Mount Ommaney Special School eNewsletter

A Message from Mike Curtis - Acting Principal

Dear Families

The articles and photos highlighting the fun, energetic and engaging programs the students have been involved in are testament to the hard work of our very dedicated and skilful teachers and teacher aides. The first part of this term has been about building relationships with the students to develop a deep understanding of their needs, abilities and interests. It has also been essential in building deep trust in the students and rapport and partnerships with families. We have seen in the last couple of weeks routines being embedded and moments of calm, happy and busy students across a variety of learning environments.

The big ‘wins’ for the term have included the re-introduction of community-based instruction for our senior students that is woven into an ‘inter-programming’ model. This model links directly to the projected outcomes of PATH meetings with the families and allows for some sampling of electives run by staff with an interest and skillset in a variety of areas. While there have been some ‘teething problems’ around timetabling and transitioning, the range of activities and the levels of engagement have been wonderful to see. This has been a credit to the staff and students in Senior Secondary for their resilience and adaptability. Another ‘win’ has been the use of specialist staff to run some highly motivating and innovative drama, music, relationship development and vocational programs. There is some exciting work ahead where forged partnerships with ‘Open Theatre’, ‘True Relationships’ and ‘The ORCA Project’ amongst others will be enacted to build on these programs.

What has had the most profound effect on us all this term has been saying goodbye to our beloved Wayne. I was extremely grateful for the support provided to us by other schools and families keeping their children home on that day, enabling most of our staff to attend his Thanksgiving Service. We continue to miss Wayne every day and we are planning as a school to honour his memory at the end of next term with an artwork, a bench within a garden and a plaque outside the library. We would love the wider school community to be a part of this and we will inform you of the date closer to the time.

Another challenge we have faced this term has been the pressure on our facilities as the school grows. As most of you know, we have used spare rooms in the school as classrooms, as the department was unable to provide demountables for the start of this year. The bus set down and family pick up and drop off zones have become congested and challenging to manage safely every day due to the growth. We are currently putting a number of strategies in place to mitigate some of these challenges that we will inform families of in due course. For the long term, I have met with the Principal Planning Officer with the Department of Education, who has approved funding for some building works that include additional classrooms, refurbishment of a bus set down area and a separate parent pick up and drop off zone. I will include more specific details of this when the plan as per our master planning process in 2019 has been developed and approved.

I have had the pleasure of being able to lead this wonderful school for this term and I have been guaranteed to continue in this role for Term 2. A formal recruitment process for the permanent principal position will then occur next term for the start of Term 3. Wish me luck!

Thank you to each of you for your ongoing partnership and for placing your trust in us to provide continued nurturing support for your children.

Wishing you all a restorative holiday period.

Regards

Mike

A Message from Chrissy Hamilton (A/Deputy Principal)

Last week we celebrated Harmony Week and it was lots of fun! It is good to see the students participating in whole school events again. Activities were planned around the story, “What Do You Do To Celebrate?”, and students learnt and experienced celebrations from different countries.

Our theme of ‘social communication and meaningful conversations ‘was reinforced throughout the week, with assistance from our Speech Language Pathologists and classroom staff. Last year, we purchased new MOSS PODD books and additional AAC iPads to increase communication accessibility throughout the school. Harmony Week gave staff and students the perfect opportunity to use AAC in a more social setting, with the new devices and PODDs.

Many thanks to Sandy S, Katie and Juliet for their assistance in planning Harmony Week. Special thanks to Sandy S for setting up/packing up and running the two days of activities, with great help from Maria on the second day. 😊

Have a lovely Easter break.

Kind regards, Chrissy

A Message from Sandra Schuptar - HOSES - ECDP

This term has seen, by far, the biggest number of children engaged in our program at such an early time of the year. We have 87 families registered in the Mount Ommaney ECDP.

It has been a great term of building our relationships and connections with both our children and their families.

The teaching team have now developed their routines, transitions and expectations with each of their classes. The children are in the process of learning how to engage with new adults and new peers.

Play is our vehicle for engaging our children. Water and sand play continue to be hot favourites, along with bubbles, cars, trucks, trains and superhero characters.

Drawing, painting and craft experiences are being introduced in most of the classes in preparation for when our children move into full time education.

Learning to be independent with their self-care needs is also a high priority, with our focus being on children learning to carry their own bags, knowing their own drink and lunch containers, using the bathroom for toileting and hand washing and sitting at the table for their snack routine.

