Highvale Happenings

Engagement & Wellbeing

Thursday 30 March

Highvale Primary School is Committed To The Victorian Child Safe Standards

 

School Values

Harmony Day

Last week we celebrated Harmony Day. As a multicultural school it is a great way to recognise and embrace the diversity of our community. We also used this opportunity to raise funds for the Centre for Multicultural Youth - a not-for-profit organisation that supports young people form migrant and refugee backgrounds.

 

Why do we celebrate Harmony Day?

Australia is a vibrant and multicultural country — from the oldest continuous culture of our first Australians to the cultures of our newest arrivals from around the world.

Our cultural diversity is one of our greatest strengths and is at the heart of who we are. It makes Australia a great place to live.

 

Why Orange?

Orange is the colour chosen to represent Harmony Week. Traditionally, orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations. It also relates to the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect. Australians can choose to wear something orange during Harmony Week to show their support for cultural diversity and an inclusive Australia.

 

Facts and Figures

There are some fascinating statistics about Australia's diversity that can be good conversation-starters:

  • nearly half (49 per cent) of Australians were born overseas or have at least one parent who was
  • we identify with over 300 ancestries
  • since 1945, more than 7.5 million people have migrated to Australia
  • 85 per cent of Australians agree multiculturalism has been good for Australia
  • apart from English, the most common languages spoken in Australia are Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, Italian, Greek, Tagalog/Filipino, Hindi, Spanish and Punjabi
  • more than 70 Indigenous languages are spoken in Australia.

These facts are taken from ABS 2016 Census Data. Check out the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.

Parenting Ideas Article: Everyday Resilience Lessons for Kids

Muscles needs to be exercised daily if they’re to remain strong, flexible and do their jobs. Resilience is no different. If it’s not exercised regularly our resilience will waste away.

Resilience is developed through regular daily use. Here are some simple ways you can encourage a child or young person of any age to flex their resilience muscles every day.

 

Wait until mealtime

Discourage them from random snacking when they are hungry. Encourage them to wait until mealtime. By tolerating minor discomforts such as hunger, thirst or even some worries, kids get the practise needed to help them manage bigger future hurdles that may come their way. You can build your child’s tolerance of discomfort by encouraging them to delaying immediate gratification even just for a few moments.

 

Do more than expected

Great sportspeople routinely train more than others and push through mental and physical boundaries. Encourage your child to push through boundaries and do more than expected in small ways. Perhaps they don’t just clean their bedroom but tidy the living room as well. They may aim to shoot 10 goals in a row at basketball practice but keep going until they reach fifteen. Going past the finish line is wonderful resilience practice. What else can you do that would encourage your child to do more than expected on a regular basis?

 

Save pocket money

Did you know that when you encourage your child to save some of their pocket money rather than spend it immediately you are teaching them to delay gratification, an acknowledged resilience attribute? Asking a child to set aside some pocket money for saving, some for charity and some for spending will help develop a balanced use of pocket money.  It helps if a child can develop their own savings goal, and parental suggestions can assist. The delay of an immediate reward to achieve a greater or later reward needs to be practiced if it’s to become part a child’s pattern of behaviour.

 

Make the bed

Resilience comes from doing things that we don’t feel like doing and making a bed is one thing few people enjoy. The daily habit of making a bed (to the best of a child’s or teen’s ability) is a brilliant discipline to develop, which has the bonus of setting kids up well for a productive day at school. What other simple habits that fit into the “don’t-like-to-do” basket that benefits either your child or others in the family?

 

Help when you don’t feel like it

It’s easy to help at home when they’ve had a good day at school or the weather is fine. It’s much more difficult to step up and help set the table, put the rubbish out or hear a sibling read when they’ve had a bad day at school or the weather is stinking hot. The seemingly small act of sticking to commitments develops discipline and conscientiousness that contributes to a sense of resilience.

 

Smile when you don’t feel happy

Feelings may be difficult to manage, but behaviour is a choice. Encourage kids to choose happy, or at least act happy by smiling rather than putting on a grumpy face. The brilliant thing about this strategy is that smiling changes their mood so that they begin to experience pleasant emotions.

It’s the small, everyday behaviours we encourage in kids that have the greatest impact on their behaviour, wellbeing and resilience.

 

By Michael Grose

Parent Supports

Don't forget, listed below are a number of parent resources you can access at any time.

 

Take care,

Josh Crozier

Assistant Principal

joshua.crozier@education.vic.gov.au