Jacana School for Autism Newsletter

Assistant 

Principal News Flash 

Stephanie Di Salvo & Dan Moloney 

Stephanie
Stephanie

 

 

National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) Navigator Role

 

We are pleased to announce that we have appointed Kaylah De Feudis, to the NDIS Navigator position at our school! Kaylah will be working from Wednesdays-Fridays and commenced on Wednesday 18th October 2023. 

 

The purpose of the position is to create a new workforce of NDIS Navigators in specialist schools to provide support to families and carers to help them to navigate and understand the NDIS, enabling them to get the most out of the supports available.

 

The role of the NDIS Navigator will include: 

 

  1. Providing support and advice for families, carers and students to build their capacity to understand, advocate for and access appropriate NDIS funded support services available to them. Such as promoting pathways available to families, carers and students if their NDIS plan is not meeting their needs. 
  2. Providing intensive support for families and carers of individual students in complex cases.
  3. Supporting the collaboration between NDIS-funded services and the school by providing appropriate information, documentation and/or logistical support for approved NDIS-funded therapist on-site visits.

 

If you would like to learn more about accessing appropriate NDIS funded support services or completing an Access Request Form (AFR) to apply for the NDIS for your child, please contact:

 

Kaylah De Feudis: Kaylah.Defeudis@education.vic.gov.au

 

Term 4 Tier 2 Wellbeing Groups– Social Emotional Learning 

 

The Wellbeing Team comprising of Nina Cerantonio (Mental Health and Wellbeing Leader), Isabella DeLuca (Mental Health and Wellbeing Officer) and Mariya Lyutyk (Wellbeing Assistant) have continued implementing targeted Social-Emotional Learning Groups for the Middle-Years and Secondary cohorts  this term. 

 

The programs incorporatethe ‘Jump! Schools’ learning activities and aim to promote and enhance learning opportunities that directly target student's Personal and Social Capability Individual Education Plan (IEP) goals.

 

The core learning outcomes of this group are:

  • My support network
  • Identifying emotions
  • Identifying problems and how to solve them
  • Personal strengths/self-care
  • Enacting a growth mindset
  • Overcoming challenges
  • Understanding different perspectives

The secondary mixed group is an Emotional Awareness and Resilience Therapeutic group in which the Wellbeing Team aims to work with selected students to develop positive coping skills using acceptance and commitment therapy. 

 

The program consists of 8 x 60-minute fortnightly groups and is aimed at offering techniques to aid positive outcomes when young people feel uncomfortable, fearful, or anxious about certain life situations. Each session compromises of engaging in group discussions and utilising a range of reflective tools, such as, circle time, story writing, games, and art. 

The core learning outcomes of this group are:

 

  • Trust building and boundaries
  • Understanding emotions
  • Emotional challenges and contexts
  • Positive coping skills and focused psychological strategies
  • Problem solving and resilience