Volume 4 -  23rd March 2006
Week 8 .... Term 1

Ph: 8381 7166
Fax: 8381 6041

Email:
hvsadmin@happyvalley.sa.edu.au

Website:
www.happyvalley.sa.edu.au

Inside this issue.......
Aquatics/Swimming, Gov. Council News, Sports Day, A Reminder, J.P. Excursion, Child Safety, Principal's Awards, J.P. Assembly Awards, Pen Pals, Panalatinga Reserve, Pedal Prix, Fundraising, Kookaburra Cafe, Sport, Academic Achievers, Community News,

Several parents and staff attending Dr. Helen McGrath's session and found it very useful.  Thank you Gerri for this contribution that supports our focus on the Relationships Priority this year.

On Thursday March 9^th I went along to a talk by Dr. Helen McGrath, Psychologist, Educator and Researcher from Deakin University, entitled 'Developing Resilience and Self Esteem in Your Child'. It was well attended by the local school community and was a very engaging and thought provoking evening. As a parent, at times I felt that the information had been developed for me personally. I suspect many felt this way.

Helen talked about Resilience being the ability to cope with negative events and being able to 'bounce back' emotionally afterwards. If a person has this ability they are less likely to resort to maladaptive behaviours (truancy, drug use and anti-social behaviour) in order to cope.

Healthy Self Esteem was defined as the value one places in oneself and is strongly linked to resilience. A stand out point for me was that it is important to help children deal with negative feelings and outcomes in order for them to have healthy self esteem. She discussed how young people who are protected from these things, and are continually praised, develop a sense of entitlement and are prone to feeling like victims when disappointment occurs.  "Trying to shield young people from sadness, frustration and anxiety when they lose, fail or make mistakes can deprive them of the motivation to persist until they succeed.... It is necessary to fail, feel bad and try again repeatedly until success occurs. It is success in the face of these difficulties that can genuinely make children feel good about themselves."

She also presented a comprehensive list of strategies to help parents teach resilience and develop healthy self-esteem in their children. They included avoiding over focusing on making your child feel happy all the time and teaching them how to accept difficulties and sad times. Building self-knowledge, good social skills, conflict management skills, optimistic thinking, pro-social values, initiative, goal achievement skills and an attitude of courage (being prepared to face fear), were some other strategies that were discussed in detail. A strong message on all this, was the importance of parents modelling behaviour.

I came away with lots of useful and practical strategies and lots of enthusiasm to put them into place.

Gerri McGregor
Happy Valley School Parent

If anyone would like a copy of the comprehensive notes distributed after the session, please see Barb Williams.

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In week six the year three to five students went to Marion Swimming Centre on a bus. First we had to swim freestyle for a quarter of the pool. After they told us a colour.  There was red, yellow, green, blue and white. Then our instructor took us back into the water to do our swimming lessons. Some of the activities we did were water polo, diving and under water hockey. All the classes did a different activity on a different day.  We also did snorkelling; life jackets (P.F.Ds) and used the flippers. Some groups had to swim laps of the pool and some didn't. Then at the end of the week we got to go down the 60m water slide. For the year fives it was the last time for us to go to Marion swimming centre. Most of us enjoyed this week because it was fun and we got to see our friends in the other classes.

By Allison yr5

In week six the year three to fives went to Marion Swimming Centre by bus.  First we did some freestyle so they could put us in groups. There are five groups - white the lowest group, blue the second lowest group, green the middle group, yellow the second highest group and the red group the highest group. Every day each group would do different activities such as under water hockey, water polo, flippers, snorkels, life jackets (P.F.Ds) and swimming in clothes. At the end of the week we got to go down the 60 m slide. For the year fives it was their last year at Marion pool.

By Jaye  yr5

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STUDENT FREE DAYS
Governing Council has approved the following Student Free Days.

1]  Monday May 1^st [this is the first day of term 2]

During this year the major focus is in relation to Well Being -- Relationships.  As a school we will be using the "Friendly Families -- Friendly Schools" programme. This programme, from Edith Cowan University, WA will form the basis of all of the work that we will do this year. We have ordered the programme but this will not arrive for at least 2 weeks. We therefore need a whole day to go through all aspects of the work and plan what we will be doing and implementing for the rest of the year. It is also critical that parents and caregivers have knowledge and are involved with this work.

During this day we will be examining --

• Policy development
• Ethos
• Student Management & Support
• Classroom Practice
• Family Links
• Physical Environment

2]  Tuesday 13^th June. [The day after the June long weekend]

All schools across the state have been given an extra student free day this year when all staff are required to do an update of their "Mandatory Notification" and Child Protection training. We will be combining with Aberfoyle Hub Schools for this day.