During this term the ECDP team had parent information morning/afternoon sessions. We had a significant uptake of our families joining us for these occasions and were able to share about what we are doing in the early Intervention program. Our families were also able to come into the classrooms, view the work that their children have been doing and ask lots of questions.

We discussed the different strategies that we use across the ECDP centre that support their child’s development. We presented each parent with our new ECDP brochure called ‘Early Intervention Strategies for Engagement’, providing the teaching team with the opportunity to share with families about the extensive strategies that we use regularly in the ECDP.

Our next Parent Information Sessions will be in Term 2, Week 3 where we will be discussing future school options for a full-time education program for our prep aged children who will move into school in 2024.

From the ECDP Team, March 2023.

.

A Message from Juliet Young - Education Program Officer (EPO)

Junior Rotary Award

Through the support of the Rotary Club of Brisbane Centenary, Year 6 students will have the opportunity to participate in the Junior Rotary Award again this year. The four aspects of the Award are community service, developing a new skill, physical recreation and social experience e.g. learning about our community. Students who wish to participate in this award will have the opportunity to fulfil these requirements throughout Terms 3 and 4.

Plastic Lid Collection

We are still accepting donations of plastic lids in support of Precious Plastic, Taringa. Precious Plastic is a collective of people who are interested in recycling plastic items to reduce pollution and waste. Our seniors are collecting, washing and sorting donated lids as part of their senior programming. Thank you to everyone who has kindly donated lids already and we look forward to receiving more clean lids to support this fantastic project.

A Message from Bill Schneider - School Chaplain

The end of the first term has crept up on rather quickly. The holiday we have been looking forward to is now ahead of us. Many of us will be travelling far afield, some of us will be travelling closer to home, while some of us will stay at home. Usually it’s a time of the year where families get together for a long weekend, consume chocolate and eat perhaps a little too much. Many of our students are living with the expectation of the pleasurable delights the Easter Bilby will deliver over the weekend. Generally, Easter is a fun time for all. For those of you who are travelling, please keep in mind the roads are filled with the dangers of congestion, for those of you staying at home please keep in mind what the effects will be on our young people overindulging in chocolate and other sugary treats. For some of us this holiday represents a new beginning. So, with this in mind, I wish you all a very Happy Easter.

I look forward to seeing you all back at school next term.Take care, Chappy Bill

From G Hub

We have had a wonderful start to the year in G Hub. It has been lovely to see the children become more confident in their new environment and begin to enjoy making connections with their teachers and peers.

Our focus this term has been on developing friendships and becoming familiar with the daily routines of school. We have been working on communicating our needs with various supports through play and shared community activities.

During this term we have really enjoyed our trips to the sensory room and gym. We have worked on developing our gross motor skills by climbing, jumping and balancing. We have also enjoyed our weekly drumming time with Chappy Bill. We love to all gather on the deck, take turns to play the drums, and dance to the beat.

The warm start to the year allowed us to participate in some fun, outside, water play sessions. While cooling down we were exposed to some great learning opportunities. We poured water from different sized containers to see which held more and discovered which toys would float and which would sink. It was also an environment rich in language and social interaction.

We look forward to more exciting times next term as we continue to build the connections and community we have developed in G Hub.

It’s hard to believe that we are fast approaching the end of the Term 1 2023. The students of D and E Hub have been working hard to learn new routines and expectations and we are very proud of how well everyone has settled into their new classes. They have been making connections with new friends and reconnecting with some old classmates.

Social and emotional wellbeing is a very important area of learning for our students. In D and E Hub, we have been building our social commination and interaction skills through our shared play experiences, both in the classroom and the playground. The students have been learning to interact with new toys, share, take turns and ask for turns in both the free play and structured play sessions as part of class programs. It has been great to see how well the students are doing around developing these skills. So many meaningful and successful interactions are happening every day in our Hub.

This semester, as part of the combined English and HASS units this term, “Enjoying Our World”, our students have been exploring informative and imaginative texts about the animal kingdom. Our focus this term has been sea creatures. We have had so much fun exploring and learning about all the different creatures of the sea through a range of activities including listening to and watching stories, playing with sea creatures and making sea creatures with all sorts of different materials (like sea snails made out of pasta!). All the classrooms are beautifully decorated with "under the sea" pictures, words and murals, along with so many different sea creatures that the students have made in sensory play and art/craft activities. Next term we will be learning about animals that live on the land, with a special focus on Australian animals.

