Newsletter – Term 1 2019

2019 Staffing It is with great pleasure that we officially announce the FLO team for 2019. From Willunga High School:

• Pat Harman – FLO Coordinator • Warwick Peter – Core Teacher • Creena Baird – FLO Admin • Alex Kear – Learning Support • Lee Castle – Learning Support

From Mission Australia

• Natasha Boots – Program Manager • Josie Miller – Case Manager • Chris White – Case Manager • Harriet Beinortas –Case Manager • James Mangnoson – Case Manager • Danielle Quiney – Case Manager • Toni Liu – Case Manager

Welcome It has been a great start to the year, welcoming many new and familiar faces to our FLO site at Studio20, Aldinga. This has also extended to our staff as we welcome new Mission Australia Project Manager, Natasha Boots, and core teacher, Warwick Peter, to the team. Both have shown a great commitment to the FLO program and we look forward to continuing the partnership for the rest of the year. Term 1 It has been business as usual, inducting students into the program and enrolling them in a range of literacy and numeracy subjects, SACE accredited elective programs and TAFE and training courses. Warwick, Alex, Lee and myself have been busy supporting the students in class and establishing working relationships that instil confidence and accountability for learning. It has been an exciting time for our new young people as they realise what a privilege it can be to have a FLO enrolment. Many efforts are made to provide students with authentic and innovative curriculum that will benefit students post-school. Some of the additional programs we have offered this term are cooking, fitness, art, music and fishing. For more details on these programs please read on! -Pat Harman, FLO Coordinator

Farewells For those who haven’t heard, we have said farewell to long-time facilitators of the Willunga High School FLO program. Former Assistant Principal of FLO, Shaun Walsh, has moved on to a role as leader of another learning centre. After many years of service at Willunga High School we hope that he finds his new position a rewarding and fulfilling challenge. Kirsty Hewlitt-Parker the previous FLO Coordinator also said goodbye at the end of last year. Kirsty was an integral part of the team here and was always a massive support to staff and students. Her positive energy has definitely been missed at the centre. Without these two people our program would not be the success that it is today.

Learning Space – Term 1 Update What a busy and productive start to 2019. It’s important before we break for school holidays to take stock and reflect on the term that was, acknowledge what went well, any areas of improvement and consider where to next for the term ahead. SACE Compulsory Work Completion The focus on work completion has been excellent. Multiple students have completed the PLP in a term, a great effort. Many students undertaking the Research Project have been very determined to complete the subject this year with some students completing the Folio task, generally the most difficult assessment, this term. Again an excellent effort. Students have also been highly motivated to complete the Stage 1 Maths and English courses, some students completing the semester based subjects this term. Elective Courses A real positive for Term 1 has been the courses on offer for students to engage in. These courses provide students with the opportunity to learn new skills in areas of interest, find new interests/hobbies, improve health and wellbeing, develop personally and work on important life skills. Seeing students engaged in these programs has been a highlight for all staff this term and we look forward to more students getting involved next term. It is important to acknowledge the work of the staff who enjoy sharing their hobbies/passions with the student cohort. Music – Pat and Josie Art – James and Lee Fitness- Pat and Josie Cooking – Gee and Mandy (reconnect) Soccer – Chris, Warwick and Tyson Outdoor Ed. Fishing – Warwick White Card – ATEC

Areas for Improvement - Attendance and Breaks This is a key contributor to achieving success and SACE completion. It is important students attend FLO when required and stay in the Learning Zone for the designated lesson. We have reinforced the process around breaks with students this term and will continue this for the remainder of the year. Where to next? A couple of goals for next term. It would be great to see the positive mindset towards SACE completion continue, some students are set to complete the Research Project and other semester courses next term. Secondly, see more students getting involved in the elective courses. The current courses will continue with some new ones on offer including bushwalking and pallet furniture construction. Finally, on a personal note I would like to thanks all students and FLO staff for making me very welcome. It’s been great getting to know you all and looking forward to continuing the positive start for the remainder of 2019. Have a safe and enjoyable break. - Warwick Peter, Core Teacher 2019 Programs Gym Program Students have been working on their muscles (#gains) at Aldinga Recreation Centre in the gym program. We set up gym circuits to target different muscle groups each week, with different exercises to keep things interesting and develop new techniques. Some students are participating in the group circuits and some working independently on weights machines, tracking their weights levels and increasing them gradually each week. This has been a great way to create positive, healthy mindsets for FLO students and more are definitely welcome to join! -Josie Miller, Mission Australia

