Useful Life Skills for School
Students need important life skills, both ‘soft’ skills that involve direct communication, and the routines that establish independence. These are the skills that will allow for more successful learning in the classroom and a greater sense of belonging at school and in the greater world.
Addressing others respectfully
Email is a common form of written communication between teachers and students, and, unless told otherwise, students should begin with “Dear Mr/Mrs/Miss…” and not “Hey” or “Hi”. Students often have very limited interaction, electronically or otherwise, with adults who are not relatives or friends of their parents. They can be unsure how to address and interact with older people and authority figures. Doing it right isn’t difficult, as long as they choose their words more carefully than when talking to their friends and don’t put their feet up on the furniture.
Managing their own schedules
Students who have organised their own schedules—getting themselves to school or practice, showing up for events or simply getting home for dinner on time—are more confident at school. Let your children learn by managing their own schedules. One parent kept track of the number of minutes spent waiting for her constantly late son, and deducted those minutes, with a multiplier, from his weekly screen time. When he had a good (not perfect) week, he got bonus minutes. Screen time, game time, play time or social time—whatever is valued can be used to teach this lesson.
Getting around, especially on public transport
How many students manage their own transportation, whether it’s driving themselves or knowing the schedules of public transport or using cycle ways? Cycling with someone who rides every day is a fast way to learn about safe routes. Parents can get their children into the habit of using public transport where it exists rather than taking them everywhere in the car. Make it a family routine to plan not only an event but the best method of getting there.
How would your child get on if they had to start work today?
No matter how smart your children are, if they are trying to learn life skills at the same time they are taking on the load and pressure of a new year at school, they will be at a disadvantage.
When students are not able to get to class because they can’t get up or don’t manage their time well, when they miss assignments or take late penalties because they don’t know how to prioritise, when they are not paying attention or are just rude to their teacher or to their classmates because they are distracted by hunger or uncertain how to act, all of those things affect their grades, and others’ assessment of them.
Ask yourselves how well your child would fare if their working life started today. And if the answers make you unsure, you’ve got time to change them. Demonstrate good manners, especially when talking to other adults or people in positions of authority. Insist your children look adults in the eye and greet them, answer questions clearly and make conversation. Let your teens organise their own after-school time, even if it is just one day a week. Let them find out the consequences of spending all their time on a phone instead of getting work done. Let them organise their own transportation for one element of their lives.
Every young person will find their own way; every parent will let go in their own way. But moving forward is easier for everyone—parents, students and teachers—when life skills are passed on before they are needed.
Acknowledgement: Margaret Dwyer
Business Manager Appointment
I’m pleased to be able to announce that we have appointed a new Business Manager, Mr Stephen Greener, who will commence with Prince of Peace from Tuesday 6 October. Stephen has been the Business Manager at Grace Lutheran Primary School in Clontarf since 2014. Previous to that, he was at Bethania Lutheran School and in a ‘previous life’ has worked as a teacher in a senior schooling setting.
We look forward to welcoming Stephen to the Prince of Peace community.
Blessings
Simon Hughes
Head of College
Intention to Leave Notifications
To assist with our 2021 classroom planning, if any of our families intend to leave the College we ask if you can please notify us in writing before Tuesday 6 October 2020. In doing so, it will allow the College to contact families currently on our waiting lists in Term 4, whilst also ensuring that you meet your contractual obligations. Please contact your Head of Campus or Donna Cook, Marketing and Enrolments Manager, if you have any questions.
Notifications can be sent to dcook@princeofpeace.qld.edu.au or school@princeofpeace.qld.edu.au
Class Placements—2021
Most families across the College are aware of the cautious stance taken when inviting class placement requests from families. I have children of my own and understand how much they would love to be placed with their best friend, or a preferred teacher that a sibling may have had. I also realise how important it is for them to grow as individuals and not be reliant on others for their academic and social successes.
I encourage all families, as we enter the final term of the 2020 school year, to allow their children to grow spiritually, emotionally, academically, socially and independently as they transition to their new 2021 class. I strongly encourage parents to place faith in the judgments and insights that our teaching staff have into individual students and their school persona.
I have the highest regard for the insights that our teachers offer into the placement of students for the following year. I also have the highest regard for the quality and competency of each of our teaching staff in their professional capacity as educators. Each classroom teacher also seeks feedback from their students on their friends from this year. This assists with the construction of class lists for the following year.
