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Swimsafe Week Highlights
Library Lovers Month
Community Pancake Breakfast
Our school community really enjoyed our annual pancake breakfast on Monday morning. A big thank you to all the staff who helped and put this together, especially Mrs Allen who coordinated this event for us. A special thank you to our pancake chefs, Mr Borresen, Mr D and Mrs Hann, who were masters on the BBQ! It was great to see our families enjoying the company of one another. If you missed out on attending this event, we will have another one at the end of the year – so keep your eyes on our school calendar for this pancake breakfast.
I remember, many years ago, going to one of my wife’s family reunions. As we walked in, they asked your name and then wrote it in a big badge and pinned it to you. It was a reunion for the Johnson family and as I wandered around with a big Borresen badge on, it became increasingly apparent that there were no other Borresens there. It was great to get to know everyone, but my badge sort of shouted that I didn’t really belong. I eventually figured out that my belonging at the reunion was linked to the people I was connected to that were a part of it and not a badge that was placed on me. There are all sorts of life lessons I drew from this, but the main one is how important it is that we belong.
Belonging can be defined as “ … acceptance as a member or part” (Hall, 2014), and it is such an important part of good emotional health, especially when we face emotional challenges. Developing a sense of belonging in our children is a crucial part of our role as parents and educators. Having a child feel and know they are connected with their family, with their cultural heritage, with their church, with their friends, with their school, is core to what we do. Sadly, we sometimes see people attempting to achieve this through excluding various groups or individuals so that a sense of belonging can be created for those who are part of the “in group”.
I read an article recently that offered two ways for us to think about building belonging in our lives and the lives of our children. The first suggestion to help build belonging is “ …to look for ways you are similar with others instead of focusing on ways you are different.” (Hall, 2014) Common and shared experiences provide a great way build opportunity for appreciating similarities rather than differences. I hope that your mind is going right now to thinking of ways you can create experiences for your children that feed connections that can create belonging.
A second “. . . way to build your own sense of belonging is to work on acceptance of others. To accept others and views that are not the same as yours may require that you open your thoughts to the idea that there is value in everyone's thinking.” (Hall, 2014) This way of thinking is the complete opposite of the exclusion method and takes the approach of inherently valuing everyone. It doesn’t mean we agree with everything the other person says or does, it means we value them, and that creates connection and belonging.
It’s an interesting, and complex thing we are trying to do here for our children. On the one hand, we want them to know and understand what incredible individuals they are, but at the same time, teach them that it is vital they understand the importance of including, accepting and being connected to others. Whether that be in their home, their school, their local community, their nation or the global community. Creating community and belonging is something we try very hard to do at Prescott Primary Northern and I saw a little of it at the Pancake Breakfast on Monday morning – it was great to see so many of you there.
I’m not sure there are too many better things I have heard in all my life than what I heard recently when one of daughters said to someone, “He belongs to me”. The depth of that has not been lost on me. It reminds me of what God has said of us also in Isaiah 43:1, “Fear not, for I have redeemed you [ransomed you by paying a price instead of leaving you captives]; I have called you by your name; you are Mine.” (Amplified Bible)
Have a great week of belonging with your kids,
Mark B
When I was born in New Zealand in 1972 we only had one television channel, TV One. In 1975 we had a second channel added, TV 2; and then for the rest of my childhood and teenaged years in New Zealand we only had two television channels to choose from.
There was no internet, or streaming services back then, and if you missed a certain television program that was it. It was gone. You couldn’t watch it again. There was no recording it so that you could watch it later, or Catch Up TV, or watching it On Demand.
Although this scenario would sound terrifying to many children and young people today, it was actually a great time to be a kid because we had minimal distractions.
When I was a child my friends and I would be like, “What’s on TV?” When we turned to TV1 it was Days of our Lives and we would be like, “That’s boring!” And then we would turn it to TV 2 and it was the news and we were like, “That’s boring too!” And then we would go and play outside, spending time together connecting, laughing, and joking around.
Now we all have access to literally hundreds of different channels, programs, and video clips at the touch of a button. Foxtel, Netflix, Stan, Disney Channel, Amazon Prime, You Tube, Instagram, Facebook, and Snapchat, have all made it easier for us to connect to our favourite programs; but the flip side is that this has made us more distracted and disconnected as a society.
In the book of Luke, Jesus is at the house of two sisters, Mary and Martha, and while Martha is busy in the kitchen, Mary is sitting with Jesus and listening to him. Martha gets upset at Jesus for not telling Mary to help her, to which Jesus replies, “Martha, Martha! You are worried and upset about so many things, but only one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen what is best, and it will not be taken away from her” (Luke 10:41-42).
Martha was so distracted by the busyness of life that she missed the most important things of all: connecting with God, and connecting with others.
Take some time out this week to ponder these two questions:
- What distractions do I have in my life that may have caused me to be disconnected from God, and the people whom I care about?
- What can I do to be more connected to God, and my significant others?
God bless,
Roland Talamaivao-Amituanai
School Instagram
Do you have an Instagram account? Do you follow our school on Instagram? If not, jump on Instagram and follow prescottnorthern to see school highlights and weekly events that happen here at PPN. This is also a great way to share with family and friends what life at PPN looks like!
Before and After School Procedures
Adelaide Weet-Bix TRYathlon Breakfast
The Adelaide Weet-Bix TRYathlon is being launched here at PPN on Tuesday 18th February morning with a free breakfast from 8am and a presentation/assembly at 9am.
- Entries are open for the Adelaide Weet-Bix TRYathlon on Sunday 5th April 2020.
- The TRYathlon is all about giving it a TRY and is a rewarding and fun day out for you and your child.
- Participants need to be aged 6-15 years old on event day, and can complete the TRYathlon as an individual or in a team of two.
- To enter the TRYathlon visit www.tryathlon.com.au
- This year Our school is taking part in the Adelaide Weet-bix Kids TRYathlon. Join us on the day by entering at www.tryathlon.com.au and selecting the School when prompted.
Uniform Shop Hours
Uniform Shop Open Tuesday and Thursday 3:00pm – 3:30pm for single items and second hand browsing.
Fittings 3:30pm – 4:30pm with an appointment made through the front office.
Online orders through Flexischools to be in by 4:00pm for delivery next school day to your child’s classroom.
Please ensure all second hand uniforms you wish to put up for sale are of good quality. All sales of second hand items are cash only.
Scholastic Book Club Orders
Scholastic Book Club orders need to be completed by Friday the 14th February, so make sure you get your orders in by the end of this week.
Consent2Go
A reminder that Prescott Primary Northern has engaged the services of Consent2Go to provide a better way to manage medical data and excursion processes. Some of you will have already received an email that asks you to update your students profile, if not you can go to this link:
Enter your email (parent) that has been supplied to the school and the student update link for your child will be sent to your email account. When you receive this, you need to then press the red button that says 'click here to update details'.
