1 June 2021

Newsletter Articles

PAUL DREWITT - SENIOR TEACHER

Parents/Carers,

A big hello to all who comprise the Henbury School community. Term 2 is already half finished with some very important events yet to occur.

Progress reports and Modified NTCET reports will go home with students on the 24th of June. It's great to see our students making so much progress with their learning.

Camp Batchelor 2021 will be held from the 1st until the 3rd of September. This is a fantastic opportunity for our students to become involved in extra-curricular activities such as climbing, mountain bike riding, abseiling and archery to name a few. Please return your camp forms ASAP for this very important event. Cut-off dates for forms are 25/06 and payment is due by 6/08. Prices are: full time $230 and day trip $60. Payment plans can be arranged at the front office.

Twilight Sports and Family Night will be held on 3rd June from 4:00PM to 7:30PM. Events such as sprinting, shot put and long jump will be held on our brand new half basketball court. There will be a sausage sizzle and salads served on the night.

During Semester 1, our Skill Sets Program has evolved to include twelve subjects including Retail, Hospitality, Horticulture, Hairdressing, Woodwork, Maintenance, Recycling, Senseational designs, Tie Dye, Photography, IT and PPSO for our high support students. This has been a great success, engaging students to spark their interest in various work-training pathways for the future.

Paul Drewitt
Senior Teacher
Curriculum, Assessment & Reporting

ATTENTION ALL YEAR 10, 11 & 12 PARENTS AND CARERS

Henbury School is taking part in B Part of It NT, a study of the Meningococcal B vaccine.

This is a safe vaccine (licenced in Australia since 2014) and is recommended for teenagers to protect against Meningococcal B, a rare but serious disease.

We have sent home an information pack including a consent form with year 10, 11, 12 students.

MEN B (round 1) Immunisation dates will be:

Darwin High outreach – 25th & 26th May
CSC outreach – 1st & 2nd June
Henbury – 8th June

If you feel that your child will need support to have the throat swab and help completing the questionnaire on immunisation day please feel free to attend. Please contact the school to arrange.

If you would like your child to take part, please complete all details, sign the consent form and return by 21st May 2021.

Link to Participant Information and Consent:

For more information go to:

Janine Kelsey
Health Promoting School Nurse

NEW STAFF PROFILE – LEAH ATKINSON

Hi there, my name is Leah Atkinson and I am the new Senior Business Manager at Henbury School having assumed the role from the wonderful Leanne Shearer who is taking some well-earned leave before retiring later this year!

While taking some long service leave and experiencing home schooling with my 14 year old son Jett, I spent most of 2020 dealing with the impacts of Covid on the community and the associated changes within the construction industry. This meant my family business had the opportunity to grow and expand into a company which I have helped establish with my husband Shane. Prior to this I worked for the NTG for 20 years across various agencies including Darwin Port Corporation, Department of Education (Berry Springs School), Department of Housing, Department of Infrastructure Planning and Logistics, and at Batchelor Institute of Indigenous Tertiary Education. My roles have been vast and varied in the Operations, Finance, Policy, Strategy, and Administrative sectors. While I swing between playing golf and hockey…haha pun intended…I enjoy travelling (without a global pandemic of course) and learning new things. My ideal holiday is adventuring with something new before winding down to read a trashy romance novel while sipping cocktails by the pool. I am very excited and honoured to have the opportunity to work at Henbury and I am looking forward to meeting our families, students, staff and friends, and to share in your journey through Henbury School.

GREEN 2

Wow! What a busy term it has been already!

In Green 2 we have been working hard to make products that were for sale at our recent Mother’s Day Stall and are on track to send new stock to Henbury on Aralia in time for the coming weekend. Keep your eyes peeled for our non-slip coasters, jar openers and soothing peppermint and lavender foot/muscle soak bath salts.

Speaking of Henbury on Aralia, we were thrilled to pop in for morning tea last Thursday and are already anticipating our next visit. If you haven’t been in yet, do yourself a favour, the food is amazing!

