• SAIL Programs
  • Newsletter
  • April 2002

BIG changes and new SAILors!

Well, week one of SAIL Senior, SAIL Extend and the massive pick up operation went even better than expected. We apologise to all those who went to child-less houses- the miscommunication has been rectified. Otherwise, we were delighted with the speed with which the entire operation settled down and the incredible focus of tutors and students in going for the full hour and a half. Congratulations and thanks all round. We are thrilled and excited by the way we are able to extend our services to help even more people.

We want to extend a welcome to all the new tutors who came to SAIL during our changeover period. Please be prepared to introduce yourself to each other. If anyone needs help with some starters for polite conversation we will be happy to oblige!

Special SAIL Speaker

We have the pleasure of inviting you to a SAIL- tutor only inservice. We have invited a speaker from the Victorian Foundation for the Survivors of Torture and Trauma to come and speak to us. The Foundation is a service that provides counseling and support to refugees who have survived traumatic events. This will be an invaluable opportunity for us all to gain some insight into the experiences of our students and, more importantly, to learn how we can help.

The seminar will be run by Ms. Grace Lopez twice for one hour from 12:15pm and then again at 1:30pm on Saturday 4 May, 2002. (The two times allow for tutors for SAIL, SAIL Extend and SAIL Senior to attend at a time outside their usual tutoring times). Please mark it in your diaries and come prepared with any questions you may have.

Putting the I(ntegrated) back in SAIL as we head to the ballet!

Sincere and endless thanks to all those who attended the admin meeting. We achieved everything we hoped to and more. Unbelievably, we are already reaping the benefits!

We have been offered two lots of forty tickets to Australian Ballet Company Productions in June and September. We will be taking all of our students who are over 11 and also inviting six tutors to come on each occasion. We are hopeful that every tutor will attend at least one free excursion this year. We will be prioritizing in order of earliest to most recent arrivals at SAIL and we hope everyone understands. We look forward to telling you of more trips as they come to light!

Congratulations are also due to Father Don who became a celebrity in the week. He gave a brief interview on Fox FM as he accepted an enormous grant to take the children on a camp. This will be an invaluable opportunity for all the students to enjoy some solid recreation time together. We thank Father Don for his ongoing and tireless dedication to seeking what is best for the Sudanese community. He will be available to sign autographs after tutoring with a limit of one per person!!

What do we tutor again?

It has come to our attention that some tutors have been convinced by their students that they are supposed to be doing Maths or playing on the computer in SAIL time. There is a good reason for this. Maths and computers rarely require language and so, given that none of our students are at all stupid, they find this a lot easier than English. However, we are not there for them to continue hobbies or things they are already good at. Our job is to consolidate their English skills. Please be mindful of the fact that this is what most of our students need most and something every tutor has done a very good job assisting with. We ask that you keep all you activities language based. If you are unsure what this means or how best to do it please ask another tutor or Matthew or Anna Grace.

‘Can’t come’ sheet

Every week a blank sheet will be posted on the outside library wall titled the ‘Can’t come’ sheet. The name took us a long time to decide on but the concept is pretty basic and didn’t. If you know that you ‘can’t come’ to SAIL the following week, fortnight, in a month, a year etc. then all we ask is that you record your name and the date you can’t come. There is no requirement that you write a reason but if you wish, you can do so. We will be patenting this ingenious name in the coming weeks.

Dress ups.

We have had a request from, Jacqui in the kinder group for some dress-ups. If you ,or any one you know, have dress ups that are no longer wanted then they would be greatly appreciated by the littlies. The most desirable dress-ups are those with character not just old clothes you no longer want. We would also request that no lower-half clothing (excluding skirts) be donated as this is unlikely to fit any of the children. Donations will be gratefully accepted indefinitely.

Plastic bags

We have also had a timely request from Maureen (our regular bread picker-upperer) for plastic bags. Because of the vast quantities of Fridays bread available to us, the families are able to take some home. We would like to be able to provide plastic bags for them to take them hygienically (rather than in their hands) on the bus. Please bring any spare plastic bags you may have each week for this purpose.

References / Referees

After you have volunteered at SAIL for four months, we are more than happy to provide you with a written or over-the-phone reference (we have already done so for several people). Please contact Matthew or Anna Grace with a weeks notice and this will be gladly prepared and delivered.

Website

The website has been updated again! It is important that everyone is well aware of all of the information of the website relating to the program and the students. The purpose of the site is to make existing and new tutors aware of the sensitivities of the students and give everyone a better understanding of their background. Please be familiar with this information as it will help us help our students. It is also worth noting that these newsletters are available online at the same time they are available in print. If you miss a week, please check the site for updates. Thanks to Patrick for his tireless efforts to accommodate the demands of the sites precious editors.

Thanks

As always, we want to thank everyone for their regular attendance. This has undoubtedly been our biggest period of change since SAIL’s inception. We thank everyone for being so understanding and flexible as we shifted so many things around.