3 March 2020

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

On Monday 2nd March we were fortunate enough to have special guest Tom Curtain perform and share his story of success. Tom’s tour has a special focus which resonates with us here in Quorn. The tour highlights the resilient communities who battle on through tough times of drought, flood and fire. Tom released his new single "We're Still Here" which he performed for our learners.

On Wednesday 4th of March, the 2019 Annual Report will be presented at the Governing Council AGM. This report allows us to celebrate the successes of the previous year and set an agenda for the year ahead as we seek to secure quality learning outcomes for all students. The report will also been uploaded onto our website, and we welcome feedback on the journey the school is undertaking.

On Friday 28th February staff participated in a Visible Learning Day. We had the opportunity to further develop our understanding of learning intentions and success criteria, with the aim of making learning accessible and engaging for all learners.

Thank you to those parents and caregivers who attended the recent Primary and Secondary Information sessions. We appreciate your support and willingness to further understand your child’s learning journey.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Mr Tim Mansueto to our school community. He will be working alongside Brad Forkert and with our middle school learners until the end of the term.

A big thankyou to Sharon Taylor who painted the entrance wall on Friday in preparation for the aquaponics system installation. We cannot wait to see this propagated with greenery in the coming months.

Stay tuned for more entrance upgrades.

Aspiring to Inspire
Monique Griffiths

School Photos – Thursday 12th March

Secondary Report

Mathematics and Science

This term, learners in Year 7 have embarked on a journey to learn laboratory safety rules and scientific method. They are developing skills to investigate an issue using scientific method. Learners are progressively identifying issues that can be investigated and use their skills such as identifying independent, dependent and control variables, hypothesising, predicting, and inferring. They are becoming increasingly fluent to express their results of investigation in tabular form and interpreting the results to make inferences to verify or refute hypothesise. They are independently writing report to communicate their finding to share with others using scientific terms and vocabulary.

Year 9 Science learners are getting to know how Chemistry is an integral part of their everyday life. They investigated different types of chemical reactions to verify the law of conservation of mass. They inquired about exothermic and endothermic reactions and how temperature change is observed in these reactions. Learners are also improving their skills to communicate their findings by writing reports this term.

Year 7 Mathematics learners are investigating prime numbers and their importance in the science of encryption. Learners appreciated that how prime numbers are useful to protect their digital identity, online banking and shopping. They used mathematical idea of prime numbers to encrypt a ‘secret message’ and created a key that they share with their friend to help decrypt the message.

Year 8 Mathematics learners are learning statistics and probability this term. They honed their skills to spot bias in samples and how biased samples are used in media to sell certain products. Learners critically examined some of the media reports and advertisement to verify their claims. They were able to determine sample statistics to predict population statistics. They are learning to write a mathematical report for a statistical investigation they have undertaken.

Our SACE learners of General Mathematics and Mathematical Methods are preparing for their first assessment of the year. They have been given a formative assessment to assist them to prepare for a summative assessment. Learners will receive feedback on the formative assessment to help them identify learning gaps that need to be addressed in subsequent lessons. They are increasingly becoming confidence to perform better at various SACE assessments.

Please contact me if you have any concerns regarding Mathematics or Science. My email address is faruk.pathan723@schools.sa.edu.au

Faruk Pathan
Secondary Maths/Science

Primary Report

Wow! What an exciting beginning of term Foundation students have had. We have settled into school and are now hard at work learning all things literacy, numeracy, science, movement in dance and even Spanish! There is so much to share, but here are only a few things that we have been up to in our class.

Literacy

As part of our literacy sessions, every Thursday we participate in VCOP stations which help us get ready for writing by warming up our brains and strengthening our fingers and hands. Each week we do four different stations that include things like; beading and threading, making sounds from play doh, using pegs to pick up buttons, cutting shapes and many more! Here are some pictures to show some of the things we do.

One of our main focuses this term has been learning how to re tell stories. We have learnt that to re tell stories, you need to recall important information such as the characters, setting, problem and feelings. In the beginning, we read some classic fairy tales and then had to retell what happened to a partner or a small group using these important details. We then started using story champs pictures to help guide us. These help us remember the important things! We also use them during our big writing/big draw sessions to make a story. You can see us practicing below.

Numeracy

Numeracy has been one of our favourite daily activities, we have really enjoyed exploring the Numicon equipment, playing numeracy games and learning to think in different ways. Our main focus so far has been exploring beginning counting strategies and ordering shapes and numerals to ten. Some of our favourite activities involve using small world animals and other classroom items to count as you can see in pictures. You can also see we have been matching shapes to objects and numerals.

Another focus has been to put objects in order from smallest to biggest. We are learning that you can order things in different ways and not everyone has the same ideas as you. We are working towards ordering numerals and number names from 1-10.

Spanish

This term in Spanish we are focusing on learning basic greetings and counting. We have been trying very hard to say greetings such as Hola and Buenos Dias. Throughout the daily routine, we are learning simple greetings and phrases so we can use them in everyday language. We are also beginning to count from 1-10 in Spanish. In this video, you can see us putting it into practice.

Each week, Foundations will receive a Spanish homework card which is their homework for that week. This is as simple as saying a word or phrase in context when they can. This is to encourage students to use the language in everyday speaking and share their skills with others. This week their homework is to count to five in Spanish.

