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Statewide Vision Resource Centre PO Box 201 Nunawading 3131 (03) 9841 0242 [email protected] www.svrc.vic.edu.au

The Bulletin Statewide Vision Resource Centre

Number 20 Monday 12th December 2011

This issue was edited by Lyn Robinson, Statewide Vision Resource Centre.

Professional Development Activities for Term 1, 2012

Skill Power Workshops 1. BrailleNote for absolute beginners Lea Nagel, SVRC – 9.30-11.00

2. JAWS for absolute beginners Garry Stinchcombe, SVRC – 11.30-1.00

3. PD By Request – 1.30-3.30

Thursday 2

February

Skill Power Workshops 1. ZoomText for beginners Trevor Boyd, Quantum – 9.30-11.00

2. MAGic for beginners Trevor Boyd, Quantum – 11.30-1.00

3. Duxbury and Picture Braille Lea Nagel and Maria Elford, SVRC – 1.30-3.30

Friday 3

February

Educational Support for Blind Students This day is designed for class & subject teachers, integration teachers & aides,

therapists, parents/care-givers & VTs who support students who utilise braille

Monday 13

February

New Visiting Teacher – Orientation Day – 9.30am to 3.00pm Monday 27

February

Educational Support for Students with Low Vision – repeated on 5 March

This day is designed for class and subject teachers, integration teachers and aides,

therapists, parents/care-givers and VTs who support students who have low vision

(max participants: 60)

Tuesday 28

February

Educational Support for Students with Low Vision – repeated from 28 Feb

This day is designed for class and subject teachers, integration teachers and aides,

therapists, parents/care-givers and VTs who support students who have low vision

(max participants: 60)

Monday 5

March

Visiting Teacher Professional Learning Day – Term 1 Tuesday 13

March

Dot Power Day of literacy-based activities for braille readers from pre-school to grade 3

Tuesday 20

March

The program for 2012 is available at: http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au/Acalendar2012.doc

Inside This Issue 1 Professional Development 2012

2 Audio Described Cinderella, Websites to checkout over the holidays, Traveleyes – Travel Company

for People with Vision Impairments, 1800 km Cycling Challenge

3 Monocular Skills Training at Phillip Island – Koala Sanctuary

4 Stepping into ... Summer 2011/12, Australian Parent Website, Braille Music Camp 2012, SPEVI

Conference 2013, Auslan Included in Australian Curriculum

5 Dot Power Day

6 Professor Boguslaw (Bob) Marek

7 Expo 2011, Careers – Internships, Dickinson Literary Awards

8-10 Shiny Learning – Three New Accessible Games

11 Saying Yes – Making the Most of Opportunities

12-14 Results of the Writing Competition, Student News, Staff News

http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au/Acalendar2012.doc

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Great Holiday Opportunity – Audio Described Cinderella Victorian Opera presents a new production of Cinderella, a traditional pantomime for the whole

family and a glorious way to introduce children to the wondrous world of theatre and music. Based

on the fable, Cinderella’s adventures are given a special treatment by Victorian Opera Music

Director Richard Gill, who has written both the story and songs. This production sees pantomime

return to the beautiful surrounds of Her Majesty’s Theatre, renewing a much loved tradition.

Cinderella features a stellar line-up of artists from Victorian Opera and the world of music theatre.

This is selling well so get in quick!

The audio described performance will be Friday 27 January from 6.30pm but meet at 5.20 at the

stage door for the backstage tactile tour.

Bookings

Bookings to be made by Friday 20 January

Bookings for tickets directly through Her Majesty’s Theatre on 03 9662 9571

Bookings for the Tactile Tour to be made through Melissa Harris at Victorian Opera –

[email protected] or (03) 9012 6652

Websites to checkout over the holidays 50 reasons to use VoiceOver

http://www.apple.com/accessibility/voiceover/reasons.html

Text Adventures

http://whitestick.co.uk/text.html

Bavisoft – games for the blind

http://bavisoft.com/

Balabolka – free Russian voice software. Reads: doc files, .pdf files, epub books, web pages, email,

and .txt files.

http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm

Traveleyes – Travel Company for People with Vision Impairments Traveleyes is a company “specialising in holidays

worldwide for visually impaired and blind travellers with

sighted guides.” One user of this service commented, “I

was the only Australian in a group mostly from Britain.

