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Election Day – March 13
Joondalup Schools is a ballot point, and our P&C will be running a sausage sizzle and more! Even if you don’t normally vote at Joondalup Schools, come down and support our P&C.
Assembly – Tuesday Afternoons
As you know we now have assemblies on Tuesday afternoons. We will endeavour to ensure our gates are open in time for families and friends wishing to join. As no students are in class at this time, it can make it really difficult to get a message to a specific student or member of staff. If you need to pick your child up early during an assembly, please try and give the school as much notice as possible.
Leadership Camp
This term our student Captains and Faction Captains will be attending a leadership camp with student leaders from other Education Support Centres north of the river. The camp will be held at the Keith Maine Centre in Whiteman Park and is a great opportunity for students to further their leadership skills together.
No School on Monday
A reminder that Monday 1 March is a public holiday – and school will be closed.
Medical Forms – and Medical Updates
Each year we send home medical forms to be completed by families and returned. This information is vitally important to have at school. Even if there are no changes from last year, we still require the form back signed, indicating there have been no changes. If you did not receive a form, or require another please contact the school.
This year all our staff will update their first aid knowledge and training. This is an initiative Joondalup Education Support Centre engage in every two years.
Therapy and IEP meetings
Thank you so much to families who have been so flexible in meeting at school to discuss both therapy for your child and outcomes at school. These meetings have been so valuable to have together, as we are able to ensure we are all working towards the same goals.
Smoking Ceremony and parent morning tea
We shared a wonderful morning with Nick Abraham who led us through a smoking ceremony this morning. He was fabulous to listen to and we have now waved goodbye to 2020 and welcomed in 2021. Students, families and staff had the opportunity to walk through the smoke as part of the ceremony.
We shared a parent/carer morning tea after this assembly, and it was lovely to see families join together to share stories about their families, and offer suggestions to each other. We will host family morning teas twice each term. We endeavour to have guest speakers about topics important to families.
Principal
Important Dates for Term 1
| Term 1 | 1 March - Public Holiday Labour Day |
| 15 March - Neurodiversity Day (students can dress in bright colours) | |
| 19 March - Combined Harmony Day and Ride to School Day (students can wear orange) | |
| 26 March - Parent/Carer Morning Tea | |
| 30 March - Easter Parade (students can wear free dress) | |
| 31 March - 1st April - Year 6 Leadership Camp | |
| 1 April - Last Day of Term |
Well, what a great start to the year in Room 1.
We have written about the favourite part of our holidays and completed activies to get to know each other...
Learned about Chinese New Year………..
Engaged in discussions relating to being kind to others……….
Thought hard about what we would like to learn or get better at this year………
And have already earned our first two class rewards. Well done everybody!!!!
Room 27 have begun participating in a cooking program at Beldon Education Support centre called the ‘Stephanie Alexander program’. Each week we receive new recipes to follow depending on what fruits and vegetables are available in their garden. We have had 2 sessions so far and are absolutely loving it. We have all tried new things, sometimes we like them and sometimes we don’t. We can’t wait to see what we will be making next week!
These are our favourite parts so far;
My favourite part is eating the cake. (Cayden)
My favourite part is the garlic bread. (Jacinta)
My favourite part is trying the juice. (Jake B)
My favourite part is making and eating the cupcakes. (Jake L)
My favourite part is making cupcakes. (James)
My favourite part is the mixing. (Marko)
My favourite part is eating the pasta and cake and having some juice. (Siena)
My favourite part is going on the bus. (Xavier)
If you notice any suspicious activity on School Grounds, please contact Security on 9264 4771 or the Police on 131 444.
It has been wonderful start to our 2021 school year in Room 3!
We have enjoyed reading lots of stories and books in our classroom, some of our favourites are The Gingerbread Man and The Very Hungry Caterpillar. We attend Library on Wednesday’s where we get to borrow books for our classroom and some for home.
We enjoy singing lots of songs in Room 3. We sing our letters and sounds and practise these using lots of fine motor activities, such as making play doh letters and puzzles.
In Room 3 we are learning how Onset and Rime helps us to spell words. This week’s focus has been learning all about “at” words.
In Room 29 we have been having so much fun learning all about our school. We have visited the Nature Playground and the Garden where we explored and had fun with our friends. We loved jumping into the ball pit and dancing to the music in the Sensory Room.
