5 June 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

During our recent Professional Learning Day we focused on building and developing visible learners. This training is part of a three year strategy aimed at developing the skills of educators as they in turn seek to develop lifelong learners. In 2017 we began our journey by committing to a shared language of learning and this is underpinned by our work on learning intentions which can be found in the Teaching and Learning area of our website.

This year we are seeking the support of our community in changing the wording of a question that caregivers had asked their children for generations. Instead of asking your child what they did at school today we would like you to consider asking the following question:

What did you learn at school today?

We believe that this simple change will help our learners reflect on the challenges they have faced, the successes they have secured and the opportunities for further learning that lies ahead.

This addition of our newsletter also contains our new Site Improvement Plan which identifies the priorities for the school in the years ahead. The plan clearly places learners at the centre of everything we do and we aim for it to be a visible reminder of our purpose as educators at Quorn Area School. If you have any questions, comments, or feedback on the plan, please feel free to contact me.

Andrew Gilsenan-Reed

School Uniform

We remain committed to a dress code that is supported by our community and plays an important role in promoting a positive image of Quorn Area School which also creates a sense of identity among students and the community. More specifically a dress code:

• Avoids competition/rivalry in dress
• Is relatively cost effective
• Provides security in that students can be instantly identified and strangers on the site are clearly visible
• Teaches students that in adult life, conforming to a dress-code is sometimes necessary.

We are currently working on reviewing our ‘UNIFORM POLICY’ and we have attached our current policy for your perusal.

Students are to be dressed in school uniform at all times. Jumpers purchased from SAPSASA, SSSSA, other sporting events as well as generic navy jumpers are not permitted as part of the school uniform. These items can be worn during Physical Education lessons in the gym. Students are required to wear a QAS jumper and polo shirt which can be purchased from the book room (price list attached). School pride must be fostered when students are on excursions, therefore full school uniform must be worn at all times.

As of the first day of term 3, students will need to ensure that they are dressed in full school uniform. Any student who is in incorrect uniform will be given a clean and laundered QAS jumper to wear until one is purchased. Please see your child’s sub school leader room if you require assistance with financial hardship.

We encourage students to wear their ‘house shirts’ during PE lessons and will be opening the change rooms to allow students to change before and after lessons in the gym. As of term 3, there will be hot water available for students to shower where necessary.

We would welcome any feedback on our current policy and we ask that you direct this feedback to your current sub school leader:

• Matt Griffiths – Senior School: Year 9-12 Matt.Griffiths310@schools.sa.edu.au
• Sarah Bury – Middle School: Year 5-8 Sarah.Bury988@schools.sa.edu.au
• Monique Carcuro – Junior School: Year F-4 Monique.Carcuro994@schools.sa.edu.au

Thank you for your support with the uniform policy and promotion.

Senior School Report

It is hard to believe that we are almost half way through our academic year for the Year 11 and 12 students and it’s about to get busy for them. We need our learners to continue to work hard both at home and at school as the next few months could be particularly stressful. We have addressed this at school however we will need the support of families during this time. Your children need to work hard to ensure they don’t slip behind and miss deadlines as the work will compile and create a great deal of stress.

We have a unique staff base at Quorn who will go above and beyond to help our learners in any way that they can, we just need to ensure that they are utilised. One example of this is Mr Pathan who has scheduled timeslots where he is available to meet with students after school in the library on Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s to offer support with their studies. Please ensure you encourage your child to make use of this, as it is a great opportunity to gain support.

We are fast approaching the end of the semester which means that Research Project and PLP are coming to a close. Semester 2 does not timetable these lessons, meaning the Year 12 students will be able to use this extra time to devote to other subject areas whereas the Year 11s will pick up another subject line to ensure they meet the requirements of SACE; the Year 10’s will begin Research Practices.

Our Year 10 students have just returned from their Careers Trip which has once again proved to be a success. On this trip, they were exposed to so many great opportunities and experiences. Thank you to Miss C and Mr Forkert for providing them with some great insights on future career pathways.

Once again, if you wish to discuss the progress of your child, please make contact with me at the school or send me an email at matt.griffiths310@schools.sa.edu.au to arrange a time.

Matt Griffiths
Senior School Coordinator

Careers Trip

Week 4 involved a busy schedule for the Year 10 students, who are studying a compulsory SACE subject known as Personal Learning Plan (PLP).

On Tuesday 21st May, the students along with Brad Forkert and myself travelled to Adelaide for a Careers Trip which was jam-packed with learning opportunities about potential career pathways. Upon arrival at Roseworthy Campus, we were welcomed by a lecturer, who presented students with information regarding the different career opportunities provided by the campus. We then travelled to HeavyMech and onto Regency Tafe for the Automotive and Sport and Recreation tour. Regency Tafe has accommodation on campus (Regency International House), which is where we were based for the week. Although the day was long and tiring, it didn’t deter enthusiasm for an hour session at Latitude followed by pizza for tea.

