Prescott Primary Northern eNewsletter

Crazy Hair Day

Today was the perfect time to let our hair down, or put it up, or tie it, colour it or put all sorts of things in it - because today was Crazy Hair Day.

Staff and students alike did their best do's in support of the Starlight Foundation, raising money to help sick kids and replace pain, fear and stress with fun, joy and laughter.

Thank you PPN community bringing joy to our school and sick kids in hospital.

SACSA Swimming Carnival

On Tuesday, 14 of our students went to the Adelaide Aquatics Centre to participate in the SACSA Swimming Carnival. Competing against 18 primary schools and high schools, we were very excited to place 15^th overall and 14^th in the Challenger Shield. We are very proud of the way our students represented PPN, showing great sportsmanship and encouraging each other during and after their swims!

Nature Play Scavengert Hunt

As the year moves on, we find ourselves in a new season. Autumn is such a beautiful season, with changing leaves and cooler temperatures.

On the weekend, my family and I were lucky to join the Para Vista Adventurers club at Morialta. It is such a beautiful space to observe God’s incredible creation. One of the activities we participated in was a nature scavenger hunt, challenging us to uncover a list of some specific items in nature to collect as treasures for another activity. The children had a wonderful time searching and forming their collections into a creative animal.

This week, the students at PPN had the chance to find and collect treasure in our Nature Play Space and playground. There were students all over the playground. Like little ants they worked hard in pairs and as individuals to find the items on the list, but also discovering some more beautiful pieces as they worked their way around the playground. Some children were carefully collecting, and taking their time, while others quickly found their items and made a creative animal or picture.

Will you go on a scavenger hunt with your family this week?

We are in our sixth week of school already and the term is marching by. Each year, all Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students in Australia take common assessments in several areas of the curriculum. Each year, I also give the reminder that NAPLAN is a simple snap shot on one day, at one time, of how our children are understanding some of what they are learning.

I think that because it is a nationwide event it somehow takes on added significance in our thoughts, but it doesn’t need to really. Especially when it comes to placing pressure on our kids. They have enough to deal with without us adding unnecessary expectation around their academic performance. While there are benefits to be gained, especially from school, state and national perspectives (it helps guide where we can work more effectively for our students), this should not be at the expense of the overall, broader learning experience and wellbeing of our kids.

If you have a child who is taking part in NAPLAN this year, or will in years to come, I would encourage you to have a read of the article below to gain the perspective of a psychologist about how we can best support our kids.

“NAPLAN week is almost here, and many parents (and kids… and even teachers) are feeling a little extra stress and anxiety. NAPLAN has a lot of critics, plenty of supporters, and a whole lot of parents and students who simply go along with it because ‘it’s just what we do’.

This article is designed to offer some general – and gentle – advice on what’s coming.

What NAPLAN is

NAPLAN stands for the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy; a nationwide standardised test that almost every student in Grades 3, 5, 7, and 9 are about to sit. Its purpose is to provide information about how education programs are working, areas for improvement, and which schools need support in the teaching and learning of literacy and numeracy. Some critics argue that it doesn’t do this particularly well… but that’s beyond the scope of this discussion.

What NAPLAN does well

When it works well, NAPLAN does three things:

NAPLAN results enable the identification of problems in the school system. And they point to places where education needs to improve.

For example, NAPLAN results have shown us education gaps for indigenous students, and for students in disadvantaged schools. We knew those gaps existed. But now we know the scope and range.

Literacy and numeracy results are made transparent at a national, state and territory, and school level. We now know that states and territories have different levels of achievement when they are compared on a like-for-like basis which NAPLAN allows.

NAPLAN shows us education trends over time.

What NAPLAN doesn’t do well

NAPLAN doesn’t give you a useful guide on how your child is doing academically. The test is done in March and we receive the results in the late part of the year. If you want to know how your child is doing, talk to their teacher. Great teachers can give you detailed information today about your child’s progress.

NAPLAN doesn’t give you any information about the quality of your child’s character. It doesn’t tell you anything about your child’s ability to work in a team, to problem-solve, to show compassion, to be creative, engaged or resilient. It’s not about your child’s talents.

NAPLAN also gives us no information about the school your child attends in terms of approaches to discipline, school culture, school contribution to community, or the way it encourages students in areas not covered by NAPLAN.

And in some cases it has been reported that NAPLAN, while providing data, doesn’t ultimately lead to governments providing schools (or parents) with the resources needed when issues arise.

