In week 3 the SASS staff at Karonga celebrated World Teacher Day by putting on a fabulous luncheon for the whole staff. It was a multi-cultural buffet reflecting the diverse backgrounds of our staff- and celebrated the culinary skills of everyone! What a lovely way to come together and share food as a whole staff.

Our very own Mark Gosbell was selected to be the recipient of a Primary Principals Award this week, when he attended a statewide awards ceremony in Sydney presided over by Mark Scott, Education Secretary. The ‘Justice and Equity Award’ was well deserved -and recognition for his campaign to advocate for students with a disability, representing them through the Primary Principals Association, and through the Special Education Principal and Leaders Association (SEPLA).

Teachers at the beginning of their profession from Carlingford West Public School joined us on Thursday October 31^st for a ‘Day in the Life of Karonga School’. It was an opportunity for us to showcase our teaching and learning programs and the challenges we meet as special educators. The feedback we received from the visiting teachers was overwhelmingly positive, and I believe they return to Carlingford West with a better understanding of us, and the great students we teach.

On Tuesday November 5^th we welcomed some 2020 students to an Orientation session at our school. Altogether we have 9 new students (potentially 10) who visit so that we can make informed decisions around the class that best suits their needs in the new academic year- no easy task. Once we have considered class groupings we will invite them back to Karonga for them to meet their class staff and reacquaint themselves with our school.

Ruth Rogers

It seems unbelievable that we are almost half way through Term 4 of 2019. How quickly has this year gone?

It’s time to reflect on all we have done this year, and the great progress that students have made in their individualised learning.

The three fundamentals of the Positive Behaviour for Learning framework continue to be the focus of our learning programs in Room 2.

Bavan has displayed great learning and organisational skills in packing and unpacking his bag, willingly carrying his swim gear to the swimming pool, carrying his tray to the lunch room and cleaning up after meal times.

Jaehyun has shown exceptional progress in expressive communication, where he has been using words to convey his needs at school and at home as well. Music is another area where he has demonstrated progress in keeping the beat to the chosen song.

Tomochika has benefited from 1:1 structured Picture Exchange Communication System sessions in the classroom. He has occasionally looked for a preferred picture on the visual board and exchanged that for the desired object or activity.

Omar is maturing into a young man and his awareness about his environment is exceptional. He shows preference for physical components of the class program and benefits from swimming, using the go-kart type bikes, and the trampoline .

We also have a new student  join us in Term 4 – Christian. Christian was at Karonga a few years ago and has moved back to our school this year. He enjoys watching funny video clips , is very sociable and enjoys the senior lunch room sessions. He has adjusted really well to the classroom routine in this short period of time.

We are looking forward to our end of year activities to mark the festive season, which is just around the corner.

Pragati and Jenny

Term 4 commenced with renewed focus on students’ individual learning goals. With reports due this Semester, the students practised skills in all key learning areas and are completing assessment tasks with minimal assistance, where possible.

Yeting has made fantastic progress in her mealtime skills. It has been great to see her sitting on her chair, eating her snacks and drinking a lot of water to keep herself hydrated. Leila enjoys playing bells and making sounds in our music therapy session.

Dakotah is working towards strengthening her muscles by standing in her standing frame while Jesse is exploring cause and effect programs on the i-Pad.

Ria is working hard to achieve her goals by matching letters of her first name and some colours. During break times, she can be seen expending her energy bouncing on the trampoline or having a go on the play equipment. Zena is happy listening to the books and playing piano with Jann in our music therapy sessions.

With our high sensory needs one of our favourite activities is to touch and feel  coloured rice. Every afternoon we explore different activities. The students enjoy playing with shaving cream and the colour changing bubble tube with relaxation music in the background as they unwind ready for the next day.

Another highlight, has been learning about different cultures and their celebrations. On 27^th October 2019, Diwali was celebrated. Diwali is a festival celebrated in India that signifies the victory of light over darkness and good over evil. It is acclaimed as the Festival of Lights. The students enjoyed doing Diwali crafts and painting activities.

Until next time,

Kamaldeep and Rupak.

Room 7 students have made an excellent start to Term 4 and are working hard to achieve their Semester 2 goals. All our students have done remarkably well, especially considering all the health concerns.  We are trying hard to adjust to changes. The bike track and the oval re-opened. This was very exciting for our students who benefit greatly from a morning walk. The students have been wearing their hats to be safe, as we continue to reinforce the Positive Behaviour for Learning framework and its three mission statements of being kind, safe and a good learner. We have also included class visits to the bike track. We were very impressed to see Sunday willingly share a bike with Timmie who used his words to ask “My turn, please”. Our students are working on transitioning quietly around the school, listening to the teachers and doing their work. All room 7 students have been looking after their belongings by packing their own bags at the end of the day and trying not to forget anything. Well done, Harry –our star this term!

