2 February 2021

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Welcome back to all of our learners as we look forward to a new year of learning. To the caregivers of our new learners, I would like to extend a warm welcome. Our teachers and SSOs are committed 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.

Before the start of the school year teachers spent three days working collaboratively to ensure the best possible learner outcomes for every child, in every class, on every day. While we have already made significant progress towards this goal, we are still refining our practice to ensure that learners and their caregivers can answer the following questions:

1. Where am I on the learning journey?
2. Where do I go next?
3. What is the best way to get there?

While we will update you throughout the year on the changes we are making to achieve this goal, the real test will be whether our learners know both the questions and the answers.

We continued to improve our learning spaces during the vacation by adding new technologies, paint, and acoustic panels. The results include improved access to technology, enhanced natural light, and quieter rooms that encourage learners to share ideas. Those visiting the site will have noticed that Stokes Road's entrance has been cleared in preparation for the planned landscaping work. While we appreciate this is inconvenient, the changes will improve the school's appearance, and enhance our outdoor learning spaces.

We are excited about starting the year with a full complement of teachers already versed in the practices and procedures that have produced such outstanding growth for our learners in recent years. However, we have made some changes to our leadership team to support their professional development and meet the school's changing demands. The changes are as follows:

Sarah Bury - Primary School & Engagement Coordinator
Monique Griffiths - Learning and Intervention Coordinator

Finally, I am delighted to share our 2020 SACE results with our community. The impressive figures include:

• 100% completion rate
• 70% of the results achieved were at either the A or B grade
• 25% of learners gained an ATAR over 90%
• 100% of those learners who applied to university were successful in securing their first-course preference.

We congratulate all of our 2020 graduates on their achievements and wish them well on the next stage of their journey. We also express thanks to all of the teachers who contributed significantly to the thirteen-year learning journey completed by these outstanding young people.

Andrew Gilsenan-Reed

Covid-19 Updates

While there’s currently no community transmission of COVID-19 in South Australia, it’s important we remain prepared to respond to the fast changing nature of the pandemic.

We will continue to follow the advice from SA Health and Directions set by SAPOL.

QR Codes

From Wednesday 3rd February all adults entering our school must check-in by scanning a QR code or by completing a paper recording log. QR codes will be available at a number of our entrance sites from Wednesday. The paper recording system is only available at the Front Office.

Please note the Covid Safe Check-in is purely for SA Health contact tracing purposes only and doesn’t replace your normal visitor sign-in process. All guest must continue to sign in at the front office on arrival.

Requirements that remain in place

• It’s important that students and staff stay home if they are unwell.
• Adults, including parents must continue to physical distance wherever possible, including at school pick up and drop off. Please do not enter the classrooms & foyers at these times unless you have arranged to meet with your child’s teacher beforehand.

Governing Council

Have you thought of becoming a member of our School’s Governing Council?

Quorn Area School’s Governing Council is responsible for the governance of all decisions based on the future directions of the site.

The foundation of Quorn Area School’s governance is that of the local community - parents, teachers, Principal and member of the local community best equipped to determine the needs of their children and therefore the policies and strategic direction of the school. Jointly the council monitor and report progress to continually enhance the performance of the school and the achievements of its students.

A governing council meets regularly to talk about the direction for the site. The timing of meetings can be different for each site, but it’s usually twice a term.

In your role on a governing council, you work with the site leader to:

• involve the local community
• develop and approve local policies
• set the broad direction and vision of the site
• monitor and review the site improvement plan
• be the employing authority of some services, including OSHC and canteen.

Site leaders work with governing councils to:

• give educational leadership
• carry out the site’s policies
• carry out the site improvement plan.

The date of our AGM will be published shortly and we look forward to your attendance.

Swimming Carnival

Friday 5th February, 2021

We are looking forward to the annual QAS Swimming Carnival and will continue to use the same event and recording system this year.

All students are encouraged to swim in events in order to maximise student participation.

