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The School Report

Newsletter of Fernvale State School

1605 Brisbane Valley Highway Fernvale Q 4306

www.fernvaless.eq.edu.au PH 54271333 Fax 54271300 Absence 54271360

Issue No: 14 11 May 2020

Dates to Remember

June July 26 Last day Term 2 13 First day Term 3

Further school date claimers will be added once finalised. Dates are subject to change.

From the Principal

The relaxation of some restrictions in Queensland saw the Prep and Year One students return back to school

today. It is hoped that the Year 2 to 6 students will return back on May 25. Please remember that it is not

school as normal for Year 2 to 6 students of essential workers who are in attendance at school. These students

are still in “Supervision” mode and undertake exactly the same Remote Learning Plan content as the student at

home would. Not all staff have returned on site as yet with over a dozen staff still working from home.

Whilst Students in Prep and Year One returned today, it is absolutely understandable that some families may

delay the return of students. This decision is respected, however it is important to understand that the parent

takes responsibility for the continued learning of your child until they return when school is fully opened. The

Department has been clear where a parent keeps their child home for a further period, then the classroom

teacher is not responsible for providing an alternative learning at home program. Parents are able to access the

learning@home resources via the Department’s website or could continue to access the material available on

the Fernvale SS Connect edStudio for Prep and Year One students.

The transition back to school for Prep and Year One students has been supported by current Health Advice.

The Queensland Chief Health Officer has provided advice and been involved in the decision making that has

enabled the State Government to make the decision to return back to school in a staged manner.

As per my email to all the parents and carers of which you have already received, I would like to re-iterate

with all parents and carers that specific health and safety precautions will be taken most seriously and enacted.

A summary of these again are:

*staff and adults avoid sharing small office spaces

*restricting adult to adult contact on the school grounds including parents and staff and other adults

*allocating “Drop off” and “Pick up” points across the school for all parents and students

*adhering to physical distancing of at least 1.5m for all adults and staff

*use of hygiene products and continue to practise good hand washing and cough-sneeze hygiene

*unwell students and staff must remain at home or return home

*opening of windows to promote air flow where possible

*increased school cleaning for classrooms and all other rooms and “high touch point” surfaces including that

of playground equipment

From the Principal

May I please ask for your support particularly with regards to the “Drop off” and “Pick up” interim

measures that are required to be enacted. A summary of these again are:

Drop Off

* Access to the school will be restricted through certain gates.

*Students should not arrive before 8:30am

*All Prep and Year One students are to be dropped off at the designated ‘Drop Off’ area at the front of the

school through the main ‘Prep Gates’

*All students including Prep and Year One will be met at the gate by staff members and escorted directly

to their classrooms from 8:30am

*All students including Prep and Year One students arriving before 8:30am (for example on school bus

services) will be directed to a special area

*Parents and Carers are not permitted to enter classrooms or congregate on the school site

*Specific ‘Drop Off’ areas will be set up at three entry points of the school being: - Sports Complex entry

- Prep main gate entry - Forest Hill-Fernvale Rd entry

*Any parents or adults wishing to go to the Administration block must enter through the main gates in

front of the pedestrian crossing only and proceed directly to the office only

These designated “Stop, Drop and Go” entry points will be for all students of our school. These new

procedures (for the next two weeks) are primarily due to follow the Health Advice and strict expectations

placed on schools to maintain health and wellbeing for all community members.

I would ask for your support in helping us to deliver these Government and Health Advice restrictions.

Reduced risks of Adult to Adult transmissions will ultimately see a further relaxation of restrictions and a

life back to near normal.

Pick up

In the afternoon there will also be some minor changes to the collection processes of all children at

school.

*All Parents and Carers are asked to wait using social distancing at one of the three entry/exit points for

the collection of your child.

*Prep and Year One classes will be brought to the allocated ‘Pick up’ points in their class groups from

2:45pm.

