Wellbeing Report 

Term 1-Week 10 

This term, it has been great supporting our parents/carers and our students.  We’ve had many conversations with our families to better understand the challenges to families since the COVID-19 pandemic started.  If you are needing help with school uniform, a food hamper or enquires for other services please call Veronica or myself. In this newsletter, I’ve included a list for local services if you know someone in our community who may be looking for additional advice and support.

We’ve spent time talking to parents about strategies to help their children cope with anxiety and fears. Parenting can be hard on a good day and according to Google, “how to be a good parent?” is the most googled question parents have each year.   Veronica and I hope all our families have an enjoyable and restful break these holidays. 

We encourage families to continue to have open conversations to gauge how well you are all doing and to give each other space and time to process any worries or questions. Instead of rushing to solve problems, give children time to work things out themselves.  Talk about feelings so your child learns to share their worries and fears with people they trust.  Acknowledge your own mistakes to teach children that mistakes are key for learning and growth.   Always remind children of their worth.  One small moment could mean the world to them.   

Conversation tips-

• “I can see you are feeling challenged? How can I help?”
• “Tell me what else?” until you get to the bottom of the problem.  Prompting children will help them explain more and hopefully with your help they will make connections to understanding.
• What could you have done instead?
• ‘You guys seem to be struggling getting ready in the mornings. How can we make this better for everyone?”
• “Tell me the feelings in your heart. Can you name it?”

This term students have learned many skills by participating in the Resilience Project and Respectful Relationships lessons. There is so much research and evidence out there to support the benefits for our mental and physical wellbeing which can strengthen relationships and create more joy in our lives. I would like to encourage parents to remind children to practice these GEM strategies at home- 

• Gratitude-being thankful
• Empathy-thinking about other people’s feelings, being kind.
• Mindfulness-being present helps build awareness of thoughts, feelings, surroundings and calmness.

Tips!

During the holidays try picking a time of day eg: first thing in the morning or during the evening meal. A regular time can help give your family the structure to start a healthy habit and create some great conversations. 

Another idea is each day, ask a family member to write on the calendar something they are grateful for. It is best if the calendar is in a place where every member of the family sees it often. Over time, people will be reminded the value of these messages and this activity is a fun way for everyone to get involved.  Best of luck!

Free Happy Families Membership

It’s not too late to sign up! The school has a free membership for all parents to join the Happy Families website. The school has free access until August and I would like to encourage everyone to check out the website.  The Happy Families membership gives you access to a number of resources which will help families, staff and students to thrive.  Every member will receive a weekly "Lighten the Load" email, which includes a quick, easy to apply tip from Dr. Justin, as well as some updates about other features in the membership. There is a library of parenting resources which offers calm assurance, direction and solutions you can try out on your families. 

Click on the link to join- 

https://members.happyfamilies.com.au/woori-yallock-primary-school

Woori Wallabies Playgroup –  Every Tuesday 1:30-3:00pm in the Multi-purpose room

This week we had a special visitor at playgroup. The Easter Bunny magically appeared and the children went on an Easter egg hunt where they collected their spoils in their handmade Easter egg baskets. Woori Wallabies Playgroup is open to anyone in the community. Playgroup is so much fun, children meet new friends while they play and learn. We welcome all parents and carers to be a part of our group and we appreciate parents helping us run the program.  Next term we will put out our flyer promoting our starting back dates.  Thank you so much for supporting our program, we hope you all have a fantastic Easter and happy holidays.