Year 5 Leaders and Parent Conferences

Congratulations to the Year 5 leaders for this term who were presented with their leadership badges at Monday’s assembly.

Thank you to those parents who attended the Prep – Year 5 conferences this week. As the learning journey at Pacific is a shared one between parents, staff and students, these conferences play an important role in enabling parents to be a part of their child’s growth and development.

As I entered the College yesterday, one of the students greeted me with a hearty good morning and held the gate open for me to enter. Often, we undervalue the positive impact that small acts of kindness can have on another person. A smile, speaking in a friendly voice, helping another or doing something thoughtful or generous for others can brighten a dull day and invigorate our feelings and emotions. Acting kindly towards another not only makes the receiver feel good, but the person performing the actions finds their endeavours fulfilling and satisfying.

Are such behaviours innate or do they need to be learnt? Recent scientific evidence has found that surprisingly, our brains are actually wired to be benevolent. Our social environment is often directed towards an ‘every man for himself attitude’, based upon success at the expense of others.

Like any skill, how to speak and act with kindness is something that can be taught. At the College, the development of social and emotional competencies in students is a major focus. Research regularly reaffirms that happy, confident and resilient children perform more successfully academically.

Each year, students study the You Can Do It program, which includes lessons on Getting Along, Persistence, Confidence, Organisation and Emotional Resilience. Students work within the framework of Restorative Practices and the Christian Studies and devotions program. In support of these programs this term, students will be trialling study in developing the concept of kindness.

The concepts translate easily from school to home. As a parent, we all want our children to be happy, confident and resilient. We also want our children to act with thought and kindness without the need for extrinsic forms of motivation (prizes). A quick internet search reveals there is a great variety of interesting material available on the topic. The following site, which contains a program used successfully in the Colorado Schools District in the United States, acts as a great starting point if you are interested in the topic: http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/.

Mr David Druery, Head of Staff and Students P-5