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The 'let us know' list
1. If any of your contact details have changed, please
let us know.
2. If you are planning to have contact with your student
outside of SAIL hours you must let us know first and then complete the
contact request form.
3. If you intend to bring a friend to SAIL please direct
them to the website first and direct them to apply online or just let
us know beforehand.
4. Let us know if you are going to miss a Saturday
by email, phone or the "Can't Come Sheet".
5. Please check your email account each week- if possible,
Friday is best!
6. Please let us know before you speak publicly or
publish an article about SAIL.
Important Diary Dates (Please note that SAIL does
not take school holidays or long weekends off!)
1. Tutor Talk (in service) sessions are at 12:30pm
on Saturdays 17th May, 21st June, 26th July, 30th August, 4th October,
8th November, 13th December.
2. Please bring any second hand clothes for recent
arrivals in the Sudanese community on the Saturday before Tutor Talk
weeks.
3. There is no SAIL Xtend on the listed dates ie no
Arabic or short courses.
Ongoing offers
1. Arabic classes- free to all SAIL volunteers from
12:30 – 1:15pm.
2. Photocopying- for any SAIL related photocopying,
simply mark the pages from the books you want copied and give the book
to Matthew or Anna Grace on Saturday- it will be ready for you the following
week!
3. Flinders Street- there are three cars that collect
tutors from Flinders Street station every week. Cars leave at 10:05am
from (and returns to) the post box on Flinders Street. Feel free to
catch the lift!
4. Clifton Hill, Brunswick, Parkville, Collingwood,
St Kilda, Richmond and Ringwood also have tutor collection points. Contact
the co-ordinators for more information.
Please read this entire document in the following week it gives
updates on SAIL past, present and future!
May 17 – Week 5 Again Approaches
The next Tutor Talk will be after lunchtime be on May 17th – next
week! We beg, plead and pray that each and every SAIL Tutor will attend
a one-off and very brief forum we will be hosting from 12:30 –
12:50pm. At this forum we will respond to the common issues raised by
respondents to the Tutor Survey’s distributed in the last month.
We will also be launching and explaining a very exciting new branch
of SAIL which is designed exclusively to assist the Tutor SAILors.
Our guest speaker, Yolette Da Zilwa, is the principal of the Western
English Language School. WELS is where all newly arrived migrant and
refugees go to school for at least a semester or more. Yolette has taught
many SAILors at WELS and will offer advice and guidance on what educational
strategies work best! We have asked her to come and talk about the effects
of the refugee experience on children’s education, on families,
the kinds of behavioural problems kids present with and how to handle
them. It should be an extremely relevant talk, and we hope to see as
many of you there as possible.
SAIL Junior will once again meet to introduce new tutors to the system
of rotating activities, and discuss how things have been going since
our last meeting. We urge all new volunteers in the junior room to attend,
so that we can continue to increase the structure of the room and you
can all share your ideas!
Important New Restriction
Please note a change to the areas that SAILors are allowed to conduct
tutoring in. From now on, NO tutoring is to be done in or near the school
and park at the end of the road. While its fine for groups of children
and tutors to go down there during the lunch break, under no circumstances
are any tutors to take their students down there during SAIL tutoring
time. For those of you who want or need some extra grassy space to tutor
in, there is ample space behind the church. This previously unused area
is accessible via the doors that lead out from the small rooms at the
back of the church (we can show you where). We ask that everyone please
respect this new rule as it results from increasing personal security
concerns that have arisen recently!
SAIL Student Surveys
Next week (17 May) we will be handing out a Student Survey for all primary
and secondary school aged SAILors. This is to be filled out by your
students to the best of their ability. We ask that tutors fill in the
remainder on their students’ behalf. Self-evaluation is worthwhile
especially for the children to do. It encourages them to reflect on
their learning experience. It can also be empowering for all students
to know that people are interested in what they have to say about themselves.
It also contains questions about the kids’ schools and who their
siblings are that we would like to be answered as specifically as they
can manage!
This survey, along with the recent Tutor Survey, and a form to be given
out to all SAIL parents, is part of our current big push for better
documentation on students and their families. As SAIL grows, we are
no longer able to rely on our memories and relationships with the families
to know what we need to know about students, and we no longer have the
time to spend explaining the student’s situations to the tutors.
Responding to requests from tutors, we are compiling little files on
all students, so that when new tutors arrive they won’t be handed
a student cold, but instead given small amount of information on the
kids, including their previous tutor’s experiences and some comments
from the kids themselves. They will be updated once a term, so that
any progression can be monitored and there will be explanations of what
problems, if any, have arisen and how they were dealt with
Photocopier Policy
We welcome with open arms our beloved second hand photocopier. It has
been hidden away in an area where little fingers cannot get at it. Please
note that, at this stage only Father Don and the SAIL coordinators are
to use the photocopier– the potential for mishap is high and we
dread the thought of a repair bill! We’d like to thanks St Johns
Primary School Richmond and Margaret Gurry for their generosity in donating
it. All we have to do now is work out how to plug it in!?
Safety in May Street
Two issues have been brought to our attention in regards to everyone's
safety on Saturdays.