What you should do

Based on everything I’ve outlined above, you’ll note that much of NAPLAN’s focus is oriented towards education at a school, regional, state, and national level. While there is some individual focus, it’s not really an individual assessment tool. It’s more about how the school, the state, and the country are doing. Therefore, I suggest parents keep the following in mind:

Don’t make NAPLAN a big deal. You barely even need to talk about it with your child
Don’t offer rewards to your child for doing well on NAPLAN. Research evidence shows this adds pressure, builds anxiety, and reduces children’s creativity, motivation, and interest in real learning. (One mum I spoke to wondered if bribing her child with a puppy would be helpful. It’s not.)
Don’t buy practice tests for NAPLAN. Your child doesn’t need to rehearse for NAPLAN
Don’t worry about NAPLAN results. Leave that to the school

Instead, you might want to try the following:

Do show an interest in your child’s education, regardless of whether NAPLAN is on or not
Do encourage your child to read every single day. Read to them. Read with them. Have them read alone. And do this regardless of whether NAPLAN is on or not
Do have your child participate in sports, music, art, drama, and other enrichment activities to the degree that you have the time and money for them – regardless of whether NAPLAN is on or not
Do give your child plenty of unstructured (screen-free) time to simply be kids – especially when NAPLAN is on

What your child should do

More than anything, your child will benefit from not being particularly interested in or bothered by NAPLAN. Life should be as close to normal as possible for your child.

It’s true that some schools want to see NAPLAN results before they’ll consider enrolling your child. It’s true that some elements of NAPLAN feel like they matter a lot to us as parents because we want to see our children succeed. But please – PLEASE – remember:

Your child’s NAPLAN score is not an indicator of your child’s value, your child’s potential, or your child’s worthiness. It’s just a number. And it’s more meaningful to the school system than it is to you or your child.

When NAPLAN rolls around, treat it like a small, gentle wave at the beach. It rolls up the sand. It leaves a small, temporary mark. And then it disappears back into the ocean.” (Coulson, 2023)

Have a great week with our kids,

Mark B

Good afternoon, Prescott families.

This week I want to share a verse found in Ezekiel; it highlights how important it is to have renewed heart..

"And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart." Ezekiel 36:26 NLT

Israel had become rebellious and disobedient; they worshiped idols and were hardened against God. They were breaking the conditions of the first covenant with Him which were the 10 commandments.

Sometimes we can be like the Israelites, we depend on our own thinking and do what we want. We forget or just ignore what God has told us to do. Like the Israelites we can be hardened towards Him. Maybe things haven't gone to what we've planned, and we rely on our own power, not trusting that the instructions He gives us is for our benefit.

But God being so merciful and loving, promised to make a new covenant. An unconditional covenant meaning that we don't have to do anything to receive it, just to accept it. Which is what the verse today says. He will give us a new heart and a renewed spirit.

Just a verse or two before God tells us that he will take us home, not that we deserve it but because He is faithful and just, so that others will see how mighty and loving He is. We are proof that He will go abundantly above any of our expectations, we only need to let Him.

Many blessings,

Pr Andy.

Click HERE to register.

Last week, we talked about the Beatitude, Kindness/Walk component of our values, and this week we honoured several students from all the classes in our school for demonstrating this value.

Priscilla, Harper, Deneb, Cooper, Declan, Navrisham, Nikolija, Reyansh, Abigail, Jasper, Amreen, Gab, Shaan, Ishar, Adhiraj (absent), Christina (absent) and Marita (absent)

Elsa, Yuvraj, Jessica, Enock, Jack, Shayla, Eknoor, Gursehaj, Lamar, Grithik, and Gayatri

Milan, Grace, Divit, Poppy, Dwij, Japjot, Ryan, Param, Kiri (absent) and Celine (absent)

What is Resilience?

If you can, imagine a beach ball floating on top of a bathtub of water.

When you push it down, the beach ball sinks, but once released, it bounces back to the top. But take the air out of the beachball and it will remain sunk.

This is resilience – the ability to bounce back when things are hard. Other ways to describe resilience include:

Dealing with challenges and still holding your head up
Giving things a go or trying your best even when you’re not the best
Being strong on the inside

Resilience is a foundational skill for both adults and children. Some people have more natural resilience, but everyone can learn and grow in this area.

5 tips for developing resilience in children

1. Help them manage uncertainty

Parents can help their children feel safe and secure during uncertain times by helping them recognise that life is actually less certain than they think – but this is okay. In fact, it can be exciting not knowing exactly what will happen – surprises can sometimes be nice!