Yarrah House Captains – Jayde Finlay & Emily Eckert, Vice Captains – Austin Clancy & Kathleen Medlam.
Kanyaka House Captains – Maya Omonte-Kramer & Ethan Baker, Vice Captains – Lachlan Finlay and Dayne Hancock

House Keeping

Junior Primary Carnival (F-2)

This year the Junior Primary Carnival will commence at 9:00 am and continue through until approximately 12:30pm (lunchtime). This year the JP students will walk back to school with their teachers for some down time and return at the conclusion of the carnival for the relay and raft races. There will be some Year 2 students who have chosen to participate in the main carnival, and they will be supervised at the pool accordingly.

• A JP program will be sent home in a separate letter today.

We ask that the JP students meet in their usual base classes at 8:45am for an attendance check and sunscreen application. They will then move over to the pool to begin their Carnival at approximately 9am.

Main Carnival (3-12)

The main Carnival will commence at approximately 10am. ALL students are required to be at school at 8:45am (as usual) and will meet in their corresponding teams (Yrs 3-12). In this time the Houses will complete an attendance check and complete their final touches on their rafts. All students will leave the school and walk over to the pool at 9:20am in their teams to support and encourage the JP swimmers in their events.

*All students in Years F-12 will be dismissed from the pool at 3:05pm*

The House Captains and Vice Captains will be very busy working with their teams to prepare decorations, team war cry, mascots and designing and creating their raft for the challenge throughout break times both last week and this week. I would like to congratulate the House Captains and Vice Captains for their initiative in organising these events for their teams, it wouldn’t happen without them.

A warm welcome to Hawker Area School who will be joining us for the Swimming Carnival.

WE ARE LOOKING FOR ANY HELPERS TO ASSIST WITH THE SETTING UP OF SHADES, TABLES, CHAIRS, LANE ROPES, and STARTING BLOCKS ETC. FROM 8AM AT THE POOL ON FRIDAY. WE WILL ALSO REQUIRE VOLUNTEERS TO ASSIST WITH TIMING OF EVENTS ON THE DAY

PLEASE SEE SARAH BURY IF YOU CAN VOLUNTEER.

Schedule for the Day

Canteen and Lunch Orders

The pool canteen will be operating on Friday and I have included the lunch menu below. We ask that students fill out their lunch order (complete with correct change) and return to the front office NO LATER than 3:10pm on Thursday the 4th of February. Order forms will be distributed in classes today OR you can pick one up from the Front Office.

We encourage parents and community members to order their lunch in the canteen by 10:30am on the day.

Lunch orders will be placed in year level boxes in the hope for a smoother distribution.

Other items including ice creams, lollies and chips will also be available on Friday.

There will also be a sausage sizzle available for purchase on the day - $2 for sausage in bread

Advance Notice – MNSEC Swimming Carnival, Tuesday 16th of February, 2021

The MNSEC Swimming Carnival will be held in Booleroo this year and will be a twilight carnival. Swimmers in Years 6-12 will be considered to represent QAS based on their results in our Swimming Carnival. Selection letters and consent forms will be sent home in in due course.

Term Time Swimming

As part of the Health and PE curriculum, students in years F-5 have been busy participating in our Term Time Swimming program. Each class will participate in 4 x 45-minute sessions from Monday -Thursday with Tiarna Rigden and Tayla Finlay (Qualified Instructors). The Department for Education Water Safety Program provides a water safety learning pathway to engage, challenge and support students.

Below are some pictures of the some of the students involved.

Sarah Bury
Primary School & Engagement Coordinator

Primary Report

Welcome to what is shaping up to be a very busy first term in 2021. I am excited to be working in the Primary section of the school this year and look forward to building on the outstanding work of the teachers alongside Monique’s quality support and leadership over the years. Please feel free to contact me at any stage to discuss your child’s learning journey here at QAS.

The Primary learners have hit the ground running in 2021, with some amazing learning happening across all curriculum areas. It has been fantastic to see the seamless transition of our literacy block continue into 2021 as well as all the educational programs which are streamlined across the primary sector of the school. We are pleased to see our current Year 7 learners transition over in to the Secondary school where they are continuing to adapt to the changes and build on their abilities and skills.

Our Foundation learners have settled in nicely to school life and are an enthusiastic bunch. We look forward to watching them grow and develop their learner dispositions throughout the year.

