Dear Parents and Community,

What a lovely third week it has been, both for me personally and for the school community. I went to the state-wide principals' conference last week. Although the plan is still in the consultation stage and revolves around key components of the department's equity and excellence plan, we were able to convey to the department important messages that will help our entire school community, including students and staff, to continue offering the best education possible. After the consultation phase, I'm excited to share the strategy with you. 

 This week, beyond school hours, our Parent and Community came together to continue making Mudgeeraba Special School the outstanding facility that it is. We appreciate everyone who attended and the Executive P and C team for their innovative delivery strategies and efforts to engage with our entire family and the larger community. 

Our additional junior secondary and senior spaces, which will be created alongside our new building, were made possible by an extraordinary $35,000 donation from the P and C. I want to express my gratitude on behalf of the entire school community for this gift and the opportunity it will give our pupils. Our outstanding team of occupational and physical therapists helped design the space and made sure that all students had access to the right tools for their learning. 

With the support of the P and C, we have approved moving forwards with this project, which will cost $82,000. 

Kind regards
Natasha Markwick
Acting Principal

First, we lined up the different animals to see which ones were bigger or smaller and made judgements about which animals we thought were heavier. The students in the class then used these estimations to weigh and record which animals were heavier then others.

Then we traced the itmes that the students weighed and measured them using counters. The Students then compared there recorded data to see if the heavivest items were also the longest.

On Wednesday 19th October Bravehearts delivered their Personal Safety Education Programs tailored to our Junior and Middle Students at 9.45 and at 10:45 for our Junior Secondary and Senior students. Bravehearts works to prevent child abuse by educating children and young people about personal safety, including body ownership, cyber-safety and consent.  The Bravehearts personal safety message is delivered in song by a presenter and Ditto the bear.  This message of person safety directly aligns to the Australian Curriculum Health and Physical Education units of work, the important work carried out by the Morcombe Foundation and our Day for Daniel Walk which is scheduled for Friday 28th October. 

Everyone has something to say!  Every day our young people at Mudgeeraba Special School work towards making their voices heard using Augmentative and Alternative Communication (AAC).  Teachers and Teacher Aides use evidence based practices and work closely with students using their individual Augmentative and Alternative Communication device, the school based PODD or Core Word boards to assist our student's to communicate with the world around them.  

AAC Awareness month has many learning opportunities available for our young people using AAC and their parents.  

Please find below a list of informative websites and organisations who are engaging in the positive sharing of information for AAC users.

According to the International Society for Augmentative and Alternative Communication (ISSAC), this year’s theme is “Show Your Voice”. Learn more about ISSAC, including their "Show Your Voice Discussion Series" event on October 26th. 2022, at this link: ISSAC AAC Awareness Month 2022

The Assitiveware website offers families a wealth of knowledge on introducing Core Words into your environment and they have offers on their applications for AAC awareness month.  

https://www.assistiveware.com/

On Friday our Senior Students have been undertaking Travel Traning.  The aim of Travel Training is to enable our students to gain independence and experience the commuity with the focus of gaining skills which will enhance their post school programming. Students are involved in selecting cultural events and destinations of interest.  

On Friday 14th October our students went to HOTA - The Home of the Arts where they viewed the gallery and engaged in art activities, including having lunch on the lawn in the arts precinct. A wonderful day was had by all our students.

After submitting their applications, some of our senior students were interviewed to be a School Captain in 2023. The students were asked questions from Karen, a member of our P&C, and Julie, from the Wellness Australia group, one of our business partners. They each did a magnificent job and should be extremely proud of their efforts. The School Captains for 2023 will be announced at an assembly later this year.

Held annually on the last Friday of October, Day for Daniel honours the memory of Daniel Morecombe. On Friday 28^th October, Mudgeeraba Special School will be participating in the Annual Day for Daniel Walk to raise awareness for child safety. We encourage all students to wear red in support of the event. Our theme for 2022 is brave conversations. We are encouraging the whole Mudgee community to start conversations with our young people about personal safety.  Mudgeeraba Special School will conduct child safety education activities.

Students at Mudgeeraba Special School were again invited by Karen Andrews MP to participate in her annual Christmas Drawing Competition. Each year Karen is amazed by the effort and creativity placed into their artwork. The winning design from entrants across the region will be featured on the front of Karen's Christmas card which will be distributed to over 70,000 households and win a bumper book and art pack. We wish our students the best of luck with some entries shown in the image gallery below.