Dear Parents & Caregivers,

Welcome to Week 8 and Happy WA Day! I hope everyone is enjoying some extra time to relax and enjoy their families. I have been very lucky to have had a wonderful 5 weeks away where I have spent time in Exmouth, Esperance and Mandurah. I also appreciate how lucky I am to be returning to a job that I love and I can’t wait to see how much everyone has grown!

A big thank you to Mark Tenney and Mark Collins for taking on extra duties and responsibilities whilst I have been away. It was very comforting to know that the school was in good hands.

First Holy Communion

This coming Sunday, June 13, 12 children will be celebrating their First Holy Communion at St Matthew’s Parish. This is such an important time when the communicants will receive Jesus in the most special way for the first time. They have been preparing for this day with the help of their parents, Father Jayan and their teachers. May they take the friendship of Jesus with them wherever they go in their lives.

May God’s blessings be with the 2021 Communicants: Pia, Samantha, Matthew Gr, Matthew Ge, Sophia, Marlo, Megan, Cooper, Sierra, Hunter, Ethan and Emerson.

Book Fair

St Matthew’s Book Fair will run from Monday 14 June to Wednesday 16 June; 8:30 am to 9:30am and 2:30pm to 3:30pm. The attached clip offers some more information about this event.

NCCD

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). Many students included in this collection of data do not have an identified disability, but are included due to the classroom adjustments made to ensure he/she is able to access the curriculum according to their needs.  This may/may not include students who are receiving support through programs such as Miniilit, Multilit, Reading Eggs, Corrective Reading Comprehension and/or Rainbow Reading. 

The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability and/or identified learning difficulties. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCDguidelines (2019).

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

• year of schooling
• category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
• level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

• formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability/learning difficulty in schools
• consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability/learning difficulty in schools
• develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability/ learning difficulties.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

Semester 1 Reports

Semester One reports will be available to parents from 30 June. Once again these reports will be available online through the Seqta Engage Website. It is very important that parents have a password to access this site. Please contact Mark Tenney (mark.tenney@cewa.edu.au) should you require a new password, or if you have any difficulties logging into this site.

Winter Carnival Update

The Interschool Winter Carnival will be held on Thursday 24 June. Students from Years 4 – 6 will nominate to play netball, hockey, football or soccer. More information will come home prior to this event.

Principal Focus – Go Slow

I truly hope that our families have had an opportunity to spend some quality time together over this four-day break. We all live in a busy world and it is such a gift when we are given an opportunity to slow down and take the time to appreciate the simple things in life. Maggie Dent, parenting author and educator, explains the importance of what she calls a “Go-Slow Childhood”:

We want our children to be able to manage living in our chaotic world and avoid becoming overwhelmed by the speediness and busyness of modern life. One of the best ways to do this is by calming our children’s lives.

Maggie goes on to suggest 7 ways to help our families slow down:

Stop rushing

Stressed parents who rush everywhere are one of the main sources of stress and anxiety in children. Always plan to leave 20 mins before you need to so when things don’t go to plan (do they ever?) you won’t be under so much pressure. Also use visual reminders (for younger children), lists and rosters (for older children) to help prompt children with things like brushing their teeth, remembering to feed the dog or packing their school bag.

Breathe

Healthy breathing has always helped to soothe our stressed psyches. There are many breathing techniques that help restore the calmness response in our bodies. A good and simple one is taking three sighs — and pausing after the third one. Or take three deep breaths with the outward breath being longer than the inward breath, count to five and do it again. This is a simple technique that you can teach children and adolescents, and it won’t do you any harm either!

Get some sleep

Consistent boundaries around sleep are important for everyone. Sleep deprivation and inconsistent bedtimes impact on learning, mood moderation and behaviour. The brain needs deep sleep to renew cells and grow new neurons for learning. Good sleep also contributes to better emotional stability and a more agreeable demeanour. Make sure you have family rules about phones and other devices getting switched off at a reasonable hour and kept out of bedrooms, especially for teens.

Slow it down

Try walking slower, talking slower and being more mindful or present in your day-to-day life (there are millions of books and online resources to teach mindfulness). Also ask what you can take out of your life so that you can be a calmer parent, especially in the early years — avoid wearing too many hats when your children are young. Ask the same of your children’s lives if they have a lot of activities.

Enjoy the quiet

Homes that consciously create calm and quiet times are building enormous support structures that will help children feel safe, allow them to enjoy their own quiet company and lower the stress levels within their growing bodies. Have regular times in your house where everything is switched off and everyone in the family takes time out to just ‘be’ instead of doing all the time.

Soothe more

Especially when your children are little, really focus on soothing and comforting them quickly, especially through safe touch and low soothing sounds. As they get older, reassure your children they are valued, safe, and that mistakes and accidents are normal.

Go outside

Spending time in nature has enormous benefits for us all. Make sure you and your family frequently spend time outdoors, whether it’s picnicking on the back lawn, walking on the beach or visiting a park.

In the greater scheme of life, our children are only children for such a short time. Let’s not rush it.

Good to be back!

Susan Milton
Principal