Learning Diversity

Speech Therapist

I would like to introduce our St Raphael's families to Carisse Matthews. Carisse is a Speech therapist who has been working at our school for the last year with one of our students. 

Principal Speech Pathologist at Safe and Sounds Speech Pathology

Carisse is a Certified Practising Speech Pathologist with over thirteen years of experience. Carisse finished her degree at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia. She then worked in regional Western Australia with adult and paediatric clients from different cultural backgrounds with a range of speech, language, literacy and swallowing difficulties.

Carisse has now lived and worked in Melbourne for over ten years and has been the Principal Speech Pathologist of Safe & Sounds Speech Pathology for over seven years. She enjoys working in the school setting and has focussed her career on providing excellent individual, group, class and whole school support in the areas of speech, language and literacy. Carisse strives to provide the best evidenced-based service possible, collaborating closely with parents and school staff to meet the specific needs of the client.

Carisse is offering her services to our school next year if any families would like to engage in Speech Therapy services. These services will be conducted at school during school time. Places will be limited so if you are interested, please contact Carisse directly:

Email: carisse@safeandsounds.com.au

Phone: 0439 968 785

Every Day Counts

Going to school every day is the single most important part of your child’s education. Students learn new things at school every day – missing school puts them behind.

• Develop an absence learning plan with your teacher and ensure your child completes the plan.

Remember, every day counts. If your child must miss school, speak with your classroom teacher as early as possible.

Openly communicating with your child's school about all absences is a good way to prevent attendance issues being escalated to a School Attendance Officer. A School Attendance Officer is a Department of Education and Early Childhood Development Regional Director who has authority to follow up attendance issues. Attendance issues that are escalated can lead to an Infringement Notice.

If you’re having attendance issues with your child, please let your classroom teacher know so we can work together to get your child to school every day.

For more information and resources to help address attendance issues, visit: www.education.vic.gov.au/school/parents/ behaviour/Pages/studentattendance.aspx

Why it’s important

We all want our students to get a great education, and the building blocks for a great education begin with students coming to school each and every day.

If students miss school regularly, they miss out on learning the fundamental skills that will set them up for success in the later years of school.

There is no safe number of days for missing school – each day a student missesputs them behind, and can affect their educational outcomes.

Each missed day is associated with progressively lower achievement in numeracy, writing and reading.

Getting in early

Attendance patterns are established early – a child regularly missing daysin kindergarten or in the early years of school will often continue to miss classes in the later years, and receive lower test scores than their classmates. It’s vital that students go to school every day – even in the early years of primary school.

What we can do

The main reasons for absence are:

Sickness – There are always times when students need to miss school, such as when they’re ill. It’s vital that they’re only awayon the days they are genuinely sick, and setting good sleep patterns, eating well and exercising regularly can make a big difference.

It's vital that holidays are planned during school holidays where possible, and not during the term if it can be avoided.

“Day off” – Think twice before letting your child have a “day off” as they could fall behind their classmates – every day counts.

Truancy – This is when students choose not to go to school without their parent’s permission. There can be many reasons for truancy. The best way to address this is for schools and parents to work together.

If for any reason your child must miss school, there are things you can do with your school to ensure they don’t fall behind:

• Speak with your classroom teacher and find out what work your child needs to do to keep up.