(The staff) were unstinging in their efforts to assist.”

http://www.traveleyes-international.com

1800km Cycling Challenge Lorin Nicholson will be riding his bicycle 1800km from

Brisbane to Melbourne to raise money for Vision

Australia. Making the ride even more daunting is the fact

that the cyclist is legally blind.

Lorin will make the 19 day ride with his co-pilot Mark

Berends and 17 year old son Andrew, arriving on

Christmas Eve at Vision Australia’s Carols by Candlelight.

Read more about Lorin Nicholson at: http://www.visionaustralia.org/info.aspx?page=2574

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.apple.com/accessibility/voiceover/reasons.html

http://whitestick.co.uk/text.html

http://bavisoft.com/

http://www.cross-plus-a.com/balabolka.htm

http://www.traveleyes-international.com/

http://www.visionaustralia.org/info.aspx?page=2574

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Monocular Skills Training at Phillip Island – Koala Sanctuary Article by Tom from Gippsland

I went on school camp to Phillip Island and my visiting teacher Sharon came along too. On our first

day we went to the Koala Sanctuary. I packed my monocular to take on camp because I didn’t want

to miss the chance of seeing these cute cuddly marsupials in their natural environment.

I spotted 7 koalas. There is no way I would have been able to see them without my monocular. All I

would be able to see would be a little grey lump in the tree.

Here are my few special tips for making the most out of using your monocular.

1. It helps to find things up high by following landmarks from the ground up and having a

sighted person give you clear verbal direction to locate the target.

For example, to find koalas I started at the bottom of the tree and using my monocular

followed up the trunk to the branches and with some verbal instructions from Sharon or my

friends I was able to find them.

2. It helps to practice following a finger point in the general direction of a target you want to

see.

For example, Sharon pointed in the direction of a koala, and then I followed her point in the

same direction using my monocular.

3. When I could see what I thought was a koala in the tree I practiced pointing with my finger

and used my monocular to find where my finger was pointing. I found a female with a joey

using this technique. They were

so cute.

4. It also helps practicing looking at

moving targets with your

monocular.

For instance, after finding a

female koala, I followed her

moving up a branch to find some

more juicy gum leaves.

I had awesome fun at the Koala

Sanctuary and didn’t miss a thing. My

last tip is that you get a lot better using

your monocular, especially if you

practice, practice, practice.

The photo shows Tom using his

monocular.

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Stepping into... Summer 2011/12 Stepping into...is a unique internship program designed to assist students with disability enter their

chosen profession. The program has been designed to give the student an opportunity to understand

the inner workings of a professional organisation, and gain valuable work experience. This is an

important opportunity to showcase talents and gather experience, information and skills to better

assist entry into the competitive marketplace of employment.

Successful applicants will have the opportunity to complete a paid work experience program at one

of the participating organisations. Participants attend a student briefing at the commencement of the

program. During the Summer 2011/12 semester break opportunities are available for students in the

following disciplines:

Law

Accounting

Finance

Marketing

Communications

Human Resources (HR)

Information Technology (IT)

Public Policy.

To be eligible for this program, you must have a disability and be enrolled in your final or

penultimate year of a relevant degree at a recognised tertiary institution. You must be able to

commit to the entire program. You must also have the right to work in Australia.

Download the application form from: http://www.and.org.au/content/view/443/23/

Australian Parent Website The Raising Children website provides practical information for parents of newborns to teens and

professionals who work with them. It is written by Australian experts and includes downloadable

resources as video, audio, step-by-step illustrated guides etc. Definitely worth a look!

http://www.raisingchildren.net.au

Braille Music Camp 2012 The dates for Braille Music Camp in Mittagong next year are Saturday 23 June to Saturday morning

30 June. Braille Music Camp is a fabulous opportunity for Brailling students to learn braille music,

participate in choirs and orchestras and hang out with their peers.

