It breaks my heart to hear the anxiety and real fear that so many of our young people have surrounding the outbreak of COVID-19. Our Chaplain, Mrs Horsely sent me the following article this week and I would like to share it with you as I think there is some very sensible and timely advice on dealing with fear in our young people. If your children are feeling anxious, please ask them to talk to a teacher, a chaplain, a Welfare Officer or come and see me for a chat. We are all here to help lessen the burden. NCC is a community and we want to band together to help our young people navigate these difficult times.

I hope you find this article helpful.

Meggan James

TALKING WITH KIDS ABOUT THE CORONAVIRUS
BY JOANNIE DEBRITO, PH.D., LCSW, LMFT

We’ve all heard healthcare providers tell us how to keep the coronavirus at bay. Wash your hands frequently and don’t touch your face. If you have any symptoms of the virus, consult a doctor and stay away from other people. These and other suggestions are helpful for managing the physical aspects of what has now been declared a pandemic. As a parent, how can you help your kids cope with the fear and worry that the statistics and predictions on the nightly news might stir up? Here are some tips for talking to kids about the coronavirus.

Keep Calm and Communicate
First, remain calm. Children tend to model their parents’ emotions and if you communicate in a calm manner, that will likely help reduce your kids’ fear. If you, like many adults, are someone who struggles with anxiety, talk about that with another adult or a counsellor, not with your children. It’s ok to tell kids that it’s normal to feel a little fear but you don’t want to transfer your anxiety to them. Also, remember that many kids will be completely unaware of the coronavirus outbreak because they’re so young and don’t have older siblings. Talk to them only if they bring up the subject or you know that they’ve been exposed to information and are confused or scared. This is a case where “ignorance is bliss.”

Provide Reassurance
Assure them that they’re safe and that you know what to do if someone in your family becomes ill. List 3-5 steps that you’ll take if someone in your family begins to show symptoms of the virus. Remember that children of all ages may become fearful or overly worried, so be sure to have age appropriate discussions with each of your children. Sometimes, adolescents and teenagers can be more fearful and worried than younger children.

Stick to the Facts
Discuss factual information related to your local community. Whenever there is an unexpected problem that impacts a lot of people, there is a lot of misinformation floating around. Look for information from the Centers for Disease Control, National Institutes of Health, and local or national healthcare resources that have reputations for providing evidence-based and accurate information. When talking with your kids about coronavirus, talk openly about the risks and remedies that exist where you live. Avoid giving a lot of information about national and global concerns.

Explain that you’re trying to be cautious and wise, not acting out of fear. This situation offers a great opportunity for you to explain that it’s always best to be proactive rather than reactive. Your actions now are intended to prevent future problems, not necessarily to cope with current problems. If your family has successfully weathered a serious weather event, a flu outbreak, or another unexpected event in the past, remind your children that you were able to do that because you were well prepared.

Stick to your established routines and schedules as much as possible. Change is hard for many kids. The more you can minimize changes, the better. Children tend to feel more secure when they know what is coming in their daily schedules.

Use This Time for Family Fun
If you decide to isolate as a family, have fun spending time together. Emphasize the opportunity to slow down, hang out, and enjoy each other’s company. Remember, you’re taking steps to prevent getting the virus, not hiding in fear. Also, encourage your kids to engage in physical activities and creative experiences, both known to be helpful for easing anxiety.
Resist the urge to check the news every 5 minutes. So much of what you read and hear in the news one day will be found to be untrue a day later. Pick a ½ hour period each day to stay informed and report only what is age appropriate to your children.

God is Still in Control
Pray with your children. Emphasize that you’re trusting God for His guidance. If your kids are old enough to read and understand scripture, read and discuss Psalms 91:1-3 (ICB) together:
Those who go to God Most High for safety
will be protected by God All-Powerful.
I will say to the Lord, “You are my place of safety and protection.
You are my God, and I trust you.”
God will save you from hidden traps
and from deadly diseases.

