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Dear Parents and Carers,

T his is a crazy uncertain time that we are living in at the

moment. Everything we thought as ‘normal’ is changing and there

is no certainty of when ‘normal’ might return.

I urge everyone to take care, look after and look out for each other. Children in

particular will require vigilant monitoring and support through this time. Below is a

factsheet provided by the Department of Education to assist parents and carers in

their support for children.

During the Coronavirus pandemic, children and young people may be particularly worried. For parents, it’s

important to:

recognise signs of increased anxiety, stress or worry;

know that it is a normal reaction; and

help children feel safe and supported.

You may notice changes in your children’s behaviour, sleep, mood, or eating habits – these are all

normal expressions of worry and by noticing and responding with care and support, you will help your

children to feel better.

Pay extra attention to your

child’s emotions and needs

EMAIL:

the.principal@macknortss.eq.edu.au

Mackay North SS News

ADDRESS: Harvey Street PO Box 3012 North Mackay QLD 4740

PHONE: 07 49 400 333 FAX: 07 49 400 300

ISSUE 5

3RD APRIL 2020

principal

Cont’d

Mackay North State School

Improvement Agenda 2020

Coronavirus (COVID–19)

Advice for parents and carers to

support children and young people This fact sheet contains tips to help parents and carers have calm conversations with their children

about Coronavirus – ensuring they have accurate information and their mental health and wellbeing is

supported.

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Be aware of your own

behaviour

It’s important to understand the effect your own behaviour can have

on your children. If you’re visibly upset or react in a way that suggests

you’re fearful, children will take their cues from you. Remain calm in your

conversations with children and young people, and reassure them that, although

this is an uncertain time, you are there to look after them and keep them safe.

There is a common misconception that talking with children and young people about a

topic such as Coronavirus may increase their anxiety. However, research suggests that it

usually has the opposite effect. For children, not having information is scary. Many children

will fill in the blanks with their own imagination – often imagining something far worse than the

truth. For older children, they may take to the internet for their answers, which can be

misleading and overwhelming.

Children and young people need to feel informed and safe. Discussing Coronavirus openly with

your children and answering their questions calmly will provide the opportunity to reassure them

that they are safe and dispel any false information they may have heard in the media or through

rumours.

With the situation changing rapidly, conversations about Coronavirus should take place regularly

between you and your children. This will help to minimise the anxiety they may feel when they hear

new and sometimes contradictory information or advice.

Scary headlines attract attention and help sell newspapers but they don’t always tell the whole truth.

Ensuring you’re armed with facts will help keep conversations calm, considered and constructive. In

discussions with children, it is important to emphasise that:

Although the number of confirmed cases of Coronavirus in Australia is increasing, measures are

being put in place to help slow the spread of the virus.

The majority of people who contract Coronavirus will have no symptoms or only mild symptoms,

from which they will recover easily. Only a small minority of people may become very ill.

We are lucky to live in a country where children will be able to access prompt and high quality

medical attention.

The risk of serious illness for people their age who are in good health is low.

Sharing this information should help reassure children that there is no immediate risk to themselves,

their friends, or their family.

Mackay North SS News

principal (cont’d)

Cont’d

Tell children the facts

Communication is important

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Authorities are responding quickly. Travel in and out of Australia

has been restricted, with only Australian citizens and residents being

allowed back into the country. Also, scientists in Australia and around the

world are working hard to develop a vaccine and a treatment for the virus.

In Australia, the Government is carefully monitoring and actively managing the

situation – this is why advice for how to stay safe is updated often. Children should

be confident that anyone who has the virus and needs medical attention will receive

high-quality treatment quickly in our world class hospitals.

It is normal for children and young people to get overwhelmed by the constant discussions

about Coronavirus, which can lead to increased worry and anxiety. If parents and carers notice

their children becoming anxious or scared due to the amount of information they are hearing

about Coronavirus on the news or through social media, it may be necessary to encourage and

assist them to take a break from the 24-hour news cycle and to focus on other things.

Encourage children to engage in things at home that help them feel physically and emotionally safe

(for example listening to music, playing a favourite game with the family or doing some exercise in

the home).

It is particularly important for children and young people to feel close to their immediate family who

they are living with and, where possible, continue to communicate with those people outside the

family (by telephone or video calls) who are helpful to their wellbeing.

Mackay North SS News

principal (cont’d)

Cont’d

Explain what efforts are being

made to contain the virus

Focus attention away from

Coronavirus

Restricting exposure to

news and social media

Coronavirus (COVID–19)

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Tell your children what you can all do to help slow the spread of

Coronavirus, including:

Staying at home as much as possible and only going outside to

exercise with your family or to collect food/medical supplies or attend

medical appointments.

Avoiding close physical contact with people outside of those living in your

household. This means having a distance of 1.5 to 2 metres between you and

anybody else, except for people who live with you in your home.

