August 2020 Newsletter
Principal's Message
This is our first of many newsletters you will receive using the Schoolzine app.
This year is positively flying. Semester 1 saw us in unprecedented times with the ramifications of COVID and I take this opportunity to thank all of the parents and staff for assisting in making this time as smooth as possible. Although many timelines were pushed back we are beginning to catch up and function fully again.
Canteen News
Commencing in Term 4, the school canteen will be operated by a social enterprise group called CARAD who operate a business called the Fare Go Food Truck.
CARAD provide a range of services to asylum seekers, refugees and detainees, and in this case will give people the opportunity to gain employment experience and workforce training. In this new venture, CARAD will lease the canteen as an area to prepare food for both their Food Truck service AND the West Coast SESC/Warwick SHS Canteen. This will be this state's very first social enterprise canteen.
Warwick SHS is proud to be able to announce this partnership, and excited for the opportunity for our school to make positive links and to assist in community development. CARAD have also received an Impact 100 grant to enable this venture to proceed.
You may be aware, the canteen was conducted by the school's P&C until the start of 2019, when Warwick SHS took over its management. While they have operated it for nearly 2 years, it is not the school's core business to conduct a canteen on the site. Early this term a process was conducted, by Warwick SHS, and CARAD was awarded the contract. CARAD will maintain the current menu during Term 4, 2020.
More information about the canteen will be forwarded as it is received.
A big thanks must go to Mrs Christine Milner (Canteen Manager) and Mrs Natalie Coley (Canteen Assistant) for their patience, acceptance and welcoming smiles while working in the school canteen. They have provided a healthy and nutritious food service. We wish them every success in the future.
Please feel free to make contact regarding any of the content in this newsletter or just for a chat.
Cheers
Joanne Kriziotis
Staffing Changes
Some of you may be aware that I have been acting in the role of Principal while Carol Clarke (substantive Principal) was on leave. The good news is that Carol is returning to lead West Coast as of Monday 31st August. At this time I will revert to my Deputy Position. In regards to operations of the school, it will be business as usual. Carol looks forward to meeting all the new families and reconnecting with others.
Area F has had a change of teachers this term. Unfortunately Ms Elizabeth Price had to leave suddenly earlier this term. We wish her all the best for the future and we welcome Mrs Suzanne Nileshwar who will be Area F teacher for the rest of this year.
Chaplaincy
School Board
The School Board held its 2020 Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Wednesday 12th August. At this meeting Vanessa Jessett stepped down as board chair. David Wilson was nominated and elected to hold the position of board chair and Vanessa Jessett (previous board chair) is undertaking the board secretary position until the end of this year.
The AGM is usually held in Term 1, however due to COVID restrictions, it had to be pushed back. The good news from this is that there are 2 meetings before the 2021 AGM where chair, secretary and committee members are elected. As required by the Terms of Reference, members of the Board retire by rotation or stand for re-election. Accordingly nominations are requested to fill parent and staff vacancies. Expressions of interest will be called for early Term 1 2021. The School Board welcomes new members. If you are unsure if being a member of the Board is for you come along to one of the next meetings before submitting your expression of interest in 2021.
David Wilson - School Board Chair
Wed 28th October & Wed 25th November @ 5:30pm in the West Coast Conference Room.
Thank you to Essential Workers
Before the students took some time away from school at the end of Term 1 due to COVID, a few creative year 11, 12 and 13s who were in Miss Graham’s class for the day came up with a suggestion to recognise the work of essential workers. They wanted to make cards for those on the front line here in Perth. Our very clever students decided on putting the COVID-19 molecule on the front of the cards and send them to Joondalup Health Campus. This week we receive a beautiful letter from the CEO of Joondalup Health thanking them for their efforts and support.
Well done to all those involved.
Area J
Term 2 may have looked a bit different to what we usually expect at school but we were so impressed with how it brought out the best in Area J students! Everyone drew on their You Can Do It skills to be resilient through many changes and persist with trying their best at school. Term 2 was a great opportunity to build on our understanding of Zones of Regulation and our strategies to manage with different sized problems. We also worked hard to practice skip counting every day, telling time and counting money in numeracy lessons. The highlight of literacy was using our imaginations to create whole class stories based on a different image each week.
We really enjoyed exploring the Australian Aboriginal culture in Humanities and Social Sciences; listening to different Dreamtime stories, looking at art work and learning about a different way of life. We worked together to create a fantastic piece of art work representing Tiddalick the frog from the Dreamtime story of the same name. Our favourite part of the week is Friday end of week reward, cooking (and definitely taste testing) a variety of foods including cupcakes, pizza, sushi, and biscuits in the Life Skills room. Well done on getting through what could have been a much more difficult term had it not been for the wonderful effort of Area J’s students and staff to bring positive energy to our classroom!
Harmony Day
As a part of Harmony Day celebrations on Wednesday 18th March 2020, the students experienced three different cultures under one roof through a Multicultural Day Incursion. Students enjoyed and participated in Cool Capoeira which is a unique and exciting high-energy martial art in the form of dance that evolved from African-Brazilian cultural practice incorporating acrobatics, body-expression, tradition, music and songs. Multi-talented cultural educator Josh Kelly with his brothers did an Indigenous Infusion through storytelling, truth telling, dance, visual art and history. The Spirit of Bali dancers presented five different Balinese dance forms based on Balinese mythology through music and dance. The day beautifully summed up with the message of “everyone belongs”.
Art & Enterprise
Term 2 in the ‘Readshaw Room’ was a hive of activity as usual.
Our lower school art students were very busy creating funky flowers, a colourful cupcake collage, rainmakers, leaf rubbings and practising their stitching on hessian love hearts and doves.
Upper school Enterprise students were ‘making’ in preparation for our end of year Christmas Market. Some of our favourites such as heat-packs and cards were started as well as some cement candles, soap holders and fabric printed food wraps.
Hopefully some of these wonderful creations have made it home so parents can enjoy their student’s wonderful work.
NDS Customised Employment
Kathy from NDS (National Disability Service) is very excited to introduce their brand new Customised Employment Facebook Community Group.
This is an online community where we can share ideas, challenges and understanding of how to successfully engage with the customised employment approach:
⦁ An understanding of the Customised Employment Approach
⦁ Application of the Discovery process
⦁ Job Carving
⦁ Post-employment support
⦁ Existing resources (templates and information handouts)
⦁ Share our stories, pictures, ideas and any other areas that may be of interest to the group.
Here is the link to the group. If you click on the link this will take you to the group page. You will be asked a few questions and introduced to the group agreement which I have included below.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/1081127462245223/
Group Agreement
To ensure the best possible experience for all group members, we have established some basic rules to guide positive engagement and participation. By joining this group, you agree that you have read and will follow these rules and guidelines.
Discussions are people's individual experiences and do not necessarily reflect the position of National Disability Services WA. Any view or information contributed by the group's moderators is general in nature and group members should consider any such content in light of their individual circumstances.
NDS WA accepts no liability for any reliance placed on the views or information exchanged in this group.
Any personal information collected by National Disability Services WA will be managed in accordance with our privacy policy (https://www.nds.org.au/privacy-policy).
Kathy Doesburg
Project Officer ‑ Customised Employment
Ph: 08 9208 9835
Email:kathy.doesburg@nds.org.au
Web: www.nds.org.au