5 March 2020

Newsletter Articles

Important Dates

From the Principal’s Desk

The start of another decade and the school year is in full swing. 2020 just has this futuristic ring about it don’t you think - when I was young this was the time of the Jetsons. 2019 brought us the bushfires and Covid 19 virus- let’s hope 2020 is a better year for us all. A big welcome to all and a special hello to our all our new community members, whether they are staff or students. It was very pleasing to see so many parents/caregivers attend our IEP/ITP meetings. We started the year with 120 students and obviously have very limited capacity to enrol any more students.

We welcome Mrs Blake, Mrs Fuller and Mrs Barbagallo to our School Board. Our first meeting will be held on 19th March. If you would like to attend a school board meeting, please contact the office on 9351 2480.

During the school holidays there was a lot of work going on at both our campuses. We received some funding to address minor works as part of the State Government’s maintenance blitz. We will repair old guttering, do some painting and clear up water damaged areas, mainly at our senior campus. We also received another universal access toilet after requesting an audit last year. It is a transportable model but fully functional and will ease the pressure on the other universal access toilet on our middle school site. Our therapy centre is due for practical completion this week and we hope to have the certificate of occupancy to move in very soon.

We have also been given permission to lease a commuter van as part of a relaxation of State Fleet restrictions. It will be a Toyota Hiace GL commuter van with 12 seats. The lease will run for 6 years and we look forward to using the vehicle, especially with our seniors upcoming Busselton camp.

We publish eight newsletters a year via Schoolzine. Don’t forget to download the app- SZapp- look for our school and register as a user. Alternatively, you can access these newsletters via the news tab on the header of our website - www.canningtonesc@wa.edu.au. You can also get updates via our latest news tab. We have already done posts on the mobile phone policy, Covid 19, Connect and Kenwick Social Club. You can subscribe to get notifications from our website as they come to hand. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram. Finally, we are also introducing Connect so that parents/caregivers can communicate directly with their class teacher via email as well as get notices of events in their child’s class. It is voluntary and you can opt out. It is very important that parents/caregivers provide our office with up to date contact details.

Connect - Conditions of use for parents

1. Only parents or responsible persons as defined in the School Education Act 1999 and verified by the school will be given access to Connect.
2. Any person/s signing up for the service understands his/her responsibility for keeping the service access details (username and password) confidential.
3. The Department of Education does not accept responsibility for any event arising from unauthorised access or use of Connect.

Limits of the Service

The Department of Education provides Connect as an online service for teachers, students, parents and Department staff. Connect is a communication channel that schools may use to communicate with parents/guardians on matters impacting student education. The Department of Education does not undertake to provide all student-related information via Connect.

When using Connect, I agree that:

1. The information contained in Connect is personal and private information.
2. I will not interfere with network security, the data of another user, or attempt to log into the network with a user name and/or password of another user.
3. If I become aware of unauthorised access to my parent account I will immediately inform the school.
4. I consent to the logging, monitoring, auditing and disclosure of my use of Connect.
5. Any breach of these conditions for which I am responsible will result in my access to Connect being suspended or revoked.

Welcome to the following staff:

Andrew Wilson

Class Updates

7JS

7JS has been off to a busy start so far, getting to know one another and their new school. Week one and two were spent settling in and starting new and exciting subjects including woodwork, cooking, physical education and working out how to help and maintain plants for enterprise. Weeks three and four have seen us spend our mornings at the Cannington Leisureplex improving our swimming and water safety skills. It’s been a relief to jump in the water and cool off! Check out some of our experiences below:

Jacob Sands and Holly Coombe

Hannah cleaning pot plants for enterprise

7S

Welcome to 7S. It has been an incredible start to the year. Moving to a new school can be very challenging but all eleven students in 7S have amazed the staff by settling in so quickly, making new friends, getting to know the staff and adjusting to the timetable and routines in the classroom. I would like to congratulate all the students for their smooth transition into Cannington Community ESC.

Students are all participating well in the teaching and learning programs, the majority of which focus on literacy and numeracy skills as well as developing their independent living, social and communication skills. Students are all thoroughly enjoying their option classes this semester which include Design and Technology (woodwork), Physical Education and Home Economics (cooking).

