In this issue •
Occupational Therapy: all you need to know
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Join out bike riding fun day!
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Try our family fun activities
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5 minutes with Anne
From the desk of Tracey Millen
Spring is in the air and the team at Windermere are as busy as ever! Transition support is being offered for children heading off to primary school in 2015, through school readiness groups, as well as individual outreach support to families who are trying to determine which school is best for their child. Where relevant, we are also offering assistance with applications for Program for Student with a Disability (PSD). Did you know, your key worker is able to assist with many aspects of school transition, including attending visits to potential schools with you?
their planning support needs for the next 6-12 months. It is important that you are a full participant in developing the Family Services & Support Plan, this document guides your service delivery and should be reviewed with your key worker every 6 months. Windermere are always looking for ways to improve service and consumer access and to this end there are a number of big things currently happening.
If you would like your key worker to attend school visits, please contact them early to ensure their availability at the time you need.
First and foremost is our new building in Officer, a joint project with the Cardinia Shire, The “Toomah” building is nearing completion and Windermere staff will soon move in, enabling better access to and for consumers living within Cardinia.
We have recently taken on a number of new clients and key workers are assisting these families in determining
We are also doing significant work around the NDIS (National Disability Insurance Scheme) as the nation moves
closer to a full roll out of the scheme. As part of the scheme ECIS (Early Childhood Intervention Services) funding will be rolled into the NDIS, and trial sites in Barwon and South Australia have already begun providing ECIS services via NDIS. An important feature of ECIS service delivery within the trial sites is the use of the trans-disciplinary key worker approach – which we have implemented already at Windermere. The NDIS model supports and values the benefits the trans-disciplinary approach provides, including strengthening family capacity to support their own child’s development and builds lasting resilience, benefiting children and families long after they move on from ECIS services. With each new issue, we aim to provide continual updates and bring you the latest information.
Happy Reading!
Meet the team… 5 Minutes with
Name Anne Jansen van Rensburg Role Key Worker
Background
Outside of Windermere
I have been a teacher for 26 years, and have been lucky enough to teach in South Africa, Malawi, Namibia and Sydney before moving to Melbourne.
I continue my love of teaching, on Thursdays and Fridays in schools mostly around the Casey Cardinia area.
Throughout my teaching experiences I have always been passionate about supporting children with learning needs and disabilities.
My Philosophy Creating and exposing children to opportunities where they can experience and learn from their environment and community.
Windermere I began working for Windermere in April 2013. I currently work Mondays to Wednesdays and enjoy sharing the journey with our children and their families.
Does your child attend swimming lessons in the Casey Cardinia area? With the weather warming up, we are hoping to provide a snapshot of those local swimming centres best equipped for children with disabilities and additional needs. To assist us in putting this together, we need your feedback! Please let us know…
• Which centres have you had good experiences with? • Do you feel supported with your child’s swimming journey? If so, in what way? • Does the centre support your child’s individual needs? If so, how? Please send your responses to info@windermere.org.au, and include ‘ECDS swimming responses’ in the subject field.
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What’s on at ECDS... School transition fun for the whole family The transition to school is an exciting time, full of adventure for children, but it can also be a scary time for families with your child’s eligibility for our service ceasing. To support you in your journey we would like to invite all families who have children commencing school in 2015 to an information session:
Date: Thursday 16th October Time: 7pm – 9 pm (supper provided) Venue: Berwick Office 26 Parkhill Drive, Berwick, 3806 To book your place, please contact Deepti on (03) 9709 6900 For further information chat to your key worker, or email simone.waterman@windermere.org.au
Ready for Routines We run sessions to help you prepare your child for kinder and for our programs. These sessions will help your child practice transitioning between activities and having a routine and include fun exercises such as making art masterpieces, listening to stories and playing together.
Bike Riding Fun Day
Seeking expressions of interest!
We are seeking expressions of interest for a bike riding day to be held in November or early December. Take the opportunity to check your child’s bike set up, ask questions and learn games and skills to teach your child to ride a bike.
