5th February 2016

Principal’s Desk

2016 Welcome to all our new families and welcome back to all our ongoing families. It is always a pleasure for me to walk through the yard or the classrooms, see the animated and excited faces of all the children and listen to how they spent their break. All the classes, including the preppies, have settled into the new year’s routines very smoothly. It has been a wonderful start to, what is going to be, a very eventful year. Building Works We had a very clear plan about what the renovations and building works were going to be up until the start of December last year. With the news of a possible sale of part of the golf course and the larger than expected growth of the school, things have changed. We have had meetings with regional and central office staff to discuss where the school is headed and what facilities will be needed to achieve this. All works and plans have been put on hold until the best possible solution can be achieved. Information Evenings The Information Evenings were a great success this year. Each session had a good attendance of parents, the information was very thorough and there were lots of pertinent questions. Thank you to the teachers who put in so much work preparing for the nights, Mr Langford, Mr Sandy and the ICT team for formulating the school internet usage policy and procedures, and of course, all the parents who attended. If you were unable to attend, the information about the internet usage and policy can be accessed by asking Mr Langford or Mr Sandy. School Council Elections This is just an advance notice for anyone interested in joining or staying on Bonbeach Primary School Council this year. There will be 3 vacancies this year as 3 members have reached the end of their 2 year tenure. All information about School Council, how to nominate and who can nominate will be attached to the newsletter next week. Canteen Manager This is another advance notice. This time for anyone interested in applying for the position of canteen manager here. There will be information in next week’s newsletter on how to apply, what the position will entail and hours, conditions, etc.

Bomb Hoaxes and Emergency Management Everyone who hasn’t been sleeping under a rock would know about the recent spate of bomb hoax calls made to schools throughout Victoria and NSW. These have caused a great deal of unnecessary stress and massive disruptions. Hopefully the authorities have pinpointed the source of these and they will no longer be issues. All schools have been directed by the DET to take these calls seriously and carry out the appropriate emergency management plan. You can be assured that, for the safety of everyone at the school, Bonbeach will always take any alert like this seriously and that we have a comprehensive and efficient emergency management plan. 11 confidence-building strategies every parent and teacher should know

By Michael Grose

Instilling confidence takes more than heaping praise on kids. Here are 10 practical confidence-building strategies for parents and teachers of children and young people.

Children with healthy self-esteem and self-confidence learn more, achieve more and are generally happier than those with low confidence levels. Building children’s and young people’s confidence is complex. It’s more than being a praise robot and heaping positive comments on a child at the first sign of them doing something well. Confidence building requires a number of approaches that impact on how they think, how they feel and what they can do.

Here are ten practical strategies that you can use to build real self-confidence in kids of all ages:

1. Model confident thinking Kids soak up the language, thinking and behaviour of those closest to them in their environment. Parents and teachers, play a part in modelling confident thinking and behaviour particularly when it comes to tackling new activities. In particular, let kids hear positive self-talk when you tackle something new. They should hear something like, “I’ll have a go at this. If I don’t do so well then I can try again tomorrow.” This is far more effective than “I’m no good at this. I’ll probably stuff it up.” 2. Focus on effort & improvement Current thinking shows that people who believe that they can increase their intelligence through effort and challenge actually get smarter and do better in school, work, and life over time. One way to develop a growth mindset is to focus your language on effort and improvement rather than on the results of what they do. By linking success with effort you are teaching them success comes from something other than purely their ability, talents or smarts. 3. Praise strategy While effort is key for achievement, it's not the only thing. Kids need to try new strategies and seek input from others when they're stuck. They need this repertoire of approaches – not just sheer effort – to learn and improve. It helps too to focus language on better and smarter ways on improving. Comments such as “That was a smart idea to tackle the hardest task while you were fresh!”(strategy) and “You recognised the first few steps were the most important but then after that you were right” are descriptive statements that have significant instructional value for kids.

