Education Week 23

Principal's Message

Hello parents and carers and welcome to our Term 3 Week 3 newsletter.

Community Support and the NDIS Connection Desk.

As a part of our schools connection and partnership through the Fair Education, Success for Complex Learners project we are able to employ Brigette Baird as a part-time Community Support Ocer. Recently this role has enabled us to facilitate a series of NDIS connection desks, Oneon-one 30-minute assistance to access the NDIS. These sessions have been booked out and proving to be an excellent resource for families. Our next connection desk is Wednesday 9 August. Please contact Brigette through the school email for more details.

Staff Professional Development - SEPLACON 2023.

Each year the teachers and SLSOs spend a day of learning at the annual Special Education Principals and Leaders Association Conference. This year schools from across NSW and interstate descended on the ICC at Darling Harbour with over 1400 participants. The event features keynote talks and teaching sessions sharing expertise in special education from a variety of schools and services. This year our own Cheryl Williams presented a session on visual arts and meeting the needs of our students. The presentation was an inspirational summary of the work Cheryl leads in our school and a model for many to now consider and adapt in their own settings. As an extension of this work, the school will be celebrating a day of visual arts for the senses on Saturday 16 September, all are welcome.

Leading Learning Across Schools.

Last week Neale was invited to present to the Girraween Assistant Principals network meeting as local schools seek to engage and develop their repertoire of skills and strategies as they lead their teams. This past week their learning focussed on assessment and Neale was able to share his knowledge of the Passport for Learning - developed by the Hills School and now being used in hundreds of NSW schools. The various school teams were able to successfully navigate the tool and have immediately seen it's value for their students seeking to implement its use straight away. Neale leads similar work within our school and we are truly grateful for his expertise.

Education Week

Education Week Open Day was held on Thursday 3 August with a number of families joining us in classes. It's great to be able to open our doors and welcome families in to share the great work in our classes. The students were so excited to be able to sit with mum, dad, sisters, grandparents and carers and just show them their world during school time. Thanks to everyone who was able to visit us on the day.

Mark Gosbell

PRINICPAL