St Lucy’s Newsletter | Friday 29 June 2018 1

TERM 3 2018Tuesday 24 July

Students return Term 3

Tueaday 31 JulyP&F Meeting 6.30pm

Thursday 9 AugustIEP Evening 3.30pm

Friday 10 August IEP Day 8.30am

Friday 24 August Book week Dress up Parade

Thursday 28 August Dressing Workshop 10.00am

Friday 31 August Father’s Day Liturgy and Stall

9.00am

Tuesday 11 September Sacrament of Reconcilliation

10.30am

Wednesday 12 September Key Word Sign Workshop 9.00am

Friday 28 September Last Day of Term 3

Ph: 9487 1277

Fax: 9989 8056

Principal: Mr David Raphael

29 June 2018ST LUCY’S SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

www.stlucys.nsw.edu.au

Dear Parents,

Confirmation:We had the pleasure of Bishop Peter A Comensoli visiting us this week and conducting our Confirmation Service. The following children were confirmed: Kwasi, Alexander S, Tayla, Ollie, William and his three sisters. They were very excited and it was wonderful to see the support from each family and the classes who attended. Please pray for each student as they continue their journey of faith.

Family Mass:It was lovely to see so many in attendance as Father David helped us celebrate our termly Family Mass in his usually loving and relaxed manner. The highlight was witnessing and supporting Lachlan (from our Narrabeen class) and his brother Louis being baptised at the Mass.

Visit from Catholic Schools Office:On Tuesday Mr Peter Hamill, Director of Schools from Catholic Schools Office of Broken Bay Diocese, came to Morning Song, had a tour of the school and visited Comet classroom. Mr Hamill commended the staff for their hard and devoted work as well as the children for having such a happy school when he spoke at Morning Song.

Supported School Transport and transition to the National Disability Insurance Scheme:The Australian Government is currently asking for consultation from various stakeholders for input into either maintaining current arrangements for Supported School Transport from NSW or potentially undertaking a new model for Supported School Transport in the NDIS. There is a discussion paper outlining the proposal. The consultation period is open until 20th July 2018 and can be accessed at www.engage.dss.gov.au.0

All schools and parents that use the Assisted School Travel Program are urged to read the Discussion Paper and make a Submission. St Lucy’s is making a submission to maintain the current system by NSW and not include it in the NDIS because to do so would not give parents certainty that such a scheme would be reliable over the life of the child at school. This is because, in our view, there is a very real possibility of the service being cut back at each annual review point for families in their NDIS plan.

Film Crew at St Lucy’sIn the second week of Term 3, Monday 30th July to Friday 3rd of August a television crew from Attitude Pictures in Auckland will be filming at St Lucy’s.

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

St Lucy’s Newsletter | Friday 29 June 2018 2

ST DOMINIC’S DAY

CELEBRATING 80 YEARS OF ST LUCY’S

St Lucy’s School, Wahroonga Invites You to Join Our Celebration of St Dominic’s Day

Date: Friday 3rd August | Liturgy: 10:30am-11.00am | Black and white mufti dayParents can return at 1.15pm to see the Knox Pipe Band perform.

The story will focus on St Lucy’s as the educational benchmark for children with learning difficulties; examining the programmes, therapies, community involvement and support that makes St Lucy’s a special place for students and their families.

Attitude is a weekly documentary programme and website platform that focuses on the specific interests, issues and lifestyles of those living with a disability or health condition. Attitude are known for their sensitive and ethical approach to filming. During their 27-year history, they have made more than 500 documentaries educating people about important issues that might otherwise go under the radar.

NAIDOC Week Celebrations:This week we have seen the Torres Strait group, Wyniss, come and entertain our students in a wonderful and very entertaining concert. Today we have furthered the cause in a Liturgy in Celebration of the Aboriginal People of Australia. Thank you to the Geyser class for preparing this whole school liturgy.

Mufti Day Tradition:Students dressed in the bright colours of the Aborriginal and Torres Straight flags to celebrate NAIDOC week and donated a gold coin to the Mudgin-gal, a branch of the Redfern Foundation. We also welcomed a corporate group from Bench who cooked our BBQ lunch which, as usual, the children greatly enjoyed.

