This issue was edited by Marion Blazé, Education Officer, Statewide Vision Resource Centre.
To see the annual program and to download programs for professional development activities, go to: http://www.visiontech.svrc.vic.edu.au/pd2007.htm
What a great day! This was our annual day on ‘Educational Support for Vision Impaired Students with Additional Impairments’. 35 teachers, aides, parents and one little person, joined with several of our visiting teachers and SVRC staff for a day of discovery. Teams of people came from as far as Echuca and Horsham. Comments on sessions were all at the ‘outstanding’ end of the scale (on our written evaluations). We finished the day very productively and creatively, by inviting participants to make their own tactile resources, learn the beginnings of braille or learn about eBooks. Verbal and written comments included ‘will certainly help in the classroom’, ‘a real eye-opener!’, ‘thanks so much for one of the most ‘hands-on’ and practical PD days I’ve ever attended’ and ‘in the ten years that I’ve been an integration aide, this was the best professional development activity I’ve ever attended’. Not bad, hey? One participant liked our last session on making tactual materials so much, she said we should run a whole day on just that, and she’d be there!
Special thanks to the Guide Dogs people who again came to run a mobility workshop in the morning, Georgia who brought a display of Judius materials for display, all the wonderful SVRC staff, who as well as making sure we were all fed and watered, re-arranged the furniture and sorted out the technology and the very skilled and professional team who wowed us with PowerPoint presentations and resources. Yay, team!
The program for this day is appended. First on the program is Elly Gay, who is a lawyer with the Conduct and Ethics group of the Department. Elly is an invaluable resource about the legal responsibilities of schools, teachers and VTs. The technology presentations that follow are hopefully going to provide the opportunity to compare these various means of accessing the curriculum. Many of you may be familiar with these separate items, but we’re hoping to evaluate their efficacy for individual students by looking closely at them all on the one day. And of course, Annette is still passionately pushing the preparation-for-career theme, which we are implementing this year. We are especially urging all VTs to attend this particular day because we believe these topics are essential to all of us, and we even have some important things to discuss over lunch.
Yes, on our PD day we’ll have a much-much-bigger-than-normal morning tea, hoping to raise some funds for the Cancer Council. So, bring along your gold coins, your gloves and hats, stick out your pinkies, and we’ll have a tea (and coffee) party!!
Also, we are collecting goodies (wine, chocolate, biscuits, etc) which will be put together for ‘door prizes’ for 2 or 3 lucky VTs on the day. Any donations will be very gratefully received at the SVRC - either before or on the day. (Another good reason to come to our next PD day!)
Yes, we’re thinking about it already! Our day on May 15 was the last of the 2007 designated days for class teachers and school-based personnel. It has come to our attention, that we might be better running these days on Fridays only, so that any country participants can travel (and recover from travelling). Could all VTs please ask around and see if we can come to any consensus. In the absence of feedback, this is probably what we’ll do next year.
SPEVI (the South Pacific Educators for the Vision Impaired) is our own professional association. If you don’t already know about it, it’s a great group of people, all working in some area of education of vision impaired people, with any agency across Australia and the Pacific region. We conduct a conference every second year (the last was in Fremantle). Members receive discounts on many SPEVI events, a regular newsletter and a less frequent journal.
The Victorian Branch of the South Pacific Educators of the Vision Impaired would like to invite members and interested staff and friends to attend our first official function for 2007.
We would especially like to welcome and encourage all those new staff who have
recently entered the field to come and meet their fellow colleagues.
Krista Fisher will be our guest speaker for the evening. Krista is part of the
Soul Speakers Program. Krista will talk about her involvement in this program
and her journey as a person with a vision impairment seeking work.
Please come along and make this a great evening. There will be lots of opportunities for networking, renewing acquaintances, catching up with old colleagues and sharing time with others whose passion is their work. Plus having a nice glass of grape juice and some nibbles. Please bring a friend if they work in the field and you think they might enjoy such a gathering.