Conclusion
Talking with your kids about coronavirus will help them to cope with the fear and anxiety that news of such a disease can bring. Continue to keep your family prepared. Jeremiah 29:11 says, “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” Trust that no matter what happens, God is in control.

Bullying is a complex, multifaceted issue, different for each situation and year level, however, it is accepted that it always involves the repetitive misuse of power over another person. The appropriate way to respond will be different for each situation and every student, but the aim of this week is to create awareness of NCC’S Zero Tolerance of Bullying and what ALL of us can do about it if it happens.

NCC’s 2020 Bullying Awareness week, March 16-20, is about Empowering Student Voice. We want to provide opportunities for our students to participate in classroom discussions about bullying, and share some strategies and ways their stories can be heard, and appropriate ways to respond if bullying occurs.

As a Christian school, we want NCC to be a safe environment where students are encouraged to speak freely and are supported and guided if they feel victimised.

Equally, we recognise that bullies often act from a poor self-concept and negative role modelling and can learn better skills of relating.

There is no room in the Christian faith for belittling or abusing someone. Every person, regardless of
appearance, race, religion, or differences, is created in the image of God (Gen. 1:26-27) and is worthy of the dignity God gives to every person. Bullying, therefore, is never ok.

If you see something: say something.

Visit the following website for more information for parents: Information for Parents

Our focus value for Term 1 is ‘resilience’. The symbol that the PB4L team have chosen for resilience is the shield. The shield represents the defenses that we can build to protect ourselves from things that go wrong. Students are encouraged to learn how to cope with failure and how to have another go and keep trying until they succeed.

The Prep/Year 1 class have learned the following saying “Try it once, try it twice, try it several more times, maybe you will get it right this time.” This is part of their resilience shield that they are building to enable them to cope when things don’t go right for them the first time.

The PB4L team has chosen a Bible verse from Joshua 1:9 to match this value.
“Be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, for I, the LORD your God, am with you in all you do.”
This Bible verse encourages us to rely on God at all times and to glean resilience from Him.

Following on from all of the medical play during the past month, we have many budding doctors, nurses and other health care providers ready to help! Thank you so much to the parents who were able to share about what they do at work and for all of the fun resources that were left for our hospital play space.

As we focused on community helpers, it was the perfect time to have a visit from one of our local police members, Officer Bec. Officer Bec showed the children pictures of different vehicles that the police use to keep us safe and some of the equipment they use. After sitting and listening so well it was time to dress up and head outside to sit in her police car. All of the children were excited to do this and stood ready to hear all of the different sounding sirens that her car could make. Thanks, Officer Bec.

Due to lots of interest in some battery operated toys that were brought in to show, we have begun an investigation into simple machines (machines that don’t require batteries or electricity but work with force). The children have used a simple machine to paint beautiful artwork that can be seen on the display board outside our room. Come by and take a look!

The Inventors have gone on a journey of promoting higher order thinking as they discovered the difference between fictional (like Spider-Man and Batman) and real life superheroes such as God, police officers, ambulance officers and firefighters. The difference these real life superheroes have made has not gone unnoticed by the Inventors, especially the firefighters and the effort they made this year to save people and wildlife. From one child’s idea, momentum grew and the children rallied together to make cards to raise funds for the firefighters. They have also been learning about what firefighters do and the equipment they use. Unpacking this information through role play as they reenacted the role of a firefighter.

Have a look in our classroom with your children at some of the amazing cards they have made. One child’s idea has enabled the Inventors to share compassion and make a positive difference in our world.

Years 1-3 students participated in a sports day last Thursday against our sister schools, Edinburgh College and Heritage College. All students enjoyed competing in a range of athletics such as: ball throw, sprinting, long jump and team sports. Students showed fantastic sportsmanship and thoroughly enjoyed the day. A special thank you to the parents who came to help out on the day.

