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Ascot Vale Special School 1 Tasma Street Ascot Vale 3032 ascot.vale.ss@edumail.vic.gov.au Office: 9370 8906/9370 8931 www.ascotvaless.vic.edu.au VCAL: 9370 8911

BULLETIN THURSDAY, 12 September 2019

Dear Parents and Carers Not long to go until the holidays and then one term left until the end of the year. I hope you have something nice planned to enjoy during the break. I will be on long service leave next week and will return at the start of term 4. When I return I look forward to supporting our Year 12 students with their transition and orientation days at their selected post school placement. Although transition sometimes creates nervousness, many of our students are excited about the prospects of adulthood and have embraced the journey with confidence and excitement. I look forward to celebrating the achievements of our Year 12 students and taking the opportunity to wish them all the best at our year 12 Graduation on the 9th December. A huge thanks to Steph, Tina, Anita and Patrick for hosting the Room 2 and 12 Blackwood Outdoor Camp. It was really wonderful to see so many happy faces return to school on Friday. For many of the students this was the very first time they’d been away on a school camp, so well done to all our brave students that made it through the three days without seeing their families. Camp is a great way for our students to start building independence and the confidence to be away from home. Way to go room 2 and 12! I am sure they can’t wait to do it all again, next year! Next term, room 1 will host the annual sleep over on the Thursday before Melbourne Cup Day. Ashleigh and Belinda are looking forward to the sleep over and have planned an exciting itinerary for the group. I am thrilled that this year room F will join them for the afterschool activity and pizza dinner! Fun times ahead for these classes. Thank you to everyone for visiting the Book Fair last week and to Juliet and Erica, thanks for organising the event. Many parents visited the fair and lots of books have been sold! Book Fairs are an ideal way to introduce new books and authors to children and provides a great opportunity to purchase quality take home books. I hope these books will help our students foster the love of reading for enjoyment. Our annual Riverside Women’s Golf Club Charity Day was a huge success yesterday. MaryAnn, Ntsi and myself along with 6 students and a parent volunteer had a terrific day supporting the club raise much needed funds for our school. A huge thank you to MaryAnn, Ntsi, Anna, Jacinta and the VCAL students for preparing hundreds of finger sandwiches, sausage rolls, quiches and meat balls as well as delicious rice paper rolls and cheese platters that fed the 100 golfing ladies. It was a fun day for everyone and a great opportunity for our students to be part of this wonderful community event. Thanks to Colin and the auctioneers from Nelson Alexander that supported the day as well. I look forward to welcoming the ladies to our school for the thank you afternoon tea in November. Footy Fun Day was a hit with everyone today. Juliet along with the support of Daniel V and Kathryn organised North Melbourne representatives to support us on the day along with a number SEDA staff. The students enjoyed participating in the different stations as they learnt ball handling skills and techniques. Also, thanks to Room 9 for organising the Four and Twenty Pie Day for everyone. Nothing like a meat pie and sauce as we approach the AFL grand final this year. If your team has made it to the finals, all the best. May the best team win!!

Well done also to our VCAL students for successfully participating in the Real Industry, Job Interviews Program (RIJI) hosted by the Maribyrnong and Monee

Valley Local Learning Employment Network. RIJI is a work readiness program that assists students in developing good job search, resume writing and interviewing skills. The program is delivered throughout a series of guided lesson plans. The program concludes in a face-to-face interview with a local volunteer employer. Today our students met with local employers and had the opportunity to sit a

mock job interview. It was a terrific learning experience for our students and the feedback we received was that our students were well prepared,

demonstrated confidence and conducted themselves with pride. Well done VCAL!

PTO

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Primary swimming lessons begin first week back

Term 4 at Kensington Pool, Altona Street, Kensington

ROOMS 1 & 3

9.30am-10.15am

ROOM 2

10.15am—11am

ROOMS F & 12

11.00am-11.45am

Next Thursday, Abbie our ES from Room 6 has booked a CERES incursion for the school. The focus on the incursion will be on the 4RS PROGRAM, ‘Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle’ philosophy and include environmental impacts of current practices and strategies to overcome them. Ceres will provide our students with the opportunity to: • explore waste from new exciting perspectives • investigate why the first Rs are the most important • learn about nature’s best recyclers – worms • play the Rethink Challenge Game • learn The 4Rs Rap Finally, I am in the process of planning an NDIS forum for parents following the success of the Careers Conversations session I ran earlier in the term. Helen Johnstone from the Association for Children with a Disability is delighted to be returning to present this workshop. She created a wonderful connection with families when she was here last time and I am so pleased to welcome her back. I have pencilled in Thursday 17th October at 10.30am to host the forum. The session planned will cover the NDIS, goal setting and the steps in a NDIS review meeting. I am hoping the forum will be well supported by our families. Cheers, Susanne

Room 1 getting ready for their excursion

to Melbourne Zoo.

See Christine if you’d like a copy of this sheet.

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Key Word Sign is a strategy used to encourage language in children and adults with communication difficulties

(speech and language delays). Unlike sign language, short, clear sentences are spoken and the main or key words

are signed at the same time. Additional information is given through the use of facial expression and natural gesture.

The idea is that using hand signs can help support people with communication delays and eliminate communication

breakdown, this includes children with a diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder and Down Syndrome.

HOME Move slightly cupped dominant

palm forward, in an arc away

from body and down.

Natalliya Sertic & Getty Hamidi, AVSS Speech Pathologists

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Wipe out Waste tip 10

Update from Room 9

During this term, Room 9 have been studying the unit ‘Robot Buddies’ in Science. As part of this unit, we have participated in some creative activities such as how to building a table and chair from Lego bricks, balance a robot on our finger, design a code map and participating in coding

activities with Dot and Dash, Bebot and Robot Turtles. We also attended two exciting excursions; Lego Education Centre and Scienceworks.

It has been a wonderful unit of study. The students have thoroughly enjoyed learning about Robots and the importance they have on our daily lives.

We are all looking forward to our Term 4 Science Unit ‘Coding’.

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Our VCAL students participating in the Real Industry, Job Interviews Program (RIJI) hosted by the Maribyrnong and Monee Valley Local Learning Employment Network. RIJI is a work readiness

program that assists students in developing good job search, resume writing and interviewing skills. The program is delivered throughout a series of guided lesson plans and concludes in a face-

to-face interview with a local volunteer employer.

Today our students met with local employers and had the opportunity to sit a mock job interview. It was a terrific learning experience for our students and the feedback we received was that our students were well prepared, demonstrated confidence and conducted themselves with pride.

Well done VCAL!

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Every student, every day to be given the opportunity to be the best they can be.

12 September Footy Day

18 September Scienceworks 2, 3 & 12

19 September 4Rs Recycling Incursion

20 September Last Day Term 3 2pm finish

7 October First Day Term 4

10 October Primary Swimming lessons commence

17 October NDIS Review meeting workshop

9 December Year 12 Graduation

Congratulations to the following students

for winning the draw to be part of the

Channel 9 tour on the 10th October with

Steph and Ned.

William T – Room 20

Jhannie – Room 20

Salim – Room 7

George L– Room 9

Kristian M– Room 7

Ethan – Room 9

Alexandra – Room 10

James W – Room 9