Principal: Mr Stephen Crossley Ph. 55232218 Fax. 55217839

PO Box 317 Portland Vic 3305 portland.bay.sch@edumail.vic.gov.au www.portlandbayschool.vic.edu.au

School Council President: Deb Robinson 0428 995 987

Date: Thursday 26th May 2016 Issue 16

COMING EVENTS

TERM 2 2016 Friday 27th May

Next Week Monday 30th May

Tuesday 31st May Group 2 depart to

Blackwood Camp

Wednesday 1st June

Thursday 2nd June

Friday 3rd June Group 2 return from

Blackwood Camp

Important Dates to Remember Tuesday 7th June

School Photos Friday 10th June

Report writing day/No Students Monday 13th June

Queens Birthday Holiday Tuesday 14th June

Finance Meeting 1pm Tuesday 14th June

School Council Meeting 7pm Friday 24th June

Last Day Term 2 Monday 11th July

1st Day Term 3

Blackwood Camps 2016

The dates for Blackwood camps are

included below:

Term 3

8th to 12th August

Group 3 Blackwood School

Term 4

7th to 11th November

Group 5 Blackwood tents

From the Principal’s Desk

This morning we held our Cancer Council,

Australia's Biggest Morning Tea. Thank

you to everyone who had morning tea with

us. We have currently raised $131.00 and

final figure will be known next week.

Group 2 Camp

Group 2 are off to Blackwood Camp next week. We wish them well and we look

forward to hearing about their adventures. Hope the weather is kind.

New School

We are officially up to stage 3 of the new school project after all parties signed off

on the masterplan last Friday. Stage 3 involves developing the detailed, schematic

plans for the new school and we will be working with the architect to develop these

over the coming 6-8weeks.

There are copies of the masterplan in the school foyer and we will post the full

copy on the website over the next week.

Fundraiser

We are currently selling local potatoes as a school fundraiser for our Michael Ward

Memorial Award. $14.00 per 10kg bag. Please see the office or make a note in

your students chat book if you would like to purchase a bag or two.

Caught Being Good

Congratulations to Ryan, Emma M, Akaysha, Isaac, Ashley, Logan, Brady, Coster

and Maycie-Lee who were all caught being good at last weeks assembly. This was

over 2 weeks. Well done and keep up the great work.

Clubs

You may have heard our students talking about clubs? On Friday afternoon’s our

students are able to choose a “club” according to their interests. We currently do a

4 week rotation and choices are Gymnastics, Outer Space, Gardening, Music &

Singing or Knitting. We have found this a great interaction with the whole school.

Ask your child what they enjoy the most from their current club.

Enjoy your weekend………… Steve Crossley, Principal

Reminders

Report Writing Day Friday June 10th

There will be no school on this day. This coincides with the Queen’s birthday

long weekend and the public holiday on Monday June 13th.

School photos will be on Tuesday 7th June 9.30am.

School Council Casual Position - A casual position on our School Council is still

available until March 2018. If you are interested please let Steve or Wendy know.

Enrolment Week – June 6th to 10th

If you have a child starting Foundation/Prep in 2017 we encourage you to enrol in

the week starting Monday June 6th. Any parents wanting to have a look around our

school can make a time for a tour during this week.

All schools in the Portland and District area encourage students to go to their local

neighbourhood school.

The Portland Bay School is the local neighbourhood school for students with

intellectual disabilities throughout the Portland/ Heywood and Glenelg area.

Stars of the Week “Caught Being Good”

Well done and congratulations

to Ryan, Emma M, Akaysha, Isaac,

Ashley, Logan, Brady and Coster

for Caught being good over the

last 2 weeks.

This weeks raffle winners will be drawn at tomorrows

assembly, focus is “Learning to be Responsible” and our

weekly ongoing focus “Caught Being Good on the Bus”

Current focus for next weeks assembly is:

“Learning to be Safe”

At our whole school assembly,

we draw the

“Caught Being Good” raffle.

Throughout the week, staff give

students a raffle ticket for

displaying positive behaviour either

in their classroom, on the buses

(including to and from school) , on the

playground or in any school events

such as excursions, outings

or community access.

Some of our students have fish

art work on display in the main

street, opposite the post office.

The display is for

the Portland Tuna

Fishing Competition

which is currently

being conducted in

our town.

Lots of great

drawings, pop

down and have a

look. Brightens

up the street.

Our school community enjoyed a lovely morning tea today to help raise funds for

Cancer

Council - Australia’s

Biggest Morning Tea.

Its always nice to

sit and have a

coffee, socially chat

with our friends and

family. Thank you

everyone for

coming to our

morning tea. Our

gold coin donations,

mug and tea towel

sales will be

forwarded to

Cancer Council

Australia. We have

currently raised

$131.00 .

James “Lots of yummy

food”

Andrew “Lots of people,

good to see”

Brodie “ I like mum

being here”

Words on Wellbeing - Sue Cowie The Worry Monster

So what are you worrying about? Too much homework? Not enough time for yourself? My friends don’t like me

anymore? My footy team just lost? We are all guilty of these often ‘irrational thoughts’. In recent professional

development and yes, I confess to worrying about this time away from my own school, always a positive emerges.

One book I discovered is ‘From Worrier to Warrior’ by Dr Dan Peters that I am recommending as relevant to work

in Mindfulness. Dr Peters has created the ‘Worry Monster’; a way for kids to understand how their brains can

conquer fear and anxiety.

Our biological makeup contains a fear response and that is a good thing; it has kept us alive for centuries.

Remember I wrote previously about that fight/flight response; the amygdala being the emotional core of being

human and the fear centre of the brain. This is where our bodies sense danger so just imagine having that sense in

your head constantly turned on; always being aware of danger, sometimes irrational thoughts leading to being

anxious. Dr Peters says that ‘Worry Monster’ can turn off our thinking brain and thus our rational thought process.

We are strong and built to survive, no matter our individual differences or disabilities. The amygdala’s job is to

sense danger and trigger fight or flight and we can recognise this. When our body is focused on keeping us alive by

diverting blood into our arms and legs for fighting and running, we can feel dizzy, have headaches and become

anxious. All because of that blood leaving our brains so we can run and fight! So turn on that thinking brain and

downsize the amygdala; practise Mindfulness. It seems the more we understand our brains, the more we can talk

about worry and the weaker that ‘Worry Monster’ becomes.

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