‘From little things – Big things grow!’

Welcome to our new Foundation students

This week has seen our F-5 students participate in Term Time swimming lessons. The swimming program provides an efficient and cost-effective service to schools to help students develop a range of knowledge, skills, understanding and attitudes about:

• water confidence
• survival in the water
• swimming technique
• rescue of others
• water safety
• endurance and fitness

Tiarna Rigden is a qualified swimming instructor and Tayla Finlay is a qualified swimming instructors’ assistant and are both employed through the Department for Education. They have been facilitating a quality program this week and I would like to thank them for their work and supporting our school with the swimming program, with the aim of this continuing in the coming years.

Primary Family Information Session

Following the successful sessions last year, we will again be holding a Primary Information Evening.

Thursday 11th February 6.30pm-7.30pm, Creche Provided – Meet in Primary Foyer

Primary School (Foundation -Year 6) – Meet the teachers

Daymap Connect – a guide to accessing reports, attendance and achievement data
The Literacy Journey – RWI, Language and Literacy Program, Expectations at home, Scholastic Pro, Big Write
The Numeracy Journey – NUMICON
MAPPEN – Cross Curriculum

We look forward to seeing as many families as possible.

Primary Assemblies

Below is the schedule for our Primary Assemblies for 2021. We look forward to sharing all of the wonderful learning that is happening in various classes. All dates have also been added to the Schoolzine Calender for your reference.

Sarah Bury
Primary School & Engagement Coordinator

Subject Report

Library

Premiers Reading Challenge is back in 2021

Premier's Reading Challenge (PRC) is a literacy engagement program that was introduced by the Premier in 2004 to:

• Raises the profile of reading, libraries and literacy in schools
• Gives students a focus for their reading
• Encourages students to read more books and enjoy reading more - the more you read the better you get at it!
• Encourages boys to participate by being ‘challenged’
• Offers incentives for reluctant readers
• Builds self-esteem and pride, school unity, and a sense of achievement
• Increases the involvement of parents in their child’s reading
• Increases library borrowing
• Contributes to increased literacy levels.

How can you find out about the Challenge?

All information about the Premier’s Reading Challenge can be found at the link below:

Direct links to digital collection arranged by Year Level

ONLINE PRC COLLECTION FOR RECEPTION TO YEAR 2:

ONLINE PRC COLLECTION FOR YEAR 3 TO 5

ONLINE PRC COLLECTION FOR YEAR 6 TO 9

ONLINE PRC COLLECTION FOR YEAR 10 TO 12:

Parents and Friends

We warmly welcome parents & friends to join our committee and/or to join with us in supporting our school. We recognise that every individual brings different ideas and talents and we also know that time is precious. We value parent involvement more than just being on every fundraiser.

We look forward to your support. We also acknowledge the generosity of many contributors to the success of our fundraising and activities over the past year and thank the school community for its ongoing support.

If you would like more information about the P&F please contact Renate Hackett on 0407 478 774.

Sustainability in our School

We continue to stock the 4myearth wraps and sandwich pockets which you can purchase through the front office. Using them in your lunchbox is a great way to keep our school waste free. Come in and have a look at the different designs we have for the following products:

Other School News

School Timetable

Please see below our 2021 timetable of all lesson and break times. A reminder that school finishes at 2.15pm on Mondays and 3.05pm on the remaining days.

School Photos

School Photos – Thursday 11th March

Schoolzine

If you haven’t already done so, please download the Schoolzine App to keep up to date with news and calendar events at Quorn Area School. The App is free to download from Google Play and the App Store from any of your electronic devices.

Toastie Tuesday

Toastie Tuesday returned today. Our canteen offers students the opportunity to purchase a toasted sandwich or a cup of hot noodles each Tuesday. Order forms are in classrooms for students to use. Ice blocks and hot chocolates are also available to purchase. Funds raised are used to improve student facilities within the school. We look forward to your continued support.

Sports Shirts

QAS Sports Shirts are available to purchase from the Finance Office. Shirts are $30 each and are available in a range of sizes.