Sleep Over

Each year we have a fabulous time sleeping over at the school. The purpose of the sleepover is to:

• build group harmony and
• to allow the kids to make some decisions together
• to build independence
• to learn to prepare food and wash up

The Big Cats and Kestrels have a late night. Check below for Basecamp variations.

Rules

The same rules as during school time BUT, if you don’t follow instructions then you have to go straight home!

Food

You cannot bring gum, coke or other soft drink, or too much sugary food. You can bring chips, and carbs galore! Please only provide the equivalent of a cup of your family’s sweet treat.

The dinner and breakfast will follow the food policy BUT will consequently be focused on the curriculum goal of the sleepover, to empower kids to make choices. This means that sometimes, it is not super healthy but allows them to experience making a choice. Make sure they are clear about your family values around food. We ensure that we follow any allergy advice as well.

Food choice is a key part of the experience. We will decide together what we are going to have for afternoon tea, dinner and breakfast and all the kids will be involved in the preparation and serving. Treat food is also part of the sleepover. Consequently we allow students to bring the equivalent of a cup of sweet treat (a treat that fits their family values), giving them the chance to make some choices.

Remember, the curriculum goal of the sleepover is to empower kids to make choices, so if your family allows chocolate, then it is great for them to have chocolate in their “cup-o-treat” to make a choice over how and when they will eat it.

Bed times

Everyone sleeps in the classroom. You must ensure that you tell the teaching staff if your child has sleep issues so we can keep them safe and well. Teaching staff sleep across the doorways so we always wake up if they need to go to the bathroom.

Group cohesion, understanding others and self-awareness will be the key thinking process behind bed times.

Younger students have 8pm sleeping goals with the Late Night students heading home from 7pm. Check below for this term’s specifics. Lights off for all around 10pm…unless a senior as sometimes they get to have an all-nighter. Check below for details.

Please remember that they are tired after both the late night AND the sleep over. If you must have them at school the next day there will be a base camp open but we advise keeping it as a recovery day.

Movies

The children will make their suggestions for movies (and the dinner menu) prior to the night. The movies will be G rated for the early session, or sometimes PG rated depending on the film (pre-watched by teachers). Popcorn is fine to feast on during the film.

We know that some students have a lot of difficulty watching films with drama, stress or anything that triggers their fears. We will always check with the cohort to try and find a film that would be okay for all but if we can’t find one for our particularly over sensitive students, we will make sure they have a calm space for drawing or reading out of range of the film.

Games

Running around games like spotlight and capture the flag may be played in the afternoon. They MUST have covered shoes to play these games!

Equipment:

A checklist to tick off when they are packing up

• Named torch (let’s repeat that…a NAMED torch….and everything else),
• Pyjamas,
• Toothbrush,
• Bedding (including a pillow) and a mattress that does NOT require us to pump it up – ensure that the bag you provide can house their bedding without help from grownups. We want them to do it alone!
• A “snuggle”,
• Snacks – carbs and 1 cup of sweet treats,
• Drink bottle (A MUST),
• Change of clothes,
• Please include a plastic bag for clothing, in case of accidents.

Please note, the staff can’t help with inflating sleeping mats….because the whole purpose of this event is to encourage them to be self-sufficient so they MUST be able to get their bedding together. They don’t need giant beds 🙂

Breakfast is from 7am.

Beds packed up by 8am.

Pick-up time: 8am-9am – if possible please don’t pick up your child until after 8am as there is always lots to tidy and pack up that they need to help with as part of the experience.

Invoicing will be out at the end of term and approximately $17.00!