Staying at home if unwell and avoiding contact with others outside of your

immediate family.

Coughing or sneezing into your elbow or a clean tissue.

Keeping hands clean by washing them regularly with soap and water or an alcohol-

based rub.

Avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth.

Available supports

Schools make a number of staff available to provide extra support to students who may be anxious

and to provide information and advice to parents and carers. If you are concerned about your

child’s wellbeing, you can contact their school to ask what additional support might be available.

Support is also available through a number of Queensland Government agencies and community

organisations.

Parents and carers can:

call 13Health (13 43 25 84) at any time for practical medical advice and assistance

review Queensland Health’s Coronavirus webpage for the latest information and advice

review headspace’s dedicated page about coping with stress related to Coronavirus, or contact headspace for professional support

contact Lifeline Australia’s telephone counselling service on 13 11 14 for information, referral

and advice

obtain help and information from the local General Practitioner or Community Health Centre.

Mackay North SS News

principal (cont’d)

Cont’d

Finally, offer practical

advice

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A s the COVID-19 situation evolves, our school continues to prepare for continuity of learning and

teaching. This week our teachers have worked tirelessly to prepare learning for the first 4 weeks of term 2, in the event that schools remain closed after the holiday break. This will be available through Mackay North State School Online Learning in Ed Studio at the beginning of term 2. Printed material will also be available for those families who have limited or no internet access. These will also be available from the beginning of term 2. You will need to call the office to organise when you can collect them. At the beginning of term 2, information about access and pick up of materials will be communicated via text message and email. It is important that we have your current and correct contact details. Please send information to be changed/checked to admin@macknortss.eq.edu.au before the start of term 2. We will also be continuing to use a range of avenues to communicate with families. Watch out for our messages through:

Skoolbag App Email Text messages through IdAttend

The work that will be provided is not expected to take your child all day to complete. Provided school learning should take up about two hours of the day. It is important that children also take time to go outside in the yard, play board games together with the family, cook together, build Lego, etc.

The experts all agree that setting and sticking to a regular schedule is key, even when you’re all at home all day ie. children should get up, eat and go to bed at their normal times. Consistency and structure are calming during times of stress. Children, especially younger ones or those who are anxious, benefit from knowing what’s going to happen and when.

The schedule can mimic a school or day camp schedule, changing activities at predictable intervals and alternating periods of study and play.

It may help to print out a schedule and go over it as a family each morning. Setting a timer will help children know when activities are about to begin or end. Having regular reminders will help head off meltdowns when it’s time to transition from one thing to the next.

Whatever routines your family puts in place over the next few weeks I hope that this is a time for you to reconnect, re-engage and get to know each other again after a very busy term 1.

GOOD NEWS

I n the midst of all the uncertainty in the world, I am pleased

to be able to announce certainty for Mackay North State

School. Mrs Kristy Scott has been successful in the application

process to be appointed as the permanent Deputy Principal at

our school, beginning term 2 this year. I know you will join me

in congratulating Kristy. I look forward to continuing to work

with her into the future.

Take care and stay safe everyone!

Mackay North SS News

principal (cont’d)

Di Schmidt

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Cont.

W ell, what can I say! It has been a very strange end to term 1. As we all adjust to a new way of life

I encourage everyone to look after their well-being and to reach out if you need support. These are challenging times, so it is important that we look after each other and our families. A big thank you to our teachers who have put in a huge effort this past week to ensure that our students will have continuity of learning should they not return to school in term 2. Information regarding this process will be emailed to parents in due course. Keep safe over the next few weeks, be kind to yourself and your kids and I look forward to seeing everyone back at school very soon.

KEEPING OUR KIDS HEALTHY

W ith no social events on the calendar and no sports to be played, we need to keep ourselves and our children sane over the next few weeks. Building some physical

activity into your daily routine will have huge benefits for ‘improving the mood’ and expelling all that unspent energy. Here are some ideas you may like to try at home:

Challenge your child to teach you a new skill or activity that they learned in PE class at school.

Grab a football, basketball or even a tennis ball. Be creative with the amount of different ways you can play with it. Throw it, bounce it, kick it: your child will come up with lots of ideas if you ask them.

Be active in the house too. There are lots of things you can do, from active video gaming to games like Twister to GoNoodle, a popular website teachers use for integrating physical activity in the classroom.

Set up a boot camp in the backyard.

Have a family game of stuck in the mud.

Get the skipping ropes out and have a Jump Rope for Heart skipathon.

Part of maintaining our physical health means we are also thinking about our healthy eating habits.

OUR HEALTHY EATS TIP OF THE WEEK:

deputy

principal

Mackay North SS News

Cont’d

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Cont.

SCREEN TIME

W ith the holidays upon us and with the social restrictions in place, it is understandable that students will be accessing

increased screen time. Social media is a great way to catch up with what friends are doing but also increases the opportunity for online bullying, communicating with people they have never met and sharing of personal information.