Wednesday was another full day. Our first tour was of the Regency Hospitality facilities, followed by a journey into the city to visit the Australian Institute of Fitness, a tour of Uni SA’s City East and West campus, finishing with a visit to the MOD.ify Art Gallery checking out the augmented art on display.

Thursday morning we were greeted by Russell Ebert whose presentation, regardless of the club you support, is always informative and inspirational on so many levels. Then onto Fort Largs Police Academy where the students were able to gain first-hand experience of what it would be like and what would be expected of them if they had the opportunity to study at the academy. The final tour of the day was on the other side of the city at Tonsley Tafe, where students were given a tour of the impressive building and construction site and Flinders University new STEM building.

Finally on Friday students attended the 2018 Careers Expo. Students walked around asking many questions, seeking information from experts in the field. Students were asked to complete a booklet that required them to gain information on three new areas of interest/jobs they didn’t know existed.

Students are now reflecting upon the Careers Trip and evaluating possible future career pathways, and how the information they collected may or may not, affect their Personal Learning Plan.

“The trip has inspired me to do well at school to get where I want to be and the job I want.”
Aiden Hatley-Bell

“The trip gave me an insight into life after school.”
Tayla Finlay

“An eye opening experience into all the possible career pathways.”
Josh Baker

“It was good to talk to people who are experts in their field to understand the career better.”
Kaitlyn Roberts

Monique Carcuro

Middle School Report

Year 5/6 Class Report

Our 5/6’s have been up to a lot lately! We’re charting courses to safely traverse busy city harbours, we’re also learning about how changing speed during a drive can affect your average speed.

Last Friday our Young Environmental Leaders went to the second conference of the YEL program for this year. We learned about why we can’t see iridescent light from radioactive rocks in daylight, were freaked out by hiding Huntsman’s, big black bugs, and held an awesome Alligator.

We’ve just started to learn about the structure of procedural writing, the differences between other writing styles like informative and persuasive, as well as creating our own on topics like learning to shoot goals in basketball.

We also have great news for our class with regards to our choir participation. Two of our students, Cheyanne and Madison, have both been selected to sing solo parts in the upcoming Festival of Music in Port Augusta! You could not get them to stop smiling when they found out.

Matthew Buckingham
5/6 Teacher

Primary School Report

Kids Teaching Kids

On Friday 1st June the Foundation Art class invited the Year 9 students in to teach them a thing or two. The students worked together to create and paint the base of their abstract face, inspired by Picasso. The students had a lot of fun working together and both had skills and knowledge that they could share with one another. Check out some of the action from the Art Room.

Check out some of the action in the Primary unit.

‘We Are Learning To (WALT)...’

FOUNDATION STUDENTS

GRADE ONE & TWO

GRADE THREE & FOUR

GRADE FIVE & SIX

A few of the upcoming events for this term are:

• Student Free Day for Teacher Professional Development
• Cookbook Submissions
• Nature Play and Mobile Junk activities with Glen Wagland
• NAIDOC week Pancake breakfast
• Flinders House visits

Join our Picture products Project at QAS!

Turn your child’s treasured memories into durable, high-quality melamine Pictureplates that will last a lifetime!

For a functional keepsake, a melamine Pictureclock or MDF Small Clock can be mounted on the wall to keep your child’s precious artworks permanently on display. An order form was sent home for those in Grades F-6. If you are interested in participating please send back your money to receive a template.

At Quorn Area School, we’re publishing our very own COOKBOOK!

A HARD COPY TEMPLATE HAS BEEN SENT HOME TO YOUNGEST IN THE FAMILY. PLEASE RETURN TO THE FRONT OFFICE AND WE WILL ENTER THE RECIPE FOR YOU.

Monday Morning Coffee

Drop in and grab a coffee at our next catch up between 8:30 and 9:00 on Monday 2nd July

Just a reminder about the Parents & Friends FACEBOOK page, if you are not already a member, please do so in order to keep up to date with the different initiatives that the group is organizing this year.

Aspiring to Inspire

Monique Carcuro
Primary School Coordinator

Year 1/2 Class Report

In our weekly gardening lessons, we have been busy preparing the soil for planting and writing nonsense recipes of how to make disgusting soil soup. We have made lists of the plants growing in the garden and put these plants into categories of what their gardening names are. We are then writing these names on signs to put around the garden. Our snow peas that were planted a few weeks ago have grown and we are able to eat them. They were very sweet!!

In Maths, we are learning about ‘whole’ and ‘parts of whole’ and learning new language to use in our Maths lessons. We are investigating basic fractions in relation to numbers on a number line and shapes. This week we are looking at coins and their features. We found it interesting that they all had Australian animals on them apart from the $2 coin.

