Dear Parents and Carers,

As the vast majority of students continue to learn from home,  I once again express my deep gratitude for your contribution to supporting the safety of our students, staff and school families. 

On Friday 27th August, the NSW Premier and Education Minister announced that a return to face-to-face learning will begin from Monday 25 October. On Friday afternoon a letter was sent via Compass to all parents and carers from the Catholic Education Office Diocese of Wollongong and the school, advising the NSW Government's Strategy for all NSW students.  

As learning from home continues the Catholic Education Office COVID-19 Response Team has provided the following information to help you understand the reason schools are urging all families to keep their children home at this time if they are able to.

The St Paul's Staff created a poem for parents and carers to thank you for your amazing efforts during Remote Learning!! Thank you to those parents and carers who have liked and commented on our video via Facebook. 

There are three additional pages in this Week 8 Remote Learning Newsletter which include:

• A link to the St Paul's Remote Learning Website
• Onsite School Attendance Google Form
• Tips for parents and carers on supporting your child to deal with sibling rivalry.

Further information regarding the above new inclusions can be found in this newsletter.

This week teachers have planned engaging learning experiences focused on World Day of Prayer for the Creation and Father's Day. I am looking forward to seeing the great work produced by our students. 

I would like to express my deep gratitude to parents and carers, the St Paul's students and staff for your continued support as together we journey through our eighth week of remote learning and we continue to hold everyone in our community in our prayers. 

Yours in Faith and Learning,

Michelle Rodwell
Principal

Thank you to those parents and carers who have provided such positive feedback regarding the weekly remote learning newsletter and the varied documents and information we share with our community weekly.As a result we have developed a St Paul's Remote Learning Website so that parents and carers can easily access the materials, information and resources we have shared over the past seven weeks of remote learning.

The link to the St Paul's Remote Learning website is featured below. I would like to express my deep gratitude to Ms Shari Allison who developed the St Paul's Remote Learning Website. The website will be updated regularly and shared with the community. 

A Note from your School Counsellor- Sibling Rivarly During Lockdown

Sibling rivalry is basically children competing for their parent’s love and attention. It can show up in the form of arguing, name-calling, dobbing, trying to have the last word, and physical fighting. It may increase as children start to push their independence and find their own voices.

It's all well and good that we know sibling rivalry is normal and natural, but during this time of lockdown and all the subsequent disappointments and stresses, it's likely that the fighting and arguing between children may well have ramped up considerably.

Children are feeling the stress and getting increasingly fed up with being locked in and locked out. And who can blame them? Beside the challenge of home-schooling and not seeing their friends every day, they've had cancelled sports and activities, no holidays, postponed birthday parties, and on top of that a whole lot more time they must spend inside with their siblings. It's understandable that they may be more irritable, less patient, fighting more, and getting sick of each other.

While there's no magic wand to wave over them, there are some things you can do to try to help the situation.

First, Look after your own mental health.  As a parent, you likely have your own stresses and concerns right now.  Remember that your children will respond to and take on your stress. If they see and feel tension, they will internalise it, which may lead to more irritability and fighting. It's important to be aware of your own anxiety and take care of your own emotional needs.

Scheduling one-on-one time with each of your children is important. Even if the siblings get along well, one-on-one time with each of them will nourish them and help to keep their relationship cohesive. Use the time you already have, such as staggered bedtimes to give one child at a time your one-on-one attention. Or you might allow one child a bit extra screen time while you spend time with the other, and then reverse it. Kids can see this as a win-win.

Create individualized break areas and scheduled 'alone time' for children to get away from each other. We all need alone time, especially when emotions are running high. Give children their own spaces and times when they can just be on their own, in their own space. The goal is for children to be able to get away from each other when they need to, and for all children to respect each other's privacy in that time.

Praise the good moments. It can be tempting to leave your kids alone when they're playing nicely but take this opportunity to reinforce what they're doing well. It's important to 'parent" the good stuff and not just the bad.

Avoid Comparisons at all costs. Children already compare themselves to their siblings and their peers, so if they think you are also doing it, whether it's about learning, behaviour, sports, or something else, it causes upset and creates bad feelings toward the sibling. 