Whether it is structured sports skill sessions with Total Recreation or taking advantage of our exceptional outdoor equipment, our enthusiastic team of learners in Green 2 love to get out and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. We have been particularly excited about the arrival of the ‘Dry Season’ cooler mornings and the completion of the fabulous new basketball court.

Our other passion in Green 2 is the making of delicious food to share. Everyone contributes to our cooking program in a variety of ways each week. Sometimes it is shopping for ingredients (or making the list), washing, peeling or chopping vegetables, working the fry pan, adding the toppings, keeping an eye on the oven or doing the dishes afterwards. We take kitchen safety very seriously, almost as seriously as enjoying the end results of our labour!

GREETINGS FROM GREEN 3

Green 3 this year includes some sassy and vivacious teenagers. Our responsible Year 12 is Chiara, Year 11s are Mikaylah, Karly, and Honor; in Year 10 we have Judy and Willam. We are focussing on independence, life skills, communication and wellbeing. Our helpful SESOs are Mario, Lacey and Maddy on Fridays.

All of our students are participating in the Northern Territory Certificate of Education Modified (NTCETM) for English, Maths, Health, Horticulture and Science. In English we have been focussing on using sign to learn new vocabulary and working on our chat books. In Maths we have been using money and paying with support and independently when doing our class shopping and out on community access.

In health we have been focussing on feelings and coping strategies. We cook yummy lunches! For movement we attend Zumba on Wednesday afternoons, use the pool for swimming and go bike riding.

As part of our work skills the girls attend Skills Sets. Judy attends woodwork and has been busy building up a storm. Chiara goes to Retail Skills Set at Henbury on Aralia and the Op Shop. Mikaylah has been learning new IT skills while Karly works very hard in Hospitality. Honor attends Hairdressing to work on her communication skills for potential clients. We made a batch of biscuits and mugs for the Mother’s Day Stall. They were very popular!

On Community Access we are focussing on ordering using sign and communication devices in cafés. Chiara is our rock star user of Signed English. We’ve been tasting our way around Darwin Cafes such as The Cool Spot, Coffee Club, Eva’s at the Botanic Gardens and Henbury on Aralia.

Willam is our star Sensory Seeker and works in a one on one program with our super SESO Mario and some of the Senior Staff team. He’s been enjoying swimming, bike riding, doing fine motor work, regulation and has started using the blower to make sure the new basketball court is nice and clean for break times.

In the specialist programs the girls attend Science with Carol and Horticulture with Matumba. The class has attended a range of beaches and ecosystems around Darwin.

In Horticulture with Matumba the girls are working in the farm, feeding the chickens and trying lots fruits that are grown in the farm. The girls are also using their maths skills to package seeds.

GREEN 4

This year, Brittany Daly, Hugh Williams-Richardson, Maddy Brannelly and Andy Rolfe are staffing Green 4 and our students are 5 bright young men, all owning very different personalities. Let’s introduce them!

Firstly we have Blake, who is with us for his second year, and plays the role of class monitor, looking out for his classmates and making sure to keep them in line. Blake’s biggest interest this year has been colouring in; specifically the Incredibles 2 logo. Blake is a very clever young man and has developed a strong work ethic encompassing both numeracy and literacy in equal measure. Blake has also developed enough confidence to ask for what he wants and verbalise ‘yes’ or ‘no’ decisions.

Cruz comes to us from Purple 2 and this is his third year at Henbury School, making him the oldest student in the class. Cruz is a master of the jigsaw puzzle and a champion jumper on the trampoline. He is learning to follow patterns independently, to make his own morning tea and to do his dishes.

Our remaining three boys are all new to Henbury School, but have settled well into the Henbury School routine.

Carl transitioned from Nemarluk School and is very comfortable with the Structured Teaching environment offered in Green 4. He is confident with following his visual timetable and knows that once he has completed his independent tasks he will be able to participate in one of his most favoured activities: the hammock swing.

Ilias also joined us from Nemarluk School and is very happy with the structured environment of his new classroom, making the transition an easy process for him. Ilias’ favourite activity at the moment is the sensory satisfaction he gets from the sandpit. Ilias is also learning to communicate using his device and has become more at ease with asking for help using this device.

