As has been mentioned parents have two choices now concerning your children. The first is that you can keep your child at school and receive curriculum here, this will be ongoing at Hawker, that children arriving for school will receive their education. The second is that you can choose to isolate your child at home, still receiving curriculum from the school. The school will support parents in their decisions here, it is your choice as to whether your child is at home or at school. The school has worked intensively to make the environment here hygienic and safe, but the final choice on education rests with the parents. However if you choose to isolate your child at home please commit to this, the purpose of isolation is to stay at home and safe, keeping children in a location free from possible exposure to COVID-19. Recently I heard of two accounts of students being away from home, more particularly in locations where they were potentially mixing with others. Kids and adults will need breaks and if this is in socially distanced situations that is fine. Being at home simply will involve being isolated and safe under adult supervision, not outside mixing with others and increasing the possibility of exposure.

The school has been working on an online alternative for students at home which will be made available through Microsoft Teams, a part of all our students Office 365 accounts. The department is also making available Cisco Web Ex, the lesson delivery system used by the Open Access College for their delivery lessons, for all schools to use. Before students leave this term we will be taking them through the basics of how to work in the Teams environment and we will also be providing information to take home to help troubleshoot if issues arise, of course we will also be available to assist in solving these problems too.

The school is also working to make sure that students with access to the internet at home can take home their iPads or laptops for use at home while working from home. Paperwork has been prepared for parents and students to sign, making a commitment to the appropriate and safe use of their devices at home. Whilst devices are at home it will be the students and parents responsibility that they are kept in the same condition that they were loaned out.

Microsoft Teams

Our main platform for online lesson delivery to home will be through Microsoft Teams, a unified communication and collaboration platform that combines communication, video meetings, file storage, and application integration. Students will experience some learning through this platform but for different activities and subjects 'hard copy' activities will also be used. Through this platform the school aims to provide a learning hub where students can communicate with their teachers, see their assignments and other work, attend lessons if they are at home, use a variety of educational apps and get feedback from their teachers. Teams is an online classroom hub, where students can chat with their whole class, in groups with other students, and one-on-one with their teachers. Through this platform it is also possible to make video calls individually or in a lesson. The image below shows some of the key features that are available to students and teachers in Teams.

In their classroom environments, students will be able to access all their lesson materials, including their assignments and resources that go with them. They will be able to chat with their teacher and with each other about their work, providing an important social connection for our students when they are at home. Navigation through the Teams environment to locate subjects and tasks will be straight forward. Teachers will create the classes (Teams) into which students will be invited, when students go into Teams they will be able to see the classes they are part of. Within these Teams students will be able to navigate to locate their work. Students at school will find that their curriculum will also be accessed in the same way, but will also receive their lessons face to face.

Students working from home using Teams will need to be able to use the internet services supplied at home. The use of Teams for lesson activities in general will be comparable to browsing the internet for general learning activities, with the exception of activities that would include video links. Students will be able to access Teams by logging into Learnlink and going to Office 365, or in the case of iPads by clicking on the Teams App which has been installed. All students will need a Learnlink login to access Teams and their lessons. To facilitate online learning for all students the school has also created Learnlink accounts for our Foundation to Year 2 students, which will allow them also to access Teams from home.

End of Term

As has already been announced our school will get four extraordinary Pupil Free Days in week 11, from April 6^th to 9^th in order for staff to prepare for term two. We have been preparing intensively over the last weeks of this term, but the transition to this mode of education, where students can be at home or school is an extensive exercise. More information will be released as the end of term nears to prepare all our students for the term to come. I would like to wish everyone the best for the upcoming holidays and most importantly that you remain safe and healthy, in particular those in our community who are vulnerable in these times.

Mr Daren O’Neill

Principal Hawker Area School

From the strange and mysterious land of the little people…

We spent the first half of term studying under our major theme of Our Senses.  Lots of activities and discussions provoked much learning.

Our second theme was put on hold until term 2 as there were quite a lot of changes in the last half of the term that proved to be very time consuming.  For the last 3 weeks we have continued to work hard without a theme, but with work connected in different way such as activities based on a picture book, around direct speech, scaffolding recount writing to aid more comprehensive texts to be written…and much more.  In one of the included images you can see our speech bubble activity.  Once the children have the idea that only spoken words are in the speech bubbles we can introduce direct speech in the body of texts.  So exciting! 

