1 November 2018

Newsletter Articles

Principals Report

Welcome to Term Four, I hope everyone has had a great holiday after a busy end to term three with our Sports Day on the Thursday bringing the term to a great finish. The day involved the participation also of Leigh Creek Area School and the School of the Air, with a great atmosphere present. I led the Junior Primary boys around their events and their enthusiasm was fantastic and great to see. A big thank you to all the parents who helped on the day, with officiating and the preparation of lunches for the students. This term promises to be a busy one, all the way through to the end.

As per the recent News Flash we now have two Pupil Free Days coming up on November 16th and 19th, both with the aim of preparing for 2019. The first day, November 16th will be dedicated to a school improvement focus on our literacy and numeracy programs for 2019, using tools recently put out by the Department for Education. This is a well-resourced and evidence-based program based around a rigorous analysis of where schools are and what they need to do to improve the teaching of literacy and numeracy across the board. The revamping of our Site Improvement Plan and further development of our Literacy and Numeracy agreements will evolve from this program of improvement which will be ongoing through this year and into 2019.

The second day, November 19th will focus on the next phase of another improvement strategy, Learning Design Assessment and Moderation. Over the next two years our focus here is on Formative Assessment, which includes teachers involving their students in their own self-assessment, so that they can confidently know where they are at with their intended learning and what they need to do to improve. The strong focus is on developing ways to give effective feedback during lessons and teaching students how to successfully use this feedback. The theories behind Formative Assessment have been developed over the years by Leaders in Education such as Dylan William, with research into this showing that when formative assessment is done effectively students learn at roughly double the rate they do without it.

Term Four last year was my first experience of the Hawker heat, with temperatures at times going into the high 30s and sometimes the 40s. At the school there is a lot of direction on these days for students to stay hydrated and be in the shade, and they respond well to this. Our Inclement Weather policy can be brought into effect when the weather gets particularly oppressive with high temperatures and other factors such as wind. On these days students are moved indoors. An important management tool this year has also been the use of our SunSmart tool and the communication of this data to students. Over winter it was useful in showing students how many days of the year resulted in a UV rating of over 3 at some stage during the day, during which time hats must be worn. We are continuing to use the SunSmart data as a way of showing students how high the UV rating can get, this week for instance the UV has been around 10, over three times the minimum and this spans the whole school day from around 9.10am to 4.40, extending more as the term goes on. Our hats policy is now an all year one, but at times last term students could be forgetful or disorganized with the requirement to bring hats to school. This is an important educational experience for our students and this needs to happen at school and at home, so over this term it would be helpful for parents to reinforce the same message about SunSmart and wearing hats. Having the message from both ends will help to convince all our students to be organised with this important requirement.

Reports this term will go out in week 9, with our end of year reports containing written comments by teachers from F – 12. Reports this year have been under review at Hawker with an emphasis on providing parents and students with more feedback, with the goals set by students at the start of the year being reviewed and discussed over the year. The school teaches to the Australian Curriculum, with this also setting some requirements in terms of how feedback should be given, with grades being required for the 8 Australian Curriculum Learning Areas. Our End of Year reports will meet this requirement but also provide feedback on all subjects taught by our teaching staff.

Enjoy the newsletter to start Term Four, our staff will provide an outline of their intended teaching and learning for their subjects. 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.

Mr Daren O’Neill
Principal Hawker Area School

Foundation – Year 2

An update from the strange and mysterious land of the little people…

Welcome back to the final term for 2018. For my year two group it is quite a significant term as it marks the end of their formal junior education and their time in our classroom building where they have studied for three years. Writing this I am feeling sad to lose them already. However, there are still seven weeks left for us to ride the ‘school life rollercoaster’ together yet!

Term 4 is an important term for us to consolidate past learning and to review areas of learning that may need further teaching and study. This is particularly relevant for Mathematics and English. I am individually testing each child, and planning for teaching each week this term to allow for concentrated individualised programming. As much as it takes a lot of time and energy it is very important and will guide my final written report writing.

As an overall theme for the first 6-7 weeks of we are looking at ‘Food’. My Year 2 and some Year 1 and F students will be doing an individual project on an aspect of Food. Most F and some Year 1 students will be doing a group project with me. Science, HASS and Technologies will be strongly linked with this theme. Art will also be linked with the theme of Food and there will be some work towards our old garden theme and further installations. Weeks 7-9 will concentrate on Christmas activities, Presentation Night, Carols by Candlelight practise, Swimming Instruction in week 8…

Photos this time show different students showing what they are practising in Maths and our first Science study involving floating and sinking.

