Hi everyone, we have a fantastic Wellbeing Team with me, Sally and Libby. We can help 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.

In the mornings many parents are hunting down lost jumpers, and it helps staff if clothing is clearly labelled for a swift return. Staff place lost property on the bench opposite the German room (or where the Before & After School Care Program is based). Parents are most welcome to seek out lost items. For students wearing a different pair of shoes due to their shoes being wet, this is fine, and parents do not need to lodge an out of uniform pass on COMPASS.

Across the week we have several opportunities for students to feel supported with their friendships whether it’s during break times out in the yard/electives or speaking to our welfare team. If you have any questions or are looking for tips, please speak to staff. We really hope your children come home from school happy to talk and share their day with you.

For parents looking to purchase second hand uniform you can contact the office or the Wellbeing Team any time, Monday through to Friday. We are happy to make up bags (providing we have the stock) if parents cannot get to the school for our sales.

Please keep in mind, parents can email the Wellbeing Team for requests for second hand uniform. We do make up bags for children to take home and then parents can decide which items to keep.

For any enquiries, please email the Wellbeing Team at-

Andre.Campbell@education.vic.gov.au

Sally.Marshall@education.vic.gov.au

elizabeth.martin3@education.vic.gov.au

Attention Prep Parents & Carers

Consent to Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) Wednesday May 22nd

The Australian Early Development Census builds a bigger picture of children’s early development, and it helps federal and state governments plan for the needs of children and families as we recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

We do need parent/carer consent and we really appreciate your support to complete the data collection. You will soon receive on COMPASS an Event notification simply asking for consent for the Prep teachers to complete. If parents do not wish to be a part of the census all you need to do is decline the event.

For more information, please refer to https://www.aedc.gov.au/parents/supporting-early-childhood-development or please speak to me and the Prep Team.

How Much Sleep Do Children Need?

Babies: at least 15 hours sleep and up to 20 when they are very young

Toddlers & Pre-schoolers (1 - 5): about 12 to 14 hours sleep

Primary School: about 10 to 12 hours sleep

High School: at least 8 hours but up to 10 hours sleep

Many children complain when they come to school that they are tired, couldn’t get to sleep or they had a late night. This impacts on their ability to tune in and retain their learning and it can affect their relationships and problem solving skills. As adults we understand how we are affected when we are over tired and I would like to encourage parents to actively have reasonable expectations about bedtime routines.

It is not unusual for children to have night-time worries, which can prevent them from getting to sleep easily. Whatever the cause of the bedtime problems, it is important that families stick to clear rules about a bedtime routine. It's important to discuss and agree on a sleep strategy for your child with your partner beforehand and work together as a team to carry it out consistently.

If you are starting a new sleep routine for your child, make them a part of the team by explaining the new plan to them if they are old enough to understand. For a young child, try using a picture chart to help your child learn the new routine, showing actions like changing clothes, brushing their teeth and reading a book.

Praise your child and reinforcing good behaviour will also help to improve bedtime problems. There are a number of strategies that can help them overcome their night-time worries. There are many app’s available for parents to download such as Smiling Minds, Calm and Head Space.

Health Update

This year, there has been a range of illnesses impacting students at school from gastro, Covid-19, and colds and other viruses. Last week we had a case of Pertussis or more commonly known as whooping cough. This was reported from the Austin hospital’s North Eastern Public Health Unit (NEPHU). The student was contagious back in March and was away from school for a number of weeks. We need to be vigilant as a school community as we do have students and adults who are associated with people who have a chronic illness, asthma or are pregnant.  For more information about Pertussis please refer to the following links-

Pertussis (whooping cough) – Better Health Channel factsheet-

https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/conditionsandtreatments/whooping-cough

Royal Children's Hospital – Parent Information Sheet-https://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/fact_sheets/Whooping_cough/

Staying Healthy – Preventing infectious disease in early childhood education and care services-

https://www.nhmrc.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/reports/clinical%20guidelines/ch55-staying-healthy.pdf

We have Maddie, our school nurse working in sick bay and parents can speak to Maddie about any health concerns. 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.

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

Head Lice

This past fortnight, we have had 2 cases of 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.

