Wellbeing Report 

Hi everyone, welcome back to Term 1. For families new to the school, we have a fantastic Wellbeing Team with me, Sally, Amy and Libby. Sally Marshall is our school chaplain, and she is happy to catch up with your child if you feel they need that extra emotional support during school hours. Sally is available on Monday and Wednesday’s and she can be contacted via email sally.marshall@education.vic.gov.au or by phone call 5964 7258.

Libby, Amy and I can help you with any parenting worries or support your family with home or family concerns. The Wellbeing Team are on before and after school duty and we can help with any questions or queries you may have. We’ve had a great start back to school and can see that parents have prepared their children well, setting them up for a successful year. Some students may feel a little nervous walking into school, and we can help settle your child by walking them to their classroom or setting them up with a friend and informing their teacher. 

It’s a normal reaction for some parents to feel nervous about a new school year.  Children will experience separation anxiety and so will parents.  Speak to them about their worries and listen with empathy. Always acknowledge their feelings as this will give them a sense of control. Predictability is important for children to feel confident from the beginning so please be punctual at drop off and pick up time at the end of the day. Children pick up on what is being modelled so showing them that you are calm, supportive and positive will help your child feel confident and competent. Following a routine, getting plenty of sleep and eating healthily supports good physical and mental health and promote a successful school experience.

Support your child with schoolwork and school life. Show interest by asking what your child has done during the day, any homework they are working on, and whether they need any help. We welcome parent volunteers to support learning by helping in the classroom, or volunteering in the many projects/working bees and activities running at school.

Focus on your child’s strengths and the effort they put in. Praise your child for what they’re good at and let them know you’re proud of them for trying things they find difficult. Talk with the teacher/staff to find out how your child is going. A good relationship between school and home will ensure the best outcomes for your child. 

For any enquiries, please email the Wellbeing Team at-

Andre.Campbell@education.vic.gov.au

Amy.Cleary@education.vic.gov.au

Sally.Marshall@education.vic.gov.au

Elizabeth.Martin3@education.vic.gov.au

Activities at Recess and Lunchtime 

If your child is looking to make friends, have some fun and be creative, tell them they can come to the activity clubs. The clubs run in the main building outside the specialist classrooms and in the library. The students enjoy making key chains, bracelets, fidgets and cat’s eyes, turtles, finger knitting, bookmarks as well as create some amazing Lego builds. 

Craft is always looking for donations, especially wool, crochet hooks, craft/haberdashery items and Lego. If you are having a clean out, please feel free to bring your items to the office/wellbeing office. 

Parent Helper/Volunteers

Parents can help in a variety of ways to support the students with their learning including reading, high frequency words, spelling and timetables practice.

For interested parents, the school offer information sessions to explain in more detail how parents can support learning in the classrooms. For example, we do have working bees out in the school grounds so there are a number of different ways you can be involved within the school. 

If you are thinking you might want to be a parent helper, Flick will run through the Child Safe Sessions (this is mandatory to meet our Child Safe Standards) which are compulsory for helping/volunteering in the school. Parent’s do not need to prepare anything for this, just come along and listen to Flick. Parents also need to supply their Working with Children’s Check (WWCC). This session as well as your WWCC is mandatory before you are able to volunteer. 

These sessions will take about 30mins, and you only need to attend one as they are all the same. 

If you are unable to make these times but wish to volunteer, please speak to Flick and we can seek alternate arrangements. Additionally, if you need help with your WWCC please feel free to speak to the Wellbeing Team or email Flick- felicity.curnow@education.vic.gov.au

Look out for the COMPASS notifications for dates and times for when these sessions will be available. We do our best to offer these sessions at either school drop off time or before the of the school day.  

Wellbeing Service Support

Uniting Child & Family Wellbeing Program-Wednesdays 

On Wednesdays, we have Alissa Bayliff from the Family Wellbeing program at Uniting in the school. Alissa is happy to talk to parents about any potential concerns or behaviours with their children.  Also, Alissa can support families with parenting strategies and service referrals including family services and online resources for parents. The referral process is straight forward, and Uniting can engage within a reasonable time.  

Parents can email Alissa directly at alissa.bayliff@vt.uniting.org or contact the Wellbeing Team and we will take you through the steps.

Health 

I encourage parents to please investigate any potential sickness complaints. Please encourage your child to practise good personal hygiene by washing hands regularly. It isn’t fun to be sick at school and there are exclusion periods for some health conditions.  Don’t forget to tell us of any phone or emergency contact changes so we can reduce your child’s concern if they need to be picked up.  In case of a toileting accident please supply a change of underwear in your child’s bag.