KEEPING OUR KIDS SAFE ONLINE

T alk with your kids about cyberbullying and other online issues regularly.

Know the sites your kids visit and their online activities. Ask where they’re going, what they’re doing and who they’re doing it with.

Tell your kids that as a responsible parent you may review their online communications if you think there is reason for concern. Installing parental control filtering software or monitoring programs are one option for monitoring your child’s online behaviour, but do not rely solely on these tools.

Have a sense of what they do online and in texts. Learn about the sites they like. Try out the devices they use.

Ask for their passwords, but tell them you’ll only use them in case of emergency.

Ask to “friend” or “follow” your kids on social media sites or ask another trusted adult to do so.

Encourage your kids to tell you immediately if they, or someone they know, is being cyberbullied. Explain that you will not take away their computers or cell phones if they confide in you about a problem they are having.

Establish rules about technology use.

Establish rules about appropriate use of computers, cell phones and other technology. For example, be clear about what sites they can visit and what they are permitted to do when they’re online. Show them how to be safe online.

Help them be smart about what they post or say. Tell them not to share anything that could hurt or embarrass themselves or others. Once something is posted, it is out of their control whether someone else will forward it.

Encourage kids to think about who they want to see the information and pictures they post online. Should complete strangers see it? Real friends only? Friends of friends? Think about how people who aren’t friends could use it.

Tell kids to keep their passwords safe and not share them with friends. Sharing passwords can compromise their control over their online identities and activities

Mackay North SS News

Kristy Scott

deputy

principal

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Hello again Mackay North family,

Firstly,

With all that’s going on in the world at the moment, it is easy to be caught up in the anxiety of it all. I searched Focus on the Family for some helpful tips in how we can manage the anxiety wanting to overwhelm us at this time.

OVERCOMING ANXIETY IN PARENTING Focus on the Family team advise us that overcoming anxiety is something that we as parents must be intentional about. We must be purposeful in practising how to focus on the present rather than uncertainty about the future.

As parents, it is critical that we train ourselves to manage our fears and anxiety in order to protect our children and train them to be resilient. Overcoming anxiety and caring for our family’s mental health all starts with us.

How then, can we as parents keep our anxious thoughts in check ... and how can we help our children who are anxious?

Anxiety always comes in the form of a “what if” question. For example, you might ask yourself, “What if my health fails?” Or you may be thinking, “What if I lose my job and can’t make the mortgage payment? How will I feed my family?” Anxiety focuses on the future rather than on the present.

Think about this for a minute: Does the future exist yet? No. Now, how much control do you have over things that don’t exist? Zero.

This makes it easy to feel like things are completely out of control. Imagining all of the possible ways for events to unfold can be an endless road. Before you know it, the world is spinning and anxiety has you in its grips.

Some things to try

3 x 5 + 1 Technique

Tim Sanford, the clinical director at Focus on the Family, has some tips to manage anxiety and ways to overcome it. One of these tips is a technique that he calls “3 x 5 + 1.” It is a fantastic

way to focus your attention on what is happening around you at that moment, rather than on the “what if” questions.

Mackay North SS News

sep

Cont’d

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If you are feeling anxious, try these three steps:

1. Look around you. Name 5 colours that you see.

2. Listen to your surroundings. Name 5 sounds that you hear.

3. Name 5 things that you can physically feel, such as the collar of your shirt against your neck or the breeze blowing across your skin.

Once you have gone through each of these 3 categories and listed 5 things each, ask yourself this one last question: “What do I need to be thinking about right now?”

This technique of observing your surroundings is a great way to pull your mind back into the present. Go ahead and try it right now!

Deep Breaths

If you feel yourself becoming anxious, another great way to bring your mind back into the present is to take several slow and deep breaths. Try taking three deep breaths right now. Notice how it calms and relaxes your body and tightens your focus on the present. Ask your children about breathing – we practise this at school!

Keep a Routine

Due to the coronavirus, most of our schedules and routines have been completely disrupted. If at all possible, stick to a routine that is as similar as possible to your previous routine. If this is impossible, create a new schedule and stick to it. Sameness is very helpful in creating a sense of control in our lives.

Exercise with your family

Getting some exercise is also a great way to overcome anxiety. Choose activities that require focus on the moment at hand. For example, a game of basketball requires that you focus on the ball at all times and on making baskets. You don’t have time to worry about anything else.

Secondly,

Happify: for Stress and Worry 4+ Activities, Games and Meditation

OR

Until next time, keep safe and well. I hope you get to enjoy some quality family time.

Mackay North SS News

sep (cont’d)

Helen Parker (with best wishes from all the SEP team)

My app of the Newsletter is one called Happify. As the name suggests , Happify’s number one goal is to help us all feel happier, and more emotionally fulfilled. (Free – with In-app purchases)

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Mackay North SS News

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