Newsletter 3 October 2018

3 October 2018

SACRED HEART COLLEGE Tel: 011 081 2203 Reception: 011 081 2200 Fax: 011 648 5204 Website: www.sacredheart.co.za

PRE-PRIMARY AND PRIMARY SCHOOL

Calendar

Newsletter Date: 3 October 2018

4 October Sacred Heart Day, no cocurricular activities 5 October Blue Group Production 6 October Sports Day 16-18 October Grade 4 and 5 camps 18 October No co-curriculars

Cash-free office For safety reasons we would like to reduce the amount of cash being paid in to the office. We also have to pay cash deposit fees to our bank every time we deposit cash. Please pay tuckshop money into the bank: quote the 5-digit number on your child’s card (it starts with 1) and the finance office will pick up the payment. If you bank with someone other than FNB and the payment is urgent, send proof of payment to volenten@sacredheart.co.za and it will be processed immediately.

Condolences We send our sympathy are prayers to Kayleigh Hendricks, Grade 5V, and Siphokazi Mlotshwa, Grade 5K, and their families, after the death of their grandmothers.

19-22 October Mid-term break 9-16 November Term tests Grades 4-6

“Happiness is not something ready made.

It comes from your own actions.”

Safety of children Please speak to your children about the dangers of wandering around the school after hours. We find children who have not gone to Aftercare or their homework classes, and who are hiding in the parking area or elsewhere in the school. We are concerned about the danger of possible child trafficking and kidnapping, so please discuss this with your child and make them aware that they must not do this.

Dalai Lama

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3 October 2018

Shout Out Out-of-school activities Congratulations to Rhys Wilkinson-Felgate, Grade 4N, who recently participated in the South African Open National Judo Tournament in Port Elizabeth, and in the South African Schools’ Tournament in Johannesburg.

Aqilah Ebrahim, Grade 4N, has been playing the piano for almost 7 years, and the violin for 3 years.

She played a violin solo at our Talent Show. Congratulations to our budding musician!

Thank you to these parents for letting us know about their talented children’s out-ofschool activities. If your child belongs to a sports club or is learning a skill outside school, please let us know so that we can celebrate this achievement.

Physio Corner: The Benefits of an Obstacle Course The thing about an obstacle course is that it’s not only fun, but it also has many underlying physical and cognitive benefits to it.

“Children learn best when they are actively engaged in activities that reinforce skills.” And this is why I love making obstacle courses as I encourage the child to help me with the design of the course; to assist me in making decisions with what furniture and equipment we need to make the course and then getting them to help carry and lift the equipment; as well as ensuring that the child thinks through the making of the course to ensure that it will work for them therefor reinforcing problem solving skills and listening skills.

Obstacle courses are functional and work on the following areas: 1. Gross motor skills – working the larger muscles in the body as well as overall muscle strength of the whole body and core muscles; working on balance, motor planning, co-ordination as well as endurance.

2. Fine Motor skills – working on the smaller muscles especially in their hands when asked to collect pieces of a game or puzzle while balancing on a beam for example. An obstacle course can also stimulate the sensory system such as proprioception and tactile input.

3. Cognitive skills – thinking and planning each of their movements during the obstacle course, as well as being able to follow through with more complex instructions. It also encourages sequencing and memory in remembering what to do with each part of the course.

It’s obviously also really fun for the kids and can involve the whole family and friends. As a parent you can encourage leadership roles in that you can get your child to make and run the obstacle course for the whole family. It brings about a sense of teamwork as well and can be done inside or outside incorporating household items, balls, pillows, toys, etc. No costs involved .

Coach Bongi We are collecting for a lovely wooden bench with a plaque giving Coach Bongi’s dates of birth and death. This will be placed in the grounds as a permanent memorial to this wonderful person. Please pay into the school account with Coach Bongi as your reference.

