Armadale Education Support Centre

Issue 2, Term 1

Dates to Remember

Friday 12th April- Final Day Term 1

Tuesday 30th April- Students Return for Term 2

From the Principal- Ms Boyd

It is hard to believe first term has already come to an end. The students are enjoying their school and community based programs and have achieved so much in one term. Thank you to parents and friends who attended our end of term assembly and the Parent Information Session on E-Safety and Positive Behaviour Support (PBS). We plan to host a Parent Information Session and morning tea each term so that parents have the opportunity to keep up with the latest information as well as meet and develop connections with other families. The topics will be posted on Facebook in the week prior.

Armadale ESC is an accredited Waste Wise School and we want to reduce our impact on the environment by limiting our printing and use of paper.  Where possible we will use electronic communications including email, Facebook and text messages to keep in contact and to deliver IEPs, student reports and newsletters. Please let the office know if you require paper copies.

I would like to acknowledge Vicki Cavanagh, Di Gregori, Kathleen Dzubiel and Serafina Capurso for their parent representation on the School Council, we appreciate our members giving their time each term to attend meetings. The role of the School Council is to review the school’s objectives, priorities and directions and ensure the school allocates funding accordingly.

There is a school professional development day on the first day of term, Monday 29th April. Students return on Tuesday 30th April.Have a safe and happy holiday break. 

From the Deputy- Mrs Marko

Term 1 has gone by in a flash, but trust me it has been full of positive programs, events and activities that staff and students have had the benefit of being a part of.

Our Student Services team welcomed our Chaplain, Didier and he is learning all about what it means to be a part of the AESC. He will be spending time in classes and getting to know the students and how the classes operate in order to know what the needs are for each group. He is looking forward to running programs next term.

We have had nearly all the therapists check in with their student and the timetable for Term 2 is almost completed of when they will be visiting the school as part of the student’s NDIS plan. 

It is important that if your child is going to be away and they have a therapist session booked on that day, you, the parent/guardian must contact your service team to let them know.

Mr T and Mr Mac have been running two excellent programs this term, that have seen groups go out of school to learn about the discipline and technique involved in professional boxing. The other program has been a social skills program. Learning how to behave in public, how to build conversations and the maths involved in billiards!! These programs will continue to run into next term.

We have had the Silly Sausage Company running every Wednesday lunchtime, thanks to Mr Mac and Mr T, which draws a huge crowd not only from our school, but also from ASHS, which allows our AESC students to bond with their mainstream peers.

We also ran a fun staff VS student basketball match, which of course saw the staff win [I can’t back that up with any real evidence] the students thoroughly enjoyed the game! It was fun to see everyone cheering each other on and enjoying the rivalry.

It will be another busy Term 2, so have a relaxing holiday and we will see you back at school on Tuesday 30th April. 

From the MCS- Mrs Sansom



A reminder to all that Secondary Assitance Applications close on Friday 12th April. Please contact admin on 9497 6435.



To go in the draw to win a Nespresso Coffee Machine or a Sony Bluetooth Speaker please have fee's paid in full by Friday 12th April.

MS2- Mrs Kannan

We have planned an array of activities for our Year 8 students and they have been working tirelessly, completing all given tasks. Our Year 8 students’ behaviour has improved tremendously and this was noted by staff around the school and the Student Services Team. With this positive atmosphere, we recently celebrated Harmony Week with a range of activities emphasising cultural diversity and inclusivity. It also emphasised on respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. As a class, we built a Sydney Harbour Bridge model and made Vegemite sandwiches decorating it with the Australian flag. During this Harmony Day celebration, students also had a chance to share their experiences with other classes in the school. During our visits to other classes we relished Mrs Fleay’s portrayal of France, the Year 10’s fashion show and had a memorable experience touring China in SS2 and then eating burgers in the United States of America in SS3 classroom.

Furthermore, we embarked on a tour to Tanzania where we enjoyed listening and playing the different musical instruments and ate some fried banana prepared by our Year 7s. Further to this, we recently participated in the Hill Cricket Carnival which was held at Hartfield Park in Forrestfield. Students participated and enjoyed the carnival. It was great to see all students being active outdoors. We also take this opportunity to wish all our families a pleasant and safe holidays.

MS3A- Mr Lush

The last 5 weeks have been eventful in MS3A! We have been on 3 excursions.

