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After a busy term dealing in the first half with the restrictions imposed due to the COVID-19 situation the school is finally starting to return to normal operation after we saw some more relaxing of the ways in which schools can conduct their business. However, some things also remained the same. A quick summary would be as follows:
What remains the same
- Adults still need to physically distance, maintaining a minimum social distance of 1.5 metres.
- The update stated that it was not appropriate or practical for children to maintain physical distancing requirements in classrooms or corridors.
- Following on from the above points parents and carers must continue to physical distance, including at school pick up and drop off. In this case it means that parents and carers at Hawker can drop children off in school grounds but not enter classrooms.
- Staff, students, and all members of the school community should continue to stay home if they are unwell.
What will be changing from Monday June 29th?
- School assemblies are allowed.
- Camps and excursions can recommence.
- All school and interschool sports events and carnivals. This means that the school can now look forward to planning our school sports day, which can include the participation of Leigh Creek and Marree. In this case however the use of changerooms is not permitted.
- Choirs, bands, and other performing art activities can now occur.
- Playgroups can now restart.
All the activities listed above will be subject to regulations, such as the physical distancing.
Our SRC has been elected and has had it’s first meeting. Congratulations to the following students who now take on the responsibility of representing their fellow students:
- Archie Morgan and Nicole Oakey from the Foundation to Year 2 class.
- William DuBois and Harry McAuley from the Year 3 to 5 class.
- Jack Allen, Tayla McInnis and Stella Stanwix from the Year 6 to 12 class.
Absent from photo - Stella
At our first meeting the students discussed various projects around the school and the representatives were going to take this discussion back to their classes, along with some discussion for our students on any charities they would like to consider supporting.
In week 8 we finally had our visit from Footsteps which had been cancelled from Term One. Students got a whole day of activity on the Monday, with activities based around the Foundation to Year 5 students and the Year 6 to 12 students. On Thursday and Friday the Footsteps teacher returned and ran activities to the same groups on Thursday, while on Friday in lessons one and two students got to share their dance activities so that all our students could get an appreciation of the learning of the other students. The level of engagement for our students was very high as shown by their willingness to take on complicated dance steps and routines and enjoy the challenge.
Footsteps Gallery
Our progress with the SWIFT program (Schools with internet fibre technology) continues. Over this term we have had visits from service providers who have laid the groundwork including fibre optic cables and preparation for hardware to be installed. At the beginning of next term, the school will receive the next installation of network infrastructure to take us one step closer to a super-fast internet service right through the school.
In this newsletter you will find reports by all our teachers summarising the interesting terms that they have had, it has certainly been a challenge. But it has also been a challenge that has brought with it opportunities as we have taken up the chance to use various technologies and particularly Microsoft Teams in the classroom. At the end of the term students will also take home their reports from the first semester. Primary students in Foundation to Year 5 will take home reports with written comments for each subject, while Secondary students in Year 6 to 12 will take home reports that include a written homegroup teacher comment. All reports will include effort grades and semester grades for the Australian Curriculum Learning Areas.
I would like to wish everyone an enjoyable holiday, that is fun and healthy for all. We have got through the year so far, but it is important for us all to maintain the safe practices that we have followed so far. If parents wish to contact me I am available at the school on 864484003 or through my email address of daren.oneill253@schools.sa.edu.au See you all in Term 3.
Mr Daren O'Neill
Principal
From the land of the little people…
And that’s a wrap for Semester One 2020! We have had a very big term and looking back on the children’s work has reminded me of just where all of our energy has gone. I’m so proud of the students in my class, their SSOs and teachers. Together they work so hard to teach and learn. I am in the very privileged position of being present when lots of learning occurs and milestones are reached, and when students begin to show maturity and growth within themselves.
We have completed our studies using 5 different picture books this term. The work samples I have chosen to include show some of the activities that the students have done. Science and HASS feature heavily along with a lot of verbal stimulus activities. A particular highlight for our class was going on a hike from School to Castle Rock and then on to Camel’s Hump and back to school. We had a beautiful day and are looking forward to the next hike. I had hoped we would have been able to attend more hikes this term but the rules around travelling further afield stopped us. I have plans for next term though.
Thank you so much to all of my parents. It has been a real pleasure working with you this term. Your support through great communication and working with your children at home has been wonderful. Wishing all my families an exciting, adventurous and relaxing holiday together.
Mrs Amanda Hilder
Foundation - Yr2 Teacher/Literacy Coordinator
This term in English the 3-5 class enjoyed finishing reading the Indian in the Cupboard.
We then watched the movie, which received great reviews! The students were able to pick the similarities and differences between the two and suggest reasons for these differences.
“It was really darn good. It kept me wanting to read more and more”.
