Friday March 24th - Sunday 9th April

• Castlemaine State Festival

Thursday 30th March

• Castlemaine Junior Football Club clinic - 

Friday 31st March

• School photo day 

Thursday 6th April

• Last day of Term 1 - Students to be picked up at 2.30

Monday 24th April

• Curriculum day - no students at school

Tuesday 25th April

• Anzac Day Public Holiday

Wednesday 26th April

• First day of Term 2

Friday 28th April

• District Cross Country - information will be on XUNO soon

Thursday 4th May

• Star Wars dress up day - gold coin donation - Student iniative - raising money for a Gravitrax

Friday 5th May

• Division Cross Country - select students 

Friday 12th May

• Tabloid Sports - Years Prep-2 - information will be on XUNO

Tuesday 16th May - Wednesday 24th May 

• Somers Camp - select students

Monday 5th June

• Professional Practice Day - no students at school

HARMONY DAY AND DOWN SYNDROME DAY

 Yesterday (21^st March) was Harmony Day and World Down syndrome Day but with the school swimming program, we were unable to celebrate as a school in the way we would have liked to. Harmony Day was originally created in 1999 to celebrate unity and diversity in Australia. Celebrations now occur in other parts of the world. It promotes being better friends with your neighbours and empathy, or standing in the shoes of another. With its motto 'Everyone belongs', it aligns strongly with the values of our school.

Also on this date, the global Down syndrome community creates a single message advocating for the rights, inclusion, and well-being of people with Down syndrome. They call for people and organisations around the world to be With Us Not For Us with this year’s theme 'We Decide'. This is a focus on the right of those living with Down syndrome to participate. It's also a day to acknowledge and celebrate their lives and achievements. This day also helps to combat stereotypes and misconceptions and educate people about the condition.

We are going to celebrate both next Thursday 30^th March as a whole school, raising awareness while encouraging everyone to wear Orange for Harmony Day and to wear brightly coloured odd socks for Down Syndrome Day. This is because chromosomes look like socks. We are encouraging children to bring a gold coin donation that day which we will pass the money on to Down Syndrome Victoria.

2023 – WELCOME TO COUNTRY SCHOOL LEADERS CEREMONY AND PICNIC

We had a wonderful Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony with Uncle Rick and leader presentations with our mayor Rosie Annear.

WORKING BEE THANK YOU!

We really appreciate the help of the families who came to help on Sunday. The front of the school and art room garden had a mini make-over and the scratchy tree has a bit less scratch. Sincere thanks to Terry and Bron, Blair and Lisa, Jill and Tallace, Jane and Alana, Harry T and the children who came along to help.

PLEASE JOIN THE WINTERS FLAT SCHOOL COUNCIL – ONE VACANCY LEFT

If you would like to nominate yourself or know someone who is keen to be part of the governance process at Winters Flat PS, nominations are still open until this Friday 24^th March. Nomination forms attached to this Newsletter and available at the school office. Our first meeting of the new council will be next Tuesday 28^th March.

BIRTHDAYS

Freya - 10 in the third week of March

Frankie G – 12 in the third week of March

Ella – 9 in the fourth week of March

Felix – 7 in the last week of March

Hip Hip: Hooray

Hip Hip: Hooray

Hooray: Hip Hip

FREE RAPID ANTIGEN TESTS

Free rapid antigen tests are available from the office.

Testing is strongly recommended for students and staff who are symptomatic.

After doing the tests at home, if it is positive, you are advised to:

• let the school know
• keep your child at home for 7 days
• contact the Department of Health via the COVID-19 Positive Rapid Antigen Test Self-Reporting Form or call centre on 1800 675 398.

Suzanne Kinnersly
Principal.

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Winters Flat OSH Club is open!

Enrolments and bookings are open. We encourage all families to enrol even if they think they might not use the service. There might be times when you are stuck or the car breaks down and if you are enrolled your child could go into after school care. It costs nothing to enrol. Childcare is heavily rebated by the government so you may not have to pay as much as you think. Please see below for more information regarding rebates.

All families earning up to $351,248 a year are eligible to the Child Care Subsidy which covers up to 85% of the cost of care, with parents only charged the gap fee. Many families believe that you must be a healthcare card holder (or similar) to be eligible, but this is far from the case, with the majority of out of pocket costs covered by the CCS rebate.

Here is the link for eligibility to CCS:

https://www.education.gov.au/child-care-package/child-care-subsidy/family-eligibility-and-entitlement

 To enrol please go to www.oshclub.com.au/vic/winters-flat-primary-school/

Below is the latest newsletter from OSH Club 

Please see below for the full holiday program at Winters Flat PS these school holidays.

Photos are happening on the 31st of March. Order envelopes have been sent home, please return these by Thursday the 30th of March. Replacement envelopes will be available from the office if required.  Sibling photo forms are also available at the office. We are using the same photographers that we used last year “The School Photographer”. 