Potential activities will include: - Getting on/off the bike
- Basic road safety
- Learning to balance
- What to look for when purchasing a bike (just in time for Christmas!!)
- Pedalling, Steering, Braking and stopping - Riding without training wheels
To register your interest and suggest a suitable time and day, contact us on (03) 9709 6900, email nicole.corrigan@ windermere.org.au or speak to you key worker.
These sessions are open to three year olds and run for six Mondays commencing Monday 13 October 2014. Time: 10am – 11.30am Venue: Windermere Cranbourne, 75 – 81 Willora Crescent,Cranbourne, 3977 To enrol contact Deepi on 9709 6900 We would love to see you and your child there!
Issue 03 . Spring 2014
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What is Occupational Therapy (OT)?
“Occupations” refer to the everyday activities that children and adults do that “occupy” their time or give their lives meaning and purpose. In relation to children, the primary goal of OT is to enable your child to participate in the everyday activities that they want or need to.
What does an Occupational Therapist in an Early Childhood Development Service do? An OT will usually begin by discussing you child’s performance in three key areas:
1. Self care - tasks such as bathing, dressing and toileting 2. Childcare/Kinder/School – participation, attention, fine/ gross motor performance and following routines, and 3. Leisure activities – social interaction and play skills
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Sensory processing is another key area an OT may address. The aim is to help you understand how your child copes with sensory stimuli within their environment - Does your child over react, under react or seek out certain sensations?
As a result of the assessment the OT may;
1. Support your child’s participation by helping you to modify the activity and or the environment.
Formal and informal assessments can be performed with you and your child, to understand more about your child and to set priorities.
2. Teach specific skills to help your child meet their developmental milestones.
The assessments can take place either at the centre, or by observing your child in their natural context of home or kindergarten/childcare.
3. Give you advice and strategies to support your child’s ongoing development.
An OT may be able to assist with the following skills:
Fine Motor •
Drawing skills
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Eye hand tasks such as threading, lacing, small construction
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Pencil grip
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Scissor skills
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Learning new fine motor tasks such as buttoning, zips
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Children who switch hand preference frequently
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Strength for performing fine motor tasks
Visual Perception
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Distinguishing differences or
Sensory
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Tendency to wear only certain types of clothing
similarities between objects e.g. colour, shape, size etc
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Constantly moving or “on the go”
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Copying shapes or letters
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Chews, licks or mouths non food
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Puzzles and copying patterns
Issue 03 . Spring 2014
Self-Care
items •
Picky eater
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Over reacts to loud noises
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Touches everything
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Reluctant to engage in messy play
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Dressing self e.g. putting on top, shorts, shoes, socks
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Using appropriate utensils to feed self e.g. using spoon or fork
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Toilet training
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Distress with self care tasks such as hair cutting, hair washing, teeth brushing etc 5
Family Fun Looking for some family fun activities to try at home? Here are a few fun preschool activities and game suggestions taken from the Preschool Rainbow website, that will not only entertain your child, but can be used to reinforce early learning skills.
The Calendar
Countin
For Preschool Children
•
•
Explain that days, like people have names... •
name is (Tuesday)."
Example
gster he
s away.
lp you
me time
tice with
, give him
counting
/
did I buy
Help your youngster understand the passage of time and how we measure time by the month, day, hour etc.
•
grocerie
. s: Ask, "H ow many c arrots ? How m any bars How ma o f soap? ny cans o f soup? many bo How xes of ce real?"
of the calendar. •
ur youn
At the sa
her prac
Show your child the day’s names at the top
ies
Have yo
put the
Say, "Today's name is (Monday). Tomorrow's
•
g Grocer
Circle special days on the calendar and count how many days until each special day arrives. (Special days are any days that you and your child do something that your child likes, for example: visit grandparents, trip to the zoo, or the day he/she helps wash the dog)
Counting a Silly Walk •
Take a walk with your child. Make up some silly steps to do together. Examples: Take two large steps and three tiny steps, counting 1,2 - 1,2,3 - 1,2, etc., as you go.