Paul
“I noticed that Little Bull was bossier in the book than in the movie”.
Angus
“It was interesting learning about Little Bull’s culture”.
Sierra
“I liked learning about the tribes. The book better than the movie because there was a lot more information”
William.
In HASS we learned about Australia’s first people and what British settlement in Australia was like for them as well as convicts, soldiers and the explorers. We did some comparisons between Australia and America and learned that the Native American’s went through similar circumstances to Australia’s Indigenous groups. The kids found this particularly interesting, especially after learning about Little Bull from the Indian in the Cupboard.
In PE this term, most students completed the 10 week Premiers be Active Challenge and participated in jump rope for heart.
For the first 5 weeks of the term, the 3-11 PE class learned new tricks with their ropes and had a great time skipping to a beat.
It was great seeing them work together to learn tricks that are more complex and choreograph routines.
In Health, the 3-5 class finally completed their healthy living board games and got to play them. The 6-9 class learned about the different fitness components and how to put together a training routine to keep themselves fit and active over the break! They may even like to get their parents involved!
I hope everyone has a safe and relaxing mid-year break!
Miss Hayley Brown
Year 3-5 Teacher / HPE Coordinator
English 6 - 9
This term the focus has been on writing descriptively. We’ve also spent quite a bit of time writing comparatively and persuasively, which can be difficult concepts to grasp at times. We have completed our book study “Mahtab’s Story” with a perspective journal detailing how we would feel and react if we had to suddenly pack up our belongings and flee our homes. Students worked hard on these and included some great elements, imagination and mostly accurate spelling, grammar and punctuation (mostly…a work in progress!).
To help with descriptive writing we have been focusing on the five senses – what we see, smell, feel, hear and taste. To help with this we (and by ‘we’ I mean ‘they’!) tasted, touched, smelled, felt and listened to lemons, salt, chocolate and potato chips, and brainstormed all the descriptions we could think of. As you can see below some enjoyed the experience more than others!
To finish the term we are doing a brief film study. We are looking at the story line of the film “The Princess Bride” from 1987 (one student who shall remain nameless dared ask if this old film was in colour!), but the main focus is on sound, camera angles, and shot sizes. We have completed background work this week and will watch the movie on Friday.
SACE English
Semester Two sees the completion of SACE Stage 1 for our SACE student. Our original plan was to see a play in Port Pirie, and then analyse it, but this had to be changed. The final assignment has been looking at various forms of advertising, and analysing all the components and devices used to convince us to buy or use a particular product or service.
HASS 6 - 9
We have shifted from History to Geography for Term 2. This has meant that the class has been split into three as the curriculum for geography for these year levels is too different to be able to incorporate everyone together. The year 6/7’s have focused on place and liveability, and also looked at Australia’s relationship with China. The year 8’s have been working on landscapes and landforms, and geomorphic hazards, finishing the term with an assignment on earthquakes. Year 9 has studied biomes, food security and sustainability, focusing on the unsustainable production of palm oil for the final task. To finish the term the whole class is spending a couple of weeks on mapping, looking at area and grid references and topographical maps.
If you’ve made it to the end of this and are still reading, thanks! Hope everyone enjoys the mid year break and gets some more rain.
Mrs Sharon Bates
Year 6-12 Teacher / SACE Coordinator
In Term 2 students worked very hard to develop a good understanding of many mathematical concepts in Algebra. Year 6 – 7's had a number of very challenging mathematical tasks to develop a good understanding, and the ability to apply their new knowledge to everyday situations. They studied fractions, addition and multiplication by whole numbers. They also learned about proportions and ratios. They are now able to solve the problems of ratios by number of ways.
Year 8- 9 challenge was to master integers, index law and order of operations. Students completed many calculations and now they are able to apply them to problem solving tasks.
Term 2 in the Year 3-5 Science class was very challenging – as they had to adjust to so many changes in our society. I feel proud of our students and how well they adjusted to this very unsettling time. Students worked hard to develop an understanding of reversible and irreversible changes of matter. They started to develop an understanding of the classification of the living things. It was a good term for most of our students.
Mrs Lidia Szelzak
Mathematics and Science Teacher
From the Library
Libraries are a wonderful place to spend time. In this day and age, we don’t have to physically go to a library to access its resources. Hawker School Community Library is very fortunate to be a part of the One Place Network of Libraries SA, which allows us, a very small library in a very small town, to borrow books, magazines, audiobooks, ebooks, DVDs and CDs from right across the state. These can be physical, hard copy items, that travel from different libraries in a black box, finally arriving on our doorstep for you to borrow.
Or, they can be in digital form, accessible on a tablet, smart phone or computer. We are very privileged to the technology that enables this to occur. The link below provides more information on how to access what is offered by Libraries SA online.
