Recap - Caring for our Mob training in August
This training was informative and insightful. For those who were able to attend, the information presented gave good insights into ‘Caring for our Mob.’ The training finished with a viewing of the documentary 'The Last Daughter'. This thought provoking documentary looks at the removal of Aboriginal children and the lasting consequences of the removal on families. If you were unable to attend the training but would like to watch this film, it is currently available on Netflix or you can read the book, 'The last daughter' which is available from all good bookstores.
Congratulations and thank you to Laurena Vojvodic and Dominic Levey
who reached their one year anniversary of caring for Allambi Care on 13/09/2023!
🎉👏🥳
Hunter Interagency Picnic
CaringLife: Connecting the Lives of Children in Care
Allambi Care uses the CaringLife platform and app that was created to solve this problem. It gives our children and young people digital access to all their life memories and documents in a very private and secure way. It connects children and teens with their carer and case workers and enables the children/young people and carers to upload content, write captions and see all the memories from their time together. Case workers can see and moderate all the content and can also add memories and other important documents. The content can be accessed forever - even when the young person leaves care or reaches adulthood.
What can be uploaded?
If it’s something your young person would like to remember, it can be uploaded. It might be photos from their birthday party, funny photos they take at home, a holiday, school photos, a day at the park and so on. It can also be scans of sporting awards, certificates of participation, birthday cards, artwork or school reports.
If you are a new carer and need more information or, would like a refresh on how to use CaringLife, please contact your case worker.
You can also watch a ‘how to’ video on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5fD2U22ZDAQ
School Holidays are here again...
Here are a few fun activities to do: Scavenger hunts!
Get out and explore Newcastle! Newy with Kids has developed family scavenger hunt printables covering Newcastle LGA to download for free. Download the self-directed scavenger hunt and then visit the location. You and your family will need to find various points of interest and answer the questions listed on the map to solve the mystery phrase.
It’s an opportunity to notice landmarks and interesting things you might not necessarily notice. There are now 10 locations to choose from: Blackbutt Reserve, Civic Park & Honeysuckle, Foreshore Park, Stockton, Wallsend Brickworks Park, Newcastle Museum and two new scavenger hunts, Lambton Park and Throsby Creek. We’ve also completed scavenger hunts for The Station and Museum Park.
There is now a Scavenger hunt around Nelson Bay as well! Head to the Port Stephens Visitor Information Centre to collect your free Scav Hunt printable and go exploring.
Chalk the Walk: Is a celebration of colour and energy that is accessible for all abilities and fun for all ages. Come and see the footpaths of Newcastle turn into concrete canvases with a collection of mind-bending artworks during Chalk the Walk. Visitors are encouraged to explore the art trail taking in the different 3D artworks while having a bit of fun and becoming part of the art. The artistic team will be producing artworks from Monday 18 – Saturday 23 September and visitors can explore the art trail from 23 September – 2 October.
Hunter Wetlands Centre - Biggest Bear Hunt!
Spend a day at the Hunter Wetlands Centre in Shortland. You can join the Biggest Bear Hunt in Newcastle on Wednesday 27 September and Wednesday 4 October. Bring your teddy and join the crew as we explore the Wetlands, hunt for bears, do some Teddy Bear craft and even encounter some reptiles! Bear hunts leave from the children’s playground at 10am, 11am and 12 noon. Children $5 for activity + Wetlands entry fee. Can’t make the special guided Bear Hunts on Wednesdays? No worries, the bears will be hanging out at the Wetlands the whole school holidays. Pick up a free map and clues at reception and go on your own Bear Hunt. Bring your teddy and a picnic and have a Teddy Bears Picnic!
Whole-Brain Strategy #6:
This month we have the Whole Brain Strategy #6: Use the Remote of the Mind: Replaying Memories.
To set up these next strategies in The Whole-Brain Child, Siegel and Bryson, explain memory. Before we can use the next strategies, we need to understand how our memory works and that there are two kinds of memory: implicit and explicit. The authors help us by describing memory:
“As an association machine, the brain processes something in the present moment—an idea, a feeling, a smell, an image—and links that experience with similar experiences from the past. These past experiences strongly influence how we understand what we see or feel … The brain continually prepares itself for the future based on what happened before. Memories shape our current perceptions by causing us to anticipate what will happen next.”