You can also see an example of the scaffolding I have introduced for our recount writing.  First we have our Big Talk about the weekend, then we put one or two words next to each question word, and finally we get out our writing books and write our recounts.  It is working very well.  One of my students was heard to say, “But I’m writing too much!  Look at all of those words Mrs Hilder.  Oh my goodness!”  They surprised themselves I think. 

You will see an image showing a table sorting ‘Diggers’ into the catagories of Old and New.  This History activity was related to the Design and Technology unit and based on the picture book, Better Buy a Bigger Digger!  I have included a photo of Mr O’Neill’s Vinny Vocab board also just to highlight the ease of using the VCOP Gang across any subject area.

We have covered many areas of Maths this term.  Two of those were analogue time and two dimensional shapes.  You can see the shape monster that we made.  Each child had to choose a shape that they did not know the name of, trace, cut and decorate for display.

I will finish with a learning experience designed to show the students how germs react to good hand washing techniques.  Or course it is technically incorret but a great way of getting the children to remember how important it is to keep germs at bay. 

Water sprinkled with pepper.  Hand soap on finger then dipped into water.

Thanks for all the support you have once again shown your children and staff in our classroom.  Best of luck for the upcoming holidays.  My family and I have many home based plans for this holidays but my favourites are; daily golf skills, bread making and gardening.  I hope you have some great plans too. 

Mrs Amanda Hilder

Foundation – Year 2 Teacher/Literacy Coordinator

This term certainly hasn’t gone the way we had expected, but the Year 3-5 class have still managed to achieve a lot! In English we practiced writing narratives and persuasive texts. A popular topic among the class was ‘homework is unnecessary’ so naturally, they were given the task of convincing each other why it is necessary (HAHA) They took on the challenge and did a great job. Students have also enjoyed meeting the VCOP characters this term and have been able to improve their writing using our VCOP board.

During our HASS lessons earlier this term, students chose an island to research, and then created PowerPoint presentations on their iPad. They then used the nifty mirroring capability on their iPad to project their presentations onto the Interactive whiteboard to present to the class. Some of the islands we learned about included Hawaii, The Maldives, Greenland and Norfolk Island.  

School Sport 

In week 2 we headed down to Quorn to participate in the QAS Swimming Carnival. The fact this didn’t need rescheduling was very exciting! Sierra Wiltshire came away with a trophy for winning the best swimmer for her age group! Sierra was then chosen to compete in the state swimming trials. Congratulations Sierra!

In week 5 Year 4-7 students competed in the SAPSASA Basketball carnival in Port Augusta. The boys team were the youngest team in the competition and didn’t come away with any wins on the day, however they enjoyed being able to compete and worked well as a team, improving each game. The girls were able to come away with one win on the day which was very exciting!

Basketball 

The Year 6-9 group went to Port Augusta in week 6 where they took part in some Aquatic sports. They got to do canoeing, surf skiing, snorkelling and my favourite, sailing! The kids had a blast and did a fantastic job.

The MNSEC Carnival has been cancelled for now, however I would like to congratulate Bek O’Neill, Tayla Mcinnis, Jack Allen and Annabelle Allen for being selected to represent our school.

Other cancellations this term included the SAPSASA football and netball carnival and our Volleyball clinic. We will aim to reschedule if possible later in the year.

Well here we are in week 10, let’s have a look at the happenings of English and HASS.

HASS 

We have just finished a study on the Black Plague of 14^th century Europe…who knew how topical and relevant that would become! The students all enjoyed learning about the causes, consequences and symptoms of the disease and they also learned about the part hygiene played in the spread (and how important it continues to be!). We studied the part that doctors and dentists played, and how it helped shape modern medicine today with research and development. Students were all very fascinated with the first use of biological warfare by the Mongolians when they threw dead bodies at the Chinese to infect them, and have asked to look further into Mongolian warfare in the future. After looking into this, I feel it may be a little too traumatic! Let’s just say they were imaginative in their brutality!

