Family Outreach and Support

Are you a parent of a deaf child?

VCD has established a strong network of parents, professionals and allied health practitioners that can support you and your child to achieve the best learning and wellbeing outcomes. Feel free to be in touch with the college on (03) 9510 1706 or victorian.ds@education.vic.gov.au to connect with our network.

Auslan for Families

Auslan for Families is an engaging, enjoyable and relaxed learning program for families of VCD students to begin learning Auslan.

When children use Auslan, parent (and sibling) involvement and enthusiasm for learning Auslan is critically important. As parents we want to have healthy communication with our children and enjoy meaningful conversations. We know that having a shared language hugely supports our children’s growth and development and helps us resolve problems together.

Auslan for Families has been designed with Deaf experts, to ensure that it is highly interactive and of high quality. The program aims to: build your confidence, enrich your language, and be fun! It will be delivered flexibly – at your own pace, through tutors or Zoom sessions. For further information about Auslan for Families, contact the college on 9510 1706 and speak to Gene Reardon.

Family Wellbeing and Engagement  

VCD recognises that the best wellbeing and academic results are achieved through strong family partnerships.  We understand the parent has a primary role as the child’s first teacher, and work with all families to support their children’s learning. VCD’s Family Engagement Leader, Gene Reardon, reaches out to all families with information and support about raising and educating deaf children. Gene will link you to helpful parenting resources, organise workshops on matters of interest to parents and enable discussion sessions to exchange ideas on family wellbeing.

Additionally, each week we aim to start a conversation with families through our school newsletter about things they tell us are important. We share tips for families about raising and educating deaf children, and feature stories from families about what’s working well for them. We will also share links to helpful parenting resources, and exchange ideas on family wellbeing. 

Here are some of our recent Parent Conversations articles:

NDIS Support

The NDIS system can be confusing and overwhelming to navigate. Our wellbeing team are committed to ensuring all students have access to the necessary supports, in order for them to thrive both in and out of the schooling environment. The wellbeing team can support families to navigate the NDIS process, and can provide information about applying for the NDIS, creating a plan, and reviewing the plan and goals.

Parent Perspective Events

We run a series of parent information and support events throughout the school year. We call these events Parent Perspectives, reflecting that they are an opportunity to share ideas as well as learn from the perspectives of key experts. The aim of the Parent Perspectives program is to strengthen the college/parent learning partnership, and therefore the educational outcomes for Deaf students.

Specifically the intention is that parents will be able to:

  • access to contemporary expert advice on critical parenting topics
  • gain support and ideas from others in a safe learning environment
  • reflect on the past, and plan future pathways
  • learn about building positive family relationships in a challenging contexts.

Information about topics and event times will be distributed throughout the year via Compass and the college newsletter.