Dear parents and carers,

Speech Pathologist

We celebrate the wonderful work our Speech Pathologist, Lashay is doing in our school. Lashay works two days a week in our school and supports our staff and students with a range of communication strategies. We predominantly focus on Proloquo2go as a communications method.

Communication is a two-way process between participants where they exchange information, ideas, feelings, and create and share meaning. This may be done through various means, such as spoken or written language, gestures or visual aids. Think about a simple activity, such as ordering a snack from the canteen or café. Firstly, you use receptive language skills to read and view the menu and make a choice. You then use expressive language and speech to place your order. You might also use non-verbal communication by pointing to the item or the menu. You then use receptive language to understand the response, such as the price or wait time. Additional communication skills are layered into this interaction such as eye contact, turn taking and social communication, such as greetings and manners. So, to complete what looks like a simple action in a small part of your day, you are using a multitude of communication skills, language and speech skills!

When children start school, they are expected to have developed the speech, language and communication foundations needed to participate in learning in the classroom and the playground. The Australian Curriculum has a strong focus on communication in terms of language, literacy and literature, with teaching and learning having a focus on oral language. This can impact children who might have difficulties or a delay with their speech, language and communication development, as they may have difficulty understanding and sharing information, creating meaning, communicating requests, interacting and playing with others, developing literacy and numeracy skills and participating in learning activities. We therefore appreciate all the support our Speech Pathologists are providing to ensure our students communicate effectively.

As parent or carer you can help your child’s speech and language development by:

Talking, reading and playing together
Listening and responding to what they say
Commenting about your actions and your child’s actions
Using your home/primary language as well as English
Using new and different words
Starting to use longer sentences as children get older
Encouraging your child to play with other kids

Educational Assistants

I want to say thank you to our wonderful and dedicated Educational Assistants (Teacher Aides). They are the glue of the school and their passion to ensure all of our students educational needs are met, is commendable. Their caring attitude can be observed in their engagement with the whole school community, not to mention the effort they put into the various dress up days. You are valued and appreciated.

Father or significant adult Day

Father’s Day is a great opportunity to recognise how much dads or significant adults truly matter. Research shows us many reasons why fathers or significant adults are important – they play a huge role in teaching kids about empathy, confidence, self-esteem, and valuable life lessons. Fathers or significant adults play an important role in their children’s development and have a powerful impact on their well-being and health. Well-parented children are shown to be more emotionally intelligent and socially successful as adults. When fathers or significant adults are absent, their absence may negatively impact children’s academic achievement, gender-specific development, general behavioural adjustment and anger management, especially in males.

Parent’s attitude toward emotions can have a big impact on the way children learn to cope with feelings. Children whose parents respond to their emotions with patience and empathy do better in lots of ways, including academic achievement, better overall health, and build stronger friendships… Children who have an involved father or significant adult are more likely to be more emotionally secure. They are confident when exploring their surroundings and, as they grow older, have better social connections with peers. These children also are less likely to get into trouble at home, school, or in the neighbourhood.

R U OK? Day

As a school community we need to reach out to each other in a supportive and caring way. A great way to show support is to ask each other ‘R U OK?’

R U OK? Day inspires and empowers everyone to meaningfully connect with the people around them and start a conversation with those in their world who may be struggling with life. You don't need to be an expert to reach out - just be a good friend and a great listener.

Use these four steps and have a conversation that could change a life:

1. Ask R U OK?

2. Listen

3. Encourage action

4. Check in

Please follow the following link which provides resources on how to support yourself and your friends: https://www.ruok.org.au/every-day-resources

Happy Fathers or significant adults day on Sunday 😊

~ Dehlia

Junior Secondary 1