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Year 3 Grange Surf Life Saving Club Excursion
Our Year 3 students went on an excursion to the Grange Surf Life Saving Club last week. This outing was not just about fun in the sun but a valuable opportunity for our young learners to understand the importance of water safety and to acquire strategies for being responsible in the water. The Grange Surf Life Saving Club served as the perfect setting for our students to dive into this essential life skill. The primary goal of this field trip was to instill a deep sense of responsibility and understanding when it comes to water safety.
During the visit, our Year 3 students were given the opportunity to learn about various aspects of water safety, such as rip currents, tide patterns, recognising potential dangers in the water and how to respond appropriately to ensure their safety and the safety of others. The students engaged in interactive discussions with knowledgeable lifeguards who generously shared their expertise and experiences, making the learning process not only informative but also highly engaging. These discussions were complemented by hands-on activities, which allowed our young learners to put their newly acquired knowledge into practice.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to the Grange Surf Life Saving Club for their warm hospitality and for making this educational excursion a memorable and enriching experience for our students.
Remembrance Day
Our school community came together once again to honour the brave men and women who have served and sacrificed for our nation. On Remembrance Day, at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month, we paused to reflect and pay our respects to the service people.
Our students and staff joined together during our special Chapel last week to commemorate and acknowledge the many service people who have given so much for our freedom and safety. The chapel service including the Ode of Remembrance, the Last Post, the Rouse and one minute silence, followed by a special message from Pastor Andy.
The sight of our students and staff in their respectful demeanour is a powerful reminder of this day. Together, we will ensure that the sacrifices of our veterans and service members their sacrifices are never forgotten, and that the spirit of Remembrance Day lives on in our hearts.
Lest we forget.
Art Competition
In the spirit of our school's 50th birthday celebration, our creative young artists have been busy imagining, planning, and bringing their ideas to life for a special art competition. They are capturing the essence of our school, reflecting on God's boundless love for us, and showcasing the love we extend to others within our school and community. Through the unique perspective of a Prescott child, these vibrant creations beautifully express the joy of celebrating God's love in color. Get ready to be inspired as we witness the remarkable talent and heartfelt reflections of our students in this exciting artistic endeavor. And remember, it's not too late to join the celebration! Entries are being accepted at school and are due in week 9. Don't miss out on the chance to be a part of this special milestone in our school's history.
Sensory Walk
It is a busy time of year with a lot of learning opportunities and assessments to finish off before the end of the school year. While it is an exciting opportunity to show how hard they have worked all year, children can become tired. Sensory opportunities provide an opportunity for children who are anxious or frustrated to calm and relax, it helps to build nerve connections and aids in the development of memory function. It can be a wonderful activity for children that are finding things stressful or overwhelming.
This week at PPN, we had a sensory trail set up, starting at the water pump, with coloured water and water play, then sand tool and play, there was a bean sensory tray, with different kinds of beans to scoop and pour, a playdough station was also set up. Each station had a different type of sensory item and activity at it. The children loved to explore the different types of sensory play. Many used the items and made their own creation, such at a snowman out of playdough, sorting the beans into different categories, and creating new colours in the water play. What sensory activity will you try at home this week?
Welcome to Week 5 of our final term of 2023. The year has flown by, but we still have more learning and fun activities to go. Our Year 1s are off today on an excursion to Thorndon Park, and of course, we have our Colour Fun Run coming up on Friday. We are also looking forward to our Lower Primary Concert and Christmas Carols program coming up next week on Friday, November 24. It would be great to see you all there to enjoy the singing and Christmas celebrations.
I was chatting with one of my sons-in-law the other day, and he was showing me a book he was sharing with his kids. It was a basic guide to go-cart making. It had all sorts of ideas and suggestions on how kids can make their own go-carts. They aren’t motorised or anything, just a basic push-and-roll type. As we chatted and looked at the various suggestions, I remembered how many hours I spent in my childhood building those things. I would spend hours finding old pram wheels, steel rods for axles, timber for a chassis and body, dreaming up braking and steering systems, finding old torches and batteries to give them lights, and drawing up plans for improvements. One day, I had a bit of an accident, and one of the rear wheels of my go-cart went down a drain, and it was broken and ripped off. It only left me with three wheels, and I couldn’t get another, so I went to work and drew up a three-wheeled version of my cart with steering on the rear instead of the front. It took hours. There were several revisions of the cart and, eventually, a degree of success. It was an incredible learning process.
I have an article to share with you today about the importance of letting kids play. I am not minimising the importance of academic and sporting ventures; kids also just need to play and be kids sometimes. There are some practical suggestions in the article below, so why not stand back and let them have a play?
“Bob Ross had a career in the Air Force for 20 years and didn’t start painting until he retired. At 41, he became everyone’s favourite art teacher.
Colonel Sanders had a hard time holding down jobs, working as a fireman, insurance salesman, and even worked in law. It wasn’t until his 40s that he started successfully selling fried chicken.