Our classroom job roster, which changes weekly, is providing an opportunity for students to develop their responsibility, independence and team work skills.

Our enterprise project for this year is to sell potted plants. Students have started off the project by cleaning up an area in the garden shade house to store the potted plants, washing and cleaning donated pots and participating in creating a name and logo for the project. It is definitely going to keep us busy in the coming weeks as we are in the initial stage of setting up. We are lucky to have Mr Ryland (Ms Womersley’s son) who is a horticulturist, helping us with the project.

Weeks 3 and week 4 have been exceptionally busy as students were engaged in swimming lessons at Cannington Leisureplex. They have all been well organised in bringing their swimming gear and other accessories every day and also participating with enthusiasm and doing their best.

IEP meetings for this semester are complete. A big thank you to all the parents for attending.

Susan Solomon

Our class

8M

Welcome to 2020! We would like to extend a warm welcome to Winston and his family who are new to CCESC and 8MT this year. Winston is a very popular addition to our room and we look forward to working with him and his family throughout the year.

We have hit the ground running this year, having already completed a lot of our baseline testing. As a result, we are implementing Direct Instruction reading groups to further develop our reading skills. This is a very busy session every Tuesday morning and it is imperative that students arrive at school on time. This session enables us to cater to every student’s individual needs, as we also have Mrs Thomas join us for Literacy Support.

In other Literacy and PATHS classes we are reading the book “The Hundred Dresses” which focuses on compassion and understanding, which are vital traits to being a good friend. Making new friends has also been our focus so far this term. There have been some very awkward and funny moments during our role playing sessions. However, we are making good progress.

Maths rotations are working well on a Thursday. Mrs Thomas also joins us during these sessions. We get to participate in ten minute intensive 1:1 sessions focusing on money, time and number, interspersed with working independently on other math tasks. The chill out and Prodigy stations during this session are by far the most popular.

We have also commenced working on the Ignite Award and ASDAN modules. As part of Ignite we are undertaking some community volunteering and did a rubbish audit of things we found at Coker Park. Stay tuned for more exciting projects that we will be partaking in.

In STEM classes this term 8MT have enjoyed recreating famous landmarks. They have done this through experimenting and problem solving with a range of materials of their choice. The students have enjoyed this activity, often sharing and reflecting on their design ideas. They are now practising how to receive and provide constructive feedback to each other. The students are to be commended for their maturity during this part of the lesson.

Charline Martlew and Carissa Thomas

8S

8S students returned from their break with some apprehension but quickly adjusted to new routines and a new teacher. The first few weeks of the term included intensive relationship building activities and this incorporated students sharing important information with the class about themselves. This is an integral part of our "classroom values and expectations,” knowing each other and working as a team.

The students were very eager to get back into a school schedule and commenced an invigorating program of learning, both academically and within personal and social domains. The class decided to accept the challenge of an enterprise project - Squeaky Clean Laundry Services, and after advertising the service, were inundated with requests. All students will have an opportunity to learn how to use the washing machine and dryer, fold clothes/items and to develop customer service skills. These activities are part of the independent living skills learning area and will encompass many other practical activities that are part and parcel of transitioning to a more self-sufficient life as an adult.

The students demonstrated a voracious appetite for physical activity, and in addition to a weekly sports session with Mrs Thomas, will also access the gymnasium for a fitness workout once a week, plus continue with the morning wellness walk. It's great to see young people eager to maintain a good level of physical activity and to motivate their teacher to improve her own level of fitness.

In the English/literacy learning area, students listened to audio books and explored global issues such as discrimination, bullying and teenagers wanting to fit in. These concepts will be extended in the health learning area and students will make links between characters in fiction texts and real life situations.

8S students will have another opportunity this year to achieve certificates for the Ignite and ASDAN awards. The specific focus areas for both awards are integrated within the students' classroom lessons and this will provide ample teaching/learning segues for students to be successful.

Overall, it has been a great start to the year and we are looking forward to achieving more milestones each term. Thank you very much to all parents and carers for their support and to my wonderful team in 8S.