SPEVI Conference 2013 2013 Biennial Conference of the South Pacific Educators in Vision Impairment

When: 13-18 January 2013

Where: Rendezvous Hotel, Auckland, New Zealand

Auslan Included in Australian Curriculum For the first time, Auslan will be included in the Australian Curriculum. The Federal Minister for

School Education, Peter Garrett MP, has announced that all Australian students will be entitled to

learn a language other than English in primary and secondary school, including Auslan. Auslan is

the official language in the Deaf community in Australia. Many bilingual Deaf Australians have

Auslan as their first language, with English as their second language. The inclusion of Auslan in the

school curriculum will benefit Deaf students, but also enable hearing students to experience Auslan

and increase their understanding of Deaf culture and language.

Contact information: Gabrielle Mullen, Policy Adviser - Sensory Disability, NDS National

Tel 02 6283 3214, [email protected]

http://www.and.org.au/content/view/443/23/

http://www.raisingchildren.net.au/


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Dot Power Day The theme for Dot Power Day this term was

tactual graphics, specifically how graphics can

represent our hands and bodies. And, as usual,

the program aims for students to get as much

braille under their fingers as is possible in one

day!

Our day began with a music session, inviting

children to be aware of each other and their

surroundings. The children enjoyed the

familiarity with the songs, many written

especially for the Dot Power program and each

highlighting a braille contraction. Students

turned the pages in their song book, choosing to

sing each song once. They practised the

important skill of turning the page and checking the page number to see that they were on the right

page. Our new song today was a counting song, “Five little ducks”, and this led us to the activities

of the day.

Children investigated the tactual pictures in our “Five little ducks” book. Along with the braille

story, each page showed a hand, which was a comparable size to the children’s own hand. The

illustration changed on each page depending on how many ducks we were up to. The children were

asked to match the position of the illustrated hand with their own hand. The idea of which fingers

we hold up to show a number between zero and 5 was quite challenging and possibly new to some

of the children. Children also had a cut-out paper hand that matched the illustration, allowing them

to manipulate the cut-out hand, to further their understanding of how the graphics can represent real

objects.

Our international guest presenter, Professor Boguslaw Marek, had

brought “Fleximan” (http://www.hungryfingers.com/Fleximan.pdf )

from Poland for us to use in the next session. Fleximan is a stick

figure with magnetic, bendable joints which is placed on a metal

whiteboard. We called it Flexikid for the day. Children played with

Flexikid, arranging Flexikid in action poses and then imitating the

poses with their own bodies. They read a book, “I go to school”

which was illustrated with a stick figure in different poses, imitated

the poses with their own bodies and with their Flexikid.

After lunch, children had the opportunity to do some writing and

illustrating with Perkins braillers on pre-bound books.

Some of the learning opportunities the children had today were:

orientation to space tactual graphicacy reading contracted braille

exploration of space social interaction repeated braille reading

sitting in a group fine motor skills reading for meaning

turn-taking braille writing

For further information about Dot Power, and to listen to or download the songs, open the link on

the SVRC website: http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au/EPdotpower.shtml

Dot Power dates for 2012 will be announced early next year.

http://www.hungryfingers.com/Fleximan.pdf

http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au/EPdotpower.shtml

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Professor Boguslaw (Bob) Marek Last week, and as part of the Student Wellbeing Professional

Learning 2011, the Statewide Vision Resource Centre had the

joy and pleasure of hosting the eminent Professor Bob Marek

from Poland. He presented to a group of parents and early

childhood educators on the Tuesday and to the SVRC braille

transcribers on the Wednesday. On the Thursday, he

conducted a Masterclass which was attended by 58

participants who came from Victoria, South Australia, ACT,

New South Wales and Tasmania – and from a number of

disciplines including O&M, early childhood, equipment

distributor, braille production, OT, integration aides, teachers

and Visiting Teachers. And a mum! It really was very

exciting!

