WELCOME BACK TO TERM THREE

Welcome back to all the staff, students and families of St Ita’s. I hope you’ve had a restful break and feel relaxed rejuvenated and recharged. Term 2 was a very busy term as we navigated our way through yet another outbreak of Covid-19 thankfully without any long-term closures or shutdowns. I’d like to thank all our families for their support testing and communicating with the school. The outbreak was well-managed and we are grateful to all for working collaboratively to keep everyone in our learning community safe.

Once again, the St Ita’s staff did an amazing job working with your children last term and were prepared for the possibility of any changes that arise due to Covid-19. If and when, this happens please remember your children are at the core of everything we do and we will make a committed focus to ensure the well- being of every person in our community is central to our cause your children will be kept as safe as possible whilst under our care.

At the end of last term, I sat through my Principal Appraisal and the whole process was a very affirming and gave me clarity on my personal development needs. To the students, parents and staff that provided feedback to the panel, thank you. The commendations, recommendations and feedback were all really positive.

This term, our focus will be the Official Opening and Blessing of our school Foundation / Admin Building. The opening and blessing will be held onsite on Thursday 13^th July starting at 10.00am in the School Admin area. Father Confidence will be onsite to conduct the Ceremony and Blessing.

Our Grade 4 students will be attending camp to Phillip Island which will be held on the 13-15th of August.

Our Father’s Day sausage sizzle Breakfast will be held on Friday 1st September starting at 7.30am

Our Book Week Dress Up Day is on 25^th August and our book theme is “Read, Grow, Inspire"

ROSE’S FRIENDSHIP SEAT

I am pleased to announce that previous to the holidays, our second Rose McMahon friendship seat was delivered to school. This beautiful seat is the legacy of a beautiful student who will always live on in our hearts at St Ita’s. The friendship seat is inclusive of all and will be located on the middle tier of our school looking out over the bottom oval and playgrounds.

6 WAYS TO BUILD RESILIENCE IN CHILDREN

Children have different levels of resilience and different ways of responding to and recovering from stressful times. All behavior is communication, and our children’s behavior gives us clues as to whether they are regulated and in their learning brain, or if the demands of stress are greater than their capacity to cope.

When children are dysregulated, they may become emotional, withdraw, or become defiant, angry, or resentful. When we become curious about behavior, we are able to meet children where they are to help them regulate and learn new skills.

1. Model resilience.

Research tells us that the presence of at least one reliable, supportive relationship is paramount in building resilience in children. When a child feels upset, angry, frustrated, or scared, the way they see their “secure person” respond communicates to them how to think about and deal with problems that are stressful. Additionally, spending 5-10 minutes a day of focused connection with your child helps them feel safe and can empower them to seek guidance when they are stressed or having a hard time. 

2. Teach kids about their emotions.

During stressful moments and in the face of unpleasant emotions, children may not be able to quiet their amygdala to activate their prefrontal cortex. Because the prefrontal cortex is early in development, they can easily fall into a fight, flight, or freeze state. By helping children notice and label their emotions, it brings them into their bodies. As they understand that all emotions are acceptable and useful, they can honour what they are feeling and choose effective calming strategies to help them regulate and move forward.

3. Embrace mistakes.

When children fear failing, they develop a fixed mindset - we either win or we lose, pass, or fail. This type of thinking can enhance stress and lead to risk avoidance. When we teach that all mistakes are normal - ours and theirs - it becomes safe for them to step out of their comfort zone to try new things. Embracing a growth mindset encourages that our traits are not fixed, but rather grow with practice, and mistakes then become the building blocks to learn and grow.

4. Ask children for their opinion.

When we ask our children for their opinions or ask for their help, they feel powerful and valuable. In these ways, they can also practice communicating their wants, needs, and thoughts. As children discover who they are, they learn what they are made of.

5. Encourage healthy risk-taking.

Healthy risks are situations that encourage children to step outside of their comfort zone but result in little harm if they are unsuccessful. This may include trying a new sport that they show interest in, participating in the school play, or striking up a conversation with a peer. When children embrace risk-taking, they learn to challenge themselves, knowing they are powerful and capable just as they are and especially when they mess up.

6. Teach problem-solving.

Rather than telling children what to think, we can teach them how to think. Reflecting back on what you hear and asking questions is a great way to encourage problem-solving. By bouncing problems back to the child, it gives them opportunities to practice thinking through the issue to come up with solutions. Here are some questions you might try:

What did you learn?

What did you do today that made you think hard?

What are some other ways you can solve this problem?

How can we look at this from a new perspective?

