Henley Beach Primary School Newsletter

Dear families and caregivers

I hope that everyone enjoyed the beautiful autumn weekend that has just passed.  From all evidence we have, the school grounds was a popular meeting place for families and groups of friends emerging from isolation and responsibly engaging, ensuring distancing and also supporting local business for snacks and coffee etc.  This is the kind of support and spirit we need to move forward positively and responsibly.

This week we only have 14 students learning from home due to the COVID-19 situation.    If we exclude the regular coughs and colds common at this time, Henley has over 97% attendance.  With the restrictions on international/interstate travel this figure is higher than normal as families postpone winter trips to the warmth of other locations.

Classes are very full at the moment and remote learning capabilities of staff are highly reduced as they have the daily face to face students and duties to attend to first.   I would encourage all families that are currently learning from home to engage in a review with their medical professional to see if the risk for their child has reduced and a return to school and a more direct student/teacher relationship is a viable healthy option.  Back to supported learning/ Back to community.

Communications

We have received very positive feedback from families about SKOOLBAG and SEESAW as communication platforms.   Even in this complex times families have reported the best and most current communication ever.   The Apps have been reported to us as easy to use with clear notifications.  With the ability to go back to past notifications, the platforms are a saviour for many when you get the feeling you have missed or misplaced a notice.   If you are having any difficulties please contact the front office team who will gladly assist you to make the applications user friendly on your device.

School Phones continue to be a major issue.   Our regular landlines are fully out of order with no date for resolution.    We do have emergency mobiles offering a contact alternative when you dial 83562117.   When we dial you it will now show as PRIVATE NUMBER and there is no “Message bank” available.   Please be patient and persist.

Student Mobile Phones

It has been noted that more and more students of varying ages, are bringing mobile devices to school.   We do provide a safe and secure storage facility for devices in the front office.   An increasing number of students are not utilising this and are then operating outside of school policy.   Parents need to be aware that in the event of accidental damage or theft the school bears no responsibility.  If the device is spotted during school hours it will be confiscated and require parent collection. Phones should be turned off once students are on site. If applicable, students must put phones away once they have notified their parents that they have arrived safely. If out and being used during school hours additional consequences under the policy may apply.   Please refresh yourself with the policy and discuss with your child. See link.

Out of Hours Sports

With the current SA easing of restrictions junior sports will hopefully be returning soon.   We are awaiting more information from local associations.   In preparation for this I am aware that AFL Junior football and most of Junior basketball were well organised and represented and should be able to kick-start easily.  Junior Soccer was in jeopardy of not proceeding prior to COVID-19 due to a lack of adult support and in some age levels student numbers were too low.   Please be aware that these are not school run options.   We rely entirely on parents as coaches/managers and sport delegates.   After such a long break this may be just what you are looking for to be out there and active, supporting your child and building an enthusiasm for team sport in the community.   WE NEED YOU!  Please stay connected to Skoolbag for more updates as they come.

Thank you to all those parents/caregivers that have already completed the online year 7/8 transition application.

For those that haven't the process takes approx. one minute to complete this first phase of Year 7 to year 8 process.

You would have received an email from education.noreply@sa.gov.au with information about starting secondary school in 2021.

The email contains a unique link to enable you to complete your child's registration of interest form online.

Even if you are waiting for a position at another school this is just your default school and must be filled out by the due date.

Please feel free to contact the front office if you have any queries.

Reminder if your child is sick please keep them at home.

Parents to still drop and pick up children at the gates and refrain from coming on site until further notice.

Please ring the office staff if you need to pick up your child early or are dropping off late each day. 

We are very excited with the progress that is happening in our new Nature Play Area. Simon and the team from Climbing Tree have been working hard and every day we see something new appear. We will continue to keep you updated with progress!

During Term 2, we will be developing our Seven Steps writing strategies across the Middle and Upper Primary Classes. Trained coaches will be supporting staff in planning, co-teaching and engaging the children in writing.

Seven Steps to Writing Success is a writing program that empowers teachers to inspire their students to rapidly improve their writing skills, and most importantly, learn to love writing!

Seven Steps creates engaging classrooms where students learn to love writing and become lifelong communicators.  – Seven Steps Website

We will keep you posted with our writing successes throughout the Term.

Maths is made more relevant to children if they can see it in everyday life. It appears in everyday life all the time, but children do not make the connections. I am sure at some point in your life, you have either said or heard the phrase, ‘when am I ever going to need this…? while learning algebra or complex equations in high school. I once heard a tradie say on Grand Designs, ‘The trigonometry on this roof is crazy…’ and I thought, ‘YES… TRIGONOMETRY on the TV!’

If you can make a conscious effort to point out to your child the type of maths involved in everyday activities and jobs, it will help us to help them to see the real life application of skills. Examples include:

·        Painting the house – volume, area, estimating

·        Cereal pack – mass, weight, volume, estimating

·        Walking down the path – measuring in foot steps

·        Sleep – time

·        Playing on the playground – angles, length, height

·        Sports – length, force

·        Shopping – money, estimating, addition, multiplication

·        Tradies – doing almost anything

And there are many more. I’d love to hear your stories or see your pictures of maths in everyday life.

