newsletter - westlawn-p.schools.nsw.gov.au · a medical certificate and provide it to the school....
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Westlawn Public School
Newsletter Term 2 Week 5
26 May 2020
Strive to Achieve
North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 [email protected]
I hope you caught the WPS video “We’re Ready!” last
week. I think it says a lot about how much we have
missed your children and how keen we are to get back
to the core business of teaching and learning at
Westlawn Public School.
All those great skills that children developed over past
months as they problem solved their way through
new and unfamiliar territory, will not be lost at
school. Many children will have improved their
organisational and IT skills, their independence and
their self-motivation as a result of moving from the
traditional classroom desk to the kitchen table. No
doubt mums and dads have also gained some new
skills and insights into education (whilst digging
deeply into their reserves of patience!). Well done to
everyone for doing way more than just surviving. We
thank you all for your support, flexibility and
positivity. Now, please pass the baton back to us.
We’re ready!
Kind Regards,
Sandra
ENHANCED CLEANING
Our school receives additional cleaning in line with
the AHPPC guidelines and advice from NSW Health.
Targeted areas include high-touch areas and other
hard surfaces, door handles, light switches and
handrails in stairways and movement areas. There is
also additional cleaning of toilets and bubblers and
topping up of supplies like soap. Our school has
received extra supplies of soap, hand sanitiser, toilet
paper, paper towels, disinfectant wipes and personal
protective equipment. We are able to order more as
needed.
PENCIL CASES
Thanks to Mrs Ellis and her hard working team of
School Learning Support Officers, every child from
Kindergarten to year 2 has received an individual
labelled pencil case full of excellent colouring in
pencils. This will mean that children will no longer
need to share pencils from the communal pencil tin.
These pencil cases must stay at school. If one sneaks
home, thank you for sending it back to school the next
day. Students in years 3 to 6 are expected to have
their own pencil cases.
Message from the Principal
Strive to Achieve
North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 [email protected]
REPORTS
Semester 1 Reports for all students will be sent home
by the end of August next term. The report will look a
little different to previous ones as it has been adapted
to reflect Term 1 and 2 changes to teaching and
learning.
ATTENDANCE – WE’RE AIMING FOR 100% AT WPS
Schools are safe and open for full time face to face
learning. As such, all students are expected to attend
school unless they are unwell. If parents believe their
child has a condition that means it is not safe for
him/her to return to school, they will need to obtain
a medical certificate and provide it to the school.
Students who are residing with a family member
identified as being at increased risk should attend
school unless a medical practitioner advises
otherwise.
ACCESS TO SCHOOL GROUNDS AND ADULT
PHYSICAL DISTANCING
We value our contact with you, we just need to do it
differently for a while. There should be no visitors to
the school site unless they are essential. If you are on
essential business, please report directly to the office
and observe all physical distancing requirements.
Thank you for not entering the school grounds at the
beginning and end of the school day when you are
dropping your child at school. Side gates will be
locked at 9am. If your child is late to school, please
report to the Office via the main school gate. All
parent teacher contact should be over the phone. If
you wish to discuss anything with your child’s
teacher, this should not be done face to face. Please
do not hesitate to call the school office and the
teacher will endeavour to return your call within 24
hours. Many thanks for your cooperation and support
in this area.
VIRTUAL ASSEMBLIES
Yes, we’re going to give this a go! We want to have as
many school activities as we can up and running
again, but we will need to think outside of the box.
Assemblies give children the opportunity to share
their success with peers through our Awards system.
They also give our year 6 Leaders the chance to
perform their leadership duties by officiating. Classes
also have the chance to perform in front of an
audience and showcase their talents collectively. How
do we do all this when students are not allowed to
gather in our Hall? We Zoom it all to them in their
classrooms! Our first attempt at a Virtual Assembly
via Zoom will be this Friday. Wish us luck!
TERM 4 EXCURSIONS
At this stage, all Term 4 excursions are going ahead.
Other schools in the Clarence Valley have also made
this decision. If we cancel now and all restrictions are
lifted by the end of this year, we will lose our bookings
and the children will not have the opportunity to
attend an event that they have been looking forward
to for years. Monies paid by parents will be refunded
if we have to cancel later in the year. The only
exception to this may be if the school is required to
pay a deposit deemed non refundable. This is a rarity
and I would imagine that companies will be
sympathetic under the current conditions. Parents
will be advised of the refund availability relevant to
each excursion.
CANTEEN
Our Canteen will remain closed until further notice.
Thank you for ensuring your child has food and a
water bottle with their name on it, each day. The
bubblers are turned off but children can refill their
water bottles at the tap.
PARENTING INFORMATION FROM MICHAEL GROSE
Why Worry?
Rumination is the ruination of a peaceful mind. If
you’ve ever spent a sleepless night worrying then
you’ll know how problems always seem bigger when
you keep tossing them around in your head.
It can seem like everything is stacked against you.
When this happens you’ve got to find the off switch
so you can get away from your worries for a while.
The same principle holds for children and teenagers
Strive to Achieve
North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 [email protected]
when they worry. Their problems just seem to get
bigger and they need to turn them off or tone them
down so they can ease their anxiety.
There are eight easy-to-learn strategies that you can
teach your kids to prevent them from ruminating –
going over the same thoughts and worries over and
over again.
