Bullying, Resilience and Cyber Safety Forum

Below is a flyer advertising and providing registration details for a cost free forum to be conducted by Jonny Shannon. The topic of the forum is Bullying, Resilience and Cyber Safety, topics that are very relevant in today’s digital society. Jonny has worked in the field of young people for over 10 years, running over 2,200 presentations and speaking at more than 370 schools. The free forum at the Devonport Paranaple Centre will be held from 6 pm on Monday 3 June.  We also have a ThinkUknow Cybersafety session at Sheffield School on 6 June at 4 pm (futher details in a separate article).  Parents are encouraged to attend either of these.

With ‘Walk to School’ day occurring last week I thought it opportune to remind students accessing the school from the south of Main Street to utilise the pedestrian crossing. In the past I have had members of our community contact me concerned that students were not using the crossing on Main Street, but instead crossing at other points along the Main Street or on the intersection of Main Street and Henry Street itself.  Students crossing Henry Street, opposite the school main entrance without due care has also been observed. Parents please reinforce with your child/ren the importance of using the crossing, and for senior students it is particularly important that the appropriate use of the crossing is modelled to younger students who may be making their way to school from the Southern side of Main Street.  Thank you for your co-operation with this matter in ensuring the safety of students who walk, ride or scoot to and from home and school.

Biggest Morning Tea

Congratulations to Mrs Maddick, Mrs Brown and our catering students who worked together to conduct our ‘Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea’ here at the school today.  The catering class also supplied the Railton community morning tea with seven dozen muffins and biscuits last week. Our school community is amazing in supporting fundraisers such as this, it is encouraging to observe the social conscience and care for others our students demonstrate toward those within the wider community who are facing challenges in their lives.

Student Achievements

Recently Hollie Diprose and Makenzie Duraj represented the North West Coast at the State Primary Athletics championship, before competing the next day at the School Sport Australia Track and Field Challenge at St Leonards. Both girls competed extremely well with terrific success. Mackenzie placed 1st in her two events which will likely result in her achieving a place at the Australian Championships later in the year. Great effort Makenzie and Hollie.

Congratulations to the Year 9/10 students who represented Sheffield School at the annual North West Science and Engineering Challenge held on Monday at the Marist Regional College. The students finished 4^th overall, a terrific effort.

On the weekend we also had two Year 10 girls participate in MUNA (Model United Nations Assembly) at Deloraine. From all reports the girls did a terrific job and represented themselves and the school with distinction. Congratulations Bethany and Alannah!

Ron Daly
Principal

Art club (Wednesday afternoon) has settled into term 2 with some fantastic work being produced by the students.

Our youngest member Abigail McCallum (Year 3), has finished her first piece of work.

Abigail designed her own Pokemon character, based on a Wombat.  She followed a design process to select: colours, patterns, and shape of her ‘new’ Pokemon/wombat, which she has then transferred into a fantastic 3D Papier Mache model.

Well done Abigail, the model is amazing!

Canteen Menu -Term 4

- Updated fortnighly

Canteen_Price_List_Term_4_to_6_Nov

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Cancelling / crediting  lunches

Please note that once your child’s lunch has left the canteen, due to health regulations it cannot be returned and we cannot issue a refund.

If your child goes home sick you are more than welcome to come to the canteen to collect your child’s lunch order.

QKR

If you need to cancel a lunch order in QKR – this needs to be done before 10.00 am on the day of delivery (you can cancel orders up to two weeks in advance), or you can contact the school office before 11.30 am.  

You will then receive a credit (monies cannot be refunded) in QKR, that you can apply to future purchases. 

Cancelling an order in the QKR APP

Railton Campus

The canteen menu is available for students and staff at Railton campus on Mondays Only.  Items that cannot be ordered from the menu as they are unable to be transported:

- Milo
- Hot Chocolate
- Slushies

Orders need to be received at the Railton school office before 10.00 am on Monday morning.

QKR Orders (Both Campuses)

To use the full menu you need to order before 10.00 am on the day of delivery.
Lunches can be ordered (and paid) for up two weeks in advance.

