Newsletter 15 4 September 2024

From the Principal

Hi everyone

It’s a busy back end to term 3.

Year 5/6 Camp to Maroon Outdoor Education Centre

This week, our Year 5/6 students will venture to the Maroon Outdoor Education Centre from Tuesday 3rd September to Friday 6th September. This camp is a fantastic opportunity for our students to engage in outdoor learning, develop teamwork skills, and build lasting memories with their peers. I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the dedicated staff who will be attending and supporting our students throughout the camp. Your time and commitment are truly appreciated.

Budgie Cup Soccer Success

Last Friday, we had approximately 50 Buranda students participate in the Budgie Cup Soccer at Coorparoo Secondary College. Our school was represented by four teams, all of whom played with great spirit and pride. Both our Junior and Senior Maroon teams reached the Major Finals, with our Senior team emerging victorious and claiming the Cup! The Junior team gave a valiant effort, narrowly missing out on a win in what was a thrilling match. I am incredibly proud of all our players for their determination and sportsmanship.

A special congratulations to our Best and Fairest recipients: Ben K, Harriet, Sophie L, and Santi. Your outstanding performances were recognised, and you’ve made us all very proud.

A big thank you to Mr. Higgins, Ms. Coutts, Miss O'Dempsey and Ms. Douglas for their dedication and hard work in preparing our teams for the competition. Your efforts have clearly paid off!

School Cross Country

Our annual school cross country races were run and won last Wednesday. I was so pleased to see our students try their best in these races. It is very uplifting to complete difficult tasks and I really admire that our students throw everything at the cross country. My sincere thanks to Mrs Wain, Mr Alex, our entire staff and the parents for making the day a great success. Special thanks to Ludivine and Cass for their input with the ice-blocks, much needed due to the warmer weather. Bravo everyone.

Congratulations to Sifti who will compete at the State School Track and Field Carnival for Met East for discus next term. Well done Sifti we are extremely proud of your progression over the past couple of seasons.

My sincere thanks to our wonder Instrumental Music Teacher Alicia Wilson. Ms Wilson conducted our band through an outstanding performance at Assembly on Tuesday. Through their enthusiasm and dedication to practice, our band have become an excellent performance ensemble. Keep up the magnificent work everyone.

Staffing Updates

I’d like to remind everyone that I am currently on leave and will be returning on Monday, 9th September. During my absence, Katherine Austin will be acting as Principal. Additionally, Dr. Rosie Scholl will be on Long Service Leave during Weeks 9 and 10, as well as Week 1 of Term 4. Desley Alexion will be stepping in as Acting Head of Department - Curriculum during this time.

I look forward to seeing everyone when I return.

Simon Vaseo

Principal

Cross Country winners & Budgie Cup winners

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Upcoming Excursions/Incursions

From Inclusion

Back to our celebration of difference this week, and with over 675 000 Australians identifying as Autistic, we must celebrate:

Awesome Autistics

Although each autistic individual has different strengths, interests, challenges and aspirations, they all have one thing in common; they have a brain difference that is basic and fundamental to who they are, meaning that Autism is an important part of who they are and the way they are in the world.

Autistic individuals develop in ways that differ from those who are non-autistic. They experience, think, move, interact, and process information in ways that might not align with typical expectations. Additionally, they share more similarities with other Autistic people than with those who are non-autistic. While everyone is unique, Autistic people generally differ from non-autistic people in the following ways:

Socialisation and Communication: This includes how they connect with others, form and understand friendships and relationships, and use speech and body language.

Thinking and Processing: This encompasses how they recognise patterns and connections, engage in imagination and play, perceive and express their senses and emotions, manage executive functions, and how their brains develop.

These differences often look different for adults and children however …….

Did you know that autistic individuals often possess unique strengths and abilities that may surpass those typically found in neurotypical people?

By Autism Strengths I’m referring to the unique talents, skills, qualities, and advantages that often exceed the typical range of human experience. These strengths can set autistic individuals apart in positive ways, allowing them to contribute uniquely to society.

Not every autistic person will exhibit all of the strengths listed below, but research has shown these traits to be relatively common, and the list can be valuable because it may help someone discover strengths they weren't aware of. Understanding and acknowledging these strengths can be validating, empowering, and practical.

As mentioned before, experts like Drucker and Clifton & Harter argue that individuals benefit more from developing their talents rather than focusing on their weaknesses.

So… let’s all embrace and nurture:

Awesome Autistic Strengths – Embrace Autism

Sensory Strengths

Visual Hypersensitivity - Autistic individuals often have heightened visual sensitivity, allowing them to perceive patterns and details that others might overlook. They can notice intricate visual details more vividly than non-autistic individuals.

