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Well here we are at the end of Term 4, the year seems like it has been one big rush on reflection as we have experienced the ramifications of COVID-19, especially in terms 2 and 3 when our staff and student numbers at school were impacted. This term however has been an extremely busy one, as we have moved forward to the end of the year. Enjoy the articles by our teaching staff summarising their terms and the experiences of their classes.
It seems like we have had a jam-packed term full of a variety of events:
- In Week 2 of the term, we had two camps for all our students. Our Foundation to Year 4 students travelled to Rawnsley Park and Wilpena for their camp. In the same week our Year 5 to 11 students travelled to Thuruna, with Sharon Bates, Amanda Hilder and Esther Eager, enjoying a gourmet meal on the Thursday night.
- Over Weeks 3 to 7 our latest enrolments from the Kindy experienced their transition program, visiting the Foundation to Year 2 class and steadily building up their experience into a full day of class time with Penny McCulloch and other teachers and support staff.
- SAPSASA Cricket – in early November, Angus, Harry and Lachlan, with Will as a reserve travelled to Adelaide as part of the Regional SAPSASA Cricket team which won Division 4, being undefeated all week.
- On November 11th our school attended the Hawker War Memorial for the Remembrance Day Ceremony, which was coordinated and presented by our Year 5 – 11 students, under the direction of their teacher Sharon Bates.
- On November 14th and 15th the school had two Pupil Free Days where staff were able to engage in planning for 2023 and get inserviced in the latest version of the Australian Curriculum. The day provided a great opportunity for the school to prepare for 2023.
- On November 22nd and 23rd, we ran our Sporting Schools Golf Program for students in all classes who received direction on various levels on learning to play the game through to how to get even better! Our students got a lot out of the experience, learning the finer points of a challenging sport.
- On Monday November 28th, Hawker hosted an event for the International Day for People with a Disability, organised by Mission Australia, and supported by the Flinders Ranges Council and Interact into Work Australia. Many thanks to Rebecca Neilson from Mission Australia who helped coordinate the event, and Eric Brown, Ian Carpenter and Mopsy Daniels who provided expert barbecue skills to feed the crowd. The event was well attended by our community and some important contacts to support were made for people living in Hawker.
- Our Super 8s Cricketers travelled to Stirling North on December 2nd, taking on students from the Port Augusta region, in a combined Hawker / Quorn team. The team performed impressively, with all players experiencing the opportunity to open the batting, wicket keep and share the leadership of the team. An undefeated performance saw the players take away the title in style. Thanks to Amanda Hilder who took on the responsibility of being the teacher for the day, and also to Allen McInnis for umpiring and Sharon McInnis who scored for the team.
- Also last Friday our SRC ran a hugely successful car wash fundraiser. In warm conditions the students stayed hydrated to wash cars of various shapes, a mini bus and the school bus, raising $630 on the day. Well done to SRC teacher Kim Adele on her efforts, and Stef Teague and Mopsy Daniels for their support and coordination of the students on the day.
So that’s a busy term! Now for the final phase, with our Presentation Night happening on Tuesday December 13th. The theme will be ‘Cultures Around the World’, with each class performing a piece reflecting on a particular culture. The stage has been recently improved with new lights installed so the night will have added spectacle. On the last day of term and the year we will have our Splash Day at the pool, where students will have the chance to participate in some games and just relax in the lead up to the end of the year. After this students will come back to the school for a short lunch and final assembly with awards to give out before going home for Christmas.
A big thankyou to all our staff for their efforts this term. We are farewelling our SWAN teacher Kim Adele, along with Michael Meslin. We are hopeful that Malcolm Thompson, who has had a rough trot this year will be able to return to our staff next year. I want to take this opportunity to thank our staff, students, parents and general community for their support this term, and indeed this year. Have a Merry Christmas and we look forward to seeing all our students and parents in the new year.
Mr Daren O'Neill
Principal
What a great time we had with the Kindergarten kids coming over for their transition time to school. We look forward to seeing you here next year in our class.
Then there are our grade two’s Ada, Alice, Rachelle and Sammy, that are moving up to year three. We will miss them greatly.