Martha Stewart worked as a stockbroker. It wasn’t until she was 41 that she published her first cookbook.
Albert Einstein was expelled from his school, and his teachers thought that he was mentally handicapped. Yet he went on to win a Nobel Prize and is considered one of the most brilliant minds of all time.
Winston Churchill failed 6th grade. At 63, he became Prime Minister of England.
It’s so easy to grow anxious, worried that our children are falling behind or missing out.
We worry that they won’t develop their culinary skills if they don’t start Mummy and Me cooking classes as toddlers.
We fear that they will never be talented artists if we don’t enrol them in the pricey after school art class.
We are concerned that if we don’t require them to practice piano daily, that they will never develop into talented musicians.
We worry that their low score on their maths test means that they will never go into a STEM course at university.
We anxiously watch on as they struggle to decide which subjects to pursue in high school, worried what careers they are precluding themselves from following.
What we often fail to remember in those moments of anxiety and fear, is that learning doesn’t stop when they finish high school or their tertiary education. As adults we can go back at any time and learn to paint, learn to do complex algebra, learn to be good leaders. We can change career paths again and again, and quickly catch up on the things we missed or have forgotten.
What we can’t do is get our childhoods back.
Childhood isn’t a time to prepare to be an adult.
Childhood is a time to be a child.
Childhood is a special time where imaginative play feels richer, where friendships are formed over a shared love of digging for worms, and where building a tree house can feel like the most important thing in the world.
Yet we often cut into that time to get them to sit still, learn ‘important things’, and prepare for their futures. The problem is that the more time that they are engaged in adult-led, structured, future-oriented activities, the less time they have available to engage in the real work of childhood – play.
Play teaches our kids everything that they really need to learn. It fosters physical and motor development. Play requires socio-emotional skills. It strengthens the imagination and creativity. It builds STEM skills and deductive reasoning. Play can not be substituted with other activities and still achieve the same outcomes. Children need the opportunity to play.
To celebrate World Children’s Day, let’s elevate play to it’s true level of importance. Let’s prioritise it above our own goals for our children. Let’s allow our kids to have a day, at least just this one day, to choose their own activities, to play without direction, to engage in the work of childhood without limits.
And if you can, go even further. Start a 30 day play challenge, making sure your kids have at least 45 minutes every day to engage in activities of their own choice. If it’s been a while since they had the opportunity for free play, they might not know where to begin. To avoid those calls of “I’m bored”, try setting the stage with these play prompts:
· Pull out the bicycles
· Visit a new playground
· Set up a play dough or clay station
· Get out the chalk
· Turn the hose into a sprinkler
· Go to the beach
· Take a few different balls to a park
· Dust off some board games
· Go to the swimming pool
· Get out the paints and paintbrushes
· Go out to a nature reserve
· Visit some rock pools
Then get out of the way. True play is self-directed, intrinsically motivated, and creative.
This World Children’s Day (and hopefully every day) let’s safeguard childhood, value play, and let our kids be kids.” (Coulson, 2023)
Have a great week with our kids,
Mark B
Good afternoon friendly friends
Singing is an amazing way to build connection not only to God but to each other. Anyone who has been at chapel when we are singing can see that in action. I've lost count of the times I've felt moved during worship, just hearing so many voices praising the Lord is such a wonderful feeling. Even afterwards you can't help humming one of the songs for the rest of the day.
A song called Time and Time Again by Local Sound has been stuck my head recently. Its lyrics reflect a gratitude for God's never-ending kindness and nearness, and how we've seen His faithfulness working throughout our lives.
The first verse goes like this:
"Every single morning, You are making all things new
Even in confusion, You are my point of view
Hope arise within me as I cling to what You've said
And I have seen Your faithfulness time and time again"
When you can, have a listen for yourselves making sure to hear what the lyrics are saying, maybe you could do this during your devotional time with your family or when it's just you and God.
We each have a unique song to sing, one that God has helped us to write from the day we were created. The ups and downs we have been through, the times we know we couldn't have gotten by without Him being at our side. Our testimonies show the amazing steadfastness of His promises and how they never fail even when the world tells us they should.
"He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what he has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the LORD." Psalms 40:3 NLT
I find this verse to be such an encouragement to share the amazing things God has done. Because when we sing praises to God, those around us will then be influenced and want to also love and put their trust in Him.
So let us sing our testimonies loudly so that others can experience the great joy that we have had in Christ.
Many blessings,
Pr Andy.
Luke, Tobi, Davies, Kausani, Anteara, Japjot, Hunter, Zia, Aral, Reethunar, Sienna and Isaac (absent)
The Cultivation of Character
A brave mum raises her hand to ask me a question. There are close to 400 parents in the packed auditorium. The topic was teens and screens, but her question stretches well beyond those boundaries.
