Welcome Back to Term 3!

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to what promises to be another exciting and productive term at Cono! We hope your family enjoyed a restful break and are ready for a term full of learning, connection, and new experiences.

This term, our classrooms remain focused on delivering high-quality teaching and learning aligned with our School Improvement Focus Areas:

1. Strengthening Curriculum Delivery: We are continuing to deepen our understanding and delivery of the Australian Curriculum—particularly in Mathematics—to ensure every child can access a well-sequenced and meaningful learning journey.
2. Refining Teaching Practice: Teachers are working together to monitor student progress in real time and respond to individual needs more effectively, helping every learner thrive.

Alongside our learning focus, we are placing a strong emphasis on attendance and school uniform this term.

Uniform Reminder:
If a student arrives in clothes that don’t align with our uniform policy, they will be provided with a school uniform to change into for the day. At the end of the day, they will change back into their own clothes. Spare uniforms will be laundered at school. Thank you for supporting us in upholding our high standards and sense of pride in our school.

Attendance Matters:
Every minute at school counts! Even a few minutes late each day, or a day off each fortnight, adds up over time and can significantly impact your child’s learning. Please take a moment to look at the chart below to see just how much time can be lost.

Let’s work together to ensure your child gets the very best start each day. Keep those communication lines open with your class teacher, and please don’t hesitate to reach out if you need support.

Let’s make Term 3 another great one at Cono!

Warm regards,
Louise Sanderson

This was an article I read this week from the Parenting Toolbox which I thought others might find interesting. We always talk about resilience but what about adaptive capacity?

The world is spinning faster than ever.

Not literally, but in terms of rapid social, technological, and cultural change.

It’s overwhelming.

Resilience, which focuses on bouncing back when things knock you down, doesn’t help with rapid change.

If we equip them with the ability to bounce back to the old normal, what happens when there is no old normal to return to?

We now need to teach kids to bend with the wind so they won’t get knocked over so easily.

That’s building their adaptive capacity.

Resilience is like a sturdy oak that can weather any storm. But even oak trees get blown over in strong winds. Just like the oak tree, no one is storm-proof.

Adaptive capacity is like a willow tree—it can bend and flex with the strongest gusts, adjust to the conditions, and emerge transformed, yet strong.

So, what exactly is Adaptive Capacity?

Adaptive capacity refers to a child’s ability to adjust to new, changing, or uncertain situations effectively. It’s about:

• Encouraging kids to be flexible in their thinking, behaviour, and approach to life's challenges. 
• Learning from experiences, both good and bad, and applying that knowledge to navigate whatever comes next.

Aside: Research on birth order suggests that middle children tend to be more adaptable in their thinking and behaviour, likely because they don't always get their way in family dynamics. They have both older and younger siblings, which enhances their ability to adapt. With family sizes decreasing, this group is rapidly dwindling, with fewer than 15% of children under the age of 15 having siblings close in age.

How Adaptive Capacity helps kids

The world in which our children are growing up is changing at a rapid pace.

Technology is evolving faster than we can keep up with, the job market is shifting constantly, and people face social and environmental challenges that we couldn't have imagined a generation ago.

Add to this the likelihood that your child is likely to live a 100-year life.

That's where adaptive capacity shines.

Kids with adaptive capacity can learn and evolve through change. They’re less likely to see change as a threat and more likely to view it as an opportunity to learn and grow. They are also less likely to be held back by anxiety.

Kids with strong adaptive capacity are more likely to:

1. Embrace new challenges

They won't shy away from the unknown because they trust their ability to figure things out.

2. Become creative problem-solvers

They think outside the box and devise innovative solutions when faced with unexpected obstacles.

3. Navigate uncertainty with greater ease.

They're more comfortable with ambiguity and can adjust their plans and expectations when things don't go as planned.

4. Build stronger relationships.

Their flexibility and open-mindedness enable them to connect with a broader range of people and navigate diverse social dynamics.

5. Thrive in a dynamic world.

They're surviving and actively engaging with and shaping their changing environment.

How to build your child’s adaptive capacity

There are many ways to build your child’s adaptive capacities. These five strategies form a strong foundation for capacity-building in every family:

1. Foster strong and supportive RELATIONSHIPS

Consistent and caring relationships with adults provide a secure base for children, helping them navigate challenges and learn to trust.

Building your relationship with your child and fostering other positive adult relationships is your starting point.

These connections alleviate stress and enhance emotional well-being, which is essential for adaptability.

Build strong bonds by focusing on the family connection trifecta :

1. one-on-one time
2. family rituals
3. downtime

2. Teach EMOTIONAL REGULATION skills

Assist children in identifying, understanding, and managing their emotions in healthy ways.

This includes strategies such as deep breathing, problem-solving, and recognising that feelings come and go.

Kids who can regulate their emotions are better equipped to cope with unexpected changes and setbacks.

• Start by building a broad vocabulary of emotions in your family.

3. Encourage PROBLEM-SOLVING and CRITICAL THINKING

Provide opportunities for children to face challenges and figure out solutions independently or with guidance.

Ask open-ended questions, brainstorm together, and allow them to make mistakes (and learn from them!). Help them develop the ability to think flexibly and find new approaches when things don't go as planned.