*Prep classes will be collected from the orange bunting area inside the large double gates in the corner of

the Prep/Year One play area.

*Year One classes will be brought down to an area marked out near the front main gate area.

Children of these classes will be sent to you and parents are requested to wait using social distancing from

the marked out special areas. Once you have collected your child we ask that you leave the school

grounds immediately.

At each entry and exit point and also outside the school grounds, ample signage will help parents and

carers to identify the “Stop, Drop and Go” points. Friendly staff will also be at these points to assist and

escort students to their rooms each morning.

Parents of any essential workers not in Year One or Prep should discuss with your child where they are to

meet you at a specific entry/exit collection point each day. Parents must wait at the collection point for

students to come to them.

I fully understand that these changes may be quite different for many families but we must ensure that we

follow the restrictions that have been placed on schools to ensure that any adult to adult contact is

minimised and hopefully with a falling of COVID-19 cases across the State all restrictions can be fully

released and schools and communities can move to a “new” normal.

From the Principal

I cannot speak highly enough of the wonderful and supportive feedback and messages of support that

have come from many families through this significant challenge in all our lives. Thank you so much

from the bottom of my heart to each and all of you. I pay particular praise to every family that has taken

on the challenging role of trying to home school children, use ICT in ways that you may never have had

to experience before all whilst many are trying to juggle your own work from home commitments, loss of

jobs in many cases and other challenging factors. You have all simply done a fantastic job.

Students at Home not able to do Remote Learning

The Department still requires schools to undertake same day absence notification for students eligible to

be at school but not in attendance.

Students in Prep and Year One that are not at school and where the family has not informed us that the

students are not attending will continue to receive an SMS determining the reason for absence from

school.

Students in Year 2 to 6 that are at home and in the care of the parent are expected to undertake Remote

Learning at home until all students return on May 25 (to be determined by a Government decision 15

May). Students not able to undertake any learning from home on a particular day due to sickness or

medical appointment etc should inform the office or student absent line that their child is not able to

undertake learning from home on that day.

Youth Worker

Through all the challenging work and planning involved with the Covid -19 situation, Ms Wells and I

have continued to undertake Youth Worker interviews. The successful applicant is Ms Chakara Tobin-

Lologa. Ms Tobin-Lologa commenced her appointment in our school today. We welcome Ms Tobin-

Lologa to our school and trust that she will develop some wonderful relationships to support our students

and families as we move forward. Please welcome Ms Tobin-Lologa.

Kind Regards

David

Telephone Numbers Student Absences: 5427 1360

The student absence line is available if you wish to leave a message that your child will be

away. Please include reason why and what class your child is in without waiting for your

call to be answered which may be more convenient to you.

From the Deputy Principal

What an exciting week ahead!

We are really looking forward to welcoming back our Prep and Year 1 children this week! Our teachers

have been busy preparing for your return. As mentioned in the Prep and Year 1 Newsletters our focus is

the health and wellbeing. We want our children to feel safe and happy to be back at school and practise

the strategies that keep us feeling and living this way.

If you are learning from home and are looking for something new at home - virtual tours can be super

fun!

Atlanta Zoo Panda Cam There’s nothing more cheerful than a couple of pandas noshing on bamboo or soaking up some sun in

real-time. Below the livestream, guests can learn more about giant pandas and even see what it’s like to

be a keeper for a day.

The Louvre You can soak up some culture while wearing your pyjamas and take an online tour of several exhibits at

this iconic Paris museum. The tour even takes you to the Louvre’s basement, where you can explore the

ancient remains of the Louvre’s original moat. Be sure to check out the Egyptian Antiquities virtual tour

and get up close and personal with the Great Sphinx of Tanis.

Boston Children’s Museum Powered by Google Maps, this virtual field trip is pretty close to the real deal. Virtual visitors can “step”

through the museum’s three levels and even walk through the queue, but you won’t find any lines here.

