Gearing Up for Concert            

Our Year 3 and Year 4 classes are busy preparing for their concert at the end of this term. Not only are they learning lines and songs, but they are taking a hands on approach to their costuming. Keep an eye out for more details and updates in the coming weeks.

Nature Play Collages

Despite the Autumn leaves that have fallen to the ground and left our trees shaking bare in the breeze, if you look closely around PPN there are still dots of colour that invite creativity and inspire our nature enthusiasts. Today in the Nature Play Space, beautiful collages were created with the vibrant colours of nature found amongst the play space. Our explorers were delighted to not only see nature making patterns, but investigating the behaviour of ladybugs and bees, up close. Can you spot them?

The conversations that flow when children play in God’s creation remind us that His beauty and order have, is and always will provide an invitation to know Him and delight in Him.

Enjoy the sunshine this week!

The 2024 Paris Olympic Games started this past weekend, and the events are well and truly underway. Each day we can watch a variety of sports and see elite athletes from around the world competing against each other, all striving to win a gold medal.  

I have recently started reading a book called “Atomic Habits” by James Clear. On the cover are the inspirational words, “tiny changes, remarkable results”. The first chapter tells the story of the British Cycling and the changes that were made to the management of the team in 2003.  

Since 1908, British cyclists had only won a single gold medal at the Olympic Games and fared even worse in the Tour de France. In 2003, a new director, Dave Brailsford, was hired, hoping to put the team on a new trajectory in terms of success on the world stage. He implemented a strategy that he referred to as “the aggregation of marginal gains”.  

Brailsford stated that “The whole principle came from the idea that if you broke down everything you could think of that goes into riding a bike, and then improve it by 1 per cent, you will get a significant increase when you put them all together.”  

Under Brailsford’s guidance, the coaches analysed all aspects of racing, from the design of the seats, fabrics for clothing and even pillows to help cyclists get the best night’s sleep. The team made many small changes in as many areas as possible. Just 5 years later, the British Cycling team dominated the road and track cycling events at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing. Between 2007 and 2017, British cycling teams won 178 world championships, 66 Olympic and Paralympic gold medals and 5 Tour de France victories.  

The official motto of the Olympic Games is “Citius, altius, fortius,” which is Latin for “Faster, higher, stronger”. As we watch the Olympic Games it is inspirational to watch athletes striving to be the very best that they can be. It is a great motto for us as well – to be faster, aim higher and be stronger – perhaps not in the athletic realm, but in our own lives as we aim to be the best version of ourselves that we can be.  

Whilst it is admirable to have goals and to change habits and transform ourselves, we don’t have to achieve everything straight away – it is impossible to change overnight. Making small changes and creating new habits, can over time, make a big difference. It may be that we want to exercise more, eat healthier, arrive at work a few minutes earlier or leave work on time. Perhaps the goal could be to cultivate a new friendship, to reach out to someone who we have lost contact with or even heal a broken relationship.   

The great news is that as we strive to be the best people we can be, we are not alone. We have the power of God with us, and we can rely on Him to give us the strength to do all things – no matter how hard they may seem.  (Philippians 4:13) 

Have a great week.  

As I’m writing this, the Foundation students celebrated their 100 days of learning here at PPN. I cannot believe they have been here for 100 days already. Honestly, it’s an interesting feeling. Because it’s so familiar to have them around and they all fit right into PPN it almost feels like they have been here forever. However, I can still remember their first half day like it was yesterday. It’s such an important milestone to celebrate and it means everything to our little ones. The Foundation teachers have had a blast with them today, creating all the amazing crafts and playing fun games in the classroom.

Each and every student looks so connected, grounded and confident. A stark contrast to their first day, wide-eyed, timid and overly cautious.

It appears to be a season of celebration. From our foundation students to the athletes doing our country proud over in Paris. There is an uplifting song of celebration in the air. And rightfully so. You don’t have to look very far to find something worth celebrating. From the smallest of blessings to the lifechanging miracles, God has given every single one of us a reason to smile if we choose to find it.

I pray that you find your reason to celebrate today in this season of celebrations. I praise God for the hand He has had in crafting our community here at PPN.

Mistakes are OK 

Young children are often fearless in the face of mistakes – simply learning to walk or write is a process of repeated failing. As they grow, we find that often become less willing to take risks and try new things because of their fear on not getting right straight away. 

Below are some tips for helping our children overcome perfectionism and make friends with mistakes again.  

