8 April 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Parents/Carers

PossABILITIES Expo

The PossABILITIES Expo was another successful event. Parents and Carers had the opportunity to talk with a range of Providers and the Breakout sessions were well attended. A big thank you to teachers who stayed to show parents classrooms and who helped with running this event.

The Education Minister, Selina Uibo, Local Member and Territory Families Minister visited Monday 11 March. Several School Council Members were able to meet and discuss various issues. The newly elected Student Commissioners where introduced to all visitors. Then the Education Minister and Lauren Moss Local Member had a quick tour around the school. On Friday 22 March, Lauren Moss and Senator Malarndirri McCarthy visited the school and took the opportunity to have Coffee from the Café.

Brenda Moore has been on Long Service Weeks 8-11. For Term 2 Brenda, will be Manager Wellbeing and Positive Behaviour, Student Wellbeing and Inclusion in Mitchell Centre. I wish Brenda all the best and look forward to seeing her back in Term 3. Whilst Brenda is on temporary transfer, Lauren Hofmeyer will remain as Acting Assistant Principal and Nicole Robson will be Acting Senior Teacher 1 Transitions and Pathways.

Henbury on Aralia

Henbury on Aralia (HOA) had its opening on Wednesday 3 April. This project commenced in July 2018. HOA is a space for students to develop construction, horticulture and hospitality skills outside the school fence line. Enterprise Education goods will also be sold. The Café is open on Thursday and Friday 10:00-2:00 and Saturdays 9:00-1:00pm. I would like to say thank you to Lauren Hofmeyer, Shannon Doughty, Felicity Faull, Rod McKay and Vincent Poke for all the hard work that they undertook to get this business up and running. Some of the outside furniture came from HPA, Northern Stone Solutions provided the Kitchen Bench Top and Custom Commercial Kitchens were flexible in getting the café ready for the opening.

Transition/Educational Adjustment Plans

Plans will be sent home this week, with the 2018 yearbook. Parents/carers, please read the planning document, if there are any changes please make and return to school or sign and return the plan to school.

National Disability Insurance Scheme Information Package

The Information Package was released on 26 March from the Department of Education. There are three packages, schools, families and service providers. Information packages were developed in consultation with a working group comprised of school principals from urban, remote, special settings and representatives from school councils, Department of Education, Department of Health (Office of Disability and NDIS. You can access the information packages through the Department of Education website at

Harmony Day

Harmony Day was well organised this year. Students had different stations to attend. There was a definite buzz around the school, with all students seeming to enjoy the day. The disco was another highlight , especially having music that mentioned different countries in their titles. A truly harmonious day celebrating all the differences that make us one.

Carolyn Edwards
Principal

PossABILITIES EXPO 2019

The PossABILITIES Expo was on Thursday 28th of March in the Henbury School hall. This was a great success with a large number of stalls and parents attending.

There were activities, food and fun galore in addition to breakout information sessions and stalls from a number of services, businesses and organisations related to the disability sector. Information was available about:

• Social
• Health
• Wellbeing
• Early intervention
• Transition from School
• Employment
• Community Pathways Programs
• Australian Disability Enterprise
• Post-school pathways
• NDIS
• Advocacy

NT COGSO NEWSLETTER

Click link below to go to COGSO’s latest electronic newsletter.

HENBURY ON ARALIA GRAND OPENING

Henbury on Aralia opened its doors to the general public on Friday 5th of April. Refreshments were available for sale as well as student made giftware and plants.

Opening hours will be: Thursday, Friday from 10 – 2pm and Saturday.

Click on the links below to hear the radio interview as well as photos from the opening.

If you haven’t already, please check out our new Henbury on Aralia Facebook page, like and share with your friends!