Professor Marek began his career in tactual graphics following an experience of teaching English as

a second language to blind people. He found the resources one would usually use to teach a second

language – that is print-based resources – were completely useless! So he set about developing

suitable resources and this led to a deep understanding of tactual graphicacy – the ability to

understand graphics by touch. For example, why is a table represented by three tactual lines!

Feedback from participants of the Masterclass has been resoundingly positive. Here are a couple of

examples:

“It was both a privilege and a pleasure to be given the opportunity to attend Bob’s workshop –

thank you. He’s an amazing speaker with an incredible command of English given that it’s his

second language and punctuated with the occasional, delightful, whimsical – and Oh so English

– sense of humour, makes him a true delight to listen to. I was constantly amazed at his ability

to think laterally and translate his thoughts into very significant, practical and functional

equipment for blind kids grappling with the understanding of tactile graphics.”

“What a fantastic PD day. I was so inspired by Professor Bob and his strategies, techniques and

materials related to tactile graphics. It really reinforces the value of experience, concept

development, pictures and drawing for the children we work with. What a thoughtful and clever

man ... Thank you for the invitation to attend ... one of the best PDs I’ve been too.”

Following his sojourn in Melbourne, Professor Marek jumped a train for Wollongong and was

following this up with a visit to the Gold Coast where he was to present to teachers and O&M

instructors.

Photos show Bob working with a student at Dot Power Day and presenting at the Masterclass.

For information about Professor Marek and “Hungry Fingers” visit: http://www.hungryfingers.com/

http://www.hungryfingers.com/

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Expo 2011 Report on Expo 2011 by Marion Blazé

Over 80 people registered as attending this year’s Educational Expo on Access Technology. The

SVRC was buzzing with displays by Australia Independence Products, European Eyewear,

Humanware, Pacific Vision, Quantum and the Vision Australia Library, and demonstrations by

Active & Able, Blind Cricket, Blind Sports Victoria and Guide Dogs Victoria.

For the first time we also had a seminar series, presented by European Eyewear, Pacific Vision and

Quantum. These were well attended and feedback suggests they were a great opportunity to take a

closer look and ask some specific questions. A special thank you to the SVRC staff who “managed”

the chaos and furniture re-arrangements yet again, and kept smiling!! Thank you also to our

distributors and presenters who gave up their valuable time to allow us to have all the equipment

and knowledge in one place for one day.

PLEASE NOTE: Expo 2012 will be on a MONDAY – November 26 to be exact. We are breaking

with the tradition of the “last Friday in November” because of our need to use Fridays for the ever-

growing Supports Skills Program!

Careers – Internships Joe Strechay is currently an Associate in the CareerConnect program within the American

Foundation for the Blind. He writes about his experiences of job seeking, and suggests that an

internship is “a great way to explore career options, network, and build your resume.”

Here are his tips for interns – the guidelines he follows for interning:

Work extra hours

Complete your work at a high level

If there are tasks others don’t want to do, volunteer to do them (if you have the time)

Dress to the level of the staff there, or better

Always be polite and professional

Practice your routes to and from the location prior to the first day

Practice the route at the same time of day as your commute (to emulate the real thing)

Learn the building or location, and show up early to explore and learn

Learn where the bathrooms and lunch room are located

Be prepared! Have multiple methods to access information – technology breaks down, batteries

die, things happen. Have back-up methods. I carry multiple magnifiers, an extra cane, and

multiple methods to take notes.

Source: http://nycreativeinterns.com/2011/12/ready...set...can-you-get-me-coffee-interning-with-a-

visual-impairment/

Dickinson Literary Awards: Closing Date is 13 January 2012 Each year Vision Australia conducts the Dickinson Literary Awards and there are always great

entries. There are four categories depending upon age group and you need to be legally blind and an

Australian Citizen to enter. The word limit is 500 words for the under 16 year old category and

1000 words for the other three categories. Entries can be sent in your preferred format. The winner

of each category will receive a $500 gift voucher to use at our Vision Australia Equipment

Solutions stores.

