28 November 2018

Newsletter Articles

Across the Principal's Desk...

Final Parades for the Year

I wanted to remind the school community about the final parade arrangements for 2018.

Monday 3 December (week 9) parade will be held at 9am as this parade includes the 2019 Student Leadership speeches.
Monday 10 December (week 10) parade will also be held at 9am as this is our special end of year ACE Award ceremony.

Thanking our Volunteers!

The strength of Windsor is in its volunteers who have worked tirelessly to ensure our children get the best education, our teachers get the most assistance and our community is supported to grow and learn together in a strong and positive environment.

There are many people who assist us in a variety of ways, from supporting children in class rooms with reading, to swimming lessons, P&C activities, sport, music and accompanying classes on excursions. As a staff, we would like to personally thank you. Your efforts have made a difference to your children’s achievements in 2018. We would like to invite everyone who has volunteered their time throughout 2018 to a light breakfast and a cup of tea/coffee to say "Thank you!" for all you have contributed to our school and its community this year.

Where: Outside the school hall
When: Monday 10th December from 7.45am (prior to ACE Awards).
RSVP: submit your RSVP below by Wednesday 5th December

2019 Student Leadership Positions

Recently, applications closed for Year 5 students who were interested in taking on a Leadership positions for 2019. Last week the Year 5 teachers and School Leadership Team shortlisted students and on Monday (26 November), Mrs O’Donoghue and I announced the 14 students who had been shortlisted for an interview with Mr Keong, Mrs O’Donoghue and myself. Following these interviews, 4 boys and 4 girls will present their leadership speeches on Monday 3rd December to the entire school. School Captains and Vice Captains will be announced to the school community on Monday 10th December during the ACE Awards. All other leadership positions will be determined in the first weeks of Term One 2019.

Mango (aka silly) Season

As we approach the end of a very busy year, we tend to notice that students become tired, emotional and less resilient. The weather has also changed, and we all become a bit hot and bothered, less tolerant and very busy leading up to the Christmas break. This includes staff at the school as well.

We commonly refer to this affectionately by describing it as ‘mango season’ where a little bit of silly behaviour sneaks in. Having spoken to numerous colleagues across a variety of school sectors, every school experiences this towards the end of the school year.

Trust me, most of the behaviour is just impulsive and minor.

You may already be experiencing some of this at home, with children having some friendship issues, not wanting to comply with your requests, incidents becoming much bigger than they normally would be and the list goes on. We have to remember that they spend a significant amount of time together with their peers and friends at school; some 40 weeks of the year, 5 days a week for a minimum of 6 hours a day. There is little wonder we have students displaying some impulsive behaviours or their tempers fraying! Often they let their guard down at home and you experience these behaviours more than we do. They are just kids who are still learning.

Largely, our students cope pretty well, given that they are only children and we all know that some of the decisions they make, even when they are not tired can be somewhat questionable or silly. There is little wonder, given that their prefrontal cortex is yet to develop fully and they rely on us to help them navigate their challenges and mistakes. I remember the things I may have done as a kid and realise how silly they were, but certainly not at the time. I am in no way condoning behaviour, which is not safe, responsible or respectful. Here at school, we see many minor incidents and work with students to resolve these so they are constantly learning to build necessary skills for them to be good members of a broader society. We do not want situations where ongoing ‘bullying’ is apparent. We take this very seriously.

What I will say is that you as a parent can escalate or deescalate a minor issue, which is presented to you when your child comes home from school. Just being aware that friendships become strained, kids can be very fickle and tiredness sets in as we come to the end of the term. You are certainly not alone if you are seeing some of this behaviour. I am a parent and have seen all of this in my own children at one time or another.

During recent whole school parades, Mr Keong, Mrs O’Donoghue and I have spoken about “Getting Along With Others” as we all want a calm, enjoyable and productive end to the year. As we’ve said to the students, we want everyone to finish the year as they started, ultimately setting the students up for success as we head into the end of the year.

As always, thank you parents and carers for your continued support.

