Club 21
Central Midlands Senior High School is an inclusive school. We embrace people of all diversities and abilities at our school. We run a comprehensive SEN program (Special Educational Needs) and pride ourselves in constructing and developing the necessary programs to suit students’ individual disabilities and needs. Students in Club 21 have a good balance of working in small groups on ASDAN (Award Scheme Development and Accreditation Network) modules and Literacy and Numeracy skills, as well as join their peers for options and electives.
We have an all access toilet, mobile kitchen facility and have staff members that provide the most comprehensive programs for all students. As educators, we are given the opportunity to guide, support, and shape the development of the students. We have the ability to nurture the emotional development of students and give them the tools to meet the challenges of a complicated, changing world. In our classroom we believe that nurturing the intellectual, social and emotional development of students will enable them with the essential skills for their future.
Our main focus in Club 21 is to equip them with the necessary Independent Living Skills they will need to function outside of school.
This year we have set up a chook pen with the help of Bunnings. The children look after and feed the chooks. We have also tried to incorporate numeracy and other learning areas into this venture. One way we have done this is by selling our eggs to staff. The students add up the dollars that they have earnt from the egg sales and then as a group they can budget/plan how they would like to spend the money. They are given the ability to choose various items that we may need for our classroom.
We have daily jobs which focus on independent life skills. Other skills we incorporate into our programs are:
- Meal planning, budgeting, and buying food.
- Cooking and understanding healthy eating.
- Being responsible for their routine, like setting alarms and going to school or work.
- Personal hygiene & healthy living.
- Washing, cleaning & other relevant household jobs.
Our aim is to set the students up for their future and give them the ability to function as independently as possible.
We are also running an ASDAN Program within the classroom. We have set times daily to complete our ASDAN modules. We are currently working with the Year 7 to 9 students on the Key Steps Program. Key Steps is a comprehensive programme of activities in a range of topic areas covering Citizenship, PSHE, Environment Education, Personal Finance Education, Enterprise, and Internationalism. The flexibility and range of Key Steps means that it can be followed for up to three years or for less than one year. Learners complete challenges and collate the work they produce in a portfolio of evidence, along with their student book and recording documents.
Our Year 10 to 12 students are offered the opportunity to complete one of the ASDAN Short Courses. ASDAN Short Courses are flexible, portfolio-based programmes designed to accredit up to 60 hours of activity and skills development across a range of topics and curriculum areas. Because they are multi-level, the focus is on completing challenges and skills development according to individual ability, rather than attainment at a specific level. The Short Courses cover a wide range of options from Living Independently to Land Based and Animal Care courses, through to Hair and Beauty options.
Literacy and Numeracy are still valued and important aspects of our program. We complete 1 hour literacy and 1 hour Numeracy blocks each day. Students complete Maths and Literacy activities that align with their Individual Education Programs. We also use interactive/online programs such as Reading Eggs and Mathletics, so the students can develop their independence and explore the everchanging IT world.
This year we have set up a Connect group for our class. The students often complete their work on laptops or iPads as we strive to get students developing their word processing and IT skills. This supports them to be able to submit work interactively and enable them with the skills to be able to send and receive emails.
We run Science, Health, and HASS (History and Geography) lessons throughout the week as well. The students do a weekly Science lesson which will cover all domains. We complete class experiments which gives students the opportunity to take part in the Investigation Process and develop their Questioning Skills. We have a weekly Health lesson which again covers all appropriate aspects of the curriculum and allows us to focus on their individual goals. We have a specialist teacher who comes in and takes the students for 1 hour a week. They cover relevant HASS Curriculum that is outlined in the students Individual Education Plans.
Art and Music are also key aspects of our program. These facets are both important for our students as it gives them the opportunity to explore themselves and express who they are in different ways, rather than just using oral /written language. We have a 1 hour session of Art per week and a 1 hour session of music.
We use Information Technology as much as we can to engage and motivate the students through colour, sound and its interactive nature. We use a variety of online programs to support the use of technology and its ability to cater to individual students and their needs. It allows us to set specific and relevant tasks according to the student’s individual abilities. The use of technology in Special Needs Education helps break the barriers for people with disabilities and can provide them with access to the most relevant educational programs and information.
Here at Central Midlands Senior High School we pride ourselves in supporting our students to become independent adults. We want them to be equipped with the necessary skills to move into the next chapter of their lives, once they have left school.
