In this issue

Year One

It has been so lovely having our students back in class. I think the children were also super excited to be back with their friends once again. We are so grateful for every child in Year 1 and we love experiencing all the different gifts each one brings to our classrooms. Each day is definitely a blessing and we are grateful.

The children have worked hard to settle back into school life. We are building up our routines once again and readjusting to larger groups again. A few highlights since returning have been our daily push up challenges. The children have been bringing smiles to our faces as they challenge themselves to do push ups each day.

We also took part in the National Simultaneous Read Aloud Day on Wednesday 27th May. At 11am we read the hilarious book, ‘Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas’ by Lucinda Gifford, along with thousands of children across Australia. We then participated in some literacy based activities which we are sure you have seen up in the Year 1 windows!

Take care everyone and stay safe!
Mrs Clausen, Mrs Davis, Mrs Marsh and Year 1’s

Year Two

This term the Year 2’s have been learning about Logan’s history. We have discussed differences in the past and present and Mrs Koplick even brought some awesome antique pieces in that we could see and touch. There was an iron, a lantern and even a waffle iron!

We were all so excited to come back to school on the first day after isolation but we had no idea that 300 balloons would meet us on the other side of the door! Needless to say that between the two classes of Year 2 students that 600 balloons (300 in each classroom) caused quite a memorable day back at school. The day ended with them all being popped, so some would say it ended with a bang! Welcome back Year 2!

Miss McNabb, Mrs Koplick and Mrs Hollenberg.

What a joy it’s been to celebrate the return of all of our students back on site together as a community! The Year 11 & 12 students enjoyed having the campus to themselves for a couple of weeks, as they worked with teachers in ensuring their senior learning and assessments are on track. Then we celebrated the return of Y7-10 in Secondary, first as they arrived at school, then during their first break with different celebrations happening for each year level, and our student leadership team assisting. Bubble wands seemed to be a hit in the morning, at least with the staff, who seemed to enjoy playing with bubbles as much as the students seemed to enjoy being greeted with them!

As our PCC@Home drew to a close, we spent an afternoon with all Primary and Secondary teachers, celebrating the wonderful effort they put into creating and levelling up our online learning. See photos below of this celebration along with the student return celebrations. I’m so grateful to all of our staff for how they each adjusted their work tasks in order to support students and families, as well as each other during that season. We also reflected on our practice during PCC@Home, considering what elements of that high-level online learning could be brought into our everyday practice, and I am excited to see how this progresses. We’ve also surveyed our students to hear their perspective, so that together we can continue to provide the best education possible for our Parklands students.

And so I close with a great big THANK YOU to our parents, carers, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and family friends who supported children during PCC@Home. Thank you for your support from home, to whatever extent you were capable of with your own unique circumstances. Thank you for your support of our teachers. What a wonderful community we have!

Whilst this initial stage of PCC@Home is finished, we are conscious that the broader season isn’t over, that many families will remain affected for some time. While we remain hopeful that the government’s roadmap will remain on track, we are conscious that we don’t know exactly what Semester 2 will bring, and we’re prepared to again be flexible and adjust as needed in order to look after our students. Having experienced the way our community united in the first half of this term, I am grateful to be able to confidently move into the next stages of 2020, grateful for the opportunity to serve the Parklands community and grateful that we are all working together for the best for our children.

Uniforms

Can we please ask that you assist us in ensuring all students are correctly dressed in the right uniform each day? We are experiencing students wearing their sport uniforms when not required and have also noticed that some students are starting to mix and match their track suit and academic jumpers or even wearing non-school jumpers. If unsure about uniform items or correct uniform requirements, please feel free to contact your child’s teacher, the RTC, uniform store or check our website for photos and details. Would you please be so kind as to ensure that ALL uniform items, water bottles and LUNCH box items are clearly labeled with the student’s name?

Reports

Due to COVID 19, all students will be receiving a modified ‘End of Semester Report’ at the conclusion of this term. This amended report will inform you as to how your child has progressed both first Term and this virus affected (on and off site learning) Term.

