3 July 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

At the start of this week our Foundation students celebrated ‘100 Days of Learning’ by undertaking a variety of tasks based on this important milestone in their school life. As I watched them engage in learning I was delighted to see a student wearing a hat with the caption ‘100 Days Smarter’. It reminded me of the importance of celebrating personal achievement and sharing our successes with those around us. The progress reports we send home this week will offer the remainder of our learners the opportunity to celebrate and reflect on their achievements in Semester One. For some learners these reports will also include requests to attend our forthcoming 3-way interviews in Week One of next term where we can discuss strategies to support future growth. I would encourage all caregivers to attend the meetings and if you have other commitments please contact the school and we will endeavour to make alternative arrangements.

During this final week of this term we will be running a variety of activities to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. I would like to express my thanks to Kathy Radif and Sarah Bury for their leadership of this initiative. Thanks also goes to Aileen Shannon for volunteering both her time and energy in supporting learners to actively engage in this national event.

Over the coming weeks we will be completing a number of upgrades to our site as we seek to improve the learning environment and foster school pride. The exterior of the primary block will be painted during the school holidays and the fencing on Stokes Road will be removed in preparation for new fencing and gates. Please be mindful of these changes when collecting children or if you are visiting the site outside of operational hours.

Andrew Gilsenan-Reed

Senior School Report

We have now begun Semester Two of our academic period which means a number of our learners have changed a few subject lines. Term 3 is a vital part of the Year 12 academic calendar where there will be an influx of assignments and tests to ensure they are meeting the requirements of the subject. If you have concerns or just want to check in with the progress of your child, please make contact with me at the school or send me an email matt.griffiths310@schools.sa.edu.au.

If your child is having difficulties in any subject areas Mr Pathan our maths guru is available to meet with students in the Library on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. I would strongly recommend that any student who is looking for some extra support in Maths (or any subjects) makes use of this time. This has been available for all our students for most of the year, but it has been under-utilised so far.

We have also begun the process of subject counselling our Year 10 and 11 students in preparation for 2019. This discussion has been based around what their future aspirations are and subjects they may want to study. Toward the end of Term 3 we will bring parents in to be involved in these discussions. I am currently planning a SACE information session for parents of students entering year 10, 11 or 12 in 2019 – if this is something you are interested in attending, please send me an email using the address above with your preferred night of the week and time. Once I receive some approximate numbers I will organised the date and time to suit as many as I can.

Reports & Parent-Student-Teacher Interviews

As we approach the end of the term you will receive a report card with your child’s grade for semester 1. As a new addition it will also contain a section where a teacher will indicate if there is a parent teacher interview required. We ask that if teachers request an interview you follow the prompts below to book in a time. We feel that this will give caregivers a chance to ask questions of the teachers about what their child can do to strive for excellence in the second semester. If none of the available timeslots suit, you can make contact with the school to organise alternative arrangements. We will be hosting parent teacher interviews on Wednesday 25th and Thursday 26th July (Term 3, Week 1) from 3:10-5:30.

To book an interview to speak about your child’s progress follow these steps :

1. Visit https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code?z=VjHoBc
2. Enter the code y6qmu
3. Follow the prompts from there

Lunch Time Sport

Over the past 3 weeks we have been having lunch time games of Volleyball with our secondary students in their House teams. The teams are split from years 7-9 and 10-12 each team comprising of 3 boys and 3 girls on the court at once. We will continue with this until the end of the term and we will begin a new sport next term.

Current Score

Yarrah – 3 Sets
Kanyaka – 4 Sets

Matt Griffiths
Senior School Coordinator

Middle School Report

Another busy and memorable term has come to an end in the Middle School. Well done to all students on their efforts in regards to their learning this term. It was pleasing to see some improvements with attitude, work ethic and academic grades in the end of semester reports.

A reminder for families to please return their middle school camp consent forms to me as soon as possible. There will be a camp meeting early next term, where the students will be responsible for choosing their age appropriate activities and accommodation lay out for the Woodhouse Camp in Term 3. If you have not indicated that you would like to come on camp, it is not too late. Please contact me at the school to arrange a consent form and invoice. If you have any further queries or questions regarding the camp, please don’t hesitate to contact me at the school.

