Westlawn Public School

Newsletter Term 2 Week 5

26 May 2020

Strive to Achieve

North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 westlawn-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

I hope you caught the WPS video “We’re Ready!” last

week. I think it says a lot about how much we have

missed your children and how keen we are to get back

to the core business of teaching and learning at

Westlawn Public School.

All those great skills that children developed over past

months as they problem solved their way through

new and unfamiliar territory, will not be lost at

school. Many children will have improved their

organisational and IT skills, their independence and

their self-motivation as a result of moving from the

traditional classroom desk to the kitchen table. No

doubt mums and dads have also gained some new

skills and insights into education (whilst digging

deeply into their reserves of patience!). Well done to

everyone for doing way more than just surviving. We

thank you all for your support, flexibility and

positivity. Now, please pass the baton back to us.

We’re ready!

Kind Regards,

Sandra

ENHANCED CLEANING

Our school receives additional cleaning in line with

the AHPPC guidelines and advice from NSW Health.

Targeted areas include high-touch areas and other

hard surfaces, door handles, light switches and

handrails in stairways and movement areas. There is

also additional cleaning of toilets and bubblers and

topping up of supplies like soap. Our school has

received extra supplies of soap, hand sanitiser, toilet

paper, paper towels, disinfectant wipes and personal

protective equipment. We are able to order more as

needed.

PENCIL CASES

Thanks to Mrs Ellis and her hard working team of

School Learning Support Officers, every child from

Kindergarten to year 2 has received an individual

labelled pencil case full of excellent colouring in

pencils. This will mean that children will no longer

need to share pencils from the communal pencil tin.

These pencil cases must stay at school. If one sneaks

home, thank you for sending it back to school the next

day. Students in years 3 to 6 are expected to have

their own pencil cases.

Message from the Principal

Strive to Achieve

North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 westlawn-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

REPORTS

Semester 1 Reports for all students will be sent home

by the end of August next term. The report will look a

little different to previous ones as it has been adapted

to reflect Term 1 and 2 changes to teaching and

learning.

ATTENDANCE – WE’RE AIMING FOR 100% AT WPS

Schools are safe and open for full time face to face

learning. As such, all students are expected to attend

school unless they are unwell. If parents believe their

child has a condition that means it is not safe for

him/her to return to school, they will need to obtain

a medical certificate and provide it to the school.

Students who are residing with a family member

identified as being at increased risk should attend

school unless a medical practitioner advises

otherwise.

ACCESS TO SCHOOL GROUNDS AND ADULT

PHYSICAL DISTANCING

We value our contact with you, we just need to do it

differently for a while. There should be no visitors to

the school site unless they are essential. If you are on

essential business, please report directly to the office

and observe all physical distancing requirements.

Thank you for not entering the school grounds at the

beginning and end of the school day when you are

dropping your child at school. Side gates will be

locked at 9am. If your child is late to school, please

report to the Office via the main school gate. All

parent teacher contact should be over the phone. If

you wish to discuss anything with your child’s

teacher, this should not be done face to face. Please

do not hesitate to call the school office and the

teacher will endeavour to return your call within 24

hours. Many thanks for your cooperation and support

in this area.

VIRTUAL ASSEMBLIES

Yes, we’re going to give this a go! We want to have as

many school activities as we can up and running

again, but we will need to think outside of the box.

Assemblies give children the opportunity to share

their success with peers through our Awards system.

They also give our year 6 Leaders the chance to

perform their leadership duties by officiating. Classes

also have the chance to perform in front of an

audience and showcase their talents collectively. How

do we do all this when students are not allowed to

gather in our Hall? We Zoom it all to them in their

classrooms! Our first attempt at a Virtual Assembly

via Zoom will be this Friday. Wish us luck!

TERM 4 EXCURSIONS

At this stage, all Term 4 excursions are going ahead.

Other schools in the Clarence Valley have also made

this decision. If we cancel now and all restrictions are

lifted by the end of this year, we will lose our bookings

and the children will not have the opportunity to

attend an event that they have been looking forward

to for years. Monies paid by parents will be refunded

if we have to cancel later in the year. The only

exception to this may be if the school is required to

pay a deposit deemed non refundable. This is a rarity

and I would imagine that companies will be

sympathetic under the current conditions. Parents

will be advised of the refund availability relevant to

each excursion.

CANTEEN

Our Canteen will remain closed until further notice.

Thank you for ensuring your child has food and a

water bottle with their name on it, each day. The

bubblers are turned off but children can refill their

water bottles at the tap.

PARENTING INFORMATION FROM MICHAEL GROSE

Why Worry?

Rumination is the ruination of a peaceful mind. If

you’ve ever spent a sleepless night worrying then

you’ll know how problems always seem bigger when

you keep tossing them around in your head.

It can seem like everything is stacked against you.

When this happens you’ve got to find the off switch

so you can get away from your worries for a while.

The same principle holds for children and teenagers

Strive to Achieve

North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 westlawn-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

when they worry. Their problems just seem to get

bigger and they need to turn them off or tone them

down so they can ease their anxiety.

There are eight easy-to-learn strategies that you can

teach your kids to prevent them from ruminating –

going over the same thoughts and worries over and

over again.

Broaden their vision

Kids get tunnel vision when they worry. They often

can’t see the bigger picture. For instance, a young

person may fret over minor work matters such

getting the exact font match for an assignment they

are working on, and neglect to get the sleep

necessary for good learning the next day. Sometimes

it takes a wise adult to remind children and young

people about what really is important to them.