Encourage Teamwork whenever you can. Try offering a reward for a project the children must work together to complete. Like raking and bagging all the leaves, cooking a dessert for the family, or making snacks for afternoon tea.

You might also consider creating a family marble jar for kids to work toward a common goal. Start by setting a few sibling goals like sharing, using kind words, helping with homework, helping the other with a chore, or just playing a game without argument. Then choose some family rewards to pick from once the jar is filled. Things like pizza night, a camp out in the living room or double dessert day.  Whenever a child demonstrates a goal behaviour, praise the child and put a marble in the family jar. Encourage kids to "report" on each other by telling you when a sibling has earned a marble with good behaviour (but don't allow self-reporting).

Always enforce the rules around acceptable behaviour in the family and what behaviour will not be tolerated. The consequences should be well known and always enforced immediately.

To Intervene or ignore? The research encourages parents to act as mediators rather than referees, and to always make sure each child's voice is heard. It's important to hear them out and not jump to conclusions about who's at fault.

When kids come to you with a problem, use the opportunity to teach them conflict resolution. When they understand how to find solutions on their own and hash out conflicts through communication, not only is it more peaceful, but it strengthens the sibling bond.

Tips for defusing Arguments

• Encourage “I” statements instead of “You" statements. In other words, instead of "You are so mean" it's better to say "I felt hurt when you ….”
• Insist that everyone take a break to calm down when arguments get heated.
• Set hard rules against name calling, profanity, and bringing up the past.
• Instead of intervening in every argument, talk your children through how they should try to resolve the issue before reporting to you.

Daily physical activity will help keep tensions low, so make sure children have a good dose of physical activity each day. Exercise relieves tension and improves mood.

Keep a daily schedule as much as you can.  Kids will do better if they have a daily routine to follow. Particularly if they are starting to feel unmotivated and sad. Ensure they're getting up at the same time every morning, eating healthy foods at consistent times, having some exercise time and fun/creative time scheduled in, and going to bed on time. 

View a video for students on sibling rivarly and relationships between siblings

I know these are difficult times, but I do hope these tips will help you. Remember, you can send me an email if you have any questions or concerns for your child.

You can send me an email if you have any questions or concerns about your child. doreenw@catholiccare.dow.org.au

Take care of yourselves during this crazy time.

Best Regards, Doreen

Our staff thanks you for the generous support and ongoing patience you have shown over the last four weeks while, together, we continue to live, learn, and work under the restrictions and challenges posed by COVID-19.

We urge everyone to continue to follow the advice from the NSW Government and NSW Health regarding Stay-at-Home orders and restrictions in keeping all members of our community safe and well. As you know, COVID-19 case numbers continue to be high across Greater Sydney, as does the number of people who have been in the community while infectious. In light of this, the NSW Government and NSW Health have again reinforced the message that parents and carers must keep children home if they can.

We understand how difficult it can be to manage working from home as well as supervising your child’s learning, however we are requesting your support to limit the risk of COVID-19 by having your child learn from home, rather than school, unless you absolutely have no other option. As we continue to plan for supervision of students who must attend school it is vital that we schedule only the minimum number of required staff members each day. This is to ensure we meet the direction provided by Catholic Schools NSW and NSW Health.

If it is absolutely necessary for your child to attend school for onsite supervision on any day between Monday 30 August and Friday 17 September 2021, please complete this form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc8woA3c_wQD07mrBpQbiBDulMTIxPKlM-Cx0vscs-wVVadCg/viewform

This information will enable the school to organise appropriate supervision for students onsite whilst managing teachers working remotely and ensuring there is adequate access to electronic devices for students being supervised at school to engage in online learning.

If your child is learning from home it is a requirement that you complete the attached form to indicate this by 10 am daily.

If your child needs to be at school then the supervising staff will complete attendance. 

If neither of these roll marking options is chosen then you will receive a notification at 3 pm that day to state your child has an unexplained absence. Please ensure that you inform the school if your child is sick and will not be accessing learning on that day.

Understandably, many questions may arise and it is hoped that frequent school communication via Compass, assists you in clarifying your concerns. Teachers will respond to communication in a timely manner during school hours (8:00 am – 3:30 pm) only.

Requests for technology support can be made via the form below.

Telephone (02) 42 562 772

Email Office info@spapdow.catholic.edu.au