Staff Matters July 12, 2019 Issue 213 Week 2
CARING ABOUT OUR STAFF
FRONTLINE CONFERENCE–THE AFFORD WAY The Bi-Annual Frontline Staff Conference was held for our NSW Front Line staff last week at the Blacktown Workers Club. These conferences are key to the Afford Way – they keep our staff updated, connected and involved with what is happening with our organisation, as well as upskilling them so that they continue to provide the highest quality support on offer in the disability sector.
In This Issue 1
Joke of The Week Afford Trivia
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NSW Client Services staff from Day Programs, Accommodation, Respite and Allied Health attended the informative day, which focused on the Afford Way, maintaining our high standards, our revised red alerts procedures, reporting, keeping vigilant, and the huge variety of staff benefits available to us all.
Frontline Conference – The Afford Way
Quick Guide To Accessing CIMS Welcome New Appointments
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Our conferences are essential in ensuring all staff are fully informed about important sector updates and understand Afford procedures for their own well-being and the safety of our clients.
Sourcing Quality Supports Reminder
Allied Health Sensory Training Upcoming Events Selfies of the Week Afford Trivia Answer
They are extremely well organised by our National Training and Engagement Manager, Maureen Brown, and are a great way to get many of staff together at once. Staff were engaged throughout the day, asking questions and and enjoying presentations from: • Steven Herald, CEO – who spoke about the integral importance of the Afford Way
• Fiona Given, PWD – who spoke about her experiences communicating with Augmentative Technology • Dave Hollier, Bushbred – who spoke about our Bushbred Program at Cherrywood • AccessPay – who spoke about Salary Sacrificing benefits and the Entertainment Card Thank you to all staff who attended, we hope you found the conference informative. We encourage staff who have any questions or even ideas for Afford’s future, to contact info@afford.com.au.
AFFORD TRIVIA
What year did a fire destroy our Llandilo Factory?
www.afford.com.au
Staff Matters
STAFF PROFILE NAME: Rosie Haley POSITION: Lifestyle Assistant LOCATION: Ipswich, QLD FAVOURITE SONG? Dog Days Are Over - Florence & The Machine FAVOURITE MOVIE? Romance or thrillers FAVOURITE HOBBIES? Video games, exploring, dancing, music, festivals & painting FAVOURITE FOODS? Cheese toasties IF YOU COULD BE AN ANIMAL WHAT WOULD YOU BE? A bird of prey
July 12, 2019 Issue 213
QUICK GUIDE TO ACCESSING CIMS
Liveware CIMSability and NAV are systems used across our company on a daily basis. These systems have helped transform the way our staff record and have access to important information needed in order to complete our jobs correctly. Liveware CIMSability and NAV are systems used across our company on a daily basis. These systems have helped transform the way our staff record and have access to important information needed in order to complete our jobs correctly. The systems offer ease of use, good financial control and accessibility from portable devices. In order to access the systems on your portable devices, you must ensure you use this link: https://cimsability.afford.com. au/cims Staff are to log in with their username and password set-up by IT Staff are able to also access their emails on a portable or uncommon device by following the below steps: • Ensure you have a working internet connection • Open Internet Browser (e.g. Safari for iPhone users or Internet Explorer/Chrome)
• Go to: https://mail.afford.com.au/owa • Log in with your username and password
WHAT IS YOUR DREAM HOLIDAY DESTINATION? Japan during sakura season IF YOU HAD THE POWER WHAT WOULD YOU CHANGE ABOUT THE WORLD? End poverty IF YOU HAD TO TEACH SOMETHING WHAT WOULD YOU TEACH? Kindness and self love SOMETHING NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT ME? Nothing
We would like to congratulate the following Affordian on their new appointment: • Tom Toiaivao - Operations Accounts Officer, QLD
www.afford.com.au
July 12, 2019 Issue 213
Staff Matters SOURCING QUALITY SUPPORTS
Afford were centre stage last week as a major sponsor at the Source Kids Disability Expo held at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre. With our vibrant stand including a new wall design, blue carpet, positioning right in front of the entrance doors, and our friendly Customer Care Team, we were once again a stand out at the event. The event was free to attend and provided a great opportunity for our team to connect directly with parents and families about their children’s support needs. Team members received lots of positive feedback from visitors, with the event attracting great attendance. The Afford stall boasted many great attractions including: - A massive prize wheel where attendees can spin the wheel to win an Afford branded prize from our swag. - A Nintendo Switch giveaway – the lucky winner of the Nintendo Switch was Tamara Balfe of Marden QLD! - Free airbrush tattoos from Robyn at Always Wicked Art, which helped with the long lines of children to our stand, allowing our team to speak with their parents about Afford supports. - Afford’s resident Therapy Dog, Mia, was also in attendance and as always was a big hit with all attendees. The future continues to be bright for Afford and we’re excited to share our knowledge and experience with all new clients that join the Afford community.