We have been practising our letters and numbers and love listening to our teacher read us books. We are all very excited for a fantastic year ahead!
Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) is the term used to describe a variety of communication methods other than speech. At Joondalup Education Support Centre, we believe that every student has a right to be able to communicate. We often have students at our School with complex communication needs (CCN) such as speech or language difficulties. We strive to give them a “voice” by supporting them to communicate using AAC.
To support our student’s communication and language development, we made the decision to have a whole school approach to communication. We chose to use PODD (Pragmatic Organisation Dynamic Display) communication books. PODD books were developed in Australia by Gayle Porter with the aim to provide continuous communication all the time, for a range of messages/topics and across multiple settings. We believe that modelling communication for a variety of different purposes throughout the day gives our students the necessary tools to have a “voice” and enables them to contribute in all areas of learning.
To support staff in using our PODD book’s we are following Yvette Theodorsen’s PODD Focus Sheets. These Focus sheets were shared with us by Jane Farrall on her visit to our school in 2016 when we first started our PODD journey and are available on her website.
Yvette is a speech pathologist and Certified PODD Workshop presenter. She developed the PODD Focus sheets to support communication partners in learning how to model language using a PODD book.
Last week our focus was to make the PODD book visible and accessible throughout the day. Staff have been using and wearing their PODD books both in the classroom and in the playground. AAC trolleys with spare PODD books have been placed around the playground to allow our students access to language while at play.
This week we have been looking at using “Chat Words.” This is the language that is available on pages 1a and 1b on our PODD books.
The vocabulary on these first two pages allows for quick communication and can be used for a variety of communication purposes across the day.
As a school, we also support the use of communication devices that many of our students own. We believe that modelling on these devices enhances the user’s knowledge and encourages them to use their device to communicate. Students are encouraged to take their communication devices with them when they move around the school campus to ensure they have access to their “voice” wherever they are.
At Joondalup ESC we understand that providing and using AAC is crucial in giving students with complex communication needs the necessary tools to enable them to communicate and to interact with others. If you have any queries regarding your child’s communication, please don’t hesitate to contact your classroom teacher or I at any time.
Sue Norman
AAC Co-Ordinator
Willy Wagtail - Djidi Djidi
The willy wagtail - djidi djidi is one of the native birds in the Joondalup area.
The students attending Visual Arts this term did an observed drawing of a willy wagtail - djidi djidi. The drawings were outlined in felt pen and then coloured with watercolour pencil. A printed background was created using leaves, acrylic paint and a gel press. The cutting out was very tricky, even for the adult who helped out with this!
Helen Sweet
Art Specialist Teacher
What does your YouthCare Chaplain do?
A YouthCARE chaplain cares for the social, emotional and mental wellbeing of students, families and staff. This support helps students achieve their potential, both academically and in their social and family lives.
A YouthCARE chaplain is there for the whole school community. Our role is not just about helping the kids. We also support teachers, parents and families, providing pastoral care and showing people that they really matter.
A YouthCARE chaplain builds relationships with the students, parents and staff to be a trusted listening ear in times of need. Confidentiality is important in all pastoral care situations, unless a situation may hurt them or someone else, in which case, will be reported to the Principal as required by the Department of Education and by law.
A YouthCARE chaplain empowers people, helping to build resilience to work through challenges.
A YouthCARE chaplain is there to help when things aren’t going well, to be a supportive person to encourage and to offer hope.
A YouthCARE chaplain is available to students, parents and staff to talk through issues, to celebrate successes and to refer to outside agencies where necessary.
A YouthCARE chaplain is involved in most school activities like sports carnivals, excursions and other special events. This is a great time to build relationships with students, families and teachers.
A YouthCARE chaplain will run various programs in the school that will help students improve social skills, conflict resolution, inclusiveness, respecting others and learning about themselves.
A YouthCARE chaplain understands that everyone is different and is inclusive of all individuals and their belief systems. We reach out to those in need by providing services aimed at inspiring hope.
A YouthCARE chaplain is not a teacher. Chaplains come along side students so students know there is someone independent to turn to.
Your YouthCARE chaplain, Amanda Wendt is available Mondays to Thursdays 8am-3:30pm