Welcome back and best of luck in the run up to Christmas.

Mrs Amanda Hilder
Foundation – Year 2 Teacher

Year 3-6 class

I can’t believe it’s already term 4! Even though this term is a shorter one we are going to be kept very busy leading up to Christmas!

We have had a strong focus on positive interactions and being kind to one another this year. This term we are going to watch the movie ‘Wonder’ which is about a year 5 student with face differences starting mainstream school. The movie has great messages about kindness, friendship, and acceptance. We will be doing various activities relating to the movie throughout the term.

In Science this term, we will finish off our unit on Space and start looking into materials and electricity!

In English we will be learning about the different types of poems. Some of these include acrostic poems, limericks and haikus. By the end of the term students will have a booklet full of their own poems.

In HASS this term we will be learning about the Australian continent, our neighbours and similarities and differences between places. Now that the iPads are up and working well, we will be putting them to good use and working on our research skills.

In Art we will continue working from the dance curriculum, and rehearsing for the school production of The Aristocats! Rehearsals are now happening weekly and we are getting super excited to perform for everyone!

All the best for this final term!

Miss Hayley Brown
Year 3-6 Teacher

Year 7-12 class

The 7 - 9 English class is going to be focussing on narrative writing, poetry analysis and poetry writing this term. The entire spelling they will do for the term is going to be based on arts subjects’ specific terminology (e.g. subjects like History, Civics and Citizenship and Fashion). In their narrative texts the learners are going to focus on descriptive language, atmosphere creation and bringing some gothic elements in their stories. In their poetry writing they will concentrate on incorporating poetic devices such as rhyme, alliteration, imagery and onomatopoeia.

In Geography, the 7-9 class is going to continue working on their field work which was started in the last few days of Term 3. They will be using the inquiry approach to investigate tourism in Wilpena Pound and Castle Rock and will research the plant and animal life in these landforms and analyse how humans are influencing the change of the landscapes there. After their projects have been completed, the students will study Travel, Leisure and Connections.

Two students studying Stage One Essential English and one student doing English are all trekking well. The Stage One English candidate has completed all her work and is waiting for the SACE board to confirm her marks. Our Essential English students are currently working on their final assignments. There have been a few issues with PLP work but hopefully our candidate will be on track towards successfully completing their SACE PLP in November next month.

The Year 12 Stage 2 English is going on exceedingly well. Our sole candidate has completed all her work and is also awaiting the SACE board to confirm her grades. Hawker Area School this year has been very lucky to have a candidate of her calibre because she was a pleasure to teach and I can only confirm she will get an ATAR from her Stage Two English but cannot confirm just the overall grade at the moment. We don’t have anyone completing the Research Project this semester. Thanks to the parents and caregivers for continuing to be supportive to our learners at this very advanced and demanding level.

I wish the 7 - 12 class all the best during the coming weeks. A number of students will be involved in P.E, Math, Tourism and Psychology examinations. I urge the senior students to let their resilience shine through over this period because they have worked excessively hard over the semester and exams are a time to reap their rewards. We wish you all the best!

Mr Mphilisi Manombe
Year 7-12 Teacher

SPORT MATHS SCIENCE HPE 

I hope everyone has had a refreshing two week break and is ready for our final term of 2018. Term 3 always feels like a blur as the calendar is full of events. Our SACE students are nearing the end of their schooling year and are busy finalising their assignments and preparing for their upcoming exams. I wish them all good luck and to keep persevering throughout this stressful time of year. From a sporting perspective the upcoming summer season of sport presents a fantastic opportunity to participate in competitions locally and in the region, such as cricket and basketball. It is a great way to meet new people, develop social skills, stay fit and most importantly have fun. Clubs can be found locally, in Orroroo, in Quorn and in Port Augusta - so if you are interested, come and ask myself or your parents for more information.

