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It has been an incredibly busy term as we have moved through hybrid learning programs, a mix of face to face and online teaching and learning through to the present situation where most of our students are now regularly attending. Things have settled down now and I thank our staff for their efforts over the term to keep the school running in difficult circumstances at times. Both teachers and SSOs have worked really hard in our classes to support our students.
In this Newsletter we can find our reviews of the learning activities that have occurred in our classes this term. Enjoy the read and the pictures.
It is a big second term coming up with a variety of school events including professional learning opportunities for our staff:
- Term 2 starts on Monday May 2nd.
- Two Pupil Free Days on Thursday and Friday May 6th and 7th, focusing on Read Write Inc and primary and secondary literacy.
- Student Parent Teacher Meetings – Monday and Tuesday May 9th and 10th.
- NAPLAN tests over the two weeks of Tuesday May 10th to Friday May 20th. Most of the tests will be in the first week of testing.
- Hotshots Tennis in Port Augusta on Thursday May 26th (Year 3-4 students) and Friday May 27th (Year 5-6 students).
- Whole School Closure Day on Monday May 30th after the Hawker Cup.
- Bikes Palya week at Hawker from Monday June 20th to Friday June 24th.
- NAIDOC day at Wilpena Pound on Tuesday July 5th.
- Last day of term Friday July 8th
On the Thursday and Friday of week one, our teaching and ancillary staff will be involved in two days of professional learning with the Read Write Inc program. Hawker Area School will host the professional learning days, which will be attended by staff from Leigh Creek Area School, Marree Aboriginal School and Woomera Area School. Hawker has joined with these schools as part of a common learning program which will allow us to train together and also take part in professional and collaborative discussions on the common issues that small schools in this region face with their Read Write Inc programs.
Student Parent Teacher conferences will be held on Monday and Tuesday of Week 2 in term two. Bookings for this will be available via Schoolzine. If meetings can’t be arranged on these days please contact the school so an alternative time can be arranged. These meetings are in lieu of our start of the year conferences which were cancelled due to the COVID restrictions.
NAPLAN testing will be held over weeks two and three of term two for our Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students in an online format with the exception of our Year 3 students who will complete their NAPLAN Writing test on paper. With everything going to plan all tests should be completed in the first week with only catch up tests in week 3 of the term.
Bikes Palya will be run over the week of June 20th to June 24th. Bikes Palya is Bicycle SA’s remote bicycle education programme for isolated communities and Aboriginal youth. Over the week some features of the program will include an introductory session with helmet and bike checks, a skill assessment of turning and moving safely on the road, bicycle maintenance activities (chain, cranks, fixing punctures, brake adjustments), a program of healthy lunches, designing, planning and construction of bike jumps, a road rules program, riding activities on a road course and a licence qualification exercise at the end. Activities will be delivered to our individual classes at the Foundation to Year 2, Year 3 – 6 and Year 7 – 11 levels. It should be a fun week of learning for our students.
As always if parents have any questions I can be contacted at the school on 86484003 or by my email at daren.oneill253@schools.sa.edu.au . Have a great holidays!
Mr Daren O'Neill
Principal
End of term 1 and I’d like to welcome Kira Bishop to the class, who is a year 2 student. The Junior Primary class is yet to have a day of full attendance with the illnesses going around.
For English, we have been doing the Read, Write Inc program, phonological awareness and hand writing daily. We practiced oral language in the form of sharing, class discussions and discussions in pairs. For writing, the older students have been focusing on using verbs and adjectives to describe a scene, a tree and some animals. Our younger students are working on the recount of the weekend and writing simple sentences. In Math this term, we have been doing a lot of subitizing which is knowledge of amounts without counting and looking for the patterns in number groups. We also learnt about measurements, patterns and 2 D shapes. In Art, we have been doing some print making using some different techniques and exploring painting techniques. The students also have been exploring drawing techniques and love to draw freestyle when we have little breaks.