As we come to the end of another busy term, I trust you enjoy some time together as a family. Remember Vacation Care is running and is fully booked at this stage for the first week of the holidays.

David Raphael Principal

St Lucy’s Newsletter | Friday 29 June 2018 3

Supernova class have been composing mixed media images, using water colours, crayons and our new rubbing plates that were generously donated to the art studio. How lucky are we!

Meteor class have found themselves amongst the universe, mapping out planets and giving some extra attention to the wonderful planet earth - and don’t worry we didn’t forget our moon or stars!

This week St Lucy’s welcomed Torres Strait group, Wyniss, to perform their traditional songs and dances for us as part of our NAIDOC week celebrations.

After acknowledging the Darug and Ku-ring-gai people, the traditional caretakers of the lands on which St Lucy’s stands, the talented Wyniss musicians showed us how culture and history are passed down through songs filled with beautiful harmonies, and traditional dances. The dancers showed us how to use our hands to represent sharks, fish, planes taking off, rainbows, and the students participated beautifully. Singer and musician, Aunty Nora explained the stories behind the movements. The

musicians named their group after a beautiful emerald green monitor lizard called a Wyniss, which is only found in Australia on the islands of the Torres Strait.

St Lucy’s would like to express much gratitude to Dixon Advisory, who fund the Music Viva In Schools program. This provides an invaluable opportunity for students to experience a range of performances in a safe and familiar environment to help build their connection with the arts.

We hope to see Wyniss perform at St Lucy’s again next year.

Many thanks to the parents who attended the Music Viva Parent Engagement workshop last week! In a workshop lead by music educator, Sue Lane, the group learned of the story and traditions behind the performance of Torres Strait group, Wyniss. Sue lead the group in understanding the beats and rhythms of their music, and taught some of the movements used by the performers in their traditional dances. It was a great session for parents to have a laugh, connect with one another, while also opening us up to the rich life and traditions of people of the Torres Strait. Thank you to Music Viva for all their work in organising this special workshop.

The July Creative Arts Holiday Program is now full. Thank you to all families who enrolled. We are looking forward to a fun and relaxing week for the students as St Lucy’s Creative Arts staff guide them through various activities each day.

Lucy EggerActing Creative Arts Coordinator

CREATIVE ARTS NEWS

WYNISS Performance

Musica Viva Parent Engagement Workshop July Holiday Program

St Lucy’s Newsletter | Friday 29 June 2018 4

2018 Focus On Ability Short Film AwardsSchools Short Film section

We’re excited to announce that our school’s short film SUPERHERO PARK is a finalist in the NOVA Employment 2018 Focus On Ability Short Film Awards.

Celebrating ten years this year, the Focus on Ability (FOA) Awards is designed to encourage filmmakers to focus on the ability of people with disability. They certainly do that! Check out last year’s winners in our category (they’re pretty good!):

Judges Choice Short FilmWinner - Kellyville High School King Jack

Judges Choice DocumentaryWinner - Carlson School Yes We Can

Most Online VotesWinner - Bass Coast Specialist School We Are Here

ST LUCYS is in the running to win one of these great prizes: • Judges Choice – Short Film: SMEG appliance package valued at $15,000

• Most Online Votes – schools: OLED TV (RRP $4099) with Dolby Vision & Atmos Sound Bar (RRP $1499) plus $5000 cash

• NOVA Employment School Choice Awards: Five winners each receive $1000 cash.

This is where you come in!Even though we’re confident that the judges will love our film, if our local community gets behind us,

we can win the Most Online Votes!

Voting starts 20 June and concludes 3 July: http://www.focusonability.com.au/

Voters go in the running to win a $50 iTunes vouchers, but you can only vote once in each category. The six categories are: • Australia & New Zealand Schools Documentary • Australia & New Zealand Schools Short Film • Australian Open Documentary • Australian Open Short Film • International Short Film • International Documentary.

If we win, we get to attend a red-carpet gala awards night in Sydney on 5 September!

About FOA: This year’s FOA competition hit a record number of 297 entries, including 131 school entries and 63 international films. Following successful screenings last year in New Zealand, New York and Zimbabwe, this year the competition received entries from

a record number of countries 26, including Pakistan, Iran, Tunisia and Hong Kong.

