Dear Parents/Caregivers,
GOVERNING COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP
Congratulations to our new Governing Council for 2020. The new Governing Council met for the first time this week. All the office bearers and sub-committee representatives were chosen.
Congratulations and thank you to the following office bearers and representatives:
Chairperson – Simon Gierke
Deputy Chairperson – Yvette Eglinton
Secretary – Simone Green
Treasurer – Melissa Vlachos
Assets and Grounds – Sally Matthews
Canteen – Gaylene Clark
Education – Keith Simpson – Lyttle
Finance – Melissa Vlachos
Fundraising – Melissa Vlachos
OSHC – April Lim
Sport – Jessica Chaplin/Melissa Vlachos
Uniform – Rachel Peake
Other reps – Claire Boardman, Tracey Dettmer, Amber Pellerin and Leanne Craig.
Any issues or queries for Governing Council can be raised either through the front office or the school’s email address and marked ATTENTION GOVERNING COUNCIL.
CLASS VISITS AND HARMONY DAY
I have been visiting classes this week and it has been such a joy talking to children about their learning and listening to classroom conversations around Reading, Numeracy, Music and work they have been doing together in a range of other curriculum areas. It is wonderful to hear the engagement of students in their work.
Tomorrow is Harmony Day. Both today and on other days this week I have spent in the yard at some breaks and chatted with and observed students happily sharing, playing, talking, participating in a range of structured games/sports activities and basically having a lot of fun together. We are very lucky to be in a school where students truly understand the messages of Respect and working and living in harmony with others. This has also been very apparent in my class visits and is evidence that our students are all working towards being respectful citizens of the future.
INTEROCEPTION TRAINING
As part of our pupil fee day training on Wednesday last week, we had a facilitator from state office conduct an introduction to Interoception. Interoception is our 8th sense. I wonder how many of you knew we had 8 senses. I must admit until recently I didn’t. Apart from the standard 5 of Hearing, Vision, Taste, Touch and Smell, we also have the senses of Proprioception (which is the body's ability to sense its location, movements, and actions), Vestibular (which contributes to our ability to maintain balance and body posture) and Interoception (which is an internal sensory system in which the internal physical and emotional states of the body are noticed, recognised, identified and responded to). Basically our Interoception sense helps us to feel what is going on inside our bodies such as changes in heartbeat and breathing, and in turn to be able to self-regulate our responses to our feelings, events and environment. There are many simple, physical activities and strategies that can be undertaken to develop the sense of Interoception. All teachers are currently trialling some of the activities at least twice a day after the breaks. They are easy to do and only take about 5mins. Teachers are also teaching the vocabulary of Interoception. (Some aspects of Interoception also align well with Mindfulness strategies.) Why don’t you ask your child if s/he knows what it is and can explain some of the things s/he has been doing together with classmates? Perhaps you can do the interoception activities with them too.
CORONAVIRUS
We are certainly living in uncertain times with the widespread impact of COVID19. All the media sources are constantly full of stories and updates around this issue, some of it from reputable sources and some that could be described as less than helpful. We know that your children may be feeling worried, frightened and overwhelmed by what they are hearing and seeing. Being at school is important for our students. Not only does learning continue, but when engaged in learning, students are able to participate in their normal routines and it gives them a chance to concentrate on other things of importance in their lives. I would like to reassure families that we are ensuring that except for cancellation of some non-essential programs and events, we are keeping the rest of our programs as routine as possible for our students. We have also been teaching our students about safe hygiene practices and have posters from SA Health around the school to help remind them of these.
As you know, the Prime Minister has said that all schools will remain open. Until we are advised otherwise, this will also be the case for our OSHC and VacCare programs. Both school and OSHC will follow the same expectations, (eg no excursions, a focus on extra hygiene protocols and, in the event of a school closure an OSHC closure will occur). All schools have also been allocated an increase in cleaning contract hours to ensure daily disinfecting of all surfaces can be done fully and effectively.
While we do definitely understand and respect the individual rights of parents to keep children home at this time, the school is open and we encourage all children to attend. Children or parents/caregivers who are in the high risk/vunerable health categories may seek an exemption from school based on risk, with the appropriate documentation from a doctor, and we are very happy to support the provision of work for these children. Every school in SA is currently determining how they can provide a package of learning materials for children in the event of a school closure.
We look forward to continuing to work closely with all families to keep school life as normal as possible for students.
For more useful information about how you can support children with their worries during this time, please click this link.
OVAL OUT OF BOUNDS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE TERM
Complete Edge landscaping company will commence top dressing of our oval on Monday of next week and the oval will be out of bounds for the remainder of the term.
STAFFING NEWS
Welcome to Alex Haynes who has started with us as an SSO. Some of our children already know Alex as he is also an Educator with the OSHC.
Unfortunately last newsletter I forgot to thank and farewell Aisha Venner who finished her teaching contract with us last Friday. For the first 7 weeks of this term Aisha released all teachers to enable organisation of a number of student support processes including time to trial how to use the new One Plan template. Aisha is due to have a baby in the next few weeks and we wish her all the very best.
Anne Rathjen
Principal