Parkhill Primary School Newsletter

Dear Parents/Carers

Happy Free Dress Fri-Yay! Free Dress Friday is just to help us feel good. Our priorities as we move through term 4 are wellbeing and mental health. To reestablish the children’s sense of connectedness with each other and the school is of utmost importance. Over the next few weeks we will be hosting a variety of well being focussed activities both in and out of class to help the children reconnect. 

Today is World Teacher’s Day - the perfect opportunity for me to extend my most grateful and heartfelt thanks to the teaching team at Parkhill. We are so lucky to have the best team of teachers here at Parkhill. They are committed to ensuring the wellbeing of every young person in our community and dedicated to meeting the learning needs of every student. I feel privileged to be part of this team!

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING:

We continue to encourage the children to activate their voice through the use of our student support structures. One of these is the playground report system. The information we receive from our playground reports is well collated and shared with staff. The children are asked to tell us where and when things occur so that we can be responsive to their ever changing needs. Coupled with our teacher reporting system and student safety records, we are better able to help the children resolve conflict and build resilience.  Please also remind yourself of our Community Essential Agreement, this can be found on the website – link below:

https://parkhillps.vic.edu.au/information/#principal

Transitions and change often comes with some level of anxiety and, as we know, different children process these changes in different ways. Here are some helpful hints and tips for helping your child work through their anxieties as we work together to establish our return to school routines:

• Encourage your child to face his/her fears, not run away from them.

• Tell your child that it is okay to be imperfect.

• Focus on the positives.

• Schedule relaxing activities.

• Model approach behaviour, self-care, and positive thinking.

• Reward your child's brave behaviours.

• Encourage good sleep hygiene.

• Help your child to problem solve.

• Stay calm. 

• Practice relaxation exercises with your child.

• Never give up!

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/dont-worry-mom/201302/12-tips-reduce-your-childs-stress-and-anxiety

• Cup Day next Tuesday - school is closed.

• Free Dress Fri-Yay every Friday until the end of term 4. 

• The 12th October was originally pinned as a school based curriculum day – this will no longer be the case.  The curriculum day has been rescheduled for November 16th.

  
  

Interesting reading:

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/is-selfcompassion-more-im_b_6316320

Please reach out if you need support, help or have any feedback at all to offer elaine.brady@education.vic.gov.au

Take care and very best wishes,

Elaine Brady

Principal

Tuesday 3rd November - Cup Day Public Holiday                                   

Monday 16th November - Curriculum Day - No School  

Friday 18th December - Last day Term 4 - 1.30pm Finish

During our remote learning, many of our student laptops, as well as internet dongles, were loaned to families to help with access to the learning platforms. Many of these devices have not been returned yet. If you have one at home, please return it promptly, along with any charging cables, as our student programs cannot run as efficiently with less devices.

With Spring in full swing, allergies and hayfever can be easily exacerbated at this time of the year. It is important to keep your child’s medical information up to date so we can administer the correct treatment for your child if they present to first aid with allergy symptoms. You are welcome to email parkhill.ps@education.vic.gov.au with any changes to your child’s medical records, and will need to complete a Medical Authority form if your child takes medicine for any conditions – including Zyrtec, Claratyne, Panadol, Nurofen, etc. Please note that we cannot administer any medication unless this form has been filled in and returned to the office. We do not keep these medicines in the office, so you will need to supply any medicines for your child/ren when the form is returned.

Please find the Medical Authority form at the following link: https://parkhillps.vic.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/MEDICAL-CONSENT-.pdf

 With things opening up a lot more over the coming weeks it’s good to be mindful that not everyone is going to approach the progressive end of lockdown with the same enthusiasm. A bit of kindness and empathy goes a long way in understanding each other.

Some are champing at the bit to get out there and experience everything they’ve missed with wild abandon. Some are still annoyed they have to wait longer to do all the things. Others will be hesitant and anxious about heading back out into the wider world. Our children are much the same. On the first day back many were excited to return to school whilst others were, and still are, a bit anxious or unsettled. That’s to be expected, we’re all different. It is ok to feel what you feel and hopefully we as a community can reach out if someone’s looking like they’re having a bad day - as I know we’ve been doing over lockdown.

As for the kids it is ok for our young people to feel what they feel too, though they may need some help managing difficult emotions.

The following website has some fantastic tips for helping kids learn self-regulation:

https://www.heysigmund.com/how-to-self-regulate/

It’s got some tips for toddlers, teens and everyone in between.

For those dealing with school refusal the following resources may be helpful:

https://headspace.org.au/friends-and-family/understanding-school-refusal/

And of course please let us know so we can work with you to come up with a plan to help your child.

Don't forget we are offering Christmas Hampers, free of charge, for any families that need them.  Please register your interest by Friday 6th November.

You can send in the  form below to the office or email me on suzanne.carmody@education.vic.gov.au.

Suzanne Carmody

Chaplain

Office Bearers:

President: Rossanne Clay       

Treasurer: Vacant

Secretary/Communications: Kylie Touloupis

General Members:  

Elle Delmee, Maria Andrakakos, Sumi Sundram, Vanessa Cowley, Trish King

NEXT PFA MEETING

Thursday 12th November 8.30 pm.

FUN-A-THON

CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE AND BEAT THE CLOCK!

Back with a COVID twist this year is our annual online fundraiser.

If you have a particular talent and want to put it to good use - this is the year for you!

How many hula hoops can you spin at one time?

How many hot dogs can you eat in a minute?

How many baskets can you slam dunk in 5 minutes?

Tell us what you are going to do, get some friends and family to sponsor you and get going!

Everyone that registers for the event and raises over $10 is placed in the draw to win one of 5 prizes.

We are asking for your support through donations via this web site. Rest assured that fundraising through this site ensures that 100% of the donations will go directly to the school.

How to fundraise:

Sign up as a fundraiser at  https://chuffed.org/project/parkhill-fun-a-thon

Make an individual fundraising page for your child or login to an existing account. Remember to customise the text on your fundraising page to show what activity you are doing!

You can then share your unique link of the fundraising profile with friends and family to collect online donations via credit card payment or alternatively add any non-online donations yourself via credit card through the link too.

What we are doing with the funds:

This year we are fundraising for further outdoor upgrades such as extending the wooden fencing on Cassina Ave and supplying more trees and plants for the outdoor areas.