Filter Content
- Term 3 Week 4 2020
- Principals Report
- Foundation - Year 2
- #stopthespread
- Year 3 - 5 Class
- Year 6 - 12 Class
- #theresnoroomforcomplacency
- Mathematics and Science
- Language and Performing Arts
- Adventures in the Library
- Kitchen Garden
- HAS SRC Report
- HAS Calendar - Whats Happening / Coming Up
- #keepupwithinformationcovid19
In this Newsletter you will be reading about the programs our teaching staff are planning for their students during the term. You will also notice an article by our SRC in which they will report on our Wheels Day Fundraiser at the end of last term and our plans for term three.
Term three is one of our busier terms in the school year and as such it is worth pointing out the main dates that are already on our calendar:
- August 4th and 5th – Parent/Teacher interviews.
- August 10th and 11th – External Review days.
- August 14th – Quorn Area School Sports Day.
- August 17th and 18th – Volleyball SA coaching course with our students.
- September 3rd – Open Night.
- September 8th – Autism Awareness Day.
- September 11th – Hawker Area School Sports Day.
- September 15th – Tennis SA coaching team program at Hawker Area School.
In addition to all this over the last four weeks of term three our annual PAT Maths and Reading tests will be conducted. With the relaxing of some of the measures to manage and protect against COVID-19 school sports can now be played, with schools now allowed to visit. As a result of this we will be able to invite Leigh Creek and Marree to our Sports Day on September 11th.
The External Review will be conducted over August 10th and 11th. These days will involve a visit by the External Review team, consisting of two people, a Review Officer and a Peer Principal. The team will spend two days at Hawker during which they will investigate our teaching and learning culture and through this our approach to school improvement. During the Review the team will interview teaching and ancillary staff, students, parents and our Governing Council to gather information and data. With a diverse range of learners at our school across our different classes, the findings of the team will play an important role in our school moving forward. This is the third attempt at a Review after it was forestalled after starting last year, and earlier this year the visit was cancelled on the Friday before due to the COVID-19 measures.
Earlier restrictions on parents visiting the school have now been relaxed. Now parents are allowed onto school grounds and even back in classrooms. A key proviso is still physical distancing however; there are no longer any limitations on the number of adults who can be in a room, but physical distancing is still required between adults. This does mean that rooms crowded with adults still won’t be suitable, so we are asking that parents continue to drop their kids off outside classrooms in the morning and do the same when picking them up after school. During the school day it is possible to visit a classroom eg to volunteer, drop off lunch etc, but please check in at the front office first. This means that progressively some of the parent and community activities that have taken place during the day may now restart.
I would like to thank the parents who have taken the time to come in for Parent Teacher interviews during the last week. This was the first time we have used the online booking system that comes with Schoolzine to make bookings easier. The system allows those booking to see what times are still available, hopefully making the process of booking more seemless. In keeping track of the bookings that have been made it seems that parents were able to get on and make their bookings. If there were any issues with the system however, we would like to know.
As always I can be contacted at the school by parents on 86484003 or through my email at daren.oneill253@schools.sa.edu.au . I look forward to catching up during the term.
Mr Daren O'Neill
Principal
From the land of the little people...
As I write this we are heading into week 3, term 3! Sometimes we wish time away for different reasons but sometimes we look up from what we are doing and try to think where has time gone! I know you are all the same, wanting more quality time with family and friends, or just time to be by yourself. In Maths for the first three weeks of term we are studying TIME. We have learnt about how long it feels when time is passing concentrating mainly on 1 minutes, 5 minutes and 10 minutes. We have definitely learnt that sometimes 1 minute feels short and sometimes very long depending on what we are doing. It has given the children a deeper understanding about the passing of time and a realistic measure for forwards thinking. We are also looking at the days, weeks, months, seasons, o’clock, half past and quarter past and to.
Science has been about posting something precious in a box through snail mail and sending the box through a serious of test…sharp, squash, drop and shake.
For HASS each child has chosen one of the countries mentioned in the story and has formed 3 inquiry questions using good question starters, found a variety of images suitable for their study, included a map of the world showing the country’s position…all using Book Creator. It has caused so many excellent conversations and sparked lots more branches of possible inquiry.