Staff are currently looking at dates for the other Student Free Day and School Closure which it is hoped to bring to Governing Council on the 10^th April meeting in order for parents to have as much advanced notice as possible.

Please put these dates in your diaries. OSHC will be available and bookings will be received up until the end of week 10, which is Friday April 7^th

If your child will be entering the (University of NSW) Mathematics, Science, English, Spelling, Writing competitions this year, it is not too late.  See the last newsletter for information and entry forms.

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Last week, all the Junior Primary children went to see a Patch Theatre production. Here are some of their reports.

We saw  Special Delivery on Wednesday and my favourite part was when Emily put Eddie in the box and came out  in the park. I liked it because it was cool. It was funny when Emily put her glasses up and down. It was even cool when they made the puzzles and pass the parcel. My favourite character was Eddie because he was in most of the show and came out at the park.

By Daniel

We went to a show. There was a man carrying boxes and there was a car first.  There was a box and a cutting saw. Out came a girl with  glasses.  She moved her glasses up and down. The boy made a person out of the boxes.

He made a face on the box. There was a dog made out of  paper and it ran off. It played around on the people. They  did some tricks  too. The girl ate paper and she pulled paper out of her mouth. The girl crumpled it up then made it normal again.

By Timothy

We went to a show and it was called Special Delivery and this is how it started a car drove across the  stage first. Then Emily came out of the box. The newspaper  turned into a dog made out of paper. Emily's glasses went up and down and Emily put the man in the box. The  people made out of paper came out of the man's mouth. The man came out of the box. There were a lot of people watching and we liked it. Emily put the paper in her mouth and the man pulled the paper.  Emily is crazy in the show. I liked it best but the best thing is when Emily was a good person. The man went to the door and the man did not get the present. There were lots of presents.  The man  is one year old in the show. The man and the man's friend had a cup of tea  and biscuits. We liked the man in the show.

We went on a bus to get  there. We ran on the oval and the  show was good. The time  we went was 9:30 and we went to school at 12:30. We liked the play.

By Chelsea

CHILD SAFETY -- BEFORE AND AFTER SCHOOL PLAY

We understand that our Playground equipment is very appealing. However we have had a number of close calls before and after school when a large number of pre-school children have been playing on the play equipment. We ask that parents closely supervise their children at all times, both before and after school, as the equipment is relatively high for very young children.   Many thanks.

Congratulations to the following students who have received Principal's Awards, for demonstrating our school values.  They are Shaun Lapere, Mark Letherby, Emily Brautigan, Lachie Scholfield, Shane Stagg, Cameron Gallas, Caleb Daniel, Chloee Price, Carly Hammond, Nathanael Hamilton, Abbie Culliver, Rebecca Jutilane-Maynard, Sean Goldfinch, Ashley Goodman, Eliza Clavell, Jordan Goudy, Lucy Robertson, Ben Fischer, Scott Paterson, Amelia Vardas, Paul Ellacott, Alexandra Wilson, Katelyn Sandric, Braden Howard, Ben Richardson, Abbie Culliver, Kayla Foran and Ben Wilden.

At our assembly last week, several children received Program Achieve awards.  The children who were presented with awards for one of the "Keys to Success" were Rhys Hines, Blake Schunke, James Dasari, Courtney Huckstepp, Matthew Hakof, Brittany Cutts, Lachlan Gallas, Ryan McGregor and Corey Haese.

Miss Strachan and Mrs Kakoschke have started "pen pals" with Scottish children at Lynburn Primary School.

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Can You Help? Welcome to the new year in our wonderful Panalatinga Reserve. We are so lucky to have this fabulous area bordering our school and to have the ongoing support and interest
of the Onkaparinga Council and local community members.....BUT....your reserve needs you too!!

This area is recognised as one of the best preserved and most significant areas left in the Mt Lofty Ranges for this unique type of habitat, the Grey Box Scrub, which used to cover large areas of the region and support large populations of some of our beautiful animals and plants.  With so much suburban development we now only have tiny patches like this, which cannot survive without help from us.

HOW CAN YOU HELP?
Every month we have get togethers at the Reserve and plan and do various activities to improve or maintain the vegetation, paths etc  Also we help with the annual planting by the year 3/4/5 students either before, during or after the children get down to it in June.

Our times together are not only productive but also full of chatter and laughs and you finish feeling that you have made a small contribution and a difference to your world.  We encourage families as this lets the children have a feeling of ownership and guardianship and it encourages responsible use of this lovely area.

SO HOW ABOUT IT?
Wouldn't you like to be a part of helping us in this quest?

