Big ideas

As students grow, we want them to develop their own interests, try new things and be exposed to different forms of learning.  From these experiences, children develop a sense of their own strengths. This week students begin their sessions for Big Ideas. The Forest Sports Centre Committee have asked the school to prepare 3 mural art pieces to be placed at the Blackberry. Fran Joyce will be working with student groups to complete these boards, depicting elements of Forest history. Other groups will be creating movies, learning some instrumental music, learning to code, cooking and more.

Although our focus is developing art skills, Big Ideas helps to grow our sense of school community, as children  of different grades work alongside each other for the five weeks.

NW Athletics Carnival

This Wednesday, 33 students will form the CHSSSA Primary Athletics team to compete in Penguin. Congratulations to Blayde, Brady, Carter, Eli, Ethan, Jayden, Mason, Nate, Tyler, Maya, Sophie Ettlin and Sophie Perry from Forest Primary who will be representing CHSSSA at the event. The event provides our serious runners the next level of competition and is an excellent opportunity for students to develop confidence, team sportsmanship and a sense of Circular Head community spirit!

Assembly

Forest Primary will be holding their End of Term assembly on Tuesday 7^th April, starting at 11 am. Little Learners and Kinder, 1/2 Wright, 3/4 Cramer and 5/6 Morgan will be sharing some of their classes learning from Term 1 , along with reports from some other student groups. We welcome parents and friends to join us for a pre morning tea from 10:30 am. 

School Association

School Association reminder! We would love some new parent representatives on our School Association. There will be an AGM to elect parent and community representatives on Thursday 26^th March at 3:30 pm. Please call the office or download the attached nomination form if you or a parent you know might be interested in joining.

Social media

With so many types of social media out there and the pressure for children to use social media, it is difficult to navigate and monitor how children are using these apps. 

There are two Golden Rules for any child using forms of social media which parents can reinforce. Don’t post ANYTHING to anyone that you are not happy for the whole world to see. That includes unkind comments, photos or opinions. The best rule is to never use unkind comments and conversations through any form of social media.

The second Golden Rule is to have the right privacy settings in place for all social media. Below we have included some information for parents about privacy settings for the newest ‘must have’ form of media – TikTok.  Information is provided from https://www.commonsensemedia.org/.

As with any social network, you have to use privacy settings to limit how much information you and your kids are sharing. Kids can post stuff without reviewing or editing it first.  Parents should make sure to turn on all privacy settings for accounts that their kids are using, so only people you know can interact with your videos or message you on the app. That means either opting for a private account or changing the settings for comments, duets, reactions, and messages to "Friends" instead of "Everyone." You can also turn those features off completely.

How can you make your TikTok account private? To make your TikTok account private, go to your profile page and select the three-dot icon in the top-right corner. Select Privacy and Safety. There, toggle the switch for "Private Account." You can also select who can send you comments and direct messages, and who can do a duet with you. Using the "Friends" setting or turning those features off completely limits contact with strangers.

Is there any way to limit or restrict my kid's activity on TikTok? In addition to blocked search terms, TikTok also offers Digital Wellbeing features to help limit time spent on the app and limit the appearance of inappropriate videos. To turn these features on, tap the three dots at the top right of your user profile. Then select "Digital Wellbeing" next to the icon of an umbrella. The features are automatically protected by a four-digit pass code so kids can't turn them off on their own. From there, parents can opt to turn on Screen Time Management, which limits users to two hours on the app per day, and Restricted Mode, which blocks some content.

Updated Health information

You will find attached, a fact sheet with updated information regarding the novel cornavirus and current recommendations. At present, the advice is for good hygiene practices and effective handwashing.

A reminder that students from Grades 4-6 will be participating in a Wellbeing survey in the coming week. If do not agree with your child scompleting the survey, please remember to return the form previously sent home. The survey does not provide any identifiable information but does give a great indication of the health and wellbeing issues impacting on our students as a group. This information is used by the school to help guide health and wellbeing programs.