On Wednesday 22nd July, we plan to have our Primary PROFILE Evening style Parent/Teacher Interviews in the teacher’s classrooms, where you can book an interview to discuss your child’s report with their class teacher. Be on the lookout for more information and booking times and procedures! If this day doesn’t suit you, please feel free to arrange a suitable day and time with your child’s teacher.

Talking about the end of term – we only have a few more weeks of school left then we break up for the Winter Holidays on Friday 19^th June and return for Term 3 on Tuesday 14^th July.

1. What is important in this Report? Bear in mind that this is a modified version of our ‘normal’ semester report! You are looking for two things as you read the reports that will help you establish what your child’s strengths are and whether they have been working to the best of their ability over this time. Before looking for the A’s, to E’s in the subject achievement section, read the general comment. Does the teacher say that your child is working to the best of their ability? Feedback from teachers at the Profile style P/T Interviews is the key to improvement as it will tell you what they need to be working on – a way forward.

3. How to involve your child in reading the report card? The best thing to do is ask questions and get them to come up with how they think they went in the subject/term/semester. “How did you think you went? Which results are you pleased with? What do you think was the cause of the result in this subject?”
4. Praise – Process centred praise is more effective than praising intelligence e.g. “You are smart” develops a fixed mindset whereas praising effort develops a growth mindset (Dweck, 2010). Kids who get too much praise are less likely to take risks, are highly sensitive to failure and are more likely to give up when faced with a challenge. Check whether your child has a fixed or growth mindset http://mindsetonline.com
5. Rewards – We need our kids to do things and be self-directed, not because they will get into trouble or get a reward. “If they are focused on the outcomes (stickers, money, rewards) this leads to a loss of interest in process and an unhealthy need for approval of others” (Sue Roffey, www.wellbeingaustralia.com.au/wba/). We need to focus on intrinsic rewards such as life satisfaction, autonomy, task persistence, positive social relationships, a love of learning and better performances.• Think about starting to remove extrinsic rewards for results.
   • Let kids have a say in what they do and the rules so that they can learn to make social choices appropriate for their age– autonomy not control.
   • Praise the process of effort and doing well, not ability.Praise their:

• effort and persistence
• planning & organization
• engagement in learning
• seeking help & feedback
• problem solving
• decision making

Finding The Off Switch When Kids Worry

If you’ve ever spent a sleepless night worrying then you’ll know how problems always seem bigger when you keep tossing them around in your head. It can seem like everything is stacked against you. When this happens you’ve got to find the off switch so you can get away from your worries for a while. The same principle holds for children and teenagers when they worry. Their problems just seem to get bigger and they need to turn them off or tone them down so they can ease their anxiety. There are eight easy-to-learn strategies that you can teach your kids to prevent them from ruminating – going over the same thoughts and worries over and over again.

1. Broaden their vision

Kids get tunnel vision when they worry. They often can’t see the bigger picture. For instance, a young person may fret over minor work matters such getting the exact font match for an assignment they are working on, and neglect to get the sleep necessary for good learning the next day. Sometimes it takes a wise adult to remind children and young people about what really is important to them.

2. Put their attention elsewhere

Placing attention away from worries is an age old technique for parents and teachers. Commonly known as distraction, the act of focusing attention on something other than what causes them distress is vital for good mental health. Examples of distractions include – going outside, playing a game, shooting some basketball hoops or listening to music.

3. Give the worry a name

Somehow giving a worry a name makes it feel less scary and more manageable. My favourite picture storybook for toddlers ‘There’s a Hippopotamus on our Roof‘ by Hazel Edwards personifies fear of the dark as a friendly hippo. Much more friendly and easier to boss around if you’re a child.

4. Put your worries in a jar

Wouldn’t it be great to put all your worries into a safe and throw away the key? As an adult you may do this when you take time out to watch your favourite TV show; or lose yourself wandering for hours online. Children need something a little more practical. They can write their worries on some paper and lock them in away in a jar by the side of the bed at the end of the day. It’s good to know that their worries can’t get out because they are locked up tight.

