february 2017 - the compass institute inc€¦ · mick, watto and the team at the turf lub darcy...
TRANSCRIPT
February 2017
February 2017
DJ’s 2 Cents
Hello From Helen
David’s Round Up
News From the Centres
“What’s Happening”
UPCOMING EVENTS
Compass Staff Training—Feb 3rd
SCRC Race 2 — March 5th
SCTC Race Night — Feb 10th
February 2017February 2017
NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTER
Jan & Feb Birthdays...
Sam Meninga David Ashworth
Nienna Marx Jake Campbell
Liam Jerram Matthew McMahon
Ben Holgate Rebekka Campbell
Aaron Wing Stephanie Burley
Compass in partnership with Bunnings Caloundra hosts an annual Sausage Sizzle to help raise much needed funds for the Caloundra centre. Unfortunately this year, due to a lack of positive response from families and staff, we have had to cancel this event meaning the centre loses approximately $2000 in fundraising as well as the opportunity to raise the profile of the young people in their community.
We’d like to personally thank Tanya Armstrong, Lyn Bracks, David Dangerfield, Gerald Hunt, Robyn Coates, Diane Joblin and Cheryl Luck for initially volunteering to assist, and we hope to encourage more staff and families to become actively involved in our fundraising activities throughout the year. Ultimately fundraisers are an important part of acquiring the reserves that allow us to continue providing resources and facilities for the young people here at Compass.
Every year Compass partners with our great sponsor Coast Life Homes to bring you our Charity Race Night. This year we have maxed out our attendance with 270 people coming along for a great night of entertainment, fun and fundraising. As with all our
events 100% of all funds raised go straight to resources and facilities that are used by the trainees. NO funds are absorbed by administration or wages.
We’d like to give a super special shout out to
Russel and Jane Kay of Coast Life Homes for their generous sponsorship
Mick, Watto and the team at the Turf Club
Darcy Tyrrell (whose daughter attends Compass) for all his support in getting tables sold
and Kylie Southon – staff member from Palmwoods also for amazing support in selling tables
Awesome job and THANK YOU
February 2017February 2017
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Dear Parents and Friends,
Welcome to our first newsletter for 2017…
and a special welcome to the new families
and young people who have enrolled with
Compass this year. 2017 is Compass’s 15th
year of service and it’s always interesting
to look back at where we have come from
since opening the doors to 3 young school
leavers in 2003. Today they are joined by
107 more young people who, with their
families, share the dream of a real and
positive future for people with an
intellectual or physical disability. In 2003
there was one staff member… today there
are 52 people including our casual pool
contributing to the support for your sons
and daughters. Over the past 14 years not
only has Compass been recognised as a
leader in the sector for its developmental
approach to post- secondary school
support but it has also gained a raft of
awards for its governance and business
practices and a very strong profile in the
community as a pro-active and
professional organisation.
The key for me is
that all of this
growth has allowed
more and more
young people to
show what THEY
can do… the
contribution THEY can make and the
opportunities THEY can access… BUT only
if they’re provided with a genuine path of
David’s
Round Up
further learning, skill development and
real world life and vocational options.
When they are NOT provided with that
pathway they cannot alone acquire the
maturity, understanding, skills and
chances to attain a truly rewarding life.
And sometimes it’s not about achieving
BIG things… sometimes it’s about feeling
safe, feeling cared about and
understood, being with friends and
having fun. So for us at Compass it’s
trying to blend opportunities to succeed
with ensuring the young people feel safe,
understood and are having fun with their
friends.
I would like to share with you an email
that came to our Service Manager in
2013… just four years ago and from
Caboolture. The young person’s name
has been changed to preserve privacy.
Hi Norm,
I am interested in what Compass might
have to offer for my son John. I met with
some services here in Caboolture. Only
one had some good programs but I’m
worried about the staffing because they
only have one staff member with 12
young adults. In the centre it’s sort of ok
I guess but I don’t know what happens if
more than one person needs help to use
the toilet, or the staff member does. My
big worry is they go for a walk every day
for their outing and I’m concerned that
one person can’t look after 12 adults
with a disability – with John it will be 13.
John has no road sense at all and needs
constant supervision. When I asked
about it I was made to feel a bit
incompetent. Would Compass consider
coming to Caboolture? I’m scared what
might happen to John otherwise.
Sometimes I’ve been asked why Compass
has set up new centres in other
communities… why do you feel you have
to keep growing? Just for a moment put
yourself in the place of this Mum and ask
yourself how you’d want Compass to
respond. The simple answer is we started
our Caboolture Campus in 2013 just for
that one parent and her son. This year
there are 15 young people and we have a
great rapport with the Special School so
this number could potentially double in
2018.
