July 2018

Happiness and Its Causes As part of our professional development for growing positive education at WCCC, Eleanor and I attended the 2018 Happiness and Its Causes conference in Sydney at the end of June. Since 2006, Happiness & Its Causes has been an important forum for exploring the many and varied causes for a happy and fulfilling life This forum brings together some of the world’s brightest minds in psychology, science, education, business and the arts to explore the big question of “what will bring lasting happiness?” A range of inspiring local and international speakers explored a variety of topics on lifelong wellbeing for ourselves, our families, those we care for and those we work with. These included : The Power of Mindful Self Compassion with Dr Kirsten Niff; How to lead a happy and meaningful Life with The Dalai Lama: The Psychology of Luck with Professor Richard Wiseman; Cant or Wont? How you Mindset Shapes your Day-to-Day Decisions with Dan Haesler; Think Small: The Surprisingly Simple Ways to Reach Big with Dr Rory Gallager; and 21 Days to a Happier Family with Dr Justin Coulson. Eleanor and I also attended some insightful small seminars. See below for more from Dr Justin Coulson and page 3 for Eleanor’s article on Blue Light.

Happy Families In his seminar Dr Jason Coultson outlined three key elements for creating a happier family. He called these the three L’s: Love, Limits and Laughter. Love he says is spelt ‘time’ to a young child. Take time to stop, look and really listen in your interac-tions with your children. BY giving them your focused attention you let your child know that you love them, are interested in what they do and say and have time to ‘be’ with them; seeing what they see and understanding what they want. Limits are set by explaining, exploring and empowering. Explain the what and why of the limits and boundaries you set; explore what this means for the child and other options and possibilities; empower the child; ask how you can help them?, what they think they could do instead? with older children an inclusive discussion could include the question what would you do if you were the parent? When children are part of the solution they are empowered to own it and follow it. Laughter means having fun and finding the funny in day to day things. Jason says a great way to greet children when you get home from work is to stop, drop and roll. You will soon have the children climbing on you and laughing which provides a fun time for the child and a stress release for the parent at the end of the work day. Music and dance is another way to change the mood and add some fun. Jason also talked about creating family traditions of family time. Something simple and free that you do as a family like going to a park every Saturday afternoon.

Dr Coulson’s book 21 Days to a Happier Family is now available for borrowing from our parent library. We also have his other books 10 Things Every Parent Needs to Know and 9 Ways to a Resilient Child.

PARENT NEWSLETTER

Board and PAG Matters 2018 Adelaide University Childcare Services Inc (AUCS) meets on the last Monday of the month. Next meeting for 2018 is Monday 23rd July. The Parent Advisory Group (PAG) The WCCC PAG continues to meet on the second Wednesday of the month in term 3. We are now looking at the 2018 policy review.

Diary Dates Early closure at

4.30pm Wednesday October 31st

Proposed End of Year closure Fri-day December 21st 2018 until

Monday 7th January 2019

Winter warming recipes Grace’s Italian Quinoa Chicken Meatballs Ingredients 1 kilogram ground chicken 1 cup Italian breadcrumbs 1/2 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese 2 cloves garlic, pressed 1/2 small onion, grated 1 cup quinoa, cooked 1/4 cup tomato sauce 1 tablespoon dried Italian or mixed herbs 2 tablespoons fresh basil chopped 1 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon fresh cracked black pepper 4 egg whites or 3 whole eggs Method Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl Mix well, do not overmix or you will have tough meatballs Scoop meat into tablespoon size pieces and roll into balls Place on a baking sheet and bake in a moderate oven (180 degrees) for 20 minutes until lightly brown Remove from oven and transfer to sauce or serve immediately Chef’s note: if you lightly wet your hands the meatballs will form better and crack less. Craig’s Hoppin’ John Ingredients 1 cup dried black-eyed beans (soaked overnight and the drained) 1.2 litres water 1 1/2 cups long grain rice 1 tablespoon canola oil 1 onion, chopped 1 tablespoon margarine 425 gram tin tomatoes (no added salt), drained and chopped 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper 1/2 teaspoon black pepper Method: Please beans in a large saucepan with water and bring to boil Reduce to simmer for one hour Stir in rice, cover pan, heat oil and fry onion until soft Stir I tomatoes and cayenne pepper Pour this mixture into the beans and cooked rice Stir gently to blend Service immediately after stirring margarine through mixture Garish with chopped parsley or shallots

Dental Care for children Good dental health supports our general health and wellbeing. The School dental service is available free for children from birth until 18 years at public dental clinics throughout South Australia. The School Dental Service Recommends children have their first dental visit around 12-24 months. Please contact SA Dental Service Health Promotion Division on 82229016 who will help you with locating the closest service for you or visit: http://www.sadental.sa.gov.au

