Assistant Principal

Lunch Club: Exploring New Adventures!

Dear School Community,

We're excited to share the success of our recent lunch club trials, where students have delved into various activities including bracelet making, board games, colouring, and origami. These sessions have been met with enthusiasm and enjoyment from all participants!

I extend my gratitude to Mrs Kelly for organising the very popular activities and to our staff for their support. 

A special shoutout to our Grade 6 Leaders for generously volunteering their lunchtimes to run these clubs, fostering a sense of leadership and community spirit among our student body. 

As we wrap up this term, we eagerly anticipate more lunch club adventures in Term 2! Stay tuned for further updates and opportunities for our students to engage in exciting activities during their lunch breaks.

Together, we're creating vibrant and inclusive spaces for our students to thrive and express themselves.

Warm regards,

Grant Rounsley

AUTISM ACCEPTANCE MONTH

 April is Autism Acceptance Month (AAM) and a great opportunity to celebrate our autistic students, learn more about how we can support and include them, and help foster understanding and acceptance of autism among all students. AAM is an offshoot of the United Nations’ sanctioned World Autism Awareness Day on Tuesday 2 April 2024. The day will begin a month of global events to celebrate autistic people. Our school is committed to understanding, including and celebrating our autistic students and values the contribution they and their families make to our school. To celebrate AAM, we would like to share some resources that support autistic students and their families. The Department of Education has worked with organisations for autistic people and lead researchers in autism to develop new resources for schools to help us better understand, support and celebrate the strengths of autistic students. I hope you find them useful and insightful. 

• AllPlay Learn Inclusive School Communities: Monash University’s AllPlay Learn team has developed evidence-based guidance and resources on how to create inclusive school communities where everyone feels welcome and supported. It includes videos on engaging with other parents, using inclusive language and student resources you can share with your child or children.

 • Amaze has produced videos and tip sheets for parents on how to include families of autistic children.

 • The Art of Learning video. More support for autistic students The department has established the Diverse Learners Hub to help meet the needs of diverse learners, including autistic students. It is key initiative of Disability Inclusion and flagship of the Autism Education Strategy. 

The hub provides evidence-based advice, information and resources on best-practice inclusive teaching for autistic students. 

Thank you,

 The Valkstone Wellbeing Team