Newsletter Wangaratta District Specialist School
Date 1/03/2018 Ph. 5721 7424
[email protected]. Fax. 5721 8601
Chris Harvison
Principal
Dates to Remember
Photo orders due by Tuesday 5th March
Labour Day - Monday 11th March - No school this day.
Principal’s
Awards
Week 3— Junior: Elijah Macey – for being a learner becoming more confident with his independent living skills.
Middle: Olivia Scott – for being a learner and overcoming her fears and being brave by swimming in the 50m pool
Senior: Erynn Bulmer – for being a learner and spending her first day in her new class-room, with the Buller girls.
Week 4 - Madeline Wernert, Brandon Alfieri, Bailey Mackrell, Dakoda Leavett-Brown,
Kayne Morrow, Jordan Furlong, Tyler Beardow, Tyson Barnes
The halfway point already!
Hard to believe that we are already approaching the second half of the term! Time flies when you are having fun!!
It has been wonderful to see so many parents and carers visiting our school over the past few weeks to meet with
teachers and flesh out the 2019 Individual Learning Plans for students. Our aim as always is to have a collabora-
tive approach to all student learning goals and we value your input, as you clearly know your child better than
anyone. This becomes increasingly important as students reach their final few years of school as it allows us to
better map a smooth transition plan for students into a sustainable post-school pathway.
School Captains
Speeches will be delivered by aspiring school captains at assembly over the coming weeks with students voting to
elect their 2019 captains before terms end. We are very much looking forward to hearing our senior students
speak at assembly—it is always a highlight! Keep an eye on our facebook page for photos and announcements as
they happen.
Bus changes
You should have received a letter last week outlining some bus changes—please take the time to read through this letter. The main information is as follows—If you require your child to be picked up/dropped off at a stop
other than their usual nominated stop, you MUST let the school know by 2pm that afternoon. This allows time for the staff in the office to make the changes. The office is extremely busy from 2 pm onwards so changes are unable to be made after that time.
2019 School Fees
2019 school fees are now due to be paid. You will see on COMPASS that your 2019 school fees have been added and you will have received our 2019 breakdown of fees both via COMPASS and in hard copy this week. If you have any questions about this process, please contact the office. We appreciate your prompt payment.
Pathway Options for Students
with a disAbility (Transitioning)
A free information session for parents/carers
of students with a disability.
“What to consider for life after school”
Discussion will focus on career options and supports around:-
pathway planning
post school funding within the context of NDIS
employment and other transition options
local services map
Presented by Mark Cottee
National Disability Coordination Officer
Resources to support the options explored in the presentation will be available on the day.
They will help you to make the best choices for your student.
RSVP by 25th March 2019
Suzanne Sinclair
Phone: (03) 5721 7424 Email: [email protected]
OR
" Return slip via students Diary
Parent/Carer Name:- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I will/will not be attending this event
Number of attendees:- . . . . . . . . . . .
Wednesday 27th March 2019
Wangaratta District Specialist School
139 Appin Street, Wangaratta
Changes to your normal bus arrangements
Our school buses now operate on a system whereby students are electronically tracked when boarding/alighting. This allows the bus company and the school to know where the student will get on/off the bus on any given day. It is a safety requirement instigated by the government.
If you require your child to be picked up/dropped off at a stop other than their usual nominated stop, you MUST let the school know by 2pm that afternoon. This allows time for the staff in the office to make the changes. The office is extremely busy from 2 pm onwards so changes are unable to be made after that time.
In the event that the changes have been unable to be made by the time the bus departs school because insufficient warning has been given, the bus will drop the students at the normal stop.
To request a change to the normal bus stop:-
please ring the office on 57 217424 before 2pm state the child’s name bus they catch the normal stop the stop to be changed to how many mornings/nights it will occur for before reverting to the normal routine. write it in the communication books so the classroom staff know as well
You can verbally relay the message to the bus staff as a matter of courtesy but they are unable to make the changes to the system.
Thank you for your cooperation in this matter, our aim is to have all students arrive at school/arrive home safe and accounted for.