Timmie loved wearing his skeleton costume for Halloween and decided that he looked scary when we were choosing the different emotions to match our jack-oh-lantern’s expressions.     

Debbie and Foozieh

Throughout Semester Two this year, Mustafa, Jordan, Oscar, Christopher, Shresh and Jake have accessed the Epping Library most Thursdays. This community access activity was specifically designed to address outcomes in the Key Learning Areas: English, Human Society and Its Environment (HSIE) and Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PDHPE).

Our purpose in taking the students in Room 12 to the Library (and to the YMCA last semester) was to allow them opportunities to practice the skills learned at school, in the wider community. These include: greeting Library staff appropriately, actively participating in introductory songs, remaining seated in order to attend to shared reading, listening attentively, answering questions verbally or by pointing, completing art activities, following staff instructions, remaining with the group when walking to and from the Library (PBL rule), walking along the footpath (PBL rule) and behaving appropriately throughout the session.

Our student have made us very proud. Not only have they worked diligently to meet the above expectations, they have done so with enthusiasm and a sense of adventure! Heaven forbid we miss an Epping Library lesson!

An additional reason for initiating this activity was to create opportunities for two-way interaction between our students and the members of the community. The reality has far surpassed our expectations. The staff at Epping Library were fabulous from the initial conversations to set up the program; to setting books aside for us to borrow, cordoning off a small section of the library for our exclusive use, sourcing age appropriate reading material that was of interest to the students and accommodating our sometimes, loud presence!

For the six boys, an unplanned and un-foreseen bonus of the visits was the presence of the huge dump-trucks, diggers, graders and cement mixers that were in use just outside the Library. The drivers of these vehicles indulged our boys each visit, by tooting their horns loudly and waving to the boys. They were rewarded with frantic waves from the boys and beaming smiles!

Special thanks to Suzanne, our volunteer for accompanying us each Thursday and to Ally, the ‘lollipop lady’ who ensured we had safe entry / exit to the library as well as a safe parking spot.

Sabrina and Anna

On Thursday 24^th October, Karonga’s Year 12 2019 students celebrated their graduation with a dinner at The Epping Club. Over 70 guests gathered to farewell and celebrate the schooling lives of Jacob, Joseph, Kaspar and Kimberley.

The night started memorably with each student making their big debut into the Grand Ballroom; the first of many entrances for Jacob who thoroughly enjoyed his moment in the spotlight!

Each family was given the opportunity to speak about their student, with some special anecdotes and memories shared. It was particularly moving to see Joseph independently walk to the lectern, clearly demonstrating love, care and support for his father during his speech. The students also received their graduation bear from the P&C President Glen Flexman who gave very motivating words to our graduates.

After the speeches, the cake was cut by our students. We then moved onto the highlight of the evening – the disco! All our students had a turn at busting a move on the dance floor, with Jacob and Kimberley not stopping until it was time to go home! It was also lovely to see some of our past students Arjuna, Luke, and Samantha.

The evening was a great success and a true reflection of our students and their unique personalities. We greatly acknowledge the support of Tony Moffat for all his sound and lighting expertise, which is always much appreciated. We would also like to thank all the Karonga staff and families for their help and support to celebrate such a wonderful milestone in the lives of these four young adults.

We wish Jacob, Joseph, Kaspar and Kimberley all the best for the many years to come.

Until next time,
Mel and Kamal.

Christian is a delightful young man who has re-joined Karonga this Term.

Many of us would know him from a few years back.

Christian is very sociable, enjoys interacting with staff, and his lunch sessions in the senior lunch room.  He likes playing ball games and will often laugh and giggle during a catch and throw session in the classroom. Christian is settling in well in Room 2 and is becoming more confident in exploring the school environment, and following transitioning routines.

We look forward to sharing more of Christian's learning strengths.

Pragati Bhat, Class Teacher

Kaspar is a one-of-a-kind character! Quiet but mischievous, Kaspar joined Karonga at the start of Term 2 this year and quickly settled in.

Taking over the role of eldest student in Room 4, Kaspar has been a solid role model for his peers. He is particularly fond of Alkira and Jayden F, reaching out to interact with them during circle time. Kaspar also enjoys interacting with class staff and sharing his wicked sense of humour with them; he will often sneak important lesson resources away and chuckle to himself as staff scramble to save their other items.

Kaspar is a keen foodie with mealtime being one of his favourite activities. His other favourite lesson is science with Rooms 11 and 14; Kaspar loves the different science experiments and being involved with so many different students.

Although Kaspar has only been at Karonga for a very short period of time, we will greatly miss his cheeky personality and infectious grin. Good luck for the future, Kaspar!

Melanie Currey, Assistant Principal

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