2 April 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

As we move towards the end of the first term of 2019, I have been reflecting upon the learning that we have achieved on so many different levels. The two information sessions we ran for caregivers on both curriculum and our learner management system Daymap gave us the opportunity to develop further the partnership that is key to any child's success as they navigate their way through compulsory education. The recent secondary school meeting focused on both improved communication and the benefits of real-time data on learner engagement and growth. The move towards electronic forms and online bookings for interviews will take time to embed, but the benefits for all parties are undeniable. The ability to access data on achievement/growth, see deadlines and marks for all subjects and the feedback received from the teacher are exciting developments that we will continue to build upon as the year progresses. We understand that while these changes are impressive, they can be challenging in terms of compatibility issues, etc. If you do need further assistance in adapting to these changes, please do not to contact the heads of school or myself directly.

Earlier this term our teachers also faced a challenge related to their learning. During a Professional Learning Day, they were confronted with new thinking around developing oral language and writing in the primary years, while the high school teachers faced their own challenge as they unpacked literacy across the secondary curriculum. These days allow us time to reflect on how learning is designed across our site, the different techniques we use to assess growth and finally the accuracy of our judgments. Over the coming months, we will be applying our learning to make changes that we hope will impact on the learning of all learners across our site.

Finally, term one reports will be available to download this week, and hard copies will be sent to those families who have previously made this request. These ‘long' reports will provide comments and detailed information on your child's progress, their performance based on national standards, and information on how where to next in each subject area. Please take the time to go through the report with your child and discuss both their progress and future goals. Teachers have also indicated whether attendance at the forthcoming three-way interviews is essential to discuss ways to support growth in learning. If you have any concerns about the report, please do not hesitate to contact the teacher directly, or the head of school, to discuss the issue.

Andrew Gilsenan-Reed

DAYMAP, Reports & Learning Conversations

Early next week your child’s full written report will be published on Daymap. We think it is vital that our learners gain valuable feedback in Term 1 so they are able to make adjustments to their learning before receiving their final grades in Term 2. If you have any questions about your child’s report please make contact with their teacher or book a time to meet during parent, student and teacher interviews in Week 1 of Term 2.

Parent, Student & Teacher Learning Conversations

As mentioned above our Parent, Student & Teacher Learning Conversations (formerly called Parent teacher interviews) will take place on Tuesday and Thursday from 3:30pm-6:00pm of Week 1, Term 2. This is a great time to discuss your child’s learning and progress with their teachers. We believe it is very important for you to bring your children with you to the learning conversation so they are able to hear the feedback and improvements they can make to their learning journey. In the coming days you will see a link appear on your Daymap log in page to make these appointments. If you have any questions please get in contact with Matt.

Primary Report

Primary Information Night

Thank you to those who attended the Primary Information Night, we hope that you found it useful and informative. I have attached a couple of videos that were embedded in the presentation, however for those who missed out, I would be more than happy to meet and discuss the RWI process and your child's literacy journey.

Understanding Phonics

What is RWI Phonics

Example of RWI in the classroom

Visible Learning

We have recently had our new Learner Disposition certificates printed. At each assembly we have been aligning our learners success with our dispositions and they will now receive the corresponding certificate.

As we continue on with our Visible Learning journey, we are excited to share with you early next term our Case Study. We will also be gathering up to date evidence to compare with our baseline data (collected at the beginning of 2018) to determine the impact the VL has had so far. We look forward to sharing this with you next term. From the positive changes that we have seen in the classroom, we are confident the results will reflect this also.

Foundation Class Report

Well what can I say! We have had a huge term 1 with lots of amazing things happening. The foundation classes have been working really hard in all their learning areas.

In Maths, we have been working on counting and different ways to count small collections. At the start of the term we counted small collections using one of our favourite snacks, skittles! Another activity involved making a zoo with different animals. We counted the number of animals in each enclosure and how many altogether. You can see some pictures of our zoo’s in action below.

In STEM, we have had a focus on building and structure. One of focuses have been to make different types of marble mazes. We started by making a marble maze from Lego. We had to make it so the marble could go in one door, find its ways through the maze and out the other side. We had to think about how we could use different types of Lego pieces to make obstacles for the marbles. Here are some photos of our fabulous marble mazes.

