Onwards to 2009

Onwards to 2009!

How fantastic it is to be working in a school whose teachers are already looking towards 2009. We have been fortunate enough to be working intensively with a school who is determined to make a difference. They have sent five teachers for their basic training, and are sending another four in January. They have implemented a trial program which was highly successful, showing significant improvements for many children in 14 intensive target sessions. They are now looking forward to 2009, and have planned two days in week 9 of this term, to focus on strategic directions and programs for the next school year.

Parents are fortunate in having teachers of this calibre, and I congratulate these teachers for making the efforts that they are, at this stage of the school year. I would love to shout the name of the school from the roof top, but unfortunately there are guidelines which include a lot of red tape with senior hierarchy, before such a thing can happen on a blog. Suffice to say, they and we know who they are - and they are doing such a fantastic job. In this day and age, such dedication and commitment are not praised enough, so I just wanted to let them know that their efforts to improve literacy and numeracy outcomes for children ARE appreciated.

The day 5energies created a storm!

What a week this one has been!

On Sunday, 5energies staff and family enjoyed the inaugural Bocce Tournament and Christmas party. Some 27 intrepid souls battled it out for supremacy in a game that many had never played before, but the eventual winners were Graeme Henry (Open Winner), Zachary McGuire (Junior Winner) and Angie Datseres and Claire Culley won ‘Best and Fairest’.

However, as the tournment was coming to an end, the fierce black storm clouds signalled that a storm was on its way, so most families departed to try to get home before the storm hit. Tales have since emerged of where each 5energies person was during the storm, with some driving in the thick of it, and watching trees with roots fly past the bonnet of the car, to others taking shelter in the middle of the house, away from glass and potential flying debris. Unfortunately, Alexandra, Graeme (IT Guru), Patrick (actor / reader of our DVD stories), Anne-Maree (film-maker and Technology Guru) and families saw the big tree in Alexandra’s front yard come crashing down (see photo), pulling the electricity connection right out of the house, taking out the power grid for the street, and keeping them inside the house, without power or telephone, for 48 hours. As baby James, now 9 weeks, was also with them, nappies became an issue. In a wonderful commentary on community spirit, the neighbourhood soon found supplies and fortunately there was sufficient left-over meat and salads from the Bocce Tournament to provide a street gathering and debrief after the storm, on the back verandah. Mel, our Occupational Therapist, ended up driving through the worst of the storm, but her parent’s house in the Gap, one of the worst hit areas of the storm, also received significant damage. Fortunately power has now returned to all residences, and things are returning to normal, albeit with a lot of cleaning up to do.

However, as with any natural disaster, these are just stories. We all survived the big storm (and the two other storms that decided to visit this week), and fortunately all families were fine. However, the inaugural 5energies Bocce Tournament and Christmas party will long be remembered as the day that 5energies created a storm!! May the immensity of the storm reflect where we are next year - huge, determined and getting wide-spread coverage!!

Parents have so much information

Each fortnight over the past year, a little boy has been coming to 5energies for Occupational Therapy and Speech Pathology sessions, aimed at improving his literacy and numeracy. Initially he presented as a very troubled little boy, and with a great variety of learning issues.

His mother, a very articulate woman, had acknowledged his many issues and sought assistance from 5energies. I am so pleased to report his progress! In the last month, he has won his first ever merit certificate at school, but the change in this little boy is profound. Bubbly, excited about learning and keen to head off to school and each new day, he is obviously having so much fun now.

Thank you to parents who trust us with their most precious children - we take our responsibilities very seriously, and this story illustrates exactly why we started 5energies!

Brilliant Teachers!

We have been fortunate this term in working with one particular school in the region. This is a school with some significant challenges, but one of the school’s advantages is the calibre of the teachers who are implementing a 5energies approach within their Early Childhood section.

Five teachers trained with 5energies and we are now in week 6 of the implementation of the program. These teachers spent the first two weeks of this term screening a significant number of children, so the school had base-line data on the achievements of their students in the ten key learning domains. But here we are, after only fourteen targeted learning sessions, and the difference in the students is electric! Alexandra and I were fortunate enough to observe learning groups in action yesterday, and the difference in each child’s use of metalanguage, and their turn-taking and eye contact, was fantastic! In individual sessions afterwards, teachers were reporting on the transfer of knowledge into the classroom - ‘K’ had begun recounting oral narratives unprompted, ‘S’ understood completely about words, beats / syllables and initial sounds and a small group of children from 5energies groups had shown mastery of rhyming words. This is music to our ears!

Yes, it is early days, but what a privilege to work alongside such talented and enthusiastic teachers, and how gratifying to be helping children to achieve! This is our vision for all children who experience learning difficulties. What a fantastic early Christmas present - to see our 5energies program in action, and being implemented by such intuitive, intelligent and articulate teachers.