This term, we expect to have some hot days so freezing cold drinks and adding them to your child’s school bag will help keep lunchboxes fresh longer. A reminder that school hats are compulsory, and I would like parents to be active with encouraging children to wear sunscreen. 

Head lice will be a problem from time to time at Woori Yallock Primary School and it is important to work together as a school community to minimise the frustration caused by the problem. I ask all parents/carers to regularly screen your child and please tell us in order to minimise the concern in the school. 

Infectious Diseases

To help prevent and control the transmission of infectious diseases in schools, a child must be excluded from school if he or she has any of the following:

• Gastro/Diarrhoea - until there has not been a loose bowel motion or any symptoms for 48 hours
• Chicken Pox - until fully recovered and blisters have dried
• Measles - at least 7 days
• German Measles - until fully recovered and at least 4 days from the onset of rash
• Whooping Cough - four weeks
• Hand, foot and mouth - until all blisters have dried
• Hepatitis - medical certificate needed
• Impetigo “School Sores” - until treatment has commenced and sores are healed
• Ringworm - until treatment has commenced. Medical certificate may be required.
• Mumps - until fully recovered
• Scabies - medical certificate needed

Importantly, children who have been vomiting should not attend school until 48 hours after the vomiting ceases.

While these are some common diseases, please refer to the Better Health School Excursion Table* for a comprehensive list and updated information. Please contact the office if your child contracts any of these. Please refer to the Dept of Health for further information-https://www.health.vic.gov.au/infectious-diseases/school-exclusion-table

Wellbeing Supports

We promote many opportunities for families and students to be an active part of our local community and encourage parents to be a part of our extra-curricular activities.  Our welfare team are available to support families in times of need as we have established partnerships with a number of services. We would love to meet you so please contact myself, Sally, Amy or Libby.

• State School Relief-school uniforms including underwear and school shoes/runners. For families experiencing financial difficulties we can apply to State School Relief for new uniform. Families will get a voucher for $85.00 to use at Lowes, at Lilydale Marketplace Shopping Centre. 

• Free Glasses for replacement-State School Relief approve one prescription per year for replacement eyeglasses.  Please see me for more information. 

• Second hand uniform. We accept good quality second hand uniform donations which we sell. The monies raised help support our wellbeing programs including the Breakfast Club and our lunchtime activities including Lego Club and Craft Club.

• Students can be referred to DET psychologist or speech therapist. 

• Term 1 Preps-DET school nurse for general health checks including vision and hearing. 

• Student counselling-students can access counselling via a mental health care plan referral from a GP. Shine Bright Psychology-counselling service for students & clinical psychologist Simone Turner. Simone works at the school on Tuesdays.

• For approved students with NDIS or Allied Health Services- Psychology, Physiotherapy, Speech Pathology and OT services can provide therapy at school.

• Service-Uniting Family Wellbeing.  Uniting offer families individual help for NDIS, linkage to other services, group based and individual support. Alissa Bayliff is at school every Wednesday.  

• Eastern Health-Nutrition and Health support 

• School Chaplain-Sally Marshall (Mondays & Wednesdays)

• The Smile Squad Dental Program 

• Glass’s for Kids program every 2 years.  The program will be back in 2025.

Programs

• Free Breakfast club (Monday & Wednesday 8:15am-8:45am)

• Free community pantry open Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 2:30pm-3:30pm. 

• Food hampers-are available at any time. Parents can pick up a box at the community pantry. 

• Parenting programs with Uniting Family Wellbeing.

• Healthy Lunchboxes & strengthening families.

• Health & Gender programs including :-

• 3/4 Body Education 

• 5/6 Sexuality Program 

• Social skills programs to small groups

• Activities at recess and lunchtimes-including LEGO Club and Craft Club

• Holiday & weekend camps for students. Please speak to Sally Marshall for more information.

Service Supports & Agencies

There are many organisations across Yarra Ranges offering support and assistance. For community relief and support agencies, click on the link at-

 https://www.yarraranges.vic.gov.au/Community/Health-and-Wellbeing/Community-relief-and-support-agencies

Attendance Data-It’s Cool to be at School!

Since we started back, we have celebrated 7 out of 8 students who came to school on their special day. When your child comes to school and it’s their birthday, we are bringing the buzz to make their day even more special.  When they arrive at school in the mornings, we are presenting them with a special birthday sticker badge.  I must say the kids are really loving this!

Over the time a child attends school, having 1- or 2-days absence does not seem like much but it does add up and can impact on missed learning opportunities.

Over the time a child attends school, having 1- or 2-days absence does not seem like much but it does add up and can impact on missed learning opportunities.