CLASSES FOR 2019

As mentioned in previous newsletters, class lists will be advertised from Tuesday 11 December 2018 (both on display boards and on the school’s website). Teachers have been working on the 2019 classes over the past 8 weeks and they are almost completed. It is a very complicated process to balance classes across a range of academic, social and emotional indicators. It is by no means a perfect science and our teachers will spend many hours over this term undertaking the process.

**Please note that all State schools are allocated their staffing based on enrolment numbers. Changes ‘may’ need to be made to class lists in 2019 due to possible growth in our enrolments, which are determined on the eighth day of term one 2019. Currently we have planned for 28 classes (based on our predicted enrolments for 2019). If we continue to grow in enrolments, we may increase to a 29 class model.

On Wednesday 12 December, from 9.30 – 10.30am, the students will transition to their new class with their 2019 teacher, with the exception of the new prep students. This is not a session where parents are present as we want to give the new teacher the opportunity to meet their class and briefly get to know them before the holidays.

REPORT CARDS

Report cards for semester two will be emailed home on Monday 10th December after 3pm. Please note that given the large number of reports, it may take several hours for the process to be completed. Should the report not have arrived by the following morning, please email the school and we will see if there have been some technical issues.

Have a wonderful fortnight,
Grant Baker
Principal

From the Deputy Principals…

Prep - Year 2 Swimming Carnival NEXT WEEK

The Prep - Year 2 Swimming Carnival will now be on Friday 7th of December 9.00am-11.00am. Early this year, this had previously been scheduled for Tuesday 4th of December.

Prep Swimming Carnival Program

Years 1&2 Carnival Program

Please ensure that all children have applied sunscreen before coming to school and have their hats and drink bottles with them.

Year 1 and Year 2 will be walking back up to get their lunch and eat in the usual places for second break. It is important to understand that the start/finish times and event times are guides only. It is likely that the Year 1-2 carnival will end well before 2:30pm. The aim is to have the Year 1&2 carnival completed by second break so the children don’t have to come down in the afternoon. However, if we need the extra time in the afternoon, we can use that final session time.

We will also be monitoring the heat levels throughout the day. If it is felt that it is too hot to continue with the children enduring the heat sitting in the stands, we will run an abridged version of the carnival to get the children out of the sun and heat. It is important that children have regular drinks of water throughout the day to stay hydrated.

Year 3-6 Swimming Carnival

In 2018, the Years 3-6 Swimming Carnival will be held over two days, Wednesday the 5th and Thursday the 6th of December. This year, we are trialling a new nominations process. Thank you for submitting your child’s nominations via Schoolzine.

The 2018 Windsor State School swimming carnival will have a new format. Students will have the option of competing for house points as well as individual championship points. Students interested in competing for Age Champion will earn individual points in the 60m & 120m races. These races will also be awarded house points. Students competing for house points will nominate for the 30-metre event. It is strongly recommended that all students compete in all strokes. Points are awarded to all students who compete. The main aim of the carnival is for all students to participate and enjoy the experience of competition. Students that require assistance (i.e. a kickboard) will be able to use one for support. Year 6 students/House Captains will be available to provide assistance to those swimmers who require it.

Following is the outline of events for each day:

Day 1: Wednesday 5th of December

120m Butterfly All Ages
30m Freestyle Year 3 - Year 6
60m Freestyle Year 3 - Year 6
120m Breaststroke All Ages
30m Backstroke Year 3 - Year 6
60m Backstroke Year 3 - Year 6

Day 2: Thursday 6th of December

120m Freestyle All Ages
30m Breaststroke Year 3 - Year 6
60m Breaststroke Year 3 - Year 6
120m Backstroke All Ages
30m Butterfly Year 3 - Year 6
60m Butterfly Year 3 - Year 6
4x30m Relays Year 3 - Year 6

Please ensure that all children have applied sunscreen before coming to school and have their hats and drink bottles with them.

Year 3-6 Booklists

Parents should now have received a copy of the Year 3, 4, 5 and 6 Booklists via a Schoolzine email. For Years 4-6, our iPad app lists are also available on the website.

P&C Photobooks 2018 – Permission Required

As we move through a busy Term 4, it will be the end of the year before we know it! This year, the P&C are running a fundraising activity that may make life a little easier for all our hard-working parent representatives as it comes time for the end of year celebrations.

