Diversity
Dear Parents and Guardians,
Wow Week 3 already, the term is certainly off to a flying start. There have been may events already Assemblies, Prep Transition Mornings, CES Visitors and many more exciting events to come over the term.
Visitors
This week we have the wonderful Ms Heather Alison, our School Counsellor visiting Joseph's School from Monday – Friday. It is always wonderful to see Ms Heather and her smile around our school.
Also, this week we have Sandra Van Rooyen (Consultant of Inclusive Education) and Zinna Aylward (CES – O.T) visiting as well and supporting teachers and students at St. Joseph's School.
Joe Clark - EALD Consultant for Diversity Multilingual Learners (EAL/D) will be visiting in Week 5 Monday 30 October and Tuesday 31 October, 2023. Also in Week 5, Ms Lillian Miller - Consultant First Nations Education from Cairns Catholic Education will also be with us. Lillian will continue to provide her service to St. Joseph's School throughout the week.
In week 6 Heather Alison - Our School Counsellor will be visiting us again in Weipa providing her service to St. Joseph's School from Monday 7th November – Friday 10th November 2023.
PREP Personalised Learning Plans (PLPs)
Mrs Backhouse is in the process of writing Personalised Learning Plans (PLPs) and will be meeting with Parents over the next few weeks. Personalised learning is a process that supports a wide range of students with additional learning and support needs. This includes students who may require support in one or more of the following areas: learning (including high potential learners), behaviour, social/emotional, cultural/language (including international students, boarders and learners of English as an Additional Language or Dialect) and those who have educational support needs arising from disability. Teachers, with the support of the Leader of Diversity, and in consultation with parents, collaboratively decide which adjustments and/or goals are to be targeted and determine appropriate strategies and supports to be implemented. It is the teacher’s responsibility to implement these planned strategies in order to support students to meet their goals. Teachers will direct School Officer support and plan for adjustments on a weekly basis. Teachers communicate weekly with School Officers regarding student progress and make adjustments as needed. Evidence is collected regularly and uploaded to ENGAGE. PLP meetings are set 6 monthly and will determine if current goals have been achieved before setting further goals.
Social Emotional Learning
Second Step
In Term 4 in SEL in the Seconds Steps Program we will be focusing on Emotional Management and Problem Solving for Prep to Year 6. Second Step SEL is research-based, teacher-informed, and classroom-tested to promote the social-emotional development, safety, and well-being of children from Early Learning through Grade 8. Children learn and practice vital skills for listening and paying attention, having empathy, managing emotions, building friendships, and solving problems with others. The 25-minute interactive lessons and discussion-based activities with distinct grade-level experiences.
The lessons focus on Social-Emotional Learning:
- Mindsets & Goals
- Recognising Bullying & Harassment
- Thoughts, Emotions, & Decisions
- Managing Relationships & Social Conflict
Positive Behaviour for Learning
Our school community has identified the following school wide expectations to teach and promote our high standards of responsible behaviour:
- Be Respectful
- Be Responsible
- Be Resilient
- Be Ready for Learning
MTSS-E assemblies take place on Mondays at 1.45pm followed by Second Step lessons.
If you have any questions, please feel free to make contact with myself at a convenient time that suits. My email address is mturner@cns.catholic.edu.au
Kind regards,
Melanie Turner.
