SHINE award winners from Years 4- 6

FIRST NATIONS NEWS

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day
On Monday 4th August, our school joined communities across Australia in celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day. This year’s theme, "Little Footprints, Big Futures," honoured the potential of every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child and the role we all play in supporting their growth, cultural identity, and future aspirations.

Students participated in a variety of classroom and lunchtime activities across Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. These included reading stories by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors, engaging in art projects inspired by traditional designs, learning songs and dances, exploring Dreaming stories, and taking part in games enjoyed by First Nations children. These experiences provided a fun and meaningful way for our students to recognise and celebrate the culture, history, and contributions of Australia’s First Peoples.

We were delighted to welcome First Nations artist Arthur Conlon to our school, where he worked with our Year 6 art classes. Arthur generously shared his cultural knowledge, inspiring students with stories, traditions, and artistic techniques drawn from his heritage. Under his guidance, the students created their own unique artworks, drawing on the rich symbolism and storytelling traditions of First Nations culture. It was a valuable opportunity for our students to deepen their understanding, express themselves creatively, and connect with Australia’s First Peoples through art.

URSTRONG/FRIENDOLOGY
Our classes have been continuing their journey with the URSTRONG Friendology curriculum, and I’ve enjoyed hearing from teachers about the progress of their lessons. Each year level is engaging with content tailored to them, and by now students will have explored the Friend-O-Meter. I’ve included a Parent Resource you might like to try at home. If you and your child complete the activity together, I’d love to hear your feedback.

The Friend-o-Meter: Time to Chat!
How is your child feeling in their friendships? Get them talking & opening up with this activity! Some friendships bring out the best in us while, unfortunately, some bring out the worst. It’s so important to teach children that friendships are a choice and help them learn the difference between healthy & unhealthy friendships.

We developed a visual tool, The Friend-o-Meter, to help children easily reflect on and communicate how they’re feeling in their friendships. In our research, we have found that children do not always assess or evaluate the health of their friendships –meaning, they do not have boundaries when it comes to friendship. We want children to think about whether or not friendships are healthy for them and what qualities are essential in healthy relationships.

Friendship skills are relationship skills, and we do not want children first learning about healthy relationships when they’re teenagers in romantic relationships. We want kids asking themselves now, “Is this friendship (relationship) good for me? Does this person treat me with the respect I deserve?” so that this self-compassion will be an instinct when considering future relationships.

Whether your child has come home from a bad day at school or you’re concerned they’re not surrounding themselves with the right friends, give this little activity a try! It will help open up the lines of communication and get them to share how they are feeling in their friendships.

Instructions

1. Say to your child, “Hey! I have a fun idea... Let’s draw together!” Find a quiet place to colour together where they will feel comfortable chatting.
   1. NOTE: Keep in mind that some children won’t open up if a sibling is around, as friendship issues feel very private and sometimes embarrassing. They also might not trust their sibling to be supportive or respond in a helpful way. Create some one-on-one time so that your child will feel safe sharing their stories with you!
2. Say, “I want to draw a picture of the Friend-o-Meter! Have you heard of it? It helps us think about how we’re feeling in our friendships.” Show them an image of the Friend-o-Meter (above) and start drawing.
3. As you go through each colour, ask them for examples in their friendship. Start with your own personal examples first to lead the way. You might say, “In a Green-Zone Friendship, I feel like I can be myself and feel really comfortable – like with my friend, Shari. It feels really easy with her! Can you think of a Green-Zone Friendship in your life?”
4. Explain to your child that it’s normal for friendships to sometimes dip into the Red Zone because Friendship Fact #1: No friendship (or relationship) is perfect. Say, “Sometimes our friendship ends up in the Red Zone because of a conflict—a Friendship Fire. But, sometimes it just slowly ends up in the Red Zone over time, and we don’t know precisely why—we just know that it doesn’t feel good anymore.” Share an example in your life.
5. Say, “If your friendship is in the Red Zone because of a Friendship Fire, the key is that you put it out and get the friendship back into the Green Zone again!” If your child identifies a Red Zone Friendship in their life, ask them, “What’s ONE THING you can do that might help get it back to the Green Zone?”
   1. NOTE: To put out Friendship Fires, we teach children to work their way around the Friend-o-Cycle. There are great videos (found on their website) they can watch to teach them how to Talk-it-Out with a friend.

Keep focusing on your child and what THEY can do to keep friendships in the Green Zone, empowering them with simple, easy-to-try ideas.

Remind them, “There’s only one person you can control – that’s YOU! And, always remember, you deserve Green-Zone Friendships!!”

Use the Friend-o-Meterto spark discussions with your child and regularly check in on how they’re going in their friendships.

Gracelyn Mitchell

Assistant Principal Administration (Acting) - Padua Campus