Primary eNews. Friday 16 November 2018
Attendance & Punctuality
As we move towards the fourth month of the school year I think it is important for us all to consider our children’s punctuality and attendance at school. It is wonderful to see most of our students arriving at school on time of a morning and most having zero or minimal absences. However we are seeing some cases of ‘chronic absence’ which refers to children missing 10 percent or more of school days due to absence for any reason—excused and unexcused absences can translate into gaps and delays in learning.
I would invite you to watch this short video from the Brooking Institute in the US about the impact chronic absenteeism can have on students’ development.
More information can be found in the related article
School Security
Parents are reminded to support our security staff by always wearing their lanyard with school identification when entering the school campus. Parents are also asked to ensure that all guests sign in at the guard house by the entrance and to offer all bags for inspection by our security teams.
Afternoon Supervision
If your child is collected by a pembantu (helper) or sopir (driver), please ensure that they are aware of their responsibility of safely escorting the children off the campus and not to leave them unattended.
Students are welcome to play on the Primary Pitch from 3:00 – 4:00pm if they are being supervised by their parents (not pembantus or sopirs) as parents are responsible for their own children during this time. Parents are asked to remind their children to pack up the sport equipment and move it to the step outside the Primary Principal’s Office at 4:00pm so that it is not left outside in the rain now that the wet season has begun.
Parent Information Session on Assessment in the PYP @Bali Island School
We will be hosting a Parent Information Session on Assessment in the PYP @Bali Island School from 8:00 – 8:50am on Monday 26 November in the School Library. We will start the session with an overview of assessment in the PYP before the parents will be joined by most of the Primary School Teachers who will share a wide range of assessment tools and assessment samples covering all age groups in the Primary School. We hope that this interactive session will appeal to more parents than a 50 minute lecture style presentation.
Tips for Healthy Snacks and Lunches
It is wonderful to see so many of students bringing a variety of healthy and tasty snacks and lunches to school. After having a discussion with some parents a few weeks ago, I have been looking for some practical resources for parents with some tips for packing healthy snacks and lunches. The Victorian Department of Health Pick & Mix 1-6 poster provides a range of ideas and practical tips to inspire families to create healthy school lunch boxes (see screenshots below)
Pick and mix one tasty option from each of the five core food groups to create a healthy lunchbox every day:
- Fruit (e.g. fresh, frozen, pureed and canned in natural juice
- Vegetables, legumes and beans
- Milk, yoghurt, cheese and alternatives
- Lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, and legumes/beans
- Grain (cereal) foods
- Plain water
Click here to download the Pick and Mix 1 – 6 poster
Click here to access the Victorian Department of Health pages about school lunches and a lot of good quality links with great lunchbox tips.
Grade 1 – Who We Are Information Books
Grade 1 have been writing information books All About Health. In these books, we included three chapters: Nutrition, Fitness & Wellness.
Nutrition
Nutrition is the science of food. As scientists, we asked ourselves; What is in food? We went to the secondary science lab to investigate. We found out that food is made from different chemicals that our bodies need to be healthy. We were surprised by some of our results. Did you know that bread contains sugar? We were also surprised to find out the gummy bears have protein because they contain gelatin which comes from animal bones and organs!
Fitness
Pak Sam helped us develop a circuit training routine that uses all the muscles in our bodies. This circuit strengthens our glutes, abdominals, biceps, triceps and leg muscles. We even made an exercise video to share with all of the primary school.
Wellness
Wellness is keeping your mind healthy. You can do exercises everyday to keep your mind healthy. Every morning in Grade 1, we take some time to be mindful about our day. There are lots of ways. Here are some ideas: rest well, be kind, build patience, forgive others and be grateful.
Ibu Denise Mulhaire – Grade 1 Teacher
Primary PE
Wow, what a term it has been!
Our early years students have been focussed upon both small and large ball skills as well as their personal fitness levels. This has primarly included kicking, catching and throwing with accuracy and control. While Middle and upper primary students have recently been involved in soccer, volleyball and are about to embark on the new journey this week, gymnastics.
Soccer concluded last week with our 9-10 year old boys team making it all the way to the final with an action packed semi final match that went all the way down to a penalty shot out, which we managed to win. Well done to all players, family support and student coaches involved!
Volleyball has seen students really extending their skills from previous years, which are coming along nicely. Students in lower grades are grappling with the skills of catching, serving and using court space as a team. Middle primary has been working on modified games in which the net is lowered, second chances are awarded for serves, a softer ball is adopted and catching is a frequent part of the game. Upper primary have adopted a more advanced approach, in which two simultaneous games have been played side-by-side. One focusing on an initial catch by the serve receiver and from then on, the game flows according to traditional Volleyball rules. The other game is a more social approach in which players are allowed to continually catch the ball and then set teammates up who will either set or dig the ball from then on.
Please continue to remember your (labelled) PE uniform, water bottle and hats as it we are right into that warm time of year.
Stay healthy, stay happy.
Pak Sam Watson – PE Teacher
Grade 5 and Grade 9 Gymnastics Collaboration
A gymnastics collaboration by Grade 5 and Grade 9 in the morning’s lesson are such a great new unit for them!