Pat Spadanuda

9C

Brendan Cunnane

9W

This term has started with a run and does not seem to have slowed down for us. We have welcomed 3 new students into our class, Kiara, Jaxon and Nathan. It has been exciting for our class to grow from 8 to 11! We have also welcomed Mrs Gale into our class fulltime – after having her on Wednesdays last year.

We are learning about Forces in Science this term – so far we have investigated the effect that friction has by using pull-back cars on different surfaces and measuring how far they go. We found that the lino in our classroom is the best surface because it has less friction. The grass on the oval was the worst.

In HASS we are learning about different multi-cultural celebrations around the world. We learn about the celebration early in the week and then on Friday after recess, we cook a dish that would be served at that celebration. For Hanukah we cooked Potato Latkes, for Diwali, Indian Flat Bread and Ramadan, Plum Gallettes. This gives us an opportunity to shop for ingredients, make the dish and sit together as a class and eat while we socialise.

Our garden suffered with the heat and neglect over the summer break, but we have been working hard on getting the weeds under control and the beds prepared for planting new crops in autumn. We have harvested some beautiful pumpkins, some gourmet eggplant and capsicums.

In Fitness this year we are mixing things up a bit and having a different fitness session each day. The students are enjoying learning basketball skills and yoga, as well as using the gym equipment once a week.

Bentley has returned and is attending school 2 days a week – mostly Tuesday and Friday – and has clearly missed seeing the students over the break – the feeling is obviously quite mutual!

Thank you to all the parents who have attended IEP meetings, either in person or over the phone! I am excited to be working with you and your child again this year and look forward to assisting them to achieve their goals!

Rhoda Whelan

Ready for the garden

10H

Year 10H commences Community Service

After returning to school from the summer holidays 10H has taken no time to launch into the year 10 curriculum. We are really enjoying taking part in the community service program, as it is an opportunity to give back to the wider community. Community service provides opportunities for students to develop the values, skills and understanding needed to contribute to the wellbeing of others.

This year 10H will be taking part in many activities including: cooking for the homeless, planting trees, Clean Up Australia Day, re-cycling products, R U OK Day, cooking for the RSL, Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea and Food Bank.

Last Thursday our class collected and delivered products from Food Bank and distributed them to each class to run our Breakfast Club Program. Each class was fortunate to receive breakfast goodies as it is so important for students to start the day ready to learn!

The chickens have arrived!!

As part of the BME program, 10H has taken on the chickens as their class project. Whilst the chickens enjoyed a long break at Mrs Whelan’s orchard, they are extremely happy to be back amongst the students. We have all had a crash course on how to care for their wellbeing and are already guessing how many eggs we will receive each week. It was great to see Ms Janes in her wellington boots surrounded by a brood of chickens. Please remember to save any food scraps for their supper. Happy laying!!

Year 10 girls enjoying the hospitality course

This term Sharnie, Crystal and Jasmine are completing a 7 week course in hospitality that is being run by GSI Industries. The girls are working towards independence as they have to catch public transport to and from the course. The course is run each Wednesday from 10:00am until 2:00pm.

The girls have said they are learning so much and it will be helpful for future work in the workplace learning program. When asked what their favourite part is, they replied: ‘Being able to make our own tea and coffee throughout the day.’

Judi Janes

Our hospitality students

10J

Wow, can you believe we’re already half way through Term 1, 2020?

Students in 10J have had a ripper start to the term and taken to their new WACE curriculum like ducks to water. The year 10 curriculum involves a mixture of SCSA endorsed and authority developed programs that will appear on the students’ academic transcript when they complete year 12.

In preparing for our bright futures, most of us have participated in our very first ITP (individual transition plan) meeting which involves talking about our life goals and making action plans for the future. The MAP process is inclusive and centred around the student voice, which ensures we remain focused on our students and their dreams which may include things like getting a driver’s licence, employment or living independently.

We have particularly enjoyed getting stuck into our recreational pursuits unit. Students have chosen from 3 options; swimming and snorkelling, sewing and craft, and YouTube. Swimmers go to the Cannington Leisureplex every Thursday to develop water safety, swimming and snorkelling skills. Students in the craft group are learning cross-stitch whereas the YouTube group are planning and filming for their own YouTube channels!

