Community News
Kilvington Physical Challenge
Our Japanese Language teacher, Ms Guyton, recently took part in the Kilvington Physical challenge with her girls. Well done on completing six laps! Find her video on Facebook.
How many laps have you managed? Don't forget to log your results!
And in case you wanted more inspiration, here is Mr Williams with his family - reminding us to get outside and exercise this weekend!
Kilvington Art Challenge
Our fantastic Art Leaders; Sam, Jordyn and Angelia announcing the new weekly Kilvington Art challenge! Each week the team will pick a new theme to help you get creative.
This week's theme is recycled sculpture.
Head over to our Facebook page or KCEE for more information on how to enter!
Mother’s Day Photo Competition
This year we are holding a competition open to everyone in our wonderful Kilvington community - students and parents!
Simply send in your favourite photo of you and your Mum or special person in your life, along with a few lines telling us the best advice they have ever given you.
Just to give you a taste, here are a few of the entries we have already been sent:
Selected entries will be showcased on our School Facebook and Instagram pages. One winner will be chosen from each of our Junior, Middle and Senior Schools.
The winner will receive a beautiful flower arrangement delivered to your home in time for Mother’s Day on Sunday 10 May.
Please send your entries to Deb Duce at duced@kilvington.vic.edu.au by 4.00pm Wednesday 6 May. Good Luck!
Mother's Day Bingo
Mother's Day is going to be a little different this year with no social gatherings, but never fear, Kilvington PFA is here!
Join the Kilvington PFA for a fun-filled session of BINGO on Thursday 7 May from 5.00 - 6.00pm.
Wear your favourite hat/head attire for a chance to win a special Mother’s Day prize.
Prizes will also be given to Bingo winners!
Register here (no cost) and we will send you all the details including links to join the event, as well as your Bingo cards.
Mother's Day Stall
Anna from Bungalow, a gorgeous store with interesting and beautiful fashion, gifts and homewares, is holding a virtual Mother’s Day Stall and is offering the Kilvington community 10% off purchases until midnight Saturday 9 May.
The special discount code is KILVINGTON10 to be entered at the checkout. It applies storewide, not just to Mother’s Day items but excludes original artworks. The link is here.
Anna is offering a fantastic click and collect service, free gift wrapping and also a delivery option. This is a great chance to get something special for your Mum or special person and also support a Kilvington family.
Keeping Kids Connected During the COVID19 Pandemic
Sally Kenney, School Psychologist
Term 2 ... three weeks down, seven to go.
For my family, the start of the term has felt a little like the beginning of an adventure. We brought all the kids’ stationery downstairs, and set up work spaces throughout our home. A number chart, a clock and a brand new whiteboard went up on the wall: a gallery of good intentions.
Over the holidays, my eldest discovered online chess; playing for hours on Zoom with his mates. We attempted whole-class Zoom catch ups, which for my preppie, consisted mostly of kids suddenly dashing away, returning with another Lego figure to hold up to the webcam.
We had Houseparty wine nights for the mums and dads, convinced that we’d keep it all up, that maybe this could actually be a bit of fun. But then School started and, just like that, life got busy again.
What we’re missing now can’t be wholly replaced with the amazing technology we have at our fingertips. What I’m hearing from both kids and adults is that we’re missing the spontaneous conversations and the incidental interactions.
Incidental Interactions
The ones that happen in the staff room while we’re waiting for the kettle to boil. The ones that happen between students and teachers as they walk around doing yard duty. A longer-than-it-needs-to-be trip to collect a parcel from Main Reception because it’s so nice to chat with Kathy.
We’re missing the hellos we share with those who wouldn’t be on our friends lists on social media, whose numbers are not in our phones, but whose presence we note every day. The small talk at the café while we wait for our coffee. Huddling together against the wintry morning chill in our parental uniform of black puffer jackets, watching our kids play sport. The buzz of the lockers, the noise of a crowd. These things are so hard to replicate and we rarely even realise they’re there until they’re not.
The Institute of Positive Education - Keeping Kids Connected
When I saw an ad for an online public lecture presented by The Institute of Positive Education titled 'Keeping Kids Connected', I signed up, initially overlooking the 8.00pm start time. As the evening went on, I did contemplate calling it an early night, hoping my $6 registration fee would earn me a recording of the lecture.
I am so very glad I stayed online to hear from Dana Kerford, world-renowned kids friendship expert; and would like to share what I took away from her talk.
The Need to Connect
The need to connect with each other drives us and is innate. We are currently adapting to new ways to be social and for our children this requires a level of parental involvement far greater than usual. Dana Kerford recommends that we consider what children need out of their social connections at different stages of their development and broke it down like this:
Young children (5-7)
At this age, friendships are centred on play. This play is fluid, imaginative and fun, and above all, we need to find ways to maintain play. Children of this age might talk our ear off at the dinner table, but are less likely to engage in conversation with their friends. Try to be an observer rather than a director; leave them to it and see what they come up with. If they’re having fun, that’s a win.
Tweens (8-12)
At this age, friendships are becoming deeper and more complex. They are forming groups and cliques and might be starting to feel nervous about these groups: are they going to be the same when they return to school? These kids don’t want to 'play' so much as 'hang out'; they might come online together with a game or activity in mind but meander through a range of things as they just spend time together. We need to give them the space and time to do this.
Teenagers (12+)
Children at this age crave deep connections and prefer small groups or one-to-one over larger groups when engaging online: our presence is not the only thing keeping this group off Facebook. Children at this age are more likely to talk to their friends about their mental health over social media than to anyone else in any other way.
Connecting online is a part of their friendships, rather than the add-on it has been for us. The majority of their online connections are replicated offline which can mean a ‘rich get richer’ pattern emerges with the more time spent online.
Dana Kerford recommends that teenagers should be encouraged to use facetime or voice calls to hear their friends’ voices rather than relying solely on messaging. Teenagers can still relish opportunities to have fun and be silly with their friends – hello TikTok!
'Name It to Tame It'
Our children are likely to be experiencing loss and grief related to the current social restrictions. There is a lot that goes on in their lives to miss out on. We need to help our kids to recognise this experience: ‘name it to tame it’. They need to be reassured that their feelings of grief are legitimate and valuable reminders of what matters to us and very frequently relate to other people.
The Outcomes of Slowing Down
On the other hand, some might be relishing the relatively slower pace of life without wall-to-wall commitments and may experience a lifting of the FOMO that drives them to say yes to every opportunity that comes their way. They might need some space occasionally and might not be driven to connect outside of class time. Check in with these kids, making sure that they’re content being alone and not feeling too lonely.
Within the family, Dana Kerford stresses the importance of sitting and snuggling on the couch, finding opportunities to help our kids feel loved and connected.
Given that I find juggling my work and the need to re-direct the 9-year-old away from the 6-year-old’s iPad every seven minutes increasingly frustrating, I might have expected my kids to have had a gutful of me by now.
But even though we are together all day every day at the moment, much of that time in the same room, my boys still want me to lie down with them at bed time every night, to have a cuddle and a chat. The dishes can wait.