Visit by Registered Nurse for Free Prep Vision Screening

Good vision is important for a child’s educational, physical and social development. Vision screening checks for common eye conditions that may impact your child’s ability to see and therefore impact their learning and development.

A Registered Nurse will be visiting the school on Thursday 23^rd February through to Wednesday 1^st March 2023 to conduct vision screening for children in their prep year.

If you wish to have your prep child participate in this FREE vision screening program, please complete a consent form

Online by Thursday 9^th February 2023 (a very simple process)

Should you choose to complete a paper form; please see the school office for a Hardcopy

Participation in this free vision screening program is not compulsory. If you do not wish for your child to participate in screening, please complete the consent form and indicate that you wish to decline screening.

Parents do not need to be present for screening, however if you would like to be, please contact the school to arrange this.

If you have concerns about your child’s eyes at any time, please take your child to see an eye health professional (optometrist/ophthalmologist).  

For further information, please scan the below QR code to visit the Program website or contact the Primary School Nurse Health Readiness Program on 1800 687 372.

Roar Active Program Term 1

Flyers will be going out to Prep to Year 4 students for participant pays program this week. See also attached flyer. These sessions commence Week 3 Wednesday mornings prior to school for 3 weeks until Week 5.

Swimming Permission Term 1

This week permissions will come home for the Water Safety and Swimming Program for the 2023 year. If you haven’t received a swim permission sheet by Monday afternoon next week, please ask your class teacher or contact the office.

Preps do not swim in Term 1.

All Year 1 - 6 students start swimming from February 6, Week 3 of this term and continue for six weeks until March 17, the end of Week 8. Swim permissions need to be returned to the class teacher prior to swimming commencing in order to participate. To keep our swimming program free to participate for all of our students, we will require parent helpers. Parent helpers are also required so that we maintain adult supervision ratios for our swim lessons as per safety guidelines.

If you are able to volunteer in a session (morning 8.50 – 10.50); (middle 11.30 – 13.00) or (afternoon 13.40 – 15.00) please email sblox5@eq.edu.au and I will respond with the Mandatory All Staff Training for 2023 document and then can start forming our helpers list for our sessions. Please indicate: Parent of: _________ Day/s available: _________ Session/s available: _________

If you are unable to get in the pool but can be eyes on the pool please indicate this also in your email. The signed sheet of the MAST needs to be completed before commencing volunteer work. There are also hard copies at the office.

When coming to volunteer, parents need to sign in before, and out after, at our school office.

Swimming students require the following items:

Togs –   (No Board Shorts as we are not using surf boards or body boards.)

BOYS: Traditional, Half Cut or Jammer style tight fitting

GIRLS: One piece from shoulder to bottom.

(No 2 piece please exposing stomachs.)

Sun shirts – Long or short sleeve as desired. This can also be built into the togs.

Swimming Cap – Latex or Silicone to cover all hair on head. No cap, no swim.

Towel – To get dry afterwards         

Spare underwear – Because an extra pair is always needed.

Bag – To put all items in.                   

Water Bottle – Because we sweat even though we don’t feel it in the pool water.

Optional items include:

Goggles – That fit the face. No snorkels required.

Ear plugs or Ear bands – If using, student must be able to place in and/or over ears themselves.

Sunscreen – If students have own sunscreen that they would like to reapply before and/or after.

Throughout the swim weeks if your student is unable to swim on a particular day for injury/non-contagious reasons, please email me or send them with a note to confirm the missed swim and reason.

Please remember if your student is unwell they shouldn’t be at school. If they are well enough to come to school, they are well enough to participate in all activities at school. Students who do not swim with the class will go to their buddy class during swim time. They will not be at the pool due to safety reasons.

Splash you later,

Mr. Bloxsom (HPE Teacher)

Dear Wondall Parents and caregivers

This year we have two Guidance Officers supporting students and families at the school. Our names are Sherrin Bell (Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) and Chloe Doherty (Tuesday, Friday).  We would like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves to the families at Wondall Heights State School in 2023.

What does the Guidance Officer do?

The role of the Guidance Officer is to: advocate, provide short term counselling, analyse and interpret a variety of psychoeducational assessment and individual student support, provide recommendations and advice to students, teachers and parents concerning educational, behavioural, mental health and family issues and liaise with external agencies who also support students.

How can a student access the Guidance Officer?

• All students require parental consent to access support from the Guidance Officer.
• Teachers and school staff can refer a student to the Guidance Officer by the S.W.A.T Team referral process.
• External agencies and health professionals such as GPs, Child and Youth Mental Health Service (CYMHS), Child Safety, psychologists and psychiatrists can also contact the Guidance Officer if a permission to share information form is signed.

IMPORTANT! Please note that accessing the support of the Guidance Officer is voluntary and students can decline an invitation to meet with us.

Confidentiality

The Guidance Officer works within the boundaries of confidentiality. This means that we do not share anything the student discusses with us unless they disclose:

• They are experiencing thoughts or have plans to hurt themselves.
• They are experiencing thoughts or have plans to hurt someone else.
• They have been hurt / abused by someone else (eg: physical, emotional, neglect and sexual abuse).

In the event of disclosure, we will contact you, as the parent immediately, with the exception of student protection matters where there may need to be some discretion involved.

Tips for Term 1

You may have experienced or are continuing to see mixed emotions from your children about returning to school. Some students will be ready and excited to start a new school year but not all students will be thrilled with the idea of coming back. Here are some helpful tips on how to support your student and encouraging a positive mindset for returning to school:

• Be positive about returning to school

Have conversations with your child and ask them how they are feeling about returning to school. What are they looking forward to? Is there anything they are worried about? If your child expresses anxiety, reassure them that this is normal.

• Be prepared

Ensure you keep up-to-date with what the school year is going to look like. Parents are provided with regular updates when school events return and in what format. Make sure you explain to your child the happenings of the school activities. Knowing what is happening will provide your child with confidence. If circumstances change, be honest with your student and encourage them to talk about how they are feeling. We are living in uncertain and ever-changing times. It is important that we encourage our children to develop flexibility and resiliency and how to put those skills into practice.

• Re-establish routines

Holidays usually mean later bedtimes, longer sleep-ins, more screen time, different meal times and foods, different activities, different people in the house (friends, family). Now is a good time to start getting back to school-time routines. Earlier bedtimes, set meal times, less screen time. This will help not only your student but yourself get back into the swing of things.

• Update the school

If there have been any changes to family circumstances over the holidays (eg: grief or loss, change in care arrangements, parental separation), please advise your class teacher so that they can monitor your child. All staff at Wondall Heights State School want to be sensitive to individual student circumstances and provide support where required.

• If you need help and support

If your child is struggling with the return to school, you are not alone. Please contact your class teacher and let us know your concerns.

Parents and carers also need to take care of themselves! There’s a reason why they say to fit your own oxygen mask before helping anyone else. Here are some support services for young people and parents:

• Kids Helpline: 1800 55 1800;
• Parentline: 1300 30 1300