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Live Life Well @ School is a collaborative initiative between NSW Ministry of Health and school sectors in NSW.

Northern Sydney
Local Health District

Term 4, 2021
Teachers' Newsletter

Welcome to Term 4

 

This term we are taking some inspiration from our fellow Australian Olympians and bringing you a range of wellbeing and physical activity resources to support teachers, students and their families to stay healthy and active. Included in this edition: 

  • Teacher wellbeing 
  • Student wellbeing 
  • Resources and Grants  
  • Canteen support 
  • Garden support 
  • Upcoming events  
  • Make your meals count 

 

Wishing you a term of wellness,

 

Northern Sydney Live Life Well @ School team

Teacher Wellbeing

Home Workouts 

 

Looking for some workout inspiration? The team of accredited exercise professionals at Exercise Right have put together a range of workouts that you can do in the safety of your own home. 

 

Taking Care of Yourself

 

Beyond Blue has some terrific tips for looking after your health and wellbeing during this time. 

Student Wellbeing

Mental Health

 

Be You is a national initiative for educators, aimed at promoting and protecting positive mental health in children and young people. Take a look at their professional learning, resources and more. 

 

Staying Active 

 

Looking for some fun energizers for students to do at home? Check out these physical activity and brain break tiles that you can share with your students for some creative and fun ways to get moving at home. 

 
 

Resources and Grants 

Newsletter Snippets: Download the newsletter snippets and insert them into your school communications. The snippets cover healthy eating, physical activity, Crunch & Sip break and limiting screen time. 

 

Kindy Orientation: A PowerPoint presentation is available to support your school Kindy Orientation. The presentation covers packing a lunchbox, Crunch & Sip, physical activity and sleep guidelines. 

 

Children's Book: Going to a COVID-19 testing clinic is a story book for young children. Available in eight languages. 

 

Sun Safety: Inspire your students to protect their skin from the harmful effects of the sun with these interactive education resources from Cancer Institute NSW.

 

Sustainable Schools Grant: School Infrastructure NSW Sustainable Schools Grants invite all NSW public schools to apply for funding up to $15,000 to deliver practical sustainability-focused projects. Applications are open.  

 

Garden Competition: Enter Kimbriki’s Eco House and Garden competition with awesome prizes on offer for students and a major prize for the school with the most entries.

 

Active Play at School: The following link includes the Active Play at School webinar recording and other supporting physical activity resources for teachers.

Canteen Support

The past term has been difficult for many canteens due to school closures. However, a lot of canteen managers have been busy reviewing their menus and working on the NSW Healthy School Canteen Strategy. 

 

A big congratulations to the following schools for passing the Menu Check Service: 

  • Avalon Public School  
  • Beacon Hill Public School 
  • Eastwood Public School 
  • Gordon West Public School 
  • Oakhill Drive Public School 
  • Roselea Public School

Canteen Managers - we want to hear from you!

 

Please complete this short survey to provide feedback and share ideas on the canteen support that you would like to receive. It will take less than 3 minutes!

Case Study – Eastwood Public School Canteen   

 

Meet Elizabeth, the canteen manager from Eastwood Public School who recently passed their two year canteen menu review! The canteen is run by the P&C and they continually source healthy products as well as undertake taste testing to ensure that the food meets their expectations. 

 

The P&C work together with the canteen to ensure they deliver good quality, healthy and delicious meals. 

 

Elizabeth is always thinking about how to make healthy swaps, changing occasional foods to everyday foods. Elizabeth believes that it’s the canteen’s responsibility to support students with healthy food choices. Some of her best healthy swaps are pizza bases for whole-meal bread crusts (which also helps to reduce food waste!) and Maggi noodles for homemade chicken soup with vermicelli noodles.

 

Awesome work Eastwood Public School! 

If you need a hand with your Menu Check Service application or want to chat all things canteen, contact us.

Garden Guru Corner 

Garden Giggle:  

 

Q: What do you call a fast fungus? 

A: A mush-vroom 

Wellbeing and Sustainability Network:

        

NSLHD hosted an online garden network in August which focused on growing and preparing edible native plants and Aboriginal spirituality.

 

Attendees learnt all about growing edible native plants in the school garden and how to use them to make delicious recipes such as lemon myrtle yoghurt and warragal green pesto.

 

The network also provided practical ways to incorporate Aboriginal spirituality in the school garden. Teachers shared their experience of the great wellbeing and behavioral benefits of practices such as using respect for the earth to learn about respect for self and others. 

 

Check out the network recording and supporting resources

Tips and Tricks: Wicking Beds 

 

Previous generations of gardeners must never have imagined embarking on building a garden bed from fabric, pipes, mineral pellets and plastic cells but this is what more schools are doing.  

 

Why a wicking bed?

A wicking garden bed is designed so the water 'wicks' upwards like a candle wick from a reservoir of water at the bottom. Wicking beds are self-watering beds that reduce water use by 60-80% compared to a conventional garden bed. They also provide good drainage during a heavy downpour. 

 

View this video on creating a wicking bed.  

Upcoming Events

Go4Fun Term 4 - Online

 

Go4Fun provides children aged 7 – 13 years and their families with 10 weeks of support relating to healthy eating, physical activity, self-esteem and FUN!

 

Go4Fun is FREE and available online in term 4. Please include the Go4Fun online flyer in your school communications.

World Teachers Day 5th October 2021: ‘Leading in crisis, reimagining the future’.   

 

National Ride2Work Day  20th October 2021. 

 

Australian Pollinator Week 6th-14th November 2021.  

 

Wellbeing and Sustainability Network Meeting - Save the date (registration information will be emailed) - 8th November, 2021. Hosted by Northern Beaches Council.  

Make your meals count

Did someone say healthy lunchbox muffins?

 

 

These carrot and oat mini muffins are the perfect size for school lunch boxes and afternoon snacks. Make a batch of these yourself or add in your school’s newsletter for parents to access and make for a healthy lunchbox treat! 

Contact us

For further information and support, get in touch with the Northern Sydney Local Health District, Live Life Well @ School team:

 

Phone: (02) 9388 5299

Email: NSLHD-LiveLifeWellatSchool@health.nsw.gov.au 

 

To contribute to future issues, share story ideas or provide feedback, email: NSLHD-LiveLifeWellatSchool@health.nsw.gov.au