QKR Late Orders - Sheffield Campus only (10.00 am - 12.00 noon)

We now have a limited menu for orders received between the hours above.
Please use the "Late Orders and Payments" option only.

For orders after 12.00 noon please contact the school on 6491 8222.

QKR Set UP 

Instructions on installing and setting up the app on your smartphone/device are below.

If you use QKR you can order (and pay) in advance for multiple students, multiple orders, and on multiple days.

QKR Setup Information

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HEALTH NURSE

Just keep breathing!  Breathing Exercises for Early Childhood

In the Early Childhood area some of the Year 7 students have been helping teach the younger children some breathing techniques each week.  These techniques are meant to help your children calm down and relax when faced with stressful or overwhelming situations. There is a physical reason why deep breathing is so important.

To help understand why deep breathing and calming coping skills are so important, let’s have a quick lesson on your Autonomic Nervous System. The Autonomic Nervous System controls the automatic systems in your body that you don’t think about - things like breathing, digestion and heart rate.

Flight, Fight or Freeze (Sympathetic Nervous System)

When you experience a stressful event your body automatically goes into what is known as “flight, fight or freeze” mode. Your heart rate increases, your stomach stops digestion and your breathing becomes more shallow.

Rest and Digest (Parasympathetic Nervous System)

When you are calm, your body is in what is known as “rest and digest” mode. Your breathing is normal, your muscles are relaxed and your heart rate is normal.

 The goal of calming exercises is to get yourself from “flight, fight or freeze” mode back to “rest and digest” mode. Deep breathing helps get more oxygen into your bloodstream, opening up your capillaries. It has a physical effect on your body to help you calm down and lower stress.

Over the next few weeks we will be exploring fun playful ways to work on deep breathing.

Media Smart

An online and confidential program for young people, designed to help both those with body image concerns and those showing signs of an eating disorder.

Media Smart

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LAUNCHING INTO LEARNING (LiL)

Monday 9.30am	Railton	Babies - Pre Kinder
Thursday 11am	Sheffield	Babies and Toddlers
Thursday 1pm	Sheffield	Pre-Kinder

1.  Please wash/sanitise hands on arrival

2.  Complete COVID-19 Visitor Screening Form

3.  Practice social distancing

Mrs van der Velde and Mrs Sullivan are excited to welcome back families for Term 4.

We have lots of fun things planned sometimes we are popping up off site.

Please keep an eye on our ‘Launching into Learning Sheffield School’ Facebook page to make sure you don’t miss any of the action.

For this issue of the newsletter we have attached a really handy Family First Aid sheet for you to print and keep and also a communication milestone document from Speech Pathology Australia,  to see how your little ones are tracking with their speech and language development.

Family_First_Aid

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Communication_milestones

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If you aren't connected with us yet, contact carly.sullivan@education.tas.gov.au or call 641 8222

LEARNING IN FAMILIES TOGETHER (LiFT)

What’s On?

Term 4 is a busy one but we promise to squeeze in at least one more family challenge. Maybe some maths? Maybe some lollies? Maybe both?

Whether we like it or not, maths is everywhere and is part of everyday life. It is necessary to have an understanding of maths concepts to help with most tasks we undertake as humans. Whether your child is 5 or 15, now is a great time to be talking about and practising maths whenever you can, to boost their maths competency.

Please reach out to your child’s teacher or liftsheffield@gmail.com if you would like help supporting your child in maths.

Seesaw Family App

Please ensure you have switched over to our Seesaw Family app. See or email your child’s teacher if you have misplaced your login code.

Anxiety in Children

2020 has been a difficult one for everyone. Although children are very resilient, we can see a change in them during and after a big event, such as a pandemic! Follow this link from GoZen for some really useful ways to help calm and work through your child’s anxious times.

https://gozen.com/72phrases/

Kinder- Prep Story Sacks

It has been great seeing Story Sacks rolled out for our Kinder/Prep students at Railton and Sheffield. Using these Story Sacks in your home benefits your child’s oral language considerably, fosters their love of books and reading; and in turn, improves their literacy outcomes throughout their schooling. Check out the link to get a sneak peek into Story Sacks…

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/19vAzucgrQrwnVIuv_ysK7BY3ONzqE62by2zuN1Jdez0/edit?usp=sharing

Board Game Library   

Sheffield: Monday between 8:30-9am in the EC resource room.

