The Bulletin

Number 17 www.southernmontessori.sa.edu.au Nov 2019

School Fete ~ Friday 29 November ~ 4-8pm.

Cycle 4 Camp - Hindmarsh Island During Week 5 the Middle School students were away on an aquatic based camp at Hindmarsh Island. The Year 9 students arrived at the campsite a day earlier than the Year 7 and 8 students. This enabled the Year 9s to complete a kayaking expedition where they packed their food, tents, sleeping gear and cookware into their kayaks and paddled up the Murray River for two days. The Year 9 students found the expedition quite challenging at times. Despite the wind they loved the adventure.

The Year 7 and 8 students also went kayaking but their session was shorter. They began the camp with a history walk where the river meets the sea, as well as going cockling for the famous Goolwa cockles that they could use for fishing later in the week. They joined the Year 9 students on Wednesday afternoon and all went for a surf together. All students participated in team challenges such as raft building and completed a dummy rescue in the water. It proved to be a great camp. It was good to see the students working together, rising to challenges and overcoming adversity. Maria Montessori believed that being away from home was a vital part of learning about oneself, particularly during the adolescent years. For this reason we try to take students on camps that are not only fun but challenge students appropriately. We are already looking forward to next year’s camp!

Thanks to everyone who helped out at the Working

Bee on Saturday. A job well done!

FROM THE LEADERSHIP TEAM

Dear Community Members The end of the year is in sight now but there is still so much to come. Every week is full of extra curricular events and teachers are trying very hard to ensure that the entire 2019 syllabus is implemented. Spare a though for the teachers at the moment - they have a real work/life imbalance as they spend many, many hours writing and editing student reports. Referral Discount Scheme When creating class lists for the following year our staff are mindful of a complex number of realities that includes the number of students by year level. While overall enrolments are strong across the school, we have identified that we have several places available in Year 3 for 2020. On behalf of the School Board and Leadership, we are pleased to announce a new initiative: a Referral Discount Scheme. If you know of any Year 3 students (2020) who may be interested in attending Southern Montessori School, please encourage them to contact Danielle to organise a school tour and application for enrolment. Any referral leading to an enrolment will attract a discount of $250 for both the referring family and the new family during the child’s first term. The Scheme is only for children in Year 3 for 2020, at this stage. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Heather or Noel. Thanks to Cheryl for bringing this to our attention: Researchers describe technoference as, 'Everyday interruptions in face-to-face interactions because of technology devices,' and although technoference is experienced by many different people, it's a common occurrence amongst parents. Read more here - https://www.careforkids.com.au/newsletter/2019/november/6/technoference.html There can be a fine line between being assertive, aggressive and passive and it is important that our children learn how to be assertive. This allows them to appropriately express their thoughts and feelings. This Bulletin includes an article that you may find interesting titled Helping Children Speak Up.

Kind regards, Heather and Noel Board Community Update The Board of Governors met on Thursday 7th November with a full attendance. Each meeting begins with a Montessori Moment in which aspects of Montessori philosophy are shared and discussed. Heather updated the Board on the recent insolvency of Montessori Australia and the formation of a new national not for profit governing body, managed and run by representatives of Montessori Schools across Australia. Our Business Manager, David Anderson, has been selected as an interim director on the new board. Policies reviewed and passed with only minor formatting changes required were; Delegations Policy, Junior Sports Policy, Induction Policy – Staff, Induction Policy – Relief Staff and Library Policy. The Board is awaiting quotes and engineers’ reports for the addition of solar panels to the Middle School. These were not part of the initial build stage due to time restraints and the cost estimates were no different for installation during construction or after completion. Solar panels are a very effective means of reducing electricity costs and our carbon foot print. P&F are on track to host an amazing School Fete on Friday November 29th, with many stall holders booked. A wonderful event for the whole school community to enjoy. Karen updated the Board on the Reconciliation Action Plan that she is convening. The full board are in support of the inclusion into the school curriculum and community, Kaurna language and culture. The Board are seeking ideas for the school to be involved in community, both local and global, projects or organisations. Suggestions have included Adopt a Spot, meals on Wheels, Trees for Life, Moana Sands etc The Board would like to congratulate Progga on her achievement in the ICAS assessments, receiving top results for English across SA & NT. If you have any questions or concerns about anything discussed in this report, please approach any Board member or email board@southernmontessori.sa.ed.au We look forward to catching up at the School Fete on November 29th!

James McEwan Board Member.

Cycle 3 at the Middle school As part of our transition to the Middle School programme, Cycle 3 students spent three days at the Middle School last week while our adolescent students were on camp. The Cycle 3 teachers planned a challenging and exciting three days that were designed to make use of all the facilities. The last day finished with an invitation to families to attend an afternoon tea and look at the students’ work. Milly, Alyssa and Anjali would like to share their experience; On Tuesday, Cycle 3 went to the Middle School for 3 days. We did some activities and we would like to share what these activities were. Science We did science with Alison. We looked at Bunsen burners and we put an egg over the top, and it started to go wrinkly and black. Then we put it in the water and the soot turned silver. We also had some red cabbage water and put it in different solutions to see if the solutions were acidic, alkaline or neutral. Cooking We did cooking with Jodie. We made cookies that were shaped in stars in groups of three or four and stacked them on top of each other to make a Christmas tree. Then we added icing and finished it all off with sprinkles. We took them home on Thursday and enjoyed them with our family. Outdoor Education We did Outdoor Education with Renee. We did orienteering in groups of 2, 3 or 4. We used a map and we looked around the school grounds for coloured paper. We started of inside the school and then we went to the park. They were tricky to find. Literacy We did literacy with Michelle and Lea. We watched the music video to ‘Titanium’. We discussed feelings, emotions and what was happening. We then had to make a simple sentence like, I have a cat, and turn it into a descriptive sentence like, I have a fluffy ginger cat with green eyes. We really enjoyed going to the Middle School and we are very thankful that the Middle School students let us use that space, and we are excited to go there in the future. It was a great experience and will certainly help make the transition process easier for our Year 6 students as they are now so familiar with the Middle School environment. Thank you to the teachers and assistants for providing this opportunity.

