2 February 2016

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents/Carers

Welcome back to the start of the 2016 new school year.

It is with sadness that I inform the school community that on Wednesday 13th January 2016, a teacher at Henbury School, Mr Rahena (Ra) Broughton, died after a short illness. Students were informed of Ra’s death Thursday 28 January.

Your child may have questions about this incident. If your child requests information

• provide it in a way that they can understand
• if you are unsure of the facts state that you are unsure.

As each student is an individual and responds to change in different ways, we are providing the following information on how students may respond upon receiving upsetting news. This information may not be relevant for your child’s circumstances and is more of a guide about what to look out for.

Short Term responses

In the next few days your child may ask you questions about death, illness or hospitals. If they have had a person or pet in their lives who has been ill or has died they may want to talk about them. In some instances, if they are unable to express how they feel verbally, their behaviour may change, they may withdraw, appear unsettled or they might want to spend more time around you or other significant people in their life.

Long Term responses

You might find that in the coming weeks your child’s behaviour may change for no apparent reason or behave in ‘out of the ordinary’ ways. They may start to appear angry or not follow the rules, they may become easily upset or teary or they may just want more reassurance than usual and prefer to stay by your side. These responses can be a normal response to change and a way of processing the new information.

It is also important to be aware of and monitor your child’s physical, emotional and behaviour responses.

If any concerns please call Natalie, School Counsellor, classroom teachers or myself on 8927 5088.

Professional Development Day Friday 5 February 2016

School Council and the Executive Director for Henbury School have endorsed and approved a Professional Development Day for all staff. This will be Friday 5 February 2016. All staff will undertake workshops on signing, Tobii Eye Gaze, PECS, Prologu2Go (iPads/iPods) and switches. This Professional Development day is aligned with the Department of Education Strategic Plan, Goal 2: Every student a successful learner and Strategy 1: Deliver quality teaching and a contemporary curriculum that is meaningful and differentiated to enable students to be successful learners through quality evidence based learning programs.

Henbury School Augmentation PD Day Agenda – 05/02/2016

Facilitators:

1. Eye Gaze Technology – C1 - 3 sessions – Janelle Welch (Henbury School)
2. Augmentative and Alternative Communication – E-block - CDT
3. PECS – G1 – 3 sessions – OT for KIDS & Autism North Speech Pathology
4. Proloquo2go – F1 – 3 sessions – Lauren Hofmeyer (Henbury School)
5. Signed English – B2 – 3 sessions – Maddie & Lianna (Henbury School)

8am Introduction – Carolyn Edwards E-block

1st session: 8:10 – 10:20: Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC) - Using multimodal strategies, Overview of Evidence Based Practice (EBP) in AAC, Choosing the right switch systems and Light Versus High Tech systems.

Morning Tea 10:20am – 10:50am

Participants choose from four options in each session. Please choose a different presentation in each session as this will give exposure to a variety of augmentative approaches.

2nd session: 11am – 12:00pm

LUNCH 12:00pm – 12:40pm

3rd session: 12:50pm – 1:50pm

4th session: 2pm – 3pm

3:10pm – summary and closing (Carolyn) E-block

There will be no school for students of Henbury, including Outreach Classes on this day. Special Needs Transport will not operate for students of Henbury School. OHSC will operate on this day. Please make contact with Pat to book your child in, if you wish to have your child attend OHSC for this day.

Back to School Voucher and Voluntary Contributions

The Northern Territory Government Back to School Voucher is $150. This money has to be acquitted by the end of Term 1. Parents/carers need to come into the Front Office and see Thalia and she will be able to help you with school uniforms, book packs, hygiene packs, camping and excursions fees. Voluntary Student contributions are $85.00/year. The school has EFTPOS facilities and these voluntary contributions can be paid at the Info/Expo Night.

Nutrition and Community Access Programs

Nutrition programs and excursions out and about in the community are based on student contributions towards the purchase of food and cost for transport/venues. These programs are integral to teaching life skills in menu planning, nutritional value of food, shopping, meal preparation and involvement in activities within the community. These programs are voluntary. The costs associated with these programs are $22.50/week for Nutrition and $7.50/week for Community Access excursions. Payments can be made via direct debit, cash, cheque, eftpos and basis cards. Centrelink payment plans are also available. Please phone Thalia for more information.

Students who don’t participate in the nutrition program will need to bring their own food to school starting next week 1 February. Please note that each student is required to pay the excursion cost of $7.50 per week even if they are not participating in the nutrition program. If you have any questions please contact your child’s teacher. Nutrition Program consent forms have been sent home through your child’s communication book. Please ensure they are completed and returned to school as soon as possible.

Carolyn Edwards
Principal

Coming Events

Happy Birthday

January

Rachel M - 07th

Nathan D - 17th

Robbie H – 27th

Gage T– 7th

Roxanne W– 10th

Amanda W – 6th

Ken D – 21st

Montel W – 10th

Tony K – 23rd

Michael C – 12th