Welcome to the mid-way point of Term 2! How fast is this term racing by? The weather has truly turned cold and wintery and it’s a great time to remind our children to wear weather appropriate clothing and to add those extra layers. It’s also a great time to remind them to eat healthily, maintain great hygienic habits (wiping noses, catching sneezes and coughs and most importantly, washing hands) and getting enough sleep to help their bodies cope with busy school days!

Student Attendance

With the rise of illness during what is being described as a bad flu season, keeping your children home when they are sick is really important. Please remember to contact the front office if your child will not be attending school so that we can notify their teachers. By the end of Week 5, the school will have had 74 school days. We expect our students to attend at least 95% of those days, factoring in days that they may have been kept home for illness. This means, all students are expected to have attended 70 or more days this year.
If your child has been absent more than 15 days this year, this is equivalent of only an 80% attendance and can be at great risk of missing so much school that it would be difficult for them to keep up with their work. It also affects them socially. At an 80-90% attendance rate, your child could potentially miss up to 2 whole years of their schooling between Reception and Year 10, putting them at a severe disadvantage.

Students who have 80% or less attendance of school will have missed so much time from school it will be almost impossible for them to keep up with their school work or keep in touch with friends. This much missed time from school is equivalent to a child missing a total of 3 years of school from Reception to Year 10. At this point, immediate action by the parent or caregiver is required. To be in this bracket, by the end of this week, they would have missed 15 or more days this semester.

Students who are regularly late to school and need to sign in before going to class, or those who are persistently signed out from school early are also at great risk. While it may only seem like a small amount of time late or early departure, it all adds up and can be shocking for their parents/caregivers to realise that their time has amounted to a 10% absenteeism rate and now puts their child at risk. Even as little as getting to school by 9am each day is equivalent to 5 days of lost learning if it is added up.

The school will obviously take individual circumstances into account when looking at attendance data. If your family are planning a holiday, or your child requires on-going specialist appointments that can only be attended during school hours, please ensure you fill out the relevant ‘Exemption from School’ forms which can be accessed at the front desk. If you are concerned about how many days your child has been absent from school, or you are having difficulty in getting your child to school, please speak to your child’s classroom teacher or make an appointment to speak to me so that you can access some help.

Online Gaming

The Advertiser on Sunday 26th of May had a two-page article on Fortnite and the battle South Australian parents are having with game addiction. In this article it highlighted key aspects of concern; age appropriateness, ease at which players can access the game and addictions to gaming. None of these three concerns are solely aimed at the game ‘Fortnite’, as they can apply to any game. Regardless of the activity, if a child is accessing content that is not suitable for their current developmental age and then finds it difficult to stop playing, it becomes a genuine concern. The take-away for readers in this article was the steps to take to stop the addiction.

They are:
• Draw up a family contract to outline screen time rules, discuss them, listen to feedback and have both parties sign
• Stick to the rules every day – don’t let them slide when inconvenient
• Set up parental controls on individual devices or the family Wi-Fi router to limit game play outside the rules
• Ban devices from children’s bedrooms, including laptops, smartphones and game consoles
• Respect age ratings on video games
• Play your child’ favourite video game with them so you have a better understanding of the risks and their interests
• Provide a good example for your children by maintaining healthy use of your devices
• Seek expert advice if your child’s video game play becomes excessive and harms relationships and academic performance (taken from Advertiser, Jennifer Dudley-Nicholson, Sunday 26th May, 2019, pp 20-21).

A key message is that simply banning or taking away a game does not solve the issue. It is about teaching our children how to make good, healthy and informed choices. What it amounts to is asking ourselves the question, “does this game/activity add value to my child?” 
We can offer support to any family finding a difficulty with online gaming or another form of addictive behaviour. Please feel free to seek our support by contacting the school. We are here to help!

Wishing you all a wonderful week, praying that you will all stay warm and healthy!

God bless you!

Deb Clifford
Deputy Principal

Well done to the following students who have completed the Premier's Reading Challenge:

You should really go to camp, I loved it! When I found out that we were going to camp I was super nervous because I thought that I would forget to bring something but I didn’t. It was so much fun packing things like clothes, torches and lollies. When we finally got to camp I realised that I would have an amazing time and I was so EXCITED! All the people working there were so nice and the food was so delicious. All the activities were so much fun.

After camp I was so sleepy but when I got home I unpacked and RELAXED. I went to bed early that night and the next morning I was so excited to tell my family ALL about camp and how AMAZING it was. It was a FANTASTIC experience to go to camp. You should definitely go to camp.

By Amelia L

When I went to camp I had a fantastic time, even though I was away from my parents. At least I didn’t have to clean my room. You should go to camp because you get to hang out with your friends and to eat the awesome food. You would certainly have a great time. If you’re worried about going to sleep without an adult, don’t worry because every cabin has an adult. If you don’t go, but you’re friends went, you are most likely to be left out when they’re talking about camp.

Some of my favourite moments at camp were cooking fish in a fire, seeing the 'shut-up' tree, the magic tree, painting boomerangs, learning about Aboriginal life and seeing kangaroos! If I could go again, I’d definitely go. It was so much fun! There’s a big inflatable pillow (The Bouncing Pillow) that you can go and jump on. But there’s a limit of people who can go on. Also, the owners of the camp have a dog named Stella. You MUST go to camp because you get to wear casual clothes! But you have to wear t-shirts that have sleeves and enclosed shoes. The activities are really fun as well.

You get to make shelters, go on walks to the Aldinga beach and scrub, paint boomerangs and so much more! On the last night at camp, we had a giant PYJAMA PARTY! We watched a movie and ate some lollies. Also, on the last day there, we had pancakes and Milo for breakfast. It was super yummy food!
I hope you now want to go to camp so you will have lots of fun with your friends and teachers!

By Isabel T