5. Limit talking time

It’s good if kids can talk about what’s on their mind but talking needs to be contained to prevent their worries from dominating their lives. Set aside ten minutes a day to talk about their worries and then put worry time aside until tomorrow.

6. Normalise rather than lionise their anxiety

Anxious kids are very sensitive to their parent’s concerns and worries. One way we build their concerns is by continually reassuring them that things will be fine. One reassurance should be sufficient most of the time followed by “I’ve already talked to you about that.” Continually going over old ground can allow worries to linger longer than necessary.

7. Give him the tools to relax

My wife relaxes in front of the TV, which is sufficient for her to take her mind off her worries. Some people need a bigger set of tools including mindfulness and exercise to help us neutralise our worries.

8. Move baby move

Get kids moving. Physical exercise is not only a great distraction but it release feel-good endorphins that help children and young people feel better and more optimistic about the future.

For more on anxiety and the tools you need to support you raise kids who worry or feel anxious, our Parenting Anxious Kids online course is a fantastic resource.

Have a wonderful break and school holiday spent with family and friends.

The End of Isolation

Monday 25^th May, we welcomed back Years 2-10 on site, re-uniting the entire school population. It was so good to see our students smiling faces, and listen to their excited chatter about being back, and seeing friends and teachers. And so a normality settles over our site once again, as the time table re-starts and the vast majority of our programs re-commence. There are still some elements of our school that won’t return to normal until restrictions are eased, but I am sure by Term 3, that our school will be back in the swing of things.

It’s been an interesting season hasn’t it?  In the early weeks of the pandemic, it was hard to keep up with the ever changing health advice, rules and restrictions.  During these complex early weeks, it was hard to provide advice to our families and give you all a clear picture of what would come next.  I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to the wider College community for the patience and grace you extended us during this time.  Furthermore, I want to acknowledge the many families who encouraged us during this time, with words of affirmation, support and encouragement.  We also appreciated the food!  We had several deliveries of pizza, donuts and a variety of packed goods and chocolates.  Some days, I think these kind gestures got me through.

I also wish to acknowledge how hard it was to be a good parent during isolation.  During this season, parents had faced not only great change in the workplace, but also in the home.  As a dad, I struggled to know how to best help my children study and work from home.  Fortunately, my children have been doing home schooling for the past 4 years as we lived and served in Cebu.  Maya, Lauren & Judah, kicked into home-school mode and largely picked up from where they left off.  However, even with their prior knowledge of working from home, the adjustment was significant, and at times the stress was high.  So to all of those parents out there that survived isolation and relied on PCC@Home, I congratulate you! Balancing life’s responsibilities is complex under normal circumstances, so doing this and managing your children’s learning journey is a rare achievement, well done.

As we surveyed students, staff and parents, we gathered a lot of useful information and identified a few trends.  In particular, I was interested to see how solidly students depend on their teachers, and this didn’t change much across the year levels.  This has given us much to think about as we endeavour to train our students to become increasingly self-reliant. We also identified how much students rely on their peers for support, both emotionally and in their learning journeys.  I look forward to exploring the impacts of collaborative learning (on and off line) and how it could play a part in a child’s schooling. Lastly, we heard from many parents that it was a challenge to know how much their child should actually be doing, despite the instructions provided on PCC@Home.  For me, these comments reinforce the need for clear and simple communication, and we will keep talking about the best ways to keep parents informed.

Overall, I have been encouraged by our community’s response to COVID-19 and the subsequent period of isolation.  Our community responded graciously, and generously, even to the point of families offering to contribute to the fees of those doing it tough.  What a great place to be a part of!  As we navigate these last few weeks of term, and we return to our normal rhythms, I pray that our students will appreciate what a gift it is to be at school, and join together as a community once again.  I trust that as we close out the term, and as we navigate the remaining restriction and changes, that we all appreciate and value community, and enjoy reconnecting with one another.