As in previous years, any request for a specific classroom teacher will not be considered. As you can appreciate, staff movement amongst year levels is inevitable, and therefore specific teacher requests often become redundant. However, if you believe there is an important consideration (that sits outside of friendship and teacher requests) that needs to be taken into account when placing your child for 2021, please submit this request in writing to the attention of Mrs Katrina Valencia. My commitment to you is that such requests will be considered, however, please understand that no guarantees can be made.
Ultimately, I will be guided by our teaching staff and their knowledge of your child, as well as any pertinent information you may be able to provide in relation to your child’s specific learning needs. Please ensure that these requests are submitted in writing by Friday 16 October, 2020. Thank you for your assistance in ensuring the complex process of class placements for the 2021 school year is attended to in the most equitable and professional manner possible. Please be aware that once class placements have been allocated, there will be no further movement of class arrangements except in exceptional or uncontrollable circumstances.
Book Week 2020
We are very excited that Book Week 2020 is finally here! I know many students and staff have been working hard on their costumes and cannot wait to spend the last day of Term 3 in costume. Due to a number of privacy concerns, I have made the decision NOT to live stream our parade in 2020. While I appreciate this may be disappointing, we do take the safety and privacy of our students very seriously and feel that this is the best way forward for 2020. Instead, we will endeavour to gather as many photos of the students as we possibly can, and will make these available to parents on the Website through our Parent Portal/ Photo Gallery. I thank you for your understanding in this matter.
Book Week Parent Challenge
While it is not possible this year for parents to attend our parade, there is absolutely nothing stopping our fantastic parents from dressing up for this special day!
All parents are encouraged to don their favourite Book Week costume for our final Friday afternoon pick-up.
You will never understand how much your efforts meant to the children at the end of Term 2, and to staff also. We encourage all parents, as you are able to, to pop on your wigs, dress up as your favourite Disney princess, strap on your favourite super hero capes and anything else you can think of and let’s WOW our wonderful students as we send them off to a well-deserved holiday!
Term 4 is a Coming… and it is Full to Bursting!
After what has been one very unique year, we find ourselves staring at the final quarter. Given the difficult circumstances and restrictions of Term 2 and the continuing restrictions of Term 3, decisions were made throughout the year to postpone as many student events as feasible to allow the students to participate in Term 4. This of course has made for a busy term for all. I wanted to take a moment to outline some key dates for parents, including some tentative dates, so that we can all begin planning our busy schedules… before the Christmas events begin too 🙂
Important dates to note:
- Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday (5 Oct)
- Year 5 Camp (6 Oct – 9 Oct)
- Year 2 Sleepover (16 Oct – 17 Oct)
- Year 4 Camp (19 Oct – 21 Oct)
- Prep 2021 Parent Info Night (28 Oct)
- Day for Daniel / World Teachers Day (30 Oct)
- JC School Captain Speeches (2 Nov)
- JC Remembrance Day (11 Nov)
- Year 1 – 5 Swimming (16 Nov – 18 Nov)
- Year 6 Camp to Mt Binga (16 Nov – 20 Nov)
- Year 3 Camp to Warrawee (19 Nov – 20 Nov)
- JC Awards Assemblies Week 8 (23 Nov – 27 Nov) Dates and Times TBC
- Year 6 Orientation Day at SC (30 Nov)
- Year 1 – 5 Swimming (24 – 25 Nov)
- Year 3 – 6 Swimming Carnival (1 Dec)
- Year 6 Celebration Day out (2 Dec)
- Year 6 Celebration Services (3 Dec)
- JC Last Day of Term (4 Dec)
As we prepare to wave goodbye to Term 3, I want to wish you all a happy and safe holiday. I pray that it is a time where you can reconnect with your family, rest, recuperate and spend some time with God, who restores our weary hearts and minds.
Be blessed,
Katrina Valencia
Head of Junior Campus
Thank You Pop Community!
On behalf of the Art for Heart Team we would like to thank everyone for their support. We were so excited to use or God-given gifts and abilities to serve others in need. We were absolutely blown away by the support we received from everyone in the PoP community. We raised $491. Wow! We are overwhelmed by your generosity in helping us raise money for the Heart Foundation. From the bottom of our hearts thank you for making Art for Heart a huge success.
