Grovedale West Primary School

Children's Goals

• Being able to independently write name
• Establishing tripod/functional pencil grip
• Increase pencil pressure
• Generally improve fine motor skills

• Be able to understand concept of self-regulation
• To improve transitions between tasks
• Improve VMI Skills
• Increase confidence and decrease feelings of frustration when things are different

Our experience

Challenges

Positives

• Achieved goals for children (writing name and functional pencil grips)
• Built strong rapports with kids
• Learnt range of skills
• Implemented classroom strategies that were taken on by teachers
• Interest and appreciation by teachers

• Early on in year meant working with basic skills
• Only working with preps meant limited time for interventions
• Engaging kids and keeping them excited
• Finding new interventions to do
• Not disrupting kids when being in classroom
• Being flexible with session plans/planning for things to go wrong
• Finding balance between taking them out of class for OT intervention or staying in class for learning

WHAT WE DID

Interventions

Assessments

• Practiced letter formation using multi-sensory mediums
• shaving cream
• chalk on asphalt
• sandpit
• Used dot-to-dot tracing game on whiteboard
• Social story
• Individual prompt card
• Recommended use of timer for activities
• Use of foil to prompt increased pen pressure
• Consistent encouragement and reassurance
• "Simon says draw this" game
• "How does your engine run?" group
• General fine motor games

• Standardised Assessments:
• Movement ABC
• Beery VMI (+Visual Perception and Motor Co-ordination)
• BOT2
• Non-Standardised:
• Functional Education

Checklist

• Informal Assessments:
• Classroom observation
• Teacher interviews

School Holiday Project

• Also one of our challenges
• Teacher goal
• Due to large number, CO-OP approach wouldn’t work so we used traditional teaching method

Enjoy!

Our Learning Goals

Why is GWPS Unique?

• Well designed and well run open plan
• not overly stimulating
• team teaching
• Focus on 'investigations'
• Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Program
• Speech pathologists part of school team
• High number of children with hearing impairments
• inclusive environment
• AUSLAN in classrooms

• Focus on:
• information gathering
• communication/co-worker communication
• Take chance to independently conduct multiple standardised assessments

To make a difference!

Our time at GWPS

The School

• Worked solely with preppies
• Case load of five children for intensive interventions
• initially referred for handwriting/fine motor difficulties
• Small group work
• Classroom time, groups and one-on-one

• Approximately 300 kids
• Prep-Grade 6
• Unique primary school

First Impressions

• Well run open plan structure
• Very friendly and welcoming
• Treated as part of team instantly
• Intrigued by investigations
• Gretta's (principal) pride in her school and continual endeavour for development

OWLS at Grovedale West Primary School

Laura Stones and Emily McMaster