This is our last newsletter for the 2020 school year, what a year it has been!  I would like to thank all parents for their ongoing support and I am sure you all appreciate the wonderful experiences your children have enjoyed, in particular the camps that have taken place this term. The photos and recordings of camp where a highlight at the last assembly and will be always be remembered as some of the best memories the students will have during their time at Leeming ESC.

To all the parents of our 2020 leavers, thank you. You have collaborated with staff and advocated for your children throughout their schooling at Leeming SHS ESC to get them where they are today, thank you for your wonderful support. The graduation dinner was a fantastic night and a great way for students, parents and staff to say goodbye. Thank you to Ms Stewart and her support staff for organising two wonderful nights. I wish all the students and their families the very best for the future. 

The School Board ran a process to elect two new Board members during term 4. We are very pleased to announce that Bernadette McCarthy and Karen Houghton will be joining the Board as our new parent representatives. Both have experience and a wealth of knowledge that will be very beneficial to the Board and we look forward to working with them in 2021.

Goodbye and thank you to staff members leaving at the end of the school year:

Ms Bainbridge joined us this year. We have enjoyed getting to know her warm, friendly personality and have appreciated her professionalism and experience. We wish Ms Bainbridge all the very best in the future.

Mrs Stocklmayer has enjoyed working with her group of year 11 boys and seeing them mature and progress over the past eighteen months. She has worked well as part of the senior school team and we have appreciated her hard work and dedication. We wish Mrs Stocklmayer all the best for the future.

On Tuesday 8^th December, we were very privileged to have Lisa Rodgers, Director General for the Department of Education, Sue Cuneo, Regional Executive Director and Yaz Mubarakai, MLA, Member for Jandakot attend a special morning tea for staff organised by Dawn Barker. Dawn sent a lovely email to Lisa Rodgers acknowledging the wonderful staff at Leeming ESC and she agreed to attend the morning tea in December. Thank you Dawn for organising a beautiful morning tea and giving such heartfelt appreciation to the Leeming ESC staff. This was a very special way to finish the school year.

Reports have be sent home this week and I hope you take the time to celebrate the achievements of your children. They have all worked hard to achieve to the best of their ability and every success no matter how big or small is important. As we are currently still receiving enrolments and finalising classes for 2021, class lists will be emailed to parents on the 28th January 2021. 

The 2020 Yearbook was sent home with students who have paid as part of their school fees. Looking through the Yearbook, I was amazed at the incredible experiences students have had through such an unusual and disrupted year. There have been many special moments enjoyed throughout 2020.

Congratulations to our student councillors for 2021, Kenneth Hee and Ellie Christie. They were elected by their peers in a formal student election held earlier in Term 4 and will represent Leeming ESC well in 2021.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge all the hard work of my staff, they have strived to provide the best possible learning opportunities for our students and should be very proud of what they have achieved together with their students in 2020. 

Have a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy holiday.

The private Facebook group is a safe space to help parents and carers connect with one another, offer and receive support, share information, experiences and resources, and foster social connections between students out of school hours. The group is administered by the current parent representatives on the LESC Board - Dawn Barker, Joss Morgan and Fran Robb. The Facebook group can be found at this link, where you can request to join. For more information, contact Fran on 0409102556 or email francesca_robb@hotmail.com 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/377265386625078

Please subscribe to the schools official Facebook page for instant parent updates, events, photos and community news.

https://www.facebook.com/LeemingSHSESC/

Booklists are now available to order online. Visit Ziggies.com and click on the 'Booklists' tab. Or click the following link:

https://booklists.ziggies.net.au/file-cat.cgi?filecat=backtoschool.html

Use the codes and passwords in the following attachments. Please make sure you have used the correct year group for your child.

Purple - Year 7 - 10

Green - Years 11 - 12

January 2021 school holiday opening times are as follows:

REGULAR OPENING HOURS:

Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays 10:15 am to 1:45 pm

You can also find the order form on the schools website under Uniform Shop. 