For further information: http://www.visionaustralia.org/info.aspx?page=2028

http://www.visionaustralia.org/info.aspx?page=2028

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Shiny Learning – Three New Accessible Games

Review Author: Gerry Kennedy © November 2011

Access: Switch, Touch Screen/Window, IWB, keyboard or mouse

Category: Commercial

Web Site: http://www.shinylearning.co.uk/index.shtml

These new Shiny Learning games are created and designed in the UK. The website promotes

literacy, maths, memory training, visual and aural perception games, switch access as well as cause

and effect programs. Shiny Learning “... sell educational, motivational, fun software designed to

include children with special needs. As far as possible our software includes switch access, speech

support and activities that can be edited or tailored to meet individual requirements. Our

backgrounds are in teaching, designing and programming educational software, web design,

publishing, writing and editing.” They work with LäraMera Program AB, a long-established and

highly-respected software publisher, based in Sweden.

Users can elect to play the games in a preferred browser (i.e. Internet Explorer, Chrome, Mozilla

Firefox, Opera or Safari) or as installed stand-alone versions for computers running versions of MS

Windows. Each title can be purchased to be installed and run on one computer at a minimal cost or

a site licence can be purchased for use with multiple computers or users in pre-schools, classroom,

day centres or adult centres.

To play these games you need the Adobe Flash Player installed on the host computer as a free

download from http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/ and is now up to Version 11. Note: If

users are playing the games in a browser and a game appears not to respond to switch or key

presses, then make sure the game has the “input focus”; in other words, click on the game in the

browser window. The activities can be run in full screen mode.

Three Cause and Effect Games

All of the games can be accessed using a:

switch

switch adapted mouse

touch window or touch monitor

standard keyboard (using space bar or enter)

programmable keyboard (e.g. IntelliKeys or Helpikeys)

mouse (left click)

joystick

trackball or rollerball

1. Press to Zoom! – Bright Shapes

Users press the Space Bar, Enter Key or the Left Mouse Button

to move a picture across the screen in many different directions.

Educators, therapists, school support staff, parents of users

themselves can choose one of ten shapes, the desired direction

of movement and to turn sound on or off. The shapes can

“peep” and be revealed with a press of a device or be in full

view at the start. This helps some students who need time in

order to press the required device or an opportunity for

language development and for posing questions by helpers. The

ten shapes can be selected or deselected and appear randomly or in a sequence.

http://www.shinylearning.co.uk/index.shtml

http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/

http://www.spectronicsinoz.com/product/7134

http://www.zyteq.com.au/products/computer_accessing/helpikeys

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The graphics are brightly coloured with a black contrasting background. The speed of the moving

shape can be set from slow to fast. A trail can be turned on so that the user can track its path.

To return to the main menu, the user (i.e. student, teacher, assistant, parent, peer or sibling) presses

the letter “M”. By pressing the letter “N”, the next shape (random or sequenced) appears. Shapes

can rotate as well.

The game is simple in design and execution, but serves a vital role in helping users gain

understanding about cause and effect. It can be used for visual attention, tracking from left-to-right

or right-to-left and even used for pre-reading skills (i.e. LtR). Knowledge and naming of the shapes,

colours and directionality can be introduced as well. This activity caters primarily to younger

students but could also be applicable in some instances to adults or to people recovering from ABI

or a stroke.

2. Press to Reveal! – Christmas

Press the Space Bar, Enter or the Left Mouse Button on an access device to reveal Christmas

themed graphics.

This activity is simple and engaging, and especially now closer to Christmas, the activity will

delight students who will be able to interact with Christmas themed graphics, including Santa, a

reindeer, a Christmas tree, stocking and bells, an angel, a star and a snowman.