4. Develop self-help skills from an early age A child’s self-esteem comes as a result of his or her successes and accomplishments. The most important competencies to build confidence are basic self-help skills. These form the building blocks upon which other competencies such as organisational skills and many social skills are formed. 5. Give them real responsibility

From a young age start giving children responsibility for some aspects of their lives. By giving kids responsibility for many aspects of their lives we are sending a powerful message that we think they are capable. Also they are learning the skills necessary to care for themselves.

6. Practise unconditional acceptance Your ability to accept children and young people’s best efforts in any area of endeavour, irrespective of the results, will go a long way toward to determining their self-esteem and confidence. If a child makes their bed to the very best of their ability, resist fixing it, even though it may fall short of your adult standards. Instead remind them next time of how to do it well.

7. Expand their horizons

Some kids are confident and capable at home but are fearful and nervous when it comes to new social situations and unfamiliar environments. Children today, have less opportunity than those in the past to negotiate and explore unpredictable situations. Wherever possible look for opportunities to expand children’s horizons to include unfamiliar places and unfamiliar locations including catching public transport and walking to friends’ places unattended when capable.

8. Recognise improvement Focus your comments on children’s effort and improvement rather than on winning the game or getting top marks. Help kids set realistic goals in line with their capabilities and interests. Learning five new spelling words a week maybe more realistic than 20 words that his school may require. 9. Put the training wheels on to support learning Putting training wheels on a bike is a great way to teach a young child to ride. They keep them upright and mobile while get they are getting the knack of balancing. We can use the same principle to support kids learning while they develop independence in many areas of life. For instance, we can accompany anxious kids to birthday parties and stay for a short time so they become comfortable before leaving. 10. Build teaching and training into your day Teaching and training needs to be part of the everyday repertoire of a parent. This means we need to add a little extra time to many of our interactions so we can help children acquire many of the basic skills of living, whether it is a young child learning to do up his or her shoelaces or a teenager learning how to fill out his or her tax form for a part-time job. When adults are busy it is often easier to do things ourselves.

11. Ask children for help Doing things together is a great way to build competency and build the confidence that mastery brings. A simple way to initiate joint activity is to ask your child or young person to give you hand with something. Better still, get them to teach you or show you how to do something you are unfamiliar with. Being a teacher rather than the learner is a great confidence-builder particularly for those kids who struggle with activities that others find easy. Most importantly, great parents and teachers have a knack of communicating confidence in kids. They find ways to let kids know that they believe in them – that they know their kids will perform and succeed, that they have faith that they can deal with life’s challenges and know that they can become more independent. Ken Jones Principal

COMMUNICATION IS VERY IMPORTANT—PLEASE READ Newsletters and Notices Newsletters (Jumbunna) are an important communication link between the school and home. Jumbunna is an Indigenous word meaning ‘place to meet and talk.’ To access the newsletter please subscribe through the school website – www.bonbeachps.vic.edu.au Please also refer to the calendar on the website. Those parents who do not have access to the internet will be able to collect a copy from the office. The class teacher will distribute notices regarding excursions and special events to each child or per family with the youngest child. These will also be available from the website. Many Newsletters and Notices contain ‘cut off and return slips' and it would greatly assist the school if parents could attend to these and return them promptly and if payment is required please enclose correct money. It is extremely important to have permission slips and payment to the office on time as we will not accept any late replies. If you send the permission slip without payment the slip will be returned home via the student. Tiqbiz We use an app to send instant messages, notices and reminders. The tiqbiz app will help our school keep parents fully informed and up-to-date with news and events. It’s easy to use and also has the benefit of helping reduce our paper consumption by printing less. Search for tiqbiz at the App Store, find and tick our school and register. Please tick the Whole School box, as well as a box that represents your child/ren year, Junior box (for Prep,1 & 2), Middle box for (year 3 & 4) and a Senior box for (year 5 & 6). Please refer to instructions below.

