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Dear Parents and Carers,
Our week began with the next visit from Ian Luscombe to check in with us about the strong implementation of the BehaveAbility strategies. Ian worked alongside our staff to support every child following every direction, which is always our expectation. We still slip up occasionally and put a polite please in our instructions rather than the strong thank you. The please opens up the door to the instruction being optional. The thank you closes that door and demonstrates we already expect the instruction is being / will be followed.
Do you remember the script we use? Many parents found it to be a life saving approach to supporting their children to follow directions at home. If your children are not readily following your instructions, you may like to try it. Here is the script, you can readily apply the instructions from the school setting to the home.
Today Sofia represented St Patrick's and the Southern Region at the Archdiocesan Public Speaking Competition in Goulburn. Sofia wrote a speech on the topic 'Sport brings us together' with a great twist and lots of humour. Well done Sofia!
St Patrick's Dance Concert rehearsals are well underway with lots of energy and excitement building. It is an expectation that all students perform at both the day and night concert for the success of the class performances. If you haven't booked your tickets yet please follow the links:
For bookings for the 7pm session follow this link: https://www.trybooking.com/CLHOS
Food and drinks will be available from 5:30pm at the hall (menu to come)
Students will be required to be dropped to their classroom by a parent/carer at 6:30pm (no earlier) for a 7pm start.
Jo
Supporting Students - Curriculum Adjustments
The Disability Discrimination Act 1992 (Cth) and the Disability Standards for Education 2005 outline the obligations of education and training providers to make reasonable adjustments. These reasonable adjustments should ensure that students with disability can access and participate in education on the same basis as students without a disability. Decisions regarding curriculum options, including adjustments, should be made in the context of collaborative curriculum planning.
Adjustments are actions taken that enable a student with disability to access syllabus outcomes and content on the same basis as their peers. These adjustments relate to teaching, learning and assessment from Kindergarten to Year 12. The types of adjustments will vary according to the needs of the individual student.
In accordance with Nationally Consistent Collection of Data, teachers and schools use their professional judgements to make decisions to provide adjustments at one of 4 levels:
- support provided within quality differentiated teaching practices
- supplementary adjustments
- substantial adjustments
- extensive adjustments.
Adjustments may be evidenced in a student’s personalised plan or as annotations on teaching and learning programs, depending on the individual student’s needs.
General examples of adjustments
Examples of general adjustments can include:
- adjustments to classroom organisation, eg seating, uncluttered wall space, blinds to reduce glare on a whiteboard
- materials and resources that support teaching and learning activities, eg manipulatives or concrete materials, visuals and anchor charts to support concept development, word walls to support vocabulary acquisition
- the use of technology, eg personal devices to access learning
- alternate formats such as large print or Braille
- simplified texts
- captioning of audiovisual material
- oral sign interpreters or readers and scribes
- modifications to equipment or furniture
- adjustments to enable participation in field trips and excursions
- adjustments to the amount of lesson/unit content or the time allocated to complete work, eg consider core or critical content first, teach key terminology to reduce cognitive load
- consideration of individual communication strategies, including verbal and non-verbal communication systems, eg visual prompts, closed questions
- more demonstration of key concepts and skills by the teacher, teacher’s aide or a peer, eg explicit modelling of concept or skill, use of visual supports, scaffolding processes or instructions
- structured opportunities for guided and independent practice
- additional support through group work, volunteer or peer tutoring.
Currciculum Intervention at St Pat's - MacqLit
MacqLit is an explicit and systematic reading intervention program. It provides teachers with a comprehensive sequence of lessons that includes all the key components necessary for effective reading instruction: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary and comprehension.
Who is it for?
- Ideal for students who fall in the bottom 25% of a standardised reading test or curriculum-based measure, and who have particular difficulties in the area of word recognition.
- Specifically aimed at struggling readers in Year 3 through to high school.
Delivery:
- Small group program only for use in schools.
- Delivered by teachers, learning support teachers, special educators, and well-trained and well-supported teacher aides.
- Each lesson is designed to be completed in one hour, and for best results should be delivered at least four times a week.
Key benefits:
- A systematic and explicit reading intervention program for older low-progress readers.
- Small group program only for use in accredited primary and secondary schools.
- Comprehensive sequence of lessons including all the components necessary for effective reading instruction.
- Allows students to generalise component skills through connected text reading.
Chapel Mass, Week 9 - Kindergarten (Families Welcome)
On last Friday, we held our annual Father’s Day breakfast. It was a wonderful morning that wouldn’t have been possible without the ongoing support that the St Patrick’s Parish Men’s club offer. Each year, during our special breakfast celebrations for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, this group of wonderful men give up their own time to come and cook up a storm. We appreciate their valuable contribution to the St Pat’s community.
Today, members of Mini Vinnies ran their first Ice-block stand. This will take place every Friday, where students can bring 60 cents to purchase an icy pole. The first few weeks of money make will go to the organisation ‘Caritas Australia’. This organisation works tirelessly to end poverty and promote justice. Well done to the amazing St Pat’s Mini Vinnies, who have willingly given up their lunch breaks to organise fundraising for this cause.
In Senior classes, students have been learning about Social Justice in both Mappen and Religious Education. As a part of their learning, they were asked to explore an aid agency and how it supports the community. See some of the work samples below.
Thank you to families who have paid their Term 3 fees.
A friendly reminder Term 3 fees are now due.
As we have moved to the new finance system, the preferred method of payment is BPAY. The new BPAY details are listed on your monthly statement.
BPAY payments can be made via a lump sum or a weekly/fortnightly payment plan can be set up. Payments made in instalments (that don’t cover fees in full before the due date) must be arranged and approved by the school. Please contact the Office on 6492 5500 if you need to make an instalment arrangement.
If you are currently experiencing financial difficulties, please make contact with the school office. Please remember that if we don’t know your circumstances, we are not in a position to provide assistance. Applications for fee concessions are managed by the Principal in a confidential and sensitive nature.