Changing the colours of the background from white to blue, or blue with snow falling (very

northern hemisphere based) but children in Australia are used to see such images in movies and TV

shows. Pictures can appear randomly or in sequence with one to 5 steps so that they build and/or

reveal the image. Animated effects can run to 10, 20 or 30 seconds with sound turned on or off. The

image can remain on screen for question and answer or for simply identifying and describing the

picture. For switch or device training, the picture can move on automatically or wait for a press.

This can be useful for switch or access device training for demonstrating understanding of the

action and for increasing independent thinking and control over a device being introduced or used

over time.

Once again, used with groups of children

using Interactive White Boards, touch

plasma or LCD screens or touch windows

can elicit all manner of responses.

The figure ground with key elements

clearly used ensures that other distractions

are negated with full screen display, with

the activity launched in a browser with the

use of the F11key (with Internet Explorer

or Firefox).

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3. Press to Zoom! – Things That Fly

Press the Space Bar, Enter or the Left Mouse Button to

make different animals and vehicles that fly move across

the screen, interactive whiteboard or TV screen.

Ten pictures of different things that fly can be moved up,

down, left and right and at 45 degree angles. The pictures

of a bee, butterfly, bird, dinosaur, aeroplane, balloon,

cloud, star, spaceship and dragon can be revealed one at a

time in sequence or appear randomly, with any one or

more active.

Things That Fly is ideal for visual tracking, waiting, anticipating and switching or pressing an input

device in a timely manner. The peeping option is a terrific option and inclusion in this program as

just a portion of the picture is displayed - so the user needs to locate it, and identify it. It can also

leave a trail so the names of and navigation directions can be learnt and practiced. Concepts of

moving up and down, or north and south or towards the roof/sky and ground/floor can be

introduced in a meaningful context.

The graphics and sounds are appropriate and well matched. I particularly liked the sound effects in

this activity.

The figure ground is excellent and uncluttered. The colourful graphics are generic in design and

easily identifiable on a white or black background. They can move fast or slow, with the latter

accommodating users who are vision impaired or who process information more slowly. The trail

feature clearly shows where the action started and the direction as to where the picture is moving.

Downloading the Digital Versions

The downloaded zip files are not large. The activities range from 2.6 MB to about 4 MB. Once

unzipped, they are marginally larger. Once successfully purchased and downloaded, the user simply

double-clicks on the zipped file to decompress or unzip it. The contents then appear in a folder with

5 items with each program.

As they are flash movies, they could be run from an external hard drive, USB thumb drive or server

(i.e. if a site licence was purchased). As stated, the flash content can run as a file or in a browser

(ideal for users of MAC OS or Linux). Adobe flash is required on the computer being used in order

to run and interact with the activities.

Note: Other freely available games can be played online or offline -

http://www.shinylearning.co.uk/freegames/index.shtml. From this link users can also run demos of

her new titles – Press to Reveal! – Christmas; Press to Zoom! – Bright Shapes and Press to Zoom! –

Things that Fly.

Don’t Miss Free Singing Sheep

http://www.shinylearning.co.uk/freegames/ShinySingingSheep.shtml#

Gerry Kennedy

Email: [email protected]

Phone: 03 9894 4826

Mobile: 0411 569 840

http://www.shinylearning.co.uk/freegames/index.shtml

http://www.shinylearning.co.uk/freegames/ShinySingingSheep.shtml

[email protected]%20

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SAYING YES

Making the Most of Opportunities

Every day opportunities will come and go

And many people will answer “SO?”

If we stop and think

And not just to blink

We may just see that if we say “yes”

To opportunities that come, we could be our best

If we say no to opportunities, we don’t live

And that’s something you cannot forgive

We will never see

What people could be

When we take the opportunities

We open a gate to a world without any means

We have to hang on to any opportunity

If we don’t we sometimes cannot see

That they slip away

And we have no say

If we screw it up, we waste our time

All we have to do is try extra hard the next time

When we do succeed, we will be proud of what we’ve done

We may finally see the bright sun

Lighting up our path

And have a long laugh

You will see that you have reached your best

And be ready for the next opportunity test

The opportunities do not stop

Until we are up on top

And still then we still say yes

To always be our very best

By Georgia

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Results of the Writing Competition This year’s writing competition theme was “Saying Yes – Making the most of Opportunities. We

received many fantastic entries. Here are the results:

Alexandra won a junior secondary story encouragement award for her letter to Grandma

recounting an opportunity to join the swim team.

