Manchester Matters. March. April. From the Principal s Desk. Term 1 Week 9 / 10 27th March, Manchester Is Magic

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1 Manchester Matters Monomeith Street, Mooroolbark Telephone Fax PO Box 161, Mooroolbark address - manchester.ps@edumail.vic.gov.au Web: 27th 28th 31st 1st 2nd Grade 5 Discovery Day Book Fair 3:15 4pm Subway Icy Poles March Level 4 Sport V Billanook (Home) Teddy Bear s Picnic Prep Grade 2 Book Fair 8:30 9:15am & 3:15 4pm Level 4 Camp Payment due Subway orders due Book Fair 8:30 9:15am April Hot Cross Bun Morning Tea Hot Cross Bun Drive order collection Level 3 Class Easter Raffle Level 4 Expo 2nd 4th Level 3 Gundawindi Camp 3rd Class Easter Raffles for Levels 1,2 & 4 4th Last Day Term 1 21st 22nd 25th 2:00 Personal Best Assembly & Giant Easter Raffle draw 2:30 Dismissal EASTER MONDAY NO SCHOOL Term 2 Begins PFA Meeting ANZAC DAY NO SCHOOL From the Principal s Desk What a busy couple of weeks we are having to finish the term. Last week we celebrated Harmony Day with a number of local kindergartens. Teachers, students and a performing artist put on plays and educational sessions to expose the kinder kids as well as our school kids to a range of different cultures and customs. Our students enjoyed the puppet work put on by Showko, our visiting artist. As usual the Year 5 and 6 students were a great hit with the visiting kinders and Ms G was amazing as always. A big thank you to Ms Adgemis for putting the day together and as usual helping to make it a great success. Saturday was Celebrate Mooroolbark. Our students participated in the parade, the competitions and also ran a promotional stall. A huge thank you to Ms Dib and Ms Keating who, along with numerous parents, managed to keep the marchers on track and entertained during the long wait prior to the parade beginning. Thanks to everyone for being so patient waiting for the parade to begin. From all reports all the kids looked great. Thanks to all of our parents and Year 5 and 6 students who helped out on the stall. We raised over $500 on the slurpees. The students again were great ambassadors for the school and I look forward to acknowledging them at assembly. A huge thank you to the Raukola-Paull family for donating a slurpee machine to use on the day. Yesterday we had our school photos. It was great to see all of the students looking so good. A large number of them had haircuts just for the day. Others suggested they did even though it wasn t so apparent. Thanks to Kylie and out PFA for organising the photographers. A lot of work goes into making sure we get the best photographers and ensuring all classes are organised and on time for their sessions. Today is our Level 3 Expo. It is fantastic to see what our students create over a term and how they can relate their understandings of a topic to something they are interested in. We know with our own interests that we are eager to research more about a topic, tune in to a television or radio session on it, or even google it. Our kids are no different. If they are interested in the topic they will engage with it. It was great to see so many of our Grade 3 and 4 parents at our information session on Monday night. Hopefully the ERP process is a little easier to understand now. Book Fair is on again in the library at the end of this week. Book Fair will start at 3:15 this Thursday and run until Monday morning. Teddy Bear s Picnic is also on this Friday. It is always great to see so many teddies and so many grandparents at school on the day. It is a worry just how big some of the teddies are though! Next week is the final week for the term. We will have an assembly on Tuesday morning as well as our Personal Best Assembly on Friday beginning at 2pm. Students will finish school at 2:30 pm on the Friday and will return on Tuesday the 22 nd April following Easter. We will also announce the winners of

2 From the Principal s Desk Cont... our Giant Easter raffle at the end of term assembly. Finally to finish off the week our Grades 3 and 4 will be on school camp at Gundawindi Lodge from Wednesday until Friday. They will return to school for the Personal Best Assembly before being dismissed. Fingers crossed, we have lovely autumn days for the camp so that all students and teachers get the chance to ride the big swing. Peter Jenkins Principal Notices Sent Home Foundation, Grade 1 & 2 Head Lice Notification LAST FEW 2014 Calendars are on sale at the Office $10.00 Mowing Roster 29th March School Holidays No Mowing Required 5th April School Holidays No Mowing Required 12th April Greg Johnson & Ryan Moreland Please label all envelopes/payments being returned to school We collect lots of payments for lots of different things for lots of children please ensure payments are clearly marked and labelled ESPECIALLY with your NAME! Sample envelope Child s Name Child s Class Activity Amount Enclosed

3 WANTED IN THE ART ROOM: Egg cartons would be much appreciated for painting activities. Thanks, Jess Dib- Newbery Nit Weekend There have been a number of cases of head lice reported throughout the school. PLEASE treat all children this weekend! Date Thursday Friday Monday Program AASS Basketball Easter Activities AASS AFL Football Tuesday Easter Activities Wednesday Easter Activities SUBWAY LUNCH DISTRIBUTION Yes I can help take Subway to the classrooms on Thursdays. Concert Name Competition Name our school concert. Competition closes at the end of March. Entries can be left in the box outside the Music Room. ICY POLE FRIDAYS Yes I can help on Icy Pole Fridays. Name: Name: Preferred Date/s: Preferred Date/s: Student Name: Class: Student Name: Class: Contact Number: Contact Number:

4 Book Fair Thursday March 27th 3:15 4:00pm Friday March 28th 8:30 9:15am Friday March 28th 3:15 4:00pm Monday March 31st 8:30 9:15am In the Library.