After completing a historical essay on the Black Plague we have now moved onto Geography. We have started with learning about the Great Artesian Basin, looking at the importance of water and the ecosystems supported by springs across the area of the Basin. Geography is a bit tricky to include all curriculum for all year levels in one topic, so going forward we will be splitting into two groups. The older students will focus on weathering and erosion, and the year 6/7’s will look at liveability and place. These units of work are ready to go both in the classroom and as take home packs should these be required.

ENGLISH

We are taking a bit of a break from constant writing at the moment. The class have been working hard on essay writing, narrative and persuasive writing, producing some good work and also highlighting the areas we need to work on further. At the moment we are reading the novel Mahtab’s Story, by Libby Gleeson. This novel is based on a true story and tracks the journey and experiences of a young Afghani girl and her family as they escape persecution in Afghanistan and travel to Australia. So far the students are enjoying the story and it has started some great discussion. They will continue to work through reading the story, completing questions at the end of each chapter. At the conclusion of the book, students will complete a written assignment as their final assessment. Again, this is available as a take home option if necessary.

Year 11 (SACE)

Year 11 English has begun very productively, with completion of the novel The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. This was followed up with a written assessment which produced excellent results. The next task will be a persuasive text which will hopefully be completed by the end of term.

That’s it for the term so far. It’s been a bit of a roller coaster ride for my first one but I think we’ve all come through relatively unscathed! Thank you to the parents who have made contact and made me feel welcome in my new role, also thank you for trusting me with their kids! Let’s see what next term will bring in this crazy mixed up world.

Look after yourselves.

Mrs Sharon Bates  

Year 6-12 Teacher & SACE Coordinator

Year 6-7 started this term planning, calculating and researching their dream holiday. Students were given a number of challenging tasks: pricing flights, accommodation, budgeting for food and planning and budgeting for their activities. They also had to timetable their trip and plan their budget and were also introduced to the currency exchange concept.

This term students completed a number of different tasks. They studied ratio and calculated ratio related to everyday problems. The year 7 students also worked on the order of operation, with good results. Another area of learning was the relationship between capacity and volume. They had the opportunity to use the experiment to visualise the connection between the capacity of an object and the volume of the object. This helped them to gain a better understanding of that relationship.  They also had to use correct units to calculate the capacity vs volume- L, ml vs cm³.

The most challenging and engaging task for students was to design their own dream home and apply their new gained knowledge of 3D shapes to construct the 3D representation of that design. This task demanded from students the development of connections between 2D and 3D shapes by creating the nets and buildings 3D shape from a 2D drawing. Students also learned how to calculate volume and apply the prescribed formulas using correct units of measurement.

The task below is to challenge the students even more and to teach them how to solve the problem using the knowledge that they already have. Please encourage your students to try to solve the given problems and bring their solution to school.

Try to solve it, have a go …

Hi – you have the knowledge to solve it  - just apply what you already know.

Hint:  with the middle of the rectangle area is: 4 x  X = 20cm² Think what is opposite of the multiplication to din X

20cm² look what you already know? Then apply the area formula in reverse to find out missing side.

Now you can continue ………..

Year 8 - 9  Maths Challenge

The Year 8s and Year 9s worked with great enthusiasm on the park planning task. Students enjoyed the challenge and they mostly succeeded with good results. They had been given a budget, and they needed a plan that was drawn to scale and calculate the cost. Students had to take into consideration the use of the park in their design and provide facilities for these users, by thinking about a given budget. The park planning task was designed to allow students to use their problem-solving skills and apply their knowledge as well to learn new knowledge of budgeting and working to the given scale.

In year 9 the biggest challenge was to learn about Pythagoras theorem. It is a complex geometrical concept for students to learn. I am very pleased that our year 9 student worked very hard to master this important area of knowledge. Year 9 and Year 8 students also this term were given different challenging tasks to learn how to apply this knowledge to solve the given problem. Students learned more about angles, geometry problems and sorting quadrilaterals. They often struggled with how to solve the given problems and how to think “outside the box” using what they knew. However, I am very pleased that most problems were solved with great success. Well done.

Hi Year 8 and Year 9 Please try to solve this problem below

It demands from you a little more thinking – you can do it.

Hint: carefully analyse what you know about area calculation and analyse the drawing - look at what you already know from the drawing and what needs to be found.

