Page 38 - St Edmund's School Yearbook 2014

speech AT EDDIE’S
Ms Claire Formby
Tech Heads promote the International
‘I Communicate’ project on National Speech Pathology Day. This photo
made it onto Speech Pathology Australia’s Facebook page
Happy Tech Heads
One of our major focuses this year has been to embed communication into all areas of the school to ensure that all students reap maximum benefits from the Speech program. As such the whole staff has collaborated to assist with planning goals, implementing strategies, sharing research and knowledge. Through this cooperative approach we’ve shared some very positive achievements.
We’ve had a strong focus on promoting the use of alternative or augmentative communication (AAC) devices within the school, supporting students in the classrooms and running weekly Tech Heads group meetings, with an aim to enrich the social skills of students who use AAC and increase their independence in and out of school.
The whole school has participated in a new specialised social skills program ‘TalkAbout’, with sessions taking place weekly in house team meetings. TalkAbout has also been integrated into the Pathways to Work program and students have had great fun organising their own leisure activities and participating in their classmates’ planned outings.
Next year we look forward to continuing the roll-out of another new program, ‘Liberating Communication’ which places communication at Eddie’s into the Liberate model. Very exciting times!