Put their attention elsewhere

Placing attention away from worries is an age old

technique for parents and teachers. Commonly

known as distraction, the act of focusing attention on

something other than what causes them distress is

vital for good mental health. Examples of distractions

include – going outside, playing a game, shooting

some basketball hoops or listening to music.

Give the worry a name

Somehow giving a worry a name makes it feel less

scary and more manageable. My favourite picture

storybook for toddlers ‘There’s a Hippopotamus on

our Roof‘ by Hazel Edwards personifies fear of the

dark as a friendly hippo. Much more friendly and

easier to boss around if you’re a child.

Put your worries in a jar

Wouldn’t it be great to put all your worries into a safe

and throw away the key? As an adult you may do this

when you take time out to watch your favourite TV

show; or lose yourself wandering for hours online.

Children need something a little more practical. They

can write their worries on some paper and lock them

in away in a jar by the side of the bed at the end of

the day. It’s good to know that their worries can’t get

out because they are locked up tight.

Limit talking time

It’s good if kids can talk about what’s on their mind

but talking needs to be contained to prevent their

worries from dominating their lives. Set aside ten

minutes a day to talk about their worries and then put

worry time aside until tomorrow.

Normalise rather than lionise their anxiety

Anxious kids are very sensitive to their parents

concerns and worries. One way we build their

concerns is by continually reassuring them that things

will be fine. One reassurance should be sufficient

most of the time followed by “I’ve already talked to

you about that.” Continually going over old ground

can allow worries to linger longer than necessary.

Give them the tools to relax

Some kids might take their mind off their worries by

escaping in a fiction book or playing in the garden.

Some children need a bigger set of tools including

mindfulness and exercise to help them neutralise

their worries. Pay attention to what helps your child

sufficiently escape their worries.

Move baby, move

Get kids moving. Physical exercise is not only a great

distraction but it releases feel-good endorphins that

help children and young people feel better and more

optimistic about the future.

Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of

Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s an

award-winning speaker and the author of 12 books

for parents including Spoonfed Generation, and the

bestselling Why First Borns Rule the World and Last

Borns Want to Change It. Michael is a former teacher

with 15 years experience, and has 30 years

experience in parenting education. He also holds a

Master of Educational Studies from Monash

University specialising in parenting education.

Strive to Achieve

North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 westlawn-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

National Reconciliation Week is a time for all

Australians to learn about our shared histories,

cultures and achievements, and to explore how

each of us can contribute to achieving

reconciliation in Australia. National

Reconciliation Week is from the 27th May to the

3rd of June. This year’s theme is In this together.

Throughout National Reconciliation Week,

Westlawn students will be participating in a

range of activities such as, listening to Aboriginal

Dreamtime stories and will participate in a Walk

for Reconciliation around our school oval.

Check out the QR code in the image to make the

National Reconciliation Week artwork come

alive.

Last term students, parents/carers and staff completed a survey on how they would like our school to feel, look and sound. We would like to thank all of our families and students for completing this survey. The PBL team then collated all of these responses and found we have three clear expectations. The new expectations at Westlawn Public School are; Be a Learner Be Respectful Be Safe This week students will be explicitly taught what these expectations mean. Last term we also held a Mascot competition. Soon we will be unveiling our new mascot and the winner!

The Westlawn Way Reconciliation Week 2020

Strive to Achieve

North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 westlawn-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au

What a wonderful week to come

back to school and in time to

celebrate Library and information

week. Wednesday is National Simultaneous

Storytime. This year we are using the whole week to

share the story with our students during library.

Whitney and Britany are not your usual farmyard

chickens once the sun goes down!

Australian Children’s

Laureate for 2020 -21

Ursula Dubosarsky

has a lovely message

to open Library and

Information Week

2020

https://youtu.be/1JKb2zqwpA0

Thank you to everyone for bringing your books back

to the library. Please keep them coming back.

Borrowing books will be a little different for now. We

are continuing our click-n-collect service. It has been

lovely to see many students use this option to find

books that are of interest to them. Jump on to Oliver

library in your student portal and search up the book

you would like to borrow. Reserve the book and then

I will get the book ready for you when available. A

reminder that your student portal can be found at

https://education.nsw.gov.au/

If you need assistance; please look at the guide on the

followinglink.

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1t1Qs6wu0

Uc1kcM-Y-

esGhaJ265xr2QVokscyCYO3Riw/edit?usp=sharing

There have been important updates to the 2020 PRC Challenge rules to help all students meet the Challenge requirements this year. Key changes include: - All students will be able to include 10 choice books on their 2020 Student reading records. - All students will be able to include books read as part of a collaborative reading with teachers or parents/ carers, either in person or online. - Students who do not complete the Challenge in 2020 will not be disadvantaged from achieving cumulative PRC awards in the future.

If you require any assistance please ask Mrs. Palmer

or you can look at the site at

https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html

Fun Westlawn Library Fact!

Top five most popular PRC series:

1) Diary of a Wimpy Kid

2) Ella and Olivia

3) Boys vs Beast

4) EJ Spy School

5) The Treehouse series

Happy reading!

Mrs Palmer

Library News

Strive to Achieve

North Street, Grafton. 2460 6642 7466 westlawn-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au