Newsletter Wangaratta District Specialist School

Date 7/08/2019 Ph. 5721 7424

wangaratta.ss@edumail.vic. Fax. 5721 8601

Dates to Remember

School Council Meeting - Tuesday 3rd September

Pupil Free Day - Friday 20th September

Principal’s

Awards

Chris Harvison

Principal

Welcome Back!

Firstly, I would like to extend a very warm welcome back to school to all of our new and existing families. The cold

weather is still well and truly upon us! All students have returned to school with a real buzz and are getting stuck

right into rich learning tasks which I am sure you are looking forward to hearing about at the upcoming Student

Support Group Meetings.

Student Support Group Meetings

As always at the start of Term 3, we ask that all parents and carers take the time to meet with classroom staff to re-

flect on student achievements to date, and where necessary set some additional learning goals for the second half of

the year. These meetings are also an opportunity for us get your feedback on mid-year reports and address and con-

cerns you have regarding your child’s learning.

New Admin Building

We are finally moving in! After a long and drawn out process we are finally able to move into our new admin build-

ing which is situated at the front of the school. From this Monday 5th August you will find our Admin team have

relocated to this building so if you need to speak with anyone in the office, please head on in and check it out.

Parent Opinion Survey

Last week a randomly selected number of families received a link and pin to complete the 2019 Parent Opinion Sur-

vey. It only takes a short time to complete and helps give us an important insight into how our school is performing

through the eyes of our parents and carers. We have always struggled to get many responses so please, if you re-

ceive one of these links, give us your feedback! Thanks in advance :)

Last Day of Term

A (very early) reminder that the last day of this term is a student free day. We will be undertaking a whole day of

professional learning along with our colleagues from Cobram, Verney Road and Belvoir Specialist Schools. The

focus of the day will be A Framework for Understanding Poverty. I will keep reminding you of this date, but please

put it in your diary.

Friday 20th September—Student Free Day.

Elijah Brown

Jeremy Pennington

Liam Mossop

Jess Elkan

Ava Hoile

Francis Comer

Dakoda Turner

Mt Typo - Ryan and John

Kosciusko - Matt and Jilly.

It has been a wonderful start to term 3 in the Mt Typo classroom. The boys returned from their well deserved break rested and ready to learn. As part of our science topic on living things for the semester, the boys have been embark-ing on nature walks around the Warbys to observe and report on the native animals and plants they encounter on the way. We have also been so lucky to add a new addition to our classroom, with Deegan joining us 3 days a week from Myrtleford P-12. We have also had a 2 students gain a few wrinkles since their return, With Chris turning 12 in July and Aaron turning 11 earlier this month. A big happy birthday to both boys!! A wonderful beginning to the term and we are all eagerly await what’s in store for the remainder of the year.

The Kossie boys have had a ripping start to term 3. They have thoroughly enjoyed working on their Bunnings Pro-

jects as part of the Enterprise program. They have created pot plants by chiselling out pieces of Red Gum and have

cut up pieces of wood in which termites have hollowed for them. We look forward to getting the business up and

running. We have also enjoyed harvesting our vegetable garden. Jandamarra planted, tended too and harvested

some beautiful and huge cauliflower, which they will use as part of the cooking program.

Feathertop - Sarah and Sam

Taminick - Phillipa, Kara, Darlene and Fiona

Feathertop enjoyed some time with Hayley while Sarah was on holiday.

Feathertop went to Cook’s Farm and saw the cows get

milked with machines. We had morning tea at the farm.

By BJ.

The mighty Taminick crew have finally got out and about. We are loving our community access bus rides.

So far we have ventured around town looking at all of the great houses and farms that are situated near the

school. We have also been achieving great success within the classroom, utilising our communication tools

to get our needs met and request favoured activities. Outside in the sun has been a joy as well, dress ups

have become the new favourite activity.

Stanley- Bridie and Simon

Buffalo - Leanne, Shannon, Jill and Lisa

Stanley students have returned from holidays ready to get straight into their learning! We cannot wait to see what

term 3 will bring.

This term we welcome 2 new members to the Stanley room, Thomas and Mark. Thomas joins us from South Australia and enjoys laughing at all the silly things that happen in our room!

Mark comes to our room after working in many of the other classes around the school, to support our growing number of students. We are excited to have both people on our class and hope that you make them feel welcome if you see them!

Its only been two weeks into the new Term , yet we have had an very exciting start .

We would welcome our newest student to our busy little room Miss Paige.