Mon 8/2 ICT Information Session 5 9:15am Schoolaerobics Competition Expression of Interest Forms due Tue 9/2 Education Sub-committee meeting 5:30pm School Council meeting 6pm Wed 10/2 Prep Entry Assessment Appointments – No Preps at school Fri 12/2 Prep/1 Colour Dress-up Day - Red Life Education Mobile learning Centre ICT Information Session 6 2:30pm Sun 14/2 Bonbeach Farmers’ Market 9am-1pm Mon 15/2 Life Education Mobile learning Centre Tue16/2 Life Education Mobile learning Centre Uniform Shop open 8:50am-9:15am Wed 17/2 Prep Entry Assessment Appointments – No Preps at school Life Education Mobile Learning Centre Fri 19/2 Prep/1 Colour Dress-up Day - Blue Mon 22/2 Yr 5/6 Coonawarra Farm Resort Camp 1st instalment due $150 Wed 24/2 Prep Entry Assessment Appointments – No Preps at school Fri 26/2 Prep/1 Colour Dress-up Day - Green 2016 CSEF Applications due Tue 1/3 Preschool 3yr old 2017 Expression of Interest Applications Open Wed 2/3 Prep Entry Assessment Appointments – No Preps at school Year 5 & 6 Water Safety & Survival Program-Session1 2pm-3pm Fri 4/3 Prep/1 Colour Dress-up Day - Pink Mon 7/3 District Swimming Sports 9am-2:30pm Wed 9/3 Prep Entry Assessment Appointments – No Preps at school Year 5 & 6 Water Safety & Survival Program-Session 2 2pm-3pm Fri 11/3 Prep/1 Colour Dress-up Day - Orange Lightning Premiership 9am-2:30pm Sun13/3 Bonbeach Farmers’ Market 9am-1pm Mon 14/3 Labour Day holiday Wed 16/3 Prep Entry Assessment Appointments – No Preps at school Year 5 & 6 Water Safety & Survival Program-Session 3 2pm-3pm School Sport Victoria Team Online Registration closes Fri 18/3 Prep/1 Rainbow Party Yr 5/6 Coonawarra Farm Resort Camp 2nd instalment due $150 Wed 23/3 Prep Entry Assessment Appointments – No Preps at school Year 5 & 6 Water Safety & Survival Program-Session 4 2pm-3pm Thur 24/3 Last day of term 1-students dismissed at 2:30pm Sun 10/4 Bonbeach Farmers’ Market 9am-1pm TERM 2 Mon 11/4 Term 2 begins 9am Thur 14/3 Yr 5/6 Coonawarra Farm Resort Camp final payment due $50 Fri 15/4 Whole School Student Photos CANTEEN CLOSED Mon 25/4 ANZAC Day holiday Tue 26/4 Year 5/6 Coonawarra Farm Camp depart Fri 29/4 Year 5/6 Coonawarra Farm Camp return Sat 30/4 choolaerobics Competition– Event 1 Preliminary Sun 8/5 Bonbeach Farmers’ Market 9am-1pm Mon 16/5 Year Prep & 1 Swimming Program-Session 1 Tue 17/5 Year Prep & 1 Swimming Program-Session 2 Thur 19/5 Year Prep & 1 Swimming Program-Session 3 Fri 20/5 Cross Country 9am-2:30pm Year Prep & 1 Swimming Program-Session 4 Mon23/5 Year Prep & 1 Swimming Program-Session 5 Tue 24/5 Year Prep & 1 Swimming Program-Session 6 Thur 26/5 Year Prep & 1 Swimming Program-Session 7 Fri 27/5 Year Prep & 1 Swimming Program-Session 8 Sat 4/6 Schoolaerobics Competition– Event 2 Final Sun 12/6 Bonbeach Farmers’ Market 9am-1pm Mon 13/6 Queens Birthday holiday

Life Education Program

Friday 12th February - Wednesday 17th February

A reminder the permission slip to participate in the Life Education Mobile Learning Centre must be returned to the office by Tuesday 9th February along with payment of $9.00 per student if not paid with Booklist.

