News

Beginning Year Mass – Stepping up to the Potential of One
Thursday morning 16 February we celebrated with a wonderful whole school Mass with Fr Dean and Fr Michael. The theme of the mass was ‘stepping up to the potential of one; the potential of ourselves, our school community, local community, national community and global community'. The Mass also acknowledged ‘World Read Aloud Day,’ with the significant understanding that the Catholic Church has a great history of educating the poor through reading of the bible and other texts. 

The theme of our Opening Mass and World Read Aloud Day reminds us that in our abundance we are called to be our best for others.

Working Bee – Stepping up to the potential of our School Grounds
Thank you to everyone involved in our whole school working bee. Barking, gutter cleaning and weeding were some of the tasks completed during the morning. Special thanks to Emma Herring and Kylie Ind for manning the barbecue and drinks area. Thank you also to Gambier Earth Movers for assisting us with the delivery of extra bark on the day, as well as to Trent Eitzen, whose small bucket loader ensured that we halved the normal time to distribute bark across the whole school grounds. 

As principal, it was heartening to witness the wonderful family, can-do, team approach and it was pleasing to also see new families meet other families in our community.

Farewell our Chinese Visitors
Our Chinese visitors have departed and indicated to me that they took with them wonderful memories of a welcoming community which challenged their beliefs and practices about faith formation, learning and wellbeing in schools. The students and teachers enjoyed a range of experiences including intensive English tuition, classroom observation, tours of the region and specific seminars on a range of topics which helped them appreciate some of exciting initiatives within the College community, as well as how we view a child’s learning. 

I firstly offer deep appreciation to the families who extended their hospitality and care to the student delegation. Secondly I thank the staff who facilitated the visit, lead by the wonderful organisation of Annie Clifford. Liza Couzens, Suzanne Pepe, Nathan Hayes, Bo Wei Xu and Malcolm Wighton all ensured that our visitors were well supported in an ‘Annie Clifford deep care and attention to detail’ way.

Our Chinese visitors also appreciated the seminars that were offered by Jennie Sanderson and Tania Sigley (Wellbeing), Domenica Dunn (Early Learning), Dan Stratford (High Performance Sport Program), Jen McCourt, Chris Lloyd and Tom Linnell (Sustainability and Stephanie Alexander Program). Finally, a sincere thank you to classroom teachers who opened up their learning environment to our visitors, while also establishing new routines and relationships with their classes. 

Congratulations and thank you to all who made the visit an outstanding success.     

Wellbeing and Resilience Course for Parents
Last year all our staff and interested parents were trained in the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) course. The course comprises five modules, which is 10 goals of the SAHMRI, Wellbeing and Resilience Centre, ResilienceWerks Course. 

I invite parents to express interest in the first of the parent training courses, which will be conducted this year from Week 6, Tuesday 7 March. The courses will then continue for five weeks for two hours per week on 14, 21, 28 March and finally 4 April. 

More information will follow but I urge parents to consider the course. What better way to assist your children develop wellbeing and resilience skills than to learn, practise and reinforce them at home. To book early for the course please contact Mary de Nys on 8725 5455.

Interschool Swimming Carnival Success
Last Friday’s success in winning the Interschool Swimming Carnival was outstanding and the third successive win for the Tenison Woods College team. I offer congratulations to all the students involved for their achievements and their teamwork, but also their pride in representing the College. Special thanks to Ciaran Buckley, Morgan Fisher and the HPE staff, as well as other supporting staff and parents for a very well organised swimming team; all which paved the way for landmark results.

Pathways Support for Students at Tenison Woods College
Tenison Woods College recognises the distinctive worth and uniqueness of each student and we endeavour to cater for the learning needs of all the students as they pursue pathways according to their aspirations, talents and dispositions. I am thrilled with the work of the school’s Pathways Support team, which is a critical support to students and families in developing such authentic pathways in their child’s learning. 

Our Director of Learning, Scott Dickson, supports the team including:

• Francesca Dickson (R-5)
• Alex Window (6-9)
• Louise Abraham (10-12)

This team facilitates the support of all students who have particular gifts, talents and learning requirements. In the case of students who require support in accessing learning experiences, the Pathways Support Coordinator facilitates the assistance provided by the teachers in modifying content and expectations. Students who are diagnosed with a disability also receive support provided by Special Education Support staff. This assistance is allocated according to disability and need. The assistance offered to students can be in a number of forms including:

• Being part of the Poplars small groups
• Working with an Education Support Officer on a program planned by the class or Pathways Support Coordinator
• In class support from an Education Support Officer
• Small group support on a program designed by class teacher or Pathways Support Coordinator
• Testing and observation by Pathways Support Coordinator.

A range of programs are conducted depending on need at any given time:

• Fine and Gross Motor skills
• Speech and Language Group
• Articulation Group
• Social Skills groups
• Relaxation Program
• Anxiety Program.

The Pathways Support Coordinators are also supported by the wider community through:

• Community Health – Speech and Occupational Therapy Departments
• Autism SA
• Down Syndrome Society
• South Australian School For Vision Impaired
• CEO support – Special Education Consultant and Behaviour Education Consultant

The Poplars
The Poplars is the Special Education Unit of Tenison Woods College, which provides for students with more significant needs requiring a more modified program. Manager of Poplars Gill Clayfield indicates that the aim for all students who attend Tenison Woods College’s Poplars Unit is to ultimately attend mainstream classes. For some, this is achieved quickly, while for others this does not happen so quickly. Some students remain part of the Poplars for all of their lessons, however this is rare and is only for students requiring support in all daily living skills. Within the Poplars, there are a number of small groups catering for 40 students.

Individualised learning and a program tailored to the individual needs of each student is a key aspiration of our learning community. Staff in the Pathways Support and Poplars teams offer a very significant service to the families of our school community. I am delighted at the appreciative testimonies offered by families, students and colleagues already this year.  Should you require particular support to enhance the learning of your child, I invite you to discuss their needs with your class teacher and consider involving the Pathways team to assist with discerning the best way forward.     

Parent Representatives R-7
We are finalising the list of parent representatives in each class and look forward to meeting with these individuals to discuss how they can support staff in building our community. 

The nature of the parent representative role will differ according to the developmental age of students in the class. The involvement of a Reception parent representative will differ to that of a Year 7 representative. Younger age groups tend to rely on active support and more than one parent representative for each class. On the other hand, we appreciate that developing adolescence brings with it a growing sense of independence and the parent representative role for this cohort may be to facilitate parents in connecting and navigating areas of adolescence.

Parent representatives will assist the classroom teacher in welcoming families to the class and the school. They will also be involved in liaising with families and the teacher to facilitate strong communication and provide a sounding board for parents in relation to questions or concerns they may have about their child’s learning and wellbeing.

Where appropriate, a parent representative may facilitate or co-ordinate gatherings for parents and families in the spirit of strengthening positive relationships. Each parent representative will meet with the classroom teacher on a fortnightly basis and may wish to submit items to be published in the class newsletter.

God Bless,

David Mezinec | Principal