Mari Ikiua-Brooks
1/2 Class Teacher

Visible Learning

Teaching staff attended our second whole school Visible Learning day – ‘Building and Developing Learners’ on Monday the 21st of May. This is a follow on from the ‘Foundation Workshop’ in which staff participated in 2017. Monday’s session allowed teachers to be guided in reviewing their current practice and structure in relation to Visible Learning and for us as a school to structure our ‘Strategic Plan’ for our Visible Learning Journey.

Visible Learning is a popular concept based around the intensive research of John Hattie. According to Hattie, ‘Visible Learning and Teaching occurs when teachers see the learning through the eyes of the students and help them become their own teachers.’

It is important for student understanding to have clear learning intentions and success criteria visible to students during lessons. Learning intentions and success criteria ensure all students know what they are going to learn and where they are heading. It also provides guidance to teachers on what their chosen teaching and learning activities are seeking to achieve.

Below is an example of how Visible Learning is being used in our classrooms. Each learning area has a set of Visible Learning magnets in which teachers can list their learning intentions and success criteria.

WALT – We are learning to….
TIB – This is because….
WILF – What I’m looking for….
WAGOLL – What a good one looks like……..

During this Yr 3/4 Health and PE lesson, students were introduced to the learning intentions at the very beginning of the lesson and the teacher referred to them a number of times throughout the lesson. They were also situated in a place that was clearly visible to the students to allow them to view the intentions at all times.

This particular lesson was focused on Reporting Bullying straight away and why it is important to share our feelings with trusted people. Students viewed a short video on accessing the ‘kids helpline’ and what the organisation has to offer. They also heard from a number of kids on the video who highlighted possible situations where accessing guidance has benefited them. As a whole class, students brainstormed the different types of bullying that can occur. Some responses included: cyber bullying, name calling, physical bullying and spreading rumours. Students also understand that bullying is not a one off incident and that it occurs on a regular occurrence. The next step was to identify people who we can share our feelings with if we feel the need to and why it is important to not ‘bottle up’ our feelings.

On completion of the lesson, student feedback was sought to clarify if the students could relate the learning that occurred during the 50 minute lesson

Subject Report

Sport

MNSEC Football

Lachlan Finlay and Declan Finlay represented QAS in the 8/9 MNSEC football team recently. The boys travelled to Port Pirie to play a competitive St Marks team. Although the boys competed well their team was unable to secure a victory. Congratulations to both Lachlan and Declan on their selection and Tanya Finlay for transporting the boys.

MNSEC Netball

On Wednesday the 23rd of May, a selection of our students ranging from Years 8-12 travelled to Port Pirie to compete in the MNSEC Netball Carnival. A number of MNSEC schools were involved in the competition and our girls played 3-4 games of netball throughout the day. Our Open Girls came up against some tough competition and played really well as a team. It was fabulous to see our students encouraging and challenging each other whilst having fun at the same time. The 8/9 girls had a super day out, going through undefeated winning the competition. These students played some amazing netball and were consistent throughout all of their games. As a result of their efforts, the 8/9 QAS team has been invited to participate in a carnival held in Adelaide later in Term 3. This is an exceptional result and we are looking forward to the solid competition that will be present at Priceline Stadium later in the year.

I would like to thank Dani Chapman and Angie Finlay for their support with scoring, coaching and umpiring throughout the day. Without support from parents, events like these can be difficult to manage.

Sarah Bury

SAPSASA Football & Netball

Last week saw Isaac Finlay head to Adelaide for the SAPSASA AFL State Carnival. He played for the Northern team which included players from Quorn, Port Augusta and Roxby. They played 2 games per day. The first day they had one win and one loss. Unfortunately also on the first day 2 players suffered injuries, this meant that the team played most of the remaining games for the week with no interchange players! Subsequently they had some tough hard fought games; although they were competitive they didn’t win any more games for the week. They boys enjoyed a night out for dinner at the Glenelg Pizza House and had a fun time together. We came away from the week with some tired exhausted boys but they all created great friendships and will remember the experience forever. Congratulations Isaac!

Mackenzie Chapman was grateful to represent Quorn Area School in the Northern SAPSASA netball team at Priceline Stadium last week. Although they only had one win for the week, she had a great time with her team mates, enjoying a fun night out for dinner at the Watermark Hotel. Congratulations Mackenzie!

Library

Public Libraries are amazing places providing 24 hour access to e-library and online resources.

Submit a photo of yourself with any library item or resource, which can be taken anywhere, anytime, in (or out) of your public library.

COMPETITION OPEN FROM 14 MAY - 18 JUNE 2018

There are three Age Divisions:

• 11 and under
• 12 - 25 years
• Over 25 years

Submit your photos via this link:

Terms and conditions can be found at the following link:

Wednesday 23rd May National Simultaneous Storytime

Primary school students enjoyed listening to ‘Hickory Dickory Dash’ as part of National Simultaneous Storytime recently. Students sat attentively while listening to Ms Maggie read the story. They were then able to participate in activities relating to the story. A fun morning was had by everyone involved.