Spotlight On
Skills House
The Skills House has continued to grow and has become an integral part of the school. There are 4 aspects to it:
1. Living skills – students learn and practice skills in the Home Zone of the Skills House. Staff record progress using a skills checklist specific to that particular task and the GAS (Goal Attainment Scaling) matrix is used to measure growth. The aim is for skills to be mastered and transferred to other settings including home with minimal, or no prompting. Edwinda Brennan coordinates this aspect of the Skills House and has done a fantastic job with the help of others to develop over 100 skills checklists including how to make a bed, sweeping and setting the table. Edwina works 2 days per week in the Skills House, currently she is working with stage 4, 5 and 6. She will be working with a class for 5 weeks to teach the Skills House process before moving on to the next class. The idea behind this is that we will have consistency of skill development across the school and the program will become sustainable. This year we have introduced 2 more aspects to the Home Zone. Phil Dederer has been teaching stage 4 and 5 students garage skills 2 days per week, so far this has entailed knot tying and changing a bike tyre. David Gell and Phil Dederer have also been working with stage 6 students in the Youth Shed, where students have been developing their handyman skills whilst re-vamping the sensory spaces in stage 6 classrooms. We look forward to showing off the results!
2. Work ready skills - students learn and practice skills in the Work Zone of the Skills House in the same way that the home zone operates. Again, Edwina Brennan coordinates this and has ensured that skills are industry specific and useful, for example making a phone call, photocopying and laminating.
Participating in work experience is another way that students develop work ready skills. This may be within the school in The Retreat or with the GAs for example, or offsite with a local business. We are in the process of recruiting for a new job coach as Matty Georgiou moved to Forster. Before Matty left he did an amazing job in setting all stage 6 students up into some form of work experience. Some of our students engage with Wangarang, while others go to work places such as the Rural Centre, Huntley Berry Farm and Country Fruit Distributers to name a few. Giovanna Cox and David Gell also assist in getting our students into work experience. Stage 5 will be engaging in the work experience program this term.
Our Barista program is another way that students can gain valuable industry specific skills. Edwinda Brennan and Toot Keegan have worked hard to ensure that this program is a success and replicates a work place as closely as possible. The Barista teams take orders for hot drinks every Tuesday and Thursday morning and never disappoint with the quality of product. The staff very much appreciate their hot drink of choice being hand delivered to them!
3. Personal care skills – again there are many skills checklists that have been developed including shaving, nose blowing, tying shoelaces etc. These skills can be practiced in the Skills House, or the classroom. A major part of personal care is experienced in The Retreat, where Krissie-Lee Cartwright works 4 afternoons per week. Krissie has done fantastic work in setting up The Retreat and guiding her ‘Rookies’ who assist her to provide the treatments. Krissie is a qualified beautician and teaches students about skin, nail and hair care. Students can indulge in a foot spa, hair wash and style, or even receive a nice hand massage and get their nails painted!
4. Community skills – this aspect is still in development, it will involve explicitly learning skills to move around and explore the community. Things such as reading a bus timetable and catching it to the desired location will be taught. We are very much looking forward to developing this part of the Skills House as some of it will be virtual, using fancy technology, as well as physically getting out and about.
Jodie Pritchard
Skills House leader