Students are also enrolled in Food Science, Design & Tech, CYPFS Career Coaching, Work Awareness, Community Service, DFES Cadets, eSafety, Workplace Learning and Business Management Enterprise. As you can see, it’s a well-rounded curriculum with plenty of opportunities to develop functional literacy, numeracy and communication skills. We certainly have our work cut out for us this year but we are up for the challenge!

Rachael Jones

Group 1

Hello from Group 1! This year Group 1 is the year 11 class, located in the main building at Sevenoaks. Mrs Brown is the teacher and Miss Baker and Ms Lister are the brilliant education assistants. We have nine students in our class and we would like to welcome two new girls, Jasmine and Charmian. They have both had a very smooth transition to Group 1 and have already made lots of friends!

We are learning about many things this term:

• English: Writing a blog post about our class
• Maths: Number, addition and subtraction
• Health: Aspects of a healthy lifestyle (mental, physical and social health) as well as setting and working on physical health goals
• Life Coaching: How to create goals and steps for success
• DFES Cadets: Bush survival

In addition to the huge amount of learning outlined above, the students have been working on creating a dream car that solves a problem in our world today. Pictured is Angus’ dream car, which flies and uses rechargeable batteries instead of fuel to reduce the environmental impact.

Individual transition planning meetings were a large feature in the past two weeks. We hope that everyone is happy and ready to work hard on their goals for the rest of the semester

Stephanie Brown

Group 1 students and staff

Group 2

The students in Group 2 have returned from their break eager and ready to tackle 2020. I think it is fair to say the highlight of the day for all the students is indeed our morning chats before gearing up to learn. The students have shown great maturity, in particular discussing classroom expectations and establishing classroom rules in D9. There have definitely been plenty of laughs whilst partaking in cooperative activities and getting to know each other.

The students have been busy tackling countless activities such as:

• English/ASDAN: demonstrating how to cope in a new environment.
• Maths: Adding, subtracting and rounding whole numbers.
• DFES: Learning all about beach safety and what to look out for.
• HPE: Focusing on relationships and identifying healthy and unhealthy behaviours.
• Skills journal: Looking into how to conduct yourself professionally when in the workplace.

Mustafa Hussein

Group 3

Group 3 have had a busy, yet enjoyable start to the year and it is pleasing to see the students settling in and getting familiar with new routines and new staff. We have a very outgoing class that is energetic, boisterous and social and they are starting to form solid friendship groups already.

We have had our MAP meetings this week as part of the ITP process and it was great to identify and revisit goals and celebrate how much we can achieve each year.

We have begun learning about changes and new routines in English and this has created some interesting discussions and blog ideas.

In HPE/DFES we have our first excursion to Cottesloe Beach booked for March. This will complement our theory lessons during DFES where we will learn practical beach safety skills. Some members of the class have begun water-polo and basketball team games at the Leisureplex and are learning basic game tactics.

In Maths the students have started Mathletics and new units of work, including money and time and enjoy counting their frequent flyer tokens and claiming rewards.

Most students have commenced ADWPL and are all travelling into the community to various locations with minimal fuss. It is exciting to see some students completing their SBT hours and starting their modules.

We had seven students attend the School Ball and it looks like most students will attend the Busselton Camp in week 9.

Dwayne Griffin

Pathways

We have had a great start to the year so far. The Pathways students have been busy participating in recreational pursuits activities. On Wednesday mornings the students enjoy mentoring the year 10 students using the exercise equipment in the gym at the middle school.

On Thursday mornings the Pathways students also meet with the year 10 class at the Leisureplex for swimming activities. The students love mentoring and encouraging the year 10 students. These activities will continue for the rest of the term.

We are all looking forward to a busy term with lots of events and programs such as: our senior school camp, a first aid course, Harmony Day, the cricket carnival and the “B Street Smart excursion.

Cindi Griffin

Design and Technology

Year 7 students have been introduced to woodwork. They have made a great start and are getting used to working safely in the workshop. They have completed a token holder for their classroom desk so they have a place to store their reward tokens earned during the school day. Students are working on a finger car which is a project they will be able to bring home. We are making projects designed to introduce the students to a range of entry level tools, machinery and skills so they can learn to be comfortable in the workshop and enjoy some success from finishing a project and taking it home.

