A Focus on Personal Approach and Manners

“Why do you think manners when meeting other people are important?”

Manners are important because you need to be polite and not rude when talking to someone. Alexa Sowerby (Year 3)

If you are polite, you will have more friends because it makes people feel happy. Chloe Handbury (Year 3)

Treat people the way you want to be treated and no one wants to be treated rudely. Ziabella Armstrong (Year 3)

Be well-mannered, treat others kindly and be a beautiful friend and you will succeed. Olivia Grasso (Year 3)

Saying the name of a person when you greet them shows that you are showing them respect. Mietta Barrington (Year 3) 

Good manners make people around you feel comfortable and happy. Clara Calvert (Year 3)

Good manners make you kind and caring. Polly Moir (Year 3)

It is pleasing to observe young children display a positive response to a current emphasis in the Junior School area for the need to always speak clearly and make sound eye contact when spoken to by others.

Interest in and respect for others is the foundation of a cordial greeting as well as when appropriate, leading on to a positive, interesting further conversation.

While the world and society are ever-changing, it is difficult to even contemplate a time in the near or distant future, when basic, genuine manners are ever to be considered old-fashioned.

As adults, we hear about the vast number of hours young people are spending indoors and in front of screens on one or more devices. Often, this will take place as a solo activity with any conversations being written dialogue. With concern, we hear about the ways in which too much screen time is impacting upon some young people. We keep in mind always, that the research is at relatively early stages, due to the time span over which technology has developed quite exponentially, and long-term studies will take some years to reveal results.

Technology is definitely part of today’s society for both adults and children. It can be effectively utilised in so many amazing ways and will be part of an exciting future of change, especially when used wisely.

Increased emphasis upon manners, and the teaching and role modelling of sound, positive conversations, together with the well-known fact that good habits are most effectively taught when children are young, must be maintained. Conversations, interactions and productive outcomes of either agreement or agreement to disagree are always reliant upon a basic mannered approach when the discussions begin. With screen time and one-way responses increasing, as adults, our compulsion is to strive towards teaching, role modelling and emphasising the manners surrounding a conversation, greeting or interaction with others.

We thank parents for supporting staff towards what we know will be young people growing up and enjoying positive reactions and productive, interesting conversations with others, as well as exploring all that technology can offer.

Four Leaf Clover Program

Year 4 students and their Four Leaf Clover Friends.

A highlight of every term in Year 4 is the opportunity to meet with our Four Leaf Clover Friends in the Early Learning Centre. We are not sure who looks forward to each session more! This relationship is a most powerful one. The Year 4 students guide their younger friends and have the opportunity to lead and be a wonderful role model. The children inspire us to become more understanding, patient and excited about the world around us.

By this stage of the year, each Year 4 has established a wonderful rapport with their friend. We were excited to invite the Clovers into our new Barbreck. They were very impressed with our new chairs and huge tables. The Year 4 students interviewed their friends to discover their interests and now have the challenge of incorporating their ideas into a narrative for their friend.

I loved meeting Suhaila and Simona, they are my new Four Leaf Clover Friends. I asked the girls what they liked and will now use their ideas to write a story. Shamsa Aljneibi

This term the Four Leaf Clovers came into our new building, everybody in Year 4 was so excited, especially me! We were squealing and dancing! I asked my friend about the new building and she said she loved it. It will be so exciting to see her here as a Barbreck student one day. Giselle Mangano

Once my friend had looked at our new classroom and said he loved it, we took out our Writer’s Journal. We asked our friends about what they loved doing, wrote down their ideas and now we are now going to write a narrative including these ideas. At the end of the term we are going to share them. Kristin Dodd

Ms Simone Schilte, Year 4 Teacher
Late Lunch Orders

We are well aware that in the busy schedules of mornings in the family home, a planned lunch order through Flexi-Schools may be inadvertently forgotten. The information below explains the ways in which Flexi-Schools can assist with late lunch orders:

  1. Until 9.00am each school day, orders may be placed online through Flexi-Schools (full menu options are available).
  2. Between 9.00am and 11.00am, orders may still be placed online, but the menu list to select from may have limited options.
  3. After 11.00am, if a student reports that she has no lunch or the lunch order has not been entered online, parents will be contacted by Mrs Sharon Brinkworth to ascertain permission for your daughter to purchase a “standard lunch” at the cost of $9.00. The lunch consists of:
    • A choice of limited, fresh ready made sandwich/wrap
    • Fresh fruit
    • Choice of bottled water/juice box
  4. Parents will receive an email from Mrs Brinkworth advising payment method via the Flexi-Schools IOU system. Parents are asked to understand that from 11.00am onwards, the staff in the café have no opportunity to make or supply alternative orders. 
Mrs Alana Moor, Head of ELC and Junior School