1996

15th August 1996
St Dominic's Celebrates Deaf Festival Week
From 18 - 25 August 1996 St Dominic's Centre for Hearing Impaired Children, Mayfield will celebrate Deaf Festival Week.

The week's celebrations will commence with an opening ceremony and blessing at 10 am, Monday 19 August followed by a presentation of awards to students. Mr Michael Bowman (Director, Catholic Schools Office), Mr Greg Heyes (Lord Mayor of Newcastle) and Mr Bob Martin (Minister for Mineral Resources, Fisheries) will be in attendance.

With an official welcome on Thursday 22 August at 9.45 am, St Dominic's will open its doors to the community. Proceedings for the morning will include a panel discussion exploring "Issues in Deafness" followed by a light luncheon.

Invited guests at the official welcome on Thursday, 22 August will include the Most Rev Michael Malone, Bishop of Maitland-Newcastle; Mr Bryce Gaudry, Member for Newcastle; and Mr Michael Bowman, Director of Catholic Schools in the Diocese.

As part of the week's celebrations, twenty students from St Dominic's will be spending some time on board the YOUNG ENDEAVOUR, while it is in dock at Newcastle Harbour from 10 am on Friday 23 August.

Founded in 1875 by the Dominican Sisters, St Dominic's is a non-denominational school which provides a full range of special education programs to cater for children with a hearing impairment from the time of diagnosis to the completion of high school.

Funded by the Commonwealth Government and Catholic Diocese of Maitland-Newcastle, the school is a learning place which centres on the education of the whole child embracing the social, spiritual, academic, emotional, cognitive and physical aspects of development.

St Dominic's is the only education centre in NSW that offers a single campus facility for children with a hearing impairment.

Another special feature of St Dominic's is its commitment to deaf and hearing impaired children being able to be understood and to understand spoken language through an oral / aural approach.

St Dominic's is located at 76 Havelock Street Mayfield. Children travel to the centre by government-funded transport (private taxi) within the Newcastle area and as far as Lake Macquarie, Port Stephens and the Hunter Valley.

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