Resilience and grit don’t prevent stress from occurring but they do equip us with tools to cope and transform something challenging into something beautiful or new. At the very least, resilience can help us know ourselves, set boundaries, and practice self-love. When we love ourselves through all emotions and situations - pleasant and unpleasant - then we step into who we are meant to be - and that person is exactly who the world needs.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND STAYING SAFE ONLINE

 “What kids do and post online, the sites they visit and the things they say is permanent. This digital footprint denotes their digital reputation and there’s nothing to stop someone from saving and storing that information about your child.” Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

Social Media and staying safe online

Social media can offer many benefits to adolescents, connecting them with friends. We often hear or read about the dangers of young people logging on to social media platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and Twitter, and other online spaces where they can socially interact, including Youtube, virtual worlds and gaming sites. In the online world, we know children and adolescents can be exposed to cyberbullying, harassment, sexting, privacy breaches and sexual predators.

Despite these negatives, many parents are surprised to discover there are also many real advantages for adolescents in connecting through social media. Research tells us that social media networking can play a vital and positive role in the development of young people and their lives.

As children progress into their adolescent years, the way they interact with their family, friends and the wider world changes. These developmental changes also influence how they use social media.

Moving into adolescence

While the age at which children transition into adolescence varies from child to child, it typically begins at around 12, 13 and 14. During these years, young people experience significant brain growth and development.

We notice young people becoming more independent, spending an increasing amount of time alone and investing in their friendships, while devoting less time to their parents. This is a pivotal stage when peers begin to have a major impact on adolescents. Peers typically influence young people’s choices, attitudes and behaviours, from the clothes they wear to the movies they see and their taste in music.

Adolescents also begin to see their parents through adult eyes, which can lead to a sense of embarrassment and withdrawal. As a result, many parents often feel a sense of loss and believe they may have ‘done something wrong’ to provoke the change. In actual fact, this process is a natural psychological development in the adolescent’s journey to becoming an adult.

Social media

Social media is an extension of what goes on in the real world. It enables young people to develop friendships and connect in ways like never before. Unlike adults, many adolescents see no difference between their online and their offline worlds.

In early adolescence, social media plays an incredibly important role. It has fast become an essential tool that adolescents can use to socialise and connect with their peers.

Social media has a range of benefits. It allows young people to establish their identity with pro-social peers at a time when they are laying the foundations for their independence.

Young people are able to communicate with their friends online and engage through common interests, such as following and interacting with their local sports club or dance, music or drama groups. Social media enables young people to research and share information online, showcase issues and opinions, stay up to date with school events, to socialise and to flirt.

Adolescents are also creating, uploading and modifying content. Many adolescents use social media to take photos to document what they are experiencing when they go out, before they post it online. While previous generations also documented their activities, those photos were placed in frames and albums and were not instantaneously available to their wider circle of friends.

Social media also enables young people to develop real world skills, such as managing their online presence and team collaboration.

A Young and Well Cooperative Research Centre literature review shows there are significant benefits that come with social networking services for adolescents. Social networking can help with identity formation, deliver educational outcomes and facilitate supportive relationships.

It can promote a sense of belonging and self-esteem which has the potential to build resilience, enabling adolescents to better cope with change and stressful events.

Maximising these benefits can work to protect young people from the risks of online interaction.

Peer influence online

Studies show that peer influence during adolescence is far more powerful than parental influence. We know that peers help shape the behaviour and attitudes of young people offline and online, driving their social media use.

Sexting is an online trend where adolescents send, receive or forward sexually explicit messages or photos. While parents may find this behaviour bizarre and high-risk, research reveals more than half of adolescents are engaging in sexting. For many young people, sexting is a common form of flirting.

The downside of sexting is that the images and messages can be rapidly distributed via devices and social media platforms, leading to long-term reputation damage and legal issues. Several Australian teenagers who consensually filmed themselves having sex before distributing it online were later charged under child pornography legislation and have been added to the sex offender register. Unfortunately, their online actions will now have consequences that will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

Staying safe online

Young people’s brains are continuing to grow and develop throughout their adolescent years. Especially in early adolescence, many young people are unable to predict the consequences of their actions.

It’s imperative that parents continue to teach, monitor and protect their children when it comes to cyber safety. Adolescents must learn how to use the internet in a safe, smart and responsible way. It’s just as important for parents to teach their children about cyber safety as it is about teaching them how to swim or to safely cross the road.

Unfortunately, this is a message that we’re still struggling to communicate. Many parents find addressing cyber safety overwhelming and, all too often, it’s relegated to the too-hard basket.

We need to get smarter about how we educate children and adolescents, parents and schools about social media and cyber safety. The government is making vital inroads through the Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner but there is still much room for improvement.

Parents need access to greater education and schools need to better implement their cyber safety policies. We need improved regulation of cyber safety education in schools, with transparency around the qualifications of accredited training providers.

Despite these challenges, social media needs to be seen as an important asset for adolescents at a crucial stage in their development. The positive psychology movement tells us that one of the most significant contributors to wellbeing is equipping yourself with a rich repertoire of friends.

There are clear downsides to young people tapping into social media but we know the benefits far outweigh the disadvantages.

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg, SchoolTV.me