FINALIST!2018 Focus On Ability Short Film Awards

St Lucy’s Newsletter | Friday 29 June 2018 5

Arcus: Diesel GreyAurora: Gavin HunterComet: Madison GarciaFire Rainbow: Lucas CheungGeyser Nicholas AntounHalo: Jake TownsendLightning: Mia RichardsonMoonbow: Jamie Hunter

Meteor: Oscar OsborneLightning: Mia RichardsonNorthern Lights: Kwasi AdukonuSea Circle: Charles ShaoSupernova: Luke Barnes & Toby PoolTornado: Annika SashikumarWhirlpool: Gidon BudaiZephyr: Benson Hiser

Arcus: Nikki HerbertAurora: Kinsley WooComet: Elijah DodmanFire Rainbow: Alex CrowleyGeyser: Matthew HayesHalo: Karuka UthayakumaranLightning: Eli FamiltonMoonbow: Trey Simon-Pritchard

Meteor: Will Osborne & Eva OlivaresNorthern Lights: Israel Wood & Alex SquiresSea Circle: Tommy GreerSupernova: Shamro Murad & Joshua GillTornado: Luke DonaldsonWhirlpool: Saskia RobertsZephyr: Sophia law

ST LUCY’S CLASS AWARDS

STAR OF THE WEEK 8, 22 JUNE 2018

STAR OF THE WEEK 9, 29 JUNE 2018

SCHOOL FEES REMINDERTerm 2 school fees were due on 13th May 2018. If you are having difficulty with payment please email nicolef@stlucys.nsw.edu.au Thank youNicole Foxall

SATELLITE NEWS

Miss Jones enjoyed visiting Tornado and Meteor classes to participate in the InitiaLit lesson.

Meteors had a fabulous day at The Observatory as part of their “Sky & Beyond” work unit. They looked through the oldest telescope in Australia, made & decorated their own “Saturn planets” and the highlight...got to dress up as Astronauts!!

St Lucy’s Newsletter | Friday 29 June 2018 6

St Lucy’s has got football fever! Students have spent the last two weeks working on soccer skills such as dribbling and kicking. We have been having so much fun scoring goals with the new World Cup team soccer balls!

Thank you to the Noonan Family (Maggie- Whirlpool Class) for their generous donation to our bike shed! What a great addition to our Bike Riding Program in PE.

If you have any helmets that your children have out grown that are in good condition we

can always use them here at school.

St Lucy’s has got football fever! Students have spent the last two weeks working on soccer skills such as dribbling and kicking. We have been having so much fun scoring goals with the new World Cup team soccer balls!

St Lucy’s has got football fever! Students have spent the last two weeks working on soccer skills such as dribbling and kicking. We have been having so much fun scoring goals with the new World Cup team soccer balls!

St Lucy’s has got football fever! Students have spent the last two weeks working on soccer skills such as dribbling and kicking. We have been having so much fun scoring goals with the new World Cup team soccer balls!

Thank you to the Noonan Family (Maggie- Whirlpool Class) for their generous donation to our bike shed! What a great addition to our bike riding program in PE.

If you have any helmets that your children have out grown that are in good condition we can always use them here at school.

Cross Country- Bradley HitchcockThank you Noonan FamilyOn Friday 15 June, Bradley Hitchcock from the Geyser class competed in the Polding Cross Country Championships at Eastern Creek. Bradley finished first in his division and will now compete in the PSSA Cross Country State Championships in July. What an outstanding achievement- good luck Bradley!

Julia Murphy, PE Teacher

NEWS FROM PE DEPARTMENT

St Lucy’s Newsletter | Friday 29 June 2018 7

Dear families,

Here we are at the last week of term, and about to head into a three week school break. I hope everyone has a safe and peaceful time and I look forward to catching up again next term.

Remember for next term, we have our cochlear support group, Wednesday Week 4, 1pm-2pm

As you may be aware, our wonderful Occupational Therapist, Megan, has left St Lucy’s to pursue new opportunities. Ever the professional,

she has still emailed in a contribution to the newsletter, below. We miss her a great deal already, and we wish her all the best in her new role. We’re currently working on getting a new OT into the school and we’re hoping to get someone great to join the team as soon as possible.