The other thing about memory is that “whenever you retrieve a memory, you alter it … Thus memories are distorted—sometimes slightly, sometimes greatly—even though you believe you are being accurate … the story you actually tell is less history and more historical fictions.”
Now that you know you are actually telling historical fiction. You also need to know that there are two kinds of memory: implicit and explicit. The memory that enables you to do something without knowing that you are remembering is implicit memory while the conscious recollection of a past experience is explicit memory. And “what’s crucial to understand about implicit memory—especially when it comes to our kids and their fears and frustrations—is that implicit memories cause us to form expectations about the way the world works, based on our previous experiences.”
If you are a parent of a child from a hard place, you should know your child could be acting out of fear of things they are not even aware they are remembering. So being able to bring awareness to our children and giving them voice are the keys for integrating memory. You can help your child bring their implicit memory into awareness and integrate their memory by empowering and encouraging them to use their voice. One way for your child to use their voice is through telling their story.
Whole-Brain Strategy #6: Use the Remote of the Mind: Replaying Memories wants us to help our children tell their story as they are ready, to replay what they need, pause when they need a break, fast forward through scary parts until they’re ready, and rewind and do it again as needed. While the idea of replaying memories may sound simplistic, I think replaying bad or scary memories goes against our natural instinct to push aside bad feelings and scary memories. We don’t want to dwell on bad memories; we want to move on, so why would we replay them? “Your goal is to help kids take the troubling experiences that are impacting them without their knowledge—the scattered puzzle pieces of their mind—and make those experiences explicit so that the whole picture in the puzzle can be seen with clarity and meaning.”
Elise and I had a traumatic experience during the summer of 2012. We were swimming at a friend’s house. Elise was with her little friend playing on the steps when she decided to reach for her kickboard, and she couldn’t quite get a handle on it before she fell off. My friend jumped in the pool at the same time I ran over to the edge of the pool and pulled Elise out. (That image of Elise right before I pulled her out is burned in my mind.) After she was out, I asked if she was okay, hugged her tight, and I told her that it scared me. She hugged me back, bit me on the shoulder (a fear response) and got back in the pool with her friend.
During the car ride home, Elise said, “Mom, I thought I was going to sink to the bottom and not see you again,” which was accompanied by many tears. I just kept telling her that I was so glad I was there to help her. She was very tearful that evening, and her dad and I just loved on her, reassured her, and assumed she was mostly tired from an eventful day.
The next day Elise didn’t bring up the pool incident. We went to the library, checked out several books, and came home for rest time. During rest time, Elise had been reading her new library books. When I went into her room, she immediately started saying, “Mom, mom, in the bear book something happens, and he’s stuck in the water!” I could tell by the tone of her voice that she was really worried about this story. She was flipping hurriedly through the pages to show me where the daddy bear fell out of the boat and the baby bear pulled him out. I don’t remember how I started the conversation. I may have said something like, “Oh he fell in the water like you did yesterday.” And then Elise just started her story, “Yes, I reached for the kickboard and then I sank the first time. I held my breath and sank again. Then you came and pulled me out. I thought I was going to sink to the bottom.” I asked her if she was scared. She said yes, and I told her I was scared too and that I was so thankful I was there to help her. We talked some more about swimming and being safe, and then she moved on and asked me to read her chicken book from the library.
A more natural response for me would have been to assure Elise that the bear was fine and show her the rest of the book—to put the past behind us, and I would have missed completely what was going on. And Elise would still be scared. I credit The Whole-Brain Child with helping me understand what to look for in my child and teaching me strategies to connect with my child and help her make sense of her world. I also credit The Whole-Brain Child with giving me strategies to help myself cope with that traumatic experience. I pray that you and your child are never as scared as Elise and I were that day. But if you are, replay the story as often as they need it. It will help.