Broaden their vision
Kids get tunnel vision when they worry. They often
can’t see the bigger picture. For instance, a young
person may fret over minor work matters such
getting the exact font match for an assignment they
are working on, and neglect to get the sleep
necessary for good learning the next day. Sometimes
it takes a wise adult to remind children and young
people about what really is important to them.
Put their attention elsewhere
Placing attention away from worries is an age old
technique for parents and teachers. Commonly
known as distraction, the act of focusing attention on
something other than what causes them distress is
vital for good mental health. Examples of distractions
include – going outside, playing a game, shooting
some basketball hoops or listening to music.
Give the worry a name
Somehow giving a worry a name makes it feel less
scary and more manageable. My favourite picture
storybook for toddlers ‘There’s a Hippopotamus on
our Roof‘ by Hazel Edwards personifies fear of the
dark as a friendly hippo. Much more friendly and
easier to boss around if you’re a child.
Put your worries in a jar
Wouldn’t it be great to put all your worries into a safe
and throw away the key? As an adult you may do this
when you take time out to watch your favourite TV
show; or lose yourself wandering for hours online.
Children need something a little more practical. They
can write their worries on some paper and lock them
in away in a jar by the side of the bed at the end of
the day. It’s good to know that their worries can’t get
out because they are locked up tight.
Limit talking time
It’s good if kids can talk about what’s on their mind
but talking needs to be contained to prevent their
worries from dominating their lives. Set aside ten
minutes a day to talk about their worries and then put
worry time aside until tomorrow.
Normalise rather than lionise their anxiety
Anxious kids are very sensitive to their parents
concerns and worries. One way we build their
concerns is by continually reassuring them that things
will be fine. One reassurance should be sufficient
most of the time followed by “I’ve already talked to
you about that.” Continually going over old ground
can allow worries to linger longer than necessary.
Give them the tools to relax
Some kids might take their mind off their worries by
escaping in a fiction book or playing in the garden.
Some children need a bigger set of tools including
mindfulness and exercise to help them neutralise
their worries. Pay attention to what helps your child
sufficiently escape their worries.
Move baby, move
Get kids moving. Physical exercise is not only a great
distraction but it releases feel-good endorphins that
help children and young people feel better and more
optimistic about the future.
Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of
Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s an
award-winning speaker and the author of 12 books
for parents including Spoonfed Generation, and the
bestselling Why First Borns Rule the World and Last
Borns Want to Change It. Michael is a former teacher
with 15 years experience, and has 30 years
experience in parenting education. He also holds a
Master of Educational Studies from Monash
University specialising in parenting education.
Strive to Achieve
North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 [email protected]
National Reconciliation Week is a time for all
Australians to learn about our shared histories,
cultures and achievements, and to explore how
each of us can contribute to achieving
reconciliation in Australia. National
Reconciliation Week is from the 27th May to the
3rd of June. This year’s theme is In this together.
Throughout National Reconciliation Week,
Westlawn students will be participating in a
range of activities such as, listening to Aboriginal
Dreamtime stories and will participate in a Walk
for Reconciliation around our school oval.
Check out the QR code in the image to make the
National Reconciliation Week artwork come
alive.
Last term students, parents/carers and staff completed a survey on how they would like our school to feel, look and sound. We would like to thank all of our families and students for completing this survey. The PBL team then collated all of these responses and found we have three clear expectations. The new expectations at Westlawn Public School are; Be a Learner Be Respectful Be Safe This week students will be explicitly taught what these expectations mean. Last term we also held a Mascot competition. Soon we will be unveiling our new mascot and the winner!
The Westlawn Way Reconciliation Week 2020
Strive to Achieve
North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 [email protected]
What a wonderful week to come
back to school and in time to
celebrate Library and information
week. Wednesday is National Simultaneous
Storytime. This year we are using the whole week to
share the story with our students during library.
Whitney and Britany are not your usual farmyard
chickens once the sun goes down!
Australian Children’s
Laureate for 2020 -21
Ursula Dubosarsky
has a lovely message
to open Library and
Information Week
2020
https://youtu.be/1JKb2zqwpA0
Thank you to everyone for bringing your books back
to the library. Please keep them coming back.
Borrowing books will be a little different for now. We
are continuing our click-n-collect service. It has been
lovely to see many students use this option to find
books that are of interest to them. Jump on to Oliver
library in your student portal and search up the book
you would like to borrow. Reserve the book and then
I will get the book ready for you when available. A
reminder that your student portal can be found at
https://education.nsw.gov.au/
If you need assistance; please look at the guide on the
followinglink.
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1t1Qs6wu0
Uc1kcM-Y-
esGhaJ265xr2QVokscyCYO3Riw/edit?usp=sharing
There have been important updates to the 2020 PRC Challenge rules to help all students meet the Challenge requirements this year. Key changes include: - All students will be able to include 10 choice books on their 2020 Student reading records. - All students will be able to include books read as part of a collaborative reading with teachers or parents/ carers, either in person or online. - Students who do not complete the Challenge in 2020 will not be disadvantaged from achieving cumulative PRC awards in the future.
If you require any assistance please ask Mrs. Palmer
or you can look at the site at
https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html
Fun Westlawn Library Fact!
Top five most popular PRC series:
1) Diary of a Wimpy Kid
2) Ella and Olivia
3) Boys vs Beast
4) EJ Spy School
5) The Treehouse series
Happy reading!
Mrs Palmer
Library News
Strive to Achieve
North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 [email protected]