Suzanne Sinclair
Bus Coordinator
Together We Will: Be Learners. Be Safe. Be Respectful.
Buffalo - Leanne, Shannon, Jill and Lisa
The term is just flying along as we continue getting to know our new class mates and learn our daily
classroom routine.
There are lots of fun and exciting activities to try and we also had our first excursion outside the school,
which proved to be a big hit.
Its amazing to see the massive growth already in such a few short weeks, it’s an awesome space to be part of and we are loving our learning and play.
Taminick - Phillipa, Kara and Fiona
Kara and Darren enjoy
some sensory play with
the playdough.
Francis and Aidan enjoy
time in the sensory room.
Together We Will: Be Learners. Be Safe. Be Respectful.
Mt. Emu - Lisa, Lori and Jack
Stanley- Bridie and Simon
Over the last few weeks, students have begun to settle into their
learning and the classroom routines. Students have been working
hard to build their confidence to work independently and to a
schedule. Students are proud of the success they achieve through
their own hard work and persistence.
This term, Stanley is participating in weekly Occupational Therapy and social skills groups which are run by our Allied Health team. We are looking forward to what we will achieve in the coming year!
The Emu crew have had a busy couple of weeks. We are all working on our
handwriting, and we have seen a marked improvement already.
Hop took us out for a bike ride last week and the students had the opportunity
to do some off road riding. We are planning a trip from Beechworth to Tar-
rawingee later in the term. More news about that adventure in the next news-
letter.
Last week we cooked sausage rolls. They proved to be very popular with the
boys. This week we will be having a go at Lasagne.
Fridays we have our junior and senior assembly. Aidain, Matthew and Mitch
are helping out. Mitch sings the Happy Birthday song. Matthew does the key
word sign on stage alongside Mitch, and Aidain hands out the Principals
award . They are all contributing to what is a very special junior assembly.
I hope you all have a wonderful week from the Emu Crew.
Together We Will: Be Learners. Be Safe. Be Respectful.
Mt Beauty - Chloe and Lea
Frazer and Emily
We have started our swimming program this term. Our students are learning a number of water safety skills
with our swimming instructor Cass. The boys especially love the free time at the end where they have been do-
ing belly whackers into the pool.
Last week our class was one of the lucky ones to get one to one Ipads! Judd came into Warby to help set them
up and guide us through how to use them. We have already started using them for our learning and have started
writing and designing books that we will read to some of the junior kids once they are finished.
This week in Enterprise we are starting to prepare our shark tank for our Warby Pop-up shop so stay tuned for
whats to come.
The past two weeks have been super busy here in Mt.
Beauty! All the students are being great learners in
the classroom working on their spelling words and
learning our letters. We have had Community Access
where we visit Woolworths to shop for our cooking
and the Wangaratta Library. The throne chair has
been a popular one amongst our students here! During
our Buddy session with Kosciusko class, we engaged
in some sensory play with water and bubbles. Matt
and Kathi had a ball! Great to see our older students
engaging with the younger group. What a great two
weeks it has been Mt. Beauty!
Together We Will: Be Learners. Be Safe. Be Respectful.
VCAL 1 and 2 Jodi, Rosie, Adrian, Hilly and Ash
Wangaratta District Specialist School’s association with NE Tracks LLEN. Coordinator Shane Crispin works with the school to try and provide work placement opportunities for our students. This year some of our stu-dents will have the opportunity to work at the Wangaratta Speedway. According to Shane “this is a great op-portunity for students interested in automotive , engineering , media and event management to learn some new skills build new networks and be close to the racing action”. Jess Elkan is one student willing to ‘step into the drivers seat’.
The Hotham boys have been working really hard the last couple of weeks. We are very lucky to have been a part of the one to one iPad program and there has already been some amazing work being done on them. We made some fantastic presentations on big land animals that we presented to Mt. Morgan, it’s just the beginning of the exciting things that we will do on the iPads.
Having no power didn't stop Hotham from having an awesome day. We spent the morning up the Warby Ranges and then had a BBQ down at Merriwa Park with the rest of middle grades which was fantastic!
Hotham - Jordan and Alicia
Together We Will: Be Learners. Be Safe. Be Respectful.
