QUEEN OF APOSTLES SCHOOL

108 Tribute Street East, RIVERTON WA 6148

Telephone Number: 9457-4913 Email address: admin@qoa.wa.edu.au Facsimile Number: 9354-3911 Website: www.qoa.wa.edu.au

Dear Parents and Carers,

A Good Start to the Day Sometimes it’s the little things that all add up and help determine whether it’s going to be a good day or not for each of us. Most human beings are creatures of habit. We like to know that when we wake up in the morning our world has not altered too dramatically during the night when we we’re sleeping. At a subconscious level we take comfort and a sense of security in knowing that there are familiar faces, places and routines around us to get our day off to a good start. Imagine waking up each morning in a different bed, in a different house, with a different bathroom, different kitchen, different car and in a different suburb. Your normal morning routines would descend into chaos - searching for your clothes, searching for your toothbrush and other toiletries because they’re not in their normal place, the shower controls are different so you either freeze or scald yourself and the towels are not hanging where you’d normally reach for them. You have to search the kitchen and you can’t find what you normally have for breakfast. The coffee machine is different and you don’t know how to make your favourite brew. You have to search to find where the car keys are kept and when you get into your car, you have to figure out how to get to work via a totally new route! Let’s face it, your day has started in chaos and it probably won’t get a whole lot better, as you’re already stressed out, confused, anxious and worried …. all before you’ve even reversed out of the driveway! No adult could live with such disruption and lack of routine in their life.

This also applies to children. Children like to know what the rules and routines are that govern or guide their daily lives. As parents we can help our children to get off to a good start each day by ensuring that there are normal regular routines in their life such as these below:

1. A regular bedtime - It actually all starts the night before, with children having a regular bedtime. It’s no great secret that children require more sleep than adults in order to ensure healthy growth and development. But it’s not just their physical development that sleep aids in developing. Equally important is the hours of sleep that their brain requires as downtime, to repair, process information gathered that day and other developmental processes to take place. Developmental psychologists, physiologists and paediatricians generally recommend that primary school aged children should be having a minimum of 10-11 hours of sleep each night.

2. Bedtime means bedtime too … not playing with electronic and digital devices. Reading a book in bed for 10-15 minutes is a great way to allow them to wind down gradually and become sleepy. Electronic devices do the opposite - they provide too much stimulation and will ensure your child stays up later, has trouble transitioning to sleep and wakes up less refreshed the next day.

3. Establish a regular waking time and routine. No parent looks forward to having to enter their children’s bedrooms multiple times to remind them for the fifth time that it’s time to get up. Having a regular time to get up helps them to develop the habit of getting up at that time and they are more inclined to accept that as the “norm”.

4. Establish routines once they’re up. Every family will be different, however, the important thing is to start young and develop regular morning routines for breakfast, washing face, cleaning teeth, getting dressed, packing their school backpack, putting it in the

DATES TO REMEMBER

Mon 15 June PrePrimary Dental Screening 6.00pm Coneqt-p Parent Workshop - Library

Tues 16 June ICAS Testing - Spelling

Wed 17 June 8.50am Assembly 3.2 6.00pm School Board Meeting

Tues 23 June Yr 5/6 Lightning Carnival 6.00pm Coneqt-p Parent Workshop - Library

Thurs 25 June Year 2 Liturgy

Wed 1 July 9.00am School Mass 2.1

Fri 3 July P&F Pizza Lunch END OF TERM 2

Mon 20 July PUPIL FREE DAY – SCHOOL CLOSED

Tues 21 July PUPIL FREE DAY – SCHOOL CLOSED

Wed 22 July School commences for Term 3

10th June 2015

car, leaving the house etc. If you dread the morning because getting the kids ready and off to school is harder than anything you have to do for the rest of the day, then you need to have a family meeting and discuss the situation. Discuss the right of everyone in the family to enjoy the start of the day, not just some at the expense of others. Morning routines should allow everyone to exit the house with a smile on their face, rather than a look of anger or frustration. Set the rules or routines and then be firm but fair in their application. Have rewards and consequences in place and make sure you apply them consistently and fairly. Never respond or react out of anger or frustration, let them know that the consequence was simply because they didn’t stick to the rules or routine.

5. Although they’ll never admit to it, children actually love the sense of security and familiarity that comes from knowing what to expect. Rules and routines allow them to make sense and order of the world around them. If they never know what to expect from one minute to the next in their daily life, they become anxious and uncertain. We’re not much different as adults - if you took the same route to work each day, but the speed limits changed from day to day, without notice, and you kept getting speeding fines, you’d become very anxious, worried, angry and uncertain yourself.

Like most worthwhile things in life, the benefits of well-established morning routines for your children really only become evident and tangible after they’ve been in place for a while. Don’t expect instant results or improvements. Like any bad habit or behaviour, developing more positive habits and behaviours takes time before your expectations will be met. This is where you play the patient parent with limitless depths of persistence. Don’t waiver, don’t give in, be consistent and persistent and eventually your children will develop morning routines that will make every morning much more pleasant for all.

This will, of course, have flow-on benefits for your children at school. They arrive at school in a better mood, fully refreshed and re-charged from a good night’s sleep, a healthy breakfast and a drama-free start to the day. When their lessons start they are already ahead of the game by being physically and mentally ready to work!

Sad News in our School Community It is with a great deal of sadness that I inform you that two of our staff members have recently been dealing with tragic news in their family life. Firstly, Mrs. Tracie Spadaro, our Year 1 Teaching Assistant, has had to fly back to England to be at the bedside of her mother who is critically ill and not expected to recover. Secondly, Mrs Julie Galbraith, one of our Assistant Principals, has suffered the death of her father last Thursday morning.

