Savio House has had an outstanding year! Here are some of the highlights and achievements…
As Term One commenced, so too did our new Teaching Family Model, which was implemented after some intensive staff training provided by Boys Town, Omaha.
Along with changes to the program, Savio House commenced with new staff recruits Danni and Maddi who took on the roles of Youth Worker and Family Engagement Worker, respectively. Sam had also moved across from the Maria House to become the Teacher of Savio. This made the first term of 2019 very fresh and exciting for all involved.
While the new model, based around a system of encouraging positive behaviours and correcting problem behaviours was embraced by staff, many of the Savio class had continued on from 2018 and were quite surprised with the changes. For many of the young people, praise for positives was met positively, while the discouragement of negatives was a little more interesting. However it soon became a part of life as our young people began to flourish with many positive interactions occurring inside the classroom.
There were also many achievements that occurred outside the Savio classroom as part of the tailored learning environment, which involved excursions, educational outings and other activities. This included surf safety in Cronulla, rope courses at Stanwell Tops, problem solving at the Escape Room in Newtown, trampolining at Flip Out, cooking lessons at Barilla Pasta and more. All were certainly areas where the young people did extremely well in 2019, providing exciting and challenging situations for them and
staff alike.
One area where Savio excelled in 2019 was Food Technology. Being in the kitchen and studying this subject was something that the young people in Savio enjoyed and did very well. The ‘Master Chefs’ did everything from poaching an egg, to making a traditional Club Sandwich, studying food trends around the world and even cooking with five ingredients or less.
While there may have been more ups and downs than an elevator does in a day, 2019 was a very successful year in Savio House. One where the young people have learnt lessons that will last a lifetime and where, no matter what the challenge was, it was very often met with a smile.
We wish farewell to the young people who moved on at the end of 2019 and all the best in their future endeavors and trust that those who return in 2020 have enjoyed some very happy holidays.
