Hi everyone,

The Wellbeing Team are on before and after school duty and we can help with any questions or queries you may have. We can help with any parenting worries or support your family with home or family concerns.

Hopefully we are coming to the end of the cold and flu season. It’s still important to keep reminding children about washing their hands. Kids are often too busy to value practising and it’s important to continue to remind them to always wash their hands before eating or preparing food, after going to the toilet or playing, and after touching animals or dirty objects. Regular baths or showers will help keep your child clean and healthy. Bathing at the end of the day can also be fun part of the bedtime routine.

RUOK? Day is coming up on Thursday the 10h of September. At activity clubs at lunchtime, we have been having many causal conversations with students to talk about RUOK? Day. Children have been colouring in conversation themes, and emotions.

RUOK? is a national charity dedicated to inspiring all of us to have regular, meaningful conversations to support anyone going through a difficult time. A lot can happen in a year, a month, a week. Whether it’s your friend, family member, colleague, partner, or teammate - the people you care about go through life’s ups and downs every day. RUOK? research has found an overwhelming majority of people who are regularly asked, 'are you OK?' feel more supported, connected and cared about. That's why we're encouraging you to check in regularly with the people close to you, so you can help prevent small things from becoming big things.

Across the week students have practiced asking their friends if they R OK and they learnt about lending an ear to those who need it. Great job kids!

We really hope your children come home from school happy to talk and share their day with you.

For any enquiries, please email the Wellbeing Team at-

Amy.Cleary@education.vic.gov.au

Sally.Marshall@education.vic.gov.au

libby.martin@education.vic.gov.au

Andre.Campbell@education.vic.gov.au

Attendance & Absences

When your child is going to be away from school, parents and carers are asked to notify the school through Compass. This helps us communicate effectively with all relevant staff early in the school day and ensures we know where our students are.

Thank you to all our parents and carers for accurately indicating the reason for your child’s absence. It is important that we have a clear explanation, whether the absence is due to illness or an appointment, a family holiday, or parent choice.

Morning Drop-Off

In the mornings, staff are on duty from 8:30am at the Kiss and Drop. Many children enjoy having the opportunity for a quick play or to catch up with their friends before the school bell rings.

At 8:50am, attendance rolls are marked. Junior School students change their readers, while our older students participate in warm-up, learning-based activities designed to help them settle in and switch their brains on for learning.

Having Difficult Mornings?

We understand that mornings can sometimes be challenging for families, and difficulties at home can have an impact on a child’s attendance or ability to arrive at school on time.

If this is happening for your family, please speak with your child’s teacher and/or our Wellbeing Team. We are available at the Kiss and Drop during school drop-off times, as well as after school, and we are here to support you and your child.

We understand that every family’s circumstances are different. We also have knowledge of a range of local services and can help connect families with additional support when this would be helpful.

Please reach out — we are here to help.

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

This past fortnight we have celebrated 9 out of 13 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.

Playtime-Teaching Children the Art of Positive Tracking

Teaching children the art of positive tracking is a wonderful skill. People who are positive trackers are generally liked by others and tend to have strong friendships. They are enjoyable to be around, and people naturally seek them out.

On the other hand, people who are negative trackers can find it harder to build and maintain friendships. They may come across as gloomy, critical or negative. They can spend a lot of time complaining or whingeing, which can make others less likely to want to be around them. Negative tracking can also affect how we cope with challenges. When things don’t go well, we can become focused on what went wrong and feel increasingly gloomy or discouraged.

How can we become positive trackers?

Looking for the good things is the key.

Look for the good things that you do and say them to yourself — and, where appropriate, say them out loud.
Look for the good things that other people do and acknowledge them out loud.
When something difficult or disappointing happens, try to identify and say out loud one good thing that came from the experience.

Things to avoid-

Don’t put yourself down by constantly looking for and talking about your weaknesses or mistakes.
Don’t put others down by focusing on their faults or criticising them all the time.
Try not to constantly grizzle or complain about the difficult things that happen in your life.
Don’t focus only on the negative parts of a difficult experience. Look for the positives, the lessons learned or the things that went well.