5 Gaming: When does fun flip into addiction? Gaming addiction is a relatively new phenomenon. When I grew up video game addiction didn t really exist. Kids played video games when they went to the arcade, and were limited to their allowance. Then came the invention of home video game systems, and today millions of homes around the globe are equipped with video game systems and computers. Remember Pac-man and Tetris my how gaming has changed. Experts agree that gaming addiction is on the rise. Media expert and researcher Douglas A. Gentile, Ph.D. has done multiple studies on the subject and has found that: Approximately 9%of children in one study displayed signs of video game addiction Children in the study played video games for a little over an average of20 hours per week Video game addiction involves a lack of healthy functioning in various parts of kids' lives. These can include family life, health, moral values, and school performance. Children with video game addiction exhibit behaviours similar to pathological gamblers. ADD or ADHD were twice as likely to have been diagnosed in children addicted to video games. When does fun flip into addiction? Gaming gets into our deepest motivational drivers. As human beings we have a great need to be social. Games allow us to connect with others and give us the feeling of control over our own social environment. This can be a key motivator for youth who feel like they have very little control over their daily lives; teachers, parents and others always seem to be controlling them. We are all driven towards pleasure, and the pleasure component in gaming is about intermittent rewards. The rewards are a random, they are not predictable and they keep us waiting and therefore playing. Intermittent rewards are the same foundation that gambling is based on, and researchers are currently looking deeper into the potential correlation between gaming and gambling. In massive multiplayer games there is often punishment for logging off. Fear and pain are again major motivational drivers. Some games like World of Warcraft penalise you for turning it off before you have reached your goal or the next level, thereby losing any progress you made. Now it is the game controlling the player and not the other way around. Once players become involved in a guild then there is the added responsibility to that online community, and when they log off they may be letting other players down. The basic psychological theory of fear and pain overriding pleasure definitely relates to gaming. Video game addiction symptoms Not able to control the use Finds it difficult to stop playing even if they wanted to May experience withdrawal symptoms physical and mood related changes such as bad temper, poor focus, feeling empty, frustrated or angry Exhibits defensive behaviour when questioned about use Making social and recreational sacrifices cutting off real life friends and only having online friends Secrecy and solitude doing it alone and even in secret, sneaking it in when they can Lying about use they tell you they spent one hour playing when really it was two What does this mean for parents? Have you had yelling matches with your child over the amount of time they spend gaming? Have you threatened to take their access away? If you think there might be a problem, then there probably already is.

6 Many parents feel alone in regards to their child s problematic internet use, but be assured you are not alone. Parenting experts and parents are beginning to find ways to help with this serious behaviour problem. You can start to help your child by implementing some simple steps: Set time limits only allow a certain number of minutes (not hours) per day. Consider requiring that your child earns game time through responsibilities. Once you set the limits, you must enforce them. Limit content- ratings are there for a reason. Exposure to elements such as violence and gambling are a risk if you allow your child access to age inappropriate or adult content. Read reviews or test the game yourself before you give it to your child. Although they may say everyone else is playing it, we know that is not the case. Keep gaming out of the bedroom this follows the basic rule of no media in the bedroom. Monitoring content and usage becomes very difficult behind a closed door. We want kids where they can interact with other people, to help limit that solitude and secrecy that can occur. Interaction with other family members, even whilst gaming is a protective factor. Gaming is a privilege, not a right Other activities such as homework and chores must be done first. Having dinner with the family, doing some exercise or music takes priority over games. Families have found it useful to use behavioural charts to clarify what needs to be done before gaming is permitted, and how much gaming is allowed. Video games are not a babysitter too many parents are relying on technology to keep their children quiet and occupied. Children and youth must learn to socialise and find the grit required to get through social situations. There are other things kids can do to keep themselves busy besides relying on technology. Search for a therapist if your child s gaming has already gotten too far out of control, then you may want to search for a professional therapist or treatment program who specialise in adolescent addictions. Recovery from video game addiction is possible. There isn t anything wrong with gaming itself it s a great way to have fun, to connect with others and to learn. However, when gaming becomes the priority over other areas of life, then an addiction may be brewing. According to kids who are easily bored, have poor relationships with family members, feel like outcasts at school, or tend towards sensation-seeking are more easily drawn into video game addiction because it fills a void and satisfies needs that aren t met elsewhere There is some debate as to whether gaming addiction is a diagnosable disorder, however the behaviour undeniably exists. The combination of intentional programming by designers and the predisposition some teens have to addictive behaviour means this is a real issue that parents, teachers, and friends should be aware of and may need to take action towards. You would never forgive yourself Please do not bring your dog into the school grounds between 7am and 6:30pm even on a lead! They either must be carried at all times or be secured outside the school and away from the gates and pathways for the safety of all students. Please observe the ONE WAY ONLY signs on the school s driveway

7 Harmony Day

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