If you need to contact the Uniform Shop please call directly 08 9237 6858

School Development Days:

Term 2 Monday 19th April

Term 3 Monday 23rd August

Term 4 Monday 11th October & Friday 17th December

Public Holidays 2021

Labor Day – Monday 1st March

Good Friday – Friday 2nd April

ANZAC Day – Monday 26th April

WA Day – Monday 7th Jun

In partnership with the Western Australia Police Force, the Autism Association of WA have developed a unique training program to assist the WA Police Force to increase their knowledge and capability to respond to the needs of individuals with Autism. This partnership has also led to the development of the Autism Alert Card to promote that extra care must be taken when interacting with people with Autism to protect their dignity in emergency situations.

The Autism Alert Card will alert emergency services that the person carrying the card may require additional support. It emphasises that the Autism Alert cardholder may have difficulties in communicating and may show signs of unusual behaviour. It also includes two named contacts who can offer their support to help emergency and public services to understand better the individual with Autism's needs.

What a year 2020 has been! We have so many memories that we have shared together as a class and have tried so many new experiences. Firstly, we wish to thank our parents and carers for all their support in what has often been a challenging and unpredictable year. Their contributions have ensured that programs could run throughout the year and that students have remained on top of their work programs. I would also like to thank the staff of ESC 1 for all their hard work. Their efforts have been truly amazing in challenging times. Sonia, Lauren and Jordan have kept things moving throughout the year and have sacrificed so much time and effort to keep on top of things.

We have so many memories from the year, getting our first opportunity to visit work experience programs. We have learnt many skills and look forward to continuing to develop these in 2021. We would all like to thank Glenda and the team at Striker recreation centre for giving us the opportunity to work with them this year.

Finally, a huge thank you to all of our students. They have shown so much resilience and a strong ability to cope with the changes and uncertainty that this year has presented. Despite this, we have managed to have lots of fun and found plenty of time to joke and laugh together. You are all superstars and have bright futures ahead.

We would like to wish everyone a safe and happy summer holiday period. We have all made it! See you all in 2021!

A fantastic end to term 4, for the students of ESC 3!

We managed to complete all of our units of work and have wrapped up a fantastic end of the year. It is great to see each student grow in their resilience, friendships and work readiness. Some even managed to gain employment trials through the Ability Centre and The Dismantle Bike initiative.

Recently, some students participated in the Perth Zoo Night Safari where we explored the zoo under the stars and witnessed the nocturnal creatures come alive, with the use of a red torch that showed their eyes. It was so much fun. We then continued the evening with a sleep over at school, where we safely trespassed, completed an animal treasure hunt and slept in large tents (courtesy of the Bush Rangers) and we had a lovely sleep with our friends. After drying our saturated tents, we survived the night and we had a beautiful shared breakfast.

It has been an eventful term and I’m sure that I can speak for all of us when I say, WE MADE IT!!! I would like to thank the wonderful students for their commitment and involvement in all class activities, work experience positions and for being the most wonderful, funny and amazing kids I have ever worked with. A massive thank you to the parents also, who have been great to work alongside, in providing these wonderful young adults with every opportunity for success.

I would also like to thank my wonderful team (Edith, Tetiana and Melanie) for their tireless efforts in supporting the class and me. I have had the BEST year and it could not have happened without your good humour, friendly faces and the love that you shared to everyone in the class.

Have a wonderful holiday everyone. It has been tough, but we are all better individuals, after facing the hurdles of 2020. Take care

As we draw close to the end of this strange year in 2020, I would like to reflect on how much change we have faced and overcome. COVID-19 caused unprecedented adjustments to the way our children are educated, and we thank you all for the effort you all put in to make the year as calm and smooth as it can be under the circumstances.

COVID affected life at Leeming SHS ESC in many ways – some obvious such as parents not being able to enter school grounds and therapy visits on hold, and in hidden ways such as the stress that altering routines placed on us all. We all had to learn new ways to communicate and teach. Thank you for patiently learning with us.

ESC 4 managed to get out into the community a few times and the most recent was to Perth Zoo. We were lucky enough to attend a presentation called Amazing Animals and the students got to see and touch various reptiles including snakes, large lizards and tortoises. I am proud to say that every student touched every animal, even those who were sure that they would not touch a snake!