Kristie Stedman
Year 5 Teacher
Library News
For the first time ever, @cbca_vic is running their own Shadow Judging initiative, with student judges from selected schools and organisations voting on their favourite CBCA-shortlisted book titles. Working alongside CBCA Victoria, students across Australia are invited to discover the joy and responsibility of being a CBCA judge.
Using our template, young book judges in the making can record their thoughts after viewing each story shortlisted for the CBCA Early Childhood award category, considering what they liked about each book, how the stories made them feel or what they admired about the characters in the stories. They can assign and use their scores to help determine the book they believe to be worthy of taking out the CBCA Early Childhood Book of the Year for 2020, and discover if they’ve chosen a winning title when the CBCA announces the winning and honour books on Friday, 17 October.
As all of the students on our Junior Campus are familiar with the shortlisted books in each category, it would be wonderful if they could have an opportunity to be a real-life ‘shadow- judge’, and have their opinions heard and counted!
To learn more please visit the blog at storyboxlibrary.com.au/blog. #StorytimeAnytime
Parents can access Story Box Library from home, through our school’s subscription:
Link: https://storyboxlibrary.com.au/blog/become-a-book-of-the-year-shadow-judge-for-cbca-book-week-2020
Username: POPLC
Password: BooksRGr8
Much Love, Mrs Meulen
Same But Different
As I reflect on Term 3, it has been a relief that some of our normal activities have been possible—but they have looked a little different in 2020. Our students have enjoyed the opportunity to engage in our Outdoor Education program. The all important Year 9 students have been missed while they have been away at Mt Binga, and will return home on Saturday. Unfortunately, they will not be able to participate in the traditional end of camp presentation and celebration, but we have still managed to allow parents to collect their children, so they can share their experiences in the all important debrief on the way home.
It was wonderful to host the Year 6 students when they visited the Senior Campus in Week 8. They enjoyed getting a taste for some of the Senior Campus subjects of Humanities, Food Technology and Science.
On Friday and Saturday night, I had the pleasure of seeing the Year 8 Musical “Little Stars” which we hosted on site at The Pavilion. What a wonderful space, what amazing talent, and what great team work. We thank Mr Von Hoff, Mrs Brady, Mrs Spring and Mr Stevens for supporting the students in this endeavor. Thank you to our parents and guests for their understanding as we hosted a COVID-safe event. I love the Year 8 Musical, because it provides an opportunity for a wide range of students to shine. Both casts should be very proud of what they have achieved. Congratulations to all involved.
On Tuesday, the Year 12 students enjoyed their long awaited Formal. Due to COVID restrictions, we hosted the pre-event on site to facilitate the opportunity for our parents to share together this rite of passage. Thank you to Mrs Bonello for all her work in organising the event. Due to the rules about dancing, we needed to improvise and organised a magician, balloon artist and some other fun for the evening. The students all looked stunning, and now that the big night has passed I’m sure will be able to fully concentrate on revising for their external exams.
Thank you for your continued support. Wishing you and your family a restful break. School resumes on Tuesday 6 October.
Michelle Nisbet
Head of Senior Campus
Junior Campus Sport
Jump Rope for Heart Jump Off Day
Last Friday saw the culmination of our eight-week Jump Rope For Heart programme.
Every year level on the Junior Campus came down to The Shed for 20 minutes and each student demonstrated his/her skipping skills. Approximately 150 prizes were awarded to the most skillful skippers, as well as the most improved since the start of the term.
It was a very exciting day and the students displayed great sportsmanship and support for their schoolmates. 🙂
As of 3:20pm last Friday, our incredible school total stood at $31,566.34
The top 10 fundraisers are:
1 | Cody Byrne | 5B | $13,241.05 |
2 | Jackson Williams | 1C | $1,014.79 |
3 | Georgia Gardner | 4B | $833.48 |
4 | Gabriella Turnbull | 3C | $667.02 |
5 | Jasmin Dargaville | 4B | $602.75 |
6 | Logan Holmes | 1W | $580.21 |
7 | Clara Schulz | 2NG | $567.07 |
8 | Lucas Phillips | 3C | $534.10 |
9 | Ashton Purcell | 1C | $515.70 |
10 | Jesse Byrne | 1W | $489.62 |
Fundraising prizes will be ordered during the holidays, so if your child is in line to receive one of these (refer to their JRFH fundraising account) could you please let Mr Lawrance know of their choice by this Friday 18 September at the latest?