In our 7-10 STEM class our theme for Term 4 is the Human Body. This term the students will discover the chemical processes that occur inside the human body, how the human body works, how external factors impact our bodily functions and how science and technology may influence the future of the human body. This theme will allow students to develop their problem solving, inquiry and creative thinking skills. Scientific outcomes include: the physics of the human body (forces, simple machines, and gravity), chemical reactions, cells, organs, internal systems, DNA, evolution and the bionic body. Mathematics concepts covered will include: probability and statistics, geometry and measurement, location and transformation, patterns and algebra. In our Health and Physical Education class we will undertake fitness testing this term and researching components of fitness such as speed, strength and flexibility. They will have the opportunity to analyse their own results and design, implement and evaluate a personalised fitness program to improve a component of fitness.

Good luck to students, parents and staff for Term 4 and as always if you have any concerns, compliments or anything in between please feel free to chat with me anytime.

Mr Vinny Urbancic
Physical Education Teacher and STEM Coordinator

Music and Languages

Choir:

In Week 9 of Term 3, 5 of our students Holly Smulders, Emily Hilder, Annabelle Allen, Tayla McInnis and Callie McInnis, performed on stage at the Adelaide Festival Theatre as part of the Public Primary Schools’ Festival of Music.

The Primary Schools Festival of Music, an official state icon, is a public school-based music education program which is a collaboration between the Department for Education and the SAPPS Music Society, which gives all SA public primary students the opportunity to perform at a prestigious venue.

The commissioned work was entitled “Next Stop: North Terrace” which was a series of songs composed by local musician Mark Simeon Ferguson about the North Terrace cultural precinct. The concert ended with a spectacular sea of colour.

In between there were a number of Assisting Artists from public primary and secondary schools, other choir items that presented different musical genre, and two pieces that specifically showcased the talents of the orchestra.

It was a spectacular event that our students enjoyed being a part of. Please also see below some photos from our time in Adelaide, where we made efforts to see some of the buildings and art works that we sang about.

We are currently working on items for Carols by Candlelight and Presentation Night.

Music:

MCUI is Australia’s largest school music advocacy and participation program, growing in its reach and impact since 2007. In 2017 – over 660,000 kids from more than 3,000 schools learnt, rehearsed and performed the same song, at the same time, right across Australia. We have nearly 7000 teachers registered and using the programs in their classrooms.

Most students miss out on meaningful music education in schools. As few as 23% of Australian government schools are able to offer students a comprehensive music education. Research shows that learning music can help students’ self-confidence, self-discipline and team work, as well as academic skills in literacy and numeracy.

In 2018 five students were selected to work with Program Ambassador John Foreman OAM and our 2018 Program Mentor, Justine Clarke.

Our school will be joining in the celebration for the third year running on November 1st at 11.30 in the library. We have been practising the song, “One Song” in music lessons. If you would like to practise at home, please go to the link below.

As always, feel free to contact me at the school, either on 86 484 003, or my email sasha.andersson157@schools.sa.edu.au.

I am currently working Monday -Thursday afternoons.

Mrs Sasha Andersson
Music and Language Teacher

Hawker Area School Pastoral Care Worker

Hello everyone, I am excited about joining the Hawker Area School Community as the new Pastoral Care Worker. I have been on the job for 3 weeks now and have been introducing myself to Students, Staff and Parents and generally getting to know everyone. My role is to support Hawker Area School in its aim to be a safe and supportive learning environment and can provide support to individual students with the consent of their parents.

I look forward to this Term working with parents, students and staff, I will be available in the yard at break times If you would like to speak to me, and I will be at School Monday’s, Thursday’s & Fridays or you can email me at Stef.Teague339@schools.sa.edu.au. I will also have a letterbox setup in Term 4 for when I’m not at school and checked Monday’s, Thursday’s & Friday’s which will remain locked and confidential.

So far I have been sitting in on lessons across the year levels with students and assisting the students joining in class activities. I have managed to be a part of a variety of class activities, for instance painting portraits with Mrs Hilder’s class, Mathletics with Miss Brown’s class. Kitchen lessons with Joelle’s, F-2s and 3-6s and 7-10 students, and Mrs Andersson’s Music class. I also attended the Leigh Creek Sports day with roughly 16 students with Mr Urbancic and Miss Brown which was a fantastic day.

When we all work together we can provide a safe and empowering environment that will help children thrive. I look forward to working with staff and parents to create an environment and empowerment.

Mrs Stefanie Teague
HAS Pastoral Care Worker

Reminder