HENBURY STUDENT COMMISSIONERS

We are happy to announce the following student representatives who won the elections:

1. Scott S- Yellow 2- Year 12
2. Julio A- Yellow 2- Year 12
3. Nadia K- CSC 1- Year 11
4. Emily E- Yellow 2- Year 11
5. Alexander A- CSC 3- Year 10
6. Carter B- DHS- Year 10
7. Kate C- Yellow 2- Year 9
8. Shawn M- SMS- Year 8
9. Julianne L- DMS- Year 8
10. Toby P- DMS- Year 8
11. Trinidey S- NMS- Year 8
12. Peter C- Purple 4- Year 8
13. Brodie- G- NMS- Year 7
14. Zac S- Purple 4- Year 7

We were so fortunate to meet Hon. Selena Uibo, NT Education Minister who came and visited our school. After our student commissioner’s pitch last December at the NT Learning Commission Conference at the Parliament House, she granted our students’ request for her to come and visit our school. She took time to meet our newly elected student commissioners and congratulate them personally for being successfully voted in. Students introduced themselves to her and had a chat about our school and what the Learning Commission is about. She also told them that she wanted to follow up on what students wanted and to inform her of anything that they might need her assistance with. She also had a photo taken with the student commissioners and they were also interviewed by ABC News about their plans for the year.

On Friday 15th March, they represented Henbury School at the Student Conference at Michael Long Centre in Marrara with other student leaders and teachers from the Northern Territory Learning Commission.

BULLYING NO WAY, CSC OUTREACHES

On Thursday 14th March Henbury CSC Outreach classes had a combined class session on Cyber-bullying. Students completed a quiz, watched videos from the Bullying No Way campaign and discussed online safety. They focussed on strategies for staying safe online, i.e. not using personal photos for their profile photo, turning their SnapChat setting to “ghost mode” and not friending anyone they did not know. CSC will have online chat sessions with Darwin High Outreach to practice online communication.

HELLO FROM BLUE 1

It’s Week 8 of 2019 and we have accomplished a lot already. This term so far we have been getting to know each other and our new SESO’s, welcome to Blue 1, Alysha and Blake. We are learning about Marine Animals, their habitats, diet and their migration, we have joined in on Skill Sets this year and doing some classroom cooking. We are lucky enough to have two different swings outside our classroom so we can enjoy our brain breaks outside and meet our sensory needs. We are working on making choices, Latoya especially likes to make the choice on what books we read throughout the week. Our timetable is very busy but we always find time for some music and laughs throughout the day.

We look forward to the rest of 2019.

HELLO THERE FROM BLUE 2

Finally! In Week Eight our timetable is in full swing and picking up momentum as we go.

Most mornings you will find us either in the sensory room, out on the bus or sewing up useful items for the class room.

Somehow we also manage to cram in a lot of music, art, work tasks (feeding the chooks) as well as social emotional learning and our special ‘silly hats’ number time.

Thanks to Daniel Lobos for the images edited with prisma app.

HELLO FROM BLUE 3

Blue 3 have lots of fun when we are in class and enjoy doing lots of sports, dancing and music. You may see us doing some amazing hip-hop dancing when you walk past our classroom as we have many movement breaks. Blue 3 consists of 4 boys all with very high levels of energy and motivation to succeed in their studies. On Mondays we do our weekly shop to teach us how to manage money, eat healthy and to use measurement and weight to get the right amount of food we need. We aim to do at least two sessions in the hall a week where we can work on our sport skills and fitness, soccer and basketball being the most favourite sports to play.

We look forward to meeting everybody around the school and if you ever want to come play some soccer with us, we love the challenge.

Here is a few photos of the boys working on different emotions.

Regards Blue 3

GREEN 1

We have had a good Term in Green 1.

We have been setting up our goals and discussing the things we will are learning. We have a new set up for our Maths and English sessions. We begin with a ‘Hot Spot’ task together then students continue with independent schedules and work tasks. It is proving to be quite successful.

We have enjoyed the opportunity to swim in the Henbury pool. It is a favourite session of all providing the opportunity to move our bodies and practice our skills and also giving us some fun and relaxation time!

We have also been practicing our skills in the kitchen. We are learning the process of making a meal. This includes preparation, cooking and cleaning up!

We are looking forward to more fun and learning.

Lucy, Niki, Michelle, Keira, James, Mikaylah, Honor and Debbie

James cooking

HENBURY SCHOOL FARM

Welcome Parents/ caregivers and community members of Henbury School.

This year I have the Farm/Horticulture/ SAKG specialist position, it is a dynamic role to have and I am delighted to have such an opportunity to continue and improve on what has been done so far.

