Volume 11- 23rd July 2021

From the Principal

"Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships." – Michael Jordan

At Leichhardt, we value Teamwork in our students, staff and parent community. A great example of Teamwork was on display on Friday, during our NAIDOC celebrations. Aunty Marly and her team created an array of interesting activities for the students to engage in and all staff worked together as one. Our Deadly Dancers stole the show again with their brilliant performances. Most importantly, our students showed respect for this important day by sitting quietly for the duration of the Opening Ceremony, and then engaging in all the activities. Our P&C were fantastic at organising the food for everyone in attendance – we are so lucky to have our fabulous Tuckshop staff!

We had many special guests in attendance, including representatives from all levels of government: Hon Shane Newman MP federal member of Blair Qld, Mr Jim Madden MP Queensland Legislative Assembly for Ipswich West , Cr. Marnie Doyle Ipswich City Council Division 3; our Elders and their families; people from the education sector, Kambu, PCYC, to name a few. Their positive comments have been so inspirational and encouraging!

As I said in the NAIDOC speech, Leichhardt State School is serious about improving learning outcomes for all our students. We take the idea of Closing the Gap seriously in everything we do. We are so proud to show you the gains we have made since 2019!

Thank you to the students for their hard work and Being Learners, their parents for being there to support them and encourage them and the wider community for giving us a chance to dream a better future for all the young people in our community.

In addition to the above data, I would like to show you the success of all our students and the improvements they have made this year. End of semester is a significant moment in a school year because of the opportunity it presents to reflect on the journey so far. At this halfway point, it is important to look at the data to celebrate successes and decide on the next steps. This semester, we have a lot to celebrate as you can see in this graph.

I hope you enjoy this week’s newsletter!

From the Deputy Principal – Mrs Tracey Phillipps-Lewis

Parent Teacher Interviews

On Tuesday 20^th July we held our Parent Teacher Interviews. It was great to see so many families come and discuss they child’s progress.

Thank you to everyone for following our COVID19 Safe Plan which made the afternoon run smoothly.

Attendance

Attending school every day matters!

Parents have a responsibility to ensure their child attends school every day.  In Week 5, notes for unexplained absences will be sent out again. We will send out a reminder through the SchoolStream app when this occurs.

When your child is absent, you must inform the school as soon as possible stating the reason and expected duration of the absence. Absences relating to birthdays, shopping, refusing to attend school, visiting friends are all classed as unauthorised absences and, as such, are considered unapproved absences.

If your child is persistently unwell, it is recommended that you provide a medical certificate.

If you are having difficulty getting your child to school, please contact the office and let them know of the situation and a member of the Leadership Team will be in touch.

Electives

The students in Years 4 to 6 have had a great start with there electives this term. Everyone has been engaged with their learning in this time. Students involved have been speaking positively about their experiences including the students in Year 1 who are reading with older students and the Prep students who have been doing some buddy activities.

From Our HOSES

At the end of Term 2, some of our SEP students asked if they could work together to make a treasure chest chocolate cake for the Math Week cake baking competition.

Students shared jobs and worked together under the guidance of Miss Jodie to:

• Plan the cake design.
• List the materials they would require.
• Create a shopping list.
• Identify and follow health and safety requirements.
• Read recipes.
• Measure ingredients.
• Decorate the cake.

The end result was a large chocolate treasure chest overflowing with pirate treasures. The chest was sitting on a sand island and surrounded by shimmering blue jelly water. When they displayed the cake, the students planned and arranged for a frappe to be purchased and sitting with the display to add a special touch and make it stand out to the judges.

The students thoroughly enjoyed working together to create this masterpiece and were thrilled when their cake was chosen as one of the winning entries.

In the end, everyone involved shared both the cake and the prize. They left for the break excited to have the opportunity to make more cakes with their family and friends over the holidays.

Gardening Projects

As part of our modified curriculum activities, some of our students are involved in gardening projects. At the end of Term 2, students harvested the crops that had been planted. We enjoyed looking at our abundance of fresh tomatoes, carrots and sunflower seeds, which were shared with staff.

We will soon be planting new crops in our gardens for the winter. If you would like to donate any gardening materials of be involved with our gardening please don’t hesitate to contact the school.

