Wednesday November 23, 2016

From Sue

The Resilience Project Parent Information Session Monday 28 Nov at 7pm in the BER Building On Monday of next week we have Hugh Van Cuylenburg addressing our community on resilience. Hugh is the founding director and presenter of The Resilience Project. This organisation’s mission is to teach positive mental health strategies. Hugh and his staff deliver emotionally engaging programs to schools, sports clubs and businesses and provide them with evidence based, practical strategies to build resilience. The statistics surrounding mental health in general and for children in particular are alarming:

1 in 4 adolescents have a mental illness 1 in 3 girls suffer from an anxiety disorder and I in 5 boys

1 in 7 primary school children have a mental illness 65% of adolescents do not seek help for mental illness

Earlier this year we had Martin Heppell visit our school to conduct a session for parents and all children. Furthermore we had Hugh address our staff. Both presenters were highly engaging, stimulating and very powerful in delivering their message which is that it is imperative to build resilience. Furthermore the key components of the project centre on the development of gratitude, empathy and resilience in children. Teachers and education support staff at our school have embraced this message enthusiastically. The project will become the cornerstone of our approach to developing wellbeing, self-confidence and resilience in our children. I invite parents and interested community members to come along and enjoy Hugh’s presentation. I am confident that his message will resonate strongly with community members. School Fees Payment for school fees is due today. Thank you to the many families who have made payment ensuring the school year will commence calmly for their children. For those who have not yet paid, I urge you to do so at your earliest convenience. Stationery orders are being finalised at the moment for 2017. It is for this reason that we request payment so we can place the whole school order to ensure all materials are available at the commencement of the school year. Payment plans are available and can be organised through the Business Manager Nicole St Leon.

Allocation of children to classes All teachers and support staff are involved in the creation of 2017 classes at the moment. This is a time consuming task and we are often considering various factors in creating harmonious and well balanced grades. The children have been asked to nominate some children in their current grade whom they work well with and or are friends. We endeavour to have every child have at least 1 or 2 children they know quite well in next year’s grade. One of the goals associated with transition each year is to grow and develop confidence and capacity in children to handle change. For many they will have a new teacher and quite a number of new children that they will need to get to know and hopefully form a connection or friendship with. Children handle change differently; some can become quite anxious even contemplating change. Whilst this is understandable, it is an area as teachers that we constantly address. Teachers are able to support individuals and provide a structure and guidance to reassure children that they will be able to manage change. We created a boys only Foundation class this year in response to a marked predominance of boys. Over the last few weeks the number of boys in Grade 1 in 2017 has reduced and we have a couple of new girls commencing, so we are now in a position to run with 5 grades including both boys and girls in Year 1 next year. Lego Club

Each week we offer a wide variety of lunchtime clubs for our children. Lego is a particularly popular one where the children have the opportunity explore and create play and interact with peers in an informal but friendly manner. We often find that children who otherwise might not feel comfortable to play in the yard will come in and informally mingle and play and eventually chat with peers of various ages. In the accompanying photo Kesan from 2C Coral Gums took great pride in sharing his aeronautical jet blaster.

Lego Club operates on Fridays at lunchtimes generally in the school hall and occasionally in the music room id there is something special planned for the hall. End of Year Activities We have a number of exciting activities scheduled for the remainder of the school year:

Thursday 24 Nov HPS Band will join Kostka Hall band to play 9.15 in our school hall Year 5s to see Mentone Grammar performance of The Lion King 1.00-3.30pm

Monday 28 Nov F, Yr 1 and Yr2 choreography Competition heats 1pm in the school hall Parent info session on Resilience Project 7pm -8.30pm in the BER Tuesday 29 Nov Year 3, 4 and 5 House Swimming Carnival 9.15am to 12.45pm Wed 30 Nov Foundation excursion to the zoo 9am-3pm Year 4 Billy cart incursion 9am-1pm in the school hall Thursday 1 Dec Year 5/6 choreography competition heats 1pm in the school hall

Friday 2 Dec Foundation to Yr 2 athletics day 9am -11.30am Year 3 choreography competition heats 1pm in the school hall Year 4 choreography competition heats 1.25pm in the school hall Hampton Harmonies perform outside Safeway 2.15 pm

Monday 5 Dec McKinnon PS band visit and HPS band will perform too Tuesday 6 Dec Step up day meet the teacher and new grade 11.15am to 12.30 for Years 1-6 11.15am to 12.15 for 2017 Foundation