Railton: See Kim in the office on a Tuesday to borrow your game.

 

Supporting Your Child’s Reading Journey

We have put together some information to help support your child with their reading. Watch to the end to claim your reading pack!

https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/16j1Rfl6BhHuRLGBiqVXG70WxTTQFRHPNRh-xIZ7gZ_0/edit?usp=sharing 

Learning Support

Did you know we have learning packs made up for children to borrow to help consolidate skills they are working on in class?  

These skills may include: 
fine motor activities, letter formation, telling the time, times tables, handwriting, 12 piece puzzles, addition and subtraction, shoelace tying, scissor skills, number formation, identifying sounds when reading and problem solving with numbers. If you would like to borrow a take home pack to support your child’s learning, please get in touch and we will be happy to send some materials home with your child.

For further information, please contact Carly Sullivan 64918222 or email liftsheffield@gmail.com

“At the end of the day, the most overwhelming key to a child's success is the positive involvement of parents."

- Jane D. Hull

On Friday 7 June Sheffield School is holding a cross country event for Years 7-10.  The event will be held at the school farm, located at the southern end of High Street.  Students will change into their running clothing in the school gym and then walk in class groups to the farm to participate.

The event will be run over 4.1km, and involves running through bush, paddocks, muddy laneways and a small shallow creek crossing.

Students will need a full change of clothing, including underwear, socks and towel as we envisage the course will leave all participants quite muddy. 

A wash off hose and the opportunity to use the school showers is available to all participants.

For parents wishing to view their children participating, we ask that they park their cars in the entrance laneway to the school farm but no further south than the school farm house.  Parents are then able to walk to the finish line or view the whole course from on top of the hill.

Cyber Safety Information- What parents / carers NEED to know

Sheffield School will be hosting a ThinkUKnow presentation  Thursday 6 June @ 4 pm (Sheffield Campus, Music room)  and all parents and carers are encouraged to attend.

ThinkUKnow Australia is a cyber safety education program that educates parents and carers of how people are using technology, the challenges they may face online, and how to help them overcome these in a safe and ethical way.

ThinkUKnow Australia is a partnership between the Australian Federal Police, Microsoft Australia, Datacom and the Commonwealth Bank. The program is delivered in collaboration with policing partners New South Wales Police Force, Northern Territory Police, Queensland Police, South Australia Police, Tasmania Police, Western Australia Police, as well as Neighbourhood Watch Australasia.

The presentation will be delivered by local law enforcement. The presentation covers issues relating to children and young peoples’ privacy and security online, their relationships with other users and their online reputation. It provides insight into the devices young people are using, as well as the popular websites, apps and social networking sites they’re accessing.

This is a fantastic opportunity for you to learn more about young people and the online environment, and how you can help them to be safe and responsible users of technology.

For more information, you can visit www.thinkuknow.org.au or contact Mrs Davies on the school number 64918 222.

Please note that the presentation is not suitable for children due to the nature of the topics discussed.

All Parent/Carers are strongly encouraged to attend to gain valuable information to keep your child/children safe and provide a knowledge of essential conversations to have with your child/children. 

Following the Parent/Carer session (6 June at 4 pm) all students (Years 3-12) will participate in the following student sessions on 7 June at school.

ThinkUKnow for students

Years 3 – 4 (ages 8 – 9)

Students will learn about how the internet is used, why unidentifiable usernames and passwords are essential to maintaining privacy and security and why adult supervision and permission is important before signing up to apps and websites. There will be conversations around online gaming, cyberbullying, respectful language and talking to people online. Along with this, the session will also cover safe searching and what help is available.

Years 5 – 6 (ages 10 – 11)

Students in this age group will have a session building on concepts of technology and online safety. Discussions will be held around usernames, passwords and privacy settings when using websites and apps. Further to this, students will learn about true and false information, safe searching and staying safe while using instant messaging. The presenter will also speak about sharing images or videos and what information can be gathered from these. Online gaming, staying safe when playing online games, cyberbullying and what help is available to students to support them staying safe online will also be discussed.