Reading @ Leichhardt

Monday Week 1 Assembly

There was much to celebrate at the first Assembly after the holidays as the June Reading Eggs awards were announced.  It was wonderful to see so many of our students being acknowledged for their reading success.

The ‘Reading The Most Books from the Reading Eggs Library’ for the month of June was awarded to Ruby in 3C!

Completing the ‘Most Reading Egg Lessons’ for the month of June award went to Kevin from 1A!

Completing the ‘Most Reading Eggspress Lesson’ for the month of June was awarded to Jewelistah from 2A!

Also, four students from 2A received Gold Reading Eggs awards.  These students were:  Chloe, Malakai, Kailyn and Fedor.  Well done, students!

Other students receiving Gold Reading Eggs awards included:

Delilah-Rose from Prep B,

Cody and Will from 3C, 

and Cooper and Hunter from 1B.

It was also great to see our Senior students going for Gold!

Pictured below are Dahlia (5A), Liam-John (4B) and Kaiden (4A) with their Gold Reading Eggs certificates.

Justin from Year 6 worked exceptionally hard and earned two Gold awards.  Well done, Justin!

Ms G won the ‘Reading Eggs/Reading Eggspress Teacher Award’ for her class (2A) completing the most Reading Eggs/Eggspress lessons.  Well done, Ms G!   Well done, 2A!

Monday Week 2 Assembly

At Assembly on Monday more Reading Achievements were celebrated with Mark (6B), Mia (2C),  Jahkeivia (3C) and Nitalia (3C) (pictured below) completing the Premier’s Reading Challenge and Jahkeivia and Nitalia wining the weekly ‘Premier’s Reading Challenge – Class Award’.  Well done, students!

On Tuesday, Harrison and Haylee from 2C completed their first Premier’s Reading Challenge form. Excellent work!

Fellow studnets, Zeb and Nate submitted their second completed Premier’s Reading Challenge forms and Odyn submitted his third completed Premier’s Reading Challenge forms!  This means Zeb and Nate have read 40 books during the challenge and Odyn has read 60 books during the challenge.  Wow! That’s amazing! Well done, boys!

On Thursday afternoon, Elyssia,(2C)  submitted her first completed Premier’s Reading Challenge Form.  Well done, Elyssia!  Well done, 2C! 

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PBL News

Weekly focus:

In week 2 students have focused on the expectation ‘be safe’ and value ‘teamwork’ by revising the lockdown and fire drill procedures. Students have had important discussions about safety during these times. 

Attendance:

Congratulations to our winners of the attendance raffle. These 10 students have won a $1 tuckshop voucher for having 100% attendance in week 1! 

Junior students - Eliana, Ruby, Hunter, Israel, Kaden

Senior students - Kyarla, Charlie, Justin, Taura, Jaxx

Our class winners for the highest percentage of attendance: 

Junior:

1B - 89.6%

2A - 85.8%

Senior:

4A - 97.3%

6B - 89.9%

NAIDOC Day

On Friday Leichhardt State School held our annual NAIDOC Day celebration of History, culture and heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Following 2021’s theme of Healing Country we incorporated support of indigenous elders, special guests, and Schools such as Ipswich State High School and Payne Road State Primary School. We had performances from our proud Deadly Dancers followed by a full day of activities for our students to participate in. It was amazing to hear the children talking all about their day. Many wore their hand made headdresses and carried around clay art works. The day was full lots of big smile from our student who all seemed to enjoy the day. A big thank you to the teachers, staff, and our amazing P&C who catered for our celebration. Everyone’s support really made the day truly wonderful.

Learning @ Leichhardt

4B

This term in English the year 4 students are writing a recount based on a historical context. We started our week by writing recounts with a 'twist'. They were written from our parents' perspective. The students enjoyed thinking about the feelings and opinions of their parents and carers. We also wrote about a school day, this time from a teacher's point of view. In each of the writing pieces we made sure we incorporated a feeling or opinion about the day, including a justification of why. 

