Dear Parents/Carers,                                                                        

We are starting the second half of the term and our school continues to offer broad experiences to the children beyond the core work of teachers. Last week we had approximately one third of the school (about 200 chn) attend the soccer gala day and I am very aware the Chess competition, with the support of Mr Messina, is also just around the corner. In addition, Cameron Brown continues to work with Year 4 and Year 5 on resilience and friendships.

Resilience has been a significant challenge for our school since returning from COVID, two years ago. As I journeyed with my own children I became aware of three personal attributes that are important to nurture children through as well as three external attributes that also need to be navigated.

The personal attributes were:

Qualities and Values - I needed to assist my children in developing strong guiding values to help them relate to others and the internal qualities that galvanised them when confronted with challenges, especially with friends. The guiding values were the compass that enabled them to base their decisions on and in doing so, make the best choice. I made sure my kids were well versed in understanding personal responsibility, respect, persistence, resolving conflict and managing emotions. This was a work in action and they needed to be confronted with the challenges along the way to build their skills  first and that can be hard watching them navigate it.

Friendship Skills - Many kids learn this purely by osmosis, others need to be shown and taught. To make difficult decisions that are not excessively influenced by their peers and also maintain internal control can be challenging, even for adults. “Being a good friend” is an essential part of having friends. The ability to garner support either to resolve problems or to cope is an essential resilience skill. I needed to be adept at showing through action how to handle rejection, manage emotions, resolve conflict and how to determine the smart or best decision.

Self - Esteem and learning - I spend time and conversation with both of my children about the need to believe in their own self worth and to feel that they have control over the things that happen to them. I needed to show my children and have them experience directly optimism, motivation, organisation and health and fitness which are all critical to resilience building.

The external attributes were:

Strong family - The benefit of reminding your children that they have a strong sense of belonging to a family (which can come in many forms) cannot be underestimated. Family connection provides the anchor and a sense of purpose for children. Having positive, resilient role models in their family is perhaps the single most important environmental factor for building a resilient child. Clear rules and consequences for breaking rules helped my children develop in an atmosphere of certainty. A chaotic, inconsistent environment is harmful for resilience promotion, especially in children of primary age or younger.

School community - Children need to be surrounded by people who love, care for, appreciate and listen to them. When children have strong links to their school, they have two protective layers around them to support their growth and development.

Activities - I saw the value of free play opportunities when my kids were growing up. This aided the development of their imaginations, sense of control and personal power. I must admit, watching my daughter play with her dolls, using the different voices, I thought was cute at the time, but it had a purpose in creating a resilient child. However, we also mixed this up with a number of structured activities that encouraged them to learn new skills and develop interests with other children and other adults. This helped them to fully engage with the world they were a part of. I must also admit that the piano lessons were a financial burden at the time, but this had a significant influence on building their self discipline.

These were personal parenting lessons I went through with my wife and children as they grew into adulthood. As my children are now adults navigating their way through life (one is a lawyer, one is a dietician) I now see the benefits of the six key attributes that, as parents, we have gifted them. They are now independent, making a significant difference to others in the world and as you might have gathered, I am very proud of them. They are our life’s work and I like what I see! So why am I telling you this? Your children are your life’s work and they are still calling out for the same things. Giving them these skills is the greatest gift you can ever gift them; more valuable than their first car, a deposit for a property or paying out their HECS debt.

This parenting thing is tough! I leave this with you to ponder.

Go Gently,                     

Michael Reardon
Principal