7 February 2017

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Welcome back to all of our students as we look forward to a new year of learning. On a personal note I would like to express my sincere thanks to all members of the school community for the warm support I have received since my arrival. The beginning of a new school year always brings new challenges and opportunities for all members of the school community and this is especially true for me at this time.

I am looking forward to the challenge of building strong links with both our existing families/caregivers and the Quorn community as we support every child on their unique journey. Our aim is for every child to realise their full potential and to achieve this, we need to work collaboratively to create opportunities for success that are tangible, challenging and rewarding. To the families and caregivers of our new students I would like to extend a warm welcome. All of our teachers and SSOs are looking forward to working with you to build upon what is taught and expected at home. We sincerely hope that your child’s time at Quorn Area School is happy, fulfilling and rich in learning.

In regards to staffing I am pleased to welcome back a host of familiar faces who have already impacted significantly upon the teaching and learning of our students over the previous years. In addition to this we welcome two new teachers who are excited about the prospect of working in our caring and supportive learning environment. They are:

Mark Vodegel
Liam Fetherstonhaugh

My reflections on the first week are filled with students who have quickly settled into the learning environment, the willingness of students to discuss their learning, and the community’s support of the school and the values it aims to bestow. The combination of these three ingredients leaves us well placed to build a culture of success for all of our students in 2017.

Andrew Gilsenan-Reed

Deputy Principal’s Report

Welcome back to all members of our school community, it’s great to see we are all eager to continue to improve our performance, for a very eventful 2017. I would like to introduce and welcome the new faces to our staff this year, including our new Maths teacher Mark Vodegel and our new English/H&PE teacher Liam Fetherstonhaugh, both of whom are keen to have an impact on the education of our students.

I would also like to welcome our Principal Mr Andrew Gilsenan-Reed to Quorn. In the time we have had to get to know Andrew, he has shown a great deal of understanding about the context of our school, our future directions as a school community and ultimately how we can continue to develop. We are all very excited to be working with Andrew in 2017.

There has been a new buzz around the school, with the new sports teams introduced and our new house captains elected; all in preparation for our whole school Swimming Carnival on the Thursday 9th February. Don’t forget that all teams score additional points for each swimmer they have in the pool, so come along and help everyone out.

Weather permitting; we are planning on starting the carnival at 11am and continuing through until approximately 3:30. After presentations the pool will be open for free time and a great opportunity to meet and greet with our new teachers and Principal. At this stage the weather is forecast to be 40degrees on Thursday, so please pay attention to the school app (Schoolzine) for potential changes to the running schedule.

The students have been excellent this week and settled back into school work and study habits promptly. During the first week we have welcomed a range of new students into the school and our students have demonstrated their open and thoughtful personalities by quickly making them feel welcome.

We look forward to seeing all the parents and friends at the Swimming Carnival on Thursday.

Congratulations to our new House Captains

Matt Griffiths
Deputy Principal

Counsellor Report

Hi everyone,

Welcome back to the new school year, and an exciting one it looks to be. It’s been great to greet many of you at the school crossing and even more so, to see the students excited about returning to school.

I will keep it short - just wanted to say that if you would like to have a chat at any time, please pop in to see me, would love to hear from you. Also in regards to the 2016 End of Year Presentation Evening, we would love some feedback to make it bigger and better this year. Please send your thoughts and suggestions via email so we can continue to improve what is one of our important annual events. Thank you.

I look forward to another year of onwards and upwards.

Aspiring to Inspire

Monique Carcuro
School Counsellor

SACE Results

Quorn Area School had another successful year with 100% SACE completion. The school community congratulates the graduating class of 2016 and Dux of the school Tori Kaesler. The school is proud of each student’s efforts and accomplishments, and of course our teachers who have helped guide and foster these results.

In addition to achieving a multitude of awards and fulfilling the position of SRC President, Tori achieved an extremely high ATAR, giving her the pick of University offers, however she chose her first preference Physiotherapy at Flinders University.

Marty Paynter also had a successful year, which resulted in admission into Computer Software Engineering.

In addition to successful university administrations, two students were accepted and have already begun working in their Electrical and Metal Fabrication trades.

We wish all our students every success in the future and thank them for contributing to the positive growth within our school environment and maintaining our high SACE success rate.

Primary Report

F/1/2 Class

Mrs Reed’s class have had a fun week settling into the classroom and learning new routines. Welcome to all our new students who are beginning their schooling with us. Please keep an eye on the newsletter for further updates from the F/1/2 class.