Last week students had a chance to try their golf skills with a golf workshop and they enjoyed extending the practice to lunch times.
A big thank you to Sharon Bates for putting in the time to practice singing carols with the younger kids to sing together at the Sport Centre on Carols Night.
Last Monday, we celebrated International Day for People with a Disability with a team that came up to spread awareness of resources and information of NDIS. The students and community enjoyed activities such as kite flying, drumming, face painting, silent disco, art activities and a free sausage sizzle.
For the last part of this term, the classroom is involved in plenty of preparation for the end of year performance. The students have been practicing singing 3 different songs for the event and preparing lots of props and costume items.
Ms Penolope McCulloch
Foundation - Yr 2 Teacher
Here we are, at the end of another year and what a fantastic year it has been!!
I have had a wonderful time getting to know the students in my class and watching them grow. I look forward to continuing their educational journey with them in 2023.
This term has been busy. In Maths we have covered 2D and 3D shapes, financial maths and developed our multiplication skills.
In Health, the Year 3/4's have been working on resilience and looking at ways to keep their mind and body healthy.
Science has focused on earth and space, with the Year 3/4's discovering what makes our solar system unique while the Year 5/6's have been looking at natural disasters and how they change and shape the land around us. Next week we will be putting their model volcanoes into action with the help of diet coke and mentos.
During English, the students have been looking at sentence structure and figurative language with some fun results using alliteration, similes and metaphors and personifications. We have also been studying poetry, producing our own Haiku and Kenning poems.
This year has been a wonderful introduction to Hawker Area School and I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I wish you all a very merry Christmas and look forward to seeing you in 2023.
Miss Victoria Barratt
Year 3-6 Teacher
Welcome to the final newsletter of the year! I hope everyone is winding down for holidays and looking forward to spending time with family and friends.
English Year 5/6
During the latter part of the term we have switched our focus from narrative to persuasive texts. Persuasive writing is often the genre that students find the most difficult, which is why we keep practicing! We have also been looking at expanding our vocabulary and looking at the composition of words in an attempt to improve our writing and spelling.
English Year 7-9
The focus for English in term 4 has been writing information reports, finishing with writing a newspaper article. Students learned about the elements required in a news report and then worked on their own. They were able to choose to write about something that has happened in the past, or something that is currently in the news. All students produced interesting and well written reports.
English SACE Stage 1
Moderation has been completed for English Stage 1, with all students’ grades being upgraded, which is a fantastic result. This semester students have written a comparison, comparing the same message for different audiences, analyzed the literary devices used in a cooking show, written an advocacy text for a cause they believe in and written a recount of a profound moment in their lives. All students have met the requirements for one semester of Essential English Stage 1.
HASS Year 5/6
HASS for Years 5 and 6 has had a geography focus this term with students learning about mapping skills, including topographic maps, political maps, longitude and latitude. They have looked closely at the continent of Europe and are able to confidently find and name geographical features of most of the countries.
HASS Year 7-10
For the Year 7-10 class term 4 has been about geography. We have looked at plate tectonics, the causes of earth quakes and the composition of the Earth. In the latter part of the term we switched back to history, looking at Feudal Japan. Students then used the information we learned about Medieval Europe to complete an assessment task comparing a Medieval Knight with a Samurai Warrior.
Art 5-10
During Art lessons we have looked at the work of Tim Burton, and completed some great portraits in his style. We have also been busy working on props for our end of year concert.
Adnamatna 5-10
All students in the 5-10 class have just completed excellent PowerPoint presentations using Adnamatna words for plants and animals in the Flinders Ranges. These presentations were excellent in quality with some beautiful images used.
Mrs Sharon Bates
Year 7-12 Teacher / HPE Coordinator
Year 7 - 10 Science
For Biology this term, we built an Ant Farm. Students caught the ants in the school yard and then put them into a concealed container. By observing the behaviours of ants, students developed a better understanding of how abiotic and biotic factors impact on the ant farm ecosystem.
