Once again, what a difference two weeks can make! Not only are the playgrounds and corridors ringing with polite and genuinely cheerful greetings, but also with the sound of ‘please’ and ‘thank you’. Congratulations, parents!  Your hard work is most certainly paying off. We’re so proud of our students and their wonderful manners.

This week, I wonder if we could all work to help our students learn to apologise. An apology shows empathy and that you are taking responsibility for your actions. As our children get bigger, their physicality can get them into trouble. And as they get older, and make approximations towards being grownups, they’ll make many mistakes, or hurt themselves, or hurt someone else, or make a poor, thoughtless, silly or cruel choice. When they do, we need to react with compassion: listen, help them fix the problem, forgive them, and ask what choices they might make next time.

We can’t force an apology. So here is an approach to try from Dr. Siggie Cohen:

“Would you like to apologise? We apologise when we feel bad about something and we use the word ‘sorry’. This can sometimes make us and the other person feel better. Want to try?”

By using these words, you’re helping your child understand why we apologise, rather than just repeat the word ‘sorry’ because mum or dad said so. In other words, your child learns to apologise by acknowledging that they’ve done something wrong.

But what if your child decides that they would not like to apologise? This is common, says Dr. Siggie. In that case, the parenting expert recommends saying something like:

“Seems like you’re not ready. That’s OK… maybe because you’re still upset yourself. Take your time and if you feel like it, you can say sorry when you’re ready.” (Dellner, 2021)

   

Inquiry at St Matthew’s
All classes are beginning their second unit of inquiry for the year, with a focus on science and care for our planet.  A unit of inquiry is only as strong as its conceptual understanding (sometimes known as the ‘central’ or ‘big’ idea). This is a single, rather complex statement that brings together the content and concepts to be covered in the unit. Here are the conceptual understandings that we are investigating this term:

• The earth’s natural cycles influence the activity of living things.
• Humans make choices that affect the survival of native animals.
• Understanding how living things change helps us to preserve and protect the natural environment.
• Knowledge about and connection to living things and their environment allows us to understand and care for them.
• Human activity has an impact on changing landscapes.
• Adaptations help living things to survive and thrive in their environment.
• Communities collaborate to manage challenges.

Our aim is that each unit is engaging, relevant, challenging, and significant.  Can you also see that each statement invites students to consider how they will take action as people of hope?

We’re all very excited about the possibilities for inquiry this term. Stay tuned!