Newsletter #26 September 1
Principal's News
Dear St Paul's families,
In his press conference this afternoon, Premier Daniel Andrews has made several announcements.
In particular , for our School community:
There will be no face-to-face learning for the remainder of Term 3. Remote Learning will continue. A detailed plan for Term 4 will be provided next week.
Lockdown in regional Victoria (except for the Shepparton area) may be eased next week, subject to public health advice. If this eventuates, substantial restrictions will remain in place, including only authorised travel between Melbourne and regional Victoria.
REMOTE LEARNING PACKS for Foundation to Year 2 children will be available for collection tomorrow 2nd September between 2.30pm- 4.00pm and Friday morning 3rd September between 8.30am- 9.30am.
CLASSROOM CONNECT: This week we started our Classroom connect sessions as another opportunity for the children to engage with their class teachers. Hopefully, you as parents have found this beneficial in supporting your children at home. Like you, the staff here are also waiting for the announcements to determine whether restrictions will be eased for regional Victoria or the lockdown continues. We want to have all the children back onsite as soon as possible, only time will tell.
RESILIENCE: Last week I shared some strategies you could use with your children at home during the lockdown. These strategies focused on building resilience. Here are some more helpful suggestions for you to try.
- Nurture optimism- Optimism has been found to be one of the key characteristics of resilient people. The brain can be rewired to be more optimistic through the experiences it is exposed to. If you have a child who tends to look at the glass as being half empty, show them a different view. This doesn’t mean invalidating how they feel. Acknowledge their view of the world and introduce them to a different one.
- Model Resilience- Imitation is such a powerful way to learn. The children in your life will want to be just like you, and they’ll be watching everything.
- Don’t rush to their rescue- It is in the precious space between falling and standing back up again that they learn how to find their feet. Of course, sometimes scooping them up and giving them a steady place to be is exactly what they need to find the strength to move forward. The main thing is not to do it every time. Exposure to stressors and challenges that they can manage during childhood will help to ensure that they are more able to deal with stress during adulthood.
- Meet them where they are-Resilience isn’t about never falling down. It’s about getting back up again, and there’s no hurry for this to happen. All of us experience emotional pain, setback, grief and sadness sometimes. Feelings always have a good reason for being there, even if they can feel a little pushy at times. The key for kids is to learn to respect those feelings (even the bad ones), but not let them take charge and steer towards trouble.
FATHERS' DAY: Once again, our Father's Day Breakfast celebration has been put on hold. To all the dads, grand dads, step dads and father figures in our lives, I hope you have a lovely Father's day this weekend with your families and enjoy the special memories you make with your children.
REMEMBRANCE: This week we remember Mrs Elizabeth Nairn, who passed away two years ago. Elizabeth was a valued and much loved teacher and member of our school community. She had a positive impact on many of the children she had taught over the years as well as the parents she came in contact with. It's an opportune time perhaps to take a moment and reflect on those people who are no longer with us and the positive impact they had and continue to have on us.
As always
Keep the Faith!
Vince Muscatello