Wednesday 7 Dec Year 6 Surf Lifesaving Carnival Day 9am – 3pm Thursday 8 Dec Year 2 Violin concert 9am in school hall Friday 9 Dec Selection of choreography teams 1pm-1.45pm quadrangle Monday 12 Dec Year 6 Graduation ceremony 6pm Rosstrevor Hall, Brighton Grammar Year 6 Disco 8.30-9.30pm at school hall Thursday 15 Dec Year 6 Waves excursion 12-3.30pm Year 2 Mystery Night 5.15-7.30pm Friday 16 Dec Interschool choreography competition 1pm in the quadrangle Monday 19 Dec Annual Community Carols’ evening 6pm at the Alhambra Stage Tuesday 20 Dec Staff vs Students sports match 9.15 to 10.30am Whole school final assembly 12.45pm at the Alhambra Stage End of year dismissal 1.30pm Year 6 break up 3pm at the Hampton Life Saving Club

Parents are welcome to attend the heats and the interschool choreography competition. All the competitors have been given a detailed information sheet for the competition. Music News Please note: No ensembles tomorrow but please bring your instrument on Friday! Academic Excellence Congratulations go to the following students who received an academic excellence award at assembly yesterday: Mia Suddes from 2C, Coral Gums for commendable achievement in English and Sci-

ence. She is a natural inquirer who loves to learn, ask questions and give her personal opinions. She is a proactive learner who takes the initiative to do what is required. Mia thinks critically about issues and communicates her views competently.

Addison Rowley from 2C, Coral Gums for outstanding application and achievement in all areas of his learning including his support for others socially and academically and consistently modelling inclusive behaviours.

Assembly Thanks go to 2A, Mountain Ash who led the singing of the National Anthem at assembly yesterday. Our musical item featured Amy Wilson from 5/6B, Casuarinas who played ‘Memory’ from the musical Cats on keyboard. Amy performed this piece with extraordinary sensitivity and wonderful timing; she connected beautifully with the audience and created a wonderful musical ambience. Sue Knight Principal

HPS Christmas Tree Drive

The trees come in 3 sizes: Small $65, Medium $75, Large $85

Tree stands come in 2 sizes: Small $45 and Large: $55 Delivery is available for $10 on 2/12/2016 or

Collect your tree from school on Friday 2 December.

Use this trybooking link to order a tree: www.trybooking.com/NXCE

Taking music lessons increases brain fibre connections in children and may be useful in treating autism and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), according to a study being presented next week at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America (RSNA).

"It's been known that musical instruction benefits children with these disorders," said Pilar Dies-Suarez, M.D., chief radiologist at the Hospital Infantil de México Federico Gómez in Mexico City, "but this study has given us a better understanding of exactly how the brain changes and where these new fiber connections are occurring."

The researchers studied 23 healthy children between the ages of five and six years old. All of the children were right handed and had no history of sensory, perception or neurological disorders. None of the children had been trained in any artistic discipline in the past.

The study participants underwent pre- and post-musical-training evaluation with diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) of the brain. DTI is an advanced MRI technique, which identifies microstructural changes in the brain's white matter.

"Experiencing music at an early age can contribute to better brain development, optimizing the creation and establishment of neural networks, and stimulating the existing brain tracts," Dr. Dies-Suarez said.

The brain's white matter is composed of millions of nerve fibers called axons that act like communication cables connecting various regions of the brain. Diffusion tensor imaging produces a measurement, called fractional anisotropy (FA), of the movement of extracellular water molecules along axons. In healthy white matter, the direction of extracellular water molecules is fairly uniform and measures high in fractional anisotropy. When water movement is more random, FA values decrease, suggesting abnormalities.

Over the course of life, the maturation of brain tracts and connections between motor, auditory and other areas allow the development of numerous cognitive abilities, including musical skills. Previous studies have linked autism spectrum and ADHD with decreases in volume, fiber connections and FA in the minor and lower forceps, tracts located in the frontal cortex of the brain. This suggests that low connectivity in the frontal cortex, an area of the brain involved in complex cognitive processes, is a biomarker of these disorders.

After the children in the study completed nine months of musical instruction using Boomwhackers -- percussion tubes cut to the exact length to create pitches in a diatonic scale, DTI results showed an increase in FA and axon fiber length in different areas of the brain, most notably in the minor forceps.

"When a child receives musical instruction, their brains are asked to complete certain tasks," Dr. Dies-Suarez said. "These tasks involve hearing, motor, cognition, emotion and social skills, which seem to activate these different brain areas. These results may have occurred because of the need to create more connections between the two hemispheres of the brain."

The researchers believe that the results of this study could aid in creating targeted strategies for intervention in treating disorders like autism and ADHD.

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