Principal's News Flash
Corinne Pupillo
Dear parents, carers and friends of the school community,
World Autism Awareness & Acceptance Day
Celebrating all the neuro-divergent children and adults World Autism Awareness and Acceptance Day celebrates the resilience of those affected by the disorder and supports causes that promote awareness of it.
Every year, on the 2nd of April, the world celebrates World Autism Awareness & Acceptance Day but Autistic Advocacy groups have been calling for organisations and governments to shift away from the word ‘awareness’ to ‘understanding’ or ‘acceptance’ for over a decade. That’s because language is so important, specifically how we use language to talk about autism and Autistic people.
'World Autism Understanding & Acceptance Day' – we want you to be more than just 'aware' of autism and Autistic people – we want you to UNDERSTAND what is it like to be Autistic, we want you to be more ACCEPTING of autism and Autistic people and we want you to CELEBRATE.
Autism looks differently for everyone.
About 370,000* Australians are Autistic and each person has different strengths, interests, challenges and aspirations.
My strengths and interests are what drives and motivates me.
Autism diagnoses are typically based on a person’s deficits. But we are seeing a shift, where many people are calling for a strengths-based approach that seeks to understand Autistic people and their individual strengths while also acknowledging places where support may be needed. It is a quest to move away from presuming incompetence, to presuming competence.
School Review
The final day of the school review was Tuesday 28 March and I'd like to take the opportunity to thank students, staff and families for their open and honest feedback during the focus sessions and classroom observations. Schools cannot improve student learning if they do not urgently focus on a small number of goals for improvement and commit together to a set of strategic actions to deliver upon the goals. The school review has provided us the opportunity to identify these goals and key improvement strategies based on learning and wellbeing. I look forward to sharing our Strategic Plan goals with the community once the quality assurance process is finalised.
Term 1 School Holidays
Friday 7 April is Good Friday and a public holiday. Wishing all our students, staff and families a restful break and happy Easter. Spending time to focus on wellbeing is an important way to recharge and rebalance after a busy term.
Please note that students return for Term 2 on Monday 24 April and Tuesday 25 April is ANZAC Day and students are not required at school on this day.
School Council
Our next School Council Meeting will be held on Thursday 18 May at 5.30 pm.
| MEMBER | POSITION |
| Corinne Pupillo | Executive Officer (Principal) /corinne.pupillo@education.vic.gov.au |
| Michelle Owen | Parent Representative |
| Andrew McDonough | Parent Representative |
| Paul Malavisi | Parent Representative |
| Angel Sauzier | Parent Representative |
| Mark Mansfield | Parent Representative |
| Chris Ernst | Parent Representative |
| Vacancy | Parent Representative |
| Lisa Sette | Community Representative & President / lisa.sette@education.vic.gov.au |
| Dr Denise Clarke | DET Representative |
| Stephanie Di Salvo | DET Representative |
| Daniel Moloney | DET Representative |
School Council Sub-Committee Representatives
- Finance Sub Committee Representative - Mark Mansfield
- Building and Grounds Sub Committee Representative – Denise Clarke
- Fundraising Sub Committee Representative – Lisa Sette
- School Council Representative on Student Representative Council (SRC)
Reminder: Our newsletter is published each fortnight and will provide you with important information about the school and events that may be of interest to you. I encourage you to read the newsletter that will be sent home via your home email, on the school's Facebook Page or on the school's website.
JSA also has a Facebook Page administered by the leadership team. Please like and follow our page.
https://www.facebook.com/JacanaSchoolforAutism
REMINDERS
Reminder: Term 1 Pupil Free Days- Friday 7 April - Good Friday
End of Term Thursday 6 April - students finish school at 2pm, 1 hour earlier than usual
Unwell Students
Each morning when students are getting ready for school, I ask that you be mindful of how your child is presenting. If they/he/she is feeling/looking/acting unusual or is complaining of being unwell please take them to the doctor. Minimising the cross-infection will assist in reducing the risk of spreading bugs and viruses.
All student absences can be made through the dedicated student absence notification number. Text the student's name, room number and reason for absence.
Make sure you have the student absence notification number saved in your contacts:
Student absence line: 0439 114 197
Aerial View - Jacana School for Autism
This aerial photography has captured our school from above to complement our school's Virtual School Tour. Please take a look and see how wonderful the facilities look from above.
Sun Smart
Dear parents/carers JSA is a SunSmart community. You can help our students to be SunSmart at school by:
- Dressing them in clothing that covers as much skin as possible.
- Apply a generous amount of SPF30 (or higher) broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen at the start of the day before drop-off.
- Packing their sun-protective hat each day.