Hearing Unit Newsletter Term 1 2022

Yarra Valley Grammar Hearing Unit Newsletter www.yvg.vic.edu.au

Telephone: +61 3 9262 7700

Facsimile: + 61 3 9876 1077

Term 2

Email: reception@yvg.vic.edu.au

June 2022

Past students Patrick Lane and Stuart Corstorphan with Mr Ellul and Dr Merry, celebrating 50 years of our amazing Hearing Unit.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: FROM THE HEARING UNIT ................................................................................................................................................................ 2 SPEECH SPOT ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 4 YEAR 5 ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 PAST STUDENT – LAKSHITHA WETHASINGHE ................................................................................................................................... 6 YEAR 7 ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 6 JUNIOR SCHOOL ART ......................................................................................................................................................................... 7 YEAR 3 ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 8 YEAR 2 ............................................................................................................................................................................................... 9 YEAR 1 ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 10 PREP ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 11 FAIRY TALE BALL PICTURES ............................................................................................................................................................. 11 FAIRY TALES ..................................................................................................................................................................................... 12 50TH ANNIVERSARY COCKTAIL PARTY ............................................................................................................................................ 13 PREP AGAIN! ................................................................................................................................................................................... 14 YEAR 9 ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 15 YEAR 10 WORK EXPERIENCE ........................................................................................................................................................... 16 ELC ................................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 YEAR 4 ............................................................................................................................................................................................. 17

FROM THE HEARING UNIT We have had another wonderfully busy few months in The Hearing Unit this term. The most recent highlight for us was the Cocktail Party that was a celebration of the Yarra Spirit and 50 years of the Hearing Unit. It was held at Bramleigh Estate in Warrandyte on Friday, 17th June and we had guests attend from far and wide. Those who attended shared many happy memories of their time at Yarra Valley Grammar and being part of The Hearing Unit.

We will be hosting a Hearing Unit open afternoon on the day of Yarra’s Festival, Saturday 15 October. This is an opportunity for past and current students, parents and staff to wander through the Junior and Senior School Hearing Units and the school, meet the current students, share stories and reminisce about their time and connection with the Hearing Unit. As it is also the day of the Yarra Festival, there will be many rides, food stalls, market stalls, entertainment and a movie on the oval on the day. Further information regarding this will be sent out next term.

Supportive, friendship, family, help, caring, opportunities, warm, welcoming. These are some words that our current students came up with when asked what the Hearing Unit means to them. I could not have described it better myself, as even as a staff member these words resonate with my own experience. I am sure that many past and present students, parents and staff would also have similar memories of their time being part of the Hearing Unit family.

In the year 1972, NASA’s space shuttle program was launched and I can see many parallels between this advancement and the fruition of the school’s Hearing Unit program in the same year. Both initiatives required years of research and planning by many people, it did not just happen overnight. The development of the Hearing Unit also took courage from the school to be trailblazers in trialling this new approach. In all of Australia at that time, there was no such school where these students could receive the support of a Hearing Unit.

Back in the 70’s there was no digital technology. Hearing aids were analogue, large and not very powerful, there were no soundfields or cochlear implants and radio frequency aids were large and heavy. The students learnt in the classroom by using lip reading, with the use of notes taken for them and a big reliance on the technology available at the time. Then in the mid-80s this model was being copied elsewhere as the success of the program was evident and today there are 25 facilities across Victoria that help support students with a hearing loss.

Back in 1987, one of our founding parents, Janet Calvert-Jones wrote this in her speech to Hearing Unit parents at the time: ‘As the years go on I hope the Hearing Unit will continue to thrive and that the original aims of the project will be maintained. These aims were to establish a pilot Hearing Unit that would give each child the maximum opportunity to develop their full potential.’

With the advancements in technology, evidence-based practice and research, we continue to see the Hearing Unit students achieving their personal best and embracing all that the School has to offer. The facility is embedded in the culture of Yarra Valley Grammar and the school recognises the success of this model. Based on all of this, I believe that the founding families would look upon the Hearing Unit today with pride that their original vision and aims are still being upheld to this day as the students grow and flourish across their schooling journey.