Mrs Amanda Hilder
Foundation - Yr2 Teacher / Literacy Coordinator
Welcome to term three! At the end of last term, the 3-5 class were working on 3D shapes. In the final week they completed their 3D robots which are too awesome not to share! Some students found the process quite frustrating, but their persistence paid off and they finished up with some pretty cool little robot magnets.
This term in English we will be looking at fairy tales. Students will be writing their own version of a fairy tale of their choice. Their versions will be told from the villain’s perspective. This task will hopefully help them to understand that their way of thinking is not the only way as well as encourage them to think hard about the characters in their stories.
In HASS this term, we will be looking at celebrations around the world. We will look at some of the things students celebrate at home, school and in the community and then make some comparisons to events that people celebrate in other countries.
HPE
In Health, the 3-5 and 6-9 classes will be looking into emotions and mental health and wellbeing. In PE we will be doing a unit on Volleyball with Rebekah O’Neill doing some training sessions as part of her SACE. We will also be spending some time preparing for Quorn Sports Day in Week 4 and our own Sports Day in week 8. Fingers crossed for good weather on those two days!
Robot Magnets
Miss Hayley Brown
Year 3-5 Teacher / HPE Coordinator
Welcome to semester two! We have had a busy start to term 3 with all students settling in and working well.
English
This term sees us tackling Shakespeare with ‘Macbeth’. So far the students have looked at the part the witches play in the story, and some background on the Shakespearean era. The language has proved a bit of a challenge but everyone is working hard at developing their understanding.
We will continue to focus on spelling and grammar with weekly lessons dedicated to this, and the focus for writing this term will be procedural texts. The students have been asked to develop a manual for how to survive a zombie apocalypse incorporating lists, diagrams and detailed instructions. I look forward to reading them.
HASS
The focus for this term will be Business and Economics. At the moment students are learning about macro and micro economics, along with fun stuff like budgets, taxation, recession and economic growth. This has seen some interesting conversations in our current economic climate. This unit of work will become more business focused, and we will finish the work with a mock cupcake business. We will really make and eat the cupcakes, but in the current climate we may not be able to sell them, so we will simulate this instead. It will still include marketing, advertising and costing, and will also incorporate our procedural text writing from our English lessons.
SACE English
Stage One of SACE English is now complete and the focus has shifted to prepare for Stage 2. Our SACE student is also studying Macbeth along with the rest of the class, which will become part of her responding to texts section of Stage 2 SACE.
Mrs Sharon Bates
Year 6-12 Teacher / SACE Coordinator
It has been challenging and interesting beginning this term. The Year 3 – 5s in Science looked at Human Endeavour and started to build their understanding of the relationship between energy production and its impact on the environment including Climate Change. They had to make educated decisions and make recommendations to the town management committee, about their chosen renewable energy. The students studied the differences between the fossil fuel and renewable energy. Currently students are starting to develop an understanding of climate change and its effect on the environment. They will research the chosen effect and prepare a PowerPoint presentation.
Year 6 – 9 students have worked very hard to improve their understanding of some different and complex mathematical ideas. At Year 6 we are working on mastering fractions, addition and subtraction. The Year 7s will learn how to apply mathematics to the Fashion business, they will design, learn how to make a profit in the business and how to budget to be a profitable business. At Year 8 and 9 we worked on the very difficult concept of Index Law as well as on the development of understanding of the linear relationships. Once students master the mathematical concepts they will be working on problem solving and how to apply their new knowledge.
Mrs Lidia Szelzak
Mathematics and Science Teacher
Mrs Jacqui Schulz
Language and Performing Arts Teacher
Mrs Lisa O'Neill
SSO and Vocal Specialist
An activity student can be involved in as part of the Premier’s Reading Challenge is the PRC STEM challenge. The F-5 students were involved in this last term. 
Library Lessons and Expectations
Students in F-5 have a weekly borrowing time in the library. F-2: Tuesday and 3-5: Wednesday. Students are able to borrow up to 5 items at a time. They can have these items for up to 4 weeks. DVDs can be borrowed at lunchtime and after school.
We update you regularly on what your child has out and highlight the items that are overdue. These notes are sent home via your child. If you would like further information, please contact us during school hours on 8648 4003.
Helping your child develop positive library habits…
- Support your child in making sure the library books they wish/need to return are in their school bag the night before their library lesson
- Create a special place for library books to be kept while at home.
