South Gippsland Specialist School enters delightful documentary into Film Festival

AFTER last year’s success at the Focus on Ability Film Festival the South Gippsland Specialist School (SGSS) will be once again entering a documentary into the competition. 

This year’s film has been created by the school’s Education Support, Linda Slabik, who last year took out the prize in the School Documentaries – Most Online Votes category for the school’s film, ‘Together We Grow.’

Linda commented that this year she has had a bit more time to prepare a script and put more effort into the making of the film.

The documentary, ‘Helping Us Grow’, focuses on students undertaking work experience, with Linda highlighting the challenges that these students face around not being given a fair go. 

“There is still a lot of stigma around employing people with a disability or with special needs and that’s the same with finding work experience for them, people are still hesitant,” Linda explained.

“They’re funny, silly and hard workers and they don’t have days off.”

The school’s Work Experience Coordinator Rebecca Bell narrates the documentary which follows six students who are 
undertaking work experience in local businesses.

The local businesses giving these students an opportunity and which feature in the film are Mount of Olives Farm in Fish Creek, Leongatha Mitre 10, Leongatha Primary School, Sweet Life Café Leongatha, Gippsland Southern Health Service – Leongatha, Whelan Lawn Care and Stewart’s Tyres Leongatha.

Students who are completing their school-based apprenticeships/traineeship and are finishing their Certificate Two in Horticulture at the Bass Coast Special School are also featured. 

The final story in the documentary is one of a previous student who is happy, hopeful and now employed full-time. 

This documentary is honest, engaging and delightful, and it needs your vote to become a finalist in the Focus on Ability Film Festival.

The more votes the film gets, the more chances they have to win, and Linda has her eye set on the big prize this year – a brand-new car for the school. 

To watch the film and to vote for it go to focusonability.com.au. Voting opens at 9am on August 7 for one week only until Tuesday, August 13.