Congratulations also to the Years 1 – 3 students who supported the Prep girls. Thank you to the Year 4 students for their last performance in this event before they attend the Years 5-12 Speech Night next year. Many thanks to the teachers for supporting all the girls and to Miss Surtees for her organisation of the event.
Earlier this week, the Year 6 students shared their Primary School journey at their Chapel Service and morning tea. Thank you to the Year 6 teachers for supporting them on this special occasion. I will miss the Year 6 girls’ confidence, humour and enthusiasm and I know as they move to the next stage of their life they will take many Primary School memories with them.
The Term finished with a Primary School Assembly. This Assembly is always of special significance, not because it is the last one for the year and the girls are able to toss their panamas into the air, but it is one where I present the Head of Primary Certificates to the Year 6 girls.
Congratulations to:
Elizabeth Barakat: for improved attitude and commitment to her learning journey
Chisako Takada: for strength and courage in developing her debating skills
Grace Kinloch: for consistency in her attitude, effort and application in all areas
Madeline Hignett: for having a positive attitude day in, day out and continually showing respect to all around her
Abbey Del Favero: for improved attitude and commitment to her learning journey
At this time of year, we are reminded to show gratitude for all that we have in our lives.
Gratitude is an element of our spiritual practices, but there is emerging research highlighting gratitude as a potential bridge between students’ academic and social well-being. It has found that grateful youth have higher GPAs, experience more positive emotions and ultimately go on to live more meaningful lives. Research also suggests that practising gratitude at a young age promotes later development of self-control and self-regulation, both qualities that contribute to lifelong success.
Gratitude is defined as ‘affirming that there are good things in the world – gifts and benefits that we’ve received – and reorganising that these sources of goodness come from outside ourselves’ (Zakrzewski, 2013). Expressing gratitude is a skill that can be taught both at home and at school. For egocentric, 6 and 7 year old children, gratitude can be fostered but it doesn’t fully materialise until ages 10-14 when students develop the ability to empathise.
Teachers and parents, however, should encourage children from an early age to say why they are grateful. These adults need to model this again and again for children to think more deeply in terms of why they’re grateful for someone or something. When children express gratitude, teachers and parents should encourage them to notice intentions (the thought behind the gift that they have received), appreciate costs (someone went out of their way or made sacrifices to help them) and recognise the benefits (someone provided them with a gift or a kind act that has personal value).
At the P-4 Celebration, Ms Curtis spoke about kindness and set the girls a challenge to perform 10 random acts of kindness and during the holidays will be the perfect time to do so. Whilst there will be no checking after the holidays, it is hoped, by committing to these random acts, the satisfaction of carrying them out will be the reward.
I encourage parents to help others and model the gratitude on the receiving end of an act of kindness. As gratitude does start with the adults in a child’s life, by modelling gratitude, you encourage your child to do the same and together you will value others more and strengthen your relationships. So, can I just say thank you for giving your child the gift of a St Margaret’s education. Thank you to the teachers for their commitment. Thank you and best of luck to the departing teachers. In particular, Mrs Edwards, in the two short years you have been here, you have made a significant impact on the teaching and learning in the school and I thank you on behalf of the staff, students and families.
Racecourse Rd Community Christmas
Lucia Owen (Year 6) spreading the joy at the local Racecourse Rd Community event, held last Friday 24 November.
I wish everyone a safe and happy holiday and thank you for a great year.
Angela Drysdale
P.S. Don’t forget to read with your child and encourage them to read. Research has shown that the amount of independent reading a child does outside of school relates to their growth in vocabulary, verbal fluency, reading comprehension and general knowledge. Children who read on their own improve their reading skills, have greater content knowledge and score higher on achievement tests than children who do not open a book outside of school. Food for holiday thought!