Parent and Professional Photographer, Amanda Keane, will be creating photo books for each class in grades Prep to Year 5 and one book with all of the students in Year 6. Each book will have a photo of each child in that class with some questions answered by the children. Amanda has been doing these books for the last few years and they have always been a big hit with the teachers and parents alike. Photos will be taken by Amanda during the term and students will have an opportunity in class to answer the questions that will be included in the book.

Please complete this online permission form for your child’s photo and responses to be included in the book. Providing consent does not mean that you need to purchase a book. Orders close this Wednesday 28th November

The books are a 5x7 inch soft cover and will be available for purchase by any parents wanting a great keepsake from their child’s year at Windsor. The books will cost $25 and 20% of all profits will come back to the P&C. Some of last year’s photo books are available to view at the school office.

If you have any questions about the photobooks please feel free to email Amanda info@amandakeane.com.au

‘Save the Children’ Christmas Tree

‘Save the Children’ works to support families, throughout the Christmas season, to ease the worries of financial pressure. Each year we, as a school community, give generously by placing a gift under the school Christmas tree so that others can enjoy a happy Christmas. Traditionally, each family provides a present to be placed under the tree and, this year, these will be donated to ‘Save the Children’ at our final Christmas concert. Please wrap the present and write on the tag the gender and age of the intended recipient. Next week, the Christmas tree will appear outside the office; however, presents can also be brought in on the last day of school to be placed under the tree at the Christmas concert. We thank you for your past generosity and seek your support again this year to help those less fortunate. For further information about the work of ‘Save the Children’ in Queensland, you can visit the link below.

RESPONSIBLE BEHAVIOUR & CODE OF CONDUCT

Building Resilience in Children – 20 Practical, Powerful Strategies (Backed by Science)

By Karen Young

All children are capable of extraordinary things. There is no happiness gene, no success gene, and no ‘doer of extraordinary things’ gene. The potential for happiness and greatness lies in all of them, and will mean different things to different kids. We can’t change that they will face challenges along the way. What we can do is give them the skills so these challenges are never able to break them. We can build their resilience.

Resilience is being able to bounce back from stress, challenge, tragedy, trauma or adversity. When children are resilient, they are braver, more curious, more adaptable, and more able to extend their reach into the world.

The great news is that resilience is something that can be nurtured in all children.

Read the full article and find out the full 20 strategies for building Resilience at the link below.

What is the High 5?

The High-5 is an effective strategy to assist people in getting along by develop problem-solving strategies and conflict resolution skills. When used consistently, it can build social skills and resilience in children (and it works for adults too!). At Windsor SS, it is a whole school approach that can prevent ultimately prevent bullying from occurring, providing it is used well. It is a 5-step problem solving strategy that can be used in the classroom and in the playground and for perceived bullying incidents. It is important to teach children the skills which will build confidence, self-esteem and resilience. Once empowered, they are better able to take responsibility for themselves to practise these skills in difficult social situations. Promote pro-active strategies, like High-5, help prevent isolated incidents of conflict from escalating and worsening to bullying.

Do the High-5!

1. Ignore
2. Talk Friendly
3. Walk Away
4. Talk Firmly
5. Report

Ignore

• Pretend you didn’t hear it.
• Do not make eye contact.
• Maintain positive body posture (calm, confident).
• Think positive self-esteem statements.
• Count to five in your head slowly.
• Take deep breaths.
• WE CAN USE ROLE PLAY TO SHOW WHAT IGNORING LOOKS LIKE, SOUNDS LIKE AND MAY FEEL LIKE.

Talk Friendly

• Use a calm voice.
• Maintain eye contact.
• Confident body language.
• Maintain relatively close body proximity.
• Use "I" statements – I feel . . . . when you . . . . . because….
• WE CAN USE ROLE PLAY TO SHOW WHAT TALKING FRIENDLY LOOKS LIKE, SOUNDS LIKE AND MAY FEEL LIKE.

Walk Away

• Stand tall, head up high.
• Mouth closed.
• Look confident.
• Do not use eye contact.
• Walk somewhere, preferably towards a congested area or to a safety zone (teacher).
• Do not look back. Walk confidently, don’t run!
• WE CAN USE ROLE PLAY TO SHOW WHAT WALKING AWAY LOOKS LIKE, SOUNDS LIKE AND MAY FEEL LIKE.

