Hello and welcome to our fortnightly newsletter.

SCHOOL REVIEW The Field Days for the School Review have taken place the last two days; this has included parent, staff and student focus groups meeting with the review team consisting of Wendy Hubbard and Marian Lawless. Thank you to all who participated in this process, your input has been warmly received and given us an insight as to the future direction for VRS. DAN PETRO VISIT– Following his visits to classrooms Dan addressed all staff, giving them tips on how to establish clear expectations for how desirable behaviours look. The following are a few examples from his presentation: Our goal is to teach each student to be as independent and likeable

as possible.

Use pre-correction to prevent problem behaviour situations.

Do what’s effective for the child,

Not what you perceive to be fair.

I Dan will be returning on Monday December 3rd to work alongside the PLC team and a couple of other staff on planning systems for addressing the functions of a behaviour- not the behaviour itself.

APPRENTICESHIP FACTORY AWARDS NIGHT- Last week 16 staff members attended the Awards Night, supporting our 4 trainees and their families. We are extremely proud of all four trainees and were so excited when Rachael Slattery was announced as the equal winner of Certificate III Education Sector! Congratulations to them all on their nomination and thankyou for your great contribution to our school. Certificate III Business Trainee Lingy Harhangi has secured a position at GV Water and will be leaving VRS on November 9th. Thankyou for brightening our front office with your cheery demeanour and all the best for your future career.

Annabelle, Rachael, Lingy & Charlee

QUALITY MUSIC EDUCATION FUND– VRS has made a successful application for funding to the 2018 Quality Music Education Fund. Music Teacher Troy Parker is looking forward to spending the $5,000 on new drumming equipment.

UPCOMING EVENTS Monday, November 5th School Council Day in Lieu—No classes on this day Tuesday, November 6th Melbourne Cup Public Holiday– No classes on this day Wednesday, November 7th Middle & Senior Years Athletics Carnival Wed-Fri, November 7th-9th Blackwood Bike Camp Thursday,, November 15th Panel Review Day Friday, November 23rd Super Hero Day All students enrolled at VRS have a right to feel safe and be safe. The wellbeing of children in our care will always be our first priority and

we have zero tolerance to child abuse. We aim to create a child safe and child friendly environment where children feel safe and are free to enjoy life to the full without any concern for their safety.

VERNEY ROAD SCHOOL

NEWSLETTER ISSUE #17 Novemebr 2nd, 2018 Principal: Janet Gill Kirkman Assistant Principal: Angela Buxton Website: http://verneyrd.vic.edu.au Email: verney.road.sch@edumail.vic.gov.au

PO Box 1551 Shepparton 3632 Phone 5821 8185

Fax 5822 2915

VICTORIAN GOVERNMENT SCHOOL SHADE GRANT PROGRAM– During the school holidays Telford’s erect-ed our new ‘Hayshed’ over our Bas-ketball Court in the Senior/ Middle Years playground. This is proving to be a very popular learning and play area with lots of netball and basketball being played at recess and lunch. It is also providing much needed shade for our students during PE lessons. CHEERLEADING CHAMPIONS– Our Dragon Cheerleaders had another win at the Australian All Star Cheerleading Federation Cheer & Dance Championships on the first weekend of the school holidays. (See article later in this newslet-ter) DAY IN LIEU AND MELBOURNE CUP HOLIDAY– There will be no school on Monday & Tuesday, November 5th & 6th, please enjoy this mid-term break! Jan Gill Kirkman Principal

HEALTHY EATING Chargrilled chicken and pineapple salad

To amp up the smoky-sweet flavour of this sensational chicken and

pineapple salad, sprinkle chargrilled corn kernels over the plate.

Ingredients

1/3 cup (80ml) pineapple juice 1 tablespoon brown sugar 1 tablespoon soy sauce 500 chicken thigh fillets, chopped 1 small pineapple, peeled, thinly sliced crossways 200g pkt 4 Leaf Salad 250g cherry tomatoes, halved 1 carrot, peeled, cut into long matchsticks 1 small red onion, thinly sliced 1 Lebanese cucumber, halved lengthways, thinly sliced

Method

Step 1 Combine the pineapple juice, sugar and soy sauce in a large bowl. Add the chicken and toss to coat. Set aside for 10 mins to develop the flavours. Thread the chicken pieces onto 4 metal skewers. Re-serve the marinade. Step 2 Heat a barbecue grill or chargrill on medium-high. Cook the chicken skewers for 3-4 mins each side or until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and cover with foil. Set aside for 5 mins to rest. Step 3 Meanwhile, cook pineapple on grill for 2 mins each side or until lightly charred. Step 4 While the pineapple is cooking, place the reserved marinade in a small saucepan. Bring to the boil over high heat. Cook for 3 mins or until mixture thickens slightly. Set aside to cool. Step 5 Arrange salad leaves, tomato, carrot, onion, cucumber, pineapple and chicken skewers on a large serving plate. Pour over marinade in the pan. Season

A29 FOUNDATION

DISCUSS THIS…

Meltdowns: identifying your child's triggers and strategies to cope.

Over the next few newsletters we will look at this issue of meltdowns versus tantrums. What is the difference, why do kids have them, what can I do to help my child. I hope you gain some useful and practical information to add to your parent “toolbox.”