Tunnel Vision - Autistic people frequently exhibit a focused attention that is sharper and more detailed. This "tunnel vision" provides them with a high level of clarity on specific details at the end of their visual focus.

Colour Intensity - Studies have shown that autistic individuals may experience colours with greater intensity due to differences in the rods and cones of their eyes. For some, colours like red can appear almost fluorescent.

Synaesthesia - Synaesthesia, where multiple senses blend together, is more common in autistic individuals. Research indicates that about 18.9% of autistic people experience synaesthesia, compared to 7.22% in the general population.

Acute Hearing - Autistic people often have heightened auditory perception, allowing them to detect sounds more clearly and with greater pitch accuracy than non-autistic individuals.

Superior Auditory Discrimination - Many autistic individuals excel at distinguishing specific sounds from background noise and show exceptional skills in frequency discrimination. Approximately 1 in 5 autistic people demonstrate these advanced auditory abilities.

Heightened Pitch Detection - Some autistic individuals exhibit exceptional abilities in recognising pitch changes and memorising pitch associations. A subset known as "musical savants" may also have absolute pitch.

Enhanced Olfactory Detection - Autistic individuals often have increased sensitivity to smells due to enhanced connectivity between the thalamus and insula, affecting their sense of smell, sound, and taste.

Cognitive Strengths

Correlation with Giftedness - Autism is sometimes associated with higher intelligence, with estimates suggesting that 0.7-2% of autistic children are intellectually gifted, compared to up to 1% in the general population.

Savant Syndrome - Savant syndrome, where profound abilities in areas like music, art, or mathematics contrast with other disabilities, occurs in 10-28.5% of autistic individuals, compared to 1% in the general population.

Powerful Memory System - Autistic individuals may possess enhanced memory capabilities, often exhibiting savant-like memory skills and the ability to recall extensive amounts of information, including complex social scripts.

Encyclopaedic Knowledge - Autistic individuals with strong interests or fixations can develop encyclopaedic knowledge in specific areas, often becoming experts due to their intense focus and self-directed learning.

Superior Problem-Solving - Autistic people are often faster at solving problems, utilising perceptual brain regions to process complex patterns and find solutions more efficiently.

Rational Decision-Making - Research suggests that autistic individuals are less prone to irrational decisions and are less influenced by emotions. Their attention to detail and consistency help them make more rational choices.

Hyper-focus - Autistic individuals can exhibit intense concentration on specific topics or tasks, allowing them to focus deeply for extended periods and achieve significant levels of productivity.

Hyper-Systemising - A strong drive to analyse and understand systems is common in autistic people, leading to exceptional skills in pattern recognition and success in systematised domains.

Pattern Recognition - Autistic individuals often excel at identifying patterns, with brain regions involved in pattern recognition showing increased activity compared to the general population.

Increased Adaptive Coding - Research indicates that autistic women, in particular, may demonstrate enhanced ability to adapt and code face identities, which aids in distinguishing between many faces.

Lateral Thinking - Autistic individuals frequently generate novel and unconventional ideas due to their strong capacity for lateral thinking, making them more likely to produce creative solutions.

Behavioural Strengths

Strong Work Ethic - Autistic people often exhibit a robust work ethic, deriving intrinsic satisfaction from repetitive tasks and demonstrating perseverance despite minimal external rewards. This quality supports sustained commitment in work and relationships.

Hopefully this list has helped you better understand Autism. Focussing on strengths can help you or someone you know better understand themselves. Recognising our own strengths can be empowering, advantageous, and helps us more easily overcome challenges. Helping others recognise their strengths helps decrease stress levels, promotes engagement, and helps with resilience.

Help someone discover what’s strong, rather than what’s wrong!!!!

Katherine Austin

Inclusion Teacher

Philosophy Corner

From the P & C

P&C meeting tonight

We have a P&C meeting tonight, Wednesday 4 September 2024, in the school library, starting at 6.15pm.

If you can't make the meeting in person, please join us via this Microsoft Teams link

Tuckshop

Tuckshop this Friday, 6 September, has butter chicken curry, as well as vegetarian options and lots of other yummy things.

Orders close on Qkr! at 8pm tonight.

We still need more volunteers to make the tuckshop run. If you can spare a couple of hours on a Friday this term please sign up at this link.

Warm regards

Chris McGrath

P&C President

E: president@burandasspandc.org.au

M: 0432899097

P&C website: https://www.burandasspandc.org.au/

P&C on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BurandaPandC

From Helping Hands

From the Community