenty-four-hour society that expects us to be available to all who need us. We are more connected than ever through mass media, social media and general media, yet can feel disconnected and lonely.
We strive to be more, do more and give more with little attention to our physiological needs.
Some of us are even addicted to busyness and use the word "busy" to symbolise how hard we are working. We validate each other for remaining busy and even feel guilty if we are not busy.
The truth is, we need to signal to our body we are safe. We need to take specific actions to let our nervous system know is it safe to turn down from high alert to calm.
We need to rest so our bodies can heal. We need to sleep so our nervous system can recover and we need to play so our spirit can recharge.
Three Important Steps to REST, RECOVER and RECHARGE:
- SLEEP
Poor sleep has a range of knock-on effects, for example on blood sugar levels, and is in itself a contributor to mental health problems.
Check out this TED talk by brain Scientist on “6 Tips for Better Sleep” - PLAY
Play is not just essential for kids; it can be an important source of relaxation and stimulation for adults as well
Check out this article "Play for adults" - DAY DREAM
Daydreaming is the opposite of thinking. Research shows that daydreaming can be beneficial for our brain.
Check out this article to learn more "Day Dreaming benefits"
New to Student Services
Prescott Primary Northern would like to welcome Mrs Harleen Bajaj to our school family in her new role in Student Services on a Friday. Harleen has joined our team this term and looks forward to serving and caring for our students in Student Services. She comes from a nursing background and brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to this role. We look forward to the year ahead together.
Casual Day for Asian Aid - Thurs April 14th
On the last day of each term, students may come to school in casual clothes only if they bring a gold coin donation.
Please note that students need to remember as they choose which clothes they would like to wear for casual day that they need to dress appropriately. Their clothes should cover their bodies in the same way that their uniform does and their shoes should be appropriate for running and playing.
The money raised this way is allocated to either a sister school project or to the sponsorship of a student through Asian Aid.
This term’s funds will be set aside for Asian Aid.
Let me share with you a summary of the note from the Asian Aid CEO included in their latest newsletter, Response:
Our focus is always on the children and how we can create ways not just to educate them but assist them to flourish in faith. Our holistic approach reaches beyond education to helping families and communities improve their health, happiness, and financial prospects with more options to grow.
That is why we are pleased to announce the re-commencement of our Women’s Health Project in Nepal in the later part of last year. A healthy mum helps create a happy child. We are also launching an additional water program at a new location which covers another of our Adventist schools.
We have expanded our community project that surrounds three of our sponsored children’s schools in Bangladesh. These programs will provide opportunities for parents to increase their household income through micro-business opportunities, improving health through growing vegetables, learning better farming techniques and having access to fresh water for drinking and irrigation.
This year we will also focus on resilience because resilient children can recover from setbacks and get back to living life. We would like to take this time to build on the resilience of the vulnerable children we support.
Moving forward, Asian Aid will continue to grow with your support which will allow us to create an enduring faith-based legacy that will Give Hope Today, tomorrow and into the future. We continue to keep eyes on the children, and now they are back at school, we are monitoring for any gaps where assistance may be needed to help them to catch up.
Prescott specifically sponsors Joshwa Satheeshkumar, a 10 year old student whom we have sponsored since he started school and a new sponsor child and Sumit Boarder who is completing Year 12 this year and would like to be a teacher when he completes his education.




We appreciate your continuing support of these precious students. If your family might like to sponsor your own child why not check out the Asian Aid website.
We also have a sponsorship container in the office, so if you have that extra change in your pocket, why not consider dropping it into that container.