We have stood the test of time, with the ever-changing advancements in technology and being flexible in learning and growing with the students. Through the support that students receive, they leave us knowing they have reached their full potential and are ready and prepared for life after school.

I would like to thank the school for continuing to see how valuable the Hearing Unit program is. I would like to thank both past and present parents for entrusting their children with us and I would like to thank the past and present staff, or as some of our families call us, the second parents, who go over and above every day in

2

supporting the students. Of course, then there are the amazing students both past and present who despite any challenges they face, they turn up every day and give their all.

Ms Rachel Wilson Head of the Hearing Unit

3

SPEECH SPOT Gee – where has Term 2 gone!?! It has been such a busy term in the Speech Room that the time has gone in the blink of an eye. We have all been working hard on achieving our goals whilst having our usual amount of fun!!

It was wonderful to be invited to present at a recent VDEN meeting about two intervention approaches we use as standard practice at YVG – the Shape Coding System (an approach to supporting grammar use in written and spoken language) and Social Thinking (an approach to support social development). It is always a privilege to showcase our successes to other schools.

We were lucky to finish the term with the help of Will Potsma – a Year 10 Yarra Valley Grammar student who completed a week of Work Experience in the Speech Room. We all enjoyed getting to know Will and everyone loved having his help in their sessions.

Wishing everyone a restful break!

Mrs Anneke Flinn Speech Pathologist

4

YEAR 5 We have some superstar runners in Year 5. Lloyd, Sam and Indi all came in the top 10 in the annual House Cross Country competition. Sam and Lloyd went on to compete for their school at district levels. Congratulations also to Sam for winning MVP award for his local footy team.

We have been working hard in numeracy sessions this term. We have been learning about area perimeter as well as focusing on learning our multiplication facts. Collaboration and persistence have been an ongoing themes.

This term we have been learning all about space. We were given an opportunity to research a topic of interest.

We were then required to create a project about our topic. A highlight was to present our research to the class, although we were very nervous, we knew the importance of speaking confidently, fluently and to make eye contact. It was lots of fun.

5

PAST STUDENT – LAKSHITHA WETHASINGHE We were thrilled to receive an email from past student Lakshitha Wethasinghe (YOG 2016) who completed his Bachelor of Science (major in Electrical Engineering Systems) at The University of Melbourne at the end of 2021.

Lakshitha graduated in March this year and he kindly gave us permission to share one of his graduation photos with the Hearing Unit community. Lakshitha is currently studying Honours at Deakin University.

YEAR 7 Our Year 7 students have experienced another busy term. One of the focuses of our Hearing Unit sessions has been to learn about using flashcards for studying key terminology. Matthew, Amara and Harry explored different types of flashcards. They looked at digital ones and old-fashioned paper ones. Choosing the one they preferred, based on their individual learning style, they were all able to put them into practice in a recent Science test on Forces.

Matthew, Amara and Harry also enjoyed the annual Year 7 Wellbeing Day, participating in fun activities with their peer support leaders and ten-pin bowling with their Tutorial groups.

6

JUNIOR SCHOOL ART Junior School held a successful Festival of the Arts the last weekend before the Term 2 holidays. Every student in the Junior School had 2 pieces of art exhibited. Here are the Prep and Year 1s works.

7

YEAR 3 In Year 3 we have been investigating different systems in our bodies. We had to choose a system to research and do a short oral presentation explaining how it works: Hi, I’m Declan and my system is the respiratory system. The respiratory system is about breathing and the lungs.

When we breathe we take in oxygen through our mouth and our nose, this is called inhalation. The oxygen goes down the trachea. Oxygen goes through the bronchi and into the lungs. The oxygen goes through the pulmonary vessels. The bronchioles end in tiny sacks called alveoli. Oxygen goes into the blood and carbon dioxide comes out. The diaphragm makes your lungs expand when we inhale and pushes air out when we exhale. The carbon dioxide goes out of the body the way that oxygen came in. Thanks for listening to my talk about the respiratory system.