We had R for our letter of the week , so we had a visit from Roxy the rabbit.

When then have celebrated Mikes’ 90th with a surprise birthday party.

Mike is our volunteer in Buffalo and loved by the students.

Our little students have had a flying start with there learning and there cooking .

In the next fortnight we have a another massive milestone, our students will have hit 100 days at school.

So we will be dressing up and more party food!! So stay tuned .

Mt Beauty - Chloe and Lea

Welcome to Mt. Beauty Term 3!

We have had a great start to our term already and are straight back into the swing of things. Everyone has

been working so hard during our Literacy and Numeracy programs already and are showing great improve-

ments. We have also loved sensory play outside with some bubbles. We were fortunate enough for Tyler to

share his wonderful puppies with us here at school and were able to have a cuddle with them. We are excited

for the rest of term 3 and all the fabulous things ahead.

- Mt. Beauty Crew.

Bogong - Renee and Lizz

The Bogong girls have learnt a new skill in Art! They have have been working on clay sculptures the last two weeks. There are several types of clay used for making sculptures, all varying in terms of handling and finish. We have been using terracotta clay. It stays soft and workable, making it good clay to start practising with. This week, some students made faces, others made pots. It is also a great therapeutic and sensory activity. Stay tuned for the final products which will be put in the oven this week!

Mt Pilot - Jacqui , Kara and Sharon

Mt. Emu - Lisa, Lori and Jack

Mt Emu fundraiser

We are having a fundraising Garage Sale in the classroom on the following dates:

Senior school: Friday 30th August

Junior School: Friday 6th September

Middle School: Friday 13th September.

We would love you to buy something. Maybe some toys, car parts, home-made lemonade or some stationery.

Please bring up to $5.00

Supporting

Merriwa maggies

Care van

A trip for our class to Henty field days.

If you have any questions, please ask anyone in the Mt Emu classroom.

We have been having a great time over

here at the satellite school with our Mt.

Beauty friends. Our days are busy with

reading, writing and maths and on particu-

larly busy days we spend our afternoons

doing play based learning which is ex-

tremely important for peer social interac-

tions. We have had a great start to the

term.

Hotham - Jordan and Alicia

Stirling - Lee, Andrea and Stella

Welcome back to term 3. We started the term off with a great start. Stella celebrated her birthday and was very

lucky to have Kristy and Rosie from the Benalla Bus make and decorate a cake for Stella. She was certainly

very spoilt! We have been very lucky to have Suzanne a placement student from TAFE with us on a Wednes-

day. The students have really enjoyed getting to know Suzanne. We will certainly miss her when she is finished.

We have started swimming this term, the students have been enjoying themselves and were even all swimming

up the deep end at the end of the first lesson. Matthew said his favourite part of swimming so far has been jump-

ing in at the deep end, Jordan said that she just loves going swimming and Stella enjoyed swimming with Su-

zanne.

We have continued to do our OT sessions with Paula. The students do a variety of activities each week includ-

ing stretching, throwing and catching activities as well as working on their fine and gross motor skills. It has

been great to see an improvement in not only the students skills but also their resilience.

All the boys in the Hotham classroom have settled back in after the holidays. We have begun our cooking pro-

gram again, with our first meal for the term being zucchini slice! We have also continued our ventures into the

community, once a week, exploring different areas around Wangaratta that have significance in our community.

We have also started our Inquiry unit for this term that has us investigating ‘living things’. We have explored

parklands within Wangaratta to try and site some living things. We are looking forward to an exciting term, in-

cluding our camp coming up in a few weeks!

Morgan - Daine and Sheydin

Allied Health Team—Paula, Lily and Tina

Paula - (OT), Lily - (SaLT) and Tina - (AHA).

Welcome back to Term 3. I’m sure that everyone is as amazed as me, at how quickly the year is flying by.

This term we welcome a student from Charles Sturt University who is currently under-

taking study in Occupational Therapy. Katie has been shadowing Paula to gain an un-

derstanding of the work we do at our school and to get to know our fantastic students.

Katie is enjoying her time at our school and has commented that both the staff and stu-

dents have made her feel very welcome.

This term we will be learning the Key Word Signs for Advance Australia Fair. I will be

adding signs to the newsletter for those who might like to learn them too. The first one

will be Australia or Australian/s.

How to sign it: In front of sides, form a circle with middle finger and thumb on both

hands, spread other fingers apart, palms face down. Move hands up, forward then down-

wards, flicking all fingers out spread in front of you.

