St Paul's Catholic Primary School Newsletter 2022 Term 4, Week 4
Principal's Message
Dear St Paul’s families,
On Thursday evening, we were thrilled to be able to host our Term 4 Parent Engagement evening. The focus for this session was ‘Student Wellbeing - Building Stronger Relationships through Communication.’ We were fortunate to have the expertise of two employees from Catholic Education Northern Territory, Caroline Evans (Senior Clinician / School Psychologist) and Demi Koulendianos (Speech Pathologist). These experts shared useful tips and strategies we can use to communicate with our children to help them manage big emotions and social situations.
Caroline focused on elements of Emotion Coaching. These steps can be used for situations big or small and of course do not need to be the way we handle every situation your child talks about with you. Sometimes, it is enough for them just to voice to you, their most important adult, what is happening
Emotion Coaching:
Tuning In – noticing and becoming aware of emotions (your own and your child’s)
Connect and Teach – view their emotions as opportunities for connecting and teaching: check in
Accept and Listen – show understanding and empathy - avoid judgement of situation and those involved
Reflect – reflect what you see and hear - name the emotions
Problem Solve – end with problem solving and setting limits – IF necessary
Demi highlighted how powerful our communication with our children can be to help them manage social interactions such as friendship building, approaching and engaging in play (sharing, cooperating and turn-taking) and showing empathy and emotional regulation. We should be careful with the choice of our words and voice volume, pitch and intonation
We know that we will not always use these advised strategies -sometimes we are pressed for time or have many voices we are listening to at once – especially in the car on the way home from a big day! The good news for families is that Caroline and Demi stated that research suggests that if we ‘trusted adults’ use these ‘better communication’ strategies, at least 20% of the time, our children will greatly benefit from this.
It was affirming to hear from Caroline and Demi that at St Paul’s, we are already using many of the advised strategies that support children with their self-regulation and communication. We will continue to learn more to best support your children in their well-being.
This year, these parent engagement events have been held on Thursdays in the fourth week of each term, with the exception of Term 3, when we held our Art Show with a Laudato Si to engage in the planned Sustainability session. We plan to continue these termly parent engagement sessions in 2023 so if you have a particular topic that you would like to suggest, please feel free to email me: principal.stpauls@nt.catholic.edu.au
May the spirit of Jesus fill your communication over the next couple of weeks!
Megan
Events
St Paul's Early Learning Centre is having a bake sale every Tuesday till the end of the school term. Please help support the ELC in raising some money to go towards our Preschool Graduation and Christmas Party. Everything will be $1.
General Information/News
PLEASE CHECK PREVIOUS NEWSLETTERS IN NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE ON SZAPP FOR ST PAUL'S GENERAL INFORMATION
Dear St Paul's families,
We would like to remind families that with the recent unwelcome visitor, it is important to NOT drop children at school before 7:45am (when the school gates open) as they are unsupervised. Should you arrive prior to this time, please wait with your child until the school gates open.
Also, a friendly reminder that school dismissal is at 2.35pm and children can be picked up from steps within the school ground or at the express carpark lane, both of which are supervised by a teacher until 2:50pm.
Students left waiting at 2.50pm are sent to our Outside of School Hours Care (OSHC) located on the school grounds and families will be charged the casual OSHC fee of $30. Our OSHC operates from 2.45pm to 5.30pm on school days.
We thank you for your cooperation.
Injury Reports on Operoo
Injury reports will now be stored and sent to families via Operoo (rather than on a paper document on file). As before, Injury Reports are completed and families are called for more moderate to serious injuries (not for scraped knees etc.)
Birthday Treats
This is a friendly notice that if it is a child's birthday, we ask that you do not bring any food or treats. This is to respect the dietary needs of all children & families and also to maintain equity for all.
On the day of the child’s birthday, the teacher will organise for the class to acknowledge the child’s birthday.
Parents organising a party outside of school should refrain from giving out invitations during school time, particularly if not all children are invited. It can lead to some children feeling excluded and cause unnecessary upsets. Parents should discuss options with their child’s teacher about appropriate distribution of invitations, give them directly to parents before or after school or contact them privately.
