Judy Loudon

From Wednesday 16^th June to Friday 18^th June the Qld Association of Special Education Leaders (QASEL) held their state-wide conference. The theme of this year’s conference was ‘Building Collaboration, Confidence and Creativity’. Proudly on Thursday 17^th June we presented a workshop to approximately 25 participants. We celebrated our work with our strategic pillars, the importance of embedding inclusive practices, how our pillars braid with each other, and how each pillar uses tiered systems of support. Special thanks go to Carmel McGrath, Kay Bradley, Nick Fenton, Sandy Chambers and Natasha Andrews for attending and co-presenting the workshop with Judy Loudon. Special thanks also go to Melinda Norman and Jo Minto for making sure everything ran smoothly back at school on the day and contributing via video. Highlights of the conference included presentations by our State Education Minister, Grace Grace; our Director General Tony Cook and the guest speakers at the conference dinner Tim and Judy Sharp of ‘Lazer Beak Man’ fame. As a young man with Autism, Tim has certainly overcome many challenges in life to be celebrated worldwide for his art. Some of the best quotes of the 3 days were-

• ‘We are only as effective as our collective efforts.’- Ric Day, President QASEL
• ‘Giving students a life of choice rather than a life of chance’-Tony Cook, Director General DoE
• ‘Every school review is about inclusion’- Ms Deb Dunstone, Assistant Director General DoE
• ‘Education improvement requires adults to make sustainable changes in what they do. How can we activate others for change?’- Dr Simon Breakspear
• ‘Students want care, consistency and commitment’- Dr Steve Francis

Extension Programs

Students identified with gifts or talents at times may be offered additional extension opportunities outside of the school. Some of these opportunities are organised through the school such as High Achievers and Mini Festivals. Some of these opportunities, such as BRAINways, are not. Because BRAINways does not always notify the school of registered students for upcoming programs, some of which your child will be attending, please email your child’s Class Teacher and our Inclusion Coach, Judy Loudon on jloud6@eq.edu.au. To ensure consistency of absenteeism records please email absences@newfarmss.eq.edu.au with the date/s of attendance for your child/ren on the day or ahead of time so that our admin team can register the absence. Thanks for your assistance.

Did you know that Mr Fenton runs ‘Innovators of Tomorrow’ an extension program for STEM? Next term, Mr Fleming and Mr Lawrence are commencing a lunch time sporting extension program for Year 5-6 students. Ms Davies is also setting up an Art Club for lunchtimes. Ms Loudon is working with teachers regarding differentiating the teaching and learning for students with gifts/talents requiring extension, including the development of learning area Individual Curriculum Plans (ICPs). During Term 3 students in Years 1 and 4 will have the SAGES Screener conducted to screen for students who may have gifts/talents in literacy, numeracy and reasoning. If you’d like to know more about the screener, Individual Curriculum Plans, or the supports in place for students requiring extension please contact your child’s Class Teacher or our Inclusion Coach, Judy Loudon on jloud6@eq.edu.au