- Have a place, for example on the fridge, where they can keep the paper slip that says what books they have borrowed and when they are due back.
Commissioner's Digital Challenge
Currently, the students are researching about the planet Mars. They will use this information to design a toy or gadget on the iPad app, Maker’s Empire, for a child of their age who is moving to Mars. The most creative, useful and cool designs will feature in a public exhibition at MOD Museum of Discovery (which is on North Terrace Adelaide adjacent to the Morphett St Bridge).
Maker’s Empire is an app that allows the students to create objects in 3D. The students will be following the Design Process to complete the project and once completed, will be able to have their design printed on the 3D printer at school. The design process follows these steps: Step 1. Understand and Care; Step 2. Make a Plan; Step 3. Have Lots of Ideas – Choose the Best; Step 4. Make It!; Step 5. Can You Make it Better?
Visual Arts
The F-5 students are finishing off the work we have been doing on Friedensreich Hundertwasser by creating 3D models of buildings in the style of Hundertwasser. Following this, we will be exploring colour with Miss Suzanne.
The 6-9 students have begun a 6-lesson project on creating a self-portrait using multimedia collage.
Digital Literacy
During their Digital Literacy lessons, the F-2 students will continue on with developing their toy or gadget for a child of their age to take to Mars using Maker’s Empire, the 3D app on their iPad.
Throughout this year, the 3-5 students have been working on the theme Migration: People on the Move. This term, they are learning how to use the Stop Motion Animation app to create a short movie about someone in their life who has made a journey from one place to another. Stop motion is an animated filmmaking technique in which objects are physically manipulated in small increments between individually photographed frames so that they will appear to exhibit independent motion or change when the series of frames is played back.
They are nearing the end of creating the main character out of wire, alfoil, masking tape and Claydough before adding clothing to complete the figures. The next step is for them to design the set for the story and take the many individual photos they will need to make it look like their character is moving.
Dates for the Diary
October 17-23
Due to issues related to COVID-19, our celebration of Book Week has been postponed until Week 2 of Term 4. Further information about Book Week celebrations will be provided later in the term.October 26-30 Week 3 Term 4
Mrs Ailsa Green Teacher Librarian and Ms Rosie Luckraft CLA
Master Chefs Class or the Day the Pressure Was On!
On week 10 of term 2 the 6-8 students were put under pressure with a Master Chefs class. The students were given a tray with the same ingredients and the task was to make a vegetable tart, over two lessons. This class was the culmination of what we practiced this year so far: dough making, vegetable preparations, working/playing with taste, develop a sense of adventure in cooking… The students perform very well throughout the exercise, the concentration was palpable! The results were excellent notwithstanding the age of the participants. WELL DONE TO ALL OF YOU. I encourage you to practice at home……
With “serious” rain coming, we harvested the vegetables that were ready for the picking.
The students took home a bag of broccoli and brocolini that would make delicious addition to any dishes: mash potatoes, pasta, soups etc.
Mrs Joelle Sharples
Kitchen Garden Specialist
On the last day of Term Two the Hawker Area School students participated in our first fundraiser for the year, a Wheels Day. On this day students got their bikes, scooters and roller skates out to roll around town and have some fun. Starting in supervised groups we went up Chace View Terrace initially and stopped at the War Memorial, where we had a recess break. From here we rode down to the end of Chace View and turned left onto Wonoka Terrace and rode down past the Hotel and stopped at Blue Burt Park, stretching our legs and getting all our riders together. After a 20 minute break we all assembled and left in our groups riding down Elder Terrace, past the main intersection, turning left on Heysen Ave, then right onto Cradock Road, before going up Rawnsley Street and then onto Arkaba Street and back to school.
Students then had fun riding a circuit around the school. For lunch we paid our donations for a sausage sizzle, raising money for our school projects. In the end we raised $94 for our causes at school, so it was a profitable day.
This term we plan to meet every two to three weeks and we will be selecting a charity to support with some of our fundraising. We have already looked at some ideas for developing things at school including improvements to the cricket net area, getting netball poles and the possibility of a mural on the lunch shed. Our SRC members are:
- Jack Allen
- Tayla McInnis
- Stella Stanwix
- William DuBois
- Harry McAuley
- Nicole Oakey
- Archie Morgan.
We are looking forward to an exciting term.
Hawker Area School SRC
NOTICEBOARD