Our timetable is briefly outlined here and we'd love to see you there on any of these days.  We are alternating Saturdays and Sundays to accommodate as many as possible.  We usually provide our own gloves but there are usually spares so just bring yourselves, sensible shoes and a coat if it looks cold or damp.

We meet at the propagation shed by the oval and our sessions usually go from 1:30pm to 3:30pm approx, but of course that's up to you.

Sunday April 9^th                      
*Remove old guards, some weeding
Saturday June 3^rd                    
*Link in with school planting, some preparation
Sunday August 6^th                  
*Tidy up from school planting, hand weeding 3 cornered garlic

Saturday September 16th          *More garlic plus freesias, sporaxis other non native bulbs Sunday October 22nd               *Restaking, weeding. Saturday November 25th *Weeding then Christmas Break Up
More Information? Please contact any member of the team.  You might find it easier to speak to Marie Szeitz, Helen Whisson, Diane Gordon, Sharon Nash around the school, or Heather Barnfield and Kay Dennert who are involved with OSHC if you would like
more information.
Helen Whisson

PEDAL PRIX INFORMATION NIGHT

The Pedal Prix Information Night scheduled for next Monday March 27^th will now be held in the Long Room NOT the Hall as advertised in the brochure given to students last Tuesday.

Interested Year 6/7 students and their families are welcome to attend the evening, which commences at 7.00pm.

Scott Francis

Fundraising is a very important part of our financial planning at Happy Valley. As the annual budget is put together there is a great emphasis and acknowledgement of the fact that our very dedicated fundraising group works so hard to achieve the set target. Last year the target was $10,000 and fundraising activities raised over $9,700. This money goes directly into our school budget. Without it, we would be unable to provide many of the resources that our children enjoy, and which support our learning programs.

The fundraising group receives great support from our school community and this is critical to the success of the various fundraising events and activities, which are planned throughout the year. More information is provided below and will continue to be published in future newsletters.  Again, many thanks to our fundraising group.

                         Last Reminder
Just a last reminder that sunscreen money needs to be returned by this Friday, March 24^th. Also, please return any unsold sunscreen by this date as well.

Sausage Sizzle -- Sports Day
The fundraising committee is providing a Sausage Sizzle on Sports Day. They will also be selling drinks, including cans and bottles of water. Please see the map for the location. Also, if you

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• SPORTS DAY LUNCH ORDERS have been extended until Monday 27^th March.  Please order soon as limited amount of hot food will be available over the counter.  If you have lost your order, ask for one at the front desk.

• Thank you to all the families who have supported our Healthy Food menu.  It is going very well.

• Lunch orders will be available on the last day of term Thursday 13^th April.  Please make two hot food choices and two milk choices.

ROSTER
Mon. 27 Mar.                Sue Tiddy
Tues. 28 Mar.                Katrina Allen
Wed. 29 Mar.                Karen Erlandsen
Thur. 30 Mar.                Tracey Willshire
Frid 31 Mar.           SPORTS DAY -- Help required                                     especially to bag up orders.
Mon. 3 Apr.                 
Tues 4 Apr.                  
Wed. 5 Apr.                  Andrea Chapman
Thur. 6 Apr.                  Tracey Willshire
Frid. 7 Apr.                   Glenys Moylan

Regards, Helen King

HAPPY VALLEY FOOTBALL
Well it's only 5 weeks to go to the start of our great game of Football.  Training will start on TUESDAY 28/3/06 for the Years 2/3's, WEDNESDAY 29/3/06 for the 4/'s and the 6/7's.  Training will start at 3.30pm and continue until approx 4.45 pm.

Coaches for this year are-
Years 2/3          Ray Wilden
Years 4/5          Dean Cox and Simon Brandenburg
Years 6/7          Colin Paterson

For the new players the uniform is Green Shorts with green socks, all jumpers are supplied but they must be washed and kept clean throughout the season and returned at the end of the season on Presentation Day.

There will be a Coaching clinic for the Year 6/7's at SOUTH ADELAIDE FOOTBALL CLUB on the 30/3/06.  This has been organised so that the 6/7's have a better opportunity to improve their skills and be shown different ball skills. The Panther league has been given the support by AFL Teams CROWS & POWER who will be attending and helping out by

On Tuesday I was honored to attend Urrbrae Agricultural High School for the presentation of Scholarships given to students who have achieved high academic levels.  I was proud at the number of ex Happy Valley School students that were awarded the scholarships.  They were -- Scott Goldfinch (Yr.8), Samantha Finan (Yr.9), Tegan Wilson (Yr.9), Emma Hillman (Yr.10), Gavin Nash (Yr.10), Darcy Nicolle (Yr.11) and Kerri Duncan (Yr.12 and 1^st Year University).  Well done to all of the students.

Georgie Goldfinch

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