Principal's Desk 

Corinne Pupillo 

Dear parents, carers and friends of the school community,

Welcome back to the new school term.  I hope that you all had an enjoyable break with family and friends during the brief period where COVID restrictions eased in Victoria.  

During the July school holidays the weather can be cold and wet and challenging at times to access the outdoors.  The gorgeous (but chilly) sunny days provided us with lots of opportunities to explore the outdoors. I hope families and staff were able to have some well-deserved rest and some opportunities for relaxation. Winter can be a great time to spend time indoors but also the great weather created opportunities for us to explore many of our amazing local surrounds.  

It was unfortunate that students reverted back to remote and flexible learning so soon after the break but I was enormously grateful that the community now has the knowledge, skills and systems to move swiftly to remote and flexible learning at very short notice. 

The revised criteria for onsite learning resulted in an increase in onsite student attendance On Thursday 22nd July.  The number of students accessing onsite learning support grew from 30 to 50 students.  A reminder to families that the revised criteria for onsite learning support includes:

Children where both parents and or carers are considered authorised workers who cannot work from home, work for an essential provider and where no other supervision arrangements can be made:

• where there are two parents/carers, both must be authorised workers, working outside the home in order for their children to be eligible for on-site provision.
• for single parents/ carers, the authorised worker must be working outside the home in order for their children to be eligible for on-site provision.

Children experiencing vulnerability, including:

• in out-of-home care
• deemed vulnerable by a government agency, funded family or family violence service, and assessed as requiring education and care outside the family home
• identified by a school or early childhood service as vulnerable, (including via referral from a government agency, or funded family or family violence service, homeless or youth justice service or mental health or other health service)
• where a parent/carer indicates that a student with a disability is vulnerable because they cannot learn from home, and/or informs the school the student is vulnerable due to family stress. This may apply to students enrolled in specialist schools and students with a disability enrolled in mainstream schools.

Members of the leadership team consider requests each day and finalise the onsite roster at 2pm daily to ensure sufficient staff are available and Mees can be notified. 

Reminder:  Absence Notification Number

As we return to school, I ask that you are 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 risks of spreading the winter bugs and viruses.

All student absences can be made through the dedicated student absence notification number. Text the student name, room number and reason for absence.

Make sure you have the student absence notification number saved in your contacts: 0439 114 197

Student Support Group Meetings and Student Voice and Agency 

As you know, Student Support Group Meetings are opportunities for families, students and teachers to celebrate the work that has been achieved, and collectively plan for the next steps of learning.  One of our school goals this year is to improve student voice and agency in learning.  We encourage all students to be a part of these meetings as it is important that students have an opportunity to express their views and actively share their like/dislikes and preferences in their learning.

There are 3 stages of student engagement that we encourage you to consider ahead of the SSG, these include:

• Stage 1: Students attend and teachers will support students to show parents the work they have done.
• Stage 2: Students will share and reflect on their work samples (using communication prompts as required)
• Stage 3: Students discuss their Personalised Learning Support Plan goals, progress and share their opinion about their own development.

SSG's meetings will be conducted between Monday 29th July and Thursday 12th August and pending the easing of restrictions parents can request  face to face, online meeting, or via telephone.   Please contact your teacher if you have any further questions about this.  I look forward to hearing about the success of these meetings and the input from students into their learning. Please return your form to the school as soon as possible to book your meeting time.

Staffing update

Primary Sub School Leader, Libby Pitruzzello has accepted a visiting teacher role in the Western Victorian Region and her final day was Friday 16th July.  Libby has been with JSA for two and a half  years and has worked closely with our foundation students and families as they enter their first years of schooling.  Libby has ensured students primary years of schooling years are engaging and stimulating and she will be missed by many students, staff and families.  We wish her well in her new role.  The acting Primary Sub School Leader is Rachael Macmillan.

Finance Manager, Melissa Beckwith has been successful in gaining a secondment to DET Workers Compensation Unit for 12 months and we are currently recruiting to fill her role here at JSA.  All the best to Melissa on her secondment to DET. 

Long term staffing 

Term 3 is typically when we commence the long-term staffing plans for 2022.  In collaboration with the Consultative Committee,  I intend to commence the process of assessing our staffing needs which includes, offering 2nd contracts to eligible staff and advertising for staff based on increasing the number of teaching staff with a special education qualification.   The Principal Class team are also undertaking a review of the leadership staffing profile with the view to assess the impact of the introduction of new roles such as Learning Specialists, Mental Health Practitioner, Tutor and Social Worker.  We are anticipating a realignment of roles to support our Multi-Tiered Support System.  The new leadership profile will be shared with the community in Early term 4. 

Casual (parent) Vacancy on School Council 

Sharon Borg has resigned from School Council and this has left another parent representative vacancy.  If you would like to learn more about the school and be part of our team that shares the governance role, please get in contact with Corinne Pupillo - Principal, either by email corinne.pupillo@education.vic.gov.au or calling the office.

Aerial View - Jacana School for Autism

To complement our Schools Virtual School Tour, this aerial photography has captured our school from above.    Please take a look and see how wonderful the facilities look from above.  

School Council Meeting 

The next meeting of School Council will occur Thursday, 5th August at 5.30pm.

School Council Sub Committee Representatives

• Finance Sub Committee Representative - Alisha Minns ( Interim )
• Building and Grounds Sub Committee Representative – Alisha Minns
• Fundraising Sub Committee Representative – Lisa Sette
• School Council Representative on Student Representative Council (SRC) –Alisha Minns

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