Looking forward to see your answers.  Good luck

Mrs Lidia Szelzak

Mathematics and Science Teacher

In Design and Technology students in the middle school have been given the challenge to identify a problem needing to be solved by designing a solution that involved joining materials using dowel joints and butt joints, safe use of portable power tools and equipment to shape the materials.  Students were to investigate existing ideas and develop their own concept of a small table design.

Tissue boxes made - Year 3-5 Class

Lathe Work 

Mr Travis McDonald

Design and Technology

Phillip Gwynne’s first novel, Deadly Una?, was very successful and was turned into the movie, Australian Rules. Since its release in 1998, Phillip has gone on to write more than 30 books ranging from children’s picture books to novels for teens. For any aspiring writer, it is always encouraging to hear how other authors do their craft, and the time spent with Phillip Gwynne was profitable for many.

Bottle Top Art

In term 4 last year, the students started designing murals that were going to be created out of plastic bottle tops. Last Thursday, March 19, they were able to complete their designs. The students, in cross-age groups, worked really well together and should be proud of their completed designs. We have yet to decide where they are going to go.

Photographer - Tiki Bunzeck

Visual Arts

As part of learning about the art element Line, students have looked at the work of Spanish artist Joan Miró and Swiss artist Paul Klee. Both these artists were influenced by the Cubist art movement, amongst other art movements. The following are some of the art works students have created during our study.

Premiers Reading Challenge

The Premier’s Reading Challenge will continue for 2020, despite the uncertainty of what is happening. The students are able to access eBooks from the Public Libraries. To do this, they need to go through the Libby app, which is on all their iPads, and can be downloaded to a mobile device that has access to the Internet. 

Many of the books on Libby are Premier’s Reading Challenge Books, which when read can be added to their PRC recording list. 

Libby is a reading app for borrowing digital books and audiobooks from the library's OverDrive collection. This free app, created by OverDrive, is available for Android, iOS (iPhone/iPad/iPod touch), and Windows 10 devices. Check out the information below on how to download the app and how to connect to Libraries SA. To use the Libby app, you will need your Library card number and PIN. Please contact the library if you need either.

Digital Literacy

In the F-2 class, we have been studying the topic of Your World, My World. The students have been learning about their place in the world (looking at maps, countries, continents) and are creating a book in the app “Book Maker” about themselves and four children from different countries.

Migration: People on the Move is the topic the 3-5 students are studying. We are reading the book Refugee, by Alan Gratz, stories about 3 different children in 3 different time periods in the last 80 years who have been forced to flee their homeland. We are also learning about why people move from one country to another to live and a little about  the migration of people to Australia.

Library Closure

As many of you are probably well aware by now, Hawker School Community Library is now closed to the public for the foreseeable future. This includes Babies and Toddlers Storytime and our Be Connected Digital Literacy program. The library is open for use by the students and staff of the school. We are working on ways to continue being able to offer a library service to the public and will inform you of this when we have worked it out. However, Libraries SA is never closed.

Check out this website for further information.

Onecard Network SA Public Libraries

I am developing a Library Blog (an online space) that provides links to the above information plus links to various sites that you may find useful, such Resources for Parents. If you have access to the Internet, you are able to visit this Blog and check out the links provided.

The library Blog:-

Library edublogs

The Blog can be accessed via the school’s website:-

www.hawkeras.sa.edu.au

under the Community Library heading. The Blog is continuing to be developed and is for both the school community and the public to access.

Mrs Ailsa Green & Rosie Luckraft (CLA)

Teacher Librarian / AET

The 3 –5 students made Anzac biscuit dough to take home. Their home work was to cook the biscuits and eat them. The most difficult part of the lesson was to NOT taste the dough so frequently. It seemed that having to wash their hands after EVERY tasting was not an issue to the chefs.

Will there be any dough left to take home? 

 

All the students helped with the potato harvest. There were not a great number of potatoes but they were tasteful, with butter. We will have another go this year at planting more.

We will have plenty to do when we return with the temperatures being cooler. 

Mrs Joelle Sharples

Kitchen Garden Specialist

Check our calendar for upcoming events each month

HAS Calendar of Events

Download our Schoolzine App

Installing the SZApp Instructions

Check out our NEW Website –

www.hawkeras.sa.edu.au