Whether it’s learning to ride a bike or writing a story, when a child shows reluctance to try before they start, ask them what they’re worried about. Give them the chance to share their fears and talk it through. Ask them, ‘What’s the worst thing that can happen?’ Putting words around their fear can help contextualise and minimise it, making ‘the scary thing’ seem smaller and easier to handle. 

Share your story. 

Younger children love to hear stories from their parents and trusted adults. Share a story with them of when you were scared, then tried, failed, and learned something from making a mistake. You can make it funny to lighten the load and help diffuse their worry. 

Resilience. 

Making mistakes and learning from mistakes helps children build resilience, which will stand them in good stead later in life. If they have tried, failed, and then tried again, it helps them build confidence to tackle bigger, more daunting tasks down the track.  

Reward the effort. 

If you have coached and coaxed your child into trying something new for the first time, or if they have worked hard to conquer their fear, then regardless of the outcome, let them know they are champs for trying. This way, the reward is linked, not to whether they failed or succeeded, but to the effort they made in the first place.  

Practice makes perfect. 

Perfect is of course not needed but practice is important. Give children plenty of opportunity to keep trying their chosen activity, whether they’ve taken up a new sport, musical instrument, or hobby, or whether they’re plucking up courage to make new friends at school.  

2024 NAPLAN Assessment Results 

Yesterday, Year 3 and 5 students were sent home with the 2024 NAPLAN results. 

We are very proud of the efforts of all students, and are pleased to report that PPN students have, on average, achieved a Strong level of achievement across all of the domains tested through NAPLAN. 

Once again, the school has achieved results that are above both the State and National averages in all tests. While NAPLAN results do not give the full picture of a students abilities, it is really pleasing to see the impact that our teachers and support staff are having on your children’s education. 

Information to help you understand your child’s results were sent home with them yesterday. However, the graphic below gives a good summary of what the four proficiency standards indicate.  

 
 
It’s important to remember that NAPLAN results reflect a specific point in time. They're designed to help identify areas for students, classes and schools to focus on. They provide a great opportunity for parents and carers to also speak with teachers about how students can be supported to be their best. 

If you have any questions about this process, please contact the school or visit  https://nap.edu.au/naplan/results-and-reports. 

Dental for Schools

Dental for Schools has been visiting PPN to provide preventative dental services to a number of our students. They will continue to be on campus next week.

If you have registered your child for their services you should have received further details about their visit. If you haven’t, please contact Dental for Schools.

ICAS and AMC Dates

We have had a large number of students sign-up for this years ICAS and AMC academic competitions. It’s great to see so many willing to take on this challenge and extend their learning into new areas.

Below are the dates students will be sitting each of the tests. If you have any questions, please contact Julie Vice via email at julievice@ppn.sa.edu.au

SUBJECT	WEEK	SITTING DATE
Digital Technologies	3	Monday 5th August
Writing	3	Wednesday 7th August
Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC)	3	Thursday 8th August
English	4	Friday 16th August
Science	5	Monday 19th August
Spelling Bee	5	Thursday 22nd August
Mathematics	6	Tuesday 27th August

ADRA Food Drive

School Photos

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Winter Uniform Reminder

As we begin a new term, and prepare for school photos, families are reminded to ensure their children attend school in full winter uniform. The details of this can be found below.

 

Prescott Primary WINTER Uniform
Boys (WINTER)	Girls (WINTER)
School hat (Legionnaire or bucket style with emblem)
White, long sleeved, shirt tucked in
School grey school trousers (Long cotton cargo pants are not permitted)	Regulation pinafore (Grades Foundation - 5) or Skirt (Grade 5-6)   Navy Tailored Trouser  The length of dresses for girls must touch the knee or below when standing upright.
School regulation tie
Laced, buckled or Velcro polished, black leather, low-heeled regulation school shoes.
Grey over the ankle socks*	White over the ankle/knee high socks – navy leggings allowed
Royal blue V-necked school jumper/cardigan with emblem
Navy school rain jacket with emblem (optional)
Royal blue scarves may be worn in winter.
	Simple hair ties, scrunchies, ribbons or hairclips in the colours of light blue, black, maroon, red and white*
Year 5-6 students are required to wear the PPN Blazer

 

Please also ensure that your child’s hair and jewellery remains in accordance with the school’s uniform policy. You can view this, along with other school policies here: Policies | Prescott Northern

 

Pyjamas & Hot Chocolate Day