23 May 2019

Newsletter Articles

Principals Report

There has been a lot happening this term to report on but I would be remiss if I didn’t return to the last day of Term One and our Crazy Hair Day, run by our SRC. It was a great day for our students, where we raised money for the Leukaemia Foundation. Coloured hair sprays were the order of the day, as people lined up for some wild hair jobs, and got some ‘cold’ treatment as our students slowly developed the skill of an accurate spray technique. Arts and craft activities and an exploration for Easter eggs helped to keep the day exciting, leading to the end of the day and a close shave experience for myself and Steve Green. It was really pleasing to see the funds raised for such a good cause.

Crazy Hair Day run by HAS SRC for the Leukaemia Foundation.

Getting out to the community seems to have been a theme lately. Earlier this term the Toyota Land cruiser Club held its National Conference in Hawker, which was accompanied by a week of activities around our region for its members. On Monday May 6th some of our students attended the National Conference dinner for the club and welcomed the club members with an Acknowledgement of Country in Adnamatna and English. It was an impressive presentation judging by the feedback I received from club Secretary Pamela Humeniuk later on. We had five students present, so a big thankyou to Kane, Vai, Katrina, Kirsty and Paul, who all spoke as part of the Acknowledgement to Country. The day after, conference delegates from the club came in to thank the students and make a donation and present a certificate of appreciation to the school. A big thankyou also goes to Sasha Andersson for taking the time to help our students draft and practice their Acknowledgement of Country and then supervise the students on the night.

Toyota Landcruiser Club presentation with HAS students.

On Tuesday May 7th the Minister for Education John Gardiner and the Hon Dan van Holst Pellekaan MP visited the school for a walk around and talk with our staff and students. The visit was part of a tour of the general region up through to Leigh Creek and Marree, with the minister visiting school and community locations. This turned out to be a good opportunity to talk about school and community, with the minister in particular taking a keen interest in the preparation of the new One Plans that our teaching staff were working on at the time.

Selfie with the EDU Minister and MP Dan v H P.

On Friday May 10th I had the enjoyable task of taking the Year 3/5 class to the inaugural ANZ Tennis Hot Shots Northern District School Carnival in Port Augusta. It was a great day of learning and sporting engagement for our students as they participated against a variety of schools and finished third overall in the event. This placement was all the more impressive, given that this was the largest event of its type in South Australia! Playing in a modified format with a smaller court space and low compression balls, it was interesting to watch as all the players involved were able to enjoy longer rallies and have a great time. I was especially impressed with the attitude of our students, which was very sporting and positive towards their opponents as they battled through some cool and wet conditions on the day. At the end of the day the special guest – former tennis international and Davis Cup player, John Fitzgerald spoke to the juniors and was generous enough to join the Hawker players for a photo.

ANZ Hot Shots Carnival.

The Walk to School was held on Friday May 17th with our staff, students and parents involved in the morning walk to school. It was great to see all our enthusiastic walkers and thankyou to all the participants. The day acts as a promotion for generating vigorous habits in kids that lead to healthier, more academically successful students, limiting long term illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease, which can be the result of sedentary lifestyles.

Last week was the school’s first official experience with NAPLAN Online. Tests were held every day from Tuesday to Friday with only the Year 3 Writing Test being done on paper. NAPLAN always brings up a diversity of opinions, but at this stage there are some good developments in the latest phase of NAPLAN. Firstly the format definitely seems to be more engaging for students, judging by the feedback I have received from students in both the practice tests and the real thing. Secondly the feedback we will receive on student work will come in a lot quicker as the online format will remove some stages in the processing of information. The pleasing aspect for us as well as a school has been the fact that our school has not been affected by any of the issues that have occurred elsewhere in South Australia and interstate. In all instances apart from a couple of audio issues beforehand the tests have run smoothly.