Remind them of times when unexpected events in their lives turned out to be great. Keep a journal with them of all uncertain things in their lives and note how they turn out. They won’t all turn out to be good, but that’s okay too (see the second tip).

2. How to cope with set-backs

Not all unexpected events are good of course, and building resilience is about helping children cope with disappointment and things going wrong. Encourage your kids to talk about feelings and emotions so that they can recognise and label the feelings of disappointment and frustration that are normal reactions to set-backs. Help them to name these feelings when they notice them.

Show them that set-backs are an important part of life and lead by example – talk openly about things that have gone wrong in your life and demonstrate how to bounce back.

3. Embrace mistakes

Resilient children are less afraid of making mistakes and more prepared to take risks – because they can cope with having got it wrong. Explain how we don’t always know the answers or the right way to behave, but we can make the best choices we can – and accept if we get it wrong. This means showing them that mistakes are great ways to learn and are part of what makes us human.

You could even encourage them to make mistakes. Whether that be with homework, or craft projects or creating a new dish for supper – encourage them to take risks. Show them that making mistakes helps us learn.

4. Empower your kids

Resilient children are able to make age-appropriate decisions about the things that affect them. All parents want to protect their kids – it’s part of the job description, but when we try too hard to protect them from life’s bumps we can do more harm than good to their developing resilience.

When parents make choices for their child and are over-involved in their lives, children learn that they can't trust themselves and grow up believing that others always know better. Part of being resilient is learning to become independent and to trust in our own abilities – whilst asking for help where appropriate.

5. Challenge their beliefs

Finally, resilient children develop helpful, rather than unhelpful, ways of thinking. Examples of unhelpful thinking styles include catastrophising (assuming the very worse will happen), black and white thinking (seeing things only as either good or bad), ignoring the positives (dismissing when good things happen and only focusing on when bad things happen), fortune-telling (assuming they know what is going to happen) and over-generalisation (assuming that because something happened once, it will always be that way).

Challenge these beliefs by explaining the flaws in their thinking styles and that we all make such thinking mistakes sometimes and helping them see alternative perspectives that may be equally valid.

Don’t forget – The Resilient Parent - FREE - Tomorrow

You’re invited to join Dr Justin Coulson for this FREE 30 minute webinar to explore the secrets to resilience as a parent. You’ll learn:

-How to be a more resilient parent
-How to show up in a way that is good for you and for your kids
-How to model resilience for your kids so they can better weather the storms of life
-How to sustain connection with your child when we you feel like you're going under

Click here to register now. Even if you can’t make it, you will have access to the recording for 7 days.

Blazers For Year 5's

Blazers are a compulsory uniform item for students from Year 5 onwards. For the convenience of parents, the Year 5 students have had a blazer fitting by Mrs. Cooper at school this week, and an invoice for a new blazer has been sent home.

If you already have a blazer, please notify the Front Office, for our records. If you require the blazer for your child, please pay the invoice. Once the payment has been received, Mrs. Cooper will make an iron-on name label and attach it to the underside of the back collar area before giving the new blazer to your student.

We anticipate this process will make it easier for parents and free up bookings for full winter fittings in the Uniform Shop.

Uniform Shop

Please book your appointment for your child’s Winter Fittings through the Front Office now.

These fittings are from Week 7, including the first term holidays.

Uniform Shop opening times:
Monday - Thursday 2:30pm to 4pm
However, fittings still need to be by appointment ONLY.
Please call the office to make your appointment for a fitting: 8396 2577

Safety Video

In the interest of the safety of our children and community please take the time to watch the video below, which highlights some important steps you can take to keep our carparks, roads and school a safe place to be.

Year 3 and 5 NAPLAN 2023

NAPLAN testing will take place as follows:

Day	Date	Test
Wed	15-Mar	Writing
Thurs	16-Mar	Reading
Fri	17-Mar	Conventions of language
Mon	20-Mar	Numeracy

The purpose of the NAPLAN testing is to give an insight into the students current level of achievement in the areas of Numeracy and Literacy. It focuses on areas covered within the Australian Curriculum.

If you have a child in Year 3 or 5, please understand that this is simply a snapshot of their academic progress so far. We do not want this to become a stressful experience for our students or families, so we appreciate your support as we remind our students that to do their best is all that is asked of them.

If you would like to view some sample tests and questions, the NAPLAN Public Demonstration site is a helpful resource and can be found HERE.