As their first project, year 8 students are producing a pot stand. The pot stand requires students to undertake lots of accurate measuring and cutting to make the components. Small nails are used to assemble the stand which requires lots of concentration and hand eye coordination to be able to achieve a completed project that looks good.

Year 9 woodwork students are making a money box truck. Students are being introduced to the concept of building a project from working drawings. Many students find it challenging to relate a two dimensional drawing to a three dimensional model. Students are also using a parts list and ticking off components as they make them.

Money box truck

Year 9 enterprise students have begun a project that combines a community service and a recycling project. Students, with the help of the community, are collecting aluminium cans and crushing them. They plan to sell their crushed cans to a scrap metal merchant and donate the money to a charity. Students are going to monitor the market fluctuations in the scrap price of aluminium and decide when to sell to get the best price. Students will be collecting data about the types of cans they are collecting for later use in other subject area lessons. It is planned that students will investigate the aluminium mining and recycling processes as a part of this project. Year 9 students have a large green garden bag set up in the garden where all types of aluminium cans can be dropped off. For this project to work we need families to help us to recycle by separating their aluminium cans from their household rubbish and sending the cans to school with students. The garden gate is open in the morning before school for cans to be dropped off.

Alando crushing cans

Year 10 woodwork students have been making a spice rack. Students have used a jigsaw to cut out the side panels and watched as the shelves for the project have gone through the table router to give the shelf a fancy front edge. The project includes drilling and fixing skills during the final assembly, which some students will find challenging but rewarding on completion.

Year 10 DFES cadets have been introduced to the program and have been identifying all the services (largely made up of volunteers) which are coordinated by DFES. Students have also been learning about bushfire prevention, preparation and suppression, as a part of their coursework. The cadets have been learning to work as a team. They have been tasked with moving a large boat without touching the hull across the oval and building an emergency shelter with supplied components and no instructions! This week students sampled some dehydrated food. They had roast lamb with vegetables and minted mash followed by a hot apple crumble for sweets. Student opinions were varied as they offered their critique on taste and texture of the offerings.

Tradestart students have had a good start to the year. We are spending the early weeks of this course working on workshop safety inductions and looking at the general area of occupational health and safety in the workplace. An excursion is planned in early March to visit the Construction Futures Centre in Belmont to further investigate safe practices of work and to have a try at operating some virtual reality simulated experiences on a construction site. Students are making a small dog kennel model that requires them to study the details of a working drawing and cut and measure accurately to be able to complete the task.

Mark Arrantash

Stephen with his completed dog kennel model

Workplace Learning

Senior School

We have had an exciting and successful start to 2020. All year 11 students are participating in the workplace learning program, learning new skills and expanding old skills to become more independent and successful in the workplace. All of our senior students are participating in the program, whether it is attending a workplace regularly, working through a school based traineeship or learning and practising employability skills. We have several new and exciting employers who are willing to support our workplace learning program this year and we are looking forward to working closely with them to provide lots of meaningful experiences for our students. We would like to thank all parents and care givers for their support for the WPL program so far this year and ask that you keep encouraging your child to attend regularly so they can get the most out of this program.

Congratulations to Nic Fuller, Hugo Hendrawan and Zidane Hartono for beginning their school based traineeship with Australia Post. Impressively, all these young men began their work during the holidays and have settled into the new workplaces well.

Congratulations also to Allana Downing who acquired a volunteer position during the holidays and quickly learnt the travel plan to attend this placement independently.

Well done to all our senior students, we hope the start is an indication of how the year will progress.

Carollyn Pears

Allana checking the bus timetable

Sleep

Getting the right amount of quality sleep can give you more energy, improve concentration, help you better deal with stress and, you guessed it, keep you healthy mentally!

Quality sleep is like a mental health superpower. When you get enough sleep it’s easier to manage your emotions, you have more patience and you deal with stressful situations better. Also, you reduce your risk of mental health challenges in the future! Yet, it’s so common to struggle to sleep. That’s because your sleep can be impacted by many things – from the food you eat to feeling worried or anxious and even using your phone before bed.