WHAT CAUSES MELTDOWNS? There are so many reasons a child could have a meltdown. At Verney Road School we often see meltdowns associated with Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD). For children with this condition, the brain has trouble receiving and processing information from the senses. It leaves many children with anxiety and poor social skills for coping with school and every-day life. Even if your child is not diagnosed with SPD, a large percentage of routine meltdowns stem from a stimulation overload. Additionally, for children with ADHD, ADD, autism, dysprax-ia, or motor coordination problems, sensory processing issues often overlap with their other challenges. This is why understanding how sensory processing works and how any amount of sensory overload can cause meltdowns is critical for parents to understand how to cope and adapt. WHAT IS SENSORY PROCESSING AND SPD? If you imagine more than just the five senses, and instead imagine all of the sensations from the environment and our own body that we perceive. This includes:

Sight Hearing Taste Smell Touch Movement Body positions Internal body process awareness

Here’s an example to illustrate the difference between a person without SPD and a person with. If your hearing informs you that a scene on TV is too loud, then you can easily get up and turn the volume down. Or perhaps the sun is too bright, making it hard to see or to pay attention to what someone is saying because you’re distracted. So, you put on sunglasses and resume normal conversation. There are many forms of SPD, and each one can affect someone differently. In the above examples, one person with SPD may have an overwhelmed reaction from something much quieter or less obvious as the noisy TV. Another person with SPD may squint and cover her eyes from the bright sun, but not recognise the cause or how to regain stability. She may not be able to carry on the conversation or even keep walking – she is seemingly shut down, standing in the middle of the sidewalk squeezing her head with her hands.

Darren

DARREN MILES

SOCIAL WORKER

Semester 2 has been full of fun filled experiences. We have been busy with our learning and have progressed great distances Here are some pictures to show you our class. The remainder of the year is set to be a blast!

NDIS UPDATE On Monday November 12, Carmel Topp from AMAZE – Autism Victoria will be visiting our school to con-duct NDIS information sessions with individual families. Carmel has previously presented

NDIS workshops in Shepparton and other regional centres and is particularly skilled in assisting participants and their families in identifying and developing NDIS goals. Carmel will schedule 40 minute appointments beginning from 9.00 am and these can be booked through Stephen Kealy by contacting the school.

STEPHEN KEALY (FAMILY ENGAGEMENT OFFICER)

Child Safe Standards On October 22nd the Prime Minister Scott Morrison delivered an National Apology to victims and survivors of Institutional Child Sexual Abuse. As you know, Child Safety is very important to us at Verney Road School and it is very timely to let you know about one of the ways in which we keep your children safe. Verney Road School is very lucky to always have a team of very dedicated volunteers to support our work. Some will support our programs such as swimming or our VCAL Hospitality classes and others enjoy generally helping out in classrooms. And as much as we value their support, we are also very careful to make sure the volunteers we accept are well suited to the roles they play with our vulnerable students. This is why all volunteers go through a screening process. Not only do they need a Working with Children Check, but we also conduct a referee check to ensure their suitability to work with our children. If you have any questions about the processes we use, please get in contact. Angela Buxton (Assistant Principal)

art

We would like to congratulate Bella Gordon from Middle Years

B8 on receiving a High Achievement Award in the Statewide

Write4Fun Writing Competition, 2018.

Bella wrote a moving story, retelling and describing the

emotional time she went through after her Nan passed away at

the end of 2017. Her story called ‘My Beautiful Nan: A Loving

Presence’ will be published in a book with other finalists’ and

their writing pieces from schools around the state.

Congratulations Bella, we are very proud of you achievement.

A Loving Presence: My Nan

By Bella Gordon

Hi, my name is Bella and I am going to share a special story with you about my

Nan. Last year someone really special to me passed away. She is in the spirit world

now. I know she is looking over me and I can feel her loving presence.

When I found out my Nan was gone, I was desperately upset and I wanted to see

her one last time…just to give her a hug and tell her that I love her and I always

will.

As I approached my best friend’s house, she ran up to me and gave me a huge, but

sympathetic hug. She quietly said to me, “Your mum told me what happened and I

am going to look after you at school and help you throughout the day!” Mum sug-

gested in the evening that we travel to Newcastle early to help Aunty Kim with the

funeral arrangements.

I asked mum in the car if I could spend a couple of nights with Jess my cousin, as

I knew she would need someone to lean on too. Being with Jess was great as we

were able to talk about the wonderful times we had spent with our Nan over the

years.

Nan’s funeral was beautiful even though I was crying my eyes out! We placed some

Heavenly White Lilies on her coffin, which we all knew were Nan’s favourite flow-

ers. When I placed my carefully chosen flower on Nan’s coffin, it was a difficult

and sad moment, but I tried to imagine Nan smiling down upon me.

Then after the funeral, we went to my Uncle’s house and we had a nice lunch with

our family and friends. I was ‘hanging out’ and ‘chilling’ with my cousins, trying

to move on from the reason of why we were here.

After the ‘wake’, all I could think about was my Nan laying alone in her coffin. I

found it extremely hard to nod off to sleep that night. Maybe Nan was now an an-

gel in Heaven with large, soft, white wings and a glowing halo hovering above

her head. I hope that I will see my Nan again. One day.

By Bella Gordon

Australian All Star Cheerleading Federation Cheer & Dance Championships

In Term 3 we went to the PGL Adventure Camp. Some of the activities we did were raft building, abseiling, flying fox, giant swing, and sensory trail. We loved staying in our cabins and serving our own food at meal times. Everyone had an amazing time trying new things!