Mt Typo - Ryan and John
Feathertop - Sarah, Ranni and Sam
In Feathertop we are going to be working on robots. They are called Spheros.
I am going to teach it to run a race, spin, follow a track, or change colour.
By: Brandon, BJ, Zac, Shannon, Ryan, Ewan, Locky.
It has been an eventful few weeks for the boys in the Typo classroom. The fellas have enjoyed getting back into their swimming programme for the term, picking up where they left off and learning to swim like fish with Tamara, their swimming instructor. The boys were also lucky enough to enjoy an outing to the splash park on the day with no power. No better way to spend a day without air conditioning than in a nice cool body of water. We were also luck enough to help celebrate Rory’s 12th Birthday. A big happy birthday to Rory from all the boys of Typo. As ever, the fellas continue to show that they are safe, respectful and eager learners both inside and outside the classroom.
Buller - Kate, Leanne and Belinda
Together We Will: Be Learners. Be Safe. Be Respectful.
Allied Health Team—Paula, Lily and Tina
Wow the term is flying by. We are enjoying getting to know the new students and staff and working together to achieve great outcomes for the students.
We have been working with students on social skills. Learning how to start a conversation, ask appropriate questions, listening to others, answering questions and keeping on topic are all valuable skills which we all need to use in our everyday lives.
In Key word Sign groups we have been looking at emotions and how important it is to be able to express how we are feeling. Two of the signs we have learnt are happy and sad.
Circle time in Buller room. We do a lot of different interac-
tive activities: moving photo from home to school, noise
desensitisation, weather and date.
Holly is opening a jar in
cooking. She follows visual and written
task analysis for frying mince meat.
Kaitlyn is on the floor. She finds things in the room and
matches them to photos and other activities.
Edwina is keeping Sam company while
Sam is having some tummy time.
Bogong - Renee and Lizz
Morgan - Daine and Sheydin
Together We Will: Be Learners. Be Safe. Be Respectful.
We are very lucky to be one of the rooms selected for the 1 to 1 iPad program. Students have enjoyed using
their IPads as a learning tool in a range of areas. This week, we have begun to prepare our own garden bed ready
for planting next week. Our Middle Year electives program also began recently with students selecting from
Table Tennis, Lawn Bowls, Photography, Indoor Games, Movie Animation and Bike Riding. Students in Mor-
gan are also enjoying our cooking program. Next up is Lucas and his group with his speciality dish, Fettuccini
Carbonara.
Charlie is pretty happy with the 1
-1 IPads in Morgan this year
Seb showing his independence at the self
check out for our weekly grocery shop
The boys preparing our own
garden bed in the hot house.
During the last fortnight in Bogong we have introduced some
exciting new things to our weekly schedule. Some of them in-
clude: electives, 1:1 iPads, swimming and a combined cooking
session with another middle years class. Many of our students
first preference for electives was photography, the girls have
learnt how to apply filters to their photos and have gone on out-
ings in the local community to snap some shots. Well done to
Jemma Bailey who claimed the first ‘Photo of the week’. During
our swimming sessions at the YMCA we have been focusing on
water safety in the 50m pool. This week for cooking we intro-
duced the idea of eating our lunch with another class who cook
during the same session. The Bogong girls enjoyed their baked
potatoes along side the Kossie boys who cooked curried sausag-
es. Later in the term we hope to do a master chef day! Stay tuned
for more updates!
As you may have seen on Facebook, Bogong student Olivia Miller swam at the
Victorian Open Swim Competition at MSAC. She swam against Para Olympians
from countries such as Japan, Canada, Belgium, New Zealand, France and Austral-
ia - an amazing achievement in itself! Liv came home with a 10 second Personal
Best in the 100 m freestyle, a 2.15 PB in the 50 m freestyle and a PB for the 50 m
backstroke.
Together We Will: Be Learners. Be Safe. Be Respectful.
Kosciusko - Matt and Jilly.