If you have collected/been promised cash donations, could you please follow the online instructions for their collection ASAP?
A huge thank you to the whole PoP community—your efforts have been awesome!
Addison Houslip – Outstanding Cross Country Performance
Addie (in class 5C) competed in the Queensland Cross Country Championships on Saturday 5 September at Limestone Park in Ipswich. She came away with the bronze medal in this extremely competitive event and covered the 3km course in 11:04 minutes! This was less than one second behind the second-placed girl!
Although Nationals were cancelled due to COVID-19, Queensland Athletics today named a ‘2020 QLD Cross Country Merit Team,’ in which Addie was selected.
A fantastic achievement Addie!
Darren Lawrance
Junior Campus PE and Sport
Junior Campus Music News
Junior Band
We’d love to see more members join our Junior Band. It’s a small but enthusiastic group who rehearse each Thursday lunch time. I encourage students learning a woodwind or brass instrument to come along and give it a go!
Choirs
The Junior Campus Choirs will be presenting a virtual performance early next term. Please let me know if you do not have a choir uniform.
Australian Girls’ Choir
A representative from the AGC will visit our school on Monday 12 October at 11:30am. Any girls interested in singing (in a group setting) and would like more information about the choir are welcome to attend. Permission notes and more information will be sent home with interested children before the end of term.
Maddie auditioned earlier this year and won one of the four lead characters in HIJABI GIRL: A MUSICAL PUPPET SHOW. She will be doing the voice acting and singing for the character Tien.
Co-authored by Australian author Hazel Edwards OAM and children’s librarian Ozge Alkan, Hijabi Girl is a children’s book for ages 7-9 that Larrikin Puppets is transforming into a musical theatre performance for schools featuring puppets. Larrikin Puppets will be bringing the book character’s voices to life after the COVID-19 pandemic, transforming the written word into a fun, musical puppet show that will shine a spotlight on much-needed multicultural themes around diversity, identity, anti-bullying and creative problem solving to children in schools across Australia.
For further details see their website.
Should you have any questions about the instrumental, choral or classroom music program on the Junior Campus, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sherree Cudney
Junior Campus Music
Worship
Sunday 20 September
Worship Service 9am
Together@5pm this Sunday
Stationery Aid
Stationery Aid is a volunteer-based, not for profit initiative that collects, sorts, cleans, renews and repacks excess and used stationery items that are in good working condition, to prevent them from going to landfill. School stationery packs and kits are then donated and distributed to school communities locally and eventually abroad.
There is a blue Stationery Aid recycling bin located at both the Junior and Senior Campus. If you have stationery items in your household that are no longer required, please send them along to school or drop them into the blue wheelie bin provided at each Campus office.
Uniform Shop
The Uniform Shop is located on the Junior Campus—park opposite reception and follow the signs to the shop under the Year 1 and 2 building. We carry all items of Prince of Peace uniform for both Junior and Senior Campus, including lunch bags, soccer socks, food technology aprons, Chess Club and music uniforms. The Campus shop is open Tuesdays and Thursdays 8.00am to 11.00am during term times—Thurs 17 September is the last open day this term and will reopen again on Tuesday 6 October. Orders can be placed anytime from The School Locker Website with either home or school delivery (PICK UP option). If you would like items delivered to your child’s class, please enter your child’s name and class in the second address line and Wendy will arrange delivery for you.
In addition, The School Locker has a super-store located at 5-6 Burke Crescent, Northlakes, which is open 8.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday and 9.00am to 3.00pm Saturdays. The super store also carries technology items (Apple authorised repairer), stationery, shoes, instrumental and sporting goods, making the trip well worth the visit. Items can also ordered online for pickup or home delivery for a small fee. Have you all have an enjoyable and safe holiday!.
Back to School Fittings: We are happy to fit you anytime during shop hours—no appointment required. The School Locker have a 60 day size guarantee—we will refund or exchange any items in shop condition. Our experienced staff also can also advise on the best fit for comfort and value.
Second Hand: If you wish to buy or sell second hand uniforms, please visit our very active PoP Second Hand Uniform Buy & Sell Facebook group.