Years 7 – 8 (ages 12 – 13)

Students in this educational session will have discussions around the benefits of technology, how to keep themselves safe online and the importance of being respectful, along with questioning whether the information found online is reliable. There will be conversations around building skills to deal with challenges online, not giving into peer pressure, making good decisions online and learning from mistakes.

This session will establish how to protect personal information, giving consideration to what photos, videos and content is being shared online along with how social media can impact their futures.  Students will learn about cyberbullying and what they can do to minimise bullying, as well as maintaining respectful relationships, sending images and about image-based abuse. The presenter will also talk about meeting people online and staying safe, as well as how to get help and what support services are available.

Years 9 – 12 (ages 14 – 17)

The session will look at the protection of personal information, the importance of password strength, what information is being released when signing up to apps, games and social media. The session will include an in depth look at sharing information, with a concentration on sharing videos, photos and content online and how these components can impact on future employment.

There will be discussions around cyberbullying, the effects of this and legislation. As well as conversations about respectful relationships, meeting people online, sharing images and image-based abuse, this session also covers skills to build resilience and what support services are available to help students.

More about our program

The ThinkUknow program for students is designed to educate and promote cyber safety. The adult and youth presentations have been designed to align to ensure adults receive complementary information to assist them in communicating with children and young people about the technology they use. 

 

The 2019/20 Entertainment Book is now available, you can purchase either a book or a digital copy - you can use the same digital membership on a number of devices so you can share it.

The cost is still $65 with a portion being fundraiser monies for the school.

The attached flyer provides more information.

Our new incentive program in the 3-6 sector of the school is up and running! 

Students can receive a Golden Ticket for displaying our focus value: Respect for Learning - over the course of the term. 

Our first 18 recipients will enjoy a delicious morning tea with the Principal on Friday 31 May. 

Golden Tickets are presented at our weekly Line Up Assembly on Tuesday afternoons.

Week 1 winners

Week 2 winners

Last year’s Year 9 MDT students were challenged to create something out of wooden pallets and they came up with this incredible mud pie kitchen sink for the children in Kindergarten. The children have put it to use this year and are thoroughly enjoying making all sorts of wonderful, messy creations. During play the children are mixing, pouring, stirring, chatting, cooperating and generally having an amazing play experience. We are so grateful for this new addition to our playground. Thank you Mr Wilden and students.

The children in Kindergarten have also been fortunate enough to have some wonderful picnic tables made by Mr Ashbys’ Year 11 students. These tables are the perfect size for little people and allow the children to sit their food and drinks in front of them.  We are now having less spills and messes. The children enjoy sitting across from each other and chatting during eating times. Thank you to the clever students who were able to consult with Miss Lockwood and adjust their designs according to the children’s needs.

Some of the children in Kindergarten entered the Mother’s Day colouring competing at Turnbull’s Pharmacy. Angel was the lucky winner of this competition and De-Arne Wilby kindly delivered it to Angel. Angel was very surprised and couldn’t wait to give it to her amazing Nan.

Check out this link:

https://developingchild.harvard.edu/resources/how-to-5-steps-for-brain-building-serve-and-return/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=may_2019&fbclid=IwAR0GhpPwjqK7Y1MDvW4FbvAcm9JX9GGbn5PDx3gwIEK4qfeM8rZSG3hCiGE

 

On 18-19 May, Bethany Cobbin and Alannah East participated in the Model United Nations Assembly (MUNA)!  

MUNA was a two day event held in Deloraine, where teams of two students from schools around the state represented a different country and debated on current world topics. Stepping into the shoes of Somalia, the girls went in national dress, debating political, cultural and traditional views. They contributed to resolutions debating on climate change, gender equality, clean energy and technological advancements.

Mrs Midson was happy to witness the girls passionately oppose a motion where countries wanted to prioritise the protection of online personal data.  They refuted other countries claims by drawing attention to a bigger issue in Somalia – that simply owning a mobile phone has resulted in death.  This is an issue the girls wanted addressed as a global priority before the comparatively mediocre worries about privacy.