They have also provided resources to play and learn at home while you can’t venture out to the museum.

The British Museum This engaging and interactive tour is super cool. Check out hundreds of artifacts that can be searched by

era, category or region of the world. Round clay tablets from schoolchildren in ancient Mesopotamia, a

crocodile-skin suit of armor from ancient Egypt or even the Rosetta Stone are just a few of the treasures

you can check out from home.

Great Wall of China Trek across 3,000 miles of the Great Wall of China without even having to stop to catch your breath with

this virtual tour. You can explore some of the more famous sections of the wall, such as Badaling and

Jiankou in Beijing, but you don’t have to push past huge tourist groups for the best views!

Easter Island Virtually venture to Easter Island, one of the most remote islands in the world and check out the moai —

the mysterious giant statues that the island is known for. It’s easy to get lost in researching all about the

approximately 900 moai and 300 ahu (or the ceremonial platforms) that can be found along the island’s

coast.

Surface of Mars Explore the surface of Mars in the ultimate form of social distancing. While the team at NASA is

currently updating the site, you can still take a peek at 360-mode and get a feel for what the Curiosity

rover sees every day.

Have a lovely week!

Kylie

Our Year 6 students have been busy working from their remote learning plans. Below Jack, Sophie and

Charlotte share their ‘eggsperiment’ and news reports.

Jack

Sophie

Charlotte

Zones of Regulation – Tools/Strategies

To support the implementation of the Zones of Regulation program across our school, each week in our

newsletter we will share information and/or tools & strategies that we are teaching our children. This

week our focus mindfulness.

Mindfulness develops the whole brain and helps children to understand their emotions and feelings,

reducing their risk of mental health issues such as anxiety and depression. Practicing Mindfulness helps

children to notice the positives, and develop a sense of appreciation, gratitude and contentment.

1. Blowing bubbles. Have your kids focus on taking in

a deep, slow breath, and exhaling steadily to fill the

bubble. Encourage them to pay close attention to the

bubbles as they form, detach, and pop or float away.

2. Pinwheels. Use the same tactics from blowing

bubbles to encourage mindful attention on the pinwheels.

3. Playing with balloons. Tell your kids that the aim of

this game is to keep the balloon off the ground, but have

them move slowly and gently. You can tell them to

pretend the balloon is very fragile if that helps.

4. Texture bag. Place several small, interestingly

shaped or textured objects in a bag. Have each child

reach in and touch an object, one at a time, and describe

what they are touching. Make sure they don’t take the

object out of the bag, forcing them to use only their sense

of touch to explore the object.

5. Blindfolded taste tests. Use a blindfold for each child

and have them experience eating a small food, like a

raisin or a cranberry, as if it was their first time eating it.

Our Guidance Officer Leeanne Harlow shares this week some strategies for remote learning.

Overcoming Difficulties with Procrastination, Motivation and Work Avoidance

The home environment tends to have numerous distractions that can make it difficult to get work and study tasks

done. Here are some strategies to help your family be productive at home:

Create a work/school-like environment

o Remove unnecessary distractions and clutter. e.g. TV, needy pets.

o Make sure that all of the necessary materials are available, so that leaving the workspace is

minimised.

Structure the order of tasks to suit your or your child’s needs/preferences. Some like to order the work from

the hardest or least interesting to the most interesting/enjoyable, some may need to switch regularly from

one or two non-preferred activities to a preferred activity, to ensure there are frequent rewards. You may

like to give your child 2 options of how to complete a task, to give him/her a sense of control. You just

need to ensure that both choices are acceptable to you and that not doing anything is off the table as an

option.

Make sure that what you need to do to complete a particular task is clear and if it is not, be proactive in

seeking out the needed information from a teacher/colleague or resource before you dive in. Uncertainty

about what to do, can lead to negative feelings about completing it, which makes procrastination or task

avoidance a more attractive option.