Last week we had our staff training day
and my presentation focused on two
things.
1. Ensure that everyone is having fun…
Life is too short not to be happy and
often when we’re having fun we do our
best.
2. It’s got to be about WE… not me. In so
many ways there is a growing culture of
‘me first’ or even ‘me only’ in the world
today… and that is a sad way to live. If we
can put others first they will put us first in
return. All good families and teams know
this and they make it work. There are
some very obvious advantages to a
culture of ‘We’.
Can take on any sized task
Pooling of resources
Shared risk
Shared thinking & learning
Synergy… the whole is greater than the sum of its parts
Shared problem solving
More fun
Complementing each other’s respective strengths
Can share in greater variety of possible ventures
Shared leadership and responsibility
Time and energy efficient Compass is a family… a team… and you are all part of that team. We are at our best when we function as a cooperative unit. I wish you all the best for 2017 and look forward to seeing you all.
February 2017February 2017 NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTER
David
Welcome to the February edition of the
Compass newsletter and what an amazing
start to 2017 we have had. The weather has
been more conducive to swimming at the
beach than starting work, but when standing
out at the Farm there is nowhere else that I
would want to be.
The trainees are excited to be back and
with all the exciting programs we have in
store for 2017, we are looking at bringing the
FUN back to our learning and development
activities. Fresh off the back of a highly
successful 2016, Compass trainee numbers
have exploded to over 110 and not looking
at stopping anytime soon. This is credit to all
the staff, trainees and families that make this
place a pleasure to be a part of.
You may have missed it but our first
exciting program that was unveiled was our
new Garden Café located at the beautiful
Maroochy Botanical Gardens in Tanawha.
We were fortunate enough to be granted a
1x1x1 year lease on the café and this has
been growing steadily over the past couple
of weeks. You will notice there are huge
smiles on the faces of the trainees as you
enter the Café and with a limited menu,
surrounded by the tranquil backdrop of the
Botanical Gardens, I am thinking of relocating
my office there myself. The café is open
Monday - Thursday from 9.30am - 2.30pm.
Drop in some time and say hi to Simon and
the team for a great coffee and cake.
DJ’S 2
CENTS
There are many of our other Enterprises
that continue to kick goals into 2017. Wabi
Sabi had a fantastic finish to last year with
well over 120 hampers going out over the
Christmas period. Not content to rest on
that, hampers are now available everyday
of the year with seasonal hampers
available upon request. Why not book your
Valentines Day hamper today. The Farm
continues to go from strength to strength
with our chillies being sold through the
Brisbane Markets, egg production at an all
time high and Compass honey now going
out in large quantities through the Cricks
hampers.
Our wonderful Assistance Dogs continue
to steal the show with the program
gathering support from major businesses
here on the Coast. Our latest outing
including a morning tea at the Maroochy
RSL. Watson and Radar lived up to all
expectations, stealing the attention of all the
attendees and generating some fantastic
opportunities to speak candidly about the
program. Maroochy RSL have been great
supporters of the program with the
sponsorship of Watson and the continued
opportunities afforded to us to have them
on displays at every chance.
Our friends in the Caloundra Campus will
soon have the opportunity to cool off a little
with an air conditioner being installed over
the coming weeks. This has come about
through the Sunshine Coast Regional
Council minor grants
round. The air conditioner
will help in regulating the
temperature of some of
the trainees attending the campus and help
in allowing them to continue to be involved
in the programs on offer at the site. We
would like to thank Council for the grant
and look forward to seeing the trainees
comfortable in their surroundings.
Over the past month I have been actively
engaged in a program that will have
benefits to both Community and Compass.
The CARE Program is a Social Enterprise
Procurement Platform. It is designed for
suppliers to provide returns to Carers
Queensland based on business spend. For
smaller businesses the program provides
access to cheaper prices. Larger business
will pay the same prices but have the
added incentive of giving back to the
community without spending any more
money.
The CARE Program is the only Social
Enterprise Procurement model where a
not for profit has established links with the
corporate sector to use procurement
spend as a sustainable fundraising model.
The CARE Program has the backing of
large multi-national suppliers. Carers
Queensland has developed The CARE
Program program from the outset, creating
a workable model that enables corporate
social responsibility with no threat - and in
some cases, many benefits - to an
organisation's bottom line. If you would like
more information around this opportunity to
do some good in your community by doing
very little, please don’t hesitate to give me
a call today. You won’t regret it and may
even save some precious dollars along the
way.
Until next month , I will wish you all the very
best and look forward to speaking with
you soon.
February 2017February 2017 NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTER
Cheers DJ
A big welcome to all of our new
trainees and their families and
welcome back to the existing
trainees and families!