Playtime-Playing Fairly

Fair players get to play more games. A person who plays fairly and gets on with the game allows others to enjoy the game. If they enjoy the game, they’ll want to play with that person again. People who play fairly get a reputation as good people to be around. People who don’t play fairly are not chosen as people to play games with

Tips-

Do comment on the other players’ good moves.
Remember to wait your turn.
Get started and pay attention.
Have your go reasonably quickly when it’s your turn.
Play by the rules.
If you go out or get caught, just accept it

Activities Breaktimes

Free play Lego Club & Finger Knitting Club at lunchtime-Monday & Thursday

Craft Club at lunchtime-Tuesday & Wednesday

This term, our activities at recess and lunchtime have been extremely popular. For children who can’t go outside for any health reason, we do offer supervision at recess including colouring and doing jigsaws. As the weather has turned, in craft club we have been learning finger knitting and early crochet skills. The kids are really keen to come along! Also the kids are really enjoying their diamond art projects. If families have any wool or crochet hooks, they are no longer using then please donate these items. It will really help our students if they can practice their skills. Also, Lego Club is a great way for the children to hang out and build their favourite projects.

Attendance & Absences

We encourage parents and carers to refer to COMPASS for information happening at school. Schools are required to work towards IMPROVING THE ATTENDANCE and PUNCTUALITY RATES of our students. When your child is going to be away parents and carers need to notify the school through COMPASS. This really helps us as we are able to communicate effectively with all relevant staff early in the school day.

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

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!

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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

Over the next few newsletters, I will focus on Emotional Intelligence drawing on the work of Dr Chinwe Williams and Daniel Goldman from the Parent Cue website. Emotional intelligence (EI) is the ability to understand your own emotions or the emotions of others. It is about creating and maintaining healthy relationships now and throughout life, who doesn’t want that for their kids?

The four main pillars of EI are Self- Awareness, Self Management, Empathy and Understanding and Relationship Management.

This week we will focus on the last pillar, Relationship Management. This is a pillar that you intentionally work towards with your child. It is the ability to maintain mutually trustworthy relationships it is a tool to use in healthy peer relationships as your child matures and becomes an adult.

We need to understand that people are going to hurt us at some point, recognising, understanding, and using your emotions will make a difference in how well you maintain relationships. Try to listen to your own instincts and make a decision about how to react rather than allowing emotions to rule your behaviour, if you model this and explain your thought process later to your children, they will learn how to maintain healthy relationships in their future.

A good practice is the use of ‘I’ statements. Saying “I” rather than “you” keeps your emotions on your side of the court, it is a way of avoiding blame and triggering defensiveness. If you speak to your children in this way, they learn that their emotions are their responsibility and that they can’t rely on others to resolve their issues.

Use this sentence:

“I feel (identify the emotion) when (identify the cause of the emotion)”

For example, “I feel hurt when you yell at me”

Then follow up with a request.

“I need/want/prefer …………. Would you…………...?”

For example, “I would prefer that you talk to me at a normal volume, would you mind if we sit down to chat? How can I help you feel calmer about the situation?”

There is no guarantee that the other person will respond positively to our requests, but we are building a healthy foundation to maintain the relationship and our thoughts and feelings are more likely to be heard.

Anglicare Victoria-Emotion Focused Parenting Program

Anglicare Victoria are offering a 6 week program – Emotion Focused Parenting, if you would like to continue to build yours and your child’s emotional intelligence check out the flyer below, this program may be for you.

Breakfast Club Monday & Wednesday 8:15am-8:45am

If your student would love to join us for breakfast, please encourage them to stop by to pick up some food so there are no hungry tummies in the classrooms. Breakfast club runs on Monday and Wednesday mornings 'pop up' style from 8:15 – 8:45am down at the entry to the grade 1 - 2 classrooms. Students can enjoy a range of foods, including toast with vegemite, butter or jam, small UHT milk packs, fruit cups and fresh fruit. We are very thankful to our parents who help with the preparation of food at breakfast club.

Food Pantry

The food pantry will now be 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 had a lot of donations coming in from parents, so our pantry has become very full of a wide range of items, including fresh produce. Thanks to all those who have donated. If you are in need of a pantry top up please stop by and pick something up. We also have food hampers available that parents and carers are free to access from the entry near the pantry. These boxes have a range of food staples and weigh 11.6kg, so please prepare for that if you intend on taking one home.

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.

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