28 March 2023

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

I presented the 2022 Annual Report to the community on Thursday, 16 March, at our Governing Council AGM. The report highlights our achievements and reflections on the year and is now available on our website. I thank those who attended the meeting, shared their observations and thoughts, and volunteered their services to the Governing Council in 2023. We will be including a list of Governing Council members in our future newsletters and adding details to our website. This year the Governing Council will focus on further building upgrades, outdoor play areas, policy updates, and connecting our young learners with the broader community.

Our new mobile phone policy will begin from term two this year. Like all schools across South Australia, we will make our school a mobile phone-free space to improve learning and engagement. We are using a system called Yondr to achieve this goal. Yondr is currently used globally in over 2000 schools and 150 schools throughout Australia and at concerts, comedy shows, weddings and special events. Teachers will work with secondary learners over the coming weeks to ensure all learners understand the processes for collection at the start of the day and distribution of the devices at the end of the day. We will upload the new mobile phone policy to our website in the last week of this term.

Finally, term one reports will be available to download on Tuesday, 11 April, with hard copies sent home on the same day. These ‘long’ reports will provide comments and detailed information on your child’s progress, their performance based on national standards, and 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. If you have any concerns about the report, please do not hesitate to contact the teacher directly or the secondary/primary coordinator to discuss the issue.

Andrew Gilsenan-Reed

Lunch Orders

We want to thank Quorn Takeaway for providing a lunch service to our students for the past 18 months. Unfortunately, their service will cease at the end of Term 1.

We are currently seeking alternative options to provide lunch service to the students here at Quorn Area School; we will keep you updated on any developments in the coming weeks.

Secondary Report

Traffic Lights

The ‘Traffic Light’ system appears to be proving successful this term. The secondary learners are being kept accountable for work submissions. During weeks 4 and 8 of each term, secondary teachers update the traffic lights for learners to see how they are tracking with their subjects visibly. Learners are often seen analysing their traffic lights and finding time to see their teachers to follow up on missing work. This method is not about academic achievement but rather work submission.

Term One Reports

Written reports will be distributed at the end of term one and indicate how your child is tracking for each curriculum area. The reports will provide feedback on the achievement standards and areas for improvement to achieve further. We encourage you to read the comments and discuss your child’s report with them and their goals.

The end-of-semester report (term 2) will provide the overall grade for all Stage One subjects. Stage Two grades are finalised once the moderation process is completed at the end of the year. The current grades distributed are just a guide on how they are tracked.

Aquatics

In week 6 of this term, the Year 6-12 learners were lucky enough to participate in aquatics sessions at the Port Augusta Aquatic Centre. We were so fortunate with the weather, and the students had a fantastic time developing their skills. The 10-12’s undertook two days of sailing, where they all achieved a passing grade. Skills included getting away from shore, reaching, tacking, safety requirements, initiative, and collaboration. The 6-9’s participated in canoeing, kayaking, windsurfing and sailing. I am so proud of all the learners, as they were always listening to the instructors, answering questions and encouraging each other. They were a pleasure to take on the excursion, and I congratulate them on their perseverance and achievements. Well done to all of those who attended!

MNSEC Athletics

We took a team of 18 students to the MNSEC Athletics Carnival held in Jamestown last Thursday. I congratulate the following students for their eagerness to represent their school and their efforts towards their chosen events. There were some excellent individual results as well as some personal bests recorded on the day. For a small school, these students represented us proudly and should also be very proud of themselves.

Thanks to the parents who assisted with transport and to Tricia and Mark, who spent the day facilitating the long jump event for QAS.

Quorn Area School MNSEC Athletes

MNSEC ATHLETICS OVERALL RESULTS

Booleroo Centre DS Total Points: 763.5
Gladstone HS Total Points: 655.5
Orroroo AS Total Points: 646.5
Jamestown CS Total Points: 486.5
Quorn AS Total Points: 258.5
Peterborough HS Total Points: 222.5

SSSA Athletics

Seven students were selected to represent the MNSEC team at the SSSA Athletics Carnival, held at the Mile End Athletics Stadium, next Tuesday, the 4th of April. Students were selected based on their results from Jamestown.

Congratulations to the following students:

ELLA HOLTHAM – 14 and under Long Jump, Triple Jump, 400m, 200m, 800m,
MIA CRISP – 16 and under Triple Jump, 400m
WILLIAM BENNETT – Open 110m Hurdles, Long Jump and Shot Put
JOEL FINLAY – 16 and under Javelin and Long Jump
TYRA LANDER – 16 and under Discus
NOAH KRUGER – 13 and under 4 x 100 relay
SAM FINLAY – 13 and under Long Jump

We wish you all the very best with your events next Tuesday!

Congratulations – Lachlan Holtham

On behalf of the Quorn Area School Community, we would like to acknowledge and congratulate one of our senior secondary learners who was chosen to represent South Australia in the AUSTRALIAN CLAY TARGET ASSOCIATION – NATIONAL COMPETITION. Lachie was selected after his impressive performance in the trials held in Adelaide in February. He was one of only three competitors out of fourteen chosen to represent South Australia. Lachie travelled to Wagga in NSW last week, where he had some very successful results. Great work, Lachie!

SARAH BURY
Secondary Coordinator

Primary Report

News from Miss Thomas’s Class

P.E.

In the 2/3 class over the last few weeks, we have been learning the various skills to help us with attacking and defending. We have practised dribbling and passing accurately as well as shooting. In teams of five, we played a few games of basketball and put our skills into practice.

HASS

In our HASS unit this term, the 1/2/3 class have been learning about Places and Spaces. In particular, our community and what it has to offer. So far, we have built up our knowledge of which businesses are already in Quorn, discussed what business we would like to have in Quorn and designed our precincts. This week, we will start to build our precinct using our designs. Next week, we will share our class community with some of the older students.

Numeracy

In Numeracy this term, we have looked at a range of concepts. We have learned about place value, comparing numbers and most recently, we are learning about shape. We started the topic by learning about the various lines and angles we use. We finished last week with building our skeleton 3D shapes.

Hannah Thomas
Classroom Teacher

Miscellaneous Items

Easter Raffle

Hot Dog Day

Running Club

White Card Training

BreastScreen SA

Did you know that women aged 50 to 74 can have FREE breast cancer screening? Women aged 40-49 and 75 years or older can also attend for a free breast screen, but are encouraged to speak with their doctor when deciding if a breast screen is right for them.

BreastScreen SA’s Mobile Screening Unit will be located at the
Central Oval Community Sporting Hub, 10 Augusta Terrace (enter through Gate 1)
from late March to early June 2023.
Appointments are free and can take as little as 10 minutes.
Call BreastScreen SA on 132050 to book or visit www.breastscreen.sa.gov.au to find out more.