Positive reinforcement: Ideally, internal rewards (e.g. sense of pride) for a job well done, would be enough

to motivate us to complete a task. However, just like adults work to get money, children may also require

some “currency” to work effectively, particularly when they find a task difficult. Try relationship-based

rewards first e.g. praise (specific and focused on effort not ability), positive body language (e.g. thumbs up)

and shared activities, to help build the internal reward system and strengthen relationships. If your child

needs a more visible system, common examples are stickers, stamps, ticking off a list, or earning time on a

(solo) preferred activity. Try to avoid the promise to purchase something if possible, as this can end up

being quite expensive and actually demotivate in the long term. If this is the only thing that works, make

sure that your child needs to put in significant effort to get the item. For example, you could print a picture

of what they want, cut it up into pieces and give them a piece of the “puzzle” each day if/when their set

tasks are complete. They would then be able to purchase their reward after all the pieces are collected.

A note on praise: Teachers have studied praise in depth, and it is quite an art form. Here are some links to

give you a brief overview of how to use it to motivate effectively and build a growth mindset:

o https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/for-educators/classroom-management/the-power-

of-effective-praise-a-guide-for-teachers

o https://www.mindsetworks.com/parents/growth-mindset-parenting

o http://www.araluenps.vic.edu.au/PDFs/handbooks/growth_mindset.pdf

o https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/video/series/parenting_videos (Lots of good parenting videos,

including on praise, growth mindset)

Negotiate and set a realistic timetable and expectations (both of you may be productive in a different way

and at different times when you work from home). Remember that younger children need shorter work

sessions and more frequent breaks than older children, due to a shorter attention span. One rule of thumb is

3-5 minutes per year of a child’s age e.g. a child of 5 years might be able to concentrate for 15 minutes (5

years x 3 minutes). Check with your child’s teacher if you are not sure what is realistic.

Stay connected to workplace/school, to help to hold you both accountable for completing work, as well as

providing much needed human connection.

For those of us who tend to need peer support/pressure to get things done, a helpful strategy can be to make

your goals and deadlines visible to others, particularly those who we want to impress e.g. our boss. This

can be done via conversation, or via technology e.g. email, shared OneNote page. A follow up with the

person/people, once the deadline has been reached can increase the power of this technique, as well as give

you the opportunity to get feedback and set new goals.

Some people find work “sprints” to be effective to increase productivity and efficiency. To do this, you

and/or your child identify a concrete goal to achieve and challenge yourself to achieve this goal in a set

amount of time e.g. 20 minutes. Make sure that it is a SMART goal. i.e. Specific, measurable, achievable,

realistic, time-bound. A timer is then used to keep you on track and focused on goal achievement. The idea

of work sprints can also be used to achieve things not school/work related and/or to create family

challenges e.g. everyone tidies up their room in 15 minutes.

Place barriers between you and your distractors to make it harder to engage in a preferred activity e.g. put

the game console in a cupboard, unplug the TV at the wall.

Set a timer if engaging in a preferred activity during a work/study break, to ensure that you don’t spend

more time than planned. Devices, such as iPads also have screen time settings, to make it easier to limit a

child’s use.

As interruptions to work/study are inevitable, regardless of where you are working, you may find if helpful

to have some if-then plans, to help manage interruptions (or procrastination triggers) efficiently. For

example, if you are called by a friend/relative during a key work task, you may plan to ask if you can call

them at a time later in the day.

Finding and increasing the meaning in a task can help to motivate you to complete it. If working with your

children, point out the importance of a task in real life to help make it more relevant and important to them.

For example, learning about and following a healthy eating plan can help you to live longer and prevent

many lifestyle diseases that will affect your quality of life.

If you must procrastinate or avoid a task temporarily, try engaging in “good procrastination,” which is a

task that is more important than the one you are avoiding. For example, you may choose to spend 20

minutes writing ideas for the book you really want to write, or start using that meditation app that you

downloaded months ago, but haven’t opened.