Cece won an honourable mention in

the junior primary illustrated story

for her well illustrated story about a

trip to Malaysia. [Cece’s illustration

is shown right.]

Claudia won an honourable

mention in the junior primary poetry

section for her colourfully presented

poem about the opportunities that

Summer can present.

Daniel won first prize in the junior

secondary story section for his

engaging and inspirational story.

Elliott won an honourable mention in the audio story section for his fascinating story about a shiny

backed lizard, love and loss, as well as an honourable mention in the upper primary story section for

his great story about an opportunity to go to the snow.

Georgia won first prize in the poetry section for her well constructed, inspiring poem about making

the most of opportunities. Read her poem in the following pages of this Bulletin.

Harrison won an honourable mention in the junior secondary story section for his engaging and

adventurous story.

Jessica won an honourable mention in the audio story section for her fascinating story about, love

and loss.

Jordan won first prize in the upper primary story section for his well written, colourfully illustrated

story.

Kelly won an honourable mention in the junior primary story section for her well written story

about practising skills and making the most of opportunities.

Kiel won an honourable mention in the secondary story section for his thoughtful piece setting

goals for the future.

Luke won first prize in the junior primary story section for his inspiring story.

Matthew won an honourable mention in the junior primary story section for his engaging story

about the opportunity to swim with dolphins.

Riley won first prize in the audio story section for his amusing story about taking risks at school.

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Tess won first prize in the upper secondary story section for her inspiring, gripping story of fear,

having a go and finally conquering challenge – this well-written story gave our readers

goosebumps!

Thantuoc won an honourable mention in the upper primary story section for his/her compelling

story about taking the opportunity to ride a horse despite the risk.

Thientuoc won an honourable mention in the junior primary story section for his/her great story

about trying hard even when things go wrong.

William won first prize in the upper primary story section for his excellent, environmental poem.

Zac won an honourable mention in the junior primary story section for his rollicking yarn about

how playing blind cricket can lead to impressive opportunities.

Zeynep won first prize in the primary illustrated story section for her wonderfully illustrated story.

Student News Kiel from Bendigo has had a great year – he received a Music Achievement Aware from the

Dewar Music School and featured in a newspaper article after a 1 kilometre swim at Paul Sadler

Swimland. Nice work, Kiel!

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Emily’s student Jeremy is the winner of the Quantum

RLV Scholarship for primary students. Jeremy has won

the Plextalk Pocket valued at $550. Yippee for Jeremy!

Right is Emily’s student Thien on year 4 school camp

using his slate and stylus to complete the orienteering

challenge (we made a tactile version of the map)... And

his group won!

He’s having the time of his life. Learned how to spread

butter and jam and cut a sandwich for the first time

yesterday too ...

Small and enormous steps all at the same time...

Staff News Congratulations to Tracey Lancaster for successfully

applying for a position in Southern Metropolitan

Region. Hope to see you soon!

Northern Metropolitan Region welcomes Chris

Sinopoli to a 0.6 position. Chris has spent many years working as a classroom teacher and more

recently she has been employed as a leading teacher at Croxton SS. We look forward to meeting

her too!

Finally And finally thanks to everyone for their contributions to this Bulletin, especially Max Bini, Deb

Lewis, Lea Nagel, Sharon Saunders Dianne Simpson, Emily van der Nagel and the SPEVI Listserv.

If you have something you would like included in “The Bulletin” please email Lyn Robinson

[email protected]

To read The Bulletin online, including back issues: http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au/Abulletin.shtml


http://www.svrc.vic.edu.au/Abulletin.shtml

1 The Bulletin - svrc.vic.edu.ausvrc.vic.edu.au/wp-content/bulletin/2011-20.pdfThe Bulletin...

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