We’re keen to make sure we offer workshops which are useful to you. To help us to do this, we’d really appreciate it if you could take a bit of time to answer a quick survey about it. It’s very short, and will really help us plan a worthwhile calendar of events for you next semester. https://tinyurl.com/yd3xhatb

For the last week of term and the beginning of Term 3, we’re focussing on the word “where”. We’re talking about it in morning song, practising the sign together, and using it around the school. Here’s a link to the video we’re watching in morning song each day - https://tinyurl.com/stlucyswhere

If you’re looking for a good model of any sign, I would always suggest checking out the Auslan Signbank. Here’s a link to their entry for “where” - http://www.auslan.org.au/dictionary/words/where-1.html

“Where” is a great word for discussing the location of things, and so can also open up great opportunities for working on prepositions. Personally, one of my favourite books to sign along with is “Where is the green sheep?” Give it a go, it’s fun, Let me know if you see any great gains by focussing on this word.

For kids with sensory processing issues or sensitivities, cutting their nails can be extremely stressful (for BOTH of you!)

Here are some tips that may help, but remember that each child is unique and so there is no perfect recipe to make nail trimming a bit easier.

1. Nail clippers can look scary. Buy a pair of “kid-friendly” nail clippers that are more visually appealing e.g animal shaped clippers.

2. Determine if you really need to use clippers If your child can’t tolerate these - experiment a little e.g try using baby nail scissors that have a rounded tip will be less irritating and invasive. Another magic trick is to try using a nail file. It can take longer, but if your child is more tolerant of the file it is a win win situation!

3. Before nail cutting, ask if your child wants to squeeze putty, play-dough, or a stress-ball. The heavy work/deep pressure input helps to reduce tactile sensitivity.

4. Having your child hold a vibrating toy in his/her hands prior to or during nail clipping might help. The vibration can help “desensitize” the area prior to nail clipping. Another option is to “brush” each nail with a toothbrush prior to clipping each nail. Using a vibrating toothbrush combines both of these methods.

5. Consider cutting nails after bath-time when the nails are the softest (this can make them easier to cut).

6. Another option is pressing down gently on the centre of each nail prior to clipping. This might help temporarily reduce the sensitivity.

7. It might be easier for your child if you cut their nails while they are watching a favourite TV show or movie. Cut your nails/siblings at the same time. It may also be easier to do one nail a day so that it is not a mammoth task that causes anxiety.

With the school holidays around the corner, it pays to remember that kids love routine, so while it’s great to have some down time to relax, often adding a little structure can save you big headaches down the track.

An ideally balanced schedule would include a mix of down time, fun and helpful activities across the day, but many families find it really important to have a more relaxed, less structured feel

to their holidays, which is understandable. Consider doing your future self a big favour though, and try to keep as much routine and structure as you can around sleep and morning routines. If you can keep regular routines going for bed time and getting up in the morning throughout the holidays, you’re less likely to have a major battle getting out the door when school starts back up.

Secondly, did you know that the Carer Line is available 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday on 1800 242 636. If you need to have a chat with someone who will listen and understand why not give them a ring?

Steve Davies, Speech Pathologist /Head of Therapy Services

Speech Pathology: Word of the Week ‘WHERE’

Occupational Therapy: Tip of the week

Psychology: Food For Thought

https://tinyurl.com/stlucyswhere

THERAPY UPDATE

St Lucy’s Newsletter | Friday 29 June 2018 8

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND PASTORAL CARE

During July, NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life.

We acknowledge the Darug and Guringai people on whose land St Lucy’s now stands.

NAIDOC Week Liturgy: Today we celebrated NAIDOC Week as a whole school with a beautiful liturgy led by the Geyser Class! Thank you to all who prepared and facilitated this experience for our community.

Thank you also to all families for supporting this occasion with your gold coin donation. Over $150 was raised which will be sent to The Redfern Foundation in support of Mudgin-Gal which helps indigenous women in and around Sydney.

HOPE Mass: A HUGE thank you to those who attended the Holy Name HOPE Mass on Sunday 17th June! The Mass was indeed one big celebration of fun, light and diversity! Our Percussionistas performed beautifully for those who had gathered, and many other students helped with the singing and reading and bringing forth the gifts at Offertory. We look forward to you joining in with the next HOPE Mass on Sunday 16th September.

