4 May 2017

Newsletter Articles

Across the Principal’s Desk…

Greetings From Mr Baker

I can’t believe it is already Week 3, Term 2!! I hope you and your family had a restful and relaxing Easter break. And have settled back into the new term.

For those who I have not met, or greeted in the playground, my name is Grant Baker and I am delighted to be the newly appointed Principal at Windsor State School. Over the past fortnight, I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting many students, parents and staff members and hope to learn as many names as possible as quickly as I can!

I have always heard such lovely things about the Windsor community and I am looking forward to immersing myself in the learning and activities of the school.

Over the Easter holidays, I was fortunate to have meetings with both Jude Fountain and Matthew Keong, and am grateful for all of the information they have passed on. Since returning to school, I have met with the School Council and also participated in last week’s monthly P&C meeting, which was a great opportunity to meet some new families. The school, School Council and P&C have strong strategic plans to further the Windsor outcomes and experiences for all students. I look forward to contributing to this strategic planning and activity, and to the many opportunities to learn from and with the staff and school community.

The first few weeks of this term began with a number of school events that contribute to the fabric of the connected Windsor community. I am looking forward to many opportunities that 2017 and beyond will bring, and being an integral part of the Windsor family.

Kind Regards,
Grant Baker.

Parents: The Most Important Teachers

… parents are a child’s most important teacher and home is the most important classroom.

There is nothing quite so magical as watching kids learning and exploring their world. There are times when it almost seems that we can hear their brains whirring as they learn new things, they investigate their environment, and they seek to understand the world around them. And yet, as magical as this is, one thing is certain: there are no magic answers to making it happen. There is only the magic of doing an awful lot of things right – as parents, as caregivers, as educators, and as a school community.

It is then that we see the magic that comes in developing children whose cognitive development prepares them for what lies ahead in their lives and to be well-rounded citizens. That’s why, it is crucial that however we contribute to a child’s upbringing, we should begin with a seminal fact: there is no single button to push that ensures the healthy development of a child and there is no panacea that unlocks a bright future for every child. Rather, there is only the dedicated work every day of being loving, nurturing parents and educators. Our joint partnership and commitment in their education is so important.

Often, the lessons of the classroom fade in the harsh realities of busy family life, the numerous pressures of society, limits of parental involvement in schooling, overly harsh discipline, neglect, abuse and the list goes on. Researchers frequently say that parents are a child’s first teacher and homes are their first classroom. It should be, parents are a child’s most important teacher and home is the most important classroom.

It is important to note that a child spends three times as many hours away from the classroom as in it, and the lessons that are taking place in those non-school hours are every bit as important as those inside a school. The lessons that a child learns at home can strengthen all that they’re learning in our positive school environment.

At Windsor, I can already sense that our students experience the world through relationships that wrap them like a blanket – intellectually, socially, emotionally, physically, behaviorally, and morally. It is the quality and stability of these relationships that lay the foundation for the development that will come during their time at primary school. When we get this right for our kids, it will be seen in self-confidence, ability to avoid unnecessary conflict and control emotions, and knowing the difference between right and wrong.

Put simply, relationships are the threads that bind together children’s lives, and it is why when we say there is no substitute for healthy brain development, we also say quickly, there is no substitute for caring adults in every child’s life.

Over the weekend, I discovered an app that has been developed by The Australian Government (and recently upgraded) called Learning Potential. Accompanying this app is their Learning Potential website which is packed with useful tips and inspiring ways to be involved in your child’s learning. It’s for all ages, from the high chair to high school.

From the Deputy Principal…

Student Council Disco

Come to the disco dressed in black and white!

The Student Council welcomes everyone back to Term 2 with a Disco this Thursday, 4th May. This Disco helps to raise money to support student council projects at the school and various charities including our World Vision sponsor child.

Tickets are available in the Early Years Precinct, before 8:50am or at the door. ($5.00 single ticket; $10.00 family ticket-2 or more).

The Disco times are as follows:

Prep-Year 2 - 5:15pm-6:30pm
Year 3-6 - 7:00pm-8:30pm

All Prep-Year 2 students must be accompanied by their parent/guardian at all times during the Disco. Parents/Guardians, you are responsible for your own children. Teachers will supervise at the Year 3-6 Disco. Parents are not required to stay at the Year 3-6 Disco, but must collect students promptly at 8:30pm. Food and drink will be on sale at the Disco and the DJ will also be selling glow products.

