Common courtesies, good manners - hundreds of years old but still the same

Manners matter... they are an opportunity to think generously about another person. They are used every day to make a good impression on others, and when used selflessly, can help you to feel good about yourself. No matter where you are, practicing good manners is important. Good manners (and smiles) draw people closer to you and can pave the way to solve many conflicts.

At Peregian Springs SS we teach children to use Common Courtesies or good manners explicitly and often. We believe firmly that being polite and courteous means considering how others are feeling whatever the situation is. Our Common Courtesies include greetings, polite requests and social expectations, such as being on time. It's old fashioned, you may say, to teach manners. And yes, it probably is. 

I went looking in the historical archives for the manners taught in Australian schools a century or more ago. I'm always enteretained by however much we change, there are always some things that stay the same :)

Kids love our school

I love Thursday mornings - it's when I do a school tour for families thinking of enrolling in our school. Sometimes we have lots of families complete with grandparents and younger siblings in prams and sometimes when I'm lucky it's just one parent. But no matter how big the group I love to be able to meet newcomers to our school, to have a one on one chat and be able to connect with new children who are often feeling a bit nervous.

I also love the stories new families tell about what they've heard about our school. And I always listen with trepidation when they say 'and we've heard about you'... :)

Last Thursday one gentleman told me how he was walking past the school one weekend and two boys about 13 and 14 came towards him on bikes; they were 'long haired' and up and down the guttering, and in his words 'didn't look likely they would have anything good to say about school'.

As they rode on one said to the other 'didn't you just love it there?'

'Yeah' replied the other one. 'It was ace - Peregian Springs is the best'. Our new family member was so surprised that two very unlikely looking lads would be speaking so highly of their primary school.

And it's true - our kids do love their school and every minute in it. It is such a wonderful legacy to leave children with fond memories of their first formal learning at school. Thursday mornings is often when I get to hear about it.

Ms Sands, can we have a goat?

Year 6 students have so many terrific opportunities - but the most amazing of the lot is the chance to travel to Tokyo in October and stay with a Japanese family and attend school there for a week. It is the excursion to end all excursions - and I love it.

For four years I've accompanied a group of bright eyed and bushytailed youngsters, many on their first international travel experience. And this year's group of seven boys and girls were no exception.

We had a fabulous week of fun and learning and making new friends. The trip included visits to Seioji Temple, Asakusa, Meiji Shrine, Harajuku Street, Mirikan, and the Monster Cafe. School days consisted of Lego Mindstorms, Music, English lessons, technology, art and science as well as calligraphy classes and tea ceremony.

All children formed strong bonds with their homestay families and embarked on a few excursions of their own - DisneyLand, Tokyo Sky Tree, Tokyo Tower, and just playing with Japanese kids in the streets.

I love listening to the children during the week as they reflect on their experience and recount funny and unusual stories - some want to go back to live, some are hooked on seeing the rest of the world, some have made friends for life, some have fallen in love with the food, some love the shopping, all are bug eyed at the culture and the friendliness of the people.

But the star of the show is really Vanilla, Sagami Women's University Elementary School's pet goat. She sat out on the oval during the day getting patted and munching on Autumn leave and the kids were besotted with her.

Every year there's someone who says 'Ms Sands, can we get a goat?'

Why I love my job...

It's not a job, it's actually a calling - a bit sappy maybe, but true. Parts of the job can be mundane, boring even. Things like Strategic Plans, budgets, balancing the books, wet Year 5 and 6 camps, and disgruntled customers isn't what gets me up in the morning.

I love my job because I get to see the wonder of learning on kids' faces and the feeling of pride they show in being part of a group. And then there's the Prep Christmas Songs at the local retirement village...

The sheer exuberance on the faces of our children and the joyful smiles of the residences was a sight to behold. It was so worth 'playing hookey' for an hour and getting away from planning, bills and end of year nonsense. Thank you, Preps - this is why I love my job!

Disclaimer: some classes are not represented in the photos due to media permissions for children

Reggio Emilia - a city built for its citizens

Reggio Emilia is in Northern Italy. It is beautiful, it is historic, it is cultured, it is another world. It is also the epicenter of some well known and revered educational thinking about child-centered learning.

As an early years teacher, Reggio Emilia is a place I've always wanted to see, a place where an international study tour is the stuff of dreams. But dream we did, and in November I was afforded the opportunity to take two of our Prep teachers to this inspirational city to learn about their work with Reggio children and see what links we could make to our own context back at Peregian Springs SS.

This stunning medieval city opens up its piazzas and squares to the people and children spend a lot of time in the piazzas learning how to map the spaces, know where they've come from, learn to be citizens of the city, help others, study the Literature and Mathematics of the past (amazingly relevant today) and drink in the beauty of their particular context which changes with the seasons. The week was a Journey into the Rights of Children and it was over too soon.

It was inspirational, and there will be a little bit of Reggio coming to our Prep classrooms in the near future.