Dear Parents, Children and Friends

Welcome back to the 2019 School year. I trust you all enjoyed a lovely Christmas break with your families and your children are well rested and enthusiastic about returning to school.

I would like to extend a warm welcome to our families who are new to the school in 2019. I hope you will find your time at Francis Jordan to be a richly rewarding and fulfilling experience.

We welcome back Mrs Suzie Gianassi, Mrs Ella Redding and Mrs Rebecca Baran from leave, and Mrs Gloria Ward back from maternity leave to continue her role as Assistant Principal.

Class Dojo

This year clear, concise and timely communication is a focus for our school. As such, we have introduced Class Dojo as the main form of parent and teacher communication. Class Dojo allows parents to actively engage with their children’s learning through viewing photos, videos and pieces of their work. It also allows parents to communicate directly with the teacher, and allows teachers to send messages to parents and receive parent replies.

Class Dojo will also assist us to reduce the number of SMS messages sent out to our community and will ensure you receive information pertaining to your child and their needs.

You will receive an invitation to your child’s Class Dojo page over the next week. We encourage parents to make regular use of the Class Dojo app, specifically providing your child with positive feedback on the app.

Please note, that absentees must continue to be sent to the Office at admin@fjcs.wa.edu.au

Pre Primary –Year Six Parent Information Evening

This year the Parent Information Evening will be held in February as follows:

Please note that all meetings begin at 6.00pm and will be held in your child’s classroom.

As this meeting sets out the expectations of the 2019 school year we ask that one parent from each family attend and request that you inform classroom teachers if you are unable to do so.

Beginning of the Year Mass

I would like to extend an invitation for our parents and friends to join us for our Opening Mass & the Blessing of the Leadership Badges on Friday at 11am in the school hall. I look forward to seeing you there.

Save the Date: Family Fun Night

I look forward to joining the school community at the P&F Family Fun Night for our ‘welcome back to school’ function on Friday 15 February. Please mark this date in your diary. Further information will follow shortly.

Uniforms

I would like to thank each parent for sending their children to school looking incredibly neat and tidy. I believe high standards begin within; if we have pride in our appearance and wear our uniform correctly and with pride, this will translate to higher standards in the classroom. I encourage all parents to be vigilant in maintaining this high standard all year.

Please note the Uniform Shop days have changed. It will now be open on a Thursday from 8-9am.

Make this year your child’s best ever at school

As our children come back to school, it is important to get them back into routines and begin to form good school habits again. Below is a fabulous article by Michael Grose that gives parents seven ways to help children make the most of the fresh start and make this year your child’s best year ever at school. He offers the following tips:

1. Commit to your child going to school every day on time.  One of the most important things you can do to ensure your child has a bright future is to make sure he or she goes to school every day – and gets there on time. Kids spend more time asleep than at school, so we need to maximise every day to get full value.
2. Help kids start each day well.  A good night’s sleep, a healthy breakfast and some words of encouragement from you will help set a positive tone for a day of learning. This may mean that you adjust your morning routine so that kids have plenty of time get up, eat and get ready for the day.
3. Establish work and study habits.  The most successful students are those that develop regular study habits that suit their lifestyle, their study style and their school’s expectations.  Find out the work expectations from your child’s school and help them establish a work routine that matches.
4. Make sure your child gets enough sleep.  Many children and young people are sleep-deprived, which impacts on their wellbeing and their learning. A good night’s sleep consolidates learning, as well as assisting future learning. Children need between 10-12 hours of sleep each day, while teens need a minimum of nine hours. Help kids get sufficient sleep by having a regular bedtime and get-up time each day. Have a 45-minute wind-down time each night, and remove screens and mobile phones from bedrooms.
5. Insist kids exercise.  The old saying about ‘a healthy body and a healthy mind’ is so true. Exercise releases the chemicals needed for learning and wellbeing. Yet kids today get less exercise than those of past generations, which is an impediment to learning and mental health. Health professionals recommend a minimum of 60 minutes of exercise per day for kids of all ages. Encourage your child to play sport; promote free and active play and look for ways to make moving part of their daily lives.
6. Focus on being friendly.  Schools are very social places requiring kids to negotiate many different social situations each day. Yet we often only focus on academic learning. There are strong links between social success, and academic success and wellbeing. Encourage kids to be open and tolerant; to be friendly; to be sensitive to others; to be involved in plenty of activities and to be social risk-takers. These are all characteristics of socially successful kids. At the same time discourage anti-social behaviours such as over-competitiveness, self-centredness and lack of sharing.
7. Develop self-help skills.  Successful students are often well organised, self-directed and self-motivated. Personal organisation seems to come more naturally to girls than boys, however both genders benefit from coaching in this important area. You can foster organisational skills and self-direction by developing simple, age-appropriate self-help skills related to their everyday lives. Such skills as making lunches, packing school bags, and organising after school schedules can be great lessons that impact on how kids perform at school.

May God bless our school and those within it.

Miranda Swann

Principal