Reminder! Staff are reminded of the importance of keeping up to date with training & to complete training on time! Client Free Week training attendance stats for NSW:
• 302 staff accepted invitations to attend -
• 281 staff actually attended training • 23 staff didn’t attend – let’s get this number down, training is important!
• A new Red Alert module to be completed in ELMO
• IMPORTANT new modules released weekly for frontline staff to complete
www.afford.com.au
Staff Matters
July 12, 2019 Issue 213
ALLIED HEALTH SENSORY TRAINING
Afford’s Allied Health team is always growing and so is the industry, so to keep up with this pace our therapists attend a number of training sessions. Most recently, Occupational Therapist, Sarah Pottage, and Speech Pathologist, Kimberley Reynard, attended the ‘From Sensory Processing to Executive Functioning’ training in Melbourne. The training was presented by Maude Le Roux, a highly experienced Occupational Therapist originally from South Africa, who has now opened her own multi-disciplinary academy in the United States. Some key points we took from this training were: • Executive functioning (EF): This is fundamental in a child’s development and if it is not established in the first 4-5 years of life then an individual will present with many issues later in life (e.g. poor concept of time and sequencing, problem-solving issues, poor organisational skills, inefficiency, etc). • Self-regulation: Learning about distinguishing between emotional and sensory regulation, and how trauma can have a significant impact on one’s ability to process sensory stimuli. For example, Effective functioning skills such as understanding the passage of time, can help with self- regulation (e.g. planning a presentation). Some strategies that Sarah and Kimberley learnt to assist with these behaviours are: • Slow down your speech for those with delayed processing and working memory problems. • Focus on the here and now; a lot of people with EF issues do not understand time and future events. • Allow the individual to self-regulate before and during learning opportunities and provide tools to aid with this. • Firstly, an individual has to modulate and register information before sensory integration can take place – this is key to making a difference in the individual’s sensory functions. • Develop sequencing charts to help with planning. • Encourage parents to provide an organised space for study. • Encourage a healthy sleeping routine. • Ask more questions! “We both found her insights very informative and interesting! She enlightened us with fresh ideas that we will definitely implement with many of our clients.” – Kimberley Reynard This training will not only build on our therapists’ quality of work and their confidence, it also gives us the upper hand to be fully informed in the ever changing industry. If any staff have any questions about Maude’s sensory processing training please contact Sarah Pottage or Kimberley Reynard from our Allied Health team 1300 233 673.
SELFIES OF THE WEEK
ate of Selfie Above: St D vs NSW QL y alr Origin Riv Affordians
Pawsome Se lfie Above: Toni Preston, G rants & Fu ndraising Coordinato r and furbab y, Stevie!
UPCOMING EVENTS DATE:
EVENT:
1-31 July
Dry July
1-31 July
JulEYE
19 July
National Pyjama Day
27 July
Staff Gala Awards
Afford Trivia Answer: Fire destroyed the site on the 3rd May, 1985.
www.afford.com.au