2 March 2021

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

On Thursday, we will be holding our Governing Council AGM. Despite the challenges of COVID-19, our improvement journey has continued with modified measures and outcomes, and we look forward to sharing our story. This event allows us to celebrate our successes and set an agenda for the year ahead as we seek to secure quality learning outcomes for all learners. We will present the 2020 Annual Report and answer questions before it is upload onto our website. In addition to the Annual Report, we will also present the updated QAS Improvement Plan 2019-2021, which outlines our current goals, progress towards the goals, and our targets for 2021. I want to encourage all members of our community to attend the meeting and consider nominating for the various governing council positions available for 2021. The council meets twice per term, and they work with the principal to help set and monitor the school's direction.

Despite the easing of COVID-19 restrictions across the country, we continue to prepare for the possibility of closure at short notice. We are confident that our staff are well-positioned to deal with any potential disruption to learning. However, we would like to remind all caregivers of the importance of ensuring that phone numbers and emails are kept up to date. We would also like to remind caregivers that Schoolzine is the platform by which we share important information with our community. We ask that you ensure you have the Schoolzine app and switch on notifications. Please be assured that we will not bombard you with unnecessary messages.

Andrew Gilsenan-Reed

General School Notices

Early Dismissal

Please note the times for early dismissal later this term:

• Thursday 1 April - Easter weekend, 2.05pm
• Friday 9 April - End of Term 1, 2.05pm

Students must have their consent forms returned to allow them to be dismissed at this earlier time.

Student Free/School Closure Days 2021

Before School - Yard Supervision

A reminder to families; staff supervision does not begin in the school yard until 8.30am each morning. We ask for your support with this by not bringing your children to school before this time.

Secondary Report

Secondary School Information Night

On Wednesday 17th February we hosted the Secondary School Information Night. Thank you to all the families that attended, it was great to be able to meet with you and provide you with information relevant to your child’s secondary education. I have attached the presentation I referred to throughout the evening, so please have another read through and if there are any questions please contact me.

Thank you to the parents who continue to provide feedback and ideas about how we can improve their child's engagement with the school. We welcome your input and are all happy to continue supporting your child’s learning by being available for ongoing consultations.

As always if you have any questions please make contact either by phoning the school or sending me an email to matt.griffiths310@schools.sa.edu.au

MNSEC/SSSA Swimming

A small but committed group of Quorn Area School students travelled to Booleroo Centre On Tuesday 16th February to compete in the annual MNSEC Swimming Carnival. It was great to see our students fulfil their successful selection and positively represent our school and community.

We weren’t as successful as we have been in previous years but I want congratulate all of our students that participated in this carnival, your efforts do not go unnoticed.

Based on individual performances at the MNSEC carnival Joel, Jayde, Mackenzie and George were all selected in the combined MNSEC team to participate in the SSSA Swimming Championships in Adelaide yesterday. All swimmers were competitive, Joel placed second in the Under 15 boys 50 meter freestyle. The MNSEC team finished 7th overall with Renmark High School taking out the top spot.

Matt Griffiths
Secondary School Coordinator

Primary Report

Year 1/2 Class with Miss Neu

Numeracy

In Numeracy, we have been looking at the structure of numbers and patterns. The year 1 learners worked on making circular repeating patterns. It was a little tricky at first as we had to move things around to make the pattern fit.

The Year 2 learners have been working on modelling and renaming numbers to 1000. We looked at breaking numbers down into how many ones, tens and hundreds can you make in the number.

We have also looked at the importance of having a mathematical mindset and found out that:

• Struggle is important and good for us.
• Making mistakes helps our brain to grow.
• 5 strategies to help us solve problems are: draw it, work as a team to share ideas, experiment, use resources around you and start with a smaller case.

We have been working hard to implement these in our Numeracy block.

Investigation Time

On Friday afternoons, the 1/2 class and Foundation class combine to participate in Investigation time. Through this exploration, learners will be developing their social skills as they interact in a positive manner to share and collaborate while engaging in activities across the curriculum.

At the end of the lesson, learners will engage in reflection time. Focus children will have a conversation with the teacher (which models social skills). The reporter and Photographer will present to the class (developing oral presentation skills).

So far this term we have had: Lego Challenges, building model dream houses, boggle, potion making, charades, and Science experiments involving milk, just to name a few.

Kate Neu
Yr 1/2 Class Teacher

School Prefects

Miscellaneous Reports

Pastoral Care

Census Employment Opportunities

Adecco Recruitment has partnered with the Australian Bureau of Statistics to recruit 38,000 temporary employees in areas across the country. These employees will play an important role in helping people to lodge their Census forms for the Australian National Census 2021.

Quorn Netball Club

Register your interest to play netball with the Quorn Netball Club in 2021 by clicking onto the link below. Junior training starts Wednesday 17th March, Seniors (15+) start a week earlier on Wednesday 10th March. If you have any questions please email quornnetballclub@hotmail.com