Our lucky last student is Jack who transitioned from Forrest Parade School. Jack has a wicked sense of humour and loves to have a chuckle at our expense. Jack loves the Engine Room and has been experimenting to find his centre of balance whilst perched on the various pieces of equipment. Jack is adapting well to using a visual timetable and working independently.

As a group, Green 4 have been learning how to order food and eat at a café. Last term we were legendary at The Cool Spot, ordering chips, waiting and sitting quietly and using beautiful manners. Since then we have been to De La Plage and Eva’s Café and the list of foods we are tasting just keeps growing. Cruz likes milkshakes, Blake adores toasties, Ilias drinks lemonade, Carl devours cheesecake and Jack loves hot chips. Let’s be honest, everyone loves hot chips!

NIGHTCLIFF OUTREACH

Now in full swing of Term 2, the NMS Outreach class are making the most of the wonderful dry season weather. Our tribe has joined forces with Yellow 5 to take part in Lawn Bowls lessons kindly run by the amazing Nightcliff Bowling Club. The local bowling experts have kindly volunteered their time to ensure the students have the most accurate and precise bowling skills in preparation for an interclass competition.

Each Thursday, this semester the NMS Outreach students been taking part work experience at the school’s café, Henbury on Aralia, Nightcliff. The class have been learning skills for retail, barista, kitchen and waitressing in preparation for a work ready future. The students have reflected on their learning to complete a work experience diary. As part of their literacy program, the students are creating a PowerPoint and video about the importance of volunteering.

In Term 1, NMS Outreach students enjoyed weekly swimming lessons at Nightcliff pool. They celebrated their efforts with a visit to the Foreshore Cafe and the school disco. In February, the class took part in the Bombing of Darwin, remembrance ceremony in February. Showing respect and understanding, the students created and laid a wreath in honour of the fallen.

During Harmony Day, the tribe enjoyed representing Malaysia by running a Batik tie dying session, dressing up in the traditional Kebaya, while embracing a variety foods and dances from different cultures. The class enjoyed asking questions to the visiting Para Olympians due to compete in Tokyo this year. They have taken part in role play to create photos to demonstrate their understanding of growth mindset and the Henbury school values. We look forward to next few weeks of term where we will take part in more community access visits investigating community service.

Ms Rowan (Class Teacher) and Ms Alison (SESO)

DRIPSTONE MIDDLE SCHOOL

Dripstone Middle School Two have had a busy 15 weeks. Students are continuing with their class business, ‘Henbury Healthy Chefs (HHC)’. While running this business, students work on estimation, profits, shopping, reading recipes, measurements and many other areas of learning. Students also make staff delicious and healthy meals. This year we welcomed 3 new students to the classroom. Antonia, Chloe and Jovanni. These three students have settled in beautifully and are already making solid friendships, demonstrating the school values and showing growth in their learning.

In Week 5, Term 2, students read along to the book, ‘Give me some space’ with NASA astronaut Dr Shannon Walker. Students did this via Zoom and held great discussions about the book, planets, space and predictions for how the story would end.

In Term 1, students Zoomed in with Paralympian Eliza-Ault Connell. Eliza is going to Tokyo for this year’s Paralympics. She shared a lot about her life and the healthy choices she makes both with training and eating. Thanks to the amazing Miss Rowan from NMS, students then got to meet Eliza a few weeks later on Henbury Campus.

Eliza-Ault Connell visiting students on Henbury Campus

Hannah cooking up a storm for HHC

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

Happy Birthday to the following students that celebrate their birthdays in May:

Maree B – 2nd
Zachary N - 5th
Toby R – 5th
Tori C – 13th
Aidan H C – 15th
Jovanni H – 16th
Keira B – 18th
Briseis B – 19th
Roanin & Trinidey S -19th
Isaiah E - 23rd
Deacon R – 23rd
Cloe R – 24th
Agnes M – 29th

UPCOMING EVENTS – Term 2

COMMUNITY NOTICES