Year 5/6 Water Safety & Survival Program Wednesday 2nd, 9th, 16th & 23rd March

A reminder to parents the Water Safety & Survival Program commences on Wednesday 2nd March. Thank you to the families that have already paid. If you would like your child to participate in the program payment of $35 per student and the permission slip must be returned to the Office by Friday 20th February.

Year 5/6 Coonawarra Farm Resort Camp Tuesday 26th April - Friday 29th April

A reminder to families the 5/6 camp deposit of $150 is due by Monday 22nd

February this will confirmed your booking. The second installment of $150 is due by Friday 18

th March and the final payment is due by Thursday 14

th April. If you have

not receive the notice that went home this week please check the website under School Notices.

Contact Details A reminder that it is very important we have up to date contact details should the school need to contact you in regard to your child/ren. Please let the office know of any changes immediately. If your child has a Medical Management Plan eg: Asthma, Allergies etc please provide a copy to the office as well.

Sending money to school When sending money to school please ensure that all money is in a sealed envelope with student name, grade, activity description, permission slip (when requested) and correct money enclosed to the office by the due date.

PLEASE DO NOT SEND PERMISSION SLIPS OR ORDERS WITHOUT PAYMENT. If you send the permission slip without payment the slip will be returned home via the student.

iPad Sign Out and In for Early Departure and Late Arrival Parents wishing to collect children other than at the normal dismissal time must go to the office to sign out their child/ren and collect an ‘Early Leave Pass’ before collecting them from their classroom. The pass is to be taken to the classroom and handed to the teacher. It is extremely disruptive to teachers and other students when children arrive late to class. If your child arrives at school after 9am you must go to the office to sign your child/ren in and get a ‘Late Arrival Pass’ to take to their classroom and hand to their teacher. Our children are not permitted to leave the school grounds during school hours unless accompanied by an adult and have been signed out. The class teacher must be informed that a child is leaving, in case of an emergency

If making arrangements with others to collect your child, please make sure the person and the child know the arrangements.

Student Messages Please note that the Office Staff are unable to pass on messages to students during the day except in an emergency.

Absence from School and Absence Notes If your child is absent from school, please inform the school either by telephone, by leaving a message on the absence line or email. Please send a note on the first day that the child returns. If your child or children are away for an extended length of time for illness or holiday we must have it in writing. This information is essential as it must be recorded in the Class Attendance Roll. The Department requires a reason to be recorded for all absences.

Thank you for your assistance.

Wendy & Sharon

STAFF CAR PARK

A reminder that the lower school car park is reserved for staff use only

and also should not be used by pedestrian traffic. In the interests of safety the pathways should be

used and care always taken at pick up and drop off time. Thank you for you co-

operation.

FROM THE ART ROOM

Please provide your child with an Art Smock. It can be an old large t.shirt or shirt. All children are to bring an Art S m o c k i f t h e y a r e participating in Art classes. All paint used is non toxic and water based. Paint on clothing: Hand wash in cold water with soap. To remove any stains remaining in the fabric use a stain remover and follow the directions. It is important NOT to use hot water.

Thank you Bu King

Please remember to wear your wide brimmed hat every day until the end of April.

Education Sub-Committee

Meeting

There will be an Education

Sub-Committee meeting on

Tuesday 9th

February at

5:30pm.

If you are interested in

attending or want further

information please contact me

at the school.

Clem Langford

Assistant Principal

UNIFORM SHOP

The Uniform Shop is open on

the 1st and 3rd Tuesday of each

month from 8:50am-9:15am.

Prepaid completed orders forms

can be left at the office to be

filled. Orders will then be

available for collection from the

office.

Thank-you

Bonnie, Misako &

Katarina

Reminder that the Canteen is open on FRIDAY’S ONLY for over the counter sales of snacks and lunch orders. Friday 12 February Tally 9-10:30 Zoe P/Sammi W/Travis J Prep 11-1:15pm Nikki F/Rosa W Serve 1:15-2:15 Fiona Mcl/Tahnya C/Anita Mck

Thank you Canteen Committee