NEWSLETTER: Dandenong Langhorne campus (April 2008)

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 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 via the Can't Come form

5. Please check and read your emails each week - if possible, Friday is best!

6. Please let us know before you speak publicly or publish an article about SAIL.


Ongoing offers

1. Photocopying- for any SAIL related photocopying, simply mark the pages from the books you want copied and give the book to the co-ordinators on Saturday- it will be ready for you the following week!

2. The Tutor Resources section of the website is available at all times to provide tutors with ideas, games, work-sheets and support. We strongly suggest that if you are experiencing difficulties of any kind when working with your student, you post a request for advice on the SAIL Panel of Experts Bulletin Board -the password was in the email with this newsletter.

Diary dates

1. The week 5 tutor talks for 2007 occur on 16 May, 20 June, 25 July, 5 September, 3 October and 7 November 2007.

 2. If you are interested in attending any upcoming African Australian events click here for the details.

Please read this newsletter in the following week, it gives updates on SAIL past, present and future!

Welcome to the Dandenong Langhorne Campus Newsletter!

Putting down the anchor
Welcome to the first Dandenong Langhorne Campus Newsletter for 2008!
A great deal has happened since we set SAIL again on February 16!
Please read on to catch up on all that’s been happening at SAIL, and to find out what we have to look forward to over the next month.

Upcoming SAIL Tutor Talk
The second SAIL Tutor Talk for 2008 is coming up on Wednesday 9th of April between 6:30-8:00pm and you’re invited!

SAIL Tutor Talks provide a brilliant opportunity to hear the insight of a range of professionals with experience at SAIL and provides on-going training for SAIL tutors. This week’s topic is on Learning Activities.

Tutor Talks give you the chance to discuss how you interact with your student and compare the experiences of other tutors. The presentations will be useful to experienced SAIL volunteers as well as those just starting out. Dinner will be provided between the two 30-minute presentations.

Who’s Presenting:
Anna Grace Hopkins: Anna Grace was the co-founder and first Footscray
campus co-ordinator of the SAIL Program. She now works full time as a primary teacher.

Paula Gorton: An experienced primary teacher in English and Special Education.

The Details:
Wednesday 9th April between 6:30-8:00pm.

Holy Trinity Anglican Church,
193 Hotham Street (cnr Clarendon St),
East Melbourne

Enter via Hotham Street
Parking free city side of Clarendon St only
Tram numbers 75 and 48
Jolimont Train station

Dinner and snacks will be provided during the presentations.

Please RSVP to sail@africanoz.com by Monday 7 April or to Tom or Liam at SAIL.

SAIL Tutor Talks for 2008

Each Tutor Talk will be held at the Holy Trinity Anglican Church, 193 Hotham Street (cnr Clarendon St), East Melbourne, between 6:00- 8:00pm one Wednesday per month.
The dates for the year are as follows:
-    Wednesday 9 April         
-    Wedneday 14 May        
-    Wednesday 18 June
-    Wednesday 23 July
-    Wednesday 27 August
-    Wednesday 1 October
-    Wednesday 5 November

SAIL Community Talks
The first Community Talk for 2008 will take place on April 5th and will cover consumer law issues relevant to SAILors.


This Month’s Theme: Sudan
Over the last month, the SAIL theme has been Indigenous Australians, which coincided brilliantly with the national apology to Australia’s Stolen Generation. As part of the theme there are lots of activities and worksheets focused on learning more about the original inhabitants of Australia. The Indigenous Australians theme will come to an end as of Saturday 12th April, and we will move into our new theme - Sudan.

The theme Sudan is broad and can be used as the basis of lots of great lessons as well as activities for SAILors. Flip through the SAIL worksheet folders at the front of the hall on Saturday and you’ll find quite a number of worksheets dedicated to Sudan, which can be used as an opportunity for students to learn more about a fascinating country, and their links to its history and culture. Don’t forget also that on the SAIL website we have many links to other websites offering free worksheets, puzzles, games and activities, many of which are categorized in themes such as Africa – which tie in very nicely with this month’s theme.

A Warm Welcome to New Volunteers!
We were very pleased to welcome back many trusty, long-serving SAIL volunteers at the beginning of this year. We have also been lucky enough to have new members join our crew and we’d like to extend a very warm welcome to all our new volunteers! Dinesh, Gemma, Lauren, Andrew and Binny were our most recent SAIL inductees, and got off to a brilliant start two Saturdays ago. A few weeks before that, we welcomed Brian, Libby, Rachel, Sarah, Govind, Carla, Olivia and Sarah, all of whom have settled in fantastically well over the past few weeks. Watching SAIL Langhorne grow is wonderfully exciting and in the next few weeks, our happy crew can look forward to having a few more Sudanese families join us.

SAIL Xtend in 2008
2008 has seen the return of the very popular and successful SAIL Xtend program, which was started at the two SAIL Dandenong campuses in 2007. SAIL Xtend involves a group of SAILors aged 8-12 getting involved in an activity each Saturday - after normal SAIL hours – over consecutive four-week periods.

At the moment, we have tennis lessons running on our very own SAIL tennis court! Following a visit to the Australian Open in January, many young SAILors have shown considerable potential, and we might see a future Roger Federer or Novak Djokovic emerging from our lessons! Many a crosscourt backhand, high lob and half-volley has been seen zipping across our SAIL tennis court behind our church grounds – so feel free to stick around after tutoring if you’d like to watch or if you want to get involved. Lessons will continue this Saturday, from 1pm until 2pm directly after SAIL.

A big thanks to Jess and Liam for their help in supervising and for offering so many helpful tennis tips! A huge thanks also to Valoja, our tennis coach who has kindly offered his time, energy, and a whole bunch of brand new racquets supplied by Tennis Victoria to make these lessons a really rewarding activity for all the SAILors involved.

Please note that after this Saturday, we will have a one-week break from Xtend, and then kick off a new four-week cycle of soccer.

SAILAway to the Annual Lord Somers Camp!
On 25th-27th April some SAILors will be heading off to the annual Lord Somers Camp. This weekend camp is for SAILors from all of SAIL’s seven campuses, aged between 13-17 years. All camp participants will leave at lunchtime on Friday 25th April (ANZAC day) and return home mid-afternoon on Sunday 27th April. The camp is great fun and a definite highlight on the SAIL calendar. Previous activities have included swimming, beach activities, volleyball, soccer, motorbike rides, and the famous Saturday night disco, which featured local SAIL performers on an open mic! It’s also a great weekend away with lots of time for everybody to relax, unwind, mingle with their peers and get to know each other a bit better.

All SAIL volunteers are welcome to get involved in the camp. You are welcome to come for the entire duration of the camp, or you can simply make a visit at some point during the weekend. Please see Tom or Liam for expressions of interest as well as a camp volunteer application form. SAIL secondary tutors should also note that there is a good chance of their student not being around on Saturday 26th April if they decide to go on camp that weekend!

Again, thank you to all of our volunteers for helping get SAIL off to a great start to 2008. We look forward to another great month ahead!

Immigration Museum Sudanese Festival
Saturday, 12 April 2008 | Immigration Museum, Corner of Flinders and Market Streets, Melbourne CBD | Free Tickets through SAIL

Get a glimpse of life as a Sudanese settler in Melbourne at the Immigration Museum Sudanese Festival. There’ll be plenty of community performance groups, children’s activities as well as the launch of a film documenting the lives of Sudanese migrants as they settle into Victoria. Be sure to let Tom or Liam know though if you’re interested in a big day out – we’ve got a handful of free tickets to give away!