Talk Firmly

• As per Talk Friendly.
• Use an assertive voice, slightly raised.
• Tell them to stop it.
• Re-state your “I” statement. e.g. I said . . . .
• State the consequences of continued bullying.
• WE CAN USE ROLE PLAY TO SHOW WHAT TALKING FIRMLY LOOKS LIKE, SOUNDS LIKE AND MAY FEEL LIKE.

Report

• Walk away and tell a staff member.
• Go to a safety zone.
• Bystanders - support and report.
• Report, report, report until somebody listens.
• WE CAN USE ROLE PLAY TO SHOW WHAT REPORTING LOOKS LIKE, SOUNDS LIKE AND MAY FEEL LIKE.

What is Bullying?

The national definition of bullying for Australian schools says:

“Bullying is an ongoing misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that causes physical and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power over one or more persons. Bullying can happen in person or online, and it can be obvious (overt) or hidden (covert).

Bullying of any form or for any reason can have long-term effects on those involved, including bystanders”.

Single incidents and conflict or fights between equals, whether in person or online, are not defined as bullying.

Behaviours that do not constitute bullying include:

• mutual arguments and disagreements (where there is no power imbalance)
• not liking someone or a single act of social rejection
• one-off acts of meanness or spite
• isolated incidents of aggression, intimidation or violence.

However, these conflicts still need to be addressed and resolved.

Versions of the definition of bullying suitable for students at various ages are available at the link below

GO FOR GOLD! Have you achieved Silver or Gold yet?

Our Whole School Responsible Behaviour Plan has been developed around students’ behaviour choices and their commitment to our school rules, beliefs and values (Respect for Self; Respect for Others; Respect for the School). Bronze (C- Satisfactory), Silver (B- often very good), and Gold (A- consistently excellent) levels are achieved when students achieve specific criteria. These criteria are related to the school beliefs and values about RESPECT and the development of the 5 keys to success and happiness, CONFIDENCE; PERSISTENCE; ORGANISATION; GETTING ALONG; RESILIENCE. All students (except Prep who work through the Early Years program) begin on Bronze at the beginning of the year and may apply for Silver (after 4 weeks on Bronze) and Gold (after 6 weeks on Silver) as the year progresses.

Students may progress up, or down, these levels as a result of the choices they make. Again, being a Silver or Gold student reflects an awareness and understanding of our schools’ values and beliefs about Respect and the development of the five foundations. It is the responsibility of each student to follow the process when applying to become a Gold/Silver student. This process includes completing an application, demonstrating that they meet the criteria of behaviours, negotiating with classroom teachers and acquiring the necessary signatures to confirm that they demonstrate each of the criteria.

The school acknowledges positive role models of behaviour in many ways throughout the year (merit badges; public acknowledgements; awards). This year, we will celebrate students’ efforts and achievements in class and at our final ACE parade of the year on Monday 10th December at 9:00am in the Hall.

The final date for student to submit their criteria sheets to the office will be Friday 29th November, 2018 (end of Term 4 Week 8). No criteria sheets will be accepted after the date!

Safety Around the School

A reminder that children are not to play on the playgrounds before school. If in the Early Years’ area, students are to wait with their parent/carer before school until the bell rings. No students are to be on the playground at this time. If your child has a younger sibling, please be aware that our Prep and Year 1 students are working hard from the start of school and seeing younger children playing on the equipment outside the classroom windows during class time can be quite a distraction during learning time.

From 8.30am, students are supervised by Mr. Mallett under Main Building (in the warmer months) and near the 5 Keys (in the cooler months). With the exception of before school programs, if your child is to be dropped off to school prior to 8.30am, she/he will need to be enrolled in before school care.

If supervised by a parent/carer, students are welcome to use the play equipment after school until 3.30pm. Helping Hands uses these spaces for their afternoon programming, so it is important that these play spaces are cleared by all students and siblings by 3.30pm.

A reminder also that ball games are not to be played in the quadrangle/around the buildings. This is to help ensure the safety of our staff and students.

