St Bernadette's Primary School

NEWSLETTER | TERM 2 | WEEK 5 I 17 May 2024

Good afternoon everyone,

After another amazing week of fine, sunny weather and the same forecast for the weekend ahead, it is hard not to feel happy and grateful! As good as it is for us however, we spare a thought for our hard-working farmers who have been doing it tough for so long without any rain – let’s hope things change soon and crops and livestock get the precious water that is much needed.

I have spent some time out in the playground this week and I have enjoyed watching (and participating in) all the different ways our students play at break times. A goal of our team has been to give students many different opportunities to play with their friends. From sports to art clubs, chess, coding, imaginative play and simply accessing the library to read, we aim to give kids plenty of options. The vibe around the playground has been a really positive one, and I am happy to say that it was also really great to hear students dealing with ‘Friendship Fires’ or ‘Mean on Purpose’ behaviour in appropriate ways. While disagreements are inevitable in the playground, we aim to teach our students the appropriate strategies to manage the situation properly and where they can’t, to find a staff member who can help when the problem occurs.

Congratulations to all those students involved in the Interschool basketball competition this week, with a special shout out to our Year 6 girls who won the competition outright after being undefeated throughout the playoffs. Here at St Bernadette’s we certainly celebrate the wins, but even more importantly, we celebrate full participation, best effort and team spirit. We are very proud of all our students and the good sportsmanship that was on display during this competition.

Our Year 2-6 intra school Numero competition will finish up next week with two more rounds on Tuesday and Thursday. It has been a few fun weeks of fabulous mental maths! I have been blown away by the impressive maths being shown and how quickly the students have picked up the game and helped each other to improve. I am looking forward to the interschool comp later in the term.

Below is a practical, common-sense article sharing some valuable tips for parents when a child has had some type of issue or problem with another child at school. As this article suggests, if you are concerned, please contact your child’s teacher or Assistant Principal – not the other child’s parent, for all the reasons below! While it doesn’t happen very often here at St Bernie’s, when it has happened, it has caused more harm than good. We continue to encourage all our students to let staff know WHEN issues occur, so they can be dealt with appropriately. It is so much harder to deal with issues after the fact! Thanks everyone, the more we are on the same page, the stronger our school and the better the outcomes for your children.

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Here are the Top 8 Reasons You Should NOT Confront the Other Child’s Parents:

1. Your child doesn’t want you to. This has emerged as the #1 reason why children do not open up to their parents about issues with friends – they’re worried you’re going to make it worse, and it almost always does! Involving the other child’s parent can be humiliating, embarrassing, and erodes trust.

2. You can’t view the situation or your child objectively. No matter how hard you try to see things from all perspectives, you will naturally have a bias towards your own child. You not only love your child, but you also have a very large sample size of their behaviour to draw conclusions. You know them inside-out and you are very familiar with who they are, albeit you may at times see these things through ‘rose-coloured glasses’. You will naturally not see the other child in the same light. And, unless you are a teacher or you work with children their age, it is very hard for you to have an accurate, fair and objective take on the situation. If you do feel there is a situation that requires adult-intervention, contact the school.

3. Your perspective is different than your child’s. What’s huge to you might be small for them, or vice-versa. As an adult, you have the gift of perspective. A child has not developed this yet and is still figuring things out. They’ll get there, but don’t project your perspective onto them. They might have situations that are ‘water off a duck’s back’ to them (while you’re still steaming!) and situations that seem bigger than they should be. It’s their reality, not yours.

4. Rescuing them isn’t helping. Empower them to put out friendship fires on their own. Getting over-involved to swoop in and save the day is right in line with today’s “Helicopter Parenting” phenomenon. Solving our children’s problems for them does more damage than good and robs them of the chance to learn these critical conflict-resolution skills. Use these opportunities as teachable moments to empower, equip, and train your children to stand up for themselves. These take advantage of real-life learning situations.

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5. It often makes the situation worse and rarely ends well. Not only will your children resent that you discussed their personal issues with another parent, but it also often makes matters worse for them at school. 9 times out of 10, the conversation with the other parent will not go well…there are too many factors working against you to have a productive, harmonious conversation.

6. It makes things unnecessarily awkward between you and that parent. In the 1/10 times where the conversation seems to go relatively well, even if both parents are well-meaning, it is often the beginning of the end. Your relationship with that parent will naturally feel awkward and one or both of you will come away feeling defensive (it’s instinctive). There will be a hypersensitivity that develops and the next time you see or hear of THEIR child doing something, it will bug you…even if it’s a little bit. It just will.

7. Relax… Give it some time. The truth of the matter is, your child could be “besties” with this other child tomorrow. Kids get over their friendship issues quickly – they don’t cut as deep – which is a good thing! Just be patient. Don’t worry, your child will not grow up to be a push-over with no friends, as long as you’re coaching them along the way. Interpersonal skills develop over time, and, like everything, they need to practice.

8. Your child’s got this! Don’t deny your child this amazing opportunity to learn and grow. It’s in our struggles that we strengthen, so give them this chance to ‘dig deep’. Use this platform called friendship to allow your child to learn valuable life lessons. Ask them, “What can YOU do to get the friendship back on track? Continue to bring the focus back to your child, empowering them with skills, reminding them that they can do it…because they can!

As parents, we need to remember this quote: “We don’t see things as they are, we see them as we are.” Conflict-resolution, interpersonal skills, empathy, and resiliency don’t just happen…they are formed through personal experience. These qualities are critical in developing healthy relationships. Success in life, no matter how you define it, relies on the ability to form and maintain healthy, feel-good relationships. And we need to give our kids a chance to develop these skills on their own. (Adapted - URSTRONG)

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This week we received some devastating news about one of new Pre-Kindy students who has been diagnosed with Leukemia. Can I please ask that you keep the O’Kelly family in your prayers at this very difficult time. Lucy and Liam are staying strong for their little girl and while their start at St Bernie’s may look a little different, we will look forward to wrapping our arms around them and supporting them in any way we can as a school and community.

May is traditionally dedicated to honouring and seeking the intercession of Mary as the Mother of God and Mother of the Church. Perhaps you could pray the Hail Mary together as a family for the O’Kelly Family and for the special intentions of your own family this month.

Finally, A reminder that our next P&F meeting is to be held next Friday, the 24th May in the Library. I hope you all have a great weekend!

Cheers

Geordie

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We'd like to welcome Tamia R in 3R and Jayden R

in PPB to St Bernadette's.Please help us in welcoming

them and their family to our Bernie's community.

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Congratulations to Callie P in Year 2R for

receiving our Gospel Values Award this

morning.

Callie always shows Kindness,

Honesty and Respect in her actions. Well

done Callie!

Merit Award Assembly - Friday 24 May

The following students will be receiving an Award at next week's assembly. Family and friends are welcome to attend.

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Pianist wanted, can you help?

We are looking for a pianist to support our children's school band. This would involve attending band practise for 45 minutes once a week before school and supporting our school band during 2 school masses a term. If you can help or know someone who might be interested, please contact the school office.