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Dear Parents and Carers,

I was reading an online article recently from Cat Lamb who is a Consultant with the Institute of Positive Education at Geelong Grammar School which I found very helpful.  She was reflecting on the start of 2020 and how it has been unprecedented for all of us especially our young people.

She talks about how the current global pandemic of COVID-19 has shaken our foundations and how the resumption of ‘normal’ life remains unknown.

It has greatly impacted on all our lives and she looks to what we can we do to be supported during this difficult time.  Using four research-supported strategies, Cat shares her actions that may help support you and the young people in your life.

Notice what’s good

It’s easy for us to join the outrage and panic, but our children swim in that same water.  If we want them to be calm and optimistic, we need to role model this. 

Actions:

• Send a daily gratitude text, email or letter to someone
• Look for and celebrate the helpers in your world, such as the wonderful community groups
• Ask your children to identify a way in which they could help their family.  This might be as simple as maintaining good personal hygiene

Be present

Practise mindfulness, and schedule mindful breaks for your children.  Just ten minutes of quiet, present-centred reflection can be enough to significantly reduce stress levels.  Our body is always anchored in the present, which is why our mindfulness practices often start by focusing on our body or breathing.

Actions:

• Limit time spent scrolling through newsfeeds or consider a media-fast for 48 hours (don’t worry – you’ll hear about any significant events from others around you).
• Create routines for anyone spending long periods at home.  Structure and stability cannot be underestimated in their capacity to support mental health.

Acknowledge negative emotions

Feeling scared, uneasy, worried or anxious about the current state of the world is understandable.  If we try to ignore these emotions, studies  show we will only feel them more strongly.

Actions:

• Understand that the emotion may pass quickly or slowly, but it will eventually pass.
• Curiously examine the emotion.  What is creating this?
• Consider:  is there a way to ‘reframe’ the experience?  Is there anything positive which can be drawn from the current situation?

Get outside & be active

It would be easy for us all to bunker down and lock ourselves away indoors.  We know the importance of physical activity for both mental and physical health, and we also know how impactful being in nature is.

Actions:

• Spend some time outside each day; reading a book, drawing something in nature, walking a dog, planting vegetables, taking photos, decorating a balcony…
• Move your body and have some fun with your family

We can never under estimate how this is affecting our children and ourselves.  Please take time to look after each other and I know we can get through these challenging times.

Uniforms and Hats

Already we can feel the weather starting to change.  As the days are getting longer and we start to see the warmer spring days appearing, we start to spend a greater amount of time outdoors.

It is a timely reminder to our school community about the wearing of the school hat.  Our school uses the UV rating for the day to determine whether students need to wear a hat during Term 3.  The UV is available to families on our website and provides the current UV as well as the maximum for the day. Students will need to keep their washed hat in their bag as we work through term 3, until hats are compulsory in Term 4.  Student s can start to wear their formal summer uniform from the last 2 weeks of Term 3 as we change seasons. The last 2 weeks of Term 3 and first two weeks of Term 4 is a period where students can start to transition from winter uniform to summer.

I would also like to remind our R-3 Classes about the change to their PE uniform days.  We have now returned to the whole school wearing their PE uniform on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Can I also ask that you check all items of your child’s uniforms, making sure they are wearing the correct uniform.  If you are unsure please refer to the school website or contact the front office.  It is important that all students wear the correct uniform each day as it is an important part of who we are as a school community and something we wear with pride and satisfaction. Thank you for your support on these matters.

Staffing News

We welcome Mr Haydn Smith to our staff team this week.  Haydn is taking the R-3 classes for PE on Wednesdays for the remainder of this year.  Thank you to Mr Jeremy Cini, for his efforts over the last 5 weeks and supporting our PE program.  We wish him well in his new role at St Peter’s College .

This week we say farewell to Mr Frank Colagrossi as he starts his retirement and a new stage of his life.  Frank has been associated with St Joseph’s School Tranmere for the last 28 years, which is an incredible achievement.  He has seen many changes during this period at Tranmere and is a wonderful source of knowledge about our school and the wider community. He has been involved in many families’ lives over this time. I would like to thank him for his dedication, commitment and service to our school.  He has taught many senior students, preparing them for high school as well as organising many wonderful events, especially camps and sporting activities for the school.  He will be missed and we wish him well in the future.

Reminders

Pupil Free Day – Tomorrow 28 August 2020
Schools Sports Day – Friday 25 September 2020 – 9am -1pm
End of Term 3 – Friday 25 September 2020 at 1pm
Beginning of Term 4 – Monday 12 October 2020 8:45am

Kind regards

Adrian Grbin