STEAM News at Leichhardt

This term, for science, our students in Year 5 have begun learning about the Solar System. The students looked at how scientists make claims and how they use science to either prove is disprove those claims. They then made a moveable 3D model of how the Earth orbits the Sun and the Moon orbits the Earth and made notes about the time that takes. Our Year 6 students have been learning how to make an electrical circuit. After making the circuit they have been drawing diagrams using the standard electrical symbols and explaining how their circuit transferred and transformed the energy.

This Semester, in arts, we have switched from Music to Dance.  In their Dance lessons, students have been looking at the elements of dance, the dance of different cultures, learning a group dance and creating their own dances.

Year 5 and 6 students have been getting ready for cooking lessons in their technology lessons. We have been learning about food waste, food safety and knife safety.

Bremer State High School

Bremer State High School will be hosting a Parent/Guardian Information session for students entering Year 7 in 2022. During this event, we will be sharing essential information, explaining the enrolment process, and providing an opportunity for families to ask any questions they may have. Can you please share the link below with your families on Facebook and email so they can register their interest. The details are as follows:

• When:                  Tuesday, 27 July 2021
• Where:                Bremer SHS (venue to be advised)
• Time:                    5.00pm-6.30pm

Facebook Event Link:      https://fb.me/e/1sdR3qSLO

Registration Link:             https://survey.qed.qld.gov.au/surveys/start.aspx?n=aO7h2Bw&aid=BnvWsKqr9dGAMpZKRkNT5g2

Community News

Planting Seeds of Resilience and Growing a Resilient BrainTheoretical underpinnings

What is resilience?
Resilience is generally considered to be the ability to cope with unexpected changes and challenges in life or when things go wrong. To be resilient one must be able to find and apply mental strength, coping skills and resourcefulness.
The lack of resilience in the face of adversity or trauma can leave to mental health issues later in life. The Australian Government understands the importance of resilience and the role of organisations that provide mental health services in strengthening resilience.

Traits held by resilience children include:

• Self-confidence

• Belief in capacity to grow

• Problem-solving

• Display empathy

• Keep going when things are tough

• Optimism

• Self-awareness

• Capacity to handle emotions

Therefore, to be resilient requires understanding of emotions and use of mindfulness.
How is resilience strengthened?
It is the view of the Australian Government, that:

“You can build your resilience by:

• knowing your strengths

• building your self-esteem – have confidence in your abilities and the positive things in life

• build healthy relationships

• knowing when to ask for help

• managing stress and anxiety levels

•working on problem solving skills and coping strategies.” (https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/resilience)

This is consistent with the views of leading scholars and practitioners in the field of psychology and theories of neuroplasticity. The base elements of the theory of neuropsychotherapy as described by Norman Doidge tell us that the brain has the capacity to develop new neural pathways which help an individual to change the structure of their brain in a way that allows them to be more resilient. This theory underpins contemporary evidence based approaches by leading practitioners such as Dan Siegel. Siegel states that ‘we stimulate neuronal activation and growth to change the very structure of our brain’. Siegel’s approach that the ‘circuits’ of resilience can be built and nurtured goes a long way to what is hoped is achieved from the development of ‘Planting seeds of resilience’ and ‘Growing a resilient brain’.
Methodology The methodologies underpinning the ‘Planting seeds of resilience’ and ‘Growing a resilient brain’ include:

neuroscience (as detailed above)

• positive psychology

• social learning theory

• attachment theory

• social development theory, and

• cognitive behavior therapy

Using an integrated approach and utilizing a range of theoretical approaches in the development and facilitation of ‘Planting seeds of resilience’ and ‘Growing a resilient brain’, allows for a flexible and inclusive approach. It combines the relevant elements from each approach to be utilized to meet the group objectives for the target participants. Positive psychology helps children identify and recognize their strengths and is a good first step in building their self-esteem, and gaining the beginnings of an understanding of what they are truly capable of. Albert Bandura’s social learning theory emphasizes the importance of learning through observation. It is based on the idea that children learn behaviors by watching and imitating other people within their own environment. Attachment theory links child development to a child’s ability to form a strong relationship with their primary caregiver/s, and that this gives the child a template from which to create future relationships (including, for example, friendships). An important aspect of this approach is recognition of emotions within oneself and other people and the development of empathy. Lev Vygotsky’s social development theory is based on the principle that those that are more knowledgeable will teach the other members through social interactions. This theory emphasizes the importance of ‘scaffolding’: the more knowledgeable person teaches the learner to a point by which the learner has enough knowledge to stretch themselves to extend their learning further. Cognitive behaviour therapy is based on the concept that thoughts, emotions and actions are linked, and that people have the capacity to become aware of how and change negative thoughts, feelings and behaviours with therapeutic intervention by learning to be more mindful and vigilant of their thought processes. Links between activities and strengthening resilience In facilitating each week, facilitators should take the opportunity to role model all of the elements of the program that it is intending to instill in the children, as well as teaching the material. Facilitators should also look to collaborate with the participants in order to facilitate the children’s learning through the material presented and accompanying activities.

