Dear families,

These last 2 weeks have been very special, with lots of celebrations of student achievement:

The annual Graduation was a great event to celebrate the concluding school years of 2 students. There was a great atmosphere, with 50 attendees at the Epping Club. Besides the 2 graduates (of 3) we had 4 other students join us, which was lovely, and the whole evening was extremely special- from the individual entrances, to the photo booth, to the speeches and meal, down to the cake and disco. It is always a highlight of the year for our staff, and this year was no exception. Some graduates had only been with us for a few years, but others for their entire school life. Congratulations one and all: Felicia, Gianni and Tomochika.

We celebrated World Teachers’ Day on October 27^th, where SASS staff had been planning for the previous 2 weeks to put on a lunch for teaching staff as recognition of their commitment and work with our students. There was a great atmosphere in the staffroom, and plenty of great food.

The Media Unit from the Department of Education came out to visit our school recently, as they understood that we had installed the first road crossing within a public school in NSW. There is great interest in this as a teaching tool, and we took some photos to show it in action. There are rumours that we may appear on the television again – so watch this space. The road crossing will be formally opened, and our sponsors officially thanked- after the Celebration of Learning on December 6^th.

Murray Graves, our DP got up very early on Thursday morning (November 2^nd) to get to Carlingford Court for a filming opportunity. We had permission to video the Woolworths store before it opened to the public. The video can then be shared in our Immersive Classroom. We are so appreciative of Woolworths approving this special event, which can only add to the experiences our students have in this special room. 

The Epping Music Festival, held on Wednesday November 1^st was a triumph. Twelve local schools practice all year for an evening of music and creative arts at the Chatswood Concourse. Although we have up to 10 students attend Signing Choir, only 4 families felt they could commit to the event. William L was a star (he never doubted it) but we were also so proud of Sadie, Haley and Ruby. Ruby’s mum also brought cakes to our changing room before the show! The School’s Director texted me to share his pride in our little school, and the email between Epping Principals is highlighting the inclusive nature of this annual event.

We have the first of 2 Orientations next week where we are preparing students who are joining our school in 2024. We are inviting a 2023 Kindy parent to talk alongside me to these new mums and dads/ carers, so if you have any special messaging to pass on, do email the school. We know that starting school can be very confusing, and sometimes confronting so any advice to pass on to new carers would, I know, be greatly appreciated.

Ruth Rogers

Room 7 students have been practicing using Karonga’s new crossing. We have been learning to take turns to press the button, look and wait for the green person walk symbol. Our students have improved at staying focused, crossing together, listening, looking and crossing quietly and directly. We have also visited the Anzac Garden orchard. We observed the tiny new citrus fruits that are growing. We found sweet ripe mulberries to eat. Most of the students enjoyed the juicy fruit. We found some ripe apples on the apple tree. Tarnae and James ate one each.

James continues to use his initiative to help to organise our room and himself for the day.

Steven is exploring sounds and has become quite vocal.

Ruby is very communicative and with her cheeky sense of humour keeps us all smiling.

Genesis has focused very well on appropriate communication to express his needs and wants.

Adam has had some excellent periods of focus and attention for his literacy and numeracy activities and continues to build his communication skills with his long sentences.

Tarnae amazes us all with his persistence and on-going improvement with using his cane to transition around the school.

We have had a year of fantastic achievement. We have watched the students grow as a group and learn to work together while following the routines and working towards their personal goals. Well done Room 7.

Debbie and Cassie.

Room 12 have had an exceptional start to term four with all students working hard both inside and outside of the classroom. Students have explored a mixture of deskwork and hands-on tasks, with the focus being on communication and the use of their communication devices to express their needs and wants.

Each week for literacy, Room 12 learn about the letter of the week. Students enjoyed interacting with the texts 'Don’t Let Pigeon Drive the Bus' and 'Do Not Open This Book', and the activities around them. Students use their Augmented and Alternative Communication (AAC) devices to indicate whether they like or didn’t like the story.  Following this, all students then work 1:1 in a targeted literacy program where we continue to develop our skills in tracing letter of the week and complete colourful activities. Everyone is working hard in literacy!

For mathematics, we have been looking at whole number and length. Activities have included counting our favourite items, building block towers, match items of same length, and measuring how tall each student is.

Room 12 students have enjoyed their weekly swimming sessions on Tuesday mornings with Murray, Mr. Wei and SLSOs. It has been wonderful to see all students demonstrate safe behaviours in and out of the pool and achieving to the best of their potential.

We are so proud of what the students in Room 12 have achieved this year.  Congratulations Room 12 students for a fantastic year in 2023.

Until next time,
Kamal and Hyma

On the evening of Wednesday 1^st November, four students from our signing choir and dance team went to the Concourse at Chatswood to perform as part of the Epping Music Festival.

Ruby, Sadie, Haley and William represented Karonga, joining students from ten Epping schools. Our signing choir performed two songs, '500 Miles' by Sleeping at Last, and 'Big Yellow Taxi' by the Counting Crows for which we were joined by the students from the Combined Schools Choir. The dance group performed to a mash up of 'We will rock you' and 'Do you love me?'

The Karonga students performed brilliantly and, as one of our students would say, we’re superstars! We are so proud of them. We will share photos of the performance as we get them.

Members of the Art Attack club eagerly gathered when the teacher invited them for art activities during their morning break.  In Term 3, Farhan, Yousif, Sadie, Matty, George and Eli arrived in the art room and sat at their allotted spots to engage with the many options provided to them. An array of sensory toys, natural sensory material such as coloured rice and pasta, water colours and brushes, crayons, textas, dabbers, colourful pipe cleaners, glue, and sheets of paper were on display for the members.

Yousif immediately selected a large sheet of paper, water colours and brush and began making sweeping strokes on the paper. He painted one sheet of paper after another. Yousif was observed by Farhan, who then selected a paper and began making brush strokes confidently. Matty initially selected sensory toys and moved away from the table to sit comfortably on the floor. Thereafter he selected a texta and began applying it on the sensory toy while humming a nursery rhyme. After completing his activities on the floor, Matty walked over to the black board to make lines and curves with chalk. Meanwhile Sadie painted using water colours, holding the brush in a confident grip. George placed textas in a row. In a short while he used the textas to sketch a rainbow. He identified colours when prompted verbally. George thereafter began to count the textas verbally, while pointing to each texta.

Term 4 began with new members joining the Art Attack club. They are Harvey and Ishan. During the first gathering at the Art Room, Harvey selected sensory toys and placed them in front of him in a line. He smiled and squeezed the toys, listening to the squeaky sounds of each. Ishan initially observed his friends engaged in art activities. In a short while he too begins to select sensory toys and displayed his enthusiasm in the activities of the Art Attack Club. Sadie selected a gold pipe cleaner and began threading Christmas bells to make a bracelet. Lisette placed the bracelet on her wrist and Sadie began to tinkle the bells as she moved her arm around. This was observed by Farhan and Harvey and they too began making Christmas bracelets for themselves. The members of the Art Club will be engaging in further Christmas art activities during the coming weeks.

The students have been enjoying the installation of the new screens around the school.  They love the colours and learning to recognise the shapes.  Click on the video link below to check out how good they look.

Come and join us at our next P&C meeting on Wednesday 15th Nov at 6.45pm where we will discuss ways in which we can support our students. If you are unable to attend in person, and would like to join via Zoom, please email us at Karongapc@gmail.com so we can arrange a link.

Yee-Foong Stone
President, Karonga P&C

NDIS Service Provider Expo

Scope Disability Services