Gary Cully
Principal

Farewell Mr Helliwell

I write this article today after saying goodbye to our dear friend and work colleague Mr Rob Helliwell.  Rob passed away on Saturday 23^rd of May, after a long battle with his health.  While we as a school community will miss him terribly, we know that he is now at peace, without pain and in the arms of his Heavenly Father.

I first met Rob in the very early years of building our school.  Rob came to us offering to help where he could and he freely contributed to the life of the college for almost 20 years.  Rob had his fair share of health battles along the way, and it was a privilege to support him and his wife Karen through these challenging times. Rob taught both in the Primary and Secondary schools, and as his health became more challenging, he transitioned to our property team in the role of Workplace Health and Safety officer. No matter where Rob found himself in the school, he served diligently and with an ever present smile.

Although most have now graduated, many students will remember Mr Helliwell as a kind, fatherly figure with a dry, quick wit.  He was creative, resourceful and knew the value of maintaining a good relationship with his students.  His colleagues adored him, and he understood our college culture, and contributed to it faithfully, year after year.

We will miss seeing Rob around our site, as we mourn the loss of one of our own.  Our hearts go out to the Helliwell family during this sad time, and we pray they find some peace in the knowledge that Rob impacted many lives through the Ministry of Parklands Christian College, and will be dearly missed.

Technology/Screen Time

It is amazing to think that our phones and many watches now have 100x – 10000x the computing power that took man to the moon. I hear stories of people gathering to watch the landing on the moon as not everyone had a TV. These days most households have up to 2 devices per person that people could be watching, in colour, whatever they want and whenever they want. Digital media, technology and screen time has increased significantly and has become a normal and in some cases necessary part of life.

So how do we manage this? How do we make sure that our children do not become mindlessly glued to the screen? Here are a few ideas to try out at home:

Create a plan

Sit down as a family and work out a plan. Write this down so you remember what it is you are trying to achieve and gain from this. Your child does not need to see the plan but it helps if you have a strategy. You can use the following as a guide for your plan.

• What is your goal? – Is your goal with your child connection? How are you wanting to interact with your child? What example do you want to show them? Write down what goal you have with the screen time in your house both for adults and for children. What are you wanting to achieve?

• Know your Child and your Values – What are your family values? What character traits do you want your child to have? What do you know about your child- what are their dislikes and likes, hobbies etc.? What can they handle and what is it that they struggle with? Some people have great self-control while others need to work harder at this. How does your child manage responsibility?  What are their responsibilities? How can you increase their experience of responsibility- ie. chores, attend training or other extra circular activities, plan or attend a family event or just enjoy the outdoors?

• Set Clear rules and boundaries – You are the adult and the parent. You make the final decision. Set clear rules around screen time use. Such as:

• Parent has access to spot checks on use, emails, text messages and other social media
• Screen time occurs in public areas of the house (no bedrooms)
• Screen time occurs after homework and chores are complete
• Screen time may be reduced to weekends except for school work
• Screen free time – plan this into your schedule (ie. Sunday afternoons)
• Screens off an hour before going to bed – minimum at least 15mins ( this allows the brain to calm down and get into the right patterns for sleep)
• Wi-Fi to be turned off by 10pm every night (if you can hit this goal you are probably doing a great job managing screen time responsibly)
• Be consistent – Once you have established the family rules/guidelines with screen time STICK to them. No matter how you feel this is a boundary that you have set up and your child needs to know they can trust your word. If they chose to fight this rule one afternoon, use the LOKOP one liners – Fun or room? If they consistently ask you for screen time. Yes you can as soon as (add in the job or condition that you need to have meet).
• Age /Maturity appropriateness – There are ratings for a reason. Use these as a bench mark to work from and be aware of what they are wanting to play or watch. What works for one child may not for another. Just because their friends are playing this game or watching that show or movie does not mean that it is good/right or appropriate for them. So what is the level of your child and work with that, yes it may be different for each child. They will say that is not fair, your answer could be – I know… probably so…
• Stay up to date with their usage – What are they up to? What are they watching and what are they playing? Who are they talking with and too? What is that game about and what do you need to do in the game. The latest game craze at the moment is Fortnite. What is the rating for this game? Do you know what it is and what they need to do in this game? Regularly check and ask questions, even have a go yourself and make this a connection point with your child.

