Week 5 Newsletter
School Returning on Monday 18 May
On Monday 18 May our school will reopen. This will be like no other day Silverdale School has ever had. We have new routines, different ways of doing things and it will be challenging for some of us. On Monday we all need to be patient and show kindness as this is new to everyone. A lot of thought and planning has gone into making sure everyone at Silverdale School feels safe and happy while at school. We know that some children, parents/caregivers, staff will be anxious about coming back to school. I feel that our plans will help with the transition back to school for everyone.
If you are walking your children to school then you will need to drop them off at the gate at 8.30am. At each gate we will have 4 staff members so if your child needs walking to their classroom we will have a staff member to do this. This is a work in progress and we will be reviewing this regularly to make sure it’s working for everyone.
At this time, we all need to remember our school values, kindness, excellence, respect and integrity if everyone in our school community follows our values then we will be able to support everyone’s transition back to school.
Together we can do this.
Welcome
Welcome to Iris Li and Queenie Zhao. Our current roll is 766.
Happy Birthday
Happy birthday to Danica Haywood, Lara Ridgway, Seth Minnaar, Anaru Meadows, Ryan Seeger, Kaylie Du Preez, Tatum Harris, Salma Aboutaleb, Johanna Sayo, Amanda Zhao, Jessica Gu, Yi Ding, Emma Chambers, Molina Vaea, Leo Southam, Kai Naude and Chelsea O’Connell. Also to Annabel Behenna who I missed last week.
Things That May Help Your Child Transition Back to School
This information is provided by Sparklers (sparklers.org.nz/parenting), a wellbeing toolkit developed after the Canterbury earthquakes. They know a thing or two about what can help during tricky and worrying times, when our children may need some extra support.
- While it may not feel like it, the best place for our children to be (if they can) is school! It’ll be wonderfully social, normalise their experiences and while there might be initial worry, going to school will totally help. Psychologists call this ‘exposure’ – if we expose ourselves to the things we’re frightened of, we become less frightened.
- The Ministry of Education will continue to set guidelines over the coming weeks, and they are specialists who know what they’re doing. We’ve been listening to them so far, and that’s worked out well!
- Teachers are cool – and are awesome supports for tamariki. Teachers know there’ll be lots of different emotions in a room, and that kids might range from fine, right through to super scared. They will respond with aroha and empathy.
- Kindness is an antidote to worry. Isn’t that amazing? When we focus on fear, we tend to be driven by worries (hence all the toilet paper buying!). Focusing on kindness shifts our thinking to others – helping us act in caring ways, notice similarities and look for the good, all of which boost our wellbeing!
- Your kids will be watching you bloomin’ closely right now. If you’re displaying worry, they’ll be worried too. Sometimes we just have to pretend to be brave or calm, for them. A good mantra is: If I’m okay, then they’re okay, even if I have to pretend sometimes.
If your child is super worried:
- Try not to over-reassure, as they’ll think there really is something to worry about.
- Think about your emotions too – see our number 5 note above!
- Head to Worries 101 and learn some strategies to help.
Finally, start talking (gently) about all the cool things about going back to school. If we show we’re okay with this and highlight the positives, we can help them to see these too.
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