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Welcome to the week 4 newsletter. We are so pleased that swimming sessions have now started- one of the most enjoyable activities for many of our students. This program is supported by the P&C who sponsor AuSwim instructors and a physiotherapist to work alongside Karonga teachers to drive this program.
I am pleased that lunchtime clubs are now in full swing. We will be sending a note home to families soon, about which clubs your young person is involved with this term. Our new Music Therapist, Jack, (also sponsored by the P&C) is running 3 clubs a week with students from across the school involved in Band, Drumming and Improvisation.
Harmony Day is a long-held institution at Karonga School and one that is enjoyed by the whole school community- students, staff and families. Whilst we could not hold it last year, or sadly, this year, we will reinstate it as soon as we are able to.
I do encourage you to consider joining our P&C. The P&C meet 8-9 times a year, so the use of your time is not too great, and don’t forget there is no fundraising from the P&C. It is all about spending! Money generated by renting buses to the Assisted School Travel program is ploughed back into the school through the P&C. Historically the P&C has paid for speech pathology programs, and currently it pays for Music Therapy and swim support. These are not only valuable programs, but, unlike other special schools, come at no cost to parents. The P&C also makes significant investment into special provisions at Karonga. Around 5 years ago the P&C directly funded the refit of the ILC -providing a fabulous kitchen resource at our school. By attending the meetings on the third Monday of every month (when school is operational) you can be better informed about what is going on at the school, and have your say about how funds should be spent to support your child’s school. The AGM will be on Monday March 15th in the hall. Please make a note of the date and commit to attending. We need to have minimum numbers. Preceding the meeting I am excited to do a school tour, something that has not been possible for quite a while. You can see the refurbished playground, some great murals and we can talk about some prospective projects.
The first of our Workshops for parents was held an hour before the Meet-the-teacher event. We had a good turnout with around 11 parents attending, to learn more about PLP’s (Personalised Learning Plans) and how we deliver the curriculum at Karonga. This was as a direct result of the survey sent out to parents in 2020, and something you wanted to learn about. We captured some themes for other workshops during the meeting, and plan to deliver at least one a term- watch out in the newsletter for future sessions.
The Meet-the-teacher event on Wednesday evening welcomed 23 family members to our school who seemed to enjoy meeting with teachers and learning more about the timetable plans. Thank you all for coming.
Warm Regards, Ruth Rogers
Room 3 have had a great start back at school this term. We have really enjoyed seeing all of our friends and teachers again.
This term we had the opportunity to take part in a cricket program each Wednesday morning. We loved practising our throwing and catching skills. Lachlan had a lot of fun working with the teacher to hit the ball with the cricket bat. Elijah particularly enjoyed showing us his accurate throwing skills.
Room 3 have also thoroughly enjoyed Music Therapy sessions on Friday mornings. Our music therapist, Jack, started us off with a lovely tune on the guitar and soon we all joined in to make our very own Room 3 band. Brendan shook the bells in time and Amy played along using the maracas. Room 3 have taken turns to play a range of different musical instruments such as drums, ukuleles, bells, maracas, tambourines, guitars, and our own classroom piano.
Alanna and Rupak
Room 11 welcomed some new students into the room Shuyang, James and Zena.
We have been very busy completing Australia Day activities.
Music Therapy has commenced with Zena and Suzie really enjoying playing the guitar. Shuyang and James were playing the drums while Jack played the guitar and sang.
Our class has been participating in a cricket program and Ria seemed to be having lots of fun during the activities.
Naya has enjoyed exploring our new playground, which has been a big hit with everyone.
We are developing our money skills by purchasing something from the canteen every Wednesday.
This week is very exciting as swimming has commenced. Looking forward to a very special term ahead.
Michell and Wendy
Transitioning from school can be very scary, for both students and their families, and requires time, careful consideration, and can provoke many questions.
- What services are available?
- Where are they located?
- What services are going to best support my young person’s needs?
Last Monday Karonga held its first mini expo for families of senior students to help answer these questions and many more.
Families met representatives from Travel Training Solutions, Optimum Health, Northcott, Unisson, Avenue and Catholic Care. If you were unable to make this session, links to their websites are below.
The feedback from parents was extremely positive, and while these providers don’t service all locations, they offered information that covered a broad range of services, from community and social engagement programs, to work skill development, supported independent living, and allied health services.
We hope to be able to hold this event again using different service providers from different locations.
Travel Training Solutions
https://traveltrainingsolutions.org/
Optimum Health
Northcott
Unisson
https://unissondisability.org.au/
Avenue
https://avenuecoworking.org.au/
Catholic Care
https://www.catholiccare.org/disability-services/
Kelly, Instructional Leader
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