I’m sure that I speak for our whole school community in saying that our thoughts and prayers are with both Tracie and Julie and their respective families at this sad and tragic time. We pray that the loving arms of Jesus will hold them close and ease their pain and sense of loss, just as those loved ones who have left us are now in God’s loving embrace, at peace and without pain.

Coneqt-p Parent Workshops A reminder that this workshop will be held on Monday 15th June and repeated again on Tuesday 23rd June. They will run for one hour from 6.00 – 7.00pm in the school library. Trevor Galbraith will be able to walk you through how to access the site, what information you can access, how to view your child’s report, how to print a hard copy and answer all your queries regarding Coneqt-p. If you are unfamiliar with this program, then I strongly urge at least one parent from each family to ensure they attend one of these workshops.

Siblings for Kindy 2016 A reminder to parents and carers that any younger siblings due to commence Kindy next year, do require an Enrolment Application and Interview. If you have not already done so, please download an enrolment form from the website and once completed drop it into the office and Mrs. Healey will schedule your enrolment interview. Peace and best wishes, Shaun O’Neill Principal

Coming soon...... Want to know how Queenies staff keep #happyandhealthy? More to come next week....

Whole School Mass - Year 1.1 This morning, the Year 1.1 class hosted a lovely Mass asking us to think about why friends are important and how we need to look after them. Thank you to Mrs Etherington, Ms Gevaux and the Year 1.1 students for their preparation of this Mass. Thanks too to the families who attended the Mass with us.

Pre-Primary Liturgy Tomorrow, Thursday 11th June, the Pre-Primaries will come together to celebrate a Liturgy of the Word. We invite all families to celebrate this first liturgy for these students with us at 2:30pm in the PP playground (weather permitting).

Sacred Heart of Jesus This Friday is the Solemnity of The Most Sacred Heart of Jesus – a day where we remember the way Jesus loved us all. It is celebrated 19 days after Pentecost. Prayer: Grant, we pray, almighty God, that we, who glory in the Heart of your beloved Son and recall the wonders of his love for us, may be made worthy to receive an overflowing measure of grace from that fount of heavenly gifts. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen

Confirmation Photos The photos taken at the Confirmation can be viewed online. Visit www.prophotobooth.com.au and enter the password qa2415 to view the photos. Please support this, as it ensures we will continue to have a photographer come each year to photograph these Sacraments.

Sport at Queenies For results and pics from last Friday's Eagles Cup competition go to www.qoape.com. You can subscribe to the site and receive email alerts when a new post is published! Follow the links on the homepage.

Religious Education

School News

School Photos Following our recent school photography by Kapture, you can now view and order any sports and / or special photos taken on the day. When visiting www.kapture.com.au you will need to enter our school code to access the gallery – Code: HZ2XWN

Hello from the School Social Worker Promoting what children contribute to their family is important for increasing their sense of value and worth. Here are some ideas to promote a sense of responsibility which can also serve as a reminder of the value of contribution.

1. Start early. Training children from a young age to help themselves and others rather than the position of

“you can help when you are older”.

2. If a child forgets a task or responsibility then no one else does the task!

3. Provide tasks that you can live without them being done perfectly!

Children benefit from giving them some trust and from celebrating their positive contributions. They can then be more aware of what they give, especially if the requests and tasks are sincerely given and are backed by realistic expectations. Regards, Tracy Small

Get involved in the School Banking program

If you are interested in signing up your child in the Commonwealth School Banking program being offered at Queen of Apostles you can do so by either visiting your local Commonwealth Bank branch, call the bank on 13 2221, or via NetBank if you are an existing customer with NetBank access. Remember to take in identification for you and your child (driver’s license and birth certificate). You will receive a Dollarmites wallet and

deposit book that your child will use to participate in the program. Our school receives $5 when a student makes their first ever School Banking deposit and 5% on every deposit made through the school (to a maximum of $10 per individual deposit).

Commonwealth Bank of Australia ABN 48 123 123 124. Call 13 2221 at any time. As this advice has been prepared without considering your objectives, financial situation or needs, you should, before acting on this advice, consider its appropriateness to your circumstances. Full terms and conditions for transaction and savings accounts are available from any branch of the Commonwealth Bank and should be considered in any decision about the product. If you have a complaint in respect of this product, the Commonwealth Bank's dispute resolution process can be accessed on 13 2221.

School Banking Day Reminder Don’t forget that Wednesday is School Banking day, with the banking box located in the front office. Banking will be done after the morning siren and all deposit books will be returned to the child/ren via their classroom baskets

to go home with the child/ren in the afternoon. For every deposit made at school, no matter how big or small, students will receive a cool Dollarmites token. Once students have individually collected 10 tokens they can redeem them for an exclusive School Banking reward item in recognition of their continued savings behaviour. Thank you for supporting our school and helping to teach your child the benefits of saving regularly.

School Banking Officer If you have any further questions or queries regarding the Commonwealth School Banking program, please do not hesitate to contact me via email at harrisonfamily4@iinet.net.au I’m happy to help to the best of my knowledge. Warm regards and happy banking, Nikki Harrison.

OSHC Club

Queenies Coffee Hour this Thursday 11 June 8.40am to 9.40am in the Library All welcome

Thank you…

To the wonderful ladies who organised the groovy disco last Friday night. The children had a fantastic time!

P&F

Queen of Apostles Parish

For information about the Queen of Apostles Parish check out the parish newsletter by clicking on the link below: http://www.queenofapostleschurch.org.au/News%20Letter.pdf

Community News