For the Whole School: Term 2 Week 8

Term 2 School Social

It’s time!! The school social will be on Friday, 26 June from 6pm. Clear your calendars, ready your cups and join us for some hot chocolate/mulled wine and toast a marshmallow or two. For the winter social, we’re bringing a campsite to school as a chance to relax and enjoy our beautiful community all together. We will provide hot chocolate, mulled wine and marshmallows, and we ask each family to bring cups/mugs
and a plate of finger food to share. Details of what to bring will be shared in next week’s newsletter.

We are looking for parent volunteers to help with the making of the mulled wine and hot chocolate, fire pit attendants (AKA marshmallow dispensers), and people to help set up and pack away. Without helpers, our socials simply cannot happen. Please volunteer via the parent portal, talk to Olivia or Linzi in the office, or email oliviam@currambena.nsw.edu.au or maintenance@currambena.nsw.edu

Currambena School Council Meeting

The next meeting will be on Monday, 15 June. The public meeting will start at 6.30pm and everyone is welcome, and encouraged to attend.

Children’s Voices for Reconciliation at The Canopy – Thursday, 25 June at 10:30

Our rehearsal on Friday afternoon was great and everyone is looking forward to the event itself. Our item is likely to be early in the program so make sure you are there by 10:30 if you want to catch our performance. All performers, singers and guitarists should wear black, red and yellow clothing for this event please.

When children have conflict with other children…

We have heard the term “bullying” used recently and thought it might be useful to revisit how we deal with conflict between children here at Currambena.

Bullying is an ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that intends to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power, or perceived power, over one or more persons who feel unable to stop it from happening. Extract from Australian Government definition, 2021.

Bullying in any form is absolutely not OK. Currambena’s approach is explained in detail in our Behaviour Management Guidelines. Briefly, whenever there is conflict or unkindness between children where one child is left feeling distressed and the issue unresolved, we encourage that child to speak to a teacher straight away. This enables the teacher to assist immediately if an incident occurs and then monitor the situation for any future developments. Our teachers complete training in conflict resolution and can mediate for children in conflict situations and also monitor the frequency and severity of ongoing issues so that more strategies can be put in place if the behaviour continues.

When we catch conflicts early, it creates a wonderful opportunity for children to practise two key skills in conflict resolution, empathy for others and assertiveness in speaking up for themselves. If we do catch conflicts early, we can stop unkind behaviour developing into bullying.

For further information, this website has some excellent resources for parents and children as well as for educators. https://www.bullyingnoway.gov.au/

Volunteer Opportunities (all count as maintenance hours)

Term 2 Social (26 June): Volunteers needed to organise mulled wine and hot chocolate, act as firepit safety attendants and to set up and pack away. If you can help, please contact Linzi/Olivia or add your name on the parent portal.

Playgroup: Every Wednesday on the basketball court (or inside St Elmo’s on rainy days) we welcome parents and their young children to Playgroup. Playgroup hours are 9.30 -11 and we would love a roster of volunteers to help set up and pack away (starting at 9am and ending at 11am). Please contact Olivia/Linzi, or add your name on the parent portal if you can help from week to week, or even as a once off each term.

The Scholastic Book Club Orders are due 15 June

Thank you to the parents who have placed their order on this Issue of Book Club! There is still time to order if you haven’t already. Some of the most popular titles we’ve noticed in this issue include a book on Axolotls and a whole set of Ninja Kid books by Ahn Do.

Next week…
15 June, 6:30pm: School Council Meeting
15 June: Scholastic Book Club order closing date for this issue.
26 June, 6-8pm: Term 2 School Social – HELP NEEDED!

Maintenance update

A big thank you to all the families who attended the last maintenance day. We achieved a lot, landscaping, cleaning, organisation of storage and painting works. Even the blue umbrella got a fresh coat of paint!!

Also, thank you to those of you who have taken on regular tasks throughout this term. It has made a big difference.

The regular tasks will be updated on the maintenance spreadsheet and we will look to also incorporate small projects that parents can take on next term. More to come on this.