31 March 2020

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

I would like to once again extend my appreciation to the QAS community for your patience and support as we work through the online learning platforms across our site. It has still been business as usual for our school, with teachers uploading resources and work that is accessible on Daymap. Planning into next term will be a focus for Week 11, as we are now in phase three of our transition to online learning.

Recently I send out communication regarding our approach to addressing the educational needs of our learners, the attached document outlines a few different topics such as online resources, take home learning packs, what to expect from your child’s teacher, subject reports and much more.

DAYMAP ACCESS

It is our intention to offer one stream of education next term and that will be accessible online through Daymap. With resources uploaded to Daymap regularly, we strongly encourage you to access the Daymap portal as a parent. We cannot stress how important it is to actively check Daymap for updates on your child’s learning. Full transition to remote learning will require every learner to have access.

Student access

Parent access

SUBJECT REPORTS

With reports accessible through Daymap, our learners have the opportunity to reflect on their achievements and set targets for improvement during each semester. At a classroom level, this looks like visual goal setting at the beginning of Term 2 based on subject comments. The grade only report at the end of Term 2 will also give feedback on progress towards the achievement of those essential individual goals.

Term 1 – Full written report available via Daymap
Term 2 – Grades only report
Term 3 – Full written report available via Daymap
Term 4 – Grades only report

ZOOM

To keep in contact with our learners, staff will be checking in during the week using the Zoom App. Zoom is a video conferencing tool. Audience members can be invited to join a meeting and attend without creating an account. Virtual rooms allow for screen sharing and many other useful tools.

Expectations around the use of the App:

Students:

When students attend a Zoom meeting with their teacher, they should be respectable digital citizens. Chat messages should be on topic and clothing should be appropriate for the school setting.

Adults:

Adults should monitor student use of Zoom. Parents and caregivers should be aware of the possible misuses of Zoom and take steps to prevent misuse by their student.

If you are a primary school parent, you can download the App on any device and an email will be sent to you prior to the scheduled Zoom session for access details.

Secondary students will have scheduled Zoom sessions allocated during class times and meeting details will be shared via Daymap portal.

Information regarding next term will become available in the coming weeks, to ensure a smooth transition into Term 2. As per all communication and regardless of the situation, please don’t hesitate to contact the school for support.

Aspiring to Inspire
Monique Griffiths

The Rowland and Phyllis Nicholas Scholarship

As you may be aware, each year Quorn Area School offers our past students the opportunity to apply for the Rowland and Phyllis Nicholas Scholarship, who were two former Quorn Area School students. This scholarship is aimed at Year 12/13 students who meet a range of criteria which is assessed by the School Principal, Governing Council Representative and Senior School Coordinator. In 2019 we had some great applications however only one could be selected for the scholarship. I sincerely thank all people that applied for the scholarship and I wish them all the best for their future endeavours.

I am proud to announce Abraham Tuckwell as the successful applicant for 2018. Abraham’s application demonstrated that is dedicated giving back to; and being involved in a range of community organisations as well as being a role model for our students at Quorn Area School. Abraham is studying Medicine at Adelaide University and has committed to returning to the country upon graduation to give back to the community. Abraham will use this scholarship to offset some of the costs associated with tertiary study. Congratulations Abraham and all the best with your study.

Abraham’s Acceptance - I am deeply humbled and grateful that I have been chosen to receive the Rowland and Phyllis Nicholas Scholarship. Quorn Area School has played a massive part in getting me to where I am today. Without the constant support and guidance I have received from the school, I don’t think I would be in the position I am now. As I embark on my university career, this scholarship will help me in so many ways. It will contribute to purchasing my required textbooks, medical equipment and the ability to be involved in a number of educational activities that will further my medical knowledge. I feel very privileged to be awarded this scholarship and I will always be thankful for the opportunities Quorn Area School has given me in the past and the opportunities it has opened up for me in the future.

Matt Griffiths
Senior School Coordinator

Secondary Report

Year 10 English

This term, our Year 10 learners worked on a Persuasive Writing Unit. They had the opportunity to showcase their persuasive skills using their knowledge and understanding of persuasive appeals (ethos, pathos, and logos) and persuasive techniques through writing and oral language. It was thrilling to witness the passion and strong viewpoints that our learners shared on given topics. For example, we had in class debates on topics like: which smartphone brands were better… or more hard-hitting topics on whether schools should teach more life skills. To enhance their arguments and make them more convincing we studied about the P-E-E-L paragraph method, and we viewed, observed, discussed, and analysed a range of texts such as films like The Great Debaters and Animal Farm to inspire them. Evidently, as they practice more of these skills their target goal is to gradually increase their confidence to be able to present a convincing persuasive speech.