Ms Penolope McCulloch
Foundation - Yr 2 Teacher
Term one started off shaky and unpredictable, but it didn't take long for us all to settle into a routine once things calmed down. These last 11 weeks have been a wonderful experience getting to know all the students and staff at Hawker Area School. In Home Economics, we have been busy working in the garden and getting ready to plant new winter vegetables. We have also spent time in the kitchen making chocolate chip cookies, potato and rosemary pizza and damper.
In Maths the 3/4s have been looking at time and they had fun making their own sundial.
In Science, the Year 5/6's have been looking at electricity and made their own circuit to test what made good electrical insulators and conductors.
In the F-2 Design and Technology, we have designed a lunchbox to hold a healthy lunch and built it out of recycled materials and have just recently designed pet shelters and made them out of natural materials.
It has been a fun term and I look forward to reconnecting with everyone in term 2.
Miss Victoria Barratt
Year 3-6 Teacher
Welcome to the end of term one! It’s been yet another term full of disruptions and challenges but I think we’ve come through it unscathed, and maybe even learned something!
English Year 5/6
We have been spending some time looking at the poetry of A.B. (Banjo) Paterson in recent weeks. The kids enjoyed seeing the dramatization of The Man From Snowy River, and we’ve had a close look at the history and story behind Waltzing Matilda.
Students have also been working through a list of spelling words that have been challenging for some, but improvements have been made across the whole class which is great to see.
In grammar lessons we’ve looked at past, present and future tense, verbs, adverbs, nouns and adjectives. These will all be revisited during the year as it’s something that is easily forgotten if not practiced regularly…even for teachers…
HASS Year 5/6
After completing a unit of history on Mongolia and in particular Genghis Khan, we have now moved on to geography. At present we are working through a brief overview of all the countries in Asia where we have looked at flora, fauna, geographical aspects, cities and populations. Students will have the opportunity next term to focus on one particular country they find interesting.
English Year 7-10
The senior English class has been working in separate groups this term in order to meet the curriculum for all year levels. This has been a challenge at times, but all students have increased their levels of independence and are progressing well. They have all been working on the different structures needed for essays and reports, and have all completed some great work. For the end of term, the whole group is working together on one topic (Reading and analyzing non-fiction texts), but their in-class and assessment tasks are differentiated according to their year level. This means we are all able to enjoy class discussion on the topic, but the tasks required to consolidate understanding are at the correct level for each student.
HASS Year 7-10
As with English, the class has been working on different topics this term according to their year level. The year 7/8’s have completed a unit on the ancient past, finishing with Ancient Egypt. The year 9/10’s worked on the Industrial Revolution before moving on to WW1. To finish the term, we will all begin to look at Economics and Business, with a bit of career education thrown in. The subject matter is similar for all students, but the assessment tasks will vary depending on year levels.
SACE English
Our SACE students are progressing well after a disrupted start to the term. All have completed their first assessment task, which was an analysis of 800 words. The second assessment task is also an analysis and comparative, and will be completed early in term two, unless you-know-what gets in the way again.
Mrs Sharon Bates
Year 7-12 Teacher / HPE Coordinator
Science
In Science, Years 7-10 students have been learning about Biological Science. They have learnt about the level of organization. Through scientific investigations, students gained a better understanding about DNA and genes this term. One of the experiments we have conducted this term was DNA extraction. With baking soda and detergent, students extracted DNA from split peas successfully. By observing the DNA up-close, we could see the strand-like structures floating in the solution.
DNA Extraction
Maths
In Maths, Years 5-6 have been learning about fractions and number patterns. We have learned to convert fractions to numbers and percentages. We have been utilizing Microsoft Class Notebook in the lessons. Each student is getting more individualized support by working in their private notebook and receiving feedback from the teacher.
Treasure Hunt
Students applied their knowledge to solve problems in a treasure hunt. They had to solve the question on each task card and to locate the next card. The first student who completed the game was the winner. The treasure hunt took place in the playground and the students were decoding the questions on the cards.