Student Leadership Process

We have been busy shortlisting candidates for 2019 School Captains/Vice Captains to progress to interviews on Wednesday this week. When shortlisting is complete, these students will give their School Captain Election Speeches on Assembly next Monday, 3rd December, followed by staff and peer voting. Students will be notified this week, after the interview process is complete, if they have progressed to this stage. Following the election of School/Vice Captains will be House Captains speeches on Tuesday 4th December at 1:50pm, also followed by voting. It has been a long process for all Year 5 students interested in a school leadership positions for 2019. We congratulate them on the manner they have prepared their applications and participated in the short-listing process. We congratulate all candidates on their efforts and wish them all the best as we finalise the process this week and next.

Active School Travel

Every family has received a Windsor State School Active School Travel Map. This map shows different Active School Travel routes, bikeways, crossings and more! There are also suggested routes where you can park outside the 6-8 minute walk radius from the school gate and walk or ride the final part of your journey. Part way is okay! You can download a copy of the map below. This map makes it easy to for parents, students and staff to find their best walking, riding or public transport route to school. Families may also like to use the map on the weekend to re-discover the local area.

Walking Wheeling Wednesday EVERY Wednesday! Let’s get active Windsor!!

The classes with the most Active Travellers last fortnight are:
Week 7:
3B, 1D and 5B!

Children can claim their AST prizes by presenting their AST passports at the office after checking by their class teacher. Don’t forget to choose an active way to travel to school that keeps the cars off the road.

INSTALL THE SCHOOLZINE ‘SZAPP’ ON YOUR PHONE?

Our newsletter is now available each fortnight either via email or by accessing the Schoolzine app. Details on how to download the app are available on the attached file.

Any families who are unable to access either the emails or app, please contact the school office.

Helping Hands

Hello Windsor Families.

Well it is almost the end of the year again, who can believe it! It has been a very busy year for all of you and holidays are fast approaching. If you are still looking for something to entertain the children during this huge break, we can take care of that for you with our awesome Vacation Care program on offer in December and January.

Some exciting things have been planned such as visits to Inflatable World, Crank Indoor Rock Climbing and Parkour and the Movies. Along with this we have inflatable water slides and splash days, amazing art races, Christmas cooking and craft, science experiments, a disco, wheels day and various community visitors coming to the service for our Community Day. If this sounds like something your child will be interested in, please be sure to check out our program which is featured below in this newsletter.

To enrol and book, try our new online enrolment and booking system using the link below if you are a new parent or haven’t used the service in a while you will need to create a new account. If you use Kidsoft for a younger child that attends day care or you use the service, you can login as an existing user and just link your school aged child to your account.

We would also like to take the time to thank the amazing Windsor School Community for their support this year and we look forward to providing the Windsor families with amazing care in 2019! Have a safe, happy and merry festive season and we will see you all in the New Year.

Enrichment News

I would also like to congratulate the Year 5 and 6 students who participated in the AMT Maths Enrichment Program. A VERY challenging program that ran over two terms. I would like to acknowledge Emma F Year 6, Jake L Year 5, and Monica T Year 5 who received a High Distinction, Jaime P Year 6, Liam H Year 5, Joe H Year 5 who achieved a Distinction, Evan B, Rohan B, Gemma H, Perry I, Lachlan M and Matilda T who received Credits.

Well done everyone. It was a tough slog and you did it!

Merry Christmas Windsor Families. I look forward to doing this all again next year!

Happy Days
Emma

2019 Music Polo Orders

Dear Strings/Band/Choir Parents,

If your child requires a WSS Music Polo, the Uniform shop is coordinating one order for 2019.

The WSS Music polo shirts are $38 and come in Sizes 6 – 16. Please place orders via Munch monitor or visit the Uniform Shop ASAP if your child requires a Music Polo. WSS Music polos will be delivered to your child’s class in Term 1 2019.

Music folders $15 and Carry Bags $10 are available year round (Munch monitor/Uniform Shop).

Please submit all orders by 3rd December 2018.

Thanks,
WSS Uniform Shop
uniforms@windsorsspandc.com.au

Peter Pan