Term 2 has proven to be another busy term with significant events and activities on offer through each of our partner schools as well as through St Mary’s College. Primary interschool sport, the GAT, senior students work placements, excursions such as to the careers expo and city explore, reflection days, primary Walk to School day, Mass, feasts and founders days, performing arts camps and year 5 camp. Of particular importance this term was National Reconciliation Week and National Sorry Day where students and staff at all campuses attended ceremonies and activities that recognised the impact of Australia’s historical practices, policies and attitudes towards Indigenous Australians.
St Mary’s Campus Student Leaders met regularly to discuss and plan how to build a sense of community and belonging amongst our students and also to have a voice in things that are important to our students. Hearing Australia continued to support access to quality communication at school through regular visits, ear health and device checks and also providing advice on equipment to improve students experience through their personal listening devices.
Improving Learning
Live Captioning
We are excited to announce that from term 3, secondary students at our Dandenong and Ringwood campuses will have an opportunity to access live captioning of their teacher’s voice in class through a new service we are providing. CaptionConnect is an easy to use, cloud-based software that allows students to quickly and accurately convert speech to text in real-time using their laptop and a loop connected to the Roger transmitters already in use in classrooms. This adjustment will help with missed communication and also build literacy skills in students involved in the trial. We are looking forward to hearing from students their opinion of the product which we anticipate being able to expand to all our secondary campuses in 2024.
The Science of Reading
Our school annual action plan to improve reading through teaching that is based on research, has really kicked into gear this term with teachers of the deaf building their knowledge of how to analyse each small part involved in the process of reading, consider the impact of each student’s hearing loss and then target a specific skill to teach that will boost reading and comprehension. Students are central to this process and at the same time, are building their understanding of what they are learning and how they can use a variety of resources independently to keep learning happening even when teachers are not available to assist them. The idea is to create lifelong, independent learners that will be successful long after they complete their education with St Mary’s College.
Semester One Reports
St Mary’s College semester one reports have been published and are available to view on St Mary’s Parent Access Module (PAM). The report covers the curriculum and subjects taught by St Mary’s (EXP classes) as well as each child’s PLP which details progress towards their learning goals. Semester one reports from curriculum and subjects taught through each of the partner schools are available through their online portals (PAM, SEQTA or Schoolbox) or as a paper hardcopy (Holy Trinity). I encourage parents to discuss their child’s reports with them, celebrate their achievements and consider goals for next semester.
As we head into the term 2 holidays, I would like to wish all our community a safe and enjoyable break and look forward to seeing everyone back in July.