Click Image -
During the school holidays, the Hawker School Community Library will be open at the normal school holiday times.
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Monday July 6 |
Tuesday July 7 |
Wednesday July 8 |
Thursday July 9 |
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9:00-5:00 |
12:00-5:00 |
8:30-4:30 |
10:30-5:00 |
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Monday July 13 |
Tuesday July 14 |
Wednesday July 15 |
Thursday July 16 |
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9:00-5:00 |
12:00-5:00 |
8:30-4:30 |
10:30-5:00 |
Library and Information Week
As part of Library and Information Week this year, we joined with over 1 million children from around Australia and New Zealand and other parts of the world in a virtual storytime to listen to Lucinda Gifford read her book, Whitney and Britney Chicken Divas. When she finished reading, Lucinda showed us how to draw a chicken step by step. Check out the artwork some of the students created.
Premiers Reading Challenge 2020
Our Year F-5 students have been involved in the STEM Reading and Design Challenge, which is part of the Premier’s Reading Challenge. The F-2 students had to draw a picture in response to one of the PRC STEM books we read and the 3-5 students had to plan an invention. They did this using Maker’s Empire, an app on the iPad that allows them to create 3D models. The students’ work will be forwarded to the PRC Department before the end of term and all students will receive a certificate of participation. I’m excited that our students can be involved in activities that students from other schools are also involved in.
Visual Arts
Austrian-born artist and architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser designed some amazing buildings, including Waldspirale in Damstadt Germany. This U-shaped building of 105 apartments has over 1,000 windows, each a unique shape. Through studying the work of Hundertwasser, the F-5 students have been observing how line, shape and form (Elements of Art) can be used to create artworks. They are finishing off the term’s work by creating their own 3-D buildings.
Students in Years 6-9 have been looking at how the Elements of Art (line, colour, value, shape and texture) help create Balance (one of the Principles of Design in Visual Arts) in their artworks and the artworks of other artists. Understanding how the Elements of Art and the Principles of Design work together when creating an artwork gives students greater confidence when producing their own designs.
Digital Literacy
The Year 3-5 students have continued looking at the topic Migration: People on the Move. We are looking at this topic more personally now as the students have started planning to produce a Stop Motion Animation movie about the ‘migration’ experience of themselves or someone they know. They have begun creating their character by making a wire armature over which they are placing alfoil and masking tape before adding Claydough for the head and extremities and clothing for the body. If you want to know what Stop Motion Animation is, think of Shaun the Sheep or Wallace and Gromit. Creating these productions is no mean feat. A 30 sec video needs around 160 photos. Each photo needs to show a slight change in the movement of the character(s) in order to provide a smooth looking video. It’s exciting stuff.
Mrs Ailsa Green Teacher Librarian and Ms Rosie Luckraft CLA
The F-2 class is ready for instructions on how and why to clean the garden of dead plants. The mysteries of the compost bin explained!
In week 8 we harvested the brassica: leaves of cabbages, cauliflower and some broccoli. We washed them, cut them, dried them and packed them to freeze.
Project Veggie Tarts with the F - 8 Students
The tasks to grate the cheese, with 3 different graters, and make an onion potato puree for the base of the tarts were assigned to the F-2 children who did excellent work. With some left over dough from the other classes, the F-2 had the opportunity to hone their rolling pin skills.
The 6-8 students had the task to make the dough, cook the diverse vegetables; including frozen ones harvested earlier in the term; and put the tarts together. Working with herbs and spices was one of the hightlights of making these dishes.
Last Tuesday lunch was a great success with the students. The left over tarts were taken home and compliments have come back to school. Well done for Term 1 and 2 in the kitchen and the garden.
Mrs Joelle Sharples
Kitchen Garden Specialist
Hello from the Kitchen Garden 
Our winter crops are becoming well-established, with lots of seedlings in the greenhouse also. Last year's broccoli crop was recently harvested, with the F-2s using the tasty greens to make vegetable pie with Mrs. Sharples! The garden is now producing some late zucchini, tasty herbs, beautiful red capsicum, and some lovely fresh lettuce.
The established broccoli are now pushing out more heads, while this year's broccoli seedlings will produce later in the season. Radishes are beginning to fill, and radishes will be planted regularly for a continual harvest through the year.
I'm hoping my broad bean, sugar snap peas, snow peas, turnips, kale, purple broccoli, and other new varieties will also grow successfully!
Thank you to all families and businesses who provided milk bottles to protect seedlings from insect damage as they are transplanted in the garden bed - it's made an enormous difference to the success rate!
Mrs Lauren Johnson
School Services Officer
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