Wellbeing Blog 15 December 2020

The Last Blog of 2020

What a year it has been! While it is easy to focus on some of the stressful, frightening events of the past year, I am choosing to focus on the positives that have come out of 2020:

I have been amazed by the resilience and resourcefulness of our staff, families and students this year.  During remote learning, our teachers and support staff kept the school going, providing innovative, challenging and engaging work for our students and support for our families.  Our families juggled jobs, supermarket shortages, multiple children needing attention, technical issues, and their own stresses and I am completely in awe of you all.  Our students have shown maturity, resilience and an ability to cope under pressure, which will stand them in good stead for the future.

Now it is time for a well-earned break!  I am so excited to be able to see family and friends over the holidays.

Internet Usage

You should have received an email from Nicky Walker, our Principal, outlining Social Media and Video Games.  We have been seeing an increase in issues related to these at school since we returned to onsite learning, and with school holidays about to begin, it is a timely reminder for parents/carers to know what their children are doing online.

Kim Milton, our Term 4 Wellbeing Teacher, brought this website to my attention:

Net Aware https://www.net-aware.org.uk/networks/fortnite-battle-royale/

This is a UK site that rates games so parents/carers can make informed decisions.  This image below is the rating for Fortnite: Battle Royale:

Knowledge is really important for parents/carers.  Below are outlines of 15 Apps that your children may come across – it might be useful for you to keep up to date with what is out there!

Support over the Holidays

Anglicare have a number of support services for families that are experiencing hardship, isolation of financial difficulty:

We can facilitate access to a range of services to support you both within Anglicare Victoria and from other community organisations.

Provide information and referral to material aid assistance including food vouchers or food parcels, gift cards, food, clothing, furniture and household goods, budgeting assistance, bill payment assistance, transport tickets, fuel vouchers, medical and pharmaceuticals vouchers.

Contact the COMMUNITY SUPPORT TEAM on 1800 966 172 or email: community.support@anglicarevic.org.au

Contact FINANCIAL WELLNESS on 1800 966 172 or email financial.wellness@anglicarevic.org.au

Salvation Army and Uniting | Christmas Hampers and Gifts

Salvation Army and Uniting Christmas Food & Gift Appeal supports children, young people and families across Melbourne’s south-eastern suburbs with food hampers and gifts during a difficult time of the year for those who are struggling.

Contact UNITING on 03 8792 8999 or SALVATION ARMY on 13 SALVOS (13 72 58)

The Orange Door | Family Violence Support

The Orange Door is a free service for adults, children and young people who are experiencing or have experienced family violence and families who need extra support with the care of children.

Find a service near you by visiting the https://orangedoor.vic.gov.au/find-a-service-near-you

Anglicare Parentzone

At ParentZone, we offer all carers and parents a chance to develop and strengthen their parenting skills and create positive change in their family. By providing free parenting groups, workshops, resources, and training for parents and the professionals who work with them. Our skilled and experienced facilitators tailor the sessions to meet the interests of each group.

Contact Southern ParentZone on 03 9781 6729 or email parentzone.southern@anglicarevic.org.au

Five Tips for Young People Feeling Anxious

I found this website recently that I thought might be useful for you over the holiday:

Five Tips for Young People Feeling Anxious

We all feel anxious from time to time when facing situations that are uncertain, scary, or challenging. Anxiety is a very natural human emotion, designed to keep us safe from potential threats. Anxiety can often feel like a sense of uneasiness or worry. You might also have physical symptoms – like increased heart rate, rapid breathing, headaches, or stomach troubles – to name a few.  

Young people in particular go through many changes and new experiences, so feeling anxious is very common. And the COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it a new set of challenges, increasing the risk of anxiety for many.  

It can feel overwhelming, but there are things we can all do to keep it from taking over. 

Here are 5 steps to try:

1. Take a deep breath– Breathe in slowly through your nose and out through your mouth. Do this a few times till you feel calmer. Taking slow, intentional, belly breaths is one of the simplest and most effective things we can do to reduce anxiety, as it increases the supply of oxygen to our brains and helps to promote a sense of calm. Breathing too fast is common when experiencing anxiety, and it actually causes physical symptoms like tingling throughout the body which causes more anxiety. You could consider incorporating a daily breathing exercise into your routine, or try progressive muscle relaxation techniques (where you tense and relax specific muscle groups); this can help relax the body and distract your mind from worrying thoughts. 
2. Talk to a friend or someone you trust– tell them about how you are feeling and check in on how they are doing too. Talking to someone else can help us relieve some of the pressure we build up in our minds and also help to break down how to solve problems causing or contributing to your anxiety. Remember that you can be an important support to someone feeling anxious too – try reaching out to someone this week.
3. Go back to the basics– when basic needs like sleeping and eating well aren’t met, we can easily feel anxious and out of sorts. Look after your physical health this week – by focusing on getting good sleep, eating well, and doing some kind of physical activity – and see what a difference it can make.  People sometimes consume caffeine or self-medicate with substances like tobacco and alcohol to help ease strong feelings of anxiousness, but these will only make us feel more anxious in the long run. 
4. Incorporate calming activities in your daily routine– try to spend at least one hour doing an activity that makes you feel better, like reading a favourite book, drawing, or journaling. Try and limit the things that might be making you feel anxious, like constantly refreshing the news or your social media feed. Feeling unprepared and rushing can also induce a lot of anxiety and stress. If you know you have something important coming up, like a test at school or a deadline at work, try to plan ahead and give yourself time to prepare.  
5. Seek additional support if you are regularly experiencing anxiety symptoms that are interfering with your daily life. Think about if your anxiety is negatively impacting your quality of life, studies, work, relationships, and ability to take care of yourself, or is out of proportion with how you might normally respond in a stressful situation. When things feel too overwhelming to handle on your own, your school, health facility, or other community services can offer important support. Asking for help is your human right, and is a sign of strength – it shows self-awareness and courage to overcome something difficult. If you don’t know where to go, ask someone you trust or search online for support available in your country. 

Department of Education and Training Supports

I know you have been sent these links earlier, but I thought I would attach them again, just in case!

Wellbeing Support for Students

Information for Parents/Carers

School Community Liaison Officer – Ayuel Mading

Thank you message to all parents:

I am Ayuel, a School Community Liaison Officer that works with students in Cranbourne Carlisle Primary School -in particular African students. I have been in the school for the last 6 months and have spoken, seen and met nearly all parents in our school. I would like to say thank you all for being supportive to your children education. You are great parents and have done wonderful things by supporting your children’ studies during remote learning. It has been a difficult year, when all Victorians families had struggled a lot with all aspect of lives, but you emerged to be super heroes! Hopefully, such a bad year would never happen again in the near future.

As you all know, we haven’t done much in term of our school programs/activities that we intended to carry out this year. During 2021, there are many programs/activities that we would be doing. These will include cultural celebrations day and information sessions to be held in the school for parents. Such information sessions would include; technology support, developing English skills (reading &maths), how to support your child learning, developing connections with your local community (social skills) and meeting. All these programs are intended to enhance your ideas so that you would be at right pathways to support your child’s leaning. I would be sending out dates and time when we figure out the right time in eve of next year.

Thank you, Ayuel

School Community Liaison Officer

Baby News

An update:

Sarah Tappy welcomed her son, Jack, earlier in December.  Both are doing really well!

My granddaughter, Goldie, was also born earlier in December, and she is superb!!

And finally:

May the holiday period be everything you want and need this year.  Enjoy spending time with your family and friends and I look forward to seeing you all next year!

Kerry Bates (Assistant Principal)