Principal's Report

Dear families, 

Welcome back to our Week 6 newsletter. Last week I attended a three-day Principals SIMposium in Brisbane. This was a great opportunity to network with other leaders in Queensland education system and listen to their successes and challenges. It was inspiring to listen to our Director General, Michael De’Ath, as he spoke to our leaders on ways we are shaping education through building resilience and adaptability. These are skills that our students will need in order to be global citizens in the 21st Century. Additionally the work the education system is doing in aligning the Australian Curriculum to the latest research has been affirming that our school is on the right track. 

Our teachers participated in a report moderation workshop on Wednesday. They moderated their Guide To Making Judgements alongside corresponding work samples and then reflected on their report comments. The feedback from staff has been highly positive and they valued the opportunity to reflect on their practice with their colleagues. 

I would like to share with you some ideas you may find useful in providing your child with strategies towards independence:

Visual supports provide a visual reference point that can be used as often as needed, and support the communication process and can help children with their skill development and increase independence. Examples of visual supports include pictures, written words, objects within the environment, arrangement of the environment or visual boundaries, schedules, maps, labels, systems, and timelines. 

Visual supports need to be:

• Presented in a clear, uncluttered format 
• Engaging and meaningful to the person using them 
• Organised logically 
• Reviewed frequently to ensure they are meeting the individual's needs 
• Used consistently and kept on display so they can be accessed when needed 
• Individualised to the person's needs and comprehension level, some people may prefer print rather than object or photo symbols and vice versa 
• Updated as appropriate, to stay meaningful, i.e. moving the arrow on a visual schedule.

When making visual supports think about:

• Involving the young person as much as possible 
• Basing the visuals on aspects of the young person's area of interest 
• Consulting with the young person's parents/carers to understand what visuals might already be in use 
• Matching the visuals to the young person's physical ability to use them e.g. ticking a list, moving a picture Carefully selecting your visual symbol or picture 
• The person constructing the visual needs to consider, the literal understanding of words, what is being taught and what is being focused on in a visual support 
• Taking into account speech pathologist advice where possible

Have a fabulous weekend everybody and enjoy the lovely sunny weather!

Kind regards,

Dehlia Dawson