Teachers are busy writing new Semester 2 IEP’s and are looking forward to your input at the SSG meetings on Monday 1st August. Teachers will be in contact to book times on this day. Staff will help you on this day to set up the Xuno app if you have not already done so. Xuno is a new platform we are using to communicate with families and eventually this will be the main form of communication between school and home. Xuno allows you to fill out permission forms, log reasons for student absence and pay for excursions as needed. We are hoping once it is established it will simplify the payment and permission process- no more lost notes!
Last term ESS staff undertook training for understanding trauma in the classroom and found the professional learning very practical and useful. This term in conjunction with Cobden Technical School staff our whole staff will further extend our knowledge on trauma informed practices with Berri Street Trauma professional learning. The Berry Street training is well respected and sought after and we are very fortunate to have the opportunity to experience this learning. The training runs over 4 days and is very extensive, the first 2 days are Tuesday and Wednesday the 13th & 14th September. This is in the last week of term and will be student free.
This term will be another busy one, with school camps and the winter sports program. There are still many colds/flu’s, gastro and COVID outbreaks occurring in our community, please continue to monitor your child and keep them home if they are sick.
Take Care
Kylie Carter
We have returned to our classrooms after a relaxing two-week break. Welcome back to all students, it is wonderful to have you all back in the class and eager to participate in your learning activities. This week our students have been involved in NAIDOC week activities including listening to a dreaming story of the Rainbow Serpent and beginning some discussions after viewing part of a mini-series highlighting different elements of indigenous culture. There have been some great conversations about indigenous culture with students demonstrating their curiosity and respect. We are all looking forward to a great semester and seeing how much we all can achieve in the second half of 2022.
Term 3 has started and the students are ready to learn new things.
Students celebrated the end of Semester 1 with a BBQ cooked by Billy and the Hand on Learning students. Tiff brought her Border Collie puppies in for a visit. Mike from the Warrnambool Stadium came and taught a Basketball clinic. We finished our Economics and Geography units and students went home with their Reports celebrating their achievements for the semester. A big shout out to Connor Mcleod who finished his work experience at the local IGA and was offered ongoing employment. The holidays also saw some Birthdays with a very special 18th Birthday of Lilly Cancel.
This semester the Later Years are learning about Laws in our Civics unit with Tegan and 3D Printing in our DigiTech unit with Brad. We are starting our cooking program where the students learn a recipe in the first week, cook along with a teacher demonstration in the second and then finish off with an independent cook in the final week. The recipes are aimed to be something they can cook at home themselves that meets their nutritional needs. We are blessed to be able to use the Cobden Tech Kitchens allowing each student to cook their own meal in their own work space.
This semester Netball Victoria will be running clinics with the classes ahead of our Netball Competition against the other Specialist schools in our region. We will also be participating in Winter sports in July with these schools in some fun mixed team sports such as AFL and Wheelchair Basketball.
Our collaborative artworks from last semester proved to be a successful activity, with all students working together to create some amazing artworks. The results are so colourful and creative.
Well done to everyone who contributed!