Hello everyone,

Welcome to the first official newsletter of 2023. It was great to see the students arrive on Day 1 with fresh haircuts and big smiles. The majority seemed genuinely happy to be back in their familiar predictable setting, though new rooms and staff was confusing for some.

We have been having a fresh look at our classrooms and we are committing to sprucing up the rooms with some new furniture including bookcases and sensory seats. Our young people are pretty tough on the furniture- so it is high time we refreshed our spaces and additionally looked at meeting sensory needs.

Class Timetables should have come home for many, but if not, they will be shared at the Meeting the Teacher event this coming Wednesday 15^th February 5.30-6.30pm.

Preceding the classroom hour, we have a guest speaker from an external agency talking about sexuality. Please consider at least one family member attending the meeting (4.15- 5.15pm) in the Technology Room which can be found on the left-hand side when you are walking towards our school pool. We really want to support families with more of these sessions, so do email myself or Kamal Lamba via the school email account to make suggestions about topics you would like us to cover. You might even want to explore further one of the topics discussed within this session- so do let us know. 

We have developed the space opposite the Music Therapy Suite over the January break. We needed to address the deteriorating fencing and decided to provide an additional outdoor learning space which students can use to sit and read a book from the nearby library, or to wait for Music Therapy with Jack. The water feature will be functional soon, and will add a safe additional learning space for our students.

Welcome to the new school year!

The students in Room 3 were all smiles on their first day back at school.

Everyone enjoyed hanging out with their friends, and Eli and Yeting got to trial the new SenSit. The comfy seat got the tick of approval.

All students went eagerly back to their routines and learning activities. Brendan and Yeting painted a lantern for Chinese New Year and completed mathematical activities.

Eli practised peeling and cutting a banana independently.

Do you know the book ‘Rodney loses it!’? Room 3 highly recommends reading this funny book. Everyone had a good laugh when we read the book during our library visit.

Room 3 is looking forward to an exiting year of learning at Karonga School.

Janina & Barbara

Students in Room 12 are settling into a new class routine at school. We have Athena, Noah, Sebastian and Yousif from last year’s group and we welcome Agam, Gregory and Issa to our class.

Students are enjoying their Morning circle time activities, including songs and looking at their own photos. They are learning to greet their teachers and friends verbally or using Key Word Sign. Students in room 12 are also developing their turn taking skills by participating in a range of exciting lessons and activities throughout the week.

Every morning, students play on the equipment in the Pembroke playground, learning to share and further developing their hand and eye coordination.

Craft activities and Music therapy sessions are also a highlight of this week. We have listened to music and made crafts related to Chinese New Year.

The students in Room 12 are also very busy developing their Communication, Literacy and Numeracy skills and working on becoming more independent in every possible way.

Until next time,

Kamal and Hyma

We would just like to clarify the process for applying for external therapy sessions at Karonga.

If you are considering applying for an external therapist to visit Karonga for therapy sessions during the day, please note the first step in the process is for the Parent/Carer to have an initial discussion with their child's teacher.

After this discussion, relevant paperwork is then forwarded to the Parent/Carer to fill out and pass onto the Therapist to complete and send to the school office.  The Learning & Support Team Panel reviews all applications.  It is not until then that contact with the therapist and their organisation takes place, informing them if the therapy is approved or not.  If approved we will seek supporting documentation.

We are asking Parents/Carers to please respect the process when applying for therapy sessions at school so we can offer this opportunity to extend support for our students.