She says, “I don’t want my son playing those violent games. But how do I not buy them for him?”
I gently mock, chide her. “You mean, how do you not walk into the store, pick up the game, take it to the counter, and hand over your credit card?”
She responds, “The trouble is that even if I don’t buy it for him, he just goes to his friends’ house and plays it there.”
My smile recedes and I pause, let that comment sink in. Then I draw a line under it for the rest of the audience. “Can you hear this mum? She’s actually pleading with you. Not me. She’s asking you to support her. She wants to keep her son off violent games, off screens, off explicit-rated content. But she can’t do it alone. She needs your help.”
In some ways this story is about community. It’s about the expectations we have of one another. But it’s about more than that. My provocation in sharing this story is this:
We don’t ask enough of our children, our students, our team… ourselves.
Sure, when it comes to kids I know we ask a lot in terms of academic outcomes. We often demand that they perform well on NAPLAN, in athletics or cross country or swimming or debating… not to mention their extra-curricular activities. Workplaces have their metrics too, and great managers make significant demands. But…
These are all external symbols of our narrow definition of success. They’re all of those things related to what David Brooks calls the ‘resume’ virtues. They’re the stuff that makes us look like successful parents because we have successful kids, or like successful teachers because we nailed NAPLAN this year – or a successful business because we crushed our KPI’s.
What about the ‘eulogy’ virtues? The virtues that are less about achievement of material or external success and more about achievement of character, wisdom, relationships, and compassion.
Our society demands that we seek out achievement that looks good to others, but leaves us adrift when it comes to doing the deep inner work, the cultivation of character that leads to an enriching inner life.
What if we shifted our demands for kids, students, employees, and ourselves?
What if we stepped away from the outward focus and start playing a bigger game. Yep, even bigger than GTA (Grand Theft Auto for the uninitiated).
That night I heard a mum who knew what she wanted. She wanted a son who would live the highest version of himself, who lifts others, who makes people feel stronger, who raises their vision!
To do that, expectations need to change. It can no longer be about looking good. Cultivation of character is about being good.
A principal at a State Primary School in an inner East Brisbane suburb suggested to his student leaders that he wanted them to stay off social media. This was done for a host of reasons including following the guidelines for users of those platforms (no under 13 users), setting an example, and avoiding the procrastination and conflict that so easily follow those using the various apps.
Asking this of students might seem inappropriate to some people. I’m not going to argue for or against app use and social media (although clearly it is NOT for primary school kids. There are adult things going on there). The point is that we have a principal who is asking his leaders to do something that makes them stand out. It builds their character. It refines and lifts them to a higher level. It teaches them to lead. It changes who they are, and it isn’t because of what they do. It’s about what they choose to not do.
This mum can’t do it on her own. Our kids can’t either. And nor can our teams, or we as adults.
How can we do it as a community? Can we perhaps seek a little more, not of the resume development opportunities, but of the character development, restraint, respect, and self-discipline that will serve them well throughout their lives?
Let’s raise the bar. Let’s expect a little more, not in terms of performance and outcome, but in who we are and who we (and those around us) can become.
Justin Coulson, happyfamilies.com.au
Colour Fun Run
Bus Applications for 2024
Our Commitment to Child Safety
Prescott Primary Northern, along with all Seventh Day Adventist Schools in South Australia, have made child safety a priority in its response to the National Principles for Child Safe Organisations.
As parents, and members of the PPN Community, we wanted to let you know about the six documents on our website that outline the Child Safe expectations and responsibilities across our school communities.
The six documents are:
- Child Safe Policy
- Student Code of Conduct
- Professional Boundaries of Staff
- Adult Code of Conduct
- Reporting Incidents and Concerns
- Complaints management
These documents place the best interests of children and young people first and provide the platform for any member of the school community to respond to and report a child safe incident or concern. It also provides guidance on how to manage child safe complaints. To view these documents or raise a concern visit the Child Safe page on our website by clicking here.
Our Communication Commitments
To continue the culture of positive communication we have at PPN we have developed the communication commitment and guides below, including a poster for our students.
As parents, we encourage to continue communicating well, as we work together to grow our children into the amazing people they’ve been created to be.
2025 Enrolments
Position Vacant - School Bus Driver
Christmas Carols
Premier's Reading Challenge
We are very proud to announce that Prescott Primary Northern students have made a big achievement – this year a total of 411 students participated in the Premier’s Reading Challenge!!
To receive this medal, students must read at least 12 books every year from Foundation to Year 6. We are delighted to share with you that some of our students took the 20 Books reading challenge! These students also received an extra certificate for the challenge!
Well done to everyone for such a great result and thank you again for all your hard work and commitment to the challenge!
Last Day for Borrowing
Final library borrowing for students will occur in Week 7. Thank you for making sure all books are returned in Week 8 to help us take stock and prepare for our books for 2024.
Mrs Blyde & Mrs Cowley
