Week 10 Term 4 2017

NEWSLETTER

DATES TO

REMEMBER

DECEMBER

Friday 19th Last Day of

Term 4

JANUARY

Monday 29th Staff

Development

Day

Tuesday 30th Students return

to school

FEBRUARY

Wednesday

28th

Vaccinations

Minerva School

Learning for Life

Eton Street SUTHERLAND NSW 2232 Telephone: 9521 3433 Fax: 9545 3316

E-mail: minerva-s.school@det.nsw.edu.au

WEBSITE: www.minerva-s.schools.nsw.edu.au

Donations to Minerva School are now tax deductible.

Year 12 Graduation Dinner On Tuesday 5th December at Engadine Bowling Club, staff

celebrated with family and friends, the graduation of our 4

Year 12 students. It was a wonderful night with a relaxed

atmosphere. Our best wishes for the future go to Luke,

Anthony, Jimmy and Peter.

Week 10 Term 4 2017

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Dear Parents & Carers,

Congratulations, everybody on a wonderful 2017 at Minerva School! As the year closes, it

seems a good time to reflect on some of the remarkable achievements of our students,

staff and community.

Over the last weeks of this term I have been proud to be a part of the graduation of four

Year 12 students. These young men have shown growth and maturity in their years at

Minerva School and are now ready to embark on the next chapter of their lives – adulthood.

They leave us equipped with social skills, living skills and a sense of self-worth and

determination. We wish them all the very best for a life of happiness and a continued love

of learning. I would also like to thank their amazing families who have worked with us as a

team, have always been supportive and will continue to guide the development of these

young men moving forward.

This week all parents will receive the end of year reports for students. I am confident you

will all find achievements to celebrate with your children. I have been greatly impressed

this year with the substantial growth across the school of our students’ social and emotional

health and maturity. I am sure you will agree that our school focus in this area has been well

supported by embedded programs across the school such as Positive Behaviour for Learning,

Mind Matters, the School Chaplaincy Program and our Student Support Officer.

Our Learning for Life project, which involves integrated Occupational Therapy into the

school setting, is now well established and we are starting to see some early positive

outcomes for students in our two pilot classes. A collection of baseline data, informed by

parent/teacher/therapist input has now formed the basis for future planning and the

development of classroom and whole school strategies. Rachelle is working with classroom

staff to implement these strategies and it is great to see some improvements in sensory

regulation and therefore access to learning. Next year we look forward to consolidating

with these two classes and extending the project into more classes across the school.

Our students have continued to enjoy access to a wide range of learning programs and

activities this year including: sporting clinics; Science Open Day; Royal Botanical Gardens

Open Access Learning (Aboriginal People and Plants); Sailability and our transition

information sessions for Year 12s – just to name a few. These opportunities, alongside our

classroom focus on curriculum have provided students with a rigorous, relevant and

challenging years’ worth of learning. These students have worked hard all year and I am

sure they are now looking forward to their well-deserved Christmas holidays!

Each year at this time I stop and think about the outstanding job our Minerva school staff

are doing. I am always impressed by the way our teachers, SLSOs, office staff, executive

and ancillary staff work together as a team. Each member of the team is valued for their

contribution and everybody works towards the best possible outcomes for our students and

families. I am very proud to lead such a generous and committed team. I can see from the

beautiful cards and communications from our parents and community that their work is

appreciated.

Week 10 Term 4 2017

Next year’s classes and staff allocations have been decided and you will receive a letter

detailing your child’s class for next year, along with a small list to help you prepare for a

smooth start to the new school year. There will be some changes for 2018. The marvellous

Michelle, who has been such a strong and enthusiastic leader of Class Waratah, will be

returning to Queensland next year and will be sadly missed by all. We wish her all the best

and hope she comes back soon! Miss Laura will be returning one day per week and Mr Ben

will be team teaching with Laura on Class Waratah.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our families, friends and community

volunteers for everything that you have all done for Minerva School this year. Our school

and most importantly our students would not have been able to achieve and thrive without

your ongoing generous support. We have parents who are always willing to help with

fundraisers, help around the school, participate on excursions and engage in community

consultation. We have local volunteers like Mr Harry, who gives his time and patience to our

students every week. We have community organisations such as Como Jannali Rotary Club,

Bunnings and Padstow TAFE who enthusiastically undertake projects around the school. We

also are fortunate enough to have many local businesses and community clubs who are

generous in donations during our fundraising activities. So, to all of you, however you help

our school community, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts. Minerva School is a

vibrant part of the local Sutherland community and with your ongoing support our students

will grow in the knowledge that they are valued and active citizens.

Over the school holidays Minerva School will be having a little facelift, with some major

building and construction work planned. Work will be happening on the demountable building

and toilet block located near the library in preparation for the arrival of our new K-2 class

next year. We will also be refurbishing the school hall and installing new entry and walkways

to the K-2 area. It will be an exciting start to the new year and I know that you will all

welcome our new students and families.

