Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Special Edition
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Messages from Special Panaga School Senior Leadership Team
Edition
Dear Panaga School Community,
Special Edition Panaga School
IFM/4, BSP Company Sdn Bhd, Seria, KB 3534, Negara Brunei Darussalam
Phone: +673 3372139 Teraja Office +673 3372694 Rampayoh Office Principal: Cindy Bin Tahal
+673 8777028 Cindy-Rose.BinTahal@ bsp-shell.bn
Mendaram/Rampayoh Deputy Principal: Donna Bonham donnabonham@ panagaschool.net
Mendaram/Rampayoh Deputy Principal: Claire Richmond clairerichmond@ panagaschool.net
Teraja Deputy Principal: Perminder Sanghera permindersanghera@ panagaschool.net
Melilas Deputy Principal: Robert Unsworth robertunsworth@ panagaschool.net
Business Service Lead: Cyla Ahmad cylaahmad@ panagaschool.net
Welcome back to online learning, following last week’s mid term break. We hope that all students gained some well-earned rest and relaxation, along with quality family time during the break. It has been heartwarming to see the variety of community events that have evolved in Panaga due to dedicated members of our community. We are seeing a growing number of initiatives develop, to help us all move away from screens, get creative, be active and safely interact in a remote manner. We will provide you with some further information about these initiatives here: Panaga Rocks If you haven’t yet heard about Panaga Rocks, this will help answer why so many beautifully decorated rocks have started to appear across Panaga Camp. These rocks are placed in various locations, if found the finder is to ‘hide’ the rock in a new, safe location. To build a sense of community and excitement, there is a closed Facebook Page called “Panaga Rocks” that members of the Panaga Community are welcome to join. Acknowledgements to the founders, Miss Alex and Mr Guy Stanley. Thank you also to Miss Stacy Plank, for directing BSP funds to support this project.
Panaga’s Got Talent & Lego Building Competition A fantastic competition is underway until the 12th November, for children and families to submit entries to Panaga’s Got Talent and Lego Building Competition. Miss Stacy Plank is leading this wonderful opportunity to be creative and win some fantastic prizes. Follow https://forms.gle/ gHuTEiAAgx8aLDJU9 to submit your entries, or take a look at the flyers in this edition of PSB. Parent and Teacher Association (PTA) This week, our PTA held their 2021/22 Annual General Meeting (AGM), with the election of our executive. We are pleased to introduce you to our PTA Executive: Kristy McGrath - Chairperson, Damola Sanni - Treasurer, and Sarah Harrison - Secretary. This week’s remote PTA AGM was attended by 16 committee members, who engaged in thought provoking conversations. The PTA are considering how to build a sense of community and best support Panaga School students, while we function remotely. Future correspondence will be provided with updated developments. Thank you to our PTA committee for your continued support of our students and school community. New members are always welcome. Pictured (L-R) PTA Executive Members: Kristy McGrath, Chairperson Damola Sanni, Treasurer Sarah Harrison, Secretary
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Messages from Special Panaga School Senior Leadership Team
Edition
Staffing Updates
Special Edition Panaga School
IFM/4, BSP Company Sdn Bhd, Seria, KB 3534, Negara Brunei Darussalam
Phone: +673 3372139 Teraja Office +673 3372694 Rampayoh Office Principal: Cindy Bin Tahal
+673 8777028 Cindy-Rose.BinTahal@ bsp-shell.bn
Mendaram/Rampayoh Deputy Principal: Donna Bonham donnabonham@ panagaschool.net
Mendaram/Rampayoh Deputy Principal: Claire Richmond clairerichmond@ panagaschool.net
Teraja Deputy Principal: Perminder Sanghera permindersanghera@ panagaschool.net
Melilas Deputy Principal: Robert Unsworth robertunsworth@ panagaschool.net
Business Service Lead: Cyla Ahmad cylaahmad@ panagaschool.net
