MORNINGTON SPECIAL DEVELOPMENTAL SCHOOL

Independence Through Learning

Newsletter No: 10 22nd July 2016 PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Independence Through Learning

From the Principal’s Desk

Newsletter

22 July, 2016

Welcome back to Term 3.

My how time flies! Welcome to Term 3. We have a great term ahead of us.

Thank you to all who attended the “meet the new Principal’ morning on the 22nd. It was really great that so many people turned up. A special thanks to the staff who contribut-ed to make the day so successful. Thanks to donations, our new Gallery Area is now a fantastic resource for students to relax in and ‘chill – out’. Such a contrast to the previ-ous gallery space which was basically just a thoroughfare. Much thanks to Karen Binks who selected the furniture and carpets. Thanks also to our students who participated in the morning. They were respectful and engaged with the audience as we roamed from class to class, a real credit to their parents and teachers. In addition, much thanks to The Reverend Helen and her parishioners from the Mornington Anglican Church who pre-sented us with a cheque from the proceeds of their Opportunity Shop.

Stephanie Alexander garden. A team of volunteers came in on the first Saturday of the school holidays to construct our outdoor classroom. The classroom is part of our Steph-anie Alexander garden program. The classroom looks great and is a fantastic addition to our school. Thank- you to the people who gave their time and effort: Jason, Danielle, Stephanie, Andrew, Chris, Daniel and Jeff. An extra thank-you to Jeff who obtained the materials, worked out the design and led the construction process.

Mid Year Reports

Mid year reports will be sent home soon.

Parent Opinion Survey.

The 2016 Parent Opinion Survey will be conducted during Term 3 from 25 July to 5 Au-gust 2016.

The survey is an important part of every school's parent engagement strategies and as-sists with future planning and improvement. Parents from our community are randomly selected to participate in the annual survey, which is confidential and anonymous.

If you are contacted to complete the survey, please ensure that you return your completed

Haydn Rice

Jacob Cotton

Logan Goninon

Noah Carr-Sanderson

Dates to Remember

Senior School Music

Festival

16TH August

Student Support Group

Meetings will be held

from Monday 1st August

until and including Friday

12th August.

School ASSEMBLIES every

2nd Friday beginning Fri-

day 22nd July . All wel-

come to attend

Term Dates 2016

Term 1

29th January to 24th

March

Term 2

11th April to 24th June

Term 3

11th July to 16th Septem-

ber

Term 4

3rd October to 20th

December

IT’S A GIRL!!! The Mornington SDS community wish

to congratulate Karen and Jarod Goodwin on the

birth of their precious daughter Amelia Joy born

19/07/16 at 1:37 PM. We are very excited for you

and your families and look forward to meeting your

much anticipated little baby girl! (Photos on Page2)

Page 2 Mornington SDS

Independence Through Learning

MUSIC FESTIVAL

AUGUST 16TH 2016

Students from Room 6 and 7 will be participating in the Southern Re-

gion Special Schools Association Music Festival at the Moorabbin Town

Hall. Due to popular demand the students have chosen to perform an

item from a Star Wars Dance Video

If you are able to help in anyway with costumes that would be most

appreciated. We require costumes (of course) masks, light sabres etc.

These items will be labelled and sent home after the Festival and

school concert towards the end of Term 3

Baby Goodwin

Mornington SDS would like to welcome our new teacher

Romany Ashley - Griffiths to our team. Ashely has replaced Karen

Goodwin who is currently on Maternity Leave (as the photos

attest to) in Room 1. We wish Romany all the very best !!!

Page 4 Mornington SDS

Independence Through Learning

FRIDAY AUGUST 19TH Parent Coffee Morning

Starting at 9.30 to 10.30 All Welcome!

CYBER SAFETY TIPS

Tips for parents to help protect children in the online world: Understand the sites and technologies your kids are using and know who they are talking

to. Spend some time with your kids on their favourite games. Do they make contact with

strangers through the game?

If possible keep the family computer in an open area such as the kitchen or living room where it can be monitored.

Create a list of online rules with your family including time limits, OK sites to visit, network-ing sites allowed to join.

Teach your kids not to give out personal details online without parental knowledge. Make sure your kids know what to do and where to go if they encounter cyber- bullying. Let your kids know that you are keeping an eye on then when they are on the internet and

their online activities. Never let your kids got to meetings with ‘online’ friends without your supervision. Talk to your family about the risks of chat rooms. Reinforce positive behaviour and values in the online world

Install software or services that can filter or block offensive websites

Don't ignore new technologies – kids and teens will use them, if not at home then at their friends' houses or in the school-yard.

Ask your child to give you a lesson on sites or Internet gadgets you may not be familiar with.

Page 3 Mornington SDS

Independence Through Learning

We have begun our Breakfast Club at Mornington SDS generously donated by Food Bank School Breakfast Club

Program. Room 1 are thoroughly enjoying our morning breakfast together and have been making food choices

three days a week. Students have been enjoying choosing the foods they like the most which include, Vita Brits,

Oats, Baked Beans, Canned fruit in natural juice and UHT milk.

After all breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

BREAKFAST CLUB

FREE TICKETS!!! Earlier in the year Mornington SDS was lucky enough to be

offered some community access tickets to an AFL game. This game has been selected

and is coming up next weekend. The match is between Collingwood and the West

Coast Eagles and is on Saturday 30th at 4:30pm at the MCG. Tickets are completely

free and will be available to the first people who express interest. This is a great oppor-

tunity to take your family to see a couple of the big teams in the AFL battle it out for a

spot in the finals. We are very grateful for our relationship with the AFL and are pleased

to be able to offer these tickets to our families.

If you are interested please ring the school and let us know ASAP!!!

Page 6 Mornington SDS

Independence Through Learning

PRINCIPAL’S AWARD: Charlie Krslovic-Farrugia for

participating in P.E.C.S

PRINCIPAL’S AWARD: Alex Tanner for supporting

his classmates from Rooms 6 and 8 during music practice.

MUSIC AWARD: Bailey Fruend- Minchington —for

PE AWARD: Jack Fuller—for his outstanding

ESMART AWARD: Zac White— For consistently

choosing appropriate videos to watch on YouTube.

ROOM 6 AWARD: Billy Hogg— For being Stu-

dent Voice Representative and sharing minutes of the meetings with his class.

ROOM 8 AWARD: Andrew Beckett— For his

leadership and enthusiasm during Music Festival Practice.

ART AWARD: Chris Wade—for his great use of

color in our Art Room Display.