Resilience, Rights and Respectful Relationships

Earlier this term, I presented two workshops at the RRRR regional Forum Day for educators in the Barwon area: Teaching RRRR in a Mindful and Inclusive Way to Students with a Disability. Feedback was very positive and we put Hamlyn Views School on the map! Delegates were mostly mainstream teachers and department employees who were very interested in the work we are doing at our school and how that can translate into supporting students with disability in all settings. In particular, there was a lot of interest and questions about The Nest and how it started and how it's facilitated. It was a pleasure to share the vision of our whole school approach with RRRR and RSE.

In the classroom, it's been a busy term in RRRR and students have enjoyed various activities and learning around body awareness, boundaries, gentle hands, self care, public and private places and behaviours. 

Students enjoyed bathing, dressing, feeding and nursing the newborn baby dolls whilst learning about body parts, respectful body boundaries and caring for others. 

We also revisited emotional literacy with songs and tabletop activities around how we communicate feelings through facial expressions and body language. 

Students did further learning around body changes, growing up and understanding private and public behaviours and places. We used AAC and our anatomically correct dolls to enhance our understanding and awareness around these topics. 

For those of you who are curious about THE NEST, the best way to describe it is that it's an inclusive and safe drop-in space for parents & carers to come and learn more about how we can best support our kids as they' growing up. Our current drop-ins happen fortnightly on Mondays, the odd weeks of each school term. Some weeks I will share resources and teaching around what students are learning about in RRRR and other weeks we might have a guest speaker or conversations around topics of interest. Please get in touch with me if you have any questions about THE NEST and I hope to see you on Monday of our first week back in Term 3. In the meantime, wishing you and your loved ones a happy and safe mid-year break.