It has certainly been a hot start to the year, so we have been beating the heat with regular water play sessions. Water play is both fun and educational and has a range of benefits for a child’s social, emotional, physical and sensory development. It also helps to develop early literacy and numeracy skills. Some students embraced the experience fully whilst others were comfortable with just dabbling their fingers and toes in the water, as part of the experience. Whichever option they chose, lots of fun was had and the playground was full of happy faces (kids and grownups alike.)

No doubt, everyone will be looking forward to the well-earned break (and hopefully some cooler weather) over the Easter holidays. We hope you and your family get the chance to rest and recharge for Term 2. So from all the team in D and E Hub, we wish you all a safe and happy holiday.

This term, A hub has really enjoyed getting to know one another and learning to work collaboratively.

We participate regularly in a number of lessons as a whole Hub, such as drama, science experiments, yoga, outdoor games and story time.

Every fortnight we complete a treasure hunt at J block. We finish the afternoon by going up in the lift together which is a nice treat for everyone.

The term has seen some beautiful friendships forming and an ability to work both independently and as part of a group.

Swimming has started this term and the students are enjoying the classes with Nicky.

We continue to work as a Hub with the Zones of Regulation, which helps students gain a better understanding of their emotions.

Enjoy your Easter break and we look forward to Term 2.

B/C Hub have been busy getting back into the swing of school this term. We have had so many new faces to welcome, some of whom are new to the Hub, while others are new to the school. It has been wonderful watching the students build connections and play. All of our students wait excitedly for playground time each day, so they can go out and play with their friends, often engaging in a game of tag or make believe. It is a unique time when teachers can support students with social skills and communication while watching them use their imagination (and expend seemingly never-ending amounts of energy).

In each class, students have been working hard on various goals ranging from academic ICP (Individual Curriculum Plan) goals or PLGs (Personal Learning Goals). Each teacher has loved seeing their students make progress in areas such as communication or independence. This semester students are completing a wide range of subjects from maths to science to HPE. During learning time students can be seen hard at work learning through explicit teaching, play, sensory activities, songs and videos, movement programs or communication activities/opportunities. You never know what you’re going to see from classroom to classroom. I think the highlight of the term is watching the students participate in swimming. The excitement each swimming day is contagious.

If this is just Term one, we are so excited to see what the rest of the year is going to bring us. For now, it is time to rest and reset for the next term. We hope you all enjoy your holidays.

Your B/C team Johnathan, Chloe, Ebony and Belinda

From H/I Hub

Term One has flown past. All of our classes have been very busy settling to routines, forming relationships with staff and each other and with their learning.

H1 Students in H1 are settling well into class routines. They have many sensory learning experiences related to literacy and numeracy skills. We have used indoor/outdoor areas for learning to meet their individual needs. They have enjoyed weekly gym and swimming sessions. Interactive stories and songs are popular among students. Personalised learning goals for students have also been established and we would like to thank all parents for their input and time in planning these goals for their children. We had a few cultural celebrations during the term and enjoyed celebrating ‘Harmony Day’ last week.

H2 have loved getting to know each other better this term, and doing all kinds of activities as a group. We have swum, cooked, read books, counted, made music, had drama, drummed and all the great things that make school fun!

I1 Staff and tudents in I1 have had a great term settling into our new classroom and getting to know our new friends. At the start of the term we had a great time learning about Chinese New Year and dressing up as a dragon, then reading a story about a chameleon who changed colours. We also really loved our science experiments, and watching the bubbles when we mix vinegar and bi-carb. It actually sounds great too!

I2 has explored our world using all of our senses and our bodies. Using different books as connecting themes, we have planned and conducted many science experiments, investigated Chinese New Year, the colours of the rainbow and zoo animals. As always, communication has been the focus of everything we do. We have used Intensive Interaction, informal behaviours, PODD in book form and on our iPads and eye gaze devices to connect with each other and share what we have to say.

J hub students have been busy this term with the start of a new and exciting inter-programming timetable. Staff have been hard at work around introducing a variety of different programs linked to students’ PATH plans. This term, students have experienced participating in new enterprise programs such as sensory bottles, volunteering in the ‘Lids for Kids’ program and producing dog biscuits to sell to the school community.

More programs on offer are fitness and mobility, swimming, social connection with a focus on music, and our whole J hub ‘sing-sing’ session, a highlight of the week! Existing programs such as the Curlew Café, Certificate 1 in Active Volunteering, Drama and Art continue to be offered, as well as curriculum subjects. Some students have also had the opportunity to participate in community-based learning, visiting our local Rocks Riverside park to volunteer in the Community Garden and a Clean-Up Australia Initiative. Some Year 12 students have also begun to visit Post-School centres to explore day programs and undertake volunteering at E-Waste and Vinnies. We look forward to an exciting time ahead as our programs develop and we extend our community connections.

