Assistant Principal Report 

HOLIDAYS ARE COMING

Dear Parents and Carers, 

Term one 2022 is drawing to a close. It has been a busy and exciting term with children settling into their grades and building relationships with their peers and teachers. This week Celebration Newsletters will go out to inform the school community of all the learning that has taken place.

The school community is starting to prepare for the term holidays and Easter break. The holidays are wonderful but they are not a time to abandon family routines, ignore good nutrition, and put learning on hold. The best gift we can give our children is to help strengthen their social and emotional development by maintaining our balance, keeping calm, and teaching them to focus on the positive.

We all look forward to holidays and vacations, but for children they can also be challenging. Unstructured time and departure from routine can be unsettling for many children. And difficulty meeting expectations for good behaviour on special occasions can be upsetting for children and frustrating for parents.

Being tuned in to your children’s temperament helps you to organise your children’s environment so that behaviours can flow more smoothly and you can provide a more enjoyable holiday for everyone involved.

For example:

• Children who have difficulty coping with changes in routines may need your help to prepare them for those changes and they may need more time to adjust and transition from one activity to another.
• Children who are sensitive to lots of stimuli, like crowded shopping centres and noisy gatherings, may need access to quiet places where they can unwind and calm down.
• Children who are shy around relatives they have not seen in a while may need your permission to slowly ease into family gatherings and may need your reassurance before they feel comfortable in new situations.
• Children with high activity levels may need to be given acceptable outlets for their energy.

As the holidays unfold and as you begin to make plans, it helps to think about what your children will need and what you will need in order to enjoy the time together.

In conclusion, thank you to all the members of our community who have supported their children and the school staff to make term one a great start to the school year. We look forward to seeing you all again on Tuesday April 26th, 2022 for a fabulous term two.

Kind regards

Jennifer O’Connor

Assistant Principal.