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Help Needed - Uniforms & Covering library books 

We would like some help reorganising the second hand uniform cupboard into sizes, rather than item types.  Also we have some library books that need covering with contact. Please let us know if you could spare some time to help.

No Chess after school tomorrow

Please note that we will not have Chess Club after school tomorrow night due to the swimming program.  

School Assembly

There will be a school assembly on Monday at 2.30 pm if any parents/carers are interested in attending. 

Road Safety Survey

The Mt. Alexander Shire Council is conducting a road safety survey around school drop off and pick up times.  They want your opinion so as they can make our students safer arriving and departing from school. Please spend a few moments to complete this survey to ensure safety for all travellers. 

CSEF - Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund

A reminder to parents who hold a health care card that you may be eligible to claim the sport and excursion fund for this year.  The school receives $125 for each child to be used for excursions.  All applicants from last year have been rolled over to 2023.  New parents to the school will need to apply.  Please pick up an application form from the office.

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Karen Mahoney & Kitty Ward

Office

Swimming Program

The swimming program is half way through.  All students are enjoying the program and learning important skills for life.  Students will require extra clothes to swim in on Thursday 23rd March as they are practicing a safety swim, this is for all year levels.  This is taking place tomorrow please ensure your child/ren have these extra clothes to bring.

This week in the Kitchen and Garden..........

What we're cooking in the kitchen this fortnight...

• Vietamese Rice Paper Rolls

• Okononmiyaki (Japanese Pancakes)

• Fried Rice
• Chocolate and Pear self saucing pudding 

Chefs of the week:

3/4H:  Midas & Annabelle 

Remember the recipes are available on our school website, so you can try them at home.

Kitchen volunteers

We would love some kitchen helpers in our cooking classes. They are held fortnightly on Mondays (even weeks), and every Wednesday, between 11:25am & 1:25pm.

What you can expect from a class: Students work in six groups to make six different dishes. Once a group finishes their dish, they clean up their bench, do dishes, and set the tables. Around 1:00pm, we all sit down together and share the meal.

Volunteers will need to sign in via the visitors log in the office and show their WWCC and Vaccination Certificate. Please contact the Karen or Kitty in the office if you would like to volunteer. 

Gardeners of the week:

3/4H:  Kaelyn & Louisa

Cath & Terry
Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden

AT SCHOOL

We are speeding through Term One with all kinds of wonderful activities and events, such as the whole-school swimming happening this week. Though school is full of these potentially fun and engaging experiences, they can also be a source of stress for some children.

Parents and other caregivers have an important part to play, by adopting their own healthy habits and helping children develop positive coping skills. Supporting your child during these potentially stressful times may take a little time and persistence, but learning stress-reducing strategies is a worthy investment. Some ways parents can take action:

• Notice your child’s behaviour. Well-developed observation skills can tell you if your child is experiencing distress. Observe for more quarrels with playmates, poor concentration, or bedwetting. See these behaviours as a communication.
• Be positive. Encourage children and show you care by pointing out what they are doing right.
• Acknowledge feelings. Let children know it is OK to feel angry, alone, scared, or lonely. Give children the names for their feelings and words to express how they are feeling.
• Avoid shaming. Some stressors make children feel ashamed. Shaming truly affects self-esteem.
• Structure activities for cooperation, not competition. This allows children to go at their own pace and enhances the learning of social skills.
• Host regular, safe talks.
• Model healthy coping. Caregivers can talk with children about how they’ve thought about and dealt with their own stressful situations.
• Let kids be problem-solvers. It’s natural to want to fix your child’s problems. But when parents swoop in to solve every little glitch, their children don’t have a chance to learn healthy coping skills. Let your child try to solve their low-stakes problems on their own, and they’ll gain confidence that they can deal with stressors and setbacks.
• Combat negative thinking. Children and teens can easily fall into the trap of negative thinking. When children use negative self-talk, though, don’t just disagree. Ask them to really think about whether what they say is true, or remind them of times they worked hard and improved. Learning to frame things positively will help them develop resilience to stress.

Here is a valuable article on supporting your child if they are experiencing anxiety. If you are unsure whether or not they are, this article will help:

https://emergingminds.com.au/resources/supporting-a-child-with-anxiety/

AT HOME: PARENTS WITH A MENTAL ILLNESS

At Winters Flat Primary School, we want you to feel that you are raising your child within a village and feel that you can trust the staff to support your family when things are feeling hard. Here is a very good article for parents living with mental illness on how to build your support networks:

https://emergingminds.com.au/resources/building-your-support-networks-a-guide-for-parents-living-with-mental-illness/

Hannah O’Keefe

My work hours are Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 9:30-2:30 and Thursdays from 8:30-4:30. Write me an email (hannah.okeefe@education.vic.gov.au) or give me a call via the school office or on 0475 800 377.