We also completed a No-Leak Bag competition. Students needed to poke as many sharp pencils in the plastic bags as possible. Our winners were Belle and Paul who put 21 pencils and 14 pencils in the bag, respectively. Well done!
Years 7-10 Mathematics
We continued to learn about statistics and probability this term. Students investigated different types of probabilities and our Years 9-10 students learnt to analyse data with mean, median, interquartile range and range.
Years 5-6 Mathematics
Our Years 5-6 students built a solid foundation for addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. They can now perform four operations confidently. This term, they completed a Mathematics Puzzle – Form a capital letter T using these pieces. Our Year 5 student – Will had successfully solved the puzzle!
Years 3-6 PE
Our students worked on their locomotor movements. They practiced jumping, throwing, catching and balancing skills. They played a range of sports this year and everyone showed an improvement in their fitness level.
Miss Sharon Lam
Mathematics / Science / P.E. Teacher
With the school year finishing on Thursday, December 15, the opening hours of the library change to the holiday times. In the lead up to Christmas, the opening hours will be:
Friday Dec 16-closed; Monday Dec 19-9:00-5:00; Tuesday Dec 20-12:00-5:00; Wednesday Dec 21-8:30-4:30
The library will be closed from Thursday Dec 22 until Monday January 2. It will reopen on Tuesday Jan 3, 2023, at 12:00 p.m.
Christmas Activities in the Library
Summer Holidays in the Library
Books for Bush Kids
In July this year, Rotary International (Regency Park) donated $500 to the school under the banner of Books for Bush Kids. This amount was some of the monies raised through their annual Corolla Capers event this year, where they drove up to Birdsville, via Hawker, Leigh Creek, and Maree. We are very grateful to Rotary International for their kind donation. We recently received these books and the students have been enjoying reading them.
Premier’s Reading Challenge
Further to the information in the last newsletter re the PRC, here are photos of the students who received certificates and medals for their involvement in the Premier’s Reading Challenge 2022.
Certificate for first year of involvement: Karl Braden, Ryan Gill, Logan Hatch and Pip Solly
Bronze Medal: Rowan Bevan, Ollie Du Bois, Leo Fels, Khole Johnson, Noah Merchant, Lily Morgan and Alice Wallis
Silver Medal: Ada Fels, Sammy Haywood, and Rachelle Johnson
Gold Medal: Bayley Hatch, Jim Johnson, Ruby Johnson, and Eli Johnson
Champion Medal: Archie Morgan and Nicole Oakey
Legend Medal: Will Du Bois
Hall of Fame Medal: Lachlan Hilder, Harry McAuley, Angus McInnis and Jimmy Morgan
HASS – Humanities and Social Sciences F-2
Using Book Creator, an app on the iPad, the students have enjoyed recording some of the information they discovered when doing their research about animals that live in different habitats around the world.
Digital Technologies F-2
It has been exciting for the students to feel like computer programmers as they have been designing interactive games/stories using Scratch Jr on the iPad this term. Currently, we are completing out stories about Christmas.
Mrs Ailsa Green Teacher Librarian and Ms Rosie Luckraft CLA
Down in the Akurra Room we have been working on positional language, letters of our name, seasons of the year, counting and cause and effect. We have been working with stations for learning that have play based activities set up for us to learn as we play.
Logan has enjoyed visiting the library each week to update our classroom library. We had a new bike donated and we have been spending time learning to keep our helmet on and ride the bike.
Khloe has been working well and excelling with ordering letters and making her name. She is working with her peers in the F-2 room and joining in the fun learning. Khloe shared her rainbow ribbons with the class during sharing time.
Kim Adele
SWAN / P.E. Teacher
In Design and Technology students have been finishing off their projects started in the middle of the year. Students in year 3 and 4 have been busy working on a stool idea for sitting on when people come to visit. We have investigated existing ideas on the internet, printed pictures and tried to measure how big they would need to be for sitting on. From this we have learnt to measure materials and practiced cutting materials to the correct size before sanding the ends with the disk sander. As an extra we have been looking at using dowel joints to join timber and drilling holes with the battery drill before using screws to hold parts of our stool designs together.
McDonald, Travis
Design and Technology Teacher
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