Sports Department News Sports Day: Saturday 6 October

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A reminder that we have our Inter-House Sports Day this Saturday. This is a compulsory school day and all Grade 1-6 children are expected to be at school. If there is a good reason why your child cannot attend, please send a letter to the Sports Department as soon as possible.

New Co-curricular Programme The new summer season co-curricular programme starts on Monday 8 October. Your child will receive two copies of the new programme this week. Please go through the programme with your child and send one completed copy to the class teacher by Monday.

Grade 1-6 PE lessons We will be focusing on swimming during PE lessons from Monday 8 October, so please make sure that your child has their swimming costume, swimming cap, towel and sun-tan lotion on the relevant day.

Summer season matches Basketball, swimming and cricket matches start from next week, so please ensure that your child has all the required equipment and kit ready. Fixtures can be found on the D6 Communicator and the Sports notice board.

Please note: there will be no co-curriculars on Thursday 18 October due to the mid-term break.

School will finish at 13:00 for Foundation Phase and 14:00 for Intermediate Phase.

There will also be no co-curriculars on Thursday 4 October as it is Sacred Heart Day. Foundation and Intermediate Phase children may go home at 13:00.

Aftercare fees Please note that we cannot handle queries on aftercare accounts after two months from the disputed day.

Talent Show DVDs DVDs from the Talent Show are now available at R25 each. Please order from Mrs Peters in the office. Copies will only be made if at least 10 people place an order.

How parent can help a preteen sleep better A significant percentage of parents say their kids worry about school (31%), and 23% say their teens stay up worrying about their social lives.

It's likely that the numbers of teens who have trouble sleeping is even higher than the poll of parents suggests, Clark says, because kids can hide their night time electronics use and parents may not frequently check in on older children.

How can parents help? Start with knowing what kids need. The average American teenager gets seven hours of sleep a night, wedging it in between homework, outside activities, dinner and maybe a job. But research suggests teens need more like nine hours.

Carskadon and Clark have evidence-based tips for weary teens and their parents:  Put electronics away and out of reach. Research has long shown that screen time interferes with good sleep because it's stimulating, and those "blue light filters" that minimize the most SHC Primary School News

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troublesome part of the spectrum won't help much if you're stressed out. So do whatever it takes to make sleep hours electronics-free. "If I were an entrepreneur, my get-rich-quick scheme would be the family tech lockbox”. (There are already a few phone lockers in the works or on the market that may do the trick).

Instil a regular bedtime routine. Try to turn the lights out at around the same time and wake up at the same time, even on weekends, because the evidence shows you can't really "make up" missed sleep on the weekends.

Sleep masks are useful, but avoid long naps. Sleep masks can help create an environment conducive to sleep, says Carskadon, as can trying to prevent sleepy kids from taking long, late afternoon naps. A 20-minute nap might be refreshing, but longer sleep sessions during the day can make it harder to get good rest at night.

Limit caffeine - even more than you already do. After school, many teens grab a soda or an energy drink to power through the rest of the afternoon. But this just makes going to bed on time more difficult, which, in turn, makes the next day harder. The disruptions add up.

Pull back on the crammed schedule. This is antithetical to what many parents of high school students and some students themselves think they should do to get into college. But does your teen really need to star in the school play, run for student council and be the starting quarterback for the high school football team? "Pick one."

Teach time management. If you don't have four hours straight to get homework done at night, break it up into chunks. "If you have 45 minutes before your activity, go to the library and get one or two subjects out of the way”.

Source: https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/52224/how-parents-can-help-improve-the-quality-of-a-teenssleep?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=ExactTarget&utm_campaign=20180928MindshiftNewsletterSub scribers&mc_key=00Qi000001cuFhuEAE

PRE-PRIMARY NEWS Friday 5 October: Blue Group Production Friday 12 October: Purple Group Production Sports Day All children must arrive dressed in their house T-shirts, blue shorts and takkies, and school tracksuits if it is chilly.

Sacred Heart Day tomorrow All pupils from Grade 000 upward must be at school by 07:45, dressed in uniform and ready for Mass.

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