Welcome to week 9 of term 1. I am constantly amazed at how quickly time is passing! It is so important that we help our children by keeping a consistent bedtime routine, especially now when our body clocks are still set on pre-daylight saving hours.

Typically, our 3-5 year old children require 10-13 hours of sleep per night, our 5-11 year old children require 9-11 hours of sleep per night and our 12+ year old children require 8-10 hours of sleep per night. We all know what it feels like to function on very little or poor quality sleep. We end up feeling tired and irritable, and we find it tricky to maintain concentration. Our children also suffer when they are tired, and then we expect them to concentrate all day at school!

Establishing a calm, consistent routine before bedtime each night will aid them to get to sleep and remain asleep all night, which will help them get up the next morning ready to face the day enthusiastically. Part of this good bedtime routine is winding down at least an hour before bedtime. Reading quietly, listening to calming music or even listening to an adult read to them before bedtime is really beneficial to children. Very often, children take roughly 20 minutes to fall asleep. If you are finding your child takes longer, this may indicate that they need a longer wind-down before bed.

Using technology and watching a screen will actually affect the quality of sleep, and can even cause a person to take longer to fall asleep. Screen time stimulates the human brain, and the blue light tricks our brains into thinking that it is still daylight and will suppress our melatonin levels, causing issues in falling asleep. Technology is also the great temptation, and haven’t we all been guilty of, ‘playing that last game’ or ‘watching a little more’? Technology is a terrific time thief and is such a temptation to stay up later so that we can connect with friends or to play games. None of this is great for setting healthy bedtime routines. Switch off the technology and screen time at least one hour before bedtime. Removing technology from our children’s bedrooms is not a punishment but is just good practice! We don’t want notifications and messages to pop up all night and interrupt our children. Let them fully switch off!

Letting our children be physically active after school will also burn off any excess energy our children might have. This will help them also to drop off to sleep quickly and stay asleep. Remember, your GP can support you and your child if you are finding your child is having difficulties in getting to sleep, remaining asleep, or seems very tired during the day. Our Wellbeing Team is also a readily available resource, and if you think you might need some advice with establishing and keeping a great bedtime routine, please feel free to book a time with a member of the Wellbeing Team. You can contact us using the email wellbeing@bethany.sa.edu.au 

Car Park Reminders

Just a quick reminder, please refrain from parking in the Early GoodStart Childcare Centre. Their car park is for their clients only, and these are parents of very little children. Let us make their day a bit easier by not taking up their valuable car parking space.

Please also use our car park wisely and kindly. Speak to each other nicely and be courteous to the other road users. Model safety, care and patience when you are driving around the school, as we share the road and car park with a lot of different people within the community, not just people who attend our school.

SAPOL are fast-tracking a campaign to encourage safer driving as our road toll has been quite horrific this year. Let’s make every effort to keep our students safe by being safe road users.

I wish you all a safe and wonderful Easter long weekend. I pray that as you travel around, whether you are going away for the long weekend or just visiting friends and family for Easter, that you stay safe on our roads. I hope the time with your family is a truly blessed one.

God bless you all,

Deb Clifford
Deputy Principal