Prescott Primary Northern eNewsletter

PE Week

Last week was an extra special week for staff and students as they celebrated PE Week. The theme for this year was ‘Let’s Move it!’ so that is exactly what we did. Circus training was a hit for the Lower Primary and the Middle/Uppers enjoyed the Amazing Race incursion. Each morning and recess students participated in the P P N - R A C E. They ran a total of 12 753 laps of the oval or an amazing 2 550km! Congratulations to Mr Matt’s and Mr Blackeby’s classes for winning the competition with the most number of laps. Also, a big thank you to the 6/7’s and Sport Captains for running extra activities during lunch play and for helping to record the runner’s laps. And last, great teamwork by the Admin and Office staff for taking out the 10 000 Step Challenge. They walked a whopping 684 440 steps or an estimated 547km throughout the week. Super effort, everyone!

Drive Through Update

Car Park Update

North Wing Update

Week 6 of the last term of 2019 is marching through and there is still a lot happening around school in our classrooms, in the PE field and on our building sites, and of course we have the Lower Primary Parent and Special Person’s Christmas Concerts coming up next week which are always highlights.

Our New Pick Up and Drop Off Zone is really working well. We would love to have more families using this area as it is much safer than having people walk across traffic to get in to school and IT’S REALLY FAST! Please give it a try. I have had many families say how much more convenient and safer it is.

Have you ever sat around with a group of fellow parents and discussed what are the most important components of parenting? Things like, showing our kids unconditional love, teaching them responsibility, being consistent, modelling the behaviour we expect, showing them that there are consequences, showing them how to deal with failure and set backs, teaching them what is of true importance, teaching them to treat others as they expect to be treated, usually come up in those discussions. I read an article recently that presented another perspective that I thought worthy of consideration. I hope you enjoy.

“At a time when the mental health and wellbeing of children and teenagers is firmly in the spotlight, validation is an essential parenting skill.

When a child or teen comes to you when they are struggling emotionally, they want you to understand their dilemma. They don’t want to be dismissed or told to ‘get over it’. They generally want someone to acknowledge that their concern is real with comments such as:

“I see you’re worried about going to camp. I can understand that. “
“Thanks for telling about the scary monsters in your bedroom. Let’s see what we can do about them.”
“I’d be afraid too if I was left alone on my own for that long.”

Validating a child’s struggles helps in a number of ways. It works to:

Build deep connection
Relationships built at the time of vulnerability go deep and are hard to break.
Promote a child’s wellbeing
Validation helps kids feel safe, which is what ‘worry warts’ and anxious kids want. Lack of understanding rather than fear itself often impacts negatively on a child’s happiness.
Overcome disappointment and build resilience
Validation encourages kids to give voice to their concern or disappointment and either takes steps to rectify it or move on.
Develop emotional intelligence
Parental validation models emotion
l intelligence for children and teens. It requires you to identify the emotions that may be behind their language or behaviour.
Encourage empathy
Validation requires you to stop, listen and get on the same wavelength as your child.

Four steps to validating your child’s emotions

Follow these steps when your child comes to you with their worries or concerns to make sure they feel understood.

Attend -Stop what you are doing and give your child full attention.
Observe - Listen with your eyes as well as your ears.
Reflect back their worries - Get down to their eye level if necessary, saying something like, “I see you’re really concerned about this.”
hem a hug when you speak to them. This will help them feel safe and comforted.

There’s no better feeling for a child or teen who is struggling than knowing someone they value truly understands them.” (Grose, 2020)

Have a great week with your kids,

Mark B

The Cupboard Was Bare

Old Mother Hubbard went to the cupboard to fetch her poor dog a Bone. When she got there, the cupboard was bare, and the poor dog got none.

This nursery rhyme is so much more than just a children’s ditty. Old Mother Hubbard was suffering tiredness, stress or burnout. Firstly, who puts a bone in the cupboard? Dog bones should have been kept in the fridge!

Now I’m not a mother nor will I ever be one, but I do know that mothers are amazing people who transform a house into a home. They have hugs that transform sadness into happiness and can even turn disgusting vegetables into edible dishes. Mothers always make sure everyone else is sorted before doing something for themselves and looking after their own needs.

Just like Old Mother Hubbard had nothing left to give her dog, sometimes mothers (or fathers) have nothing left to give. Even if you feel like this, you will somehow get up tomorrow and do it all over again. You will love your children and be the best mum or dad you can be. Parenting is hard and can leave you feeling drained and empty. There will be days where you want to throw in the towel. Days where you just can’t take it anymore.

When you have nothing left to give, take some time for yourself and make time for God.

Jesus knew about being tired, drained and burnt-out. The Bible has many stories including one in Ezekiel 37: 1-14.

Casting crowns turned this passage into a powerful song that is one of my favourites.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tfQ8b0CdSnk

I challenge you to make time for yourself and most important tell God about how you feel. Let His spirit breathe a new breath into you so you can be a mighty warrior for Him again.

Last week, we talked about Creativity and this week we honoured several students from all the classes in our school for demonstrating this value.

Eknoor, Samarveer, Mehaan, Japjeet, Grace, Divit, Jayden, Anthony, Vansh, Kathryn, Arya, Ryan, Vincent (absent), Amreen (absent), Charlie (absent), Avni (absent), Anastasia (absent), and Rhee (absent).

Jonathan, Milli, Gabriella, Alex, Mehar, Jeslet, Dhrupad, Micah, Asha, Jossy, Kara, Ayla, Mazen, Kaitlyn, Scout, Hirum, Jayden and Kiera (absent).

Entertainment Digital Memberships

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Buy Here

The book fair starts on Tuesday and will be open from Tuesday afternoon the 26th November from 3:00 till 4:00 pm. Then Wednesday and Thursday it will be open both morning 8:30 to 9:00 am and in the afternoon from 3:00 till 4:00pm. The final day will be Friday morning 8:30 - 9:00am.

As it is nearing the end of the year and we need to do a stocktake, borrowing from the library is only available until the end of this week and all books need to be returned by the end of next week.

On Sunday, 9th of November, Georgie Alexopoulos auditioned and was one of the 24 girls selected to represent South Australia in the 2020 Sub Junior Calisthenics National team. She will compete in Darwin in July. Congratulations, Georgie! We wish you and your team all the best as you prepare for your competitions.

Prescott College

Thank you to the PPN choir for performing for us at our annual fete. They did a great job and got us feeling very festive! We hope they enjoyed the day and got to go on some rides and see the animals. It was a great day for all.