Melanie Godfrey - Role at Westcott Primary

                                              MELANIE GODFREY - COUNSELLOR
                                                  WESTCOTT PRIMARY SCHOOL
Mel.westcott1@gmail.com                                                                                  23nd April 2013

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to term 2 and I hope you all had a short but wonderful break. 
Firstly this letter is to inform you of my new e.mail address (above) and secondly to assure all parents that after my first year at Westcott I can honestly say that this school puts your children first.  I feel that I also need to explain my role as School Counsellor as I do believe that there is some confusion amongst parents.
This school has a very sound structure in place as regards discipline and counselling.  If children misbehave they are disciplined according to the school rules.  If the teacher feels that the child has behaved in a "naughty" way and it is out of character (usually related to emotional upheaval) the child is referred to me and the parents advised.    My role is to try and understand why the child is behaving in that way.  Behind "naughty" behaviour there is more often than not, a valid reason why.  My role is not to question, judge or criticise the child or family / caregivers.  My aim is to build a non-threatening relationship with the child in order to gain trust and offer him / her a safe place to express.  I never push a child to talk.  I work at the child's pace and direction, using play and art therapy, games, music etc.   Children often do not have the verbal ability or they fear expressing their feelings - art and play is natural and non-threatening for children.  The result of counselling is usually the ability to cope differently in circumstances / environments beyond their control,  believing in themselves and gaining self-confidence which ultimately are important life skills.
I really encourage families to get in touch with me if they have any concerns.  Family therapy is a vital aspect of counselling with children as so often we can equip families with different coping skills which can improve family dynamics.    All my sessions, whether with the children, parents or caregivers are held in the strictest confidence.   
We also do group work around anger and anxiety.  Children who may have been in counselling previously are often brought into the groups to check on how they are doing. 
Parenting is not easy, but if I could please encourage you to listen to your children,  give them time to tell you about their day - so often that is all they want.  Praise, love and encourage.  Let's try and continue the positive messages received at school into our homes.
As the saying goes "children see, children do".   Let our children mirror good.
On a very final note, as always I am on the lookout for any toys your children may no longer need, games, dolls, lego etc. 
Many thanks
Yours sincerely,

MELANIE GODFREY

ART Art & Craft Holiday Workshops AND

Let your children free with their creativity !  Leave them  with us for 2 ½ hours and let them surprise you !  Painting, collage, xmas decorations, clay ……

VENUE :               TOKAI METHODIST CHURCH, Lowlands Avenue, Tokai

DATES :               DECEMBER – Wed 12^th, Friday 14^th, Tues 18^th, Thursday 20th

                             JANUARY – Tuesday 8^th, Wednesday 9th

TIMES :                10.00a.m  to  12.30 p.m

PRICE :                R120 per child per session (R200 if 2 siblings) (includes all materials and a snack)

Full payment required up front please.  Max 12 children per session.

CONTACT :         Mel at 072 3567127 (after 4pm)  / e.mail mel.westcott1@gmail.com

BOOK EARLY TO AVOID DISAPOINTMENT  PLACE CONFIRMED ONCE PAYMENT IN FULL

Eating Healthy

The Natural Way blog – Melanie Godfrey (Counsellor) – Westcott Primary School

23/11/2012

Hi again, we are nearly ending our term and the summer has settled in – now we have no excuse not to eat raw vegetables and delicious summer fruit.  As you can see this is a blog site and I would welcome any comments around the natural way site.  One mother sent me a wonderful message saying that already she has lost weight, her daughter is feeling better from a few ailments she had and her son is growing !  Yipeeeee

I am so pleased when I hear news like this and I need to reinforce again that healthy eating works.  Energy levels are required at this time of the year, they get us through the stress, the end of year madness, the holidays and thoughts of entertaining children etc etc. 

Interesting Fact : According to Mary Ann Shearer the quickest way to deal with a child with any infection or fever is to put them on a fruit only diet, extracting fresh fruit juices and usually within 3 – 36 hours they are better.

As Mary Ann Shearer shares “Changing to a more natural way of living need not be complicated – do not despair if it seems difficult at first.  Keep looking back to see how far you have come, rather than how far you still have to go”.

In my last site I mentioned the five basic steps : who has followed all 5 ?  Who has followed one or two ? As I said I will explain these steps slowly as in Mary Ann Shearer’s book “Healthy Kids, The Natural Way”.   First two steps  

1.        Eat at least one meal per day that consists of as much fresh fruit as you like, with a handful of raw nuts or seeds.

WHY :-  “Fruit is the most important food in our diet and we should all try and have a minimum of one meal per day consisting of just fruit.  Fruit is nature’s wonder food and easy to digest because all the nutrients it contains are already in its simplest form – raw.  Uncooked fruits are alkaline in the bloodstream and contain the best form of glucose to maintain blood sugar levels properly.  A big factor for me is that fruit is high in magnesium which helps your muscles relax which in turn helps with stress.” (p15)

2.      Snack only on fresh or dried fruit or raw vegetables

WHY :-  “When our body craves sweet things i.e. candy and sweets, it is actually the body telling us that we are not eating enough fresh fruit  which contains glucose which is natural sugar.  Listen to your body – cut out fizzy cool drinks – If you want fizz have sparkling fruit juices.” (p16)

TIP : Try and have your fruit meal in the morning as this is the time of day that your body eliminates waste products.  This is aided by feeding your body easily digested foods i.e. fruit.