Remember: children learn from our stories

Kids love listening to stories about how we tackled problems with friends, at school, at work or out in the yard. We may not always think to share these experiences, but children really “lock into” the lessons we have learned.

They love seeing their parents and other adults being human — making mistakes, facing friendship challenges and working out solutions. Sharing these experiences gives children practical examples of how to manage their own friendships and challenges.

As always, if you need any support around friendship issues, please come in and speak to the Wellbeing. We are very happy to help!

Head Lice

This fortnight, we have had only 1 report of live head lice in the school. We ask parents to work with us to keep our reports low and to continue to treat and monitor your children’s hair. Please notify the office or tell your child’s teacher when you treat your child so lice alert notes can be issued on COMPASS. Reminder-any child found with live lice will be excluded from school until they are treated.

Activities at Lunchtimes

Activity	Recess	Lunchtime
Monday	No clubs	Lego club-library & colouring
Tuesday	No clubs	Wool craft, board games & colouring-outside the specialist rooms
Wednesday	No clubs	Diamond Art, board games & colouring-outside the specialist rooms
Thursday	No clubs	Lego club-library & colouring
Friday	No clubs	Lego club-library & colouring

Recess and Lunchtime Activities

Lunchtime activities and clubs are still going strong! We are pleased to provide a range of supervised activities where students can socialise, be creative and develop new skills.

For children who are unable to go outside for health reasons, our activity clubs also provide a welcoming and supervised space to spend their break time. Students enjoy completing puzzles together, helping their friends and creating some wonderful things.

Wool Craft continues to be a favourite, with students making snowflakes, turtles, pom poms and cat’s eyes, as well as learning some early crochet skills.

At Craft Club, students have been enjoying making diamond art stickers and bookmarks.

Lego Club is always popular, with children working cooperatively and sharing ideas as they bring their designs to life.

Donations Welcome

If families have any wool or crochet hooks that they are no longer using, we would greatly appreciate donations. These resources provide our students with opportunities to practise their skills, explore their creativity and develop confidence.

To inspire our students, we often use short YouTube clips that demonstrate how simple skills can be developed and combined to create wonderful craft projects. It is fantastic to see students watching, learning, practising and then proudly creating something of their own.

Primary Wellbeing

Andre Campbell

Connection is feeling seen, heard, valued, and accepted.

When children feel it, behaviour tends to settle. When they don't, they chase it. The best connection builder is simple: better time together. To a child, love is spelled T-I-M-E. Ten minutes of undivided attention with your phone away and your eyes on them costs nothing and pays for itself in a happier home.

For free parenting tips visit the ReachOut website: parents.au.reachout.com, here you will find advice, coaching and support. There are countless articles, online coaching sessions and encouraging videos. Visiting a website like this can encourage even the most experienced parent with the latest advice and resources. Allowing ourselves to learn when parenting, even when we think everything is going ok prepares, guides and encourages us to be a better parent which will always help our children be the best version of themselves.

Second hand uniform

Breakfast Club

If you would like your child to make use of our yummy breakfast foods, send them to school that bit earlier so they will have time to eat and enjoy their food. We serve toast until the music is playing for the start of the school day. Please remind your child that if they want to have something to eat before school that they need to head straight down to the German Room. While the music for the bell is playing there are only fruit cups and milk drinks available. Breakfast club has been very popular with over 100 students attending. Recently we had freshly baked banana bread kindly provided by a school parent, the kids love these extra treats and we will always welcome any special food that parents would like to donate to add to our breakfast options.

Chaplaincy

During my recent Chaplaincy catch ups I have been encouraging students with a number of things including: friendship skills, resilience building, self esteem by replacing negative self thoughts with positive ones and simply but very importantly getting outside for walks, frisbee throwing and foam plane flying. The students have really appreciated the time I have spent with them and I enjoy planning our sessions with bright, colourful and engaging content. If you feel your child might need that extra emotional support during school hours please contact Sally via email

sally.marshall@education.vic.gov.au

or by phone call 5964 7258. I’m available on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday each week.

Dance Concert