Firstly, we went to the ANZAC memorial at Kings Park and a food hall afterwards as a part of our History unit on World War 1 and earning our ASDAN Transition Challenge certificates. We had a great time although it was sad seeing the amount of lives lost in the war. We enjoyed our morning tea in Kings Park and feeding the friendly birds!  We then caught the bus into the Hay Street Mall and bought our lunch at the food hall.  We showed lots of confidence using our money and speaking skills at various food shops.In week 8, we went to Hartfield Park in Forrestfield to play Rapid Fire Cricket against other Education Support Schools. Our teams played well on the day and the behaviour was outstanding. Congratulations to those who won awards for being best players and showing the spirit of cricket.

In class we are learning about World War 1 History and also in maths how to manage our personal finances. We have been learning about how to apply interest rates to our money in the bank with the counting of our tokens each week with a monetary value and also how to work out percentages off items in shops.  

This term we also enjoyed Harmony Week and our class country was Egypt.  We enjoyed watching information clips on life in Egypt and how the pyramids were made.   We also enjoyed a cooking session making Egyption Couscous Salad and a sweet pastry dish.  Yum.

This term MS3A have really enjoyed their yummy cooking sessions with Ms Ash.  They have shown lots of talent cooking up recipes such as Chicken Parmigiana, Chicken Fettucine, various types of pizzas and some Egyption recipes for Harmony Day.  Our class loves these sessions and enjoy eating their creations.  Lots of fun.  

We are also making shoe racks for market day out of PVC and various other creations.  We have enjoyed looking at patterns and using measurement skills to make the shoe racks. 

This term for Art we have been learning about various artists and our latest creation has been that of Claude Monet and painting our own Water Lillies painting.  We have learnt about painting in layers. The paint colours we chose turned our beautiful!

We are looking forward to our excursion this Friday 5th April to the Earth Day Expo at the Canning River Eco Centre where we will participate in different activities to do with the environment. We look forward to ending the term with a cricket match against the Kalamunda Education Support Centre and sausage sizzle next week.   Mr Lush and Mrs Kirkman wish our students a happy and relaxing holiday and thankyou for your wonderful happy natures each week.  

SS1- Mrs Mila

In term 1 the students in SS1 participated in a variety of educational programs that enhanced their academic learning and social behavioural skills.

To encourage positive social behaviours and interactive skills, we in SS1 are using, “Class craft”, which is an online educational gaming website. The world is changing and so is the classroom. Real learning only happens when students are deeply engaged. Now more than ever, it’s important to make school relevant and meaningful to today’s students in order to prepare them for the future.

In teams’ students discuss the concept of Expected Behaviours and the social media issues. Throughout this gaming tool students are working towards team points and really developing a sense of team work by actually giving up points they have earned to classmates who lose points due to their Unexpected Choices.

Staff and students in SS1 enjoy coming up with innovative ways to allow the students to express themselves creatively. Students are deeply engaged in online Kahoot activities which allow them to work in a team.

We incorporated our successful and inspiring Harmony Day activity a fashion parade with proud presentation of cultures, in to our ADCAP courses. All our lessons included a mutual exchange between staff and students.

SS2- Ms Jesionek

We started Term One with great energy and I am delighted to see the enthusiasm still going on. It has been wonderful to see all the students working well in class and work experience placements. We are also well underway fundraising for animal shelters as part of the Community Service program.

Our Harmony Day celebration was a great success thank you to all students and staff.  

As we are approaching the Easter Holidays we at SS2 would like to wish all our students and their families a safe and well rested Easter holiday.

Boxing- Matt Bennett- Year 9 student

On Mondays during term one I went to a gym in Fremantle to participate in a boxing program with 5 other boys from school. We all enjoyed the excursions. The instructors taught us some cool fitness skills. I learnt how to improve my physical skills and boost my confidence. We learnt how to use the fitness equipment and the 6 types of punches and defence moves. I liked the instructor called George because he played cool music and jokes. It was fun travelling on the bus with the other boys.

Pot Black Excursion

Senior School -Kanyana Wildlife- Ms Fleay

On Monday 1st April SS2, SS3 and SS4 attended Kanyana Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre courtesy of Rio Tinto Earth Assist.

The students are learning to appreciate the value of volunteer groups which work to save, nurse and rehabilitate our native fauna and the importance of conserving the biodiversity of our native species in the face of human encroachment and the predations of introduced species.

We were given a tour of the Centre and had some memorable encounters with some of the inmates!

The students gave the best part of an hour to raking leaves and gumnuts to lessen hazards around the Centre paths and outdoor seating area.

Many thanks to Laura, our bus driver and facilitator, for providing this enjoyable and valuable experience for us all.

School Assembly