For the last time this year I would like to thank the amazing team who have helped us all to ease through this tricky year. Mrs Johnson, Mrs Banks, Mrs Lester-Smith, Mrs Brayne, Mrs Blaxell and Mrs Morgan. Thank you all for your kindness, calmness, patience and support.  We look forward to the Family Fun Day on the last day of school and I am sure to the much needed down time that is coming. I hope you all enjoy the summer break and have a wonderful festive season where you eat too much, drink too much and sleep a lot!

The student’s enjoyed their second excursion to Fishability, this time, with their friends from ESC 6. It was another magical day of fishing and swimming, surrounded by the glorious park ocean environments and their families.

Our class engaged with the school’s inaugural ‘New Beginnings to an Old Story’ gathering.’ It was a wonderful time of connecting to create a new pathway embracing, sharing, and celebrating the past, present and future knowledge of the, First Nations People.

The students finished their year by attending the year 7’s Camp, to Point Peron. The weather was glorious, and the students engaged in a variety of activities including, Bush Ranger marine conservation, team games and personal challenges. The boys attempted every activity alongside their peers and forged many memorable memories. 

My favourite activity on camp was rock climbing (Isaac Wee).

My favourite activity on camp was rock climbing (Samuel Wu).

My favourite thing on camp was the food (Billy Jake Kidd).

My favourite activity on camp was kayaking (Evan Wei-Wen Wong).

My favourite activity on camp was kayaking (Thomas Lodwick).

My favourite activity on camp was rock climbing (Coby Tubic).

My favourite activity on camp was rock climbing and the beach (Phillip John Ugle).

‘Wow’, what a year!

We would like to congratulate the boys on their achievements and thank their parents for raising such incredible young men.  It has been our absolute pleasure to work with a group of outstanding, well-mannered, and caring students.

I would like to acknowledge the hard work, dedication and commitment of Michelle Smith, Katy Blacklock and Anne Lersdejsakul, for supporting the students, and their families.

We wish you a safe and happy holiday!

Thank you and best wishes,

Lorraine, Michelle, Katy, and Anne

As term 4 comes to an end, we start to wind down and reflect on all of the achievements we have made individually, and the memories we have created together in 2020. We have started to get into the Christmas spirit, and put up and decorated our class Christmas tree as a team, including the naughty or nice bauble which is always watching us! The bauble has stayed green so far, so we know we must be impressing our teachers (and you know who in the North Pole) with our mature, responsible and positive behaviours. During Literacy we have begun reading Christmas themed books, including The Grinch Who Stole Christmas by Dr. Seuss. We have also enjoyed a Christmas book countdown, where each day a student picks a wrapped up book to open. The Christmas book inside is the chosen book for the day’s shared reading!

In week 9 we enjoyed our year 7 camp to Point Peron, along with Mrs Vann and Miss Ratto’s class. Everyone participated in a range of activities that encouraged independence, provided social and leadership opportunities, and developed confidence through unfamiliar and challenging tasks. We conquered kayaking, pushed ourselves as far as we could go on the rock climbing wall and encouraged and worked together during team building games. Everyone demonstrated brilliant Bush Ranger cadet qualities during our conservation marine lookout walk, our marine debris beach clean-up and when listening to a Ranger from the Department of Parks and Wildlife. I am extremely proud of my class, and how brave and independent they all were during camp. It definitely showed me a new level of maturity, which is amazing to see!

I would like to take this opportunity to thank my WONDERFUL year 7.2 class Jai, Archer, Goldie, Izzie, Star, Rohan and Ari. I have had an amazing year working with you all, and have loved being your teacher. I am so proud of all of your achievements, and of the young ladies and men you are growing into. I can’t wait to watch you continue your journey at Leeming. Thank you to the ESC 6 parents for your support and kindness, and a HUGE thank you to my education assistants Miss Hackett and Mrs Harcourt.

Merry Christmas and a happy and safe holiday break. See you all in 2021!

Miss Gage.

