ENewsletter

Principal's Message

Term 4 continues to roll on and it is super busy, plenty of events happening for our kids in the classroom and outside of the classroom. We look forward to celebrating our Year 6 students at the end of the year.

Year 2 are off to Wallsend Pool next week for the Learn to Swim Program. Thank you to Miss Bailey for organising the program. Reminder the notes are due tomorrow.

Keep your eyes out for a fundraising day coming up. We have had some driven Stage 2 students organising a day for Ronald McDonald House, the day promises to be great for our kids.

Kindergarten Orientation has two sessions left, 24 th November 9:30 – 10:30 and 1 st December 9:30 –10:30. It was wonderful to see our new families at the picnic yesterday. Thank you to Miss Jasmine and Mrs Cole for coordinating. It was great to see Miss Ross tag along for the picnic with the students and families too.

There is a definite character to a Plattsburg student, they are resourceful and always up for a challenge. Thanks to all our parents and carers for encouraging our kids to be who they are and accept everyone the way they are.

Mr Hopson, Relieving Principal.

Attention all Plattsburg Parents and Carers

Unfortunately, we have had many reports of poor and anti-social behaviour at the new Active Hub at Federal Park. We have been in contact with the local police for support with these matters. We want our school and community to keep enjoying the fabulous new facility. As a school we don’t have a teacher on park duty, and we are strongly advising that your children are adequately supervised whenever at the park.

Mr Hopson, Relieving Principal.

Important Dates

Wednesday, 23rd November 2022

Children's University Graduation

5pm till 6:30pm

(please arrive early to be fitted for a gown)

Thursday, 24th November 2022

Kindergarten Student Orientation - 9:30am to 10:30am

Friday, 25th November 2022

Christmas Card Competition Entries Due

Tuesday, 29th November 2022

Ronald McDonald House Jelly Cup Fundraiser

Tuesday, 29th November 2022

Year 7 CCWC Orientation Day

Thursday, 1st December 2022

Kindergarten Student Orientation - 9:30am to 10:30am

Friday, 9th December 2022

Everyone Belongs Multi Themed Gala Day

K-2 in the Gully, 3-6 at Federal Park

Wednesday, 14th December 2022

Presentation Day/Christmas in the Gully

Thursday, 15th December 2022

Year 6 Graduation

Friday, 16th December 2022

Last Day of 2022 for Students

Monday, 19th December 2022

Staff Development Day - No Students

Staff CPR, Defibrillator and Anaphylaxis Training

Last Wednesday afternoon all staff attended mandatory CPR, Defibrillator and Anaphylaxis face to face training with James from Royal Life Saving Australia. Staff were tested using the latest CPR Annie technology where the mannequins used for CPR training were connected to the Smartboard. Staff had visual data in real time on how effective their compressions and resuscitations were with the program computing compressions per minute, breaths per minute and depth of compressions. All staff passed with flying colours. Sadie found the whole course particularly interesting and wanted to be included too so you can be rest assured staff and students are in safe hands if an emergency does arise.

Emergency Plus App

The Emergency + app is free and has been developed by Australia’s emergency services. Parents and students are encouraged to download the app as it’s features may help save a life. The app uses a mobile phone’s GPS functionality so callers can provide emergency call-takers with their location information as determined by their smart phone. ‘Emergency+’ also includes SES and Police Assistance Line numbers as options, so non-emergency calls are made to the most appropriate number.

Court Orders

Sadly sometimes relationships break down and the court makes orders that change the contact parents can have with their children or the role they play in making decisions about their children’s education. These can be Family Court Orders or Apprehended Violence Orders. Parents can also reach agreement about issues such as contact in a parenting plan. If this happens it is important that you provide the school with a copy of any court orders or plan that could impact on your child’s education. In the absence of any notification to the contrary, the school will assume that both parents continue to retain a shared and equal parental responsibility for their children and should be involved in making any decisions regarding their children’s education. This means that the school will recognise that each parent has equal duties, obligations, responsibilities and opportunities in relation to matters involving the school. If any changes occur in your family relationships which have the potential to impact on the relationship between the school and your family, please advise the school immediately and provide a copy of any court orders that may be obtained. These orders will be stored securely and only accessed by staff who need to see them in order to plan for your children’s learning.

Conflict Resolution

Disagreements between children happen regularly. This can be over a game, the rules, turn taking, friendship, not sharing etc. When a student has an issue they are encouraged to seek out the assistance of a teacher to help resolve the matter. It is very important to remember that bullying is repeated verbal, physical, social or psychological aggressive behaviour by a person or group directed towards a less powerful person or group that is intended to cause harm, distress or fear.

It is not:

• single-episode acts of nastiness or physical aggression, or aggression directed towards many different people, is not bullying

• mutual conflict - which involves a disagreement, but not an imbalance of power.

• social rejection or dislike is not bullying unless it involves deliberate and repeated attempts to cause distress, exclude or create dislike by others.

What doesn’t work to help children resolve their differences:

• Parents/Carers warning or threatening students on the school site.

• Parents/Carers waiting for students outside the school gate to warn or threaten them.

These things do not work and are viewed as intimidatory and/or threatening.

What does work:

• Communicating with the class teacher or principal any concerns that you have.

• Working co-operatively with the school to resolve and understand issues.

• Stay calm and positive

• Talk with your child

• Do not advise your child to fight with the other child

• Report the bullying to the school

• Seek help for your child to improve his/her social skills

Please work with the school to resolve any concerns and respect every child’s right to feel safe in their school and their community.