For more activities and games visit:
www.preschoolrainbow.org/parent.htm 6
Nut F
ree E
To ensure the safety and
nviro
nmen
t
wellbeing of children enrolled at the service please be aware that Windermere ECDS is a Nut Free Environment. We ask that you DO NOT bring any food or products that contain peanuts or tree nuts in to the centre.
Please see be low fo list o r a f tree n uts if are un you sure:
• Alm ond • Haz • Bee elnut chnut • Hick • Bra or y n zil nu ut t • Lich • Bus e h nut e nut • Mac • But adam ternut ia nut • Nan • Cas gai nu hew t • Pec • Che an stnut • Pin • Coc e nut onut • Pist • Filb achio ert • • Gin Shea n ko nu ut t • Wal nut
Help us win a $50,000 donation!! Dick Smith Foods is running a charity giveaway and Windermere could be the lucky recipient, but we need your help. All you need to do is simply take of photo of you in your pantry with any Dick Smith Food product and text* or email the photo to: charity@dicksmithfoods. com.au Don’t forget to include our name (Windermere) and yours… the more photos we get the greater chance we have to win. Windermere can also receive bonus points if you send a photo of you holding up a Dick Smith Food product with a group of up to 10 friends – one point for each person present in the photo. So spread the word! For more details visit www.dicksmithfoods. com.au/charitybreakthrough Feel free to share your great pics on our Facebook Page too – Windermere Child and Family Services
Useful Contacts
http://raisingchildren.net.au/
http://www.med.monash.edu.au /spppm/research/devpsych/actnow/ factsheet.html
http://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/
http://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/
http://www.acd.org.au/
* It does sound strange, but believe it or not you can put an email address on the phone number field for texting and it will go through! Issue 03 . Spring 2014
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Christmas comes early to Windermere “We wanted to bring some cheer into the lives of children and families undergoing difficult circumstances, to tell and show them that someone does care”. Interested in other Windermere news and events?
Windermere recently welcomed a donation of more than 800 Christmas in July gifts, put together by local charity Mums Supporting Families in Need. The volunteer group spent months collecting and wrapping gifts, which have been distributed by Windermere to families who have suffered significant disadvantage. Mums Supporting Families in Need vice president Melissa Webb contacted Windermere recently to see if they could lend a hand. “We wanted to bring some cheer into the lives of children and families undergoing difficult circumstances, to tell and show them that someone does care”, she said.
www.windermere.org.au
“Windermere were overjoyed by the tremendous community support generated by the volunteer group. We are always moved by how individuals excitedly join our efforts to build a stronger, supported and connected community”, said Windermere CEO, Dr Lynette Buoy.
Windermere makes a splash for MND On 1 September, the team took up the global ice bucket challenge to raise money and awareness for Motor Neurone Disease, a degenerative neurological condition that impacts all the motor nerves in the body, usually leading to death within 3 years of diagnosis. It’s a cause close to our heart – our disability services team often work with clients with the incurable disease and see first hand the impact it has on victims and their families.
Jump on line:
Windermere case managers commended the volunteers on their selflessness, as all too often these children have witnessed terrible trauma and the family, through circumstances might not be able to afford things, or they’ve lost everything.
A total of 17 staff participated in the challenge, including Julie Knowles, Family Health and Wellbeing Manager. “The MND Association has worked closely with our disability team on many occasions, often providing equipment from their libraries, sharing the cost of respite as well as generally sharing their expertise with our team”, Julie said.
The Ice Bucket Challenge requires people to pour a bucket of ice water over their head and donate money to MND before nominating others to do the same. The "frozen" sensation of icy water is meant to parallel the state of immobility MND patients endure. Dr Lynette Buoy, CEO also braved the icy conditions. "If we can try to understand and emulate even the tiniest amount of an MND victim’s pain and experience in order to help and drive awareness, then that’s a really great thing for the team to be involved in”, she said.