Kaurihohore School Week Nine, Term Three News
Manaaki te katoa - be kind to all.
Respect - Empathy - Kindness
He whakatauki. Ehara tāku toa i te toa takitahi. Engari, he toa takitini.
Success is not the work of one but the work of many.
Kia ora koutou, tamariki are slowly settling back into kura, for some this has been harder than others, so across classrooms we have been making wellbeing a priority. We have noticed a higher level of irritability and a lower level of tolerance for others, so we are doing our best to assist children with this.
We have also found a trend for those struggling to get back into the flow of school and this trend heavily features device use. Research shows that prolonged time on devices does have an effect on mood and ability to focus, particularly in children, but also in adults. Children have spoken to us about playing device based games (some not age appropriate) for hours on end. While we know it was really difficult in lockdown to keep children entertained, we hope that this is not a habit that continues. Time on devices really impacts emotional regulation and how children relate to others, it certainly does not make learning in a classroom easy. Please also be aware of the games your child is playing and the R rating on these.
If you have not watched the ted talk called device zombies by Kathryn Berkett I urge you to do so. Device Zombies.
The best remedy for this is simply time spent playing, allowing children to be bored and to find things that they can entertain themselves with, that do not require devices. Extended time outside also really helps. Please don’t feel the burden to entertain your child or to fill their time up with activities, while this often comes with the best of intentions, it can have the opposite impact then the one we desire.
Kathryn Berkett is actually having a free evening for parents. I urge you to go to this, her work is based on the research of Bruce Perry. Bruce Perry’s work is what our wellbeing and developmental approach at our school is based on. Kathryn also has a set of podcasts on spotify called I’ve got questions. These are worth a listen. In my opinion all parents should know this stuff and I wish I had!
I also really recommend this book by Ross Greene. It will introduce you to an approach that will really change the way you deal with problems at home with your children. It is also an approach that focuses on helping children develop interpersonal skills and empathy. Children that have behavioural challenges generally have lagging skills in the areas of frustration tolerance, flexibility, problem solving and perspective taking. These skills need to be taught in the situations where they lack these skills. The approach detailed in the book is one I wish I had known about as a parent and I really urge people to read the book, particularly if you are having difficulty with an explosive child at home. It is a process that can be used with all ages and centres around collaborative problem solving.
This is a good talk that shares the ‘why’ of this process.
Level Two Guidelines
Thank you for adhering to level two guidelines, please continue to do so. Please remember children must have their own bottle at school filled with water, no juice or sugary drinks please.
Dealing With Problems Appropriately
Please note that it is not acceptable to talk ill of another person’s child in front of other parents, or to go directly to that parent to complain about something that has happened in school. Remember as parents we always only have one interpretation of events...and sometimes our children’s viewpoints can be slightly skewed in their favour. The appropriate action in response to a problem is to go directly to your child’s teacher (either via email, seesaw, or catching them quickly when we are in level one.) To explain your child’s viewpoint and allow the teacher to have an open conversation with all parties. This process allows us to get to the truth, use it as a learning experience and assist children to own their actions and if needed restore and learn from this. This process also allows children to hear all sides and understand another's viewpoint, to hear directly what impact has been had. This fosters and grows the ability to empathise, which research shows us needs to be taught. While you may think talking to the other parent is the most efficient way to deal with the problem, it actually has a negative impact for all parties, does not allow all sides to be heard and often does not result in a true reflection of what has been going on. We will not want to act on only one side of a story. Please before you even think about talking to another parent about their child, put yourself in their shoes. This is your child’s learning journey, not yours.
Sponsored Run
This will take place on the 2nd of December...if you have lost your sponsorship sheet, please come in and get another one.
Agricultural and Flower Day
This will be held on the first Friday back next term, 22nd of October. The agricultural side of this day will go ahead in level two, depending on the number of entries we may need to limit the amount of adults with each child. If we are level 2, classes will just take part in class based crafts on the day, no viewing of rooms will be available as we won’t be asking judges to come on site. If we are in level one, we will send out the items children will need to bring in on the day, but will keep this as simple as possible.
Zero Waste
As an enviro school one of our main initiatives is zero waste. We are noticing a lot of plastic creeping back into lunchboxes and into our playground. We encourage children to understand the damaging nature of plastic in our environment and to look for ways to incorporate the actions of reduce-reuse-recycle. Our local environment forms a big basis for our teaching and we aim to instil in children the understanding that they are kaitiaki (guardians) of our place. We hope that this will enable them to make decisions that will benefit the environment that they live in. Think globally, act locally.
Trophies
If your child won a trophy at last year's prize giving we need these back before the end of this term. We will be sending the majority of these trophies off for engraving in the second week of Term 4.
Lost Property
This is growing by the day. Please ask your child to check this regularly and allow them to take responsibility for this. You may come on site to check the lost property, but please wear a mask and check in using the app. The amount of clothing unnamed makes the returning of items almost impossible.
Our facebook page is used as a form of communication and sharing. We will always update you with information when we have it as soon as we have it, using seesaw, facebook and email. Please do not use our facebook page to ask questions unless it is really important, instead phone the school office if you can not find the information you need.
Pick up and Drop Off
Thankyou for not parking on yellow lines, not blocking entrances and not parking out the front blocking visibility, we appreciate your cooperation with this. If you are picking up an intermediate child, please avoid coming before 3.10pm to ensure others can get a car park. If there are spaces free in the small staff car park at the end of the day, please feel free to use them, but avoid blocking in staff cars.
School Photos
These will be held on the 27th of October.
Term Four - Known Dates
Begins 18th of October
22nd of October - Ag and Flower Da (calves, lambs and goats, classroom items only if level 2)
25th of October - Labour Day
27th of October - School Photos
10th November - Girls multisport (Year 5 and 6)
17th of November - School Athletics
20th of November - School Gala
1st of December - Whangarei Athletics Day
2nd of December - Sponsored Run
3rd of December - Disco
10th of December - Whole School Prize giving 1.pm
Ends 12.00 December 14th
2022 - Return to School 2nd of February
Food for thought...
Noho ora mai - stay well, look after yourself and look out for others!
Leslee Allen
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