This year has been a very challenging year for everyone but the ESC 8 team of staff, students and parents have outdone themselves in sailing though this challenging time with a smile on their faces. The students have learnt to be more resilient and have begun to understand what ‘resilience’ means by constantly adapting to the challenges.

Weeks 6 and 7 were very busy as the students were engaged in assessments. Once the assessments were over, it was winding down time and in week 8 we went on camp to Point Peron. What a wonderful Bush Rangers camp where the students were able to demonstrate leadership skills and team work and a fantastic attitude towards the environment and each other.

In week 9, the students showed great team work again, by packing up resources and tidying up the class for next year. Wednesday the 9^th of December was their last CBL for the year and the students shopped for some Christmas presents for themselves and enjoyed a Mexican meal together. Friday the 11^th of December was the big end of year luncheon to Chins Noodle House.

Week 10 was festive and a time to remember and reflect back at the last two years in high school. It breaks my heart to say goodbye to my students who have been my first class and part of my journey at Leeming SHS ESC. I wish them good luck for year 9. A big shout out to my amazing EAs Ms Patterson and Ms Mitchell for their never-ending support and last but not the least a big ‘thank you’ to the most amazing and supportive group of parents and carers who have stood by me in every way to make this learning journey a success.

Have a great Christmas and wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

It’s difficult to believe that this is the last week for 2020! What a roller-coaster of a year it has been for all students! I am particularly proud of the efforts of ESC 10 throughout this crazy year. They have been consistently dedicated to their education and continuously kind to one another. They began the year as classmates and have ended it as good friends. I feel extremely privileged to have been their teacher this year and it has been a pleasure to know each and every one of my students.

In the last 5 weeks we have been busy finishing off our programs, attending camp to Point Peron and going to Gateways for CBL.

Read some of our ESC 10 students last thoughts on 2020!

Oscar: ‘I’m excited to see what teacher and class I have for next year’

Jackson: ‘Going on CBL has been the best thing this year!’

Cameron: ‘Building a raft on camp was awesome, I want to do it again next year’

Mitch: ‘I love going to dance class with Miss Heard’

Joaquin: ‘Buying lunch at CBL is my favourite, I love going to the shops’

Corey: ‘Having lunch at Lone Star last week was great, I enjoyed the chips!’

Raggy: ‘I like to do math activities in the classroom’

Ethan: ‘Going on camp was great fun, I loved running on the mat in the water’

We hope you all have safe and happy holidays and can’t wait to see you in 2021!

ESC 10 Team

Ms Knox, Mrs Buchanan, Ms Mahalingam and Miss Hamel

Makenzie Alcock - This year we have been doing our business enterprise. We have been doing Auslan for assembly. We sung 'I Can Sing a Rainbow'. We planted vegetables in our garden. The class Shark Sleepover at AQWA was the highlight of the year. Our class raised over $2000 from our business enterprise. Half of that is going to the Charlie Foundation. This year was a blast, we had lots of fun wile learning.

Wow… what a roller coaster the last couple of weeks had been for ESC 13.  The highlight for the term has certainly been our class camp.  We learnt so much on how to survey in the bush, learning about bush tucker food and visited historical landmarks such as the York Courthouse and the Residency Museum. Here is the feedback from our students:

I enjoyed going to York Courthouse and acting out a court hearing with Judge Chamberlain, and seeing the big dam at Mundaring Weir– Tarkin

I loved the York Museum learning about the early 1900’s – Kiara

I enjoyed the sculpture park, having down time and riding the flying fox – Kayla

I really enjoyed the dinner especially the lasagne – Morgan

I liked the bush tucker walking in the bush and learning to start fires without matches, I won best camp Boy– Ben 

I loved being with my friends and playing musical instruments at the Residential Museum, I won best camp Girl– Eve

I enjoyed dressing up at the Residential Museum – Patrick

I liked the drawing that was on the York Courthouse Jail cells, drawn by prisoner’s – Jesse

I enjoyed everything about camp - it was the best – David

To top off the term, we had a beautiful and heart-warming graduation dinner.  In spite of the challenging year we had, I am so proud of how far each and every one of you have come.  I would also like to congratulate Kayla and Kiara for gaining employment at Bob’s Puzzles, David Barker for being gainfully employed at ACTIV, Jacob for a smooth transition to Rocky Bay services, Jesse for pursuing his passion in animations, Morgan for getting employment at ACTIV Property Care and Patrick pursuing new community access activities. 