Students from the F/1/2 class enjoying their fruit
time in the new grassed area of the JP Foyer

Junior Playground Update

Welcome to all our new Reception students and to all who have been going on adventures in the junior playground aboard the boat. Although still a ‘work in progress’, the P&F will be officially opening this new addition when complete. More updates on this as the painting and fittings are finalized. There has even been a suggestion of a boat naming competition…! This is an opportunity to earn points for your House team.

I’ll look forward to meeting you ‘on the high seas’ and don’t forget to tell me about all your adventures, or even write about them so we can share them in our school newsletter!

Happy sailing,
Sharon Taylor P.C.W.

Subject Report

Sports News

On Thursday 9th February Quorn Area School will host our annual School Swimming Carnival. The format has slightly changed this year as we now have two teams; therefore we are beginning at 11am on Thursday. In the first two lessons on Thursday, students will meet in their new teams to complete House challenges such as building a raft to earn extra house points.

At approximately 10:30am students will walk to the pool to set up their House bays, ready to start at 11am with the 100m races the first event on the program. At the completion of these races, the Under 8 students will have the opportunity to take part on in some novelty races. Once the novelty races are finished we will continue through our program as normal. At the completion of the competition we will have the pool open and provide a sausage sizzle to give parents the chance to meet and chat to the new staff at the school.

If you are available to help time -keep, announce the events or help in any way possible, can you please see me at the beginning of the day.

Thanks
Matt Griffiths

Library

ICAS Competitions

Are you keen to provide very opportunity for your child to achieve success?? Have you considered ICAS Competitions and Assessments??

Each year we offer students the opportunity to participate in assessments in a range of subject areas which provide significant feedback to students, teachers and parents on the students’ skill development. These International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) are available for Year 2 -12 students in Digital Technologies, English, Mathematics, Science, Spelling and Writing which are administered by the University of New South Wales.

Participation in these assessments and competitions is optional and is at parents’ discretion. There is a small entry fee for participants.

There are many great reasons for your child(ren) to be involved. The tests…

• Provide a continuous, independent and comprehensive record of a student’s performance.
• Enable the progress of each student to be mapped in each skill against their previous performance.
• Uses fellow students’ results as a reference point; results are mapped against all students sitting at the same level in Australia.
• Provide real feedback on every question to allow for parent follow up.
• Enable students of all levels to participate.

Achievement certificates are awarded to all students at a range of levels, from high distinction for students achieving in the top 1% of all students as well as certificates at distinction, credit and merit level. Other students receive a certificate of participation.

As we are keen for as many students as possible to take advantage of these opportunities the school is subsidising the entry fee for each child for each competition significantly.

Details of these competitions and assessments for 2017 are as follows:

Digital Technologies - Years 3-10 - $9.00 - 23rd May
Science - Years 2-12 - $9.00 - 30th May
Writing - Years 3-12 - $18.00 - 12th June
Spelling - Years 3-7 - $12.00 - 14th June
English - Years 2-12 - $9.00 - 1st August
Mathematics - Years 2-12 - $9.00 - 15th August

Please register your children to participate in these assessments and pay the appropriate fee to Michelle Baker at the school before 17th March. For more information go to the link below or contact myself.

Matt Griffiths
Deputy Principal

Miscellaneous Reports

Toastie Thursday

We hope to begin selling toasties again this year. More information will be distributed shortly.

Choir News

This year we are pleased to announce that we are opening up our school choir for students from Years 4 right through to Year 12 to participate! Interested students and/or their caregivers are asked to let the Front Office, Sharon Taylor or myself know of their willingness to commit to this fantastic opportunity.

All choir students will be provided with a book and CD (at no cost to families) to learn the repertoire of around fourteen songs, as provided by the Primary Schools Music Festival. As per the Music Festival organisation, only students from Years 4 to 7 will rehearse and perform as part of our Port Augusta regional choir. Students from Years 8 to 12 will rehearse and perform, along-side those in Years 4 to 7, as part of our QAS choir. It is important to understand that choir is a considerable, but as past students will no doubt attest, very rewarding commitment. In addition to attending school rehearsals during some morning Care group lessons, home practise will be necessary. There will be three to four regional rehearsals during school hours and two evening concerts at the end of Term Three. Our full Year 4 to 12 QAS choir will perform at assemblies and within the broader community such as at Flinders House, the Kindy, PROBUS meets and Carols by Candle-light. Transportation costs will be covered by the school, however some volunteer transport may be requested.

Vennessa James

Staff Car Park

Parents please note: the staff car park is not a drop off point for students to access the school. Please use the designated car park adjacent to the traffic lights when either bringing or picking up your children from school.

Private Tutor

An opportunity has presented itself for private tutoring within the Quorn Community. Please contact the school if you are interested in taking up this offer. Fees will apply.