From the Head of our Junior School
The girls arrived for the start of the academic year with huge smiles, positive spirits and excitement for their learning adventures. We warmly welcomed many new families to our Junior School community of kindness and I have enjoyed getting to know everyone during the term.
This year, as a Junior School, I am asking the girls to ‘notice’ more. Inspired by my reading of the wonderful picture book Noticing by Kobi Yamada, I am challenging the girls to be curious in their learning, to wonder and question.
Our Junior School continues to have a key focus on the power of kindness as I believe this is a critical strength in the world today. Sometimes acts or words of kindness are mistakenly viewed as weakness. I don’t agree. I believe kindness is strength. If we can empower our girls to walk through life with kindness, they will change the world. This kindness needs to start within themselves.
During Term 1, we focused on Kindness to Self, encouraging each girl to notice her passions and to know or discover what makes her the extraordinary young person we know her to be.
We want each of our girls to be kind to themselves, and to:
- like herself; her mind and her body, and know she is loved for who she is
- be prepared to challenge her thinking and embrace learning that is tricky, knowing that she can achieve great learning if she tries
- approach problems and mistakes she makes in her learning with a resilient mindset and trusting her capabilities.
- face the unknown with creativity and courage, knowing she has the inner strength to explore new opportunities
- have enough sleep each night so she can embrace her learning opportunities with enthusiasm and a mind ready to learn.
- notice the ways she can be her healthiest self through a balance of movement and rest; energy and calm
Together with the girls, we have explored the many ways we can be kind to ourselves, and we hope the girls continue to celebrate themselves for the extraordinary energy and heart they bring to our school.
Throughout the term I spoke to the girls about our four ‘Kindness to Self’ facts:
- I will speak to myself with a kind voice (talking to myself as I would speak to a best friend)
- I will be nervous sometimes, and that’s okay
- I will have a go
- I will make mistakes, and that’s okay.
This term, our focus will be on Kindness to Others and it promises to be another busy and rewarding term.
I look forward to meeting you soon.