After a long two days staying in Deloraine debating and adding a loud colourful disco in the mix, the girls reflected on their experience:

“It wasn’t what we’d expected, the two days were filled with amazing catered food, meeting new people, and learning some exciting and odd facts like India’s investment in space stations and Syria’s views on Sorcery. We now have some great new games and inside jokes.  Thank you, Rotary Club of Deloraine and Rotary Club of Devonport South East for billeting and sponsoring us in the 2019 Model United Nations Assembly.”

Well done to the girls for taking on this exciting learning opportunity and showing off what Sheffield students are made of!

Concert Band rehearsals started Monday 20 May with a very enthusiastic group of students.

They performed above and beyond my expectations for a first rehearsal.

Well done to all.

Mrs Crowther

Put the date/s in your diary now!

Parent-teachers (K-6) and Learning Conversations (7-10; student-parent-teacher) will be held on just ONE, BIG night in 2019!

Parents of Sheffield based, Kindergarten children will also be invited to attend parent-teacher on Monday 1 July, between 9 am and 3 pm.

Your child’s report will no longer have the ‘invited’ or ‘required’ parent teacher on the reports…as quite simply… we’d like to see you all!

Look out for notes coming home soon which will advise when the booking system is open and able to take bookings.

Last Thursday, Bethany Cobbin (Year 10) travelled to Burnie to participate in the Rostrum Voice of Youth competition.

She successfully spoke an eight minute speech persuading the audience and panel of judges on the topic of ‘Keep that in Mind’.

The audience was heartbroken by the tragedy of innocent little penguins and how the danger of pollution could expose them to their extinction.

She then created a three minute additional speech on ‘the path to success’.

It was a tight competition, and although there could only be one winner able to represent Tasmania, Bethany came out equal second.

Well done, Bethany!

Sleep in Adolescents

What to expect

Adolescents are notorious for not getting enough sleep. The average amount of sleep that teenagers get is between 7 and 7 ¼ hours. However, they need between 9 and 9 ½ hours (studies show that most teenagers need exactly 9 ¼ hours of sleep). Teenagers do not get enough sleep for a number of reasons:

* Shift in sleep schedule. After puberty, there is a biological shift in an adolescent’s internal clock of about 2 hours, meaning that a teenager who used to fall asleep at 9:00 PM will now not be able to fall asleep until 11:00PM. It also means waking 2 hours later in the morning.

* Early high school start times. In most school districts, the move to high school is accompanied by an earlier school start time.

* Social and school obligations. Homework, sports, after-school activities (often occurring during the evening), and socializing lead to late bedtimes.

As a result, most adolescents are very sleep deprived. Sleep deprivation will impact on many aspects of your teenager’s functioning:

* Mood. Sleep deprivation will cause your teenager to be moody, irritable, and cranky. In addition, she will have a difficult time regulating her mood, such as by getting frustrated or upset more easily.

* Behaviour. Teenagers who are sleep deprived are also more likely to engage in risk-taking behaviours, such as drinking, driving fast, and engaging in other dangerous activities.

* Cognitive ability. Inadequate sleep will result in problems with attention, memory, decision making, reaction time, and creativity, all of which are important in school.

How to help your teenager get enough sleep

On Saturday 11 May two Sheffield School students, Hollie Diprose and Mackenzie Duraj, travelled to St Leonards Athletics Centre in Launceston to compete in the School Sport Australia Track and Field Challenge. Both girls were part of the North West Primary School Sports Association (NWPSSA) track and field team the day before so were facing their second day of competition. In the 800m 11yr old girls event Hollie ran her personal best time of 2 minutes 55.35 seconds (over 10 seconds faster than her previous best time) and finished in 4^th place. Mackenzie competed in 2 events - 11yr old girls 100m and 11yr old girls 200m. In the 100m she ran superbly and recorded the fastest time of the day 14.33 seconds (over half a second faster than her previous best time). Later in the day she competed in the 200m and once again dominated by running the fastest time of the day 29.86 seconds (a personal best time). As a result of her performances on the day Mackenzie will likely be selected to represent Tasmania in the Australian Championships in September this year, to be held in Darwin.

Fantastic effort girls!