One student made the unfortunate discovery of a used syringe on May
Street a few weeks ago. Please be aware that there is relatively high
drug usage in the area around SAIL and there is a chance that more syringes
will be found in the future. Should you find a syringe, please DON’T
put it in the bin, as it won’t be secure and could stick somebody
who is reaching in there for one reason or another. We have a “sharp
things disposal box” in the library, the syringes, should they
be found, are to be deposited there. Be aware but not alarmed. There's
a certain ring to that phrase, isn't there....
Where there are drugs there are drug users. And where there is a church
the drug users will come for food and money. We regularly have people
come to All Saints in search of food or money. We have a policy of always
offering these people as much as we can and to this end, have a stash
of food that we will offer anyone who asks. If a scruffy character is
hanging around SAIL, you need not do anything because they are probably
a tutor. If however, you notice anyone lingering or looking agitated
or asking for the priest please walk with them to find Matthew. He will
supply them with food and ensure that they are looked after. Again,
be aware but not alarmed. It's kinda catchy, don’t you think?
Get off the Road!
Finally, we come to the perennial problem- May Street itself. Survey
responses indicated that this is still a major concern of many SAILors.
We hosted a meeting of May St residents last week to discuss the issues
that are of concern to them also. Here are a few things that were raised.
Parking
We are currently implementing a new plan for parking which will see
most cars able to be parked off-site in another car park. Until then,
if you are parking in May St, please be aware of driveways. The May
St residents are concerned that some days they are unable to get out
of their driveway because there are cars parked across them. Please
try to avoid blocking driveways when you scramble to find a park.
Kids in the street
There are three issues here – litter, interfering with other people’s
property, and road safety. We are having a crackdown on all three. This
will be hard work and probably take a while to actually have any impact.
We are confident that, with constant reinforcement from us, the tutors,
and the Sudanese adults, the kids behaviour in all three respects will
improve. Here are the issues individually:
Rubbish
The kids are currently dropping their lunch leftovers wherever they
feel like it. If you see any student, of any age, dropping so much as
an orange peel on the ground, please ask them to pick it up and put
it in the bin! If you’re worried that they won’t listen
or understand you, the older Sudanese men can be alerted and asked to
tell the kids to clean up after themselves.
Respect for people’s property
Any children caught swinging on tress, gates, taking flowers from garden,
sitting on cars or fences should be told to stop. Again, enlist the
help of some Sudanese adults if you need to.
Road safety
This is by far the biggest concern of all at SAIL. This is hard to police,
as some SAILors are too small to know any better, and so Angelo Tat,
a Sudanese SAILor father (who is doing community work at the church
as part of his TAFE course) has agreed to be a constant patroller of
the area in front of the church during SAIL time. Even so, we ask that
everyone be aware of this problem… but not alarmed (until things
get dangerous!)
Generally student SAILors respect tutors and value their opinions.
It is therefore worthwhile taking time to explain why it’s important
NOT to litter, wreck other people’s things and play on the road.
Worksheets on these issues are currently being made. Until then, we’ll
have to work together to prevent the children from doing things which
are endangering themselves and others and upsetting the local residents.
Compost and environment awareness
As part of our ongoing drive to make the SAIL Program environmentally
friendly, we are setting up an appropriate bin to store the compost
we produce in great quantities every week. Please take note of this
bin and encourage your student/ s to make use of it. Most times, a clear
explanation of the reasons for this separation of rubbish will be necessary.
Helena in the Culinary SAIL Team (in the kitchen) will be more than
willing to respond to any questions you or your student may have.
Home Help- Males Wanted
We currently have two male students who are unable to attend SAIL but
desperately need English tutoring. We are looking for volunteers who
can spare 3 hours a week to visit one of these students at home for
tutoring. We are also willing to offer the positions to any friends
or colleagues you may have who are interested in SAIL but unable to
make a regular Saturday commitment. Both are keen students, one is a
young man studying year 11 and another is our fearless and fabulous
bus driver, Akon, who has been begging us for a teacher for months.
Day and time are negotiable – get in touch if you or anyone you
know are interested.
SAIL Shopping Assistant
Love buying things with someone else's money? Do household shopping
every week? If you answered yes to either question you may be able to
help. SAIL is looking for one person to be the official SAIL Shopper.
The role will require the person to shop for specified good on SAIL's
behalf every week. The person will need to be contactable via email
and preferably already have a shopping routine that includes Fridays.
SAIL will cover all costs incurred for SAIL during all shopping ventures.
Please let us know if you would be willing to spend our money every
week!
Researching Sudan
It has come to our attention that many SAILors are choosing to write
assessable university essays either on SAIL or on Sudan. We are absolutely
thrilled about this and would like to offer our services to anyone who
is or may be interested in researching Sudan for an essay. We are certain
that the Sudanese community would be as thrilled as we are if people
in Australia and especially those who SAIL, were researching Sudan.
We are also very keen to hear about peoples research and reflection
and, if possible, be furnished with a copy! We would also be thrilled
if people would allow us to include their essays on our website- but
this is just a thought!