• And don’t solve all of your child’s problems. Leave some for them to resolve.

4. Promote AGENCY and INDEPENDENCE

Help children believe in their abilities and understand that their skills and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work.

Celebrate effort and learning from mistakes, rather than just focusing on outcomes.

This encourages them to embrace challenges and persist through difficulties.

When a child can dress themselves, walk into school on their own, make their lunch, etc., let them do it!

• Your job is to make yourself redundant from the earliest possible age!

5. Exposethem to DIVERSE experiences and perspectives

Introduce children to new situations, people, and ideas.

This will broaden their understanding of the world and help them become more comfortable with novelty and change.

It also fosters empathy and the ability to view things from different perspectives, which is crucial for adapting to diverse circumstances.

• Model curiosity and learning so that your child sees adaptive capacity traits up close.

Finally……

Adaptive capacity is more potent than resilience.

Resilience helps you recover and return to your previous state. Adaptive capacity helps kids move forward, stronger and wiser, in a new direction. It’s a deeper level of learning and adjustment.

Adaptive capacity is about growth and evolution, not just recovery.

Fostering strong relationships, teaching emotional regulation, encouraging problem-solving, promoting self-efficacy and a growth mindset, and exposing them to diverse experiences are the building blocks of adaptive capacity.

By focusing on these areas, we're not just preparing our kids to weather the storms; we’re giving kids the compass and the skills to navigate any terrain, no matter how unfamiliar.

And in this rapidly changing world, that's the most valuable gift we can give them.

It has been great catching up on all the holiday trips and experiences this week. I hope you all had a great break. This term, I will be on class Mon/Tues/Wed and Mrs Sarah Summers will be in Thurs/Fri.  We will endeavour to keep most things consistent between the two of us. Please if there are any worries or concerns contact us. Louise's email is lsand46@eq.edu.au and Sarah's is ssumm25@eq.edu.au

It is our turn for gardening this term so any helpers for Friday afternoon from 1.40 - 3pm are welcome.

We will be celebrating our first 100 days of school next Tuesday afternoon. The students have planned it themselves. Details are: If you can, please send something in to share, please try to keep it healthy and gluten free. There is no expectation to provide something. Students can wear crazy hair for the day, as long as a hat can still be worn. They also want to bring in clothes for a dress up, which they will change into at second lunch and wear for the afternoon. We will be making some decorations and finishing with a movie. Notes will be coming home today confirming all details. 

Please enjoy these pics of us doing some outdoor learning. The students were detectives, looking for missing shape agents. 

This term in English it's all about persuasion. I hope they don't practice what they are learning too much at home. 

Science and design technology is all about forces this term and students will be making a spinning toy. Lots of excitement in the room already.

Well done to our students who received 'Student of the week' on  Monday.

P/1/2 - Chayse

3-6 - Lucy

Japanese - Lucy and Mahla

On Friday 18^th July we unveiled a bench in memory of Chris Gwin, a long time former teacher aide and librarian. It will sit outside the library and is perfect for a sit in the sunshine. A huge thankyou to the Maleny Apex Club for donating it and a plaque that reads: . Chris was a big part of our commmunity and it is great to have this in his memory.

Students were fortunate to have Jodie from QAS join us on the last day of term 2. Jodie did some basic First Aid with the P/1/2 and First Aid and CPR with the 3-6's.

A big thank you to Tracey Lewis who came in on the last day of term to make 'bushcritters' with us. Everyone had a fantastic time and there were lots of very cute and creative bushcritters that went home.

We are very excited with our upcoming Book Fair and dress up day around the corner. This is a great opportunity for parents, grandparents and gaurdians to purchase a book for their child.

This years theme is 'catch the reading bug' and students are encouraged to dress up as either their favourite book character or bugs and critters.

Dates to remember are - 

Book Fair - Fri 1 Aug - Tues 5 Aug (9am - 15.20pm)

Dress up day - Fri 1 Aug

Grandparents Morning tea - Mon 4 Aug (11.00am)

A valuable opportunity is being provided to parents/carers of our schools within the region, to participate in a free face-to-face 1.5-hour workshop facilitated by Bully Zero, a leading bully prevention organisation. The workshop Bully Zero, is designed to proactively support parents to understand what bullying is and what parents can do to support their children to be safe both online and when face to face with their peers.

The attached flyer provides information regarding locations, inclusive of the online option and how to register for the workshops. Participants must register for the workshops.

TENNIS COACHING FOR KIDS

Witta Tennis Club is offering Junior Tennis Coaching for Term 3 and subsidising the cost for you, by contributing 25% of the coaching fees.  So, on a 'first-in-first-served' basis, it is only $120.00 for 8 weeks of coaching and Witta Tennis will contribute the remaining $40.00 for each child for the term. We will also register your child as a member of the club and Tennis Queensland, free of charge.

There are limited spaces available for one hour coaching sessions with Katya, with a small group of children of a similar level.

Commencing on Friday 1 August and continuing each week until Friday 19 September. The sessions will be at 3.30pm and 4.30pm on Friday afternoons.  

We need players to commit to the entire term, and payment is required upon booking. 

Please contact me via return email, phone or text with any questions. (0437 295 501)