March Online Training

Functional Living Skills Pt 1, presented by Seher Suhail

This training will be based around functional life skills and increasing independence. It will also cover how we can use prompting to teach new skills. This would apply to children with autism, but also to kids that have cognitive disabilities.

To access the training click HERE

The power of music

Music has been shown to support and contribute to the overall wellbeing of children. Music is one of the few activities that involves the use of both sides of the brain, which stimulates creativity, maximises learning and the retention of information. Music connects with children on every level, from the physical to the emotional and intellectual, engaging the whole brain.

Physical Wellbeing: Music encourages physical activity and reduces muscle tension in children. Studies have shown that listening to music stimulates feel-good hormones and boosts immunity by lowering levels of cortisol and increasing immune cell types used to attack infections.

Emotional Wellbeing: Music can have a calming effect. It can reduce children’s negative emotions and lift their spirits. The song lyrics can function as positive affirmations (if you’re happy and you know it,
clap your hands).

Social Wellbeing: Music makes it easier for children to participate in teamwork and helps to embed social skills. Studies have shown that it can help to build self-confidence and increase self-esteem.

Practical tips for helping to support children’s wellbeing with music:

• Play music every day. Play all different kinds of music and talk to children about how they feel before and after listening. Discuss how some songs make us feel happy, sad or excited. Consider the difference between songs – were there a lot of words that had an impact or was it the tempo of a classical piece that appealed to them?
• Get up and dance. Move to music around the house or in the backyard and enjoy getting physical and encourage children to use different body parts to express how the music makes them feel.
• Don't be afraid to sing along. Children are often less inhibited than adults when it comes to singing but go on, let loose and feel the benefits of singing together.
• Make your own music. An ice cream container for a drum and a pencil for a beater is all you need! Of course, if you have an old guitar or recorder, that's great too. Get creative and let children experiment with music and see what happens - try some of these suggestions:
  - Smooth classical music to create a relaxing atmosphere on arrival during family grouping time
  - Transitional songs to reduce stress during transition times
  - Nursery songs and musical games to engage children throughout the day
  - Relaxation music to promote wellbeing during rest time
  - Classical music including Mozart to stimulate creativity during art/craft sessions
  - Yoga music to support yoga sessions
  - Meditation music to promote mindfulness during meditation, relaxation or breathing time
  - Smooth classical music to create calm atmosphere at the end of the day during family grouping time
  - Multicultural and folk music to encourage spontaneous dancing and bonding during family grouping time or community events
  
  
  

Join My Forever Family NSW for a Yarn Session

Help keep Aboriginal kids connected to Country
For Aboriginal children and young people to thrive, they need a strong connection to Culture and Country. We know that there is a need for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander kinship and foster carers, so we have created a series of Yarn Sessions to invite potential carers to have a yarn and find out what's involved in becoming a Carer.

Online

Tuesday 16 March, 10 - 11am  
Wednesday 31 March, 6 - 7pm
Monday 19 April, 10 - 11am
Monday 3 May, 2 - 3pm
Monday 17 May, 5 - 6pm

In person
Friday 12 March, 11am – 2pm , Wellington

Family Fun

Newcastle’s best family-friendly mountain bike trails

If the bike paths have become a little ho-hum for your children or young people, why not try a mountain bike trail. Newcastle has quite a few to choose from?

Glenrock- This has trails for all levels of bike riders. For kids, look out for the signposted green level circle to ride on. Your family can wind their way through woodlands, past waterfalls and through the open forests of this area.

Awaba - This mountain bike park is set in state forest near Freemans Waterhole. There is a trail called the ‘Tunnel Loop’ that has been designed especially for children as well as Adaptive and development trails which are wider and have been built with inclusion in mind.

Jesmond - These mountain biking tracks are in and around the suburbs of Newcastle. The trails have steep hills but the rides are through some pretty rocky spots and past a horse paddock for the horse lovers.

Holmesville - This mountain bike park has a collection of cross-country trails that are family-friendly. There is something for everyone at this park and you will ride through paperbark forest, over wooden bridges and through mud puddles. If you have a daredevil, the park has wooden jumps and a wall ride.

Dungog - This park is part of a community recreation reserve. The Common has over 22kms of tracks which include green tracks for young or inexperienced riders. The tracks are wide and smooth but have simple challenges like logs and rocks for your daredevil.

For more information on Mountain bike riding trails for kids, go to
https://newywithkids.com.au/best-mountain-bike-trails-newcastle/

Is your child a budding artist?

Newcastle Art Gallery hosts free Art Cart drop-in activities on weekend mornings.

Lake Macquarie Art Gallery hosts free simple art activities guided by friendly art museum educators every Sunday morning.

Maitland Regional Art Gallery hosts free art activities that are inspired by the current exhibitions on Sunday mornings. Art Sunday is staffed by qualified art teachers and sessions run for 30 minutes.

You will need to book in for all Gallery sessions.
Newcastle Art Gallery - (02) 4974 5100
Lake Macquarie Art Gallery - (02) 4921 0382
Maitland Art Gallery – (02) 4934 9859

Meet the team

Marie Lawrence, Systems Administration - Fostering and Permanency

Favourite Food: Anything with cheese- pizza, lasagna, tortellini…
To relax I: read e-books, watch tv series, mostly of the fantasy/sci-fi/dystopia variety.
Currently listening to: Hillsong radio on Spotify.
Best thing about my job is: getting things done- as I am either chasing paperwork, scanning and saving paperwork, or writing up paperwork! I also love to see the growth and changes in the children as they are cared for
by wonderful carers and caring staff. We work together in a fantastic environment with an excellent team.