It is with great excitement that we can introduce the Panaga School Community to our new teachers who are joining our Additional Needs Team department. Miss Mia, our Lead Teacher of the Additional Needs Team offers everybody an introduction to our familiar members of the community, who we are fortunate to inherit as valued members of Panaga’s teaching team in her following editorial. Celebrations Cultural and religious celebrations are welcomed right across Panaga School with class, year group and assembly options available. Currently, we have had celebrations for Malaysia and Nigeria’s Independence Days at remote assemblies. Coming up we have Diwali. Christmas celebrations are under consideration for December. All cultural and religious groups are encouraged and welcome to contribute to celebrations at Panaga School throughout the year. Please see class teachers or a member of the senior leadership team to discuss further. We acknowledge that we have a diverse community and never intend to offend. In the event any cultural celebrations enacted need further consideration for your family, please contact your child’s class teacher or a member of the senior leadership team. Student Leavers - Final Departure and Holidays Please contact Miss Zu, Administration Officer, if your child will be leaving Panaga School or out of Brunei for a short period of time. Miss Zu can be contacted at z.jumat@bsp-shell.bn. We have an online form that requires completion for families who are in final departure or who will be out of the country. This provides us with necessary information to support your family, while maintaining required school administrative records. Wellbeing For All Sessions with Dr Angie Wigford We have two more Monday evening sessions with Dr Angie Wigford, addressing the topics of dealing with frustration and developing coping strategies. The login details for these sessions will be sent out through the Parent Representative chat group. All are welcome to join these sessions. In this PSB editorial you will find some resources and books suggested during earlier sessions, that focus on dealing with uncertainty and surviving anxiety. Further resources from our month long Wellbeing for All sessions will be distributed as they become available. We thank the many contributors to this week’s PSB edition. Your contributions are inspiring and help us to continue to connect, despite the challenges we face to remain united, Together Improving Learning.
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We wish everybody a very safe and happy weekend.
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Special Edition
Meet our newest Additional Needs Team It is with great pleasure that I introduce Panaga School community to the newest members of our Additional Needs Team: Oorna Bandyopadhyay and Sarah Harrison. Both Oorna and Sarah are already members of the Panaga community and will be familiar faces to many. Oorna and her family have been globetrotting for nearly two decades, gaining experience as a family from the wonderful people that they've met in many different countries. Oorna is a qualified clinical psychologist with a certificate in English language teaching. Oorna has extensive experience teaching children with different educational needs in schools following the National Curriculum of England. She specialises in supporting maths, literacy and fine motor skill development. She is very much looking forward to being part of the lovely Panaga School community. Sarah has been a member of the Panaga community for the last 4 years, with two children in the school, James in P6 and Niamh in P2. After taking a break from teaching when they moved to Brunei in 2017, Sarah jumped at the opportunity to work with the Additional Needs Team. Sarah has 13 years experience teaching children of varied ages and with a range of abilities and needs. She can’t wait to get started! Both Sarah and Oorna will be joining the team in a part time capacity and will be working across different sectors of the school.
Mia France
Sarah Harrison
Oorna Bandyopadyay
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Special Edition WELLBEING FOR ALL The following resources and suggestions have been offered throughout Panaga School’s Wellbeing for All sessions, led by Dr Angie Wigford, Educational Psychologist.
Dealing With Worry: “What to Do When You Worry Too Much” by Dawn Huebner is an interactive self-help book designed to guide 6 to 12 year old children and their parents. This book offers cognitive-behavioral techniques, most often used in the treatment of generalised anxiety.
The following books are recommended for 7 to 11 year old children
Dr Angie also shared some advice on how to best navigate conversations with children when they talk about their worries. Look to reassure children. The comments we offer may lead to children shutting down about their feelings, rather than allowing them a safe space to release and learn to manage them. Below are examples of how to rephrase what are often familiar comments when responding to worry: Possible Familiar Comments
Preferable Supportive Comments
Don’t worry
Can you tell me more about your worries?
It’s no big deal.
I can see you are feeling anxious about this - lets do something together.
