A MESSAGE FROM OUR LEARNING SUPPORT TEACHER
Continuity of learning support
Home learning will be a challenge for many families. I want to offer my support in any way that will support your child’s wellbeing and learning at home. Some ways I can support your child are as follows:
I can support parents by providing an individual visual schedule for use at home:
A daily schedule can help reduce anxiety in children, as it can provide a necessary structure for some children.
Schedules can motivate children to develop independence.
Visual schedules can support children who require extra processing time and to allow them to refocus on the task at hand.
I can provide social stories to explain change in routine, coronavirus, and why students are not at school.
I will liaise with relevant allied health professionals to determine appropriate /relevant /high priority learning tasks, e.g. speech pathologists, occupational therapists, psychologists.
I can collaborate with your child’s class teacher to identify specific areas of learning that your child may be having difficulty in. I can offer resources, suggestions and support via email or phone.
I can offer suggestions and resources on incorporating exercise and movement breaks that support heavy work for gross motor, crossing midline activities, fine motor and self regulation.
I can offer support and resources to foster positive student and family wellbeing, including resources to support children experiencing anxiety.
Please email me on Christie.downie@mn.catholic.edu.au. Do not hesitate to contact me; we are in this together.
Christie Downie
Learning support teacher
Continuity of learning support
Home learning will be a challenge for many families. I want to offer my support in any way that will support your child’s wellbeing and learning at home. Some ways I can support your child are as follows:
I can support parents by providing an individual visual schedule for use at home:
A daily schedule can help reduce anxiety in children, as it can provide a necessary structure for some children.
Schedules can motivate children to develop independence.
Visual schedules can support children who require extra processing time and to allow them to refocus on the task at hand.
I can provide social stories to explain change in routine, coronavirus, and why students are not at school.
I will liaise with relevant allied health professionals to determine appropriate /relevant /high priority learning tasks, e.g. speech pathologists, occupational therapists, psychologists.
I can collaborate with your child’s class teacher to identify specific areas of learning that your child may be having difficulty in. I can offer resources, suggestions and support via email or phone.
I can offer suggestions and resources on incorporating exercise and movement breaks that support heavy work for gross motor, crossing midline activities, fine motor and self regulation.
I can offer support and resources to foster positive student and family wellbeing, including resources to support children experiencing anxiety.
Please email me on Christie.downie@mn.catholic.edu.au. Do not hesitate to contact me; we are in this together.
Christie Downie
Learning support teacher
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Dear Parents,
At St Joseph’s we recognise the responsibility of meeting the educational needs of all students and embrace each student’s individuality with dignity. If your child has a Personalised Learning Program and receives specific adjustments to support their access to the curriculum and co-curricular experiences, then we wish to continue to support you and your child during this time of home learning.
We understand that this is a challenging time for all students and parents alike, and we would like to suggest some strategies to help support your child with specific learning needs.
Some things you can do at home are:
· Check that your child understands what they have to do to complete a task.
· Allow your child to give verbal responses or write in point form.
· Support you child by giving them relevant sentence starters, if needed.
· Discuss the words/vocabulary and their meanings in the activities that have been provided.
· Allow them to do the tasks that they are interested in.
· You can scribe for your child if they need, especially for students in the lower grades.
· Adjust the time expectation, allow them more time to complete a task if needed or spend less time on a task, if that meets their needs.
· Give your children plenty of movement breaks during learning time to help them focus and concentrate.
· Check in regularly with your child while they are doing their home learning to redirect them if needed.
· Encourage and praise your child for the work that they have completed.
Please contact the school if you have any specific questions about how you can further support your child with their home learning.
At St Joseph’s we recognise the responsibility of meeting the educational needs of all students and embrace each student’s individuality with dignity. If your child has a Personalised Learning Program and receives specific adjustments to support their access to the curriculum and co-curricular experiences, then we wish to continue to support you and your child during this time of home learning.
We understand that this is a challenging time for all students and parents alike, and we would like to suggest some strategies to help support your child with specific learning needs.
Some things you can do at home are:
· Check that your child understands what they have to do to complete a task.
· Allow your child to give verbal responses or write in point form.
· Support you child by giving them relevant sentence starters, if needed.
· Discuss the words/vocabulary and their meanings in the activities that have been provided.
· Allow them to do the tasks that they are interested in.
· You can scribe for your child if they need, especially for students in the lower grades.
· Adjust the time expectation, allow them more time to complete a task if needed or spend less time on a task, if that meets their needs.
· Give your children plenty of movement breaks during learning time to help them focus and concentrate.
· Check in regularly with your child while they are doing their home learning to redirect them if needed.
· Encourage and praise your child for the work that they have completed.
Please contact the school if you have any specific questions about how you can further support your child with their home learning.