Enjoy a peaceful holiday season, everybody! Spend time with those you love, do something

fun and silly and try not to eat too much Christmas cake!!

Best wishes,

Sara Swift, Principal

Week 10 Term 4 2017

Class Wattle

Class Wattle have had a busy end to the year with a visit from Santa, Christmas craft and

excursions including the Botanic Gardens visit and Cronulla. We have made Christmas cards,

Christmas decorations, Christmas cookies and gifts for our families.

We wish you all a Very Merry Christmas!!

Week 10 Term 4 2017

Happy Birthday to the following students for the

month of May,

Martin, Luke and

Preston

Occupational Therapy Learning for Life Project.

Just wanting to touch base and say how much I have enjoyed working at

Minerva for the second half this year. It’s been great getting to know the

students, teachers and some parents too. If we haven’t met then I’ll look

forward to touching base with you in 2018.

For those of you who haven’t heard much about the OT Learning for Life

project, I thought I’d take this opportunity to give you some more information.

The focus of this project is sensory processing because when our sensory

needs are met we are usually better able to participate and engage in learning

and other activities of daily living.

In the past occupational therapy intervention in schools has usually involved

withdrawing student’s from the classroom to give 1:1 intervention or providing

a list of recommendations to the teacher. The disadvantage of this model is

that the teacher doesn’t get to see the intervention modelled and often there

are constraints to implementing recommendations in the whole class setting.

My role is looking at new ways of meeting the sensory needs of individual

students within the whole class setting and equipping teachers with resources

and knowledge to implement new ideas. The success of this approach is being

monitored and researched by The University of NSW.

The other part of my role is looking into equipment options for meeting

sensory needs. The equipment I’m most excited about at the moment is a

therapy swing which will be up and running early next year!

In 2018 I am looking forward to working with some other classes and meeting

with more parents. I’m based at Minerva on Mondays and Fridays so feel free

to contact me through the school office on these days or send emails anytime

to therapyconsultancyservices@gmail.com

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas!

Regards

Rachelle Lewis

HAPPY BIRTHDAY To the following students for the

months of December and January—

Samuel, Jaidyn and Charlton .

Week 10 Term 4 2017

The view from Sky Safari Monkeying around.

Who’s checking out who?

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The Mind Matters team are looking forward to 2018 to implement the planned Mind Matters

Targets.

Based on the success of the 2017 Coffee and Chat Sessions these will be held throughout 2018 with

dates to be advised next year.

Thank you to all the parents and Carers who attended and enjoyed the Coffee and Chat

Sessions this year, we look forward to new parents coming along next year.

The Parent Information Area which will still be available on Fridays from 1.30 to 2.30pm, it is an

opportunity for parents to drop and access information on a wide range of topics relating to mental

health, parenting courses, support agencies, respite services and more.

Web Sites of Interest:

www.HEADSTRONG.org.au

www.headspace.org.au

Throughout the term, we have had a fantastic time learning and exploring new things. We

were very excited to see Santa visit. Class Eucalyptus is looking forward to a well-

earned break.

Week 10 Term 4 2017

Positive Behaviour for Learning

Did you know?? Studies have shown that students whose parents were involved in their

school reported feeling more self-confident, liking school more, and being

less willing to engage in at-risk behaviours.

At the Presentation Day I spoke about how pleasing it was to see so many of

our parents engaged in the week-to-week school life, through our open days,

individual learning and post-school transition planning meetings, coffee & chat

mornings, volunteering opportunities as well as other events.

PBL is aimed at building a school climate that is friendly and safe, where all

children can learn and grow. It is also based on the premise that we are more

effective when parents are involved in this process.

In 2018 we will continue to share information with parents about activities and

opportunities to be involved in the school, including our teaching schedule for

the SRC Good Choice of the Week.

This weekly class award has become very motivating for our students, many of

who actively recognise positive and pro-social behaviours when they are

demonstrated by students around them.

Have a safe and happy holiday break!

The PBL Team

(Travis, Sara, Kat, Jane, Aris & Michelle)

We would like to send out a huge thank you to the Dandelion Support

Network Charity in Caringbah for their generous donations of toys

and puzzles for our new K-2 Class.

Week 10 Term 4 2017

.

Banksia, Wattle and Bottlebrush classes all went to the Royal Botanic

Gardens on Monday the 11th of December. This was funded by Open Access

Learning Funding. This wonderful network supports and allows children of all

abilities and from all socio-economic backgrounds to have access to and

experience the Gardens. We all had a wonderful day and learnt a lot about

Aboriginal people and bush tucker.

Here we are at the Botanic

Gardens with our guide Terry

Finger Lime Plants

Week 10 Term 4 2017

Ewan, Kane

and Anthony with clapping sticks

Terry showing us how to make a whistle from a plant

Week 10 Term 4 2017

Dean, Jimmy, Luke and James

Andrew with an

Ibis and having

lunch.

Week 10 Term 4 2017

Terry teaching us to track

Jarnte and Daylan

having fun.

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Week 10 Term 4 2017