Dear Parents,

Welcome back to the new school year and I hope your family had a fabulous holiday break.

During this year, one area of focus for our staff will be our social-emotional wellbeing learning programs, including implementing new tools and strategies to support our efforts in maintaining a safe and caring school. I believe that empowering our students with these skills will create a school community where children are better able to manage their relationships in a safe and respectful environment.

I am excited to be hosting URSTRONG at Quintilian School, an internationally recognised Social Emotional Wellbeing program that empowers children with the skills, language and self-confidence to be better friends and develop healthier relationships. To learn more about URSTRONG and their programmes please watch a short video describing the impact of URSTRONG on children and parents around the globe here. URSTRONG will be running two key events for our school.

Students and Staff Workshop

Our Year 1 to 6 students will be attending an in-school ‘Day of Friendship’ workshop on Thursday, February 7th. Different year groups will rotate through the workshop during the day. Students in grades 1 to 4 will need to bring along a doll, teddy bear, action hero, or toy character to the workshop to help with role-playing. The workshop will cover the following core principles.

• What’s normal in a friendship
• The difference between healthy and unhealthy relationships
• A step-by-step approach for putting out Friendship Fires (i.e. conflict with friends)
• A step-by-step approach for managing mean-on-purpose behaviour (for students in grades 3 and up)

Following this workshop, our teachers will continue to use and reinforce the skills and techniques covered with their classes.

Parents and Children Workshop

To support our Student and Staff Workshop, we will also be running URSTRONG’s Language of Friendship parent-child workshops on the evening of Wednesday 6th of March. (The cost of which is discounted by 50%). When you register for the workshop, simply enter the discount code QUINTILIAN to register and purchase your tickets at the discounted rate of $13.75 per person. For full details, please see the poster attached.

I am confident that these two workshops will assist us to develop a common understanding and language for everyone in our school community including students, staff and parents. These workshops will also tie in with and enhance our social and emotional learning platform that currently exists. I aim to have an environment in all classes, for all students, and at all times, that is friendly and supportive.

I look forward to your support of these two workshops and I encourage you to register with your children for the URSTRONG’s Language of friendship parent-child workshops on Wednesday 6th March.

Regards,

Neil