Tegan Miller
Foundation Class Teacher

Primary Assembly

Our first Assembly for 2020 will take place tomorrow in the Gym at 2.30pm. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Learner Wellbeing

Wellbeing and Engagement Survey – Week 8, Term 1

Students in our school have been invited to take part in a survey being conducted in Term 1 2020. This letter provides key information about the survey.

Purpose of the collection

Young people’s sense of wellbeing is an important part of how they learn at school. The purpose of the survey is to seek students’ views about their wellbeing and their engagement with school. Students in year levels 4 to 12 across the State will be invited to participate in the Wellbeing and Engagement Collection. The information collected will help the education system and broader community to support young people’s health and wellbeing.

What is the survey about?

The survey asks students about their social and emotional wellbeing; school relationships and engagement and learning in school; and physical health and wellbeing and after school activities. Students’ answers will be kept confidential – no one (including school staff) will use the results to identify individual students.

One Plans

The One Plan is an online personalised learning plan that contains information to support your child’s inclusion and achievement in preschool and school. It is a working document that is reviewed and updated throughout the year.

Teachers are currently working on updating the One Plans for some of our learners at QAS. The following groups of students are required to have an up to date and completed One Plan:

• Students with disability
• Children and young people in care (under guardianship)
• Aboriginal children and young people

Over the next 3-5 weeks, families of the above students will be asked to come in to the school to discuss and sign the completed One Plan.

I have included a link below which will give parents/families more information about the One Plan.

Nationally Consistent Collection of Data

The Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) takes place every year.

The NCCD is a collection that counts:

• The number of school student’s receiving an adjustment or ‘help’ due to disability.
• The level of adjustment they are receiving to access education on the same basis as other students.

Schools provide this information to education authorities. I have attached a fact sheet for families/parents/carers which will give you more detail about the levels of adjustments and the benefits for students.

Walking Wednesdays

It has been great to see the students supporting the Walking Wednesday initiative. Each Wednesday students can earn a point for their team, by meeting at the Railway Station at 8:20am and walking to school with a nominated teacher and house captain.

See you there!

OSHC

Vacation Care – April School Holidays

Parents and Friends

Easter Raffle

Sustainability in our School

Parents and Friends will be focusing on minimising waste within our school in 2020. Throughout the year we will be looking at different ways to reduce rubbish within our school yard and surrounding areas. We will be providing families with tips, tools and resources via each school newsletter.

Here are five simple steps you can take to create a waste free lunchbox:

1. Give Up the Plastic Wrap For Good. The right lunchbox and/or containers are essential.
2. Ditch the packaged food.
3. Buying in Bulk = Less Waste.
4. Buy a Reusable Drink Bottle.
5. Compost Your Food Scraps.

Miscellaneous Reports

MNSEC Swimming

On Tuesday the 18th of February, the QAS hosted its first MNSEC Swimming Carnival. The event was very successful and we welcomed Orroroo Area School, Jamestown Community School, Booleroo District Centre School, Gladstone High School and Peterborough High School.

Overall results from the carnival are highlighted below.

I would like to thank a number of individuals as well as local community clubs/organisations who contributed on the day. I would like to take this opportunity to personally thank Mark Tuckwell and Naomi Maloney who provided their services to the school and the carnival on the day. This is an amazing effort, as neither person has children attending QAS. We sincerely thank you.

A huge thank you to the Bronwyn Millington and the Quorn Swimming Club for the use their equipment including lane ropes, clubroom, starting blocks etc. We couldn’t have run the carnival without your support. Also to Angie Finlay and Dani Chapman who were our marshalls on the day. You did a magnificent job and all events ran smoothly. Thanks to the various parents, grandparents and ex-students who assisted with jobs on the day including timing and setting up in the morning. These people included Tanya Finlay, Abraham Tuckwell, Bronwyn and Jeremy Rigden and Jenny Crisp.

The food options were amazing on the day, and I heard a number of comments being made about the delicious food. I would like to thanks the Lions Club who provided hot chips, The Stockyard Arena who cooked the BBQ, The Quorn Netball Club on the hot dog stand, Sue and Co in the Canteen as well as our Parents and Friends Committee who prepared cold rolls, sushi and fruit salad.

We are so fortunate to have this amazing community where by everyone comes together to make events a success.

The following students will be travelling to Adelaide this afternoon to represent the MNSEC team at the SSSA Swimming Carnival tonight at the Marion Swimming Centre. We wish them all the best for tonight and hope they enjoy the experience. Tayla Finlay, Aiden Hately-Bell, Jayde Finlay and Joel Finlay. Thanks to their parents who are supporting them at this event by providing transport.

Private Music Lesson with John O’Dea

John O’Dea has contacted Quorn Area School and he is happy to resume his weekly music lessons for the first half of the year. Lessons will only go ahead if we receive a minimum of 10 students commit. There will also be a weekly fee that needs to be paid by parents to John O’Dea.

If you have any questions or if your child would like to learn the guitar or drum please email Michelle.Baker315@schools.sa.edu.au

School Sport SA 12 and under AFL Selections

Youth Parliament