For Your Information
Learning from Home Support
We have just on 90% of our students learning from school now and so we will be reducing the level of Learning at Home resourcing from next Monday, unless there is a major development regarding school attendance. We will be sending out a Week Learning Guide with activities and some links etc., similar to what we provided in Weeks 9 and 10 last term, rather than Daily Guides. The Week 3 Learning Guide will be ready on line just before lunchtime on Monday, May 11. The reason for this change is simply the work required by our staff to support a full classroom learning program as well as supporting Learning at Home to the level we have over the past two weeks. Thank you for your understanding and we will continue to do what we can to support our families Learning at Home.
PPN Pick-Up Zone
The current restrictions on having families come on to school grounds to help control Covid-19 spread, has provided some extra challenges for us, particularly at pick up time. Our current process is for all students who are not on the buses or going to OSHC, to go to the Drive Through Pick Up Zone at the bottom of our Lower Playground.
We would like to refine this plan a little and divide the area into two parts. Please follow this link for a summary diagram https://pnorthern.click/pickup . Students being picked up by cars going through the Drive Through and students being picked up by families who are parking and walking to pick up students. The location for students being picked up by car will remain the same. Students being picked up by families walking to the school, will be picked up at the small gate, just 20 metres to the east of the car pick up area. This is close by the car pick up, so we still have all of our students in a similar area for pick up, but should help speed up the process. Please let your child know if you are going to pick them up in the car, or by walking up to the gate in the morning before they come to school, so we can have an idea of where to place them for afternoon Pick Up. The back gate from the Church Car Park will not be open as we need staff to help out the front.
Some other requests we have to help traffic flow is no right turn off Nelson Road into the Drive through Zone, no queuing across the entry to the back car park, come a little later (after 3.35pm Mon – Thurs) if you would like a quicker, smoother pickup experience.
Uniform Shop
The Uniform Shop is open for appointments only due to the current restrictions. Please call the Front Office to make your appointment on 8396 2577. EFTPOS is available but secondhand items and labels are cash only.
Uniforms can also be purchased through flexischools.com.au and will be delivered to your child's class within 2 school days.
Term 2 School Uniform
We have extended our usual 2-week changeover between summer and winter uniforms. There will now be a 4-week changeover. That means students can wear either summer or winter uniform to school (even PE uniform if needed) until the start of Week 5. We understand that things are up in the air at the moment and the fact that our uniform shop has been closed until recently and has limited appointments now has made the usual uniform transition impossible.
No Mother's Day Stall
Due to COVID-19 restrictions there will be no Mother's Day Stall this year.
Canteen Menu
There have been some minor updates to the menu since last week. This is the current canteen menu. Please note, no pizza this term.
Daily Health Check
Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability
A message from Ali Friedrich, Prescott Primary Northern counsellor
8 tips to remember to support yourself and your family during this COVID 19 season.
This is a difficult and stressful time for many families and individuals. Let us be gentle with ourselves. We can give ourselves permission to grieve missed time with loved ones, travel plans, celebrations, and stability. It is ok to acknowledge that we may not be as productive and need to allow ourselves to decrease our workloads when possible before feelings of exhaustion overwhelm us.
We need to remind ourselves that our families will come out of this with greater personal strength and resilience as we practice self-care, rely on others, and connect with the marginalized around us.
1. Structure your day. As our daily lives shift amongst this global crisis, we can aim to continue routines with our children. Our children are more to manage stress when we explain it to our children predictable ways, such as daily chores, bedtime routines, etc. It is when stress is unpredictable, extreme, and prolonged, that children become more vulnerable, rather than resilient.
2. Have family meals. Mealtime that include nutritional food help children brains to handle stress more effectively. Mealtimes are also a great way to preserve structure and routine while checking in with our children. If there are behavioral issues or family problems to discuss, we can ensure that our children feel safe and heard first. This can support children to be more receptive to our message when we help our children regulate, then relate, then reason.
3. Limit media/screen use. While we are trying to navigate our way through this pandemic, many parents are experiencing fear and they children are experiencing the worries/stress through them. Just like the Coronavirus, emotions are very contagious, and children often sense when others are anxious or upset.
We should avoid media/screens that promote access to violent images or games as this further activate the stress response system. This impacts on the child brain to be ready to learn. Technology can be an excellent tool to build connection with others while being physically distant but relying on media too heavily can get in the way of the child developing empathy and connecting emotionally.
4. Exercise. Now is the time to find creative ways to get bodies moving, while practicing social distancing. As previously mentioned, when children are in a fearful state, they are in a heightened state of arousal.
The only way to move from these super-high anxiety states, to calmer more cognitive states, is rhythm. Patterned, repetitive rhythmic activity: walking, running, dancing, singing, repetitive meditative breathing. These activities will allow you to access your brain in a more effective way.
5. Reach out. Connecting with others is one of our greatest tools. Perry tells us, “The most powerful buffer in times of stress and distress is our social connectedness; stay physically distant but emotionally close. Reach out and connect. Taking care of our own needs is vital when it comes to meeting the needs of our children. If you are distressed then it is really hard to support your child’s emotional needs.
6. Help others. If we know someone who has already had a range of challenges in their life, we need to reach out to these individuals who are already have other stressors in their life.
7. Practice good sleep hygiene. It is not unusual for us to be feeling anxious, physically and emotionally exhausted at a faster pace than normal. Wanting to sleep more is our bodies way of managing the all the additional stressors. We can get more restful sleep if we exercise in the morning or afternoon, wind down with calming activities, and avoid late eating and screen watching.
8. Stay positive and future-focused. As mentioned previously, emotions are contagious. Anxiety and panic are contagious but being calm around others is also contagious. Everybody will be socially, emotionally, and physically healthier if we help each other model positive responses to stress.
The above information are highlights from Dr Bruce.D Perry regarding the impact of COVID19 situation.