This Term, students in 2/3F, 3S and 4W are working on their rhythm skills by learning all about the Djembe drum. With a 5-week unit, they are exploring the history of the drum, features and of course the basics of how to play. They’ve learnt the techniques of ‘bass’, ‘tone’ and ‘slap’ and are now combining their music skills to sight-read basic rhythm patterns, improvise and play a canon to a simple track.

The Prep and Prep/Year 1 students love having their big buddies from Years 5/6C and 5/6S come and visit every fortnight. Last buddies lesson we celebrated our Creation Bible unit. The buddies helped to make animal masks representing some of the wonderful creatures that God made when He made our wonderful world. Thank you buddies!

Straws, paddle pop sticks, toothpicks, cups and plastic plates. You might ask yourself, what do all of these materials have in common?

Year 2 was given a driving question that asked: ‘How can you make a bridge using the following materials that could hold the weight of a toy car?’

Needless to say, all of Year 2 was engaged throughout the process and Mrs Williams loved seeing their creativity and 21st century thinking.

Late last year there was some work done in the lower primary playground. A wonderful deep sandpit was built. It has large solid blocks of stone around the edges. These add a wonderful texture to the playground and provide a different sensory experience for the children. The stone blocks are solid enough for the children to walk on around the edge of the sandpit. The joy of balancing on rocks, which have a slightly uneven surface is terrific for developing balance skills. In the middle of the sandpit is a large flat rock which is just perfect for building sand creations on. The sandpit is completed with a large box for storing sandpit toys safely.

Year 11 Avondale Trip provided many opportunities for students to not only experience daily life at a tertiary institution but to also bond as a year level. On Friday, students were given a tour of the Avondale University College campus including workshops on different courses offered. There was a scavenger hunt to help students learn more about the College’s history before they attended a worship program called SALT. Throughout Saturday students experienced church at Avondale and then visited a bowling alley. Sunday was spent travelling south to Sydney for the day where our students braved the Melbourne-like weather to explore Manly, Circular Quay and Darling Harbour before our trip home on Monday.

Nunawading Christian College senior girls and boys volleyball teams went undefeated through the Adventist Schools Victoria Volleyball Competition last week against our sister schools Edinburgh College and Gilson College (Taylors Hill and Mernda). NCC Blue girls won their grand final 32 – 25 against Gilson College Taylors Hill. The Boys team also played Gilson college Taylors Hill in the grand final and won 29 – 25.

Mr Selent reported, “The day was played in a great spirit. It’s a great addition to the sports program having all ASV schools get together and compete.”

Thank you to NCC Alumna, Eunice Lui for coaching our girls team this year.

Did someone say Year 12 Physics goes to Luna Park? Sign me up!

If you joined Year 12 Physics this year you would have been able to visit LunarPark to see what you’ve learned happening before your eyes. Students experienced how the normal force changes during a ride and how that’s linked to your apparent weight (feeling lighter at the top of a hill and heavier at the bottom of a dip). They also experienced centripetal motion – a key concept in Unit 3 Motion. Throughout the day, the students completed a workbook which counts towards their School Assessed Coursework (SAC) for this outcome. In the week after their visit, students sat a written SAC, bringing out more of the Physics principles they have been learning about in class and experienced at Luna Park.

Congratulations to NCC Secondary Volleyball teams who have gone through the EISM season undefeated. Throughout Term 1 students have been working exceptionally hard, training before and after school to develop their skills. Between our four NCC girls and boys volleyball teams, only one set was lost throughout all of Term 1 sport. Unfortunately, due to the current situation regarding the Covid-19 virus, our teams will not have the opportunity to compete in the EISM Grand Finals. We know how disappointed students are but congratulate them on an outstanding season this Term. We’re still hopeful students will have the opportunity to compete in the State Cup in May.

Congratulations to Fraser for winning this year’s Secondary Swimming Carnival! Well done also to all our NCC age champions and record breakers.

House Points

Age Champions

Records broken