Assistant 

Principal News Flash 

Stephanie Di Salvo, Dan Moloney & Eva Primarolo

Hi JSA students, parent/carers and families,

We would like to welcome you back to another busy and exciting term ahead! We hope everyone enjoyed their Term 1 break and created time to recharge and connect with family and friends. It has also been pleasing to see students re-engaged in their classroom routines and structures and reconnecting with familiar adults and peers.  As we experience the cooler autumn season, it has been lovely to see students experience the crunch of leaves underfoot and to see an explosion of red, orange and gold foliage around the school grounds.  

Semester 1 Reporting Period

Term 2 is a busy time for teachers, as they begin the rigorous process of collecting and analysing student learning to inform Semester 1 reporting. Jacana School for Autism uses a range of formative assessments including student work samples, anecdotal records, checklists, rubrics and observations to inform teaching practices and to identify student learning progress towards the achievement of student Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals. It also enables teachers to identify areas for improvement and next steps in learning.  

Teachers and Specialists will be reporting on the following areas of learning for Semester 1:

• English (Reading & Viewing, Writing and Speaking & Listening) 
• Mathematics (Number & Algebra and Measurement & Geometry)
• Personal & Social Capabilities
• Critical & Creative Thinking Capabilities 
• Humanities (History)
• Technologies (Stephanie Alexander KG Program)
• Visual Arts
• Music (Selected classrooms) 
• Health & Physical Education (Personal, Social & Community Health)
• Technologies (HOL Build and HOL Café)

School Review

With the conclusion of the School review process, our School Improvement Team will be meeting this term to work on the development of the 2023 Annual Implementation Plan (AIP). The AIP document provides a sharp and narrow focus on school improvement priorities and provides clarity and purpose for all members of the school community as we work towards the goals set out in our new School Strategic Plan (SSP). 

Jacana School for Autism will continue to place learning and wellbeing at the centre of school improvement and work towards achieving goals aimed at:

1. Maximising learning growth for all students
2. Maximising Personal and Social Capabilities of each student

A whole school approach to mental health and wellbeing

The school is pleased to announce the successful appointment of a Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader, Nina Cerantonio, who will begin in Week 3, Term 2. 

Nina is a qualified teacher who will be working across the school to implement a whole-school approach to mental health and wellbeing for students, staff and families based on a broad knowledge of the needs of the school community. This means:

• building the capacity of school staff, in particular classroom teachers, to identify and support students with mental health concerns in the classroom and to implement proactive wellbeing strategies to support all learners
• advocating for student voice and agency in their wellbeing and mental health needs

Nina will form part of the Welfare Team who will be working with teachers, ES, therapists and Leadership, to support the school to create clear referral pathways internally (within school) and externally (to community services) for students identified as requiring further assessment and intervention. 

Professional Learning Communities (PLC)

Teachers are currently exploring the Essential Assessment tool for Numeracy, to assess student learning outcomes related to Number and Algebra.  As staff view student learning on data walls, we begin to identify learning needs and what areas of student learning that need to be explicitly taught next. This in turn informs the development of relevant and purposeful Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals and lesson planning. 

Thank you to our PLC Instructional Leaders for planning and facilitating one of the school's key forums in embedding whole-school improvement. 

•           Amanda Hollway - Specialists

•           Rachael Macmillan - Primary Sub-School

•           Sarah Hill - Middle Sub-School

•           Linda Wakeling - Secondary Sub-School