SAPSASA Cricket

From 4th to 7

th November, Denny, Michael and

Carter played for Onkaparinga North in SAPSASA Cricket. They all had a great time, and out of 4 games, they won 3 and only lost 1. All their team-mates where awesome and very skilled. They were 3

rd placed of the 8 teams in their division.

Everyone played very well and Denny and Carter can’t wait to try out next year for the team. They already knew a lot of the people who made it in the team but whoever they didn’t know, they made friends with them. All of them had a great time and they definitely recommend it.

Dear Parents,

Notes for wrist bands for the Southern Montessori Twilight Fair have gone home. Please return your money and note before Friday the 29th of November to ensure your child receives a wrist band.

There are quite a lot of items in the second hand cupboards. Pop in to the office before or after school to have a look at what is available. Items are $4 each.

Children and adults leaving from the staff car park have often had close calls with cars in the carpark. The car park is a staff car park only and access to cars on the road should be via the path along the oval.

Danielle and Janine

Information and Workshops from the Community

*** See final page of this Bulletin

Post-Separation Parenting Course – Dealing with change after separation. Centacare, Level 2 45 Wake-field Street, Adelaide. $5.00 6 different session times in early 2020. Please contact Centacare on 8215 6700 for more information.

Onkaparinga Christmas Tree – Unwrapped gifts for 0 – 18 year olds can be donated from the 18th November until 12th December. Donation points at Noarlunga Council Office, Aldinga Library, Aberfoyle Hub Library and Woodcroft Community Centre. For more infor-mation please contact 8384 0666.

Being a Dad – Free community information session for dads. Wednesday 27th November 2019. 6-8pm Christies Beach Surf Life Saving Club, Esplanade, Christies Beach SA. RSVP to Malcolm Dean 8202 5200 or noar-lungafrc@unutingcommunities.org

NDIS Community Information Session – Thursday 21st November 10am – 12pm. Taikurrendi Children and Family Centre, Community Room. 8 Price Street, Chris-ties Beach SA. Creche is available. No Booking required. For more information contact Darjana Nikolic on 8186 1102.

Abilities Expo – Free Community Event. Saturday 30th Nov, 1-8pm. South Adelaide Football Club 1 Lovelock Drive, Noarlunga Downs. Hot Topics: Housing, Future Opportunities, Support for families, Health and wellbe-ing and Maintaining independence. 5.30 – 6.30pm light Dinner, Bookings required for Dinner, contact 8384 0661.

Term 4 - 15th Oct - 13th December

Mon 25 Nov - R-4 Swimming

Fri 29 Nov - School Fete

Thur 5 Dec - Year 9 Graduation Dinner

Mon 9 Dec - Year 6 Transition Day at M.S.

Tue 10 Dec - Cycle 3 Showcase

Various Concerts and Graduations TBA

2020 : Term 1 - 28th Jan - 9th April

Diary Dates

P R I N C I PA L S ’ D I G E S T S

HELPING CHILDREN SPEAK UP What do you say to a child who tells you: “If I do what they say, they let me play with them. If I don’t, they walk away and tell me not to follow.” To stand up to a peer group was to risk losing them but to follow the herd was to risk getting in trouble or allowing another child to be hurt.

Many children struggle to assert their thoughts and feelings but assertiveness can be taught. Knowing how to stand up for yourself and others is especially important when it comes to bullying, teasing, peer pressure and other negative behaviours. Building assertiveness skills takes time and practice.

TRY THESE STRATEGIES Talk about it. All too often we tell children what to do without actually giving them details on what we mean. Discuss different communication styles. Passive: Passive communicators struggle to make eye contact, use a very quiet voice and act as if other peoples’ rights are more important than their own. Aggressive: Aggressive communicators are loud, imposing and act as if their rights are more important than the rights of others. Assertive: Assertive communicators make eye contact, use a calm but firm voice and respect their own rights and the rights of others equally. Use characters from books, TV and movies to illustrate these communication styles. Model it. Be the model you want your child to copy. Stand up for your views, even if they may not be popular. This can be a tough one, especially when views clash. Model assertive communication skills. Teach your children to follow these steps when asserting their views:

Remain calm

Make eye contact

Use a clear, confident voice

Listen

There are times when we have to agree to disagree, but that doesn’t mean that we silence our voices. Practising statements like, “I appreciate that you explained your point of view. I have a different opinion, but now I know where you’re coming from,” teaches them that it’s okay to disagree. Use the mirror. Practise making eye contact in the mirror. Stand tall. Hold your shoulders back. By altering their body postures and facial expressions as they practice assertive statements, they can see what works and what doesn’t. Try realistic scenarios. Have your child come up with the problems and take turns acting as the bully and victim or aggressive and passive communicators. Practising the problem from both sides can be eye opening. The more children practise speaking up at home, the greater confidence and assertiveness they will have out in the world!