The Dark Side of Blue Light Light is made up of particles that travel in waves ranging in length and strength, the shorter the wave-length the higher the energy. Some light is visible, some non-visible, and the human eye only picks up the visible light, seen as colours; violet, indigo, blue, green, yellow, orange and red. Blue light, having a shorter wavelength produces a higher amount of energy, and studies have shown that over time, exposure to blue light can cause serious long term damage to your eyes. The main source of blue light is through the sun’s rays and in its natural form can benefit us in boosting alertness, helping memory and cognitive function, improving reaction times, elevating our mood and increasing our feelings of wellbeing. Our bodies also use blue light to regulate our natural circadian rhythms (sleep/wake cycle, or your body’s internal clock) and keep our internal clock aligned with the environment. Artificial sources of blue light include digital screens, electronic devices and fluorescent and LED lighting, flat screen TV, as well as, the display screens of computers, electronic notebooks, smartphones and other digital devices. Due to the short wavelength, the blue light that is emitted from screens and lighting produces a flicker and glare that can cause something called digital eye strain which causes the headaches and fatigue that comes from hours spent in front of a screen. There is also some evidence that suggests that changes to melatonin levels can be associated with cancer, obesity, diabetes and heart disease, as well as an increased risk of depression. Unfortunately for today’s children, the digital world has become a lot harder to avoid. According to the 2015 Longitudinal Study of Australian Children through the Australian Institute of Family Studies, children aged 4-5 are averaging more than two hours screen time each week day. By the age of 12-13, children are averaging more than three hours during the week and more than four hours on the weekend. This rises dramatically in later schooling years with the increased use of laptops for school and home-work, resulting in much of the day being spent in front of a screen. As adults many of our jobs include spending our day at a computer. Exposure to blue light at night has a negative effect on our melatonin, or the hormone made in the brain that helps the body get ready for sleep as well as regulating the body’s cycle of sleep and wakefulness. Melatonin is present in the body at low levels during the day, then levels begin to rise in the few hours before bedtime and it peaks in the middle of the night. Exposure to light in the evening will supress melatonin and resets your body clock to a later time, tricking our body into thinking it is daytime. These effects on circadian systems can continue through the night and into the next morning, causing difficulty in falling asleep, reduced REM sleep, feeling sleepier when you wake up, and difficulty in waking up. This can also cause a negative cycle of staying on a screen longer because you are not feeling tired, which then resets the clock fur-ther. So what can we do about it? The easy answer is to turn off devices. For children the latest guidelines recommend absolutely no screen time before the age of 18 months, and then until 2 years a limited amount of time on a screen with an adult watching with them. Between 2 and 5 years children should be limited to one hour a day with an adult. So if you don’t have time to spend on a screen with your child then your child should also not be on a screen either. After this age consistent limits need to be in place for screen time. Childrens eyes are also not fully developed before 10 years of age so too much exposure to blue light increases the risk of damage to the eyes. If you cannot avoid screens then there are other options to reduce the health risks. Avoid screens at least two to three hours before bed. Turn devices, including TV’s off when you are not using/watching. You can reduce the brightness of your device, or it has been suggested you can change the settings on your device to reverse the print so the page is dark and the writing light. There are glasses available to purchase for adults and children that filter out the blue light, increase contrast and reduce glare. It is also recommended to expose yourself to as much bright light during the day as you can to increase your ability to sleep well at night, and improve your mood and alertness. So play outside, have a picnic and enjoy as much sunshine as you can. For more information you can visit several websites https://www.allaboutvision.com/cvs/blue-light.htm http://www.bluelightexposed.com/ https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/blue-light-has-a-dark-side

WCCC Green Page

War on Waste The ABC’s War on Waste series two starts on Tuesday July 24th. This series is looking at ways of combating the huge and growing problem of plastic pollution in our oceans. Marine life, fish, birds and mammals are often injured or trapped by stray plastic or consume the plastic waste. The small beads, called nurdles, that are the base material for making plastics are one of the biggest sources of ocean and beach pollution. They often spill from transport vehicles, ships and trucks and end up in waterways that make their way to the ocean. Microbeads, found in may cosmetics present a simi-lar problem. What can you do? Reduce what you use… avoid plastic as much as possible, especially single use plastic containers and bags. You can use paper bags instead of plastic. Ask the service people in shops for paper rather than plastic bags when buying fruit and veg and take away lunches such as sandwiches. Refuse single use plastic like water bottles and plastic straws. Recycle r ight when you have plastic items and mater ials ensure you recycle them appropr iately. As litter is one of the biggest sources of ocean plastic when you’re at the beach, walking the dog, at the park or heading to work, if you see plastic on the ground pick it up. Don't add to an already overflowing bin, take it home as material blows away. Buy microbead free personal care products for yourself and your family.

Kalettes New to the WCCC menu kalettes are a hybrid plant brand name for kale sprouts, bred using traditional breeding techniques, they are a cross between kale and Brussels sprouts. The plant is a highly nutritious vegetable that may be eaten as raw or cooked. Kalettes were developed by the British seed company Tozer and are now grown in the Adelaide Hills. They can be sauteed, steamed, blanched, roasted or eaten raw in salads, and like kale make a healthy green smoothie. Full of vitamin K, folate, vitamin c and fibre they are a fun little vegetable for children.

Microbeads Microbeads are tiny particles of manufactured solid plastic. They are most frequently made of polyethylene but can be of other petrochemical plastics such as polypropylene and polystyrene. Scientists have identified at least 67 different microplastics currently in use. They are found in toothpastes, lipstick, eyeliner, sunscreen, deodorant, nail polish, shower gel, hair spray, eye shadow, shaving cream and scrubs and other care products. When we use products with microbeads we wash them down our drains and they end up in our water ways and then the ocean to be eaten by the fish that might be your dinner in the coming months. The fish species that humans harvest for food are known to eat micro-plastic particles and the toxins absorbed in those plastics transfer to the fish tissue. Micro beads are currently being phased out in many countries and there is pressure for Australia to follow. To find out if you are using products containing microbeads visit: http://www.beatthemicrobead.org/