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 by email, phone or the "Can't Come Sheet"- now also online here!

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.

SAIL Tutor Talks

Our next SAIL Tutor Talk for 2008 is coming up on Wednesday 27^th of August between 6:30-8:00pm and you’re invited! 

SAIL Tutor Talks are a brilliant opportunity to get some insight into volunteering from a range of professionals with extensive experience at SAIL and they also provide ongoing training for SAIL tutors. 

Tutor Talks give you the chance to discuss how you interact with your student and enable you to compare your experience with those of other tutors. The presentations are useful for both experienced SAIL volunteers as well as those who are just starting out. Best of all, dinner will be provided between the two 30-minute presentations. 

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. 

Setting SAIL on time

You may have noticed that SAIL start time at Braybrook is now closer to 11:00am than the scheduled 10:30am. In order to maximise tutoring time, please do everything you can to arrive at SAIL by 10:20am so you can start tutoring at exactly 10:30am.

If you are having difficulties getting yourself and the SAILors you pick up to our campus on time, please come and speak to us. If it’s your student who’s often late, please feel free to raise the issue with us also!

Xtend Update

Circus Oz has hit Braybrook…well, kind of. Xtend throughout the month of June has seen participants magically transform into skilled circus performers, with SAILors hula-hooping, juggling, balancing and showing off an array of amazing circus skills. Also in the month of June, SAILors have rivalled Gordon Ramsay in the kitchen, cooking up delicious dishes including French Toast, Chilli Con Carne and Risotto. A HUGE thank you to the talented Miss Jane for running our Xtend workshops and also to Akemi, Tim, Fritz and other tutors who have lent a helping hand. 

Xtend runs at Braybrook from 12:30-1:30pm on Saturdays. Each week, a small group of Braybrook SAILors are joined by a small group of Maidstone SAILors and everyone takes part in a range of fun-filled activities. We would like to Xtend an invitation to all tutors who are keen to participate. It’s a fantastic and fun way of brushing up on your skills while having a ball with SAIL students.

Library News

The games in the library have all been re-boxed and reordered. Please make sure that if your student borrows a game, that it is returned complete and to its proper place.

We are very fortunate at Braybrook as we also have a large range of worksheets and activities on offer. If you ever feel like you are running low on ideas or activities, please let Gemma, Ash, Sam or our librarian Lena know, so we can point you in the direction of our huge collection of ideas and resources.  

Secondary House

A group of upper secondary students have relocated to the Secondary house in recent months. This is because this area has fewer distractions and allows these SAILors to focus more closely on their work. Our Secondary SAILors have been particularly interested in targeted activities such as studying for their Learner’s Permit and making job applications. 

Cleaning

A huge thank you to all tutors who have for stayed back to assist with cleaning SAIL on Saturday. We sincerely appreciate you adding the extra time to your day at SAIL. It allows us to leave hours earlier in the comfort of knowing that the venue is in as good a shape (and often better) as it was at the start of the day.

WholeSAIL News

The Refugee Experience In Film

In recent years, a number of fantastic films have been made documenting the lives of refugees and the Refugee Health Research Centre’s Good Starts Arts project is showcasing two shining examples: See Through Me, a film on discrimination seen through the eyes of ten young Somali-Australians and Crazy, a documentary on the everyday experiences of six young Sudanese-Australian women. Exploring the settlement experiences of youths from refugee backgrounds in different ways, these two films are at once challenging, fascinating and engaging. They are both available to watch on the RHRC website: www.latrobe.edu.au/rhrc/.

Total Trivia 

Sudan is the largest country on the African continent with a total area of 2,505,800 sq km. Now that’s big!  

Smooth SAILing,

Gemma, Sam, Ashanti, Cara and Nik.