The decision was made by the school board in 2021.
Thank you for understanding and Happy Birthday to the many children celebrating birthdays!
RE News
ELC & OSHC NEWS
OSHC IMPORTANT UPDATE
Dear St Paul's Outside Hours School Care families (After School Care and Vacation Care families),
With the easing of Covid restrictions & isolation rules, we have reviewed our OSHC booking policies, with subsequent changes to commence 1st January 2023. Please see changes outlined below.
Currently, for both After School Care and Vacation Care: If families cancel their booking in writing by 8:30am on the day of attendance (or day prior for Vacation Care), there is no charge for that day’s attendance. If the child goes home sick or we do not receive notice in writing then the family is still charged.
Change as of 1st Jan 2023: Two weeks written notice must be given for any changes to both After School Care and Vacation Care bookings or charges remain. If a child is absent (regardless of the reason) the charge for that day remains, regardless of bookings being casual or not. This is accommodated by the government entitlement of 42 allowable absences before Child Care Subsidy is affected. No changes will be allowed to usual scheduled days on public holidays (unless part of a holiday block or permanent change to booking).
Currently, a $25 After School Care booked care rate is charged per day if the same day/s are booked every week or fortnight for one term or more. Families are charged a $30 casual rate for bookings that do not meet the booked care requirements.
Change as of 1st Jan 2023: This booked care rate of $25 will be charged for all bookings with at least 2 weeks' written notice, regardless of what day/s are booked each week. $30 casual rate will be charged for any bookings with less than 2 weeks written notice. This is to assist families with irregular work rosters.
ELC NEWS
Just a few reminders for families that are stated in the ELC parent handbook you received when your child started at the ELC.
All families need to please make sure they are signing their child in & out each day- this is your legal obligation that is related to your Child Care Subsidy. If you need help to sign your child in or out please ask one of the ELC educators and they are more than happy to help you. If you can’t remember your pin, please see Cathy and she can reset your pin.
At all times the Assistant Director must be informed if your child / children will not be attending the ELC either by phoning the school and leaving a message or written notification on ClassDojo or phoning the Centre on 8985 4678.
Now that it is getting hotter, we will be doing lots of water play to help us stay cool in this hot weather. May you please make sure you pack a sun safe hat, at least 2 changes of clothes (including underwear) and a water bottle so we can make sure your child stays hydrated during the day.
Here at the ELC we have a lot of toys and resources, please encourage your child to not bring toys in from home as they can go missing. Educators will encourage children to look after their belongings, by placing them in their bags and lockers as much as possible. Toys from home can also be a source of conflict between children, we highly encourage to keep home toys at home.
School Counselling Program
Hi, my name is Sarah and I am the School Counsellor from CatholicCare NT. I am located St Paul’s Catholic Primary School one day a week on Wednesdays and I'm here to provide students with support and emotional well-being. Through the School Counselling Program during a counselling session I conduct Child Centred Play Therapy modality which is a developmentally appropriate, evidenced based, therapeutic intervention for school aged children from 3-11 years old. This approach is based on the belief that "play is therapy" for children, like when adults talk through their problems to solve them, here children play through their problems to solve them.
What is Play Therapy?
Play therapy builds on the child’s inner resources and strengths, which are supported by the therapeutic relationship to bring about growth, development and healing in the child. Play therapy helps children develop confidence and positive self-esteem, find healthier ways of communicating and can promote resilience and coping, in ways that are appropriate to their developmental stage.
Here are some of the following referral reasons that your child may be struggling with and that Play Therapy can be an effective therapeutic approach by referring to the School Counselling Program; divorce & separation of parents, anxiety & depression, low self-esteem & self-confidence, social difficulties, angry & aggressive behaviour, trauma & abuse, grief & loss, autism spectrum disorder, attachment issues… and more…
Play therapy is a gentle intervention that provides a safe and secure space for chil dren to process their thoughts, feelings, and experiences through their first and most natural language; play!
Referrals can be made through completing the form which is avalaible on request at: admin.stpauls@nt.catholic.edu.au
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