St Lucy’s Family Mass: At our recent Family Mass we were able to share in the joy of the Baptism of Lachie and his younger brother, Louis! Lachie is one of our Year 1 students in our Narrabeen Satellite Class, and he was joined by his younger brother, parents, family members and friends for a very special occasion. Fr David provided a beautiful Mass for all who were gathered! Many of the St Lucy’s community members also came to share in this exciting moment. Congratulations Lachie and Louis!

Sacrament of Confirmation: On Thursday 28th June, the community of St Lucy’s was able to celebrate a very special occasion with five of our students and three siblings! This occasion was them receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation! Both Bishop Peter and Fr David helped make this a very memorable moment for our children and their families and friends. Congratulations to Tayla, Ollie, Alex, Kwasi, Will and Will’s three sisters Ellen, Grace and Emma!

Congratulations! Congratulations to Tommy in Sea Circle class who, along with his mum, dad and many brothers welcomed a little sister into the world last week! We pray that little Amelie will bring much joy and blessings to her family, and we have no doubt she will be well loved and protected by her big brothers, especially Tommy!

Wishing you peace and blessings!Vanessa Dillon.

Join in the fun to fundraise for Week Without Words‘Week Without Words’ is a St Lucy’s School awareness and fundraising campaign to give our students the tools they need to communicate. 95% of St Lucy’s children have a communication disability. They need innovative communication systems and

speech therapy so that they can have a voice!

The campaign officially started in May but you can host or enter an event any time of the year. Below are some suggestions on how you can fundraise for Week Without Words.

The aim of the Week Without Words to raise funds which will help us give all of our students a voice through the use of: Speech therapy, communication systems such as ipads and Proloquo2Go licences, Literacy for Life reading program and programs to address challenging behaviour which relate to communication.

For any enquiries on fundraising for Week Without Words, please contact Alex Fisher alexf@stlucys.nsw.edu.au

We would love your support!

CITY2SURF

HOST A MOVIE NIGHT

SUPPORT OUR RAFFLE

GO SILENT AND GET SPONSORED

TOUGH MUDDER HOST AN EVENTSunday August 12 2018 November 17 & 18 2018

Step 1: Register at city2surf.com.auStep 2: Go to www.everydayhero.com.

au/event/weekwithoutwords2018 to start fundraising for St Lucy’s

Go to www.everydayhero.com.au/event/weekwithoutwords2018 to start fundraising for St Lucy’s

Between 01 September and 05 December we will be launching

our online Week Without Words raffle

If you wish to go silent to support Week Without Words go to

www.everydayhero.com.au/event/ weekwithoutwords2018

Step 1: Register at toughmudder.com.auStep 2: Go to www.everydayhero.com.

au/event/weekwithoutwords2018 to start fundraising for St Lucy’s

Host a dinner party or morning tea Go to www.everydayhero.com.au/

event/weekwithoutwords2018 to start fundraising for St Lucy’s

St Lucy’s Newsletter | Friday 29 June 2018 10

This year, Book Week commences on the 17th August through to the 24th August, 2018. The Theme is ‘Find your Treasure’. So let’s enjoy the treasure of reading by embracing our St Lucy’s Reading Challenge, starting Wednesday 1st August, 2018, remembering that all our children are invited to enter! Your child just needs to be immersed in a story which could mean reading, listening, watching, and/or looking. Each child who participates will receive a ‘Certificate of Achievement,’ and the top 10 readers will receive a book, with a name plate, to celebrate their achievement.

We will be having our Book Week ‘Dress up Parade’ on Friday 24th August, 2017, straight after Assembly. The children will parade around the playground in their character costumes and we will have one prize for ‘Most Outstanding Costume,” which will be presented in Afternoon Song. This year we will be joined by some budding authors from Our Lady of Dolours Primary School Chatswood. The Year 5 students at Our Lady

of Dolours have been busily writing children’s picture books that will be officially published, presented and donated to our children. We hope everyone gets involved and enjoys our special Book Week this year.

Leanne Ledlin St Lucy’s School Library

ST LUCY’S BOOK WEEK ACTIVITIES

BOOK WEEK PARADE 24 AUGUST