City District Cross Country

On Tuesday, Windsor SS students travelled to Grammar playing fields to represent our school at the City District Cross Country. Students from all schools showed great persistence and resilience in completing either the 1km (9-year olds), 2km (10 year olds) or 3 km (11 and 12 year olds) course. The overall winners below from the large schools to small schools. Congratulation to Izabelle C and Inde B who both made the City District team for Met North Cross Country.

Well done to all our Cross Country representatives:

9-year olds: Elke C, Carissa G, Bridie D, Ellie T, Louisa C, Oliver K, Nate R, Henry H, William C, Will F.

10 year-olds: Katrina R, Maya C, Layla H, Joyce R, Mikaela C, Jarah C, Josh J, Hudson S, Sawyer P, Ben B.

11 year-olds: Izabelle C, Inde B, Leila J, Ellen H, Madison J, Henry O, Charlie W, Max M, Sam S, Jack G.

12-year olds: Reshaei C, Jessica C, Kara M, Rhiana C, Isabel M, George F, Zavier P, Benjamin F, Evan B, Kalen M.

Follow Windsor SS on Facebook & Twitter!

Get the most up-to-date information and school alerts by following Windsor State School on Facebook and Twitter @Windsor_SS

You can also access important school information and alerts, including Facebook/Twitter, via the QSchools app! Download it now and keep informed of everything that is happening at our school.

QParents

Our school also has QParents. Parents will receive an invitation email or letter to register this week. Prep parents will also receive a Student ID card containing an EQ ID number to register.

If you do not receive an invitation (QPAO), please advise Admin ASAP. QParents is one of the ways we communicate with parents, get on board to enjoy the ease and convenience that QParents offers.

QParents is also the means by which parents access Student Reports. It is important to register now as printed reports are no longer sent home at the end of each Semester. Help us become more ‘paper-less’ by registering for QParents now!

RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOUR & CODE OF CONDUCT

Child and Parent Factors That Impact Child Anxiety

A considerable body of research has identified various child and parent factors that contribute to and maintain anxiety symptoms in children. Yet relatively few studies have examined child factors (including threat-based cognitive bias, neuroticism, gender, puberty and age) as well as parent factors (including maternal anxiety and child-rearing style) and the extent to which these factors serve as predictors of child anxiety.

A Griffith University team in Queensland set out to examine the extent to which child and parent factors are uniquely associated with child anxiety symptoms. They also set out to determine whether associations of child factors (which included child neuroticism and cognitive bias) with child anxiety were indirect via maternal rearing behaviour.

The participants were a large sample of children between 7 and 12 years of age with varying levels of anxiety, including those with diagnosed anxiety disorders. Data were collected from both children and parents, and age, gender and pubertal status were also considered.

Key findings:

• Parental anxiety is a significant risk factor for child anxiety, given the higher than expected incidence rates of anxiety in parents of anxious children, compared to the general population.
• Mothers who self-reported more trait anxiety had children with higher levels of self-reported anxiety symptoms.
• Mothers’ anxious child-rearing and over-protection were associated with elevated child anxiety symptoms.
• Child temperament characterized by high levels of arousal and emotionality may evoke child- rearing behaviours from mothers focused on minimising potential risk exposure and harm, which in turn, could elevate anxiety symptoms.
• Early maturing girls experience more symptoms of anxiety and depression, and these symptoms are more stable over a subsequent four-year period than in normally maturing girls.
• Pubertal stage is considered a more powerful predictor of girls’ internalising symptoms and disorders than chronological age and in comparison with boys.
• Children were more anxious when they were reported to be more advanced in pubertal status by their parents, when they had a tendency to interpret more threats in ambiguous situations, and when they self-reported more neuroticism.

Things you can do:

• Chill out more often. Make time for yourself and time for your kids. Take a long walk together, visit a bookshop or library where kids can relax without having to talk).
• As a family, practise relaxation techniques (deep breathing, progressive muscle relaxation, exercise, visualisation, laughing, stretching, dancing, listening to music, singing, reading together, meditating together).
• Reassess your parenting style. Are you a helicopter parent or in danger of becoming one?
• Keep screen time to a minimum, especially if your child is excitable or easily agitated.
• Encourage age-appropriate independence – and not just for your kids. You need time out to be as independent of them as they are of you.
• Talk often about fears and how they can, in many cases, be unfounded.
• Make sure your kids know how and where to contact you in an emergency – not every five minutes.
• Ensure everyone has a good night’s sleep and that healthy family nutrition is a top priority.
• Parent from the heart, rather than parenting from online advice and the myriad of books on how to be a ‘super’ parent.