Maths Word of the Week

 Product

Product is a word which we use in multiplication. In mathematics, product is the result of multiplying – eg 15 is the product of 3 and 5 because  3 x 5 = 15.

Maths Family Corner

 Can you put the numbers 1 -8 in each of the squares so that each side adds up to the middle number?

Term 2 Wk 2 answer

What does angle y measure?

Angle y measures 56˚ because the internal angles of a triangle add up to 180˚.

We have a right angle (90) plus 34 already given - 90 + 34 = 124˚.

180 – 124 = 56

Wellbeing and Neuroscience at Henley Beach PS –

The Effects of Stress on Learning

 When we talk about stress, we usually think about being pressed for time, in over our heads, anxious or worried.  But, there are actually different kinds of stress.  More importantly, a BIT of stress is good for us. 

If we think about stress as being any kind of pressure to react (think, feel, say or do something), then it is easier to see why stress is a necessary part of life.  If things did not happen to make us think, feel, say or do something, we would be bored and boring blobby creatures. We usually talk about this ‘regular’ kind of stress as ‘stimulation’ or ‘input’ or, in the classroom, an example of stress could be a question that the student needs to answer—so we call it education.

Our brains are set up to manage stress when it is short term and ‘regular’.  Being a little stressed mentally when trying to recall the answer to a question, usually means you will remember the answer better next time.  However, when you are too stressed, this is very bad for you brain and for learning.  Neuroscientists now state absolutely that severe stress, experienced over long periods will damage memory making and will even damage the brain itself.  So, to be the best learners we can be, we need to be aware of what causes us stress.  We need to take steps to manage our stress levels and perhaps, make changes to what is happening in our lives.  That is very easy to write.  It is not so easy to do.  However, REMEMBER, the brain loves patterns—even though it is not always good at judging helpful patterns from destructive patterns.  Being constantly stressed can have a lot to do with HOW we think about things.  In the next newsletter article, I will talk a bit about ‘mindset’ and what neuroscience is learning to help us.

If you want to learn more about stress and its affects on the human brain, check out these websites:

Websites on Stress and the Brain:

Stress is a subject of John Medina’s 12 brain rules. www.brainrules.net/stress

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/06/990617072302.htm

http://health.howstuffworks.com/human-body/systems/nervous-system/improving-memory1.htm

Or, a great book, Why Zebras Don’t Get Ulcers. Ask Donna if you wish to borrow this book.

Governing Council Reflection

Thank you to our community for your support during COVID-19. You have been fantastic respecting social distancing within our school and also supporting the teachers in these unprecedented times.

Thank you particularly to our wonderful teaching staff for your continued work and dedication to support families with both online and classroom learning.

The new principal position is now being advertised. A member of Governing Council has been elected to sit on the selection panel. Having worked with Shane for the last 16 years I have watched the school grow in leaps and bounds in all areas - size, facilities, financially, academically and in reputation. I personally would like to thank him for the early foundations my 6 children have had as a result of our fantastic school. I am also excited as to where a new principal with new ideas can take us from here. Good luck to Shane and our team here at HBPS, here's to a great future.

The EcoWarriors are a group of students working to improve the sustainability of our school and community. Each class is represented by two students who meet fortnightly with other class reps. This term our EcoWarriors have been making short videos to promote recycling and teach students (and teachers!) how to recycle. The year 4 students looked at recycling glue sticks. Did you know that glue sticks CAN be recycled? Simply remove the sticky bits (these have to go to landfill) and put the lid and stick into a milk bottle. When the milk bottle is full put the lid on and drop it into your yellow bin. Lots of small hard plastics can be recycled inside milk bottles like this, it keeps the small pieces together instead of scattering them at the recycling facility, so they don’t drop through the machines. Why not start your own SMALL HARD PLASTICS milk bottle bin at home?!! 

(for Year 6-12 boys with changed voices in Department for Education Schools)

Do you know any boys who love singing and whose voices have changed? Please let them know about this. https://festivalofmusic.org.au/auditions/higher-ground-vocalists

 Instrumental music is back!

All instrumental lessons at school have now resumed, with Department for Education and private providers back on site.

 More benefits of Music learning and training

The “Bigger Better Brains” website has been developed to share information about music learning and brain development. They also have a Facebook page that may be of interest: 

There will be a hot dog special on Thursday 4 June. There will be no other lunch items available on this day.  

There are currently items that we are trialing with our new Thermomix. They will be available throughout the week for $1 to cover costs. Full price list coming later in the term. 

Niina marni (Hi, How are you?),   

 One of our schools actions from the Reconciliation Action Plan is:

 ‘Physically and visibly demonstrate respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and contributions around the school’.

 You may have noticed our new welcome signs on the gates at the entrances of our school. It makes me feel so proud that we as a school community acknowledge that Henley Beach Primary School is on Kaurna land and that the Kaurna people are the traditional owners of this land.