• Know their school work – Keep informed about what tasks are required for their subjects. Sometimes they will need to access technology, but there are may tasks that do not require this. Parents can fall into the trap of thinking because their child is ‘studying’ they are using technology appropriately. This is a myth, study and exam week results in the highest incidents of online bulling across Australia. Why? Students are bored, easily distracted and stressed. This is a terrible combination for reacting negatively toward peers. During weeks 8 and 9 of term please turn up the vigilance!!!

• Communicate with your kids – Talk with your child. Ask them about the screen time they are doing, what game are they playing and what shows are they watching? What is it about or what do you need to do? Why is this fun to watch this or play this? Join in, sit down and watch with them for a moment, play the game with them or watch them play and ask questions. Be interested in their interests and their screen time activities.

• 30am – 3.20pm – Whilst your child is at school they are required to use their technology for class work only. If a student needs to contact a parent they are required to phone them from student services. We ask parents to please refrain from texting their child during school hours.

For further information please check these out:

Parklands Christian College Technology Policy

Responsible Technology Use – Parklands’ Student Care and Wellbeing Google Site

Coffee, Kids and Crazy podcast – Back to school and Screentime – By Loving on Purpose – Brittney Serpell

Office of the Children’s eSafety Commissioner  – Information on online safety and screen time activities

Common Sense Media – Check on ratings, content and storylines. Plus many other resources.

Cyber Safety Solutions – Learn about safety for your child whilst online.

Family Contracts for Screen time – Use one of their templates or just use this as a guide when you write your own!

Welcome to the adventure of building great relationships with your child around appropriate use of technology. Enjoy your time with your child teaching, modelling and monitoring the screen time world!

11/12 Visual Art Exhibition

Friday 29^th May

The Senior Visual Art students held their first exhibition of the year last Friday. The works displayed reflect months of planning, development and research, as well as lots of hard work! The artworks stemmed from the units ‘Art as Code’ (Year 11) and ‘Art as Knowledge’ (Year 12) and were developed according to inquiry questions devised by the students. The exhibition featured a range of 2D, 3D and time-based media, including painting, installations, assemblages and video works. Congratulations art students on your outstanding efforts!

Welcome back to school, from the sounds in the playgrounds it seems students are generally happy to be back on campus. We are of course delighted to have them too. As classes resume, so face-to-face music lessons have resumed in week 6. Many students have been engaged with lessons online during the shut-down, & the teachers have all enjoyed seeing their progress continue despite a disruption to the normal routine.

Lessons

From Week 6, all music lessons except for Guitar & Drum Kit will resume face-to-face on campus. If families are continuing to self-isolate, there is still the option to join a lesson via Zoom. Please notify your teacher so this can be arranged, and we will do our best to include your child as fully as possible in the lesson. For those having face-to-face lessons, please be assured that appropriate cleaning & distancing measures will be in place. Students will be using their own instruments and it is the responsibility of students & parents to clean their equipment before & after home practice, lessons & rehearsals. For piano students, the piano is carefully cleaned between every lesson, as well as at the beginning & end of the day. Percussion students must bring their own sticks & mallets.

Timetables

Considering all the changes that have taken place this term, we have decided to keep lesson times static as far as possible for the remainder of Term 2. This will be reconsidered for Term 3, depending on circumstances at the time. Timetables have been communicated by email & will be available on PCC@Home shortly.