We have also been busy bringing together our ideas to inspire our community to conserve our environment. We put on our gloves to "clean up Australia", joined our school recycling program and made a book about how we can be part of the solution to the ‘problem of litter.’ We brought together our thoughts and created a statement art piece that communicates a message to persuade our MOSS companions to help us protect our waterways. You can see this proudly displayed in the front office of the Admin. building. However our greatest achievement this term has been our respectful, encouraging, working relationships. We’ve exercised patience, resilience and camaraderie and are very pleased with our results.

For most of our students it has been a big change moving to J block and the Inter-Programming model. But our little team has really enjoyed their academic program and the opportunities to mix with other staff and students in the Hub.

All Abilities Post School Program

A group of students have started to sample a dance class at a post-school program called All Abilities, Australia. This day program is based in Kenmore and offers dance, community-based learning and life-skills to individuals who have graduated from school. We really enjoyed our first session, learning new dance routines, dancing with scarfs and learning how to stretch our bodies to cool down. We had lots of fun!

Rocks Riverside Community Based Learning

Students have been volunteering at the Community Garden again this term. We have had to pull lots of weeds in the last few weeks to get the plot ready for planting. A BIG thank you to Gary who looks after the school plot for us from week to week. After working in the garden, students enjoy exploring the park and participating in leisure activities. The students have shown great resilience and stamina while learning new routines and adapting to change, so well done, fantastic work!

Sensory Bottles Enterprise

This semester J Hub students have started a new Enterprise work training program. Students are making sensory bottles for the younger grades across the school. So far the program has made oil bubble sensory bottles but next term will expand into experimenting with different recipes.

Curlew Café & Volunteering

Students have begun to explore the world of work by practising their work skills at school and in the community. Students have prepared and delivered delicious treats to staff during the Curlew Café staff morning tea program. Some students have also participated in a work experience at eWaste connections, dismantling and recycling electronic waste and volunteering at Vinnies, sorting and displaying second hand items.

Drama & Music

Each Tuesday, specialist teachers Colette and Emma join J-Hub to offer drama and music sessions. We have had a lot of fun! In the morning, most of the Hub joins in a music and drama-games circle outside. In the middle session, some students join the drama class in the MP Hall. And in the afternoon, other students participate in a very relaxing, non-verbal music and movement session inside the J-Hub gym. Connection, engagement, joy!

The P&C would like to thank all the parents and carers for a wonderful start to 2023. The school has gratefully acknowledged the following donations from the P&C:

Rotating Pods in C Block
ECDP Graduation Books
Siblings Club
Bus Drivers' Morning Tea
Year 6 Graduation
Year 6 Camp

A big thank you to everyone who gave their time to help with fundraising efforts during 2022. The P&C really appreciate your support.

Project Linus

For some years now, our ECDP and the main school have enjoyed a generous relationship with quilt makers from a state wide group called Project Linus.

Because of the kindness of creative sewers across Qld, every new student coming into either the ECDP or the special school is offered the choice of a beautiful handmade quilt, to keep at home.

This past week saw some of our teachers bring students to choose from a wide variety of colours, patterns and themes.

Please enjoy the photos provided, and know that these smiles genuinely represent the happiness of each student, some who were amazed at what they saw.

If your child is new to Mt Ommaney this year, look out for a quilt coming home at some point soon.

Teachers will follow this up with either Karen or Katie, to make sure that no-one misses out.

Project_Linus.pdf

Open Theatre Drama Workshops

WTK23_family_workshop_flyer_230317.pdf

Brisbane Fresh Futures Post-School Options Disability EXPO

DATE_SAVER_Brisbane_Fresh_Futures_2023.pdf

Holiday Events At Our Local Libraries

Mount Ommaney Library and other local libraries are hosting a number of events throughout the school holidays.

Please check out the flyer below for more information.

Library_Events.pdf

2023 School Calendar

2023-school-calendar.pdf

Day	Date	Event
Fri	13 Sep 24	Last Day of Term 3
Mon	30 Sep 24	First Day of Term 4
Mon	7th Oct 24	Public Holiday
Mon to Wed	28th - 30th Oct	Senior Camp
Thu	7th Nov 24	Senior Formal
Thu	5th Dec 24	Senior Graduation
Fri	13th Dec 24	Last Day of Term 4

PDF Details

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MOSS Newsletter - Term 1, 2023