This will be the last newsletter for this term and I’d like to especially thank parents for their support this term. We have had a lot of events that would not have gone off so well without your help and support. Parents and grandparents have helped and supported with the book fair, book club orders, soccer training, athletics carnival, chess club, First Communion, class masses and liturgies, the pie drive, the school disco, our Feast Day activities, the P&F Committee, School Community Council  – and these are just a few examples.

It has been great to see some new faces volunteering to help. Your efforts really are valued.

REMEMBER YOU ARE MOST WELCOME TO JOIN US ON THE LAST DAY OF TERM TO CELEBRATE OUR FEAST DAY. This is like a special birthday celebration for our school and during the last week of term students are reminded about why Ss Peter and Pauls Primary is named after these special holy people.  

REMINDER- You will be able to access reports through Compass on the last day of term. You will be notified by Compass when are they ready to read and with instructions on how to access them.

FOR SOME HOLIDAY READING:

Emotional Intelligence is widely recognised as important for human flourishing.

It includes:

• the ability to identify and appropriately express one’s emotions,
• the ability to manage and self-regulate negative emotions, and
• the ability to empathise with others’ emotional state.

While people will be gifted to different degrees with Emotional Intelligence (EQ), like all intelligences, we can only experience the maximum potential benefits if we train that intelligence and learn the necessary skills. This is what Emotional Literacy is all about – developing the skills that allow our natural Emotional Intelligence to flourish and enrich our lives. It’s a key skill in developing healthy relationships and experiencing life as a gift in all its wonder and challenges. Emotional Literacy brings the following benefits:

• promotes self-awareness and positive self-esteem (‘I know and understand myself and my needs and I am comfortable with who I am’)
• fosters self-control (‘I choose how I will respond to strong emotions’)
• develops resilience and optimism – important character traits known to be influential for healthy, well-adjusted individuals (‘I can see the positive side in every situation, good and bad alike’)
• facilitates healthy communication with others and the appropriate expression of desires and needs (‘I can express myself clearly and respectfully’)
• promotes empathetic understanding towards others which helps prevent bullying and other destructive behaviours (‘I can understand how others are feeling’).

My Day

‘My Day’ is a daily reflection tool inspired by the spiritual exercises of St Ignatius. By reflecting on the best and worst of the day, children learn to assimilate their experiences into their developing understanding of themselves and the world in which they live.  This simple practice is a window into your child’s emotional life. When children start school,  a large part of their world is out of a parent’s sight and reach. Things happen at school, both wonderful and upsetting. Yet by the time a child gets home, the moment has passed. ‘My Day’ is designed to help parents keep in touch with the high and low points of their child’s daily life and so promote the development of their child’s Emotional Literacy. To maximise the impact of My Day, make this a family ‘night prayer’ ritual – give thanks to God for both the good and bad in life and ask the Holy Spirit for help.

1. Ask your child/ren about their day:
   a. What was the best thing that happened to you today?
   b. What was the worst thing that happened to you today?
2. Give thanks to God for both the good and the bad in your life. Ask the Holy Spirit for help.
3. Say a Joey Rosary (Our Father, 3 Hail Marys, Glory Be)