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Newsletter 5

Dear Parents and Carers

Principal’s Message

It is hard to believe that there is only a week to go in Term 1 and the Easter break starts next Friday. As this is the last newsletter for the term, I wish students, parents and staff a safe and healthy break and we look forward to connecting again after the ANZAC Day holiday on Tuesday 28 April.

Although school will be very different, it is important to remember that we expect that our students will engage, challenge themselves and relate with their teachers just as diligently as if they were in their Rostrata classroom.

Once again, I want to extend my sincere thanks to our community for the incredible support given to the school during the past few weeks while staff have been developing, testing and refining what they will be making available ready for the start of Term 2 on 28 April. All students will be hearing from their class teacher that morning.

Next week teachers will be sending short messages to all students regarding the learning grids that have already been sent home and information in readiness for Term 2 online learning.

Wellness Grids

On Monday we will be posting a series of Wellness Grids on to the school website, for students to work through at their own pace. These grids will include a whole range of activities for students to attempt that broaden their interests, cause them to break up their day in front of the computer and provide them with creative and physical things to do while at home.

Communication Messages on School Website

During Term 2 there will be regular updates on the school website both as sound bites and newsletter articles designed to inform and share what is happening in our learning community. Please visit this on a regular basis.

Consent to Go

By now you all would have received emails from our new system Consent2Go. Primarily this system is for consenting to and paying for excursions and keeping your child’s home and medical information up to date. We are also now using Consent2Go to send out payment requests for Voluntary School Contributions and other compulsory charges as to limit the need for parents to attend the Administration Office at this time.

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The way Consent2Go works is that each parent with an email address will receive an email requesting you to click on the blue ‘attending’ button link, another window will open with a box for you to click and pay through our secure payment gateway BPoint. When one parent pays, the other parent will be notified via email that the item has been consented to / paid, as to avoid a double payment. If you have any queries regarding the new system, need help accessing the email links or have not received any emails yet from Consent2Go, please contact the Administration Office on 9237 2700 so the School Officer can guide you through the process. The office can also assist you if you would like to pay another way such as direct deposit to the school bank account.

I would like to thank all the parents who have already made payments, we appreciate your contributions to our school and your child’s learning.

Preparing Your Child for Learning from Home

To provide learning continuity for your child, it’s important they have as much routine and certainty as possible. Routines make life easier as your child will be used to them at school. It is also important to remember to schedule breaks and opportunities to stretch and get some exercise.

To support learning at home, you’re not required to be a subject matter expert or educator. Your role is to partner with your child’s teachers to support your child’s home learning. How to support your child You can provide support for your child by: establishing routines and expectations providing a space for your child to work in providing a level of supervision appropriate to your child’s stage of development monitoring communications from teachers checking in with your child often to help them manage and pace their work monitoring how much time your child is spending online keeping your children social, but setting rules around their social media interactions remembering that your child might be stressed or worried during this time.

Student responsibilities during remote learning

These responsibilities should be adjusted according to the age of your child:

following a daily routine for learning monitoring digital platforms and communication often to check for announcements and feedback from teachers completing tasks honestly and doing their best work doing their best to meet timelines, commitments and due dates communicating with their teachers collaborating and supporting their classmates in their learning abiding by Rostrata Primary School’s behaviour expectations and digital usage agreement.

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Setting up a learning environment

We recognise that every home is different. Where possible, it’s important to provide a quiet and comfortable learning space. A few tips:

provide a suitable desk or table to work at provide access to the materials (stationery, work books) or technology they may need provide a space that can be quiet at times, that has a strong internet signal, if possible a space for extended learning is best if it’s a public/family space, and preferably not in a bedroom where you or another adult is present and monitoring your children’s learning, Communicating with your child We encourage you to start and finish each day with a simple check-in. These check-ins can be a regular part of each day. In the morning, ask: What are you learning today? What resources do you need? What support do you need?

In the afternoon, ask: What did you learn today? What was challenging? You could come up with a strategy to deal with the same problem if it comes up again. Consider three things that went well today. Why were they good?

Kitchen Garden

Our most recent staff member, Ms King who is our horticulture teacher, has been busy in the garden with Mrs Richards and small groups of students cleaning up the garden beds, planting new seedlings and tidying up. The garden is going to be ready with new crops for when we all return to school. Meanwhile our chickens have been moved to a backyard where they are being well cared for while they sit out the time until they too can return to Rostrata.

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Camp Australia

This service will be operating (OSHC) as per normal at Rostrata Primary School from Monday through to Thursday, with Friday 10th April being the Good Friday Public Holiday. The usual holiday program will not be operating; however, a service will be available at Bannister Creek Primary School if parents need to register their children to attend.