You’ll be fine.
I am here to help you.
It’s nothing to be scared about.
Let’s talk about that together.
You just need to sleep more/better.
Let’s do some relaxation before bed. It might help.
I’ll do it.
I know you feel anxious but I know you can do it. I am here to support you.
It's all in your head.
Let’s take a walk together and calm that worry brain down.
Hurry up.
How can I help?
Stop thinking about it.
Let’s talk back to that worry by telling it some positive stuff.
I don’t know what you need.
Let’s try and find out what might help
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Special Edition More useful books wellbeing for all:
and
Resource
resources
to
improve
Notes
Make your Worrier a Warrior: A Guide to Conquering Your Child’s Fears, by Dan Peters
With this award-winning book, parents can team up with their children or teens to help them do the most courageous thing they will ever have to do: conquer their Worry Monster. Make Your Worrier a Warrior provides useful and comforting methods that parents can use to help their children create an anxietyreducing “toolbox” to carry with them wherever they go.
Why We Sleep, by Matthew Walker PhD
Written by a scientific expert, Matthew Walker explores 20 years of cutting-edge research to solve the mystery of why sleep matters. This book is aimed as parents and adults.
A Liberated Mind, by Dr Steven Hayes
This book teaches readers how to live better, happier and more fulfilled lives by applying the six key processes of Acceptance Commitment Therapy (ACT). Put together these processes teach us to pivot: to 'defuse' rather than fuse with our thoughts; to see life from a new perspective; and to discover our chosen values.
https://www.mindyeti.com
Free guided mindfulness sessions digital library to help children and adults calm their minds, focus their attention and connect better to the world around them.
https://www.youngminds.org.uk
Provides young people with tools to look after their mental health. Young Minds empowers parents and adults who work with young people, to be the best support they can be to the young people in their lives.
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Special Edition Developing An Attitude of Gratitude These questions are a great way to facilitate positive conversations for your family. Daily routines of having meals together or playing board games could create opportunities to ask such questions: • What are three things that went well for you today? • Who are you most grateful for today and why? • What are you looking forward to most about tomorrow? Journaling: Develop a gratitude journal. Spend time each day writing about things from the day that you are grateful for. The challenge initially is to complete a gratitude journal for 7 days straight without missing a day. The questions above can assist with ideas. Try completing a gratitude journal built into the same time each day, so that this can become a routine. Gratitude Tree: Why not make a family gratitude tree that you can display in your house. What to do: • • • • •
Place a branch or similar in a container on display. Think of things you are thankful for and write or draw them on decorative leaves to stick to the branch. You can keep adding leaves to the tree everyday or whenever you think of something you are grateful for. You can get the whole family to join in and create a family tree or just do one for yourself. Having the tree on display will help you focus on things that you are grateful for, every time you see it.
Noticing things that we are grateful for wires our brain to scan the world for the positives. It is believed that individuals who consciously pay attention to positive situations in their life: • are less likely to get sick • have higher levels of energy • feel happier • are more enthusiastic • are more determined • are more optimistic • have a better quality of sleep • have lower levels of depression and anxiety. (Ideas above are merged from a variety of sources)
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Special Edition
Outdoor Classroom Day is a global movement to inspire and celebrate outdoor play and learning, at home and at school. Outdoor Classroom Day encourages schools and communities to celebrate with special days, filled with learning activity outdoors. Globally, children are spending less time outdoors than ever before, and this is affecting childhood health, wellbeing and development. Time outdoors has the capacity to make children happier and healthier, promoting an appreciation for the natural environment. This year we will be celebrating and promoting Outdoor Classroom as a whole school between the 5th and 12th November. Classes will engage in various activities that will allow children to learn outdoors. To help you with creative ideas for things to do outside when at home, take a look at 50 things to do before you're 11¾. Follow this link from The UK National Trust: new50-thingsactivity-list.pdf. We encourage you to get out in the fresh air and build a den, or watch stars glitter in the night sky. You'll be a seasoned adventurer by the time you've managed to try out all 50 activities. Please remember to submit your outdoor learning and play time with us. We look forward to seeing what you get up in the great outdoors in future editions of PSB.