Miss Sharon Lam
Mathematics / Science Teacher
LIBRARY BLOG - READ HERE
The library is open at lunchtime every day enabling students to read, borrow books and DVDs, draw, chat, complete a jigsaw or play board games. On Wednesdays we have a Lego Makerspace and on Fridays the opportunity is there to further develop our artistic skills.
HASS - Humanities and Social Sciences
Foundation to Year 2
We’ve been learning about our wonderful world and have started learning about working with Blogs. We will soon learn how to post things we have written and drawn on the blog.
What I discovered in HASS is that this is a traditional house. It’s called a home on stilts. I like this home because it protects me. I also like that it is traditional and it’s in Cambodia. By Ada In HASS this term, I have learned about houses around the world. I like the Cambodian stilt home. The reason I like it is because it’s on stilts and will make dangerous animals stay away from you.
The 2nd thing I like is that it will keep you safe from floods. Last, but not least, the 3rd reason I like it is because you can keep things under it. By Sammy
In HASS this term, I discovered that houses are different in different parts of the world. By Rowan
Year 3-4
Early in Term 1, we looked at the states and territories of Australia their emblems.
In HASS, I have been learning about Australian emblems. Did you know that Australian states and territories have emblems of birds, flowers and other animals? One thing I discovered was the koala, the brolga and the Cooktown Orchid are the emblems of Queensland. By George
In HASS, I have been learning about space and that the Earth is in the Solar System. Something I didn’t know before is that the Solar System is a part of Orion’s Arm. Did you know that the Solar System is in the Solar Neighbourhood, which is also part of Orion’s Arm? By Archie
A couple of weeks ago, we started looking at Australia’s neighbours. We are very fortunate that Sharon Lam and Howard Yam are working at our school this year. As they come from Hong Kong, I asked them to share with the students about life in Hong Kong. The students were very engaged with the presentation by Sharon and asked lots of interesting questions. They especially liked eating the spring rolls that Howard made and making a 3D cut out of a Chinese character (the word for spring).
In HASS, I have been learning about Miss Sharon and when she lived in Hong Kong. The schools are big, and you do homework in school. Yesterday, we had spring rolls. They were so yummy. Miss Sharon’s husband made them. He makes really good food. By NicoleIn HASS on Wednesday, I had 2 spring rolls that people in Hong Kong have, especially at New Year. Miss Sharon is from Hong Kong and told us all about her home country. Students at school have lots of homework. Hong Kong is built around Victoria Harbour. By Eli
Our class has a travel bear. I’ve called him Bungles and he is learning about Hong Kong. Did you know that Miss Sharon is from Hong Kong? At Chinese New Year, children receive a red envelope with money in it. They visit relatives, have snacks and meals at festivals. They celebrate both Eastern and Western festivals in Hong Kong. By Bayley
The Year 3-4 students are also learning how to work with blogs and have begun developing their own blog. Once we get these up and running, I will let parents know how to access the blogs where you will be able to view and comment on the students’ posts.
Mrs Ailsa Green Teacher Librarian and Ms Rosie Luckraft CLA
The SWAN Team
Over in the Akurra Room we have continued to work on writing our name, letter recognition and counting. We have been having lots of fun with science, art, music and play based learning, which is being used to shape our learning in a fun way. We have had the edition of some awesome interactive play blocks. We will finish our exploration on the book “I went walking” and move on to “We are going on a Bear Hunt” next term. Circle time is a shared group experience where we practice what we are learning.
The Foundation students have been joining us every morning for Read Write Inc. We join the F-2 class for Science, Design and Technology, Adnyamathanha, and Art. They have started Performing Arts with us on a Monday. The students have been working hard and creating some awesome work (see below).
Always a big shout out to the team for the amazing work with the SWAN students and the way we are working together to create awesome learning experiences.
Kim Adele
SWAN Teacher
Click on link to download program -
NOTICEBOARD