How to talk to children about World Crisis

As the world navigates challenges and crises, such as COVID-19, floods in Queensland and NSW and the war in the Ukraine, we need to know how to have open and honest discussions with our kids so they can grow up as informed and thoughtful world citizens. Three reasons for addressing hard issues with our children are listed below:

1. To help children process difficult emotions that may arise

Having these conversations provides you with the opportunity to help your child make sense of how they might be feeling and to provide reassurance. Having a supportive discussion at age appropriate levels, about a stressful event can actually decrease distress. Children need re-assurance that adults will keep them safe. Bringing up the conversation with your child allows you to talk about strategies that can help if they are feeling upset about it.

2. To combat misinformation

Children may already have been exposed to some kind of information - pictures, video clips, social media or news - about the invasion of Ukraine. It is critical for parents to provide opportunities for children to ask questions, to thwart any misinformation they may have. Be mindful of exposure to news and media, especially violent or destructive content. This is particularly paramount for young children who have a more limited ability to understand what is happening.

3. To model and encourage compassionate views towards others

Talking to children about the war in Ukraine can model a compassionate view towards fellow humans, regardless of distance or circumstance. Asking a question such as “What might someone else in this situation be feeling right now?” can support the growth of an empathic view of other’s lives.  

Children of different ages and maturity will have different levels of understanding and capacity for processing the information unfolding in Ukraine. But all are affected by the world's crisis. Children under the age of five may have a very limited understanding of the conflict in Ukraine. If your young child asks you a question about what is happening, provide them with simple information they can relate to. Avoid providing more detail than requested. For example, you could say, “One country is not being very nice to another country and it is making people feel upset”.

For older children start by asking your child what they have heard or what they might know about the conflict in Ukraine. Next, validate and normalize how they are feeling. If they say it’s distressing for them, you can say, “It can be scary to think about a war; most kids and adults feel scared too.” If your child does not know very much or does not seem to be very disconcerted about what is happening, you can keep the discussion brief. You can share some factual and developmentally appropriate information. For example, you might look at a map of the world together and share where the conflict is occurring. You can share some basic information about what is happening and why.

As Christians we believe in a just and fair God. A God who created the world perfectly but through man’s own decisions and their desire to be in control, things are not as they are meant to be. God has given us hope, through Jesus that one day all things will be renewed to their original glory. Amidst all the crisis in the world, people are desperately seeking hope. Rico Tice (Hope explored, 2022) defines hope as:

Hope is a joyful expectation for the future, based on true events in the past, which changes everything about my present.

In the midst of the crisis may it be that the light of Christ brings hope and help through his people, his world, and his mercy shown to a war-torn region.

Margaret Louw — Principal

The Taste of Channel is Happening!

We are running this lovely event again this year instead of the Twilight Fair.

For those that weren’t here last year, The Taste of Channel is a unique food-tasting experience just for our school community, celebrating the wonderful cultural diversity of Channel, held on 18 March, from 4.30pm - 6.30pm.

We aim to set up a number of stalls around the school covering all the various nationalities. Each stall will be providing samples of their culinary delights on small tasting plates. We are now seeking volunteers, from as many families as possible, to contribute a meal which is unique to their cultural background or heritage, and as well as helpers to serve at the stalls. 

The cost of ingredients can be reimbursed by the School Council up to $300 per stall. For further information, please email Mel at School Council, email below. Serving sized taste plates & crockery will be provided.

Entry is $10 per adult and $5 per child, these are now available to purchase through the Qkr App. Once the entry fee has been paid, tickets will be sent home with your eldest child. Please keep these in a safe place as they are your entry into the event.
NOTE: this is a school community event only, grandparents are invited.

Sign up here now to help serve or for more information contact School Council.

Amped at Channel is our new format for school assemblies. It's a short, punchy time together in the beautiful Channel Amphitheatre that seeks to build community amongst parents, students and teachers.

This will happen each Friday morning (cancelled if raining) and will go for 15 minutes. Typically a class will share some work and we will explore a Bible story together, sing a song and talk to our Heavenly Father through prayer. 

Utilising the natural outlook of the Amphitheatre, this simple ongoing routine will get our parents, teachers and students amped for learning to love and loving to learn. This Friday 4 March, Year 1/2 Hall will be presenting. We’d love to see you there!

The biblical thread that we are endeavouring to weave through our units this term is ‘Discovering Patterns.’ In Mathematics, Year 1/2 Hall have been learning about place value and counting patterns. We have been learning about numbers to 100 and to 1000. Students have enjoyed hands-on games and activities and learning more about the patterns in God’s world. One of our Maths investigations last week was called ‘Build and Count’. Students had lots of fun creating castles from MAB (Multibase Arithmetic blocks) and then counting the value of their castle.

Lucinda Hall — Teacher

What a wonderful job families are doing at recycling and using less plastic. I encourage you to continue this marvelous effort as we caretake God’s creation. It would be fabulous to help our school reduce waste even further with every purchasing choice we make. 

On 16 March I will be taking leave until Easter to get a new hip. During this time the Year 5/6 Waste Warriors will be taking a leading role in maintaining the recycling and composting sustainability initiatives we already have in the school. We are looking for a parent volunteer who would consider supervising this role one morning a week. If this might be you could you, please phone the school or email me at lbailey@channel.tas.edu.au. I can train you up preferably next week or the Tuesday after. The students are particularly keen in this role and it is very satisfying to be involved. Although a Tuesday works well at this point a different day is possible to fit with volunteer availability. Thank you in advance for helping us model and practice being faithful stewards of this amazing God given world.

Lindy Bailey — Chaplain

The Year 6 leaders have started running different activities during recess and lunch each week. To support these activities, we would appreciate any donations of art/craft supplies (extra pencils/crayons/paper/card/paint etc). We would also appreciate any spare Rubik’s cubes that you might have lying around the house and don’t need anymore.

Please send any donations to the Year 5/6 classroom. Thank you.

Grainne Brocklesby, Erica Wyllie and Year 6

Throughout the year, there are a number of events and programs that Channel runs which take more than a single pair of hands to make happen.

There are the regular events like the Welcome BBQ, Grandparents Day, the Lantern Walk and the Twilight Fair/Taste of Channel. There are also optional extras: Things like dancing or craft groups that are run after school hours, or simple one-off occurrences, like showing a class how to sew on a button correctly.

If you’re interested in helping out our school community, we’d love to know where your hobbies, skills and strengths lie, so that when the need arises for some baked goods, or a sports coach, or an extra pair of hands to help flip a sausage or cover library books, we can ask the right people.