SSSA Swimming

On the 3rd of March, Tayla Finlay, Aiden Hately-Bell, Jayde Finlay and Joel Finlay were chosen to represent our school and the MNSEC Swimming team at the SSSA Swimming Carnival in Adelaide. We would like to congratulate these students on their efforts in being selected and representing the school with pride and enthusiasm. The MNSEC team competed in the C-Grade competition on the night. Well done to the four students who competed and received some personal best results. Results still to come.

Primary Report

Foundation class

Literacy - Identifying different types of texts

How to look after your pet, signs and books

Over the past few weeks in Literacy, the Foundations have been exploring text features. We have been looking at all the different features of a text such as the author, illustrator, the front cover, back cover, pictures and pages. This is so we can understand what makes up a text and how we can use these elements to make our own texts. One of our projects was to make a book using these features. You can see this in the video below.

We have also been looking at different types of texts and learnt that texts can be things such as books, posters, signs and even food containers. We looked at all of these different texts and had a go at making some of them. One of our favourite ones to make was an information text. We made an information text about ‘How to look after a pet’. We had to brainstorm what we needed to do to look after a pet properly and then make a poster. Here are a few examples…

Numeracy – Exploring teen numbers and making patterns

During Numeracy, we have been exploring teen numbers in all sorts of ways. We started by looking at growing patterns with Numicon resources and how they increased by one each time. We then worked out that we can extend this into teen numbers. One of our skills was to be able to make a growing pattern with Numicon shapes and now we are making them with Numicon rods. We can also recognise and match numerals to each teen shape. Our favourite game at the moment is a teen number scavenger hunt!

Foundation’s have also been exploring repeating patterns. We can recognise and make patterns by colouring in, playing pattern games and making a wonderful pattern poster. We were super proud of our double sided pattern posters which will soon be hanging up in our classroom for you to see. To make these pattern posters, we used strips of paper to make a repeating pattern on one side and then on the other side we used different colours and shapes of materials.

Investigation time with the Year 1/2 class

On Friday afternoons the Foundations join with the Year ½’s in Miss Neu’s class for Investigation Time. During Investigation Time we put our inquiring skills to the test by investigating lots of different activities. Stations are set up in the two classrooms and foyer area and students can select the station they wish to investigate. This term stations have included rock decorating, book making, building challenges and science experiments such as milk swirling and foam marbling. The students really enjoy investigating and learning new things. Here are a few moments from investigation time so far.

Year 1/2s

In Numeracy we have been looking at place value and patterns in numbers. On Friday, Learners were investigating how to represent numbers with Numicon Shapes and MAB blocks. The group using Numicon blocks decided to challenge themselves to show 1000. They decided to work with 10s can use their skip counting knowledge to count to 1000. They soon realised they had too many 10s out and had to take some away. The also realised they could’ve made 10 groups of 100 (applying their knowledge of the base 10 number system). The Learners using MAB blocks were working on representing numbers to and just over 1000. They also investigated how to record these numbers using accurate place value (including putting in 0 to hold a place).

We have also been looking at Problem Solving. On Wednesday last week, our new floor dots arrived. I gave the learners the challenge of spacing out 1 dot per a child in the class evenly. They worked in pairs to come up with a design they thought would work in the space and then share that with the class. They also had to decide how they would make sure the dots were evenly spaced. They trialled a couple of designs and we visually represented them on the board. The first design was an array of 3x4 which led to a conversation about timetables. The second design was then based on the 5 pattern on a dice. After, we reflected on the Numeracy skills they used during the activity such as: measurement, using formal units, counting, ordinal and cardinal numbers, fractions, timetables, shapes and patterns). They were surprised to see all the concepts they applied. They even used concepts/thinking that they didn’t realise was Maths!

Year 2/3/4s

We have had a very busy few weeks in our class. We have been continuing to work on understanding text we read and how we can make connections with the book.

In the Arts, we have been performing our scripts we made in our group and creating a short scene in partners and performing it to the class. In Digital Technology, we have been designing step by step procedure for the beebots to perform.

Year 5/6s

Here's some pictures of the 5 / 6 class playing 'Buzz' to improve our multiplicative thinking (it's the pictures with the large Connect 4 field), you can see Axel with one of the props that his group made to promote healthy eating in HPE, finally, you can see Devilin showing things that are some of his Fandoms from our Identity Expo.

Reminder about take home packs – Individualised home school packs created by our primary teachers are sitting for collection at the front office. If you have not picked your child’s up, you still can! They have lots of good resources for students staying on top of their learning during school closure.

Learner Wellbeing and Engagement

Over the next few months QAS will provide links to resources that may be of help to families. There is a tremendous wealth of information online that can help us navigate through life. We would appreciate your feedback so we can assess if these resources are helpful.

“Is Honesty Always the Best Policy?”

Sarah and Sharon
Wellbeing team

Parents and Friends

Easter Raffle: Drawn Tomorrow

Tickets still available from the Front Office

OSHC

Student Free Days

Vacation Care – April School Holidays