Dear Parents and Carers,

We have welcomed more new students in recent days and weeks to St Patrick's.

Welcome Rithik, Ridoan and Rohan. 

This week Ian Luscombe has visited St Patrick's again to continue to support our school based processes for positive behaviour at St Pat's. Ian is a presence in each classroom and around the playgrounds coaching our staff in proactive engagement to support our students to follow every direction. 

I am pleased to communicate our Teaching Team for 2024

I wanted to share with you an excerpt from the latest 'Lifeskills Group' Newsletter, you may find the tips and their website / blog posts of use with your children.

"Technology is nothing. What's important is that you have faith in people, that they're basically good and smart, and if you give them tools, they'll do wonderful things with them." Steve Jobs, Co-Founder, Apple

As adults, we often underestimate the value of the life skills we have acquired over the years. These skills are an integral part of our daily lives, yet we often neglect to pass them on to the younger generation, only realizing their importance as we enter adulthood. Children face many challenges in the modern world.

"Here are 3 strategies to improve children’s social awareness:

1. Challenge Your Child to Understand Everyday Situations

When your child has witnessed you having a conversation with another person or family member, discuss it with them. Then ask what they noticed in terms of language, body language, and facial expressions which were exchanged over the course of the conversation. This can be a good exercise to show children how when you treat people with respect it is likely reciprocated.

2. Encourage Children to Participate in Group Physical Activity

Giving your children access to yoga classes is a great start, whether it be at school or at home with others. Yoga provides fundamental movement, flexibility as well as improving coordination and energy levels.

3. Be a Role Model

When demonstrating that you can show compassion and empathy towards others as a respected caregiver, this is the best possible reason for a child to follow suit. In their formative years, such a strong example can not only positively reinforce emotional intelligence but also help children understand that adults to make mistakes. No one is perfect and when children know this, they can then learn to develop this empathy with parents and teachers as well as peers - which is invaluable.

To learn the practical methods to implement the above strategies check out our newest blog post 3 ways to help children build better relationships."

Blessings on a restful weekend.

Jo