Dear Parents,
An important part of our student culture across the School is the existence of interest groups and an ever-expanding list of lunchtime and afterschool activities to suit every child, and we are always encouraging students to speak to a student leader, Home Group teacher or Head of House if they see an opportunity for a new group to be established in an area they are passionate about. Likewise, we welcome parents and families to approach any of our Heads of School or the Parents & Friends Association if they would like support in establishing a new group that they feel would benefit the School community.
In 2020, a group of our parents did just that, establishing the ‘SJGS Neurodiverse Families Group’. The aim of this Group is to provide a place for members of the School’s Neurodiverse community to build friendship, provide support and strengthen the feeling of belonging and connection. Parents Emma Ward and Jacquie Nevin are excited to see the group foster new connections in 2021, and welcome any members of our community to contact them with ideas or questions. A Facebook group has been established to provide a simple way to communicate, but if you do not have Facebook, please email Emma and Jacquie and they will keep you informed about what the group is up to.
The Aims and Rules of the Group, published in the private Facebook group, are included below. To join the group, click here and answer the membership questions. Only current St John’s Grammar parents will be approved to join.
If you have any questions, please contact Emma or Jacquie on the email addresses below.
Yours sincerely,
Lucy Shelton
Community Development Coordinator
Aims
The aim of this Group is to provide a space for members of the School’s Neuro-diverse community to come together to build friendship and help strengthen the feeling of belonging and connection within the School community.
Formal diagnosis is not required. We also welcome any families of the School who may not identify as Neuro-diverse, but for other reasons may be looking for connection with their ‘diverse-kin’.
The Group page can be used by members to instigate social catchups (Is anyone up for a coffee after drop off on Friday?), share public information that may be of interest (Here’s an interesting article from Reframing Autism…) or to advise of upcoming events (Sausage sizzle for all on Sunday!).
We also hope to organise information sessions from time to time with guest speakers in areas of interest to the Group.
Now… some general rules to help keep this Group a safe and welcome space for all:
- The privacy of our children and families is of utmost importance so please be respectful of not oversharing specifics on your family to the Group page. This includes not disclosing your child’s diagnosis in any Post. Face to face discussions are always a better forum to discuss personal circumstances.
- Some families may prefer to remain anonymous within this Group. Please don’t share details of members outside of this Group.
- There will be some Staff members who choose to join this Group. They will be here as an interested family, not in their professional role as ‘Staff’. Please let this be a safe space for them too, and don’t expect them to respond to any Post or Comment as a School Representative. Please respect their privacy in this forum.
- All Posts will be approved by an Admin in the first instance so if you wish to post anonymously, the Admins will facilitate this.
- This Group is exclusively for the families of SJGS. It is run by Parents, with a School Admin having responsibility for approving new Members and ensuring all Members are current SJGS families. Please feel free to ‘Invite’ other School families who may be interested in joining.
- The intention of this Group is to promote social inclusion and build positive relationships. This is not the space to promote or debate medical views.
These Rules will be updated from time to time. If you have any specific queries, please email either Emma or Jacquie on the email addresses provided below.
We hope you all feel welcome. This Group is for You, so please provide feedback at any time. All comments and suggestions welcome.
Emma Ward – jwa60651@bigpond.com
Jacquie Nevin – danjaqs@optusnet.com.au