Hint: It looks a bit like you are picking something up and dumping it (think the convicts

on Australia)

Katie getting to know Maisie

Morgan students have all settled well back into Term Three. The weeks are already flying by. The boys are

learning to use predicting while reading and also looking at character traits. In Maths, we are learning about

money. We started the term with a celebration for all the hard work we did on the BBQ and Car Wash at Bun-

nings last term. This involved a bus ride to Wodonga where we had lunch at KFC and was followed by a trip to

Supa Tramp, to burn off our lunch. The boys loved bouncing around and climbing the many different walls as

can be seen below.

Ben at the top of one of the

climbing walls

Dan having a break from all the jump-Charlie proudly posing

while climbing

As part of VCAL studies, students completed a field study of the birdlife in the Warby Ranges.

The students then had to collate the data and use it to create a Powerpoint Presentation as part of

their IDM&T unit – operate a presentation package.

Bird Survey, Warby Ranges National Park 2019

How did we complete the survey?

We drove to the Warby National park and ticked off what we saw/heard.

What time of day did we go looking for birds?

2:00 pm.

What season of the year did we go looking for birds?

Winter.

How much time did we spend looking for birds each visit?

30 Minutes/ half an hour.

What resources did we use?

School bus, pen, paper, clipboard.

What was the most challenging part of doing the bird survey?

The Drive up the windy roads.

Where is the Warby Ranges National park located?

North East Victoria.

How big is the National Park?

14,655 hectares.

How many different species of bird can be found in the national park?

131.

VCAL 1 and 2 - Jodi, Adrian, Hilly and Ash

Last term we celebrated “Reconciliation Week” and it was a time for unity, remembrance

and a chance to share some traditions of the indigenous culture.

We opened each lesson with a welcome to country and a chance to put our hand

impressions on a school wide mural using traditional ochre paint.

The students then learnt about the symbolism and patterns used in indigenous art, and com-

pleted Boomerangs or a canvas painting using dot painting.

ART with Jodi & Ranni

Frazer and Emily

Welcome to term 3! We can’t believe how quickly this year is going!

We have some exciting things happening this term in Warby. We have camp later on in the term, where we

will be heading to Melbourne, our students and staff are very excited. We are also starting our Enterprise

business where we will be going out in the community and selling a product.

We are also starting science, where we will be completing some pretty awesome science experiments so stay

tuned!

Buller - Kate, Leanne and Belinda

Buller room have settled back in to the classroom well after the holiday period. Sam is having some stomach time while Ed-wina is having some sensory play.

We had Steve the rab-bit visit the classroom.

Kaya is doing some inde-pendent learning.

Mt Cobbler - Dave Gretta and Luke

This week Dylan Vescio brought in his Staffie’s puppies to show all of his Cobbler friends. As you all can

see, they were very popular.

Raffle Prizes

1st Prize: 2019 Toyota Corolla Ascent valued at $28,123.71“on the road”. Provided by the Wangaratta

Motor Group and the Rural City of Wangaratta

2nd Prize: Travel Package valued at $4,000 donated by the Rotary Club of Appin Park and purchased from

Travel and Cruise Wangaratta

3rd Prize: Trailer (7x5) and cage (2 ft) valued at $2,400 donated by the Rotary Club of Appin Park, pur-

chased from Wangaratta Trailer Sales and Toil and Soil Garden Supplies

4th Prize: Whitegoods package valued at $2,000 donated by the Rotary Club of Appin Park, purchased

from Bi-Rite Electrical

5th Prize: Grocery voucher valued at $1,000 donated by the Rotary Club of Appin Park, purchased from

Coles, Wangaratta

6th Prize: Fuel Voucher valued at $500 donated by the Rotary Club of Appin Park Wangaratta, purchased

from Rowan St. Caltex

2019 Wangaratta

Community Raffle

Tickets for this years’ Community Raffle cost $3 each with $2 going to our school and $1

being retained by the Rotary Club. There are 10 Tickets in each book.

All tickets have to be accounted for under raffle rules, so please take care to return ei-

ther all tickets and/or the money.

Please indicate your interest to help by filling in the slip below and returning it to the

school or by contacting your students teacher via the planner or see saw.

Thankyou for your assistance and support.

I will return all money and ticket stubs / or unsold tickets to the school before Friday 25th

October 2019.

Signature _______________________ Printed Name ___________________

Please send Raffle books home with

Where: Wangaratta 51-69 Newman Street, Wangaratta.