Good Wood
Victoria University will be performing a variety of maintenance jobs
around the church over the next few months, including repairing the
locks on doors and building new shelve and cupboard space. However,
the timber for the shelves is expensive and is going to eat up a large
amount of SAILs funding. If you know of a timber supplier who may be
able to give us some donations, or a cost price on some materials, please
let us know
Excursions
Art About
Last week, Art Xtend went on its very first excursion to the new National
Gallery of Victoria at Federation Square. To tie in with the art work
the kids have been creating over the last cycle, they spent the afternoon
learning about the gallery's indigenous art collection, sketching and
offering refreshingly honest art criticism! Due to popular demand by
the kids, the next excursion is already on the drawing board. Peter
and Lynn would like to thank Tim, Tessa, Sarah and Gwill for the use
of their cars, and of course their fantastic enthusiasm and help!
SAIL About to the Childrens Farm
Following on from the above successful excursion, does anyone fancy
getting in touch with their inner farmer? We have been offered free
entry for 12 SAILors to the Collingwood Children’s Farm on May
17th. We seek three volunteers to stay for the Tutor Talk and then drive
the kids on to the farm for two hours of farmy-fun. The farm was set
up to provide inner city kids with a rural experience and is very hands
on, with lots of opportunity for cuddling guniea pigs, feeding goats
and the like. Thanks to Lastari for organising this!
Junior Jives
Never really happy with the name SAIL Baby, we recently hit on an alternative
so obvious it’s taken us nearly two years to think of it. The
SAIL Baby room has now been renamed SAIL Junior. Now, this is important:
It’s been drawn to our attention that we have rather a lot of
superstars amidst our SAIL Tutors, and so we put out a call to you all
– if you can play an instrument, sing kids songs, chant rhymes,
teach dance moves or generally enjoy making a fool of yourself in front
of little munchkins, SAIL Junior wants you! We want the Junior room
to have music and dancing every week, and not just to CDs, so if you’d
like to strum a few bars for the tiny SAILors let us or Rachel, the
Junior Coordinator, know. Performances needn’t be longer than
a few minutes and should be as silly as possible.
Thank you
Thanks to SAIL Tutors all
We want to sincerely thank all those tutors who responded to the survey
we sent out to those with students of primary and secondary school age
SAILors. The responses we got were quite overwhelming and generous.
We have posted a selection of the responses on the website. Please take
the time to read some of the amazing reasons given as to why people
SAIL at http://home.vicnet.net.au/~sail/reflectionsT.htm. All respondents
will receive a detailed response from us in the coming week. The concerns
raised by the survey respondents will be discussed at the 17 May Forum
at 12:30pm. For those who still owe us a response, please send it via
email as soon as you are able.
Thanks to Our Speakers
SAIL would like to thank the Victoria Police and Poppy from State Ombudsman’s
Office for coming to speak to the Sudanese community last Talks Day.
The information session for the adults went extremely well and raised
a number of pertinent issues, while the police session with the kids
was worth having if only to hear some of the classic questions posed
to the cops by our young SAILors, including ‘When you call the
police, how come it takes them three hours to actually arrive?’
Ah, out of the mouths of babes. Tutors were treated to the astonishing
wisdom and experience of Sherron Dunbar, who explained the complicated
process whereby refugees arrive in Australia and a number of the issues
that affect their settlement.
2nd hand day thanks!
Thanks for bringing in your good for second hand day. The first Week
5 event was so huge that we didn’t get a chance to make them available
to the community, but they are currently in storage and will be busted
out in a big way on the 17th.
We Support
Monash Students Association REFUGEE ENGLISH TEACHING FUNDRAISER
Thursday 22nd May, 7pm Cinema Nova
SPIDER- a David Cronenberg Film - Starring Ralph Fiennes Miranda Richardson
& Gabriel Byrne.
"this movie is David C's best film ever"-New York Times Official
Selection Cannes Film Festival 2002,
ALL PROCEEDS FORM THE SCREENING GO TO THE MSA REFUGEE ENGLISH TEACHING
PROGRAM [an affiliate of the SAIL Program] (for the provision of grammar
& vocabulary books, & outdoor ed excursions)
Contact: Eli 99054165 / 0402937208 or Eli.greig@adm.monash.edu.au
Bike Bonanza
For those of you with old, outgrown or unwanted bikes, this excellent
new organisation may be of interest.
The Wheels of 4tune program aims to promote third world development
from a grass roots level. One of the main problems with cash donations
is that funds become lost as they are channelled through to the people
in need. The Wheels of 4tune project aims to avoid this problem by donating
bicycles to people without access to transportation. A bike that’s
worth nothing in the shed actually gains value when it used for personal
development in the third world.
Next collection day-
When: Saturday May 17
Time: 10am – 1pm
Where: Body Shop Head Office
cnr Wellington Rd and Jackson Rd Mulgrave.
For more information please send an email to:
wheels_of_4tune@yahoo.com.au
Total Trivia - SAIL goes Global
Believe it or not, SAIL was mentioned on New York City radio by National
Geographic journalist, Perry Garfunkel (yes, he is related to Art).
He is also dating Matthew's cousin! But, hey you can't buy that sort
of publicity!
Smooth SAILing, Matthew and Anna Grace.
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