FROM THE PRINCIPAL'S DESK
Dear Parents and Carers,
I know from the many conversations I have had with parents recently that so many of you have been putting a great deal of thought into how to help your children cope during the pandemic and going to great lengths to support your child with their remote learning.
We are so grateful for your support!
I also know from talking to our staff who are also juggling work and parenting responsibilities the heavy toll this current reality is taking on personal well being.
As parents, we all must acknowledge how enormously important it is that we take some time to consider how to maintain our own well being.
Parents / carers may experience a range of different emotional reactions, including feeling overwhelmed, apathetic, worried or irritable. Despite being tempted to go into overdrive to minimise the impact on your children, you are not immune to the stress either.
Remember that taking care of your own well being is essential.
Below are four things you can do for your own well being:
- Be gentle with yourself: In the world of parenting, there is a drive to be the best you can be, and to be everything to everyone. Your kids don’t need you to be the perfect parent / carer. They need you to be good enough and to help them feel safe and supported. For this to happen, they need you to be OK. Try to create more realistic and achievable expectations to reduce the pressure.
- Take breaks for self-care: Make sure you take some breaks to do the things that will help you feel less stressed. If you have someone to watch the kids, take a walk by yourself and enjoy the break. Try to find some time each day to take care of yourself, even if it’s just five minutes.
- Stay connected: While it’s important to make time to have fun and connect as a family, make sure you create time for your own social connections. Vent. Laugh. Share ideas about coping and compromising. Be there to support each other.
- Be mindful of how you are thinking about the situation – take it seriously but keep your response in perspective: Stay informed from reliable sources but remember that this will end. It might not feel like it some days, but it won’t be like this forever.
In the video link below, Dr Carly Johnco from the Centre for Emotional Health and Department of Psychology at Macquarie University talks to parents and carers about how to look after their own mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UgnTfxykrc
I hope the resources shared below will provide our wonderful community of parents some wisdom and comfort in the days ahead.
How Parents can Keep Calm and Manage Stress
Way to reduce Stress- Beyond Blue
Tips for keeping calm and managing stress- download the PDF below
https://media.naavi.com/macaroni/im-022e9f52-3fe3-4f42-bae2-1b082f84cb4c.pdf?deg=auto
Ideas for Positively Managing your Children's Behaviour
Getting Children to listen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMjMfCqulP4&feature=emb_logo
Approaches to Guiding Children's Behaviour – Parent Downloads
Positive Approaches to Guiding Children’s Behaviour – Guide 2
Children's mental health during the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic podcast
How might children’s social and emotional well being be affected by the changes brought about in response to the COVID-19 pandemic? In this bonus episode, Brad Morgan, Director of Emerging Minds, discusses some challenges that might be coming up for families at this time as they navigate spending more time at home together. Tune in to this discussion to hear about what infants, toddlers, and children are needing from their parents right now and some suggestions on how parents can have child-centred conversations about Coronavirus.
https://podcasts.apple.com/au/podcast/emerging-minds-podcast/id1457528361?i=1000530353858
BOOK WEEK
Our wonderful teachers have organised some great learning and fun activities, including our very own Mary Immaculate edition of the Mem Fox favourite “Where is the Green Sheep?” This can be viewed via the following link
https://www.loom.com/share/91750205005d409ba71d32edfaea3571
Your child/ren’s remote learning schedule will have details about the activities, so please check those for further information, especially the dates and times of the class/grade book week zooms.
We encourage all families to create a simple costume with what they have at home.
Please do not go to the shops to purchase items as this is not a reasonable excuse to leave your home while ‘Stay at Home’ orders are in place.
Is your child watching the teacher videos to support remote learning?
Most teachers are recording videos for students and including links to these either through Google Classroom or via Seesaw. Many teachers have noticed the number of times the videos are viewed and are naturally concerned that not all children are watching the videos.
The video recordings are well thought out by teachers and are an essential part of the learning process.
Parents are encouraged to remind their children that they must watch these videos. If your child skips the video and just moves onto the task then they are missing essential learning and instruction. Often the answers to questions from students or parents are in the videos.
Happy reading!
Tina Murray
Principal