Music Program This year at FLO we have started a music group. This provides a space where the students are able to practise and build confidence with their instruments and voices. We have focused on learning to play together by listening to each other, and focusing on improving 3 main songs so far. These songs include: Hallelujah – Jeff Buckley, Therapy – All Time Low and Bellyache – Billie Eilish. We currently have 1 guitarist and 3 singers, supported by 2 staff (piano and guitar) and would love to have more people involved. FLO music runs from 1-2pm on Friday afternoons - please contact case manager Josie on 0477 712 933 if you are interested in joining, or speak to Mr Harman in class. One student has successfully started busking at Noarlunga and Aldinga shopping centres, and has gained cash donations for his hard work playing guitar and singing! There also have been students using music recording software to record raps they have written themselves, which can be arranged by discussing with staff! -Josie Miller, Mission Australia

FLO Sport This term has been about re-developing the Soccer program by adding Basketball to it, in order to give our FLO sports program a fresh approach for 2019. Numbers have been down this term, mainly because we had many soccer students leave FLO at the end of last year, but we do have a core group that have attended regularly this term, and conduct and respect with the program during games has been excellent as always. We have been playing our usual soccer game format at the Aldinga Rec Centre, but adding a game of basketball for the last 15minutes has given the program a new dimension for alternative sports to consider for future terms which is encouraging for FLO sports program planning. And there are some

excellent basketball players too which is great to see. Thanks to Warwick, Pat and Tyson from the school for supporting the program this Term 1, and all staff and students at the FLO program who have contributed and participated this term. See you all next term! -Chris White, Mission Australia Transition to Work Our Transition to Work program provider Anglicare have continued to deliver excellent services this term to our exiting students in regards to both looking for work, accessing short course training and becoming more job ready for their future beyond the FLO program. Our FLO students have been regularly attending fortnightly appointments with Jo & Caroline at Anglicare’s office at Christies Beach, and are actively engaged with looking for employment in their chosen career pathways with Jo & Caroline’s guidance to support them. The FLO Transition to Work program is an essential service for our exiting students, as it provides students taking their first steps into searching for meaningful employment with direct one-to-one assistance with an employment services provider team who are experienced with supporting young people who may lack the skills and local knowledge in identifying what kind of job they are looking for, where to look and how to apply. Thanks to Jo and Caroline for their continued support of our students, and we wish our departing students the best of luck for the future. -Chris White, Mission Australia Outdoor Ed – Fishing It has been exciting this term to add a new Integrated Learning program for Outdoor Ed. Which has been run by our teacher, Warwick Peter. The group have travelled to the Onkaparinga river several times to cast a line, but with no decent catches…yet! Stay tuned for Term 2.

Reconnecting with Food For several weeks in Term 1 a group of students were able to undertake a cooking course using the onsite kitchen facilities of Studio20. Georgina and Mandy from Mission Australia’s Reconnect service kindly offered to run the program, ‘Reconnecting with Food’, which had an emphasis on cooking nutritious meals on a budget, learning safe food practices and kitchen hygiene. The program provided students with their own cookbook of meals to take home and share with their families and perhaps to cook for the FLO community in the future? Well done to all the students who were involved with this.

Art Program The current cohort of FLO students have shown a great positive connection with the new arts program run by James from Mission Australia. The group have begun by learning sketching technique and will be trying their hand at different painting styles next term. It is planned that the participating students will complete a final submission piece by the end of the semester when will showcase their talents with a small art exhibition and some musical performances. Any student’s who are interested in joining the mentioned programs during the year should speak to their case managers or teaching staff. Not only are the programs beneficial to wellbeing and showcasing student talent, they are also linked to accredited learning which can assist with SACE completion.

Non-Engagement letters in Term 2 A reminder that maintaining a FLO enrolment requires that young people make an effort to attend their scheduled learning sessions and appointments with their case manager. Whilst we do everything we can to support students with their wellbeing, learning and future pathway, they are still accountable for what they can achieve. Letters will be sent home during the start of Term 2 for those who we have concerns about and we would urge you to please contact your child’s case manager or FLO coordinator, Pat Harman, to discuss engagement strategies for the future or potentially exiting from the program. This is particularly important for those over the compulsory school age of 17. -Pat Harman, FLO Coordinator We wish all the students and their families a happy and safe Easter and school holidays. Enjoy the break and rest up. We look forward to seeing what we can all achieve together in Term 2!

Don’t forget Case management services will continue throughout the Term 1 Holidays! Please keep in touch with your case manager and contact them if you are needing any support.