Source: Waters, et al., Journal of Anxiety Disorders 26 (2012) pp737-745

Takeaway from Professor Michael Bernard:

If we are significantly anxious about our parenting, overprotective, over-nurturing or constantly worried about perceived threats to our kids, we run the risk of our kids becoming anxious and fearful as a result. If our kids happen to be prone to symptoms of anxiety and neuroticism, over-protective parenting can serve to reinforce their fears. The onus is on us, as parents and adults, to consciously try to monitor our own stress levels, to help our kids with theirs.

Michael E. Bernard, Ph.D.
Professor, Melbourne Graduate School of Education
University of Melbourne
Founder, You Can Do It! Education

Head of Curriculum

NAPLAN

Next week, Year 3 and 5 students will complete the NAPLAN tests. Please see the timetable for the tests below:

NAPLAN is important, but also a very small part of two hundred days in a school year. Some children may feel anxious or worried about the tests due to the hype surrounding them.

Much has been said and written about NAPLAN. In my experience, if parents or teachers over emphasise the importance of NAPLAN to children, there is great potential for children to become excessively stressed and likely not complete the tests to the best of their ability. Our students complete tests/assessments very regularly, so why treat these tests differently? Please help us reassure the children about the testing, build their confidence and trust in their ability to do well. Explain to them that a little bit of stress is ok and can help them do their very best.

Like ACARA, we certainly do not recommend the use of any commercial products, such as booklets and practice tests, to help your child prepare for NAPLAN tests. None of the commercial products currently on the market are endorsed by ACARA and the use of these or services by coaching providers are not recommended by Windsor SS nor ACARA. The best way you can help your child prepare for NAPLAN is to reassure them that the tests are just one part of their school program and to encourage them to simply do the best they can on the day.

Some students may feel anxious about NAPLAN, but it’s up to the adults in children’s lives to help keep NAPLAN in context. It’s a test that is only taken four times in a child’s schooling life – over three days, there are four tests that take around one hour each. NAPLAN tests what students should already know from their everyday learning, and there are no prizes or repercussions for doing well or not so well in the tests. NAPLAN doesn’t test everything that happens in a classroom – it isn’t intended to – but it does look at the critically important areas of literacy and numeracy – skills that your child will take with them to their adult life. (Robert Randall, ACARA CEO)

Roxanne O’Donoghue
Head of Curriculum

Master Teacher’s Report

Master Teacher / STLaN Update

Reading: Before School Reading

Term 2 morning reading groups have now started. Below is the timetable for our morning sessions. All sessions will finish in the second last week of term – Friday 16th June 2017.

These specialised lessons are held BEFORE school in order to prevent interruption to classroom learning and to avoid your child missing valuable curriculum content. Please understand that these programs continue to be in demand and if you cannot commit to getting your child here at the required time, we will have to offer this placement to another student.

If you have any questions or would like to discuss the program, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher or myself.

Our Playgroup, the Windsoroos

Windsoroos began last Friday 28th April and will continue operating every Friday until the second last week of Term 2. Our playgroup still has a few vacancies. Please pass the word around.

Last week Prep D joined us for outside play and we had lots of fun fossicking for animals in our sandpit.

2017 Timetable for the Windsoroos:

For more information about our playgroup, please click on the attachment below.

We look forward to having fun and growing with you and your child/children at the Windsoroos Playgroup.

SCHOOL DENTAL VAN NEWS

Forms have been issued to all children at Windsor SS. We have had a terrific response from the families and now we are almost ready to move to the next school. If you didn’t receive a dental form and would like to use our service, please call 1300300850 to make an appointment or the staff directly 0412706508. Some appointments are still available. It has been a pleasure working in the school and we thank the staff, parents and children.

Bazil Grumble

ACTivate Children’s Club (after school club)

Come and get healthy and active, meet new friends and develop a new skill each week. Using balls, hoops, parachutes, tunnels, jumping sacks, puppets, storybooks, costumes and music, participants will explore all the different ways their growing bodies can move. These sessions will ACTivate the children and their caregivers and have a focus on creativity and fun in a safe, relaxed and energetic environment.

Please note that this workshop is FREE.

There will be two sessions running simultaneously at the workshops – one for children from three to four years of age, and one for children from five to 10 years of age. Children register just once for the full eight week program.

Every Monday from 24 April 2017
3.30pm to 4.30pm
Grinstead Park, Alderley