Earlier in the term during STEM, we also attempted to make marshmallow towers. We found this task really challenging but we got there in the end with some good structures. We discovered that it was easier with mini marshmallows as the big ones were too heavy for the matchsticks to hold.

In Literacy, we have been working on our story telling and oral language skills. We discovered that to make a great story we needed a great opener to engage our audience. To help us, we looked at many different fairy tales to see how they used interesting openers for their story. We then created our own beginning to stories to see what we learnt. Here are some examples of our amazing story openers.

One day in the deep deep jungle there was a dragon and he forgot his name -

In the deep dark jungle, there was a dragon and his name was sunnyboy -

One day, there was a castle and there was a princess in the castle. She had really long hair and she wore it in a plait. And they named her Isabella - Saskia

Once upon a time, there was a princess called Sparkle princess. The castle had lots of flowers on it and there was glitter and she married a prince - Evie

We have had so much fun this term and we look forward to having another great term after the break! We will keep you updated with all the amazing learning we are doing.

Tegan Miller

Subject Report

MNSEC Athletics

On Tuesday the 26th of March, a number of students travelled over to Jamestown to compete in the MNSEC Athletics carnival. The day was an overall success with many students placing well in their chosen events. I would like to thank the parents that provided transport on the day, as events such as these cannot be possible without parental support. We would also like to thank the efforts of Darren Woolford and the Jamestown Community School for hosting this event. There is a substantial amount of work that goes in to making this event a success. Some of our students may be selected to represent the MNSEC at the SSSA carnival held at Santos Stadium next week. Well done to all competitors.

SAPSASA Netball and Football

This Friday we will be participating in both the SAPSASA football and netball carnival. The footy is held at Stirling North PS. Our students will be joining in with St Barbe’s school in Roxby Downs to make a full side. Mr Buckingham with be supporting our students on the day and we wish them all the best for their carnival.

Jayde Finlay and Emily Eckert have been busy organising the SAPSASA netball team as part of their Year 10 Personal Learning Plan. They have facilitated several training sessions and composed the permission letter which was sent home to families. They will be coaching the girls on the day and have been busy working out the best positions for the students to be playing in. Good luck to all on Friday.

SAPSASA Swimming

Maddison Hately-Bell and Cheyanne Maher were selected to represent the district in the SAPSASA Swimming carnival which was held in Adelaide last Friday. Both girls received some excellent times in their events and we congratulate them for successfully representing QAS. Well done girls, you should be very proud of your efforts. Thank you to Sage Othams from Flinders View Primary School who was the convenor of this event. Events such as these cannot happen without the support from teachers and staff within the partnership schools.

Extended Care Group

Last Monday, secondary students participated in some team challenges. Students took part in a table tennis competition as well as a general knowledge quiz Kahoot. Students were able to accumulate points for both Yarrah and Kanyaka house teams. Both activities proved to be successful with the results being recorded for the end of year ‘House Award’.

This Monday saw students being given the opportunity to make some informed self-assessments in response to their efforts and achievements in all subject areas this term. Self-assessment helps to develop important meta-cognitive skills and involves learners in evaluating their own work and learning progress. Focus was given to levels of effort, outcomes of assessment tasks as well as highlighting and acknowledging areas of improvement. The aim of the self-assessment task is to encourage our learners to devise specific learning goals for the continuation of Semester One, with the intention of achieving to a higher level by the end of semester.

Sarah Bury
Learner Engagement and Wellbeing Coordinator

Parents and Friends

Thank you very much to those who have donated items to the Easter Camping Hamper. We were overwhelmed with the amazing contributions and have decided to do first and second prize. We have also extended the deadline until Thursday 4th April. If you would like tickets please see Sarah Kruger or Heidi Roberts at QRT.

We will announce the winner on Friday 5th April.

Milkshake & Hot Dog Day

Tomorrow is Milkshake & Hot Dog Day. Please place your order at the Front Office, as no orders will be taken during first lunch.

Ranges Colour Run

Parents & Friends of Quorn Area School are in the process of organising a colour run around Quorn. In the lead up to the event we will be holding competitions such as logo and poster design. We will have a Facebook Page up and running soon so keep an eye out for more information.

OSHC

Miscellaneous Reports