This year I have six classes that learn how to grow, harvest and cook produce that is directly from the farm. In doing this, sustainability and healthy living is a main focus. Students learn and experience firsthand how to grow food and use produce to produce healthy meals.

Since the beginning of term 1, we started with seeds and cuttings and I am proud to announce the students can clearly see the fruit of their labour! As we progress through the year, we hope to see the farm increasing the supply of fresh produce for cooking classes.

The farm is looking fabulous and we continue to develop gardening methods and produce a more diverse range of produce. Soon to be introduced is a Herb and Sensory Garden, where students can come to the farm for a visual and aromatic experience in addition to what is presently available.

So feel free to visit and have a browse.

Currently growing for future harvest on the farm are; Bananas, Basil, Corn, Pumpkin, Eggplant, Pawpaw, Sweet Potatoes, Mint, Kang Kong, Aloe Vera, Snake Beans, Watermelon, Ginger, Loofahs, Zucchini, Lemongrass, Limes, Kaffir Lime leaves, Custard Apples, Rosellas, Ochra and Pomingranit.

Some of these are already fruiting and ready to be harvested. Come and talk to me or drop me an email to find out more.

Here are some pics to give you an idea.

Matumba Isis

RISING STARS BASKETBALL

Hi everyone,

I have been proud to co-ordinate the Rising Stars basketball competition for the past year. The program is fun and inclusive, and we are in the third year of participating.

We have 30 students participating this Semester which are called Tiger Sharks, Purple Power and Cool Crocs. We are picked up from school each Friday by Buslink, who provide a free service to our students. The program would not be possible without this support so a big thanks to Buslink for doing this.

I was really pleased last week, when one of our teams was playing a much more competent team, to see them step in and give our students extra shots, and providing encouragement to them, making it a much more pleasurable experience to watch.

Games start at 11am every Friday for 45 minutes at Darwin Basketball Association in Marrara. All are welcome to come and watch.

Julie Howells

RIDING FOR THE DISABLED

Riding for the Disabled have a few changes happening this year. Click on the link below to get updated.

RETURN UNWANTED MEDICINES

A message from Janine Kelsey RN – Health Promoting School Nurse

In Australia, we are very lucky to have the use of the Return Unwanted Medicines initiative which allows us to safely dispose of medicines.

As we know, throwing medicines in the household rubbish or down the drain is incredibly damaging to the environment, and can also find its way into the wrong hands such as children or household pets.

To correctly dispose of medicines follow three simple steps:

READ: Go to the areas in your home where you store medicines. Read the labels, check expiry dates and review all medicines. Consider whether you actually need them.

REMOVE: Remove all expired and unwanted medicines from your home medicine area and place them in a bag or container.

RETURN: Return your expired and unwanted medicines to your local pharmacy. Your pharmacist will put them in a secure bin for safe disposal. Prescription medicines, over-the-counter medicines, herbal or complementary supplements, gels, liquids, creams and veterinary medicines can all be disposed of in a designated The RUM Project bin.

WOOLWORTHS EARN & LEARN PROGRAM

We are excited to be taking part in the 2019 Woolworths Earn & Learn program.

During the previous campaign, we were able to purchase some great resources with the points we earned, thanks to you.

From now until June 25th 2019, you can collect stickers at Woolworths that go towards Earn & Learn points. For every $10 you spend at Woolworths (excluding the purchase of tobacco, liquor and gift cards), you will receive a sticker. These stickers can then be given to your children to collect on a special sticker sheet. Once it is completed, they can simply bring it back here to school.

The more points we earn, the more we can redeem from a choice of over 10,000 educational resources including mathematics and English resources, art & crafts materials and much, much more!

We are grateful for your support and look forward to a successful program.

UPCOMING EVENTS

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy birthday to the following students who celebrate their birthdays in APRIL!

Snaha – 1st
Joesayais – 3rd
Michael – 4th
Amelia – 5th
Tom D – 8th
Karly C – 9th
Callum J – 10th
Kimberley T – 12th
Alex A – 16th
Isaiah – 19th
Zachary S – 22th
Jekamiah – 25th
Fu Seng – 27th
Elijah F – 28th
Toby P – 29th

COMMUNITY NOTICES