13 September 2016
Newsletter Articles
Principal’s Report
Our Year 11’s and 12’s are travelling to Jamestown this Friday for the annual MNSEC Formal. The students are looking forward to dressing up and mixing with students from other schools. Schools involved are Booleroo, Gladstone, Jamestown, Peterborough and Orroroo. We look forward to seeing some pictures in the next edition of the newsletter.
Thank you to the SRC who organised the Father’s Day stall and gave our students the opportunity to purchase a small gift for their dads on their special day. Well done to the Peer Leaders who have been busy each Thursday making toasties for lunch.
NAPLAN results have arrived at school and we are currently busy analysing data. The reports from the NAPLAN will be sent home during the next fortnight.
Year 11/12 subject counselling is in full swing. Parents will receive contact from Sarah Bury this week to discuss the selections that the students have made and invite parents for feedback/clarification. The subject choices are looking very promising and students appear to be happy with their chosen outcome.
Three way interviews were successful last week and thank you to the parents/guardians for taking the time to be involved in your child’s education. Remember that you do not need to wait for interviews to discuss matters with your child’s teacher. Please feel free to make a time that is mutually suitable if you would like to do this.
Year 10 students will complete their week of training next week at Pichi Richi. Tasks to be completed this block include: Roofing, plumbing, upholstery, guttering and putting in the first fix for power. This will occur at the accommodation block.
Unfortunately due to the forecast being for very wet weather in Booleroo, the 8/9 MNSEC soccer scheduled for Tuesday was cancelled.
Our Year 12’s only have approximately 5 weeks of school left until their final exams. Remember to use your time wisely and ensure that you are up to date with any incomplete work.
It’s all good!
Sarah Bury
Counsellor Report
2016 Parents in Education Week
LIVE WEBINAR
Brought to you by the Department for Education and Child Development and delivered by renowned international and national child development and learning experts on how parents can support their children’s learning and development at every age and stage.
Date: Thursday, 15 September 2016
Time: 7:00 PM to 9:00
PM in the QUORN AREA SCHOOL STAFF ROOM
Facilitator: Monique
Carcuro
There will be two speakers:
Jodie Benveniste – What parents can do to support children’s development and learning
- children’s brain development in the primary school years
- what’s happening in children’s social and emotional lives
- what this means for learning and how parents can help.
Jodie will also discuss the importance of parent wellbeing and how nurturing yourself supports children’s development and learning. She is a psychologist, parenting author and Director, Intuitive Parenting. She helps parents identify what is important in their parenting and to find ways to be their best.
Andrew Fuller - Unlocking your child’s genius
- children’s learning potential
- how parents can help children unleash their potential by
supporting:
- creativity
- motivation
- decision-making
- concentration
Andrew is a clinical psychologist, researcher, author of books for parents and teachers and a popular speaker. He works with schools and communities to improve the wellbeing of children, young people and families.
Toastie Thursday
Just a reminder that you will be able to order Toasties for lunch on Thursdays at the canteen for $3.00 and a jelly cup for $1.00.
ACER Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT) – The Power of data
ACER’s approach to assessment for teaching and learning is informed by a growth mindset – tailoring teaching to the needs of the individual learner to advance the progress of every student.
PAT results provide teachers with a starting point for action; measuring the progress of the individual learner, providing feedback, and allowing teachers to address the current learning needs of their students.
By understanding the learning needs of each student, teachers can also identify the best steps they can take in their teaching to ensure that students are progressing, developing and growing on their individual learning journey. PAT testing will commence next week during Maths and English lessons.
UNDERAGE RAGE
SAPOL’s Blue Light Disco
On the 23rd September (Friday Week 9), SAPOL have invited students in conjunction with the SRC to come along to the Quorn Town Hall for a Blue Light Disco. The SRC will be holding a stall and SAPOL will be supervising.
Subject Report
Maths
Is it ok to struggle?
I hear this word “struggle” more frequently from students and parents. One encouraging conversation I had with a child’s parent I would like to share. A parent requested a meeting with me to discuss her child’s progress in maths. I found this to be one of the most productive parent meetings I ever have had.
The conversation:
Parent: My child struggles a
lot in maths, should I recommend him to drop maths?
(Being a student at year 11, the student had a choice to do a different
maths, but could not drop maths entirely.)
Teacher: How do you know he struggles?”
Parent: He comes home and sometimes spends hours trying to solve different problems; I have seen him pulling his hair out at times. He gets frustrated at times but continues.
Teacher: (With a wry smile on
my face) that’s good, that means he is doing the right thing.
(I could see the confusion on the parent’s face.)
Parent: How is struggle good?
Teacher: Struggle in itself is not good but based on what you saying your child is undertaking a productive struggle, which is crucial for learning new and complex concepts.
I added:
Imagine you are trying to learn a different language; will that be easy to learn? The answer is certainly no. Anyone will struggle to learn new concepts in the beginning. But if you give up there is no possible way you will learn the new language, struggle is necessary. This is what your child is doing, a productive struggle. I request you let him struggle. If his struggle becomes too difficult and he starts giving up, please let me know and then we will consider moving him to a different maths.
Parent: Thanks, that makes sense. But, what should I do?
Teacher: Just encourage him to do his best and tell him that everyone does struggle while learning new concepts.
I saw the parent again, sometime later; I asked her, “How do you think your child is progressing?” The parent smiled and said he is progressing encouragingly and I am proud of his achievement. I, as a teacher, could not be more proud of what the student had achieved by the end of the year.
This is just an example of what we, in general, think about struggle. When students work on a problem with higher cognitive demand, students struggles and the only way to learn those highly cognitive demand problems is by a productive struggle. Our role as educators or parents is to guide students by asking a series of simple questions. Unfortunately, helping sometimes takes away that entire struggle and productive learning does not occur. Though, we must also be mindful struggle has to still be constructive and instructive. If students struggle with every single problem we need to rethink about the level of challenges we can pose to the students.
As a teacher, I would like to request you let your child go through the productive struggle and guide them when necessary. Let’s not set children up for failure, but rather set them up to be great thinkers and problem solvers. These are crucial skills to combat this challenging and technological world.
Kapil Pande
Maths Teacher/Coordinator
Quorn Area School
Music/Choir
Tickets are also available for sale at QAS
Library
Placing items on hold
Did you know that as a member of the Quorn School/Community Library you have access to most of the items held in any public library in South Australia? These items can be placed on hold and will be delivered to Quorn, they can then be returned to the Quorn Library (or any public library in SA):
Visit the library website from there you can search for items via such means as title, author or subject. You can search particular libraries or all of them. You can then follow the prompts to place a hold on the item – you will need your Library barcode and PIN (ask us if you do not have your PIN number).
http://www.libraries.sa.gov.au/quorn
You can also download the free ‘Bookmyne’ App for your smart phone (iPhone or Android) then link it to your library card barcode and PIN, then you can also search and place holds via your phone.
Stick Insects
Come in and meet our young Goliath and Spiny Leaf stick insects. There are eight of them in total, and they are growing quickly. Special thanks to Naomi Maloney for lending them to us.
Miscellaneous Reports
NOTICEBOARD