When: Monday 28th May between 5:00 and 7:00
Where: Vision Australia School, 333 Burwood Hwy Burwood [Staff
Room]
Cost: $5 for members and $7 for non-members.
To assist with catering please RSVP by Monday 28th May [by lunch time]
Contact people (Victorian SPEVI Counsellors) are:
Marion Blazé: Statewide Vision Resource Centre, 9841
0242 marionblaze@svrc.vic.edu.au
Lil Deverell: Guide Dogs Victoria 9854 4542 lil.d@guidedogsvictoria.com.au
Garry Stinchcombe, Vision Australia School, 9808 6422 garry.stinchcombe@visionaustralia.org
The 13th ICEVI World Conference will be held in Sydney in July 2010! The International Council for Education of People with Visual Impairment (ICEVI) is a global association of individuals and organizations that promotes equal access to appropriate education for all children and youth with visual impairment so that they may achieve their full potential.
Congratulations to Frances Gentle, Regional ICEVI Chairperson for the Pacific, for her successful bid! This is usually a conference well out of reach to Australians, so we should try to take advantage of this one!
Come and meet new friends who are blind or have low vision over dinner and coffee or at a movie. The group will meet every fortnight under the Flinders Street Station clock, at a time to be confirmed. Anyone aged from 18 to 45 is welcome. Volunteers are also welcome to come along. For more information about the group call Phillip Chalker on 0400 603 367 or email phill@chalkersperformances.com
Our very favourite SCI-VIS organiser Dan Oates is to be inducted into the Space
Camp Hall of Fame!!! He writes:
“I’m really excited and looking forward to the big night. William
Shatner, AKA Capt. James T. Kirk, will be the Master of Ceremonies for the evening.
I will have a pretty girl on my arm and some of my family will also be in attendance
so it looks like it will be quite the evening for this old West Virginia boy.”
By the way … if you are planning to let us know that you are interested in the Space Camp adventure in September this year, time is fast running out!!! Contact Deb Lewis ASAP!!!!!
This is just a reminder that Quantum Technology offers these two fantastic scholarships. The JAWs scholarship program offers a JAWs package to one tertiary student with a vision impairment in every State and Territory in Australia. Applicants must write in 500 words, how JAWs would be useful to them. Applications close October 26, 2007.
The Gillian Gale Braille Literacy Scholarship offers a Mountbatten Braille machine to one student with a vision impairment in Australia and one in New Zealand. They need to be between 3 and 8 years old. The close of applications for this is coming up soon on June 30, 2007.
The Norm Wilson Notetaking Award, for which applications also close on June 30, will provide the lucky winners with a ‘Jot a Dot’ Pocket Brailler. In a maximum of 15 lines of 20 characters, students should describe in braille why note-taking is an important skill in their lives.
For further information call 02 8844 9888 or email info@quantumtechnology.com.au.
If you happen to be online and need a foreign word translated to English or an English word translated into a foreign language, here are three options:
Lilydale Heights Secondary College has been very responsive to the needs of their vision impaired student, Jake. Instead of moving from room to room, Jake spends most of his time in one room where the students use laptops at a ratio of 1:2. A data projector is also used regularly. The school has installed window tinting which has helped Jake and his classmates. The tinting is proving more reliable than blinds, which whilst effective and adaptable, frequently do not work! These adjustments mean that Jake will be better able to make the most of his learning environment!
Congratulations Lilydale Heights Secondary College.
Marion bumped into ex-student, James, at the shops and learnt that he is working in a Garden Centre, has embarked upon a horticultural apprenticeship and has been nominated by Swinburne as Apprentice of the Year! Well done, James!
Thanks to Deb Lewis, Helen Caldow, Garry Stinchcombe, Mike Steer, Di Hayward, Lil Deverell and Quantum Technology for contributing to this edition of The Bulletin. Thanks also to our fabulous proof-readers, stuffers and mailers.
Marion Blazé (who can be emailed at marionblaze@svrc.vic.edu.au).
Top
Home