I hope you all have a safe and enjoyable break, and we look forward to another rewarding term of learning in the Middle School.

NAIDOC Week

NAIDOC week is being celebrated this week at QAS. On Monday the 3rd of July, students in the primary/middle section of the school participated in some interesting activities. The F-6 students rotated through three engaging activities and they are listed and explained in detail below.

We welcomed Aileen Shannon who shared stories from the Adnyamathanha people of the Flinders Ranges since 1981. After listening to the amazing story of ‘Valnaapa the two mates‘ the students participated in some of their own story writing, incorporating pictures and symbols which resulted in telling their own story.

The next activity involved the students designing their wooden boomerang, whilst incorporating dot painting with their own symbols. This activity was held in the Art Room and supported by our Yr 10 students who worked closely with the younger students.

The third activity saw students participating in a range of Yulunga traditional indigenous games. The games aim to provide students with a greater understanding and appreciation of Indigenous culture. The students were very eager to demonstrate their skills during the games and lots of fun was had by all.

The whole school was treated to lunch which consisted of vegetable and lentil soup, accompanied by some delicious damper which was all prepared by our ACEO (Aboriginal Community Education Officer) Kathy Radif.

Sarah Bury
Middle School Coordinator

Year 7 English

In Year 7 English we studied the novel, Holes by Louis Sachar, which was paired with its film adaptation of the same name, directed by Andrew Davis. This gave the students the opportunity to develop their evaluative, analytical, and comprehension skills when exploring the language and stylistic features of a novel then visualising their understanding of the text in film form. Students engaged in pre-reading activities like making their own book cover, listed their predictions of the plot, and produced a brief report about the author. Reading time in class was conducted for several weeks and students enthusiastically volunteered to read out loud for the class. We unpacked its literary aspects through participation in interactive games and quizzes, constructing a novel organiser, illustrating the characters, and responding to comprehension questions. Upon completion of reading the novel, we viewed its film adaptation which students thoroughly enjoyed. As their final assessment, students compared the film to the novel by analysing their similarities and differences in aspects like characterisation, plot, themes, and setting.

Megan Novillos
Middle School English/Hass

Primary Report

Nature Play - Mobile Junk Day!

Year 1 and 2’s report on the play session with Glenn.

Glenn visited the school and brought a trailer full of JUNK for the students to make, create and play with.

The best parts were……..
Making a cubby out of palates –Shelby
Making a cubby out of sticks –Ebonie
Using sticks and barrels to make a shelter- Lucas
My favourite rule was that you had to play all day-Noah
Rolling around in giant barrels –Sam
Crushing up rocks to make a face paint- Brayden
Building things with sticks- Lily-Mae
Rolling in the barrels-Georgia
The photos say it all!!! We had so much fun playing!

Mari Ikiua-Brooks
Yr 1/2 Teacher

Year 3/4 Class Activities

Aileen Shannon was invited to come in and share an Aboriginal Creation Story and the matching art work with us. We have been studying different forms of traditional art work in Visual Arts this term. Aileen also shared some artifices with us and told us about them. We love having people from the community coming and sharing their knowledge with us. Thank you Aileen!

Our last visit to Flinders House this term saw Sarah and resident Kenny playing guitar for us. What a treat! Bronwyn Millington organised some dot painting activities for us to do with the residents. It has been wonderful to see relationships developing and we look forward to more visits next term.

During Week 8 we participated in an outdoor play and learn session thanks to Nature Play who set up a mobile junk and nature playground for us. It was fun building, exploring and using our imaginations. We had to work together in teams to build and solve problems.

In Science we have been exploring ‘Push and Pull’ forces and the effects of friction on an object’s ability to move.

A ‘Deadly Australians’ Exhibition visited us last Thursday. Students enjoyed a fun afternoon learning about deadly Australian animals.

Senga Reed
3/4 Class Teacher

Miscellaneous Reports

Library – Storytime

Storytime is taking a break for the holidays and will recommence when school returns.

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