A message from Margie

School during a pandemic

Well I guess it was inevitable. Covid has hit members of our school community and a number of classes of students and teachers became 'classroom contacts' last week as a result. Our thoughts are with those families affected, first and foremost for their health and wellbeing, and also for the significant impacts of isolating for 7 or 14 days with young children.

I'd like to sincerely thank all of you for your understanding and for keeping children home at the slightest hint of symptoms. It's so reassuring that everyone is working together to keep us all as safe as possible in these unsettling times. The fact that this outbreak has been largely contained is due to your diligence so thank you very much! Thank you also to the Year 3-6 students - virtually all students are wearing masks which helps to keep themselves and others safe.

It's wonderful to work with children who are so resilient and tend to live in the present moment more than we adults do, just 'getting on with it' - so in many ways for us it continues as 'business as usual'! I am aware, however, of the additional anxiety the Covid risk can cause for some children. Please let me know by SeeSaw message or phone call if your child could benefit from some additional reassurance, perhaps a chat with me or Emily where we can offer some coping strategies or just a listening ear.

Sustainability Fair

We had a wonderful day at the Sustainability Fair last Sunday. I'd like to thank Suzie Tume who organised for each child to create an artwork from recycled materials, then set up the stall early in the morning and stayed all day. Jo also propagated plants for us to sell for the school. Students loved showing their families their creative works of art. They should be coming home soon so keep an eye out!

Harmony Day

Uraidla put on its most beautiful weather and allowed us to hold a spectacular Harmony Day celebration together outside this past Monday, all dressed in orange, red and yellow. The whole school shared lunch in a circle and then after lunch older students each paired with a younger 'buddy' to make chatterboxes. Then the whole school got together and learned about each other's differences and similarities, by playing the chatterboxes and answering the questions revealed in the last step. The questions were designed to encourage engagement with others - What questions can you ask to learn more about a student you don't know? I really enjoyed playing the chatterboxes with the students, and being asked their personalised questions. I loved the creative questions which also told me something about the children's individual interests, such as What animal would you like to be? What is your favourite camping spot? and my favourite question from Leonard, What is your favourite python? 🐱‍🐉

Thank you to Sam Irvine for organising this special day for all of us.

KidzBiz family evening Monday May 23

Two years ago we held a very popular 'birds and bees' information evening for parents to attend along with their children, run by 'Kidz Biz'. We will be holding this again this year on Monday May 23 at 6:40 for students Years 2-4 and 7:40 for students Years 5-6. I found these types of sessions a great way to start the conversation with my own children when they were at school, in a way that put us all at ease. Here is some information about the content of the sessions:

website: www.kidzbiz.edu.au

The sessions are conducted by Kidz Biz Education and are designed to be fun, informative and easy to understand. These highly interactive sessions will provide students and their parents / care providers with an introduction to basic personal and social development education; traditionally known as the ‘facts of life’. By all means, sessions will be facilitated in a manner that is not conducive to an awkward or threatening environment.

There will be two sessions run on the evening and the topics covered in each are:

Session 1: ‘Where Did We Come From’ (suitable for Year 2 to Year 4 students)

Name and discuss basic female & male body parts of the reproductive system
Disperse myths about where babies come from
Discuss egg & sperm cells, sexual intercourse(age-appropriate), fertilization/conception
Discuss the 9 months of foetal development
Explain natural and caesarian birth processes

Session (2) ‘What’s Happening To Us” (suitable for Year 5 to 6 students)

Name and discuss the female & male body parts of the reproductive system
Explain the physical & emotional changes during puberty, including menstruation, pads & tampons, sperm production, wet dreams etc
Discuss ways to improve self esteem and body image
Discuss the impact the media has on body image including photoshopping
Looking at ways of getting along with parents including being reasonable and learning to negotiate

Special visitor

We had this lovely pygmy copperhead visit us at OSHC last week. The snake catcher came

and safely relocated it to another location not too far away. He let us know that these snakes are endangered and are only local to Uraidla, Carey Gully and Mt Lofty. We feel pretty lucky to have seen it.... but it can stay away now, thanks. 😉 👀 Thanks to Andrew for keeping a cool head and helping keep everyone safe. Teachers spoke to their classes about what to do if they see a snake, but you might like to follow up at home too.

Sports Day postponed

We have made the difficult decision to postpone Sports Day until Term 4. We are hopeful that numbers may be lower in the community by then and also that the Sports Day captains will have more time to prepare for this important and exciting event. Stay tuned!

Learning Discussions

Just a final reminder that we will be holding Learning Discussions by Zoom next week. It's great to see so many bookings already in place. If you haven't booked yet, it's not too late: Go to https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au and enter the school code hc72h , or use the QR code below to go directly to the booking link:

We hope to see all families at our Learning Discussions next week@

Have a great fortnight until next time, everyone!

Margie