Ensemble Rehearsals

We are keen for Ensemble rehearsals to re-commence where possible, as this is an integral & fun part of learning & playing music. As most of our Ensembles are quite small in number, we have sufficient space for appropriate distancing & will take all steps to ensure this is maintained. Details for rehearsals are as follows:

Wind Ensemble: Wednesday 7:30am in Mrs Patane’s Music Room, beginning in week 6
Give It A Go Band: commencing in Term 3
Primary Choirs: arrangements to be communicated by Mrs Patane
Secondary Choir: Friday 7:30am in S1, beginning in week 6

While live performance opportunities are not available right now, we’re definitely putting creative thought into other ways of sharing performances with the College family. Information about those events will be communicated at a later date.

Just to give you a taste of what some of the students got up to in the Zoom lessons, enjoy below some photos from “Crazy Hat Day”, “Crazy Scarf Day” & “Crazy Hair Day”…

Enrolment forms are available for download below, or by emailing instruments@parklands.qld.edu.au

__PCC Music Department Guidelines with form

School Bus Passes for Westside Bus Company and Park Ridge Transit

Students who have a bus pass for travel will be required to obtain a new pass for the 2020 school year. If you are changing schools in 2020 (this includes moving to grade 7) or address you will need to contact our reception on (07) 3802 1233 and we will advise you of how to update your details. To avoid delays in receiving your pass we kindly request that you contact us prior to the end of the school year.

If you have no changes to your details, you will receive your new bus pass in the mail in early January.

Please note that there are limited reception facilities available at our Redbank depot and you should call before attending the depot as we maybe able to assist over the phone.

Bus Routes for Parklands

Please find attached all of the Bus routes, that have been made available to Parklands families.

Bus Queensland now offer 3 pick ups in the afternoon outside Prep with various routes.

• Departing 3:22pm
• Departing 3:31pm
• Departing 3:45pm

As this is a service offered by Bus Queensland (not PCC) please direct all further enquires to Bus Queensland on 3802 1233 or email customers@busqld.com.au

PRT Changes to School Bus Routes (effective 29-01-2019)

6013

6055

6113 (1)

6142

6155

School Transport Assistance Scheme

The Queensland Government offers financial assistance to parents of both state and non-state school students travelling to and from school daily by private arrangement. This is known as STAS (School Transport Assistance Scheme).

Please phone the Gold Coast office on 5630 8857 to clarify your eligibility. Alternatively you can visit their website http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/schooltransport

Parklands Outside School Hours Care is situated within the school grounds of Parklands Christian College in the Prep Building Area.  The service operates for before school, after school and vacation care.  Before and after school care offers a nutritious breakfast/afternoon tea and children are able to engage in a variety of activities based on their interests.

During the school term the service operates from 6:30-8:30am and 3:00-6:00pm (with office staff available from 2pm), and vacation care from 6:30am-6:00pm.  Parklands OSHC have qualified educators and encourage parents and families to pop into the service to discuss any care needs, suggestions or ideas or alternatively via phone 3297 0577 or email: parklandsbookings@bigpond.com.

We currently have limited spots available for before and after school care and advise families that a current 2020 enrolment is required to accept all bookings including emergency care bookings.

We look forward to assisting with all your care needs.

School Fees

Are deducted from your bank account on the 17th unless received by the 10th of each month.

Please ensure funds are in your account one (1) business day before the 17th of the month.

Our Bank Account details are as follows:

BSB: 034115
Account Number: 169944

Please use your surname and initials as reference e.g. ‘J&C Smith’

Term Direct Debit Deduction Dates

• 17th February
• 17th April
• 17th July
• 17th September

Note: Direct Debits that reject from your account due to insufficient funds will incur a $10.00 fee and loss of discount. An additional late fee of $20 will apply to invoices outstanding at the end of the month.

Discounts Available

• Monthly 2%
• Term 5%
• Annual 8%

Term Dates 2020

Tuckshop in need of volunteers

There is an opportunity for parents to contribute to the life of the school by volunteering their time in the tuckshop.

The tuckshop has been growing since moving to the new facility and with growth in sales we would really love your help!

Please contact our Tuckshop Convenor, Marie Rushin, on 0422 637 370 or email tuckshop@parklands.qld.edu.au

Tuckshop Menu 2020

School Days only