SAIL Program Newsletter

Missing students

It is important for tutors to be prepared that, occasionally, their student might miss a SAIL session without warning. There is always a valid reason for this, and it is usually something the students themselves have no control over. The students all play important roles at home and are relied upon by their parents, and may have to stay home to look after a sick baby, help with the shopping, cooking or cleaning or go somewhere with a parent to help translate. Parents have large families and many resettlement issues to attend to, and sometimes the only opportunity they have to run an errand or get a lift to the other side of town is a Saturday morning. Additionally, a contagious illness like chicken pox or the 'flu can sweep through a family and leave several members out of action for a week.

We know that it can be disappointing and confusing for tutors when this happens, but we ask that everyone tries to understand the complex situation the families are in and the many unusual factors influencing their lives. We are never short of students at SAIL, so should your student not attend, you will be placed with another who needs your help just as badly.

Students moving away

Following on from the above point, it is worth noting that some of the SAIL families are living in temporary accommodation that is allocated to them by the government when they first arrive. They are eligible to stay there for a certain amount of time, after which they are required to find housing elsewhere. While the majority of SAIL families move to another residence within the western suburbs and are therefore able to continue attending SAIL, some move far away from the area and may do so quite abruptly. We try to stay informed of when this is likely to happen, and if we think there is a chance it could affect your students we will let you know.

A Special SAIL Event

For the first time, we are going to have a forum for all the tutors. It will run for just 45 minutes on Saturday 25 May from 12:30pm and then another at 1:30pm. We very strongly encourage everyone to come. The purpose of the session will be to discuss common joys, frustrations and everything in between. Tim Burch, one of our tutors who is a teacher of special needs students, will facilitate the discussion. For new tutors, this will be a chance to raise any concerns or insecurities, and get ideas from old-timers as to what may or may not work; for the long-standing tutors, a chance to 'de-brief' and discuss all your various experiences with others who understand where you're coming from! We want all tutors to feel supported in their work, and we hope this will prove a good way to keep the communication lines open between us all.

Session with Grace Lopez

We also want to thank everyone who attended the session with Grace Lopez. We hope you found it worthwhile. There were mutterings that it was not sufficiently directed at solving problems which may arise. Grace was well aware of this. The session we did was a training session designed to take one day and was significantly shortened for us! She has kindly sent us some more specific material including symptoms and suggested problem-solvers. Copies are available to everyone upon request.

CPR

We are offering all students and tutors a one-off opportunity to do an accredited CPR course for free at SAIL. This will involve all students who are over 16 and interested along with their tutors. It will take place in the Church from 11am to 3pm on 8 June. Every attendee will receive a certificate of completion. The organization was proud that they were able to supply "all" language groups with a translator. Unfortunately, Dinka didn't crack a mention in the "all" list and so an interpreter is unlikely. We will rely on each tutor to assure that their student is following.

Performances upcoming

We have four members of the SAIL community who have upcoming performances. Poly, a SAIL Senior tutor and SAIL dad, will perform at two events alongside the likes of William McInnes (of SeaChange and Blue Heelers fame). The shows are themed 'Seeking Refuge' and are being presented by Actors for Refugees and Amnesty International respectively. Poly will be the telling story of his life, how he came to leave Sudan and arrive in Australia. Dalia, Tina and Winnie are going to read the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to a large gathering for the Amnesty International gig. This is one step along the road to Shakira-style pop-stardom!

Exams and essays loom

We are well aware that for those tutors who are at uni the upcoming month or so is going to be a busy one for workload. We implore everyone to try to come every week and when you absolutely cannot, alert us to it as soon as possible. It is equally important to prepare your student/s for a missed week as well, as Grace Lopez told us. We wish everyone the best of luck approaching and overcoming the daunting assessment period. We too have major essays due, so if anyone has any spare words from their essays could they please bring them for us to use.

SAILing on…

Most uni students will have a lengthy holiday to look forward to after the assessment period. SAIL will go on every week through winter. Again, if you know you will be away for any of this time please let us know.

Food

Well, Culinary SAIL has started with a vengeance. We want to express our gratitude to the dedicated team of good samaritans who work on the rolls, fruit, drink and fruit bar production line for the 130 attendees of SAIL each week. We sincerely hope that these hard-working people appreciate the difference this makes.

SAILors SAILing to foreign shores

We regretfully say farewell to two of our dedicated team; Bridgid and Jacki, who are hitting the road for fun and adventure overseas. Bridgid has been one of the tireless librarians sorting through the mountain of books and trying to create and maintain order in our little library. Jacki has been a driving force in SAIL Baby and week-in week-out prepares unbelievably stimulating tasks for the growing gaggle of littlies. We thank them for their endless enthusiasm and unending allegiance.

Thanks

Where do we begin? Thanks to everyone for coming every week and maintaining your enthusiasm. Thanks for helping out with the collection of stray students and tutors. Thanks to those who are reliable in letting us know when you can't come (long live the Can't Come sheet!). And finally, thanks from the community for your selfless efforts to assist some people that deserve all the help they can get.

Matthew and Anna Grace