Wise Words

Greetings to one and all in our school community,

I hope that you all enjoyed the long weekend with some quality time to relax and enjoy the sunshine.

I took the opportunity to re-read ‘The Resilience Project – Finding Happiness Through Gratitude, Empathy & Mindfulness” by Hugh Van Cuylenburg and I’m so glad I did. I needed the reminder in the business of life. I highly recommend the read and would gladly lend you my copy if needed.

I share with you an excerpt on Mindfulness – this is Hugh’s reflection of his time spent teaching in India.

“The villagers were calm, measured and patient. When I first arrived in their midst, I was the opposite; stressed and somewhat anxious to leave. After three months living amongst them, however, I realised that while they faced daily hardships, pressures and concerns – in fact, their hardships were more immediate and acute than ours in the West – they managed their responses differently. The key to this, I discovered, was mindfulness – taking time to focus solely on the present moment.

After I started meditating with the children and teachers each day, I found I spent less time worrying about what might happen in the future or things that happened in the past. I instead focused more and more on the life I was living in that given moment. When I spoke to someone, I became totally focused on the conversation. When I taught the children, there was nothing else crowding my thoughts. I realised practising mindfulness – meditating – is the way of taking greater control of your mind and, therefore, your life.”

This weekend, we have quite a few of our Year 5 & 6 students participating in the initiation to meditation – we wish them peace and love as they enter into this practice. Congratulations to all our parents who participated in the initiation last weekend or who are doing so this weekend; peace and love to you also.

I look forward to seeing as many of you who are able to come to our swimming carnival on Friday.

Take Care and Stay Well.

Melissa Albers – Acting Principal

 

Artist of the Week – Year 5 student
This week we have been learning about the painting style of Vincent van Gogh and have been focusing on his painting “Starry Night”. Our Artist of the Week practised his painting style with care. She captured the motion portrayed by the lines and blended her colours creatively.
Well done!