Week 1

Draws its focus from attachment theory, looking to help children identify their emotions, the physiological response when a particular feeling occurs, as well as recognizing what emotions other people are experiencing. Emotion recognition in oneself and in those around us is essential in developing empathy, and as such in forming strong lasting relationships throughout our lives.

Week 2

The second week of the program focuses on some cognitive elements of resilience. By looking at self-talk, participants are helped to see how thoughts in our minds can sometimes be negative, and if we focus on these negative thoughts they can spiral, which can lead people to: • create a negative view of the world • evaluate themselves in a way that isn’t truly reflective of reality, and • develop a sense of helplessness and hopelessness The program aims to help participants combat negative self-talk and replace it with more helpful self-talk, and an optimistic expectation that good things will happen, as well as the belief that if they keep trying, they can affect a positive result.

Week 3

With a focus on empathy and communication, the third session of the program is based around attachment theory. By working with these important relationship elements, it looks to help participants to develop the tools that will help them to create meaningful, supportive friendships.

Week 4

The fourth session places an emphasis on social development theory, focusing on a problem solving tool, and also how we can learn from other people close to us, or who we admire from perhaps sport, entertainment or other societal influences. Threaded through each session of the program are activities that have their basis in positive psychology. Each week starts with an activity that has the children focus on the things they are grateful for, and something that has made them happy over the past week. This is aimed at helping them to start building a memory bank of positive experiences which they can draw from in challenging times. Each week ends with the children and their parents participating in a mindfulness activity that if regularly practiced should enable them to calm themselves during stressful times.

Stride Kids - Early Social & Emotional Wellbeing Service for 0-4 year olds - Open to New Referrrals

Our Early Social & Emotional Wellbeing Service (ESEWS) is currently open to new referrals.  The ESEWS provides infant mental health interventions for 0-4 year olds displaying mild to moderate symptoms of mental health concerns. ESEWS is a free service that works in partnership with families and parents/caregivers to provide early holistic care and support to infants and young children.  

Intervention is generally of 6-9 months duration, and is made up of three distinct phases.  During the therapeutic process, we work with both children and their parents/caregivers to help improve emotional health and wellbeing.  Phase 1 is a parent-only program, followed by two dyadic group programs, focused on the infant/young child and their primary caregiver(s).  

Families should be able to commit to all sessions of group programs, and the family environment must be stable enough to allow the intervention to be beneficial.  Participation is voluntary - please discuss the referral with parents.  Referrals can be made by service providers including GPs, paediatricians, allied health professionals and kindy/child care educators.  Unfortunately, we are unable to accept referrals for families with current involvement with Department of Child Safety.  If you would like to discuss a referral, please contact us on 3447-6500.

So, what might you be looking for:
    * showing very little emotion
    * showing little interest in the things around them
    * rejecting/avoiding being touched or held
    * making poor eye contact
    * rejecting/avoiding playing with others (within the bounds of normal development)
    * not turning to familiar adults for comfort or help
    * extreme fear or hypervigilance
    * excessive fussiness, or difficulty being soothed or consoled
    * inability to comfort or calm themselves, even with support from trusted adults
    * being easily upset with intense emotional responses
    * separation anxiety 
    * sleeping or feeding/eating difficulties (or sudden changes to sleep/feeding routines and behaviours)
    * sudden behaviour changes
    * aggressive or purposeful self-harming behaviours
    * being very busy and unable to settle to, or focus on, activities