It certainly has been a very hot
summer and for someone who
usually loves the warmer weather,
the ongoing pattern of hot days
with very little rain to provide
some relief has been taxing, to say
the least. However, we continue
to embrace the New Year with our
usual brand of enthusiasm and
energy!
As of this week, we will be
welcoming approximately sixteen
new trainees, across four of our
campuses. I am currently liaising
with another five new families
with their sons and/or daughters
looking to attend Compass this
year. This could bring the number
of trainees attending Compass to
Helen’s
Happenings
Helen
approximately 120 and this figure will
continue to grow during 2017. This year
is looking to be a fabulous year for
Compass!
I would also like
to extend a
warm welcome
to our new staff
who have been
appointed at the
Caloundra and
Caboolture campuses, plus the casual
staff who provide a valuable service
through their willingness to step in
when existing staff are ill or away on
leave.
On a sad note, Emma Wittholz, who has
been one of our fantastic trainers with
Compass for nearly eight years, has
recently resigned and we all wish Emma
every success in her future endeavours.
She will be missed by everyone here at
Compass.
Last Friday we presented the first of six
scheduled training days for 2017 for our
existing staff and casuals. This was a
fabulous day, with an introduction and
inspiring talk from David, an overview of
2017 from DJ, and a truly insightful
session on ASD, from a person who
experiences this on a day to day level.
The staff training always includes a
session where the staff are able to
meet in their respective teams and
plan the programs and activities for
the coming year. I would like to thank all
of the staff who attended; for their
contributions and dedication in making
this day a great success.
As DJ has outlined in his article,
we have a huge number of
exciting events planned for
2017! I look forward to meeting
with you at a number of these
events. Please do not hesitate to
contact me if you have any
feedback, questions or
suggestions for improvement;
my door is always open!
Kind regards,
February 2017February 2017
NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTER
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News From The Centres
COMPASS CABOOLTURE
Compass Caboolture have settled into the New Year nicely, welcoming some new friends and getting back into
routine.
We have continued our swimming program and have been enjoying the reprieve
from the heat in the lovely cool water of local swimming pools. We have been
concentrating on safety in and near the water and observing the signs around the
pool area to help us know what we should and should not do. We have also been
discussing the importance of being “Sunsmart” and
looking after our skin when it is exposed to the sun.
Our Gardening program has seen our garden beds turned over and
fertiliser added, thanks to some local horses! We have also been
getting mulch from the local dump to spread over the top. It has
been hot work in our garden!
With the donation of a 3 wheel trike at the end of 2016, and others bringing their bikes to Compass we have
been enjoying some extra exercise in the form of pedal power around the park. This has been so much fun
and we look forward to a few more “Bikies” joining us.
The food prep program has been extended into a daily routine for some of
our trainees, we have been preparing our lunches at Compass making
healthy choices and creating some delicious sandwiches and being very
independent. Well done everyone!!!
February 2017February 2017
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COMPASS FARM
The farm sure has been busy since the start of the new term! We’ve neem mowing and tidying the farm after the Christmas holidays.
If you are not too afraid of spiders, come check out our new Spider and Web...try to find them if you can!
The Farm Art team has been busy making some beautiful pieces for the new year.
The amazing weather has seen lots of plants growing at the Farm, and Mango season is here. We have been busy picking and getting them ready for the Harvest Kitchen, where they will be made into
some delicious goodies!
News From The Centres February 2017February 2017
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HARVEST KITCHEN
We like to mix it up in the Harvest Kitchen every now and then to give the guys a break from all the Jam and Chutney cooking. Everyone enjoys helping make lunch for some of the farm team occasionally. Today the guys made Savoury Muffins that we can put into the freezer and reheat when we need them for quick lunches. We used some of our home made Tomato & Capsicum Relish in them as well. Everyone did an amazing job and they tasted delicious. Here’s the recipe if anyone wants to give them a go at home.
SAVOURY MUFFINS
INGREDIENTS
200g Diced Bacon
1 Small Onion – Diced
1 Small Zucchini – Grated & mixed with a teaspoon of salt – then drain excess liquid before adding to the muffins)
100g Corn Kernels (drained)
200g Grated Cheddar (+Extra for topping)
75g Butter – Softened
1 - 2 Eggs (depending on how dry mixture is)
250mL Buttermilk (Can be made with one cup of milk & one Tbsp of White Vinegar – set aside until it looks “curdled/thick”)
½ a jar of Harvest Kitchen Capsicum & Tomato Relish (or any savoury flavour of your choice)
METHOD
Rub butter and flour together until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Mix in all other ingredients.
Spoon into patty pan cases. Add a teaspoon of relish to the top of each muffin and a pinch of cheese.
Bake at 200C for 20 minutes.
News From The Centres February 2017February 2017
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