It has been a big couple of weeks for the Kossie boys. The Kossie crew have loved accessing their new iPads and have been able to create some really engaging and amazing Keynote and Google Classroom presenta-tions. The iPads have allowed all the students to put their thoughts onto paper as they have enjoyed both writing text and adding voice overs to get a message across. They have also been a great addition to the weekly Electives program for both the Photography Elective and iMovie Elec-tive group. The photography crew took and edited some amazing photos of the ovens river, where Jemma won the first “photo of the week”.
Mt. Cobbler - Dave, Lachie and Luke
The Cobbler boys have been having all sorts of fun lately.
From drumming , to cooking sausages in bread, to going on a road trip to Beechworth, to checking out the
view over Wangaratta from Ryan’s lookout, to spray painting our own musical instruments with Robyn, to
flying Lachy’s drone at Merriwa park.
As you can see the boys are having heaps of fun.
Stirling _- Lee, Lis and Stella
Together We Will: Be Learners. Be Safe. Be Respectful.
Mt Pilot - Jacqui , Kara and Sharon
Last Thursday during the power outage at school we were fortunate enough to have the opportunity to go
to the movies with the Bogong class. We saw the film “Stan & Ollie.” It was about the comedy duo Laurel
& Hardy. The students seemed to get right into the movie and really enjoy it. The highlight for some of
them was being treated to a small popcorn or a drink. Shaneevah said she was worried that Ollie was going
to die while he was on stage doing their last act. Jack thoroughly enjoyed the movie and said that he
thought they were funny and Matthew said that he was glad that they stayed friends for such a long time.
When we returned to school there was still no power so we each had a fruit icy-pole that the students had
made the week before. The icy poles had kiwi fruit, peaches and oranges in them and they were delicious!!
As we were finishing our icy poles the power came back on.
We have started our middle years electives; some of the activities include table tennis, lawn bowls, photog-
raphy and movie making. Everyone seems to be having a wonderful time and are enjoying socialising with
students from other classes and forming new friendships.
All is going well in the Mt. Pilot classroom. Our room is
set up just the way we like it, and we have been adding a
few touches of our own in the form of paintings and art-
work. The students have been enjoying Music with Robyn
on a Monday morning. The drumming sounds fantastic.
Together We Will: Be Learners. Be Safe. Be Respectful.
It’s been an exciting time in Music recently with the purchase of 4 new guitars and an assort-ment of music equipment including a microphone and mic stand, music stands, guitar cases and guitar straps. I have also ordered new speakers to use at Assembly and other group gather-ings.
A huge thank you again to the generous donation from the Wangaratta Uniting Church Oppor-tunity Shop.
Buffalo class enjoyed their first visit to the Music Room and did some awesome Drumming!
This weeks newsletter page is dedicated to all our fantastic artists here at WDSS. How awe-some are these drawings, I did want to point out they are NOT traced and are drawn free hand using step-by—step directions. We are blown away by these and so many more of our stu-dents artwork.
ART with Jodi & Jody
Wear your scarf to school day
Whether you barrack for the defending Premiers, or the perennial wooden spooners, most of us have a
favourite AFL team that we support through thick and thin.
To coincide with Round One of the new season it’s time to show those colours before some end up demor-
alised for the rest of the year, or for those who will rub their colours in the faces of others.
March the 21st is that day to show your colours, Wear your scarf to school day. If you don’t have a
scarf, then wear your shirt, hat, whatever it is to show which team you are hoping goes deep into Septem-
ber.
Those that wear their team’s colours can make a gold coin donation. 100% of the money raised goes to-
wards the fantastic staff and facilities at the Wangaratta District Special School.
If you don’t have a team that you support, any scarf will do. Just to show that you made the effort!!
More than 55 staff including Principal Class, Teaching, Educational Support and Allied Health staff
are passionately committed to working with families, carers, specialists, relevant outside agencies and
the local community to ensure students achieve their maximum potential and targeted educational out-
comes
For more information on the outstanding work that the school does with children with disabilities find
out here http://www.wangarattass.vic.edu.au/
This is a great chance to help those, that help those in need, and to thank them for the tireless work and
achievements that they accomplish.
Every little bit helps.
Thankyou
Wangaratta District Specialist School
Together We Will