305 Tomewin Road Dungay (via Murwillumbah) NSW 2484 | P: 02 6672 2174 | F: 02 6672 5967 | E: dungay-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au W: dungay-p.schools.nsw.gov.au | School Stream app for Android, Apple and web

Dear families,

Hello, Bonjour, Buenos Dias, G’Day, Guten Tag, Konichiwa, Ciao, Shallom, Dobrey Dyen to all the beautiful parents, grandparents and carers of Dungay PS

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE Last week student reports were sent home with your child. Also, a note regarding parent interview times was sent home for parents to return. Parent interviews are a great opportunity to connect with your child’s teacher to help improve their learning journey. If you have any questions regarding your child’s report or parent interviews please contact the school. This week Veda and I are out of the school. Veda is attending a wedding and I am on PSSA Rugby League duties as manager of the North Coast team at

St Marys (Penrith). Mrs Ryan is relieving in my absence.

PSSA SMALL SCHOOLS SOCCER KNOCKOUT Wednesday 26 June 2019

This Wednesday our students will be involved in the first round of PSSA Small School Soccer knockout against Crystal Creek PS. The game will be held at the Murwillumbah Soccer Fields. We will be joined by other smalls such as Burringbar, Duranbah and The Pocket. This way the winners and losers will get more than one game as extra rounds will be completed. Parents are to transport their child to the Jim Devine field by 9am. Mr Simpson will be supervising the boys and girls at the knockout. Due to the cold

weather, please ensure your child comes with a jumper, tracksuit bottoms and plenty of food and water.

MURWILLUMBAH FESTIVAL OF PERFORMING ARTS Monday 1 July 2019 (Week 10) – Year 6 only

Thank you to all the parents who have returned the permission note for the Murwillumbah Festival of Performing Arts. This year Mr Simpson has entered our school band. Please note that this is for Year 6 students only with Year 5 students being reserves. If you have not returned the permission note, please

do so.

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UPCOMING EVENTS

WEEK 9

Wed 26 June Soccer knockout, M’bah fields Thur 27 June Dental visit Art after school, 3.00-4.15pm (6/7) Fri 28 June NO ASSEMBLY due to dance practice Mon 24 June - Fri 28 June Principal away at State Rugby League

WEEK 10

Mon 1 July Yr 6 band at M’bah Performing Arts Festival 9.30am Tues 2 July Stewart House Concert Wed 3 July Interviews 1pm-7pm MADD Wollumbin HS (Years 3-6) Thur 4 July Art after school, 3.00-4.15pm (final 7/7) with a visit to the Regional gallery

TERM 3

WEEK 1

Mon 22 July Students and staff commence term 3 (NO PUPIL FREE DAY) Thur 25 July Small schools athletics carnival—canteen helpers needed

WEEKLY

Assembly: 2.15pm each Friday in 5/6J.

Canteen: Each Mon, Wed & Friday.

Playgroup: Each Tuesday 9am

Please also find this Newsletter uploaded

on our website and School Stream app.

Seek, See and Achieve!

Week 9 | Term 2

24 June 2019

Newsletter

DUNGAY PUBLIC SCHOOL

No assembly this week due to Stewart House Concert dance practice.

Tickets for the concert on sale now at the school office. Matinee $5, evening $8.

STEWART HOUSE CONCERT Tuesday 2 July 2019 (Week 10)

Our students have been busy practicing their dance moves for the upcoming Stewart House performance. I understand some parents have concerns about the venue being at Tweed Heads. Please contact the school if you are available to provide carpooling for the night time performance. We would love to see all students attend. There will be a matinee performance and a 6pm night time performance. A note about

costumes has been sent home with all students today.

Tickets are on sale at the school office—be quick!

ART ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM Thursdays, 3:00pm – 4:15pm The Art program continues this Thursday. For the final week of the program, Thursday 4 July, Mr Daley is organising an excursion for all students involved to visit the Murwillumbah/Tweed Regional Art Gallery. A note will be sent home this week. Travel will be by bus to and from

the gallery.

Mr Joshua Stephens Principal

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ESSM in the spotlight

At Dungay PS we have a group of passionate students who have created a society to help protect endangered insects and animals. Leading this charge are Dylan, Trisuli and Violet who feel we can make a

better place for all living creatures.

ESSM is the Endangered Species Society Murwillumbah created by Dylan.

It involves saving animals and protecting their natural

environment. Dylan is a keen conservationist who is

following his passion by creating this society. He is

aided by Trisuli and Violet to assist in spreading the

message.

2020 kindergarten

ORIENTATION

This year we are holding six sessions in our kindergarten orientation program. On Friday 30 August from 2.00pm-3.00pm we will hold a

special afternoon tea for parents and children. The remaining dates for children are as follows:

Tuesday 22 October 2019, 9.15am to 11.00am

Tuesday 29 October 2019, 9.15am to 11.30am

Tuesday 5 November 2019, 9.15am to 11.30am

Tuesday 12 November 2019, 9.15am to 1.30pm

Tuesday 19 November 2019, 9.15am to 1.30pm

Taking learning outside

Maths session with

Mr Hollis

Literacy session with Mrs Robins

The “secret” to a positive parent-child bond has its roots in communication. How you communicate can

determine the quality of your relationship with your child. Done properly, it can lead to a positive and

satisfying relationship.

However, harmful or destructive communication can poison your relationship with your child as it can

make them feel small, insignificant and disempowered, leading to feelings of inadequacy and affecting

future performance. A very important concept to keep in mind is to “speak with” your child, not “speak at”

them. When you speak with them, they are likely to be active contributors to the conversation, versus

speaking at them, where they contribute little or nothing to the conversation.

Just like adults, children need to be acknowledged and empowered too. Being able to contribute makes

them feel useful and empowered because they are allowed to make choices.

