From the Principal

It is hard to believe we are in our final week of school, it really has flown by.

Congratulations to all our hardworking students, staff and families on our fantastic concert last Wednesday night. The students were so excited to perform on stage for their families and had worked so hard all term to rehearse their amazing acts. A big thank you to Kelly, Gerry and Lisa for all their hard work in bringing this amazing extravaganza together.

Next term we have the Presentation Ball on Friday October 18^th at the Camperdown Theatre Royale at 7pm. The students are enjoying dance training and have chosen some funky tracks to dance to. We are also lucky enough to secure Jo Beard from the Corangamite Shire who the students will be presented to on the night.

Friday is footy colours day, we look forward to seeing our students dressed up in their favourite colours for this day- Go Cats!!

Our new Middle Years Building is almost completed with handover expected in early November. The new build has 4 brand new classrooms, a therapy room, a separate eating/cooking area and a much bigger play space, we are very excited for our Middle Years students to move into this space.

Term 4 is renowned for being busy with assessments and end of year activities. We have 2 student free days in term 4, one is with Dan Petro our behaviour therapist and one is in Warrnambool learning about our learning plans and the new student disability funding model. Look out for these dates on the calendar.

Remember that school will finish at 2pm this Friday.

Have a happy and safe holidays!

Thank you

Take care

Kylie Carter

Principal

Hampden Specialist School Parents Association Update

Hampden Specialist School Parents Association

Dates to remember

Warrnambool Bunnings BBQ – 22^nd of December 9am – 4pm

Sports Carnival – 6^th of November 9.30am – 3pm TBC

Terang Gala – 20^th of December

Santa Photos TBC

The Parents Association have been working hard to organise activities at the school as well as fundraisers so that we can run these activities. The above activities are what are planned for the rest of the year. Your support would be greatly appreciated.

 The Cooking with kids Cookbook is our next big fundraiser. Contributions are sought for recipes that are easy to make with the kids or that your kids really love. Your recipes and/or photos can be handed into front office or emailed to Kristie.simpson@education.vic.gov.au by October 15^th. Cookbook image types needed to be in a JPEG or PNG file. If your not sure how to do this Kristie is available to help you. Cookbooks can be pre-ordered for $20 by November 1^st  or purchased for $25 in December. These are professionally printed cookbooks. The pre – order form follows this letter.

The Parents Association plan on using funds raised to present every new student with a uniform as well as every student a uniform once the schools name has changed. They are also planning on providing a discount on all school camps as of next year and a camp kit including toiletries, sleeping bags and other items.

For this year we have secured Colgate teeth cleaning packs for every student, these will be distributed next term.

It was great to see so many people at the school concert. The kids did a wonderful job of making it enjoyable. It is always inspiring to see the smiles on their face when they perform.

Thank you to all the people who have put their names forward to help the Parents Association in the future. These things are only successful with many hands to help. If you would like to join please see Kylie or speak to Kristie Simpson.

Letter from President Freddie

Despite the weather being nothing short of chaotic over the last few weeks, it was wonderful to see so many family and community members come together for our Father’s Day celebrations this year.

It was a delight to see family members spending time with their children in class groups and coming together with teaching and support staff to enjoy connecting over a BBQ. It was the committee’s sincere hope to strengthen the relationships of families and the community, and this was a fantastic start.

I would like to express my thanks to the committee members, hands on learning team, and school staff for their efforts to ensure the gathering was a success. I would like to make special mention to Kristie Simpson for her tireless efforts advocating for our families and school community.

Middle Years students have enjoyed another successful term of their cooking program.

We look forward to resuming this opportunity for students after the break!

Congratulations to all students for their contribution to last week’s concert!

Middle and Later Years students completed animations, prints and paintings for the event. Everyone put in an amazing effort throughout the term, which was evident on the night!

Year 10. Work Experience.

Year 10. students are this week working in a variety of workplaces in the community. They spent this term completing many tasks in preparation, including the Sate@Work General module certificate. Work Experience is a wonderful opportunity to gain an sight into different workplaces and possible future Pathways available. This program would not be possible without the many workplaces who have supported the students of Hampden over many, many years. Past students have gained employment on leaving school because of their success as a Year 10. Work Experience student. Hampden acknowledge and thank the support of the community.

P.S. The general feedback from students after sharing their excitement is that they feel tired. Well done. You are all fabulous ambassadors for Hampden.

The students are working in the following areas of employment:

Melody and Molly: Education

Toby and Boyd: The Dairy Industry

Ethan: Retail