Hi, I’m Emma, today I’m telling you how the cardiovascular system works. The cardiovascular and circulatory system delivers nutrients and oxygen to all cells in the body. It consists of the heart and blood vessels that run through the entire body. The arteries carry oxygenated blood away from the heart. Veins, that have blood with no oxygen, bring blood back to the heart. Your heart is sort of like a pump, or two pumps in one. The right side of your heart pumps blood to the lungs to get oxygen. Before each heart beat the heart fills with blood and then its muscle contracts to squeeze the blood along. Thanks for listening to my talk about the cardiovascular system.

8

YEAR 2 My excursion to Edendale Farm

by Chris Makris 2H Me and my class went to Edendale Farm on Thursday, 16th of June. We went for Integrated Studies.

Firstly, we arrived at school. We waited for the bus and it was a rainy day. Then we walked to the bus, it was a thirty minute drive. When we arrived at the playground we ate our break food.

Next, we went to our groups. When we entered Edendale Farm, we met 2 Farmers. They were telling us about the farm. After we put our bags down we went to a shelter and then started talking about which group will go first. We went first on the farm tour. We fed some farm animals like sheep, alpacas, goats and chooks.

After recess they told us about the Eltham Copper Butterfly. It was extinct but then a scientist rediscovered it. We also learned about plants and gardens. Plants need sun, water and nutrients from soil.

Lastly at Edendale farmer Ryan talked about soil and worms. He gave us a worm and my worm went up to my shoulder.

Finally, we left the farm and played on the playground for ten minutes. Then we got on the bus and went back to school.

In conclusion, I had a really great day at Edendale Farm.

9

YEAR 1

In Year 1, students have been learning about the 5 senses and writing narratives. Students had to create a diorama that used the senses of touch, sight, smell & sound. They then used the diorama as the setting for their narrative. Here is what Harry used for the 4 included senses: “It is raining hail. I used rocks for the hail. They made a drum sound.

There were 7 smoke clouds from the fire. The cotton wool smoke looked fuzzy.

When I smelled the marshmallow, it smelled lucky. Lucky means a bit sweet and a bit umami.

When I finished, I put a circle on top of the spaceship. The foam was bumpy.”

Writing recounts is a developing skill. Harry wrote this recount about his Term 1 holiday. The students were encouraged to add more detail rather than list the various activities they undertook.

10

PREP Madison’s favourite fairy tale is Frozen. Here is why she likes it: My favourite fairy tale is Frozen because I like so much of it. I like when Elsa makes the queen’s ice castle. I like when Elsa makes power in her hands and sings, “Let It Go”.

Sofia’s favourite fairy tale is Cinderella.

My favourite fairy tale is Cinderella because I like the sparkly Cinderella shoe. I also like Cinderella because I like the blue dress with lots of sparkles.

FAIRY TALE BALL PICTURES What a wonderful day was had as the culmination of the term’s learning using fairytales! The Preps dressed as a fairy tale character, visited different year level classrooms, held a parade and made some other magic. Can you guess which fairy tale each student is from?

11

FAIRY TALES Fairy tales have been a Prep focus in Term 2 with activities conducted in literacy, Maths and Integrated Studies.

There have been different writing tasks the students have undertaken over the term. Here is a selection of the writing tasks from Madison, Sofia & Harry.

Persuasive writing: Sofia has written about why she likes the story of Goldilocks and the 3 Bears more than The 3 Little Pigs.

Narrative writing: Harry has summarised what the problem and solution was for the story of Hansel and Gretel. Every narrative needs a problem and solution.

Providing opinions: Madison’s story is not a fairy tale, but rather a Dreamtime story. She identified her favourite part of the story How the Kangaroos Got Their Tail.

12

50TH ANNIVERSARY COCKTAIL PARTY

13

PREP AGAIN!

Weather has been the Integrated Studies topic for this term. The Preps created clouds in a jar. Harry drew a diagram complete with labels to record what happened and what was used in the experiment.

14

YEAR 9 Our Year 9 boys took to the streets of Melbourne for their Link@9 City Experience. The boys spent a day in the CBD with Mrs Lake and Mr Koles on the Friday before, so that they could orient themselves, ask any burning questions, and feel confident that they knew what to expect.

Gabe Cameron and Mr Koles were privileged to have a tour of the HMAS Stalwart.

15

YEAR 10 WORK EXPERIENCE Remington Hobday enjoyed his time at Mills Gorman Architects.

ELC

16

YEAR 4

17