Complimenting Others and Ourselves

If someone praises you, do you shuffle your feet, look down at the ground and mumble something like “it’s nothing” and run away feeling embarrassed? You shouldn’t. Compliments are important. Getting credit for your work gives your brain good feelings and helps you accomplish more. But even if you’re hopeless at taking a compliment you can still enjoy small wins that help you feel terrific. Praise can actually improve your brain’s ability to remember and repeat new skills. Praise can make us want to do better and even help us do better.  Importantly, praise can, and should, come from within ourselves.

Humans tend to dwell on failures more than achievements, or compliments. That’s because our brains are designed to look for problems. We also don’t want to look as though we are showing off. We admire the high achiever who is quiet and humble. What we don’t always realise is that people who are high achievers are typically very aware of their abilities – and, importantly, how to feel positive within themselves about the learning that can come from ‘failure’.  That is how they know what they need to do to achieve even more.

Compliments can teach us more about ourselves, sometimes even discovering new talents we didn’t know we had.

So compliments can be useful, but how do you actually deal with the awkwardness of accepting them? The best way is to keep it short and sweet, by replying “Thank you for saying that”. Remember to give compliments too. They don’t need to be flowery, just authentic. A simple, “You did a good job” gives a boost.

Sadly, no matter how hard you work, sometimes you just don’t get the praise you hoped for. That’s okay. You don’t have to wait for someone else to notice before you can celebrate and learn from your successes. For most of us, the most important times are the small moments of progress that give us quiet satisfaction and happiness. Because small setbacks can hit us hard, remembering our achievements can be a reminder of our strengths the next time we go through a rough patch.

Once we know what we are good at and where we are making progress, we are able to look for and learn from constructive criticism. One of the best ways to feel good about progress is to actually acknowledge progress, however small (and remember – failure and understanding failure is progress!).  And the best way to make progress is to learn from the praise and compliments we receive – or give ourselves.

Acknowledgement: “The Value of a Compliment” by Linda Braun, 2020

Blessings

Simon Hughes
Head of College

The Jacarandas are out, which means that it is exam time. The beautiful tree we have on the oval is in full bloom. The long anticipated external exams started on Monday with English.  All of our Year 12 students completed either their external exam for English or Common Internal Assessment for Essential English. Our students have been preparing for this moment for the last thirteen years. As a College, we have been preparing for the introduction of external exams since 2017.  There were nerves for all involved—the students and the teachers—as they tried to navigate the procedures to get it right for the students.  We wish the students all the best for the coming weeks as they sit their exams.  We are creating a ritual for the students at the beginning of each exam, to breathe (engage in a breathing exercises), to pray, and to sing (they belt out a chorus of “My lighthouse”). Ritual is important, it is what keeps us grounded and centred on what is important.  We are encouraging students to ring the bell when they finish their last exam, to mark that important juncture.  Our celebrations with the Class of 2020 will continue over the next few weeks.

World Teachers’ Day

Friday is World Teacher’s Day.  I can say without a doubt that 2020 has been the most challenging year to be a teacher. Prince of Peace is blessed with a dedicated group of staff, who are hardworking and put the needs of students at the heart of decision making.  We have some celebrations planned to mark this important occasion. The students have been working on a project to acknowledge our dedicated staff. 

Literary Achievements

Amelia Swift in Year 7 has recently had her story: ‘Inside the Fortune Teller’s Hut’ published in the Oz Kids in Print Magazine. As the Executive Director said: “For a child to write a good poem or story is a considerable achievement in itself. To share that poem or story with others is nothing short of an act of love.”

Amelia also entered the Independent Education Union Literary Competition and, along with Sharlise Mansfield (Year 11), and Rosina Floriani (Year 10), received a certificate of participation.

We are extremely proud of all our young writers.

Elizabeth Edwards
Curriculum Leader English

Worship

Sunday 1 November

Worship Service 9am

Together@5pm this Sunday

Uniform Shop

The Uniform Shop is located on the Junior Campus—park opposite reception and follow the signs to the shop under the Year 1 and 2 building. We carry all items of Prince of Peace uniform for both Junior and Senior Campus, including lunch bags, soccer socks, food technology aprons, Chess Club and music uniforms. The Campus shop is open Tuesdays and Thursdays 8.00am to 10.00am during term times.  Orders can be placed anytime from The School Locker Website with either home or school delivery (PICK UP option). If you would like items delivered to your child’s class, please enter your child’s name and class in the second address line and Wendy will arrange delivery for you.

In addition, The School Locker has a super-store located at 5-6 Burke Crescent, Northlakes, which is open 8.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday and 9.00am to 3.00pm Saturdays. The super store also carries technology items (Apple authorised repairer), stationery, shoes, instrumental and sporting goods, making the trip well worth the visit.  Items can also ordered online for pickup or home delivery for a small fee.

Fridge-to-Go Lunch Bags: Be prepared for the heat: Fridge-to-Go insulated lunch bags have chiller panels the full width of the bag – ensuring everything in your child’s lunch bag will be kept cool and safe to eat for up to eight hours!  These bags are tough and last on average three to four years, making them good value for money at $37.  We have eight different bags to choose from, and spare chiller panels are available to have one on hand in case their lunch bag is not retrieved until the morning.  Come in and check them out in readiness for our Brisbane summer!

Name It So You Can Claim It—NEW: Black $3.83 and white $4.00 laundry markers are now available in the shop and online.  We recommend naming all items so they can be returned to you in the event they are misplaced.  We also have iron on name labels in white, pink and blue – $6.99 for a pack of 40.

Second Hand: If you wish to buy or sell second hand uniforms, please visit our very active PoP Second Hand Uniform Buy & Sell Facebook group.

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