Barry France

Principal

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CARE TOKEN WINNERS

BENJAMIN – A2

EVIE – D7

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ROSTRATA P & C NEWS

From the President

It has been a whirlwind couple of weeks, and I hope everyone is managing to stay healthy and happy. At times like this when we are forced out of our normal routines and also told not to socialise it is important to take some time to focus on our mental health. Some great tips for this from organisations such as WHO (World Health Organisation), Headspace, and the Australian Psychological Association can be found in the following article from Hack on TripleJ: https://www.abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/mental-health-coronavirus/12067484.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the teachers and other staff members at Rostrata for all the additional work they have done (and continue to do) to support and make possible the continued education of our children in these challenging times.

I wish everyone a safe and happy school break, and look forward to seeing you all via online means next term.

Tristan Cameron President

Rostrata Dads

Tip of the week: the Fathering Project's founding BUS principle:

With BUS, we can provide that internal dialogue that guides our children safely and happily through life. It's easy to remember and helps dads build good habits of fathering from birth to adulthood.

B - being there Be available, present and engaged. Always offer your presence so they know they can always ask.

U - unconditional love Love them and show it (even if you don't always love their behaviour).

S - special Recognise your child’s quirks - what unique things to they bring to the world?

P&C Website

To keep up to date on all P&C related events and information, please check out our website: www.rostratapandc.org.au

Tristan Cameron

P&C President

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CHAPLAIN

The current COVID-19 situation has resulted in some interesting conversations with my father, who, at 78, still works the family farm by himself. Dad has always had an optimistic outlook on life and ‘good always comes out of bad’ is one of his mottos. He recently purchased his first iPad and now his quest for knowledge has moved beyond ABC Radio and books.

I have learnt how ‘the old headmaster taught the kids at school to wash their hands’, and that ‘when he was a kid, you had to put your name down on a list to buy a car.’ Courtesy of Google, my Dad has also been able to tell us about how the Ancient Romans managed without toilet

paper.

So, rather than focusing on the media overload about the COVID-19 situation, may I suggest you take this ‘slow down’ time as an opportunity to learn more about your family history?

Here are some questions to get you started:

1. What is something you taught yourself to do without help from anyone else? 2. Do you know the story of how your grandparents met and fell in love? 3. Who was your first best friend? Are you still in contact with each other? 4. What were your favourite hobbies and past-times in your childhood? 5. What was your childhood home like? 6. What kinds of things did you collect and display in your childhood bedroom? 7. What are some of the stories you loved hearing from your mother’s youth? From your grandmothers’ younger days? 8. What did you enjoy doing with your father/grandfather when you were a child? 9. What are some of the stories you loved hearing from your father’s youth? From your grandfathers’ younger days? 10. What do you know about the day you were born? 11. What were your most common childhood holidays like—road trips, visits to grandma’s house, camping trips, weekends at

the lake or the beach? 12. Who was your most beloved teacher? Why? 13. What are your memories of school lunch? 14. What subjects did you like most at school? 15. What did you do after school? 16. If you had to pinpoint three main values that your parents lived by and tried to instil in you, what would they be? 17. Is there someone in your life who has inspired you to care more about community and global issues? 18. What was the best birthday present you received? 19. What is the most memorable family get-together that you can tell us about?

More can be found at this link: https://www.familysearch.org/blog/en/52stories-families/

If you have any interesting stories to share, then my email address is:

Louise.lathbury@youthcare.org.au

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RAINBOWS PROGRAM

Each year the RAINBOWS program is offered to students at Rostrata. The goal of the RAINBOWS program is to provide a safe place for children to express their feelings in relation to grief and loss. Situations which may cause these feelings in children include:

1. The death or serious illness of a family member. 2. Parental separation or divorce. 3. Moving home/school within Australia. 4. Migrating to Australia. 5. Having a parent work in a fly-in-fly-out situation. 6. Belonging to a family with a parent in the military. 7. Experiencing natural disasters. 8. Previously living in a country affected by war.

When these situations occur, the whole family is affected. Because of their age, and short life experiences, children find it extremely difficult to verbalise their feelings. The RAINBOWS program provides an opportunity for children to be heard, understood and supported, in a safe, confidential and caring environment. The RAINBOWS program also helps children develop resilience and social/emotional skills. It is not counselling or therapy and it is not a religious program. NOMINATIONS FOR THE 2020 PROGRAM WILL BE CALLED FOR WHEN REGULAR SCHOOL IS UNDERWAY AGAIN.

Louise Lathbury

Chaplain

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