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 online "Can't Come Sheet".
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.

Welcome to all new Seven Hills SAILors! It is with great pleasure and excitement that we bring you our third SAIL Seven Hills newsletter. For those who have just joined us at SAIL, our newsletter is used for all general announcements in regards to SAIL-Seven Hills and SAIL. And as our very first announcement: we would like to extend a huge thank you to all of you for your work and enthusiasm. With your help, SAIL Seven Hills has grown rapidly and is running smoothly so congratulations to all!  

Diary dates

The Week 5 tutor talks will take place on 31st May (next Saturday). Following that, talks are scheduled for 5th July, 9th Aug, 13th September, 18th October and 22nd of November so be sure to mark these dates in your diary!

Week 5 Tutor Talks

As mentioned before, Week 5 Tutor Talks will take place on 31st May. Tutor talks are provided for the benefit of both tutors and SAILors and cover a great range of SAIL-related topics. Talks are held at the Seven Hills Community Centre and will start immediately after lunch and run for around 45 minutes. If you have any particular topics that you would like to see covered, or if you know someone whom you think would make a wonderful guest speaker, feel free to let us know at SAILSevenhills@africanoz.com.

Our last talk was conducted by Lyndall Thurley, who discussed ESL teaching techniques and presented an array of interesting learning activities to around 15 of our SAIL tutors.  Lyndall gave a brilliant overview of teaching English as a Second Language and I’m sure all the tutors who attended would agree that she was immensely helpful!

Our next speakers will be Nik Tan and Cara Morrissy, the new overseeing co-ordinators of SAIL. SAIL founder Mathew Albert passed on the baton to Nik and Cara earlier this year after seven years at the helm. Both Nik and Cara have extensive experience with ESL, the SAIL Program and the Sudanese community, so please come along to meet them and ask any questions you may have about SAILing!

SAIL Xtend

Our first SAIL Xtend was a brilliant success thanks to the artistic skills (and ability to gather fourteen SAILors) of Kate and Manjula. This week wraps up painting at Xtend and in our next cycle, which begins the week after next week’s tutor talk, we’ll move on to rap, filmmaking, acting, and much more. Tutors, if you have any great hidden talents you’d like to share with our SAILors, please feel free to speak to us.

Photocopying: make a request!

Find something perfect for your SAILor? Simply write down your student, the book and pages you want copied in the Photocopy request book - it will be ready and in your students folder the following week!

Tutoring tips

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 while working with your student, that you post a request for advice on the SAIL Panel of Experts Bulletin Board.

Calling for SAIL Star contributions!

The SAIL Star is a student newsletter aimed to encourage the SAILors to produce written and visual work about themselves and their lives.  The Star is published in an irregular mock-newspaper format and is distributed at SAIL. If you’re hanging on to any works produced by your student – stories, reviews, drawings, jokes or whatever – pop it into the submission box in the library. We will publish it as soon as there is space.  SAIL Seven Hills has yet to make a contribution to the SAIL Star so keep your eyes peeled for opportunities. You’ll be amazed at how the chance of getting published can motivate your students and give them a big boost of confidence!

SAIL Penpals

A couple of years ago, SAIL Penpals began as a way to open up communication between students across all SAIL campuses.  Due to popular demand, SAIL Penpals lives on!  If your student is not yet involved and you think they would enjoy it, let us know. As this program continues to grow, we are experiencing the need to find Penpals for a number of SAILors throughout the SAIL community. Please chat to Sophie or Ian if your student might be interested.

Setting up at SAIL

Arriving early at the Centre is great; you’ll have the opportunity to visit the library when it is a little quieter and have a chance to flip through worksheet folders in preparation for your lesson. You’ll also be able to lend a hand getting the place ready for class! Setting up the good SAIL ship requires carrying tables and chairs into the hall and outside as well as moving toys from the library to the Junior Room. Please don’t be shy to help out in the morning - any extra hands in the morning would be much appreciated as they make setting up that much easier!

Packing up at SAIL

A special thank-you to all the SAILors who have been staying behind and helping with the clean-up at the end of each session.  Your contributions make a huge difference and are greatly appreciated!

Rubbish rules

During lunch, some of our younger SAILors tend to get a little excited. As a result, we’ve implemented a few general rules that we would like all tutors to put into effect. These include: no running in the hall, no eating in the hall and no littering. These are pretty common sense rules and if you see anyone not following these rules please remind them.

We are also trying to be as environmentally friendly as possible at Seven Hills SAIL, and would love to get the plastic plates and cups back to reuse or recycle, so if you could keep them out on the tables or bring them into the kitchen after you’ve used them, that would be brilliant.

WholeSAIL News

SAIL in the Press

As you may already know, the SAIL Program only engages with media opportunities of
its own in very limited circumstances. We have this policy to ensure that the Sudanese community are portrayed on their own terms, rather than through the SAIL Program.

On Saturday 17 May 2008, The Saturday Age newspaper published two stories that mentioned the SAIL Program, including photos of SAILors. The first we knew of these references was when we saw the paper on 17 May. The photos had been taken with our knowledge but without reference to publication in the Saturday Age and without knowing the content with which they would be linked. The articles were written by Farah Farouque without contacting us at all.

Needless to say, we were upset that this went ahead without our knowledge because it was in breach of our own policy but it also linked the SAIL Program to a political debate in which we, as a service provider rather than a lobbying body, wanted no part. We were concerned also that the articles told a SAILor’s story with reference to the assistance of the SAIL Program, where the SAIL Program had only a token role in the SAILor's story. We made our disquiet known to The Age on the same day these articles were published. The editor, Michael Gordon, called Matthew, the SAIL Founder on 19 May 2008 and apologised that he had not ensured that the SAIL Program was contacted to check that the
reference to the organisation was authorized before the articles went to press.

For the record, if you are approached to undertake any media about your involvement at SAIL, please be sure to check with us before having any further contact. This will ensure that no further stories are released that portray the Sudanese community as being dependant on the SAIL Program. The community should be portrayed on their own terms whenever such opportunities arise.

Refugee Week 2008

Don't forget that Refugee Week 2008 is just a month away. And the national theme is "A Place to Call Home". To keep up to date with plans for Refugee Week as it draws closer, see http://www.refugeecouncil.org.au/newsevents/refugeeweek.html

SAIL Total Trivia

Sudan borders 9 countries and an important sea. Can you name them all?

ANSWER: Egypt, Libya, Chad, Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Ethiopia, Eritrea and the Red Sea…whew!

Thank you all for the time and energy you donate each week.  We are thrilled with the rapid progress of SAIL Seven Hills in mid-2008 and look forward to smooth SAILing the rest of the year.                                               

Ian, Sophie, Cara and Nik.