Chaplain Chat

Returning to School and our Big Feelings

The holidays are usually a fun family building time, but they are also a huge disruption to the routine. Some children are not fussed about the order of the day, but others struggle with routine change and find it difficult to step back in to the ‘normal’ flow of the week once school returns. My children usually struggle with the return to school, and I knew it would be particularly difficult for my daughter who is now in Grade 4 this year. So, to help with the big feelings that I predicted would erupt, I began talking to her about the return to school early, so early it was only two days after the holidays started, we hadn’t even had Christmas yet. I did this because she is very anxious and can make herself physically ill over things that seemed dismiss able to me. She loves school and is very academic, but I have learnt over the years that intelligent kids are often the ones who struggle with anxiety the most because they have overactive imaginations. I found having causal conversations while she was calm and while school was a million sleeps away helped her feel confident about her first day back, even with the big changes she knew were coming, and the amazing result was she chose to encourage herself. Two nights before her first day her worries began to come as she went to bed but she used some positive self-talk that got her over the line, kids blow me away all the time, as parents we can only coach from the sides. The best results happen when children are given enough support and some helpful tools and then they take responsibility for their own feelings.

If you would like some extra help to settle your family into this new year, check out these points below, I’m subscribed an email list from a group called Parent Cue and their emails are really helpful.

You’re going to let your kids feel their feelings

• Transitions are hard, and your kid’s grumpy behaviour communicates they’re having a

difficult time dealing. Let them feel the range of their emotions without judgement,

but make sure they know what’s respectful and acceptable in terms of their words and actions. 

You’re going to let your kid borrow your calm-

• Your kid is pretty dysregulated right now, and the last thing they need is for you to join them in their current state. Lend them your patient, calm presence and

respond to the heart of what they’re trying to communicate. 

Get outside

• Nothing regulates a mood better than spending time in nature. Maybe it’s time for a hike or a walk around the neighbourhood to get your body moving and bring back some equilibrium.

Have some fun

• Nothing communicates connection like enjoying time together. Declare tonight as family game night or watch a show or movie together to sprinkle in some fun as you regain your pre-holiday footing. 

Ask your kid what they need

• Tell your kid you’ve observed they’re having a hard time. Ask them how they’re feeling and what you can do to help. Be prepared to act (or in some cases, not act)on your kid’s feedback, whether it’s spending more quality time together or being a silent yet supportive presence. 

If you think about it, your family has been keeping an abnormal pace for a few months now, so there’s bound to be a period of transition. The very best everyone can do is be patient and remember that finding your footing again takes time, so make sure you factor in lots of grace as you learn to resume your regular routines.

Responsible Uniform

During 2024 the Wellbeing team spent a lot of precious time sorting through lost property. We are hoping 2025 will be different and we need your help as parents to make that happen. A few easy things that parents can do to make sure your clothing is returned and not taken to a charity bin are:

• Label all clothes worn to school. This includes but is not limited to swimmers, towels, shoes, hats, out of uniform day clothes and all school uniform.

• Name the items with First and Last name. Some children have the same initials. At WYPS there are over 400 students, it is likely that you don’t have the only Charlie or Charlotte in the school.

• Update the name when you next child wears the hand me down from the older sibling. Older siblings often are annoyed when their siblings’ clothes are returned to their classroom.

• Talk to your children about being responsible for their things. Explain to them the importance of bringing home their jumper and check in with them to see if they have completed the task. As parents we are responsible to teach our kids everything, this includes keeping track of their own items. Teaching them to keep track of their things will have long term benefits because they learn that their clothes and everything, they use at school has value. Here is a link to a video that has some ideas about helping children learn to take responsibility for their things. https://www.google.com/search?client=firefox-b-d&q=help+kids+understand+about+looking+after+their+things#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:685c571b,vid:szH_CBfdCEg,st:0

Breakfast Club

Breakfast will be available to all children on Monday and Wednesday mornings in front of and inside the German room from 8:10 – 8:45am. If students would like a ‘grab and go’ style breakfast, they can drop by and pick up some toast either Vegemite, honey or Nuttelex. There are also SPC fruit cups, 200ml UHT milk drinks and fresh cut fruit. If they desire a more relaxed breakfast, they can arrive at 8:15am for a selection of cereal or can spaghetti or baked beans.

Food Pantry

The food pantry is open on Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoons between 2:30 and 3:30pm. Please note the pantry will close early on Monday’s. We have a range of foods, including gluten and lactose free items and on Wednesday’s we have fresh carrots and fruit, apples and oranges. If you are in need of a pantry top up, please stop by and pick something up.

Chaplaincy

Sally Marshall – Chaplain, is happy to catch up with your child if you feel they need that extra emotional support during school hours. Sally is available on Monday and Wednesday’s and can be contacted via email 

sally.marshall@education.vic.gov.au

 or by phone call 5964 7258.