School Reports, Barbreck Music Concert, Generosity of the Barbreck Community
School Reports
The End of Semester Reports will be available on the Portal on Thursday 5 December. Parents will receive an email when they are available on that day.
The levels of achievement indicate the level demonstrated by your daughter, and the teachers’ comments will provide further information to you by outlining areas of strength and those requiring further work, as well as advice on how they can improve.
Subject Results Comparative Reports are available upon request to Junior School reception and will be emailed to you.
Please note that due to privacy issues, numbers two or fewer within the distribution table will not be shown.
Barbreck Music Concert
Once again, the Barbreck Music Concert was a huge success. The night showcased everything the girls had been working on in their ensemble and choral work throughout the year. The ensembles presented included Strings, Flute and Recorder as well as band performances.
All choirs performed, with the evening culminating in a mass choral finale singing When I Close My Eyes and our favourite, Blue Ribbon Girl.
Congratulations go to our wonderful and talented Music department, including Mrs Melissa Dods, Mrs Lyn Henshall, Mrs Kate Denmead, Mrs Lisa Cook, Miss Jess Farrell, Mr Tim Collins and Ms Holly Shoar.
It was exciting to see the wonderful progression of student performances as they advance from Years Prep to 6.
Generosity of the Barbreck Community
Thanks and appreciation are extended to all Barbreck families for your contributions of Jolly Bags for the St Catherine’s School Christmas Fair and Christmas gifts and food for the Salvation Army Christmas Appeal. Your generosity was overwhelming.
Ms Karen McArdle, Head of Junior School
Year 1 Wellbeing
Year 1 students have been participating in the Swinburne University Aristotle Emotional Intelligence Program. The focus has been to provide a series of practical skills that can be used to help students manage emotions that are sometimes problematic.
Aimee Davenport and Charlotte Ranchod, pleased with their origami boats made to help practise deep breathing.
Year 1 students identified emotions such as anger, fear, sadness, worry, frustration, and even excitement as ‘big feelings’ which can be overwhelming at times. Often when these ‘big feelings’ build up, we can reach a boiling point, which sometimes leads to undesirable consequences at school or home.
Along with identifying these feelings and acknowledging their importance, students have learnt some simple and practical strategies to more effectively self-regulate their emotions.
- Calm Breathing: Calm controlled breathing to settle the body and mind.
- Visualisation: Thinking of a happy thought to help calm the body and make it easier to feel more positive emotions.
The Aristotle Program, established by the Swinburne University Emotional Intelligence Research Unit, states that “As students acquire more strategies for emotional regulation, they become more equipped to deal with strong, unpleasant or unhelpful emotions that inevitably arise from time to time.”
Below are some reflections from the Year 1 students about the Wellbeing program.
“When I am feeling angry, I can take three deep breaths to help me settle down and say – okay, I can fix this.” – Nina Calvert.
“Sometimes I feel mad and angry and I want to go to my room to be by myself. Now I can visualise going to Disneyland with a sheep (my favourite animal) to help me calm down.” – Lucy Venema.
“When I am feeling sad, I try and take three deep breaths and take some time out. If I feel mad, I will think of a happy place. Here are some of my happy places: family, fried rice, toys, gherkins and more.” – Charlotte Ranchod.
“When you are mad, you can breathe in and out and think of a great time. When I think of a rainbow I feel a lot better.” – Jemimah O’Brien.
“When I feel sad I breathe in and out. I feel a lot better. When I am angry, I go into my mind and think of something nice.” – Ruby Carroll.
The Year 1 students practise their calm breathing exercises.
