Prep to Year 2 lunch with Mrs Bryers:  How blessed I feel to have had these special times with our students and what lovely conversations ensued during our time last Thursday.

I learnt so much about their holidays, their pets (always a hot topic of conversation) and their food preferences like whether they like the chicken gravy beside the chicken and chips or on the chicken and chips. That was very important.

Some of the children would sit quietly and join in when asked a question and others would gladly have held the floor for the whole time but I really enjoyed being with them. Navigating their way safely back to their classrooms was a challenge when torrential rain started just after the bell, but Mrs Aldridge managed to bring five umbrellas from my office to the library so the children could get safely back to class without getting wet. Just look at their little faces in this photograph – so sweet.

Fold up umbrellas in bags

Just a reminder that it would be so helpful if students had a fold up umbrella (named) in their bag so they could move to specific lunch time activities without getting wet. It doesn’t have to be a fold up one but for convenience this could be easily tucked away into one of the zippered compartments in their school bag.

Is your child getting enough sleep?

Years ago there was a police advertisement on TV which said “It’s 10:00pm, DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOUR CHILDREN ARE?”

At that time the focus of the message was children being out of the family home and maybe at risk with friends at parties or other activities which may not have been a safe environment late at night.

Today we have a different problem which is growing to epidemic proportions – online gaming with friends late at night. Teachers have expressed grave concerns that they have a growing number of children (in upper primary particularly) who come to school each day exhausted from being up late at night on gaming type programs where they are interacting with their friends after being sent to bed for the night.

So I would like to ask this question, not as Head of Primary, but as one parent to another…..

“IT’S 9:00PM. ARE YOUR CHILDREN SLEEPING SOUNDLY IN BED, OR UNBEKNOWNST TO YOU ARE THEY ON THEIR DEVICES GAMING OR INTERACTING WITH THEIR FRIENDS?”

I believe that some of you might be surprised if you secretly checked. There are simple things you can do to control this. This is what a good friend of mine has established with her family. She explained it like this.

“At 7:00pm an alarm on my phone signals and we all plug our devices in to be charged. As a family we then play Uno or Go Fish for three rounds. Lastly, we all read our own book on the couch together for half an hour after which we have a cuddle in bed and say goodnight. It’s so calm and relaxing. It’s truly the best time of my day”.

She said that it took a little while to set up a family meeting and come up with the plan and even to negotiate some details which her children really wanted that gave them the sense of having a “voice” in the discussion rather than just laying down the law which can create ill feeling and is often counterproductive. Now the children hear the 7:00pm alarm and immediately come and plug the devices in and wait for the precious family time afterwards.

All students will respond to a discussion about the need for a good night’s sleep but the older ones will appreciate the opportunity to have a voice and negotiate the plan with you.

Cheryl Bryers, Head of Primary