Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Garston School Newsletter
Friday, 7th June 2019
Email: [email protected] Phone: 248 8802. Website: www.garston.school.nz
From the desk of Ms. ‘O’
Building Resilience and Reducing Anxiety in Children - Part One
Below are notes from a workshop recently attended by the Garston School staff around helping to build
students’ resilience and reduce their anxiety levels. As a staff we found the workshop to be really
positive so for this reason I’d like to share the key messages with you.
The topic of building resilience and reducing anxiety in our children fits well with our 2019 school-wide
emphasis on the Healthy Community and Environment strand of the New Zealand Curriculum. It follows on
from the programmes taught in Term One to promote positive relationships amongst students but let me
assure you that this work is on-going.
The presenter emphasised that parents often feel helpless when they see their child experiencing intense
fear or worry. Because of this there may be a temptation to simply remove the child from all situations
that prompt this anxiety or to over accommodate for their child’s fear. It was explained that these
actions only make a child more sensitive to ‘worrying situations’.
While parents can validate the child’s feelings, more importantly they need to model calmness and
confidence that their child is going to be okay and can master scary situations. Also, because children are
most anxious leading up to a challenging situation, it’s important for parents not to ask too many questions
about the anxiety. Parents need to be mindful that it is not their goal to eliminate all anxiety from their
child’s life. In fact, their job is to help their child to manage anxiety effectively so that they can deal
with life’s challenges long into adulthood.
Some suggestions for stress busters shared by Room One.
* de-stress balls * go to see the horses
* play with pets * stroke kittens
* read * biking, exercising, go outside, hiking
* silence * take deep breaths
* listen to music * working in a workbook
* laugh * taking a shower or bath
* drink of water
From the Garston School Writers’ Guild. By Sophie McKee.
I have a dining room table.
Imagine my family talking to each other around the blackish coloured table.
Sitting with your family talking about your day. laughing, smiling to each other
and then smiling back.
I love it! It makes me feel happy. It makes me feel special.
Seven students represented their Mid-Dome Zone proudly at yesterday’s
cross-country competition. The rain held off and they coped extremely well
with the challenging courses. The recorded placings were as follows:
- 1st :Zara & Evie - 4th: Gabby - 6th:Joel Wallis & Chonelle.
Chonelle and Zara qualified to compete in the Southland Championships on
21st June for students who are in the 10 years and over races.
Please return all sports uniforms when ready.