So… how much is enough? If you have children aged between12-17, then they need about 8-10 hours sleep, while 18-25 year olds should try to get 7-9 hours. For all you parents out there over the age of 25, 7-9 hours is recommended with this only changing for the older adults above 65 years old who can often manage with a little less.

Here’s how those zzz’s can improve your headspace. It can:

• Give you more energy
• Improve your memory, attention and concentration
• Make you less likely to crave unhealthy snacks
• Help you better deal with stressful situations

March 8th -14th is Sleep Awareness Week, so it’s a great time to reflect on our sleep patterns and what we could do to improve them.

Michael Gradisar is a sleep expert from the National Sleep Foundation. Here are his quick tips for improving your sleep:

• At least an hour before bed, switch from video games, YouTube and social media to TV or watching a movie.
• Lower the brightness on your phone and computer screens at night. Some have features where you can automatically dim and change the colour of your screens to help you prepare for rest.
• If you find it hard to wind down, try a mindfulness exercise like one from the free Smiling Mind app.
• Try to sleep the same amount every night. An extra hour, every now and then, is fine – but any more can confuse your body clock.
• If you need to get up during the night, try to avoid turning on bright lights and hop back into bed quickly.
• Avoid caffeine at least six hours before you go to bed.
• If you can, avoid napping during the day.

For more helpful information about sleep and wellbeing, head to the link below.

Katherine Athanasiou

School Chaplain

I am the new school chaplain here at Cannington Community ESC. I am really enjoying getting to know all the lovely and friendly faces here. I have been welcomed and am feeling more and more like part of the team every day. Please feel free to come and say hi. I have six years of School Chaplaincy under my belt as well as many other forms of employment which have helped me become the man that I am today. You’ll catch me Monday to Wednesday at the middle school campus and Thursday and Friday at the senior campus. I love listening to and making music. I am a Kinaesthetic learner, therefore you’ll usually catch me outside doing hands on learning and physical activity. I’m a tall guy and enjoy basketball but don’t play. Please come and say hi and get to know me - give me a high five and let’s spread some positive atmosphere and continue to make this an awesome place to be a part of.

Justin Van der Westhuizen

Office Information

Payments

Thank you to everyone who has paid their contributions. Just a reminder you can pay your contributions by EFTPOS, direct debit or by a payment plan. Please contact the office to arrange a payment plan. All charges for years 11 and 12 students are compulsory. Please arrange payments as soon as possible. If charges are not paid, then the school can no longer subsidise your child’s excursions. Our bank details are BSB 016 270 A/C 340822406 (when using online banking please remember to state your student’s name in the details box otherwise we cannot identify the relevant student).

Middle School Parking

We have two visitor bays located at the school entrance. Please note that parking is not permitted in the drive way as indicated by the ‘no stopping’ markers and yellow line, as this causes a traffic jam on Wharf Street and is dangerous for students. Your cooperation would be appreciated. Parents are welcome to park down the side of the school near the bus bays.

Visiting the School

All visitors must sign in at Reception/Business Centre and receive a yellow visitor label.

Tanya Buchan

Star Tech

It’s been a busy start to the year. Ravi has taken up a position at another school and I’ve taken over providing IT support for the Education Support Centre. I’m working hard to ensure the Centre’s computer equipment is running smoothly. If you do have any questions about technology and how it can best be used, please let me know and I will answer your questions in this section in upcoming newsletters.

Pete Bazen

Information from the Community Health Nurse

Community Health Nurses in Secondary School

Welcome to the new school year. The clinical health nurses who work at Cannington Community Education Support Centre are Amy Myles and Vanessa Castel.

Community health nurses are skilled in assessing adolescent health needs, engage in health counselling with young people to identify issues, risks and protective factors, provide advice and brief intervention, assist with access and referral to other services, and provide follow up care. The services provided are free and confidential. The nurse is available as follows:

Vanessa - on Mondays at senior campus on 9356 4900
or
Amy – Monday to Thursdays at middle school campus on 9351 2480

Amy Myles, Community Health Nurse