On behalf of all the staff, we will miss all of you and we know that you will always be in our hearts

Wishing you a happy and safe holidays.

From Ms Parwani, Mrs Shivers, Mrs Subramaniam, Mrs Chamberlain and Mrs Cox

This year has been a very different year for everyone with all the events happening in the world. However, staff and parents in ESC 16 have all adapted to the changes by working cooperatively to provide continued learning for the young people in our care.

I would like to acknowledge the support provided to me and the students this year by the thoughtful and caring education assistants in the class; Mrs Joannides (AKA Mrs TJ), Mrs Pillay and Mrs Hewer. They are a committed group of educators that always want the best for all students in the class.

The run down to the end of the year has been a busy time of assessments and finishing off work. We have completed our studies in science with a unit on forces that was supported by Ms Danielle, from Indigo. This meant we not only learnt about the different forces with hands on experiments but also programmed and used Touch Chat to expand student vocabulary and understandings. 

We are looking forward to the final events of the year in week 10 including performing at the assembly, CBL to Perth Zoo, Secret Santa, shared morning tea and Family Fun day.

It has been a pleasure teaching the students in ESC 16 and I wish them all the best as they move into senior school next year.

Have a great Christmas and wishing you all a very Happy New Year!

Our Work Skills lessons in the latter part of the year have helped the students develop skills in multiple areas. The students who have worked at the bakery station have had great pleasure in producing bakery treats that they are allowed, on occasion to sample. A fun twist to learning while lots of skills are being mastered.

Johanna Lee

All senior students have had an amazing term as the workplace program was in full swing again this term. Students practiced good ongoing hygiene and social distancing practices, to ensure COVID requirements were implemented across industry settings.

We have special mentions to share from the workplace department. These two students have achieved an enormous amount of hours through their senior years in the ADWPL (Authority Developed Workplace Learning) Program, and now through their employment with Activ.

Congratulations to David Baker who has achieved 854 hours of total experience and congratulations to Levi Baker who has achieved a total of 888 hours of experience. Both of these students will have gained over 1000 hours by the time they graduate in November. Awesome, awesome efforts by these young men!

Congratulations to Caitlin Pilkington and Nick Leone who have completed their certificate qualifications in community services (Nick) and horticulture (Caitlin). They have put in a lot of hard work throughout the year, both with their theory and practical placements.

We would like to wish Nick all the best as he ventures into full time employment with St John of God Hospital after he graduates. He has been part of this team for almost two years now and they are very excited to have him full time very soon!

Eve Morgan has been awarded Employee of the Month at our assembly. Eve has had an amazing term at Alinea in the Plantrite department. Each week, Eve has been prepared and ready for work. She has worked with independence as she became familiar with allocated tasks. Eve's productivity at Alinea improved every week. Her supervisor has been extremely impressed with her work ethic and enthusiasm. Congratulations, Eve!!

We can’t wait to have the year 10s joinof the program next year.

Workplace Learning program recommences week 1 of term 4.

We wish everybody a restful school holiday break.

THANK YOU to Nations Church, Myaree who put on their no strings attached, free Christmas community event, love community day on Saturday 12 December. Nations partnered with YouthCARE chaplains in surrounding areas, to bless families in local schools. Families enjoyed a BBQ, face painting, bouncy castles and a visit from Santa Claus. Nations volunteers were wonderful hosts and made everyone feel very welcome. Each family was blessed with a beautiful Christmas hamper filled with delicious treats to take home. The spirit of giving was certainly felt on the day and I was very grateful to have been involved and to have enjoyed the morning talking with our families.

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Wishing you all a Joyous Festive Season and a Safe and Happy Holiday.

Warmest regards,

Ms Vangi