Communication required

Between the ages of seven and 12, children start to develop the ability for logical thinking and exhibit adult-like thought patterns, which includes the ability to see things with more depth and from different angles. This is also the time when they begin to develop significant relationships with friends and peers. While you are still important as a parent, your influence and authority starts to wane at this stage. It is also at this point where your child’s self-esteem and self-confidence becomes more susceptible to how they believe those outside will perceive them. It is a good time to encourage them to be better aware of their abilities and how they are responsible for them, by acknowledging them when they demonstrate any sign of success and accountability.

What to focus on

You can encourage and nurture your child’s communication skills using positive feedback. Some of the basics include:

Setting aside time to talk

This can be, for example, when you take them for an outing, as you drive them to school or when doing the dishes together. Be curious, show interest and pay close attention to what they are telling you and be prepared to spend a little longer conversing, especially if they have something to get off their chest.

Being open and patient with emotions

Be free to identify and name their emotions, e.g. anger, frustration or excitement. This can help them be more aware of, and to learn to manage, their emotions. Children look to adults to learn how to manage emotions. So it is very important to acknowledge emotions in your children, rather than to tell them to ignore or reject them. We often encourage positive emotions, but reject negative ones. What they feel is natural, so acknowledging their emotions helps to normalise them and allows them to feel accepted. If you feel disappointed with them, you may express how you feel and talk about how you can address it together with them, but avoid blaming them for feeling what they feel.

Observe body language

Be aware of your own body language – be careful not to use contrasting body language when speaking with your child in order to avoid confusion. Their body language should also give you an indication of their state of mind, so be observant during conversations. Acknowledge how they might be feeling and ask if you are unsure. Children can see if you are upset, so acknowledge your own feelings in front of them. Hiding them only affects mutual trust.

Discussing concerns together

An objective of parenting is to guide children toward independent functioning. So, if at any time they come to you with problems, instead of solving it for them right away, explore how they might take steps to find solutions. Let them talk and listen first, then ask questions. A good one to ask is “What options have you considered?”. It is entirely possible that they already know how to solve their problem, but simply lack the confidence that it is the right choice. Where needed, you may model the next step or suggest a few options for them to think about and try. It’s important to show that you will support them and accept their options, even if you feel their choice may not be the best. Children also need to learn from mistakes and how to manage mistakes.

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How to talk positively with your child

Emphasise the importance of honesty

The parental struggle with getting kids to be honest is as old as time. If you want honesty, you have to reward honesty, as painful as it may be. Praise honesty, but if it is upsetting, do express how you feel. Get more “honesty mileage” by NOT being confrontational when you are upset. Confronting in an angry and accusatory manner, coupled with anger and/or threats, would “encourage” him to take the easy way out, which is usually to create more lies. Don’t make them fearful to tell you the truth – if you are angry, take the time to collect yourself before talking to them. Be firm, but gentle, and insist on honesty. Nevertheless, if there are consequences to the wrongdoing (e.g. an agreed punishment), be sure to carry it out, but always acknowledge and reward honesty.

Allow them to finish before responding

This is by being the model for respect – don’t cut them off – and above all, don’t make assumptions before they complete whatever they were saying. Before making any response, ask them questions to check that you have all the facts. Positive communication is mutual respect.

Use simple language/ideas

For children, it is important to keep instructions short and simple. Communication is all about getting the message across to each other, so don’t confuse them by using words that they do not understand, as you will need to stop and explain those words to them, thus disrupting the flow of the entire conversation.

Avoid labelling children

Call a mistake a mistake. Do not label the person based on the mistake. If they have done something wrong and you wish to call attention to it, focus on the action and its consequences. Avoid using negative labels, e.g. naughty, lazy, loser, failure, worthless, irresponsible, etc. For instance, if you say “Are you stupid?” often enough, you run the risk of your child believing that they are stupid, simply because you said so. It’s much better to say, “What you did was silly. There are better ways to do it”, so that there is a sense of hope for improvement. “Stupid” is more of a full-stop, with no improvement available.

Encourage the skilful, drop the unskilful

When children start to develop self-efficacy and self-esteem, they learn the concepts of good and bad that are usually used as labels on them and on others. To reinforce the previous point of avoiding labelling, help children see that there are skilful and unskilful behaviours. This helps them understand that skilful behaviours lead to beneficial outcomes, while unskilful ones lead to unwanted consequences, and that behaviours go beyond “good and bad”. They have the responsibility to constantly adapt and improve themselves.

Monkey see, monkey do

The need for a good parental role model cannot be over-emphasised. It is human nature to have someone that we look up to and admire – this role model is someone that we may want to be, and thus, we try to emulate him or her as much as possible. This is especially true in the case of children, and parents are the very first role models a child has.

Because you are the parent and the adult, you are automatically a model for appropriate behaviours, e.g. if you want honesty, be honest; if you want apologies, offer apologies. If you want your child to act a certain way, you need to show them how it is done, i.e. by your actions. If you want them to communicate with you in a certain way, then how you talk and interact with them and with others will serve as an example to your child. After all, children learn by modelling from adults; so be sure to speak with your child, and anyone else, with respect. This way, you are giving a much more powerful message on positive communication.

Be as consistent as possible in your approach, together with other adults around you (e.g. your spouse, parents, siblings, friends), who play nurturing roles for your children.

Written by: Assoc Prof Dr Alvin Ng Lai Oon is a clinical psychologist and vice-president of the Malaysian Society of Clinical Psychology.

https://www.star2.com/health/2019/02/08/how-to-talk-positively-with-your-child/

The need for a

good parental

role model

cannot be

over-emphasised

Keys to good

communication:

Be encouraging

Be open

Be patient

Be observant