TIP : When craving sweet stuff try and substitute chocolates and sweets with fresh fruit or sulphur free dried fruits (raisins, dates, figs etc).  When your body craves salty snacks, don’t reach for the biltong or a bag of chips, try almonds, nuts and seeds, olives, avocado. 

THIS WEEK TRY CUTTING DOWN ON TEA AND COFFEE – REPLACE THEM WITH HERBAL OR FRUIT TEAS – “Also remember for any child not in puberty or under the age of thirteen, caffeine is not good for them as it is too stimulatory causing a negative effect of their hormonal system” (p16)

So guys chat in two weeks – I would love to hear your comments on the blog site and really try and see how you do with the above tips this week !

Melanie

Reference : All the above information is from Mary Ann Shearer’s book the Healthy Kids, The Natural Way (2012)

Eating Healthy - The Natural Way

Eating Healthy

The Natural Way – Melanie Godfrey (Counsellor) – Westcott Primary School

09/11/2012

Hello parents, children and teachers.  Following on from a very interesting talk given by Mary-Ann Shearer “The Natural Way” at our school last month, and the fact that Westcott is very intent on giving a healthy eating message, I have been inspired to start a fortnightly column around healthy eating – utilising a lot of “The Natural Way”  beliefs.  Healthy eating is something that I have tried to instil in my household from when my children were very young and I believe it is the foundation for our children to be energetic, happy, aware, observant, and have more ability to listen actively and focus more.  A healthy diet could bring an endless list of benefits – but here’s the thing …… how do we break the bad habits overnight ?

The answer is YOU DON’T !  Life is hectic and stressed but I think sometimes we make it more difficult for ourselves by not eating correctly therefore not really having the much needed energy to get through the day.  As Mary-Ann said, “Change cannot happen overnight but if we make one little change daily it can improve the overall quality of life for your family, family members will have more energy – children will have calmer energy, everybody will sleep better.”

Mary-Ann has given us the knowledge to make better choices for our children and us.  If we continue to eat badly – our health will deteriorate, we will suffer from low energy levels – isn’t it worth it to change something daily to help our children.

We start by changing the way we eat and what we eat. One step at a time, focus on what you can do rather than what you cannot do.  We too often focus on all the things we cannot do and end up giving up because our family has rebelled.  Most people battle to change because they try to do it too fast …… focus on the five steps given below –

TIP : write out the five steps and put in on your fridge. 

“MAKE SMALL CHANGES OFTEN AS OPPOSED TO ONE BIG CHANGE AT ONCE” Mary Ann-Shearer

I am going to be including in my fortnightly column a couple of recipies, a few tips and ideas for your small changes  …….

CHANGE 1 – week 1

GIVE UP WHITE SUGAR – TRY PUTTING RAW HONEY IN TO SWEETEN”   Raw honey is the best and it crystalises when in the cupboard as opposed to the other honey that maintains its runniness.

Five simple daily steps to follow as suggested by The Natural Way : PUT THESE ON YOUR FRIDGE !

·         Eat at least, one meal per day that consists of as much fruit as you like, with a handful of seeds and nuts (smoothie recipie to follow) – breakfast is a good for this idea.

·         Snack only on fresh or dried fruit or raw vegetables.

·         Do not eat animal protein more than once a day.

·         Start all cooked meals with raw fruit or vegetables.

·         Try not to eat a concentrated protein with a concentrated starch.

So this week I will leave you to think about these five points – try at least one step and change 1 to get started and see how you go.  Next time I will go into more detail as to why follow the five points.

Recipies

Standard shake or smoothie – this is great first thing in the morning, whizz it together for everybody in the household – cut the fruit up the night before to save time – it takes 2 mins !

·         A small to medium handful of raw unsalted almonds and / or cashews per person

·         1/2 a fresh pineapple

·         Freshly extracted apple or orange juice

·         You can also add

·         Frozen berries, mangos, litchis, granadilla or passion fruit pulp

·         Ice (optional)

Blend all the ingredients until smooth and creamy and give everyone a glass !  I give this to five children plus one husband every morning (variations on the fruit depending on the season) – all my kids love it.

ENJOY and have fun with it – involve the whole family !

Awareness of healthy eating for learners

Mel Godfrey - Westcott School Counsellor

After attending Mary-Ann Shearer’s talk at the school last week I have realised how important it is to keep up the awareness of how important food is – especially for our children.  Over the next couple of weeks and then continuing into next year I will be putting information, ideas and easy recipes onto the website fortnightly – these are to encourage healthy feeding of your family especially your children.  If our children’s brains are not fed healthy foods, they will not work – it is very simple and very alarming. 

It does not have to be expensive to feed yourself well.  As Mary Ann Shearer said “If you were in the Garden of Eden, what would you have eaten”.  What I would really welcome is parent’s feedback if the ideas or recipes are working and maybe what difference it may be making.  We need to change our lifestyle to suit us not let our lifestyle be dictated by what we feel we have to do!

Ideas for recipes are so welcome and the more we share and care the healthier we can all become.