Restorative practice

A pro-social approach to resolving conflict Restorative Practice is a positive approach that works with students, rather than doing things to them or for them. Conflict is an inevitable part of life. How we work to resolve conflict impacts on a school’s climate and culture and ultimately on students’ social and academic outcomes. Schools need to be safe places where young people can learn and thrive in a supportive, enriching environment. A restorative approach focuses on building and maintaining positive relationships across the whole school community. It aims to create an ethos of respect, inclusion, cooperation, accountability and responsibility.

Restorative Practice is a teaching and learning approach that promotes self-regulation and encourages behaviour that is supportive and respectful. It puts the onus on individuals to be truly accountable for their behaviour and to repair any harm caused to others as a result of their actions. When schools are restorative they:

value quality relationships
model empathy and respectful relationships
value student voice and utilise collaborative problem solving
view inappropriate behaviours as opportunities for learning
apply procedural fairness
recognise the importance of repairing damaged relationships
separate the ‘deed’ from the ‘doer’
use active listening and positive language and tone
avoid scolding, judging, lecturing or blaming
foster self-awareness in the student
implement consequences that are proportional and fair
remain future focused.

Behaviour Management

Behaviour management is becoming more and more complex as time goes on. Studies have proven that early intervention is best, coupled by affective strategies and strong relationships. Below are some tips for parents and teachers when dealing with misbehaviour.

Anger - what can you do?

Anger is a normal emotion that all of us (adults and children) experience at some time. The resulting behaviour is what can cause issues for the child and lead to family conflict/school suspension etc. It is important to remember that it is the behaviour that must be addressed, NOT the emotion.
Encourage children/students to recognise the physical changes in their body when they get angry as well. Such as, a pounding heart, explosive feeling, desire to hit/punch something, etc.
It is important to not try and reason with them while they are experiencing an angry outburst. Just like adults, they will not see reason in the ‘heat of the moment’, and trying to make them, will only escalate the situation.
Teachers all need to be aware of students who annoy others to ‘get a rise’, and avoid them working together. •Avoiding a trigger will hopefully avoid the behaviour.
It is important that parents and teachers keep their own emotions in control. It is your role to model the appropriate ways to deal with anger. If you yell/ scream, then the child behaviour is reinforced, rather than reduced.
Ensure the child is safe during an outburst and wait for them to calm down. Then talk about the behaviour and any consequences. Ask them why they were angry? What did they do? What could they do next time? Discuss any future strategies and praise any strategy they tried to use.
Teachers can also prevent classwork related triggers through preparation, e.g. a child who reacts when they have to start an assignment, perhaps needs more guidance getting started. By allowing time for this when work is given out may prevent unwanted behaviour.
Avoid building the punishment up during the outburst. Just as a child will not see reason, they are not thinking logically about the consequences, and as the consequences increase, so will the behaviour.

Excerpt from LDC Newsletter article. References: “Angry Child Outbursts” The 10 Rules of Dealing with an Angry Child” by C Banks www.empoweringparents.com, “Emotional Control Strategies for ADHD Kids, by ADDitude Editors www.additudemag.com, “Dr Hallowell’s 10 Tips for Managing Anger in Children, by Dr N Hallowell www.drhallowell.com

Back to School NSW Vouchers

The Back to School NSW Vouchers program will provide 3 x $50 vouchers, totalling $150 for each eligible child. Applications open in December 2022.

The vouchers can be used:

towards the cost of school uniforms, shoes, bags, textbooks and stationery at registered businesses before 30 June 2023.

You'll be able to apply for vouchers if your child is:

a NSW resident
enrolled in a government or non-government school, or registered for homeschooling, in 2023
listed on a valid Medicare card.

Read the program guidelines for more information.

K-2 Gymnastics

K-2 have participated in a Gymnastics programs supporting out PE unit of work for this term

Congratulations Tyler

Plattsburg Public School would like to congratulate Tyler Giustiniani on making the Under 10s Central Coast Mariners SAP Program Squad! The school as a whole are very proud of him.

What Parents Need to Know about Amigo

Amigo is a social platform which purports to connect strangers from around the world – and, with built-in translation software, it reduces the expected language barriers. Focusing heavily on one-to-one chat, video calls and live streams, Amigo encourages its users to build up online relationships to unlock exclusive features such as private video and audio calls: essentially, the more that people chat, the more features become available to them. This is an app designed with mature users very much in mind and is therefore definitely not recommended for children.

In the guide, you'll find tips on a number of potential risks such as inappropriate contact, strangers and membership costs.

The Great Potato Shortage

Toilet paper, lettuce, milk and now potatoes! Due to the recent floods, supplies of potato products, ie. hash browns, crisps etc have been difficult to maintain. Hash Browns are a favourite at our school canteen and we have tried to maintain stock by using a number of different suppliers and supermarkets but they are getting increasingly harder to find. Stock amounts are entered into Quickcliq and if they are "out of stock" then they won't appear in Quickcliq and will be unable to be ordered.

New at the Canteen. 5 Health Star Rated Drink

99% Fruit Juice, Gluten Free, No added Sugar, No Artificial Flavours or Colours.

Christmas Card Competition Closes 25th November

Remember, the Plattsburg Christmas Card Competition closes at 3pm on Friday the 25th of November. All entries and notes must be handed in to the office by this day. Good luck to all those that entered!

Christmas in the Gully

Christmas in the Gully is back! After a 2 year hiatus thanks to COVID-19, our annual CIG (Christmas in the Gully) celebrations will return. CIG has been a fun way to end the school year for the students and raise funds for the P&C Association at the same time. The P&C have rides booked and a note to purchase an unlimited wrist band will be sent home shortly. Students will be dazzling the crowd with class performances and the P&C will be cooking a BBQ and firing up the fairy floss machine! Volunteers will be needed to cook, serve and twirl, please consider volunteering for the event to ensure a successful celebration.