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Special Edition
Adrik’s Crab Habitat Adrik chose to make a crab’s habitat for his IC project. He had fun learning about the environment in which crabs lives. He was interested in the hermit crabs, which we luckily found at the beach. He could differentiate between hermit crabs and the others. He used play sand, pebbles, paper and some trees from his toy collection to make the “crabitat”. He also made a cosy corner for the crab to snuggle. He learned how to make a crab with a paper plate too. We had fun exploring the crab habitat! - Pratibha
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Special Edition
Owen & William Spread Awareness to “Save the Earth” Owen and William completed a school project that involved finding a creative way to engage others to help “save the earth”. Because they live beside the sea, and they are saddened by the amount of trash on the beach, they decided to engage others to help clean up the beach. When they realized that they couldn’t actually lead a group beach cleanup with their friends due to Covid restrictions, they devised a plan to deliver handmade invitations to a select group of friends to invite them to a challenge: the person who collected the most trash would win “the ultimate prize”. The boys spent two hours on their bikes delivering the invitations and they took great joy in providing pickers, bags, hand sanitizer and a place to leave the trash. Over the following week most of those friends came to do their part and the winner was announced Rowan, Oliver and their Mom claimed the prize and thank you cards. The boys were really excited to see the result of their efforts and want to encourage everyone to do their part by taking a bag when they go to the beach. - Kristina Grant
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Special Edition
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Special Edition
Sarah Makes Home Learning Fun For Sarah, learning is fun and exciting. Sarah spends her time at home in different activities, learning new skills with enjoyment. She tried to decorate her Elsa castle, using books for inspiration, which she likes to read with Mom and Dad. She loves building structures with her magnetic shapes. This week she focused on building rows of houses taught to her by Daddy. Her grasping skills have improved, and we do see her building different shapes by herself. She is super excited to see the marble rolling down the marble run structure. We observe her fixing the structure if it doesn’t roll down, without our help as well, which is a good sign of her trying to be independent. She loves to decorate cookies with different colors. She is helping to water the plants and spends her time with flowers, bright orange ones in the garden are her favorite. Home Learning with fun filled activities keeps her happy. - Shilpi
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Special Edition
P3S had great fun dressing up for Friday Fun morning on 29th October!
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Special Edition
P2: The Earth, Our Home
The children in P2 have been learning about how we can help the environment.
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Special Edition
Jessica
Louise Gijs
P2 children thought of different ways to help our Panaga environment. Some of us made a dance, some made posters and some made videos to remind us how we can look after our environment. How will you help? nowledge,
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Special Edition
Ria’s Taj Mahal School Project Inspired by the spectacular sunsets of Brunei, Ria has been trying to express the beauty of the skyline through her paintings. In the process, she is learning new painting techniques. Ria made the landmark “Taj Mahal” from India as part of her school project. This gave her a perfect opportunity to learn more about the historical masterpiece. She used household scrap to build it and was very proud of her creation. - Divya
Aseel has been crafting during the holiday
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Special Edition
Submit your entries now. Last entry submission : 12th November 2021 Judging week : 15th November 2021 Link below:
https://forms.gle/gHuTEiAAgx8aLDJU9 When submitting please ensure the following: You put your child’s name and class Your video cannot exceed 100GB / 3 Minutes You can submit only 1 entry per category
ANY TALENT IS WELCOME! Dance, Singing, Playing Music, Baking, Art, Lego Building, etc. Sponsored by
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Panaga School Biweekly, Issue One Hundred and Nine, 29th October 2021
Special Edition
“CREATE A STRUCTURE WITH ANY BUILDING BLOCKS”
Submit your entries now.
Last entry submission : 12/11/2021 Judging week : 15/11/2021
Links below: Lego Building Submission nowledge,
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Sponsored by
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