Coming up this term we have our camp to Arbury Park. A lot of planning has gone into the camp to provide a unique educational experience. Arbury Park is located in the Adelaide Hills and at this time of year students can expect a cool, wet experience, so don’t forget the wet weather gear just in case. Staff attending the camp are myself, Ailsa Green, Amanda Hilder, Hayley Brown, Mphilisi Manombe, Lidia Szlezak, Joelle Sharples, Deb Youle, Malcolm Thompson and Leonie McKenzie.

Enjoy the newsletter, staff put a lot of effort into producing interesting and colourful articles to read, this newsletter including in particular an outline of teaching programs for Term Two. As always if you have any questions I can be contacted by calling the school on 86484003 or by my email daren.oneill253@schools.sa.edu.au

Mr Daren O’Neill
Principal Hawker Area School

Foundation – Year 2

From the strange and mysterious land of the little people…

Welcome back to term 2 everybody. Well, here we are already at mid-May and racing towards the middle of the year! The F-2 class has begun well. We are missing our big girl Shyannen but we hope she will be back next term so we only have to miss her for a short while. Our three newbies have fully settled in and are beginning to ‘run the show’. So lovely to see their growth in confidence socially and academically.

As many of you know term two saw us begin teaching and learning from a new English program called Read Write Inc. It is a program created in England about 15 years ago by an experienced English teacher. The program has an emphasis on small levelled group teaching, and decodable texts. Decodable texts (readers) will be sent home for children to practise their reading skills once they are self-sufficient at reading at ‘that’ level. In the meantime please keep reading stories to your children each night/day so they can hear and see you model a love of whole language reading. Also ask them questions about characters, events and settings from the story. Ask them, “Why do you think ‘character example’ decided to do ‘that’? Ask them, “What rhymes with …boat? Or…lump?” …etc. Ask them, “If I have the word ‘seat’ and I take away the ‘s’ what word can I hear? All this is verbal only, no need to write anything down.

Within the next three weeks I will arrange for the F-2 parents to come in for a class meeting to show you the new Read Write Inc. program and explain how I teach it within the classroom and what home readers will look like from now on.

We have begun term two learning from tasks centred around the theme of Dinosaurs. Where possible I will design tasks that include dinosaurs. For example in the photos I have included you can see a science activity on classifying (sorting) the different types of dinosaurs. You can see I have included printed pictures of the five dinosaurs found in Queensland in recent years. Another picture shows a geography task where we learn about the three periods dinosaurs ruled the earth. Students had to include symbols/pictures and dot point type words to show the differences and changes that happened on earth during the Mesozoic Period. Let me tell you it brings a tear to the eye when 5-7 year olds describe Gondwanaland and Laurasia as super continents and how by end of the Cretaceous Period the continents had shifted to represent close to what we have on earth today.

You can also see a Maths/Technology task where we traced, cut and joined basic two dimensional shapes to make a dinosaur that can move its tail, legs and head. There is also a picture of a painting. The painting is representing the Cretaceous Period when the first grasses and flowers appeared on earth. The children painted with cuttings from trees, sticks and small rocks. We will add a herbivore dinosaur, a bee and a butterfly to our paintings to finish them. The dinosaurs will have a printed element too to represent the textured skin covering that their dinosaur is thought to have had. Each child will need to make a ‘printing block’ to give the desired effect for their dinosaur’s skin.

I’m so proud of what the children are learning about. It makes my job so worthwhile to see their interest and progress.

Mrs Amanda Hilder
Foundation – Year 2 Teacher

Year 3-5 class

School Sport

For the duration of term 2, our school will be participating in Jump Rope for Heart and The Premiers Be Active Challenge.

As a proud school community, we care about ourselves and others. That’s why we’re excited to be part of Jump Rope for Heart 2019. Jump Rope has been getting little Aussies active and raising funds to fight heart disease for over 35 years. In that time a lot has changed, but Jump Rope remains as relevant as ever, because today:

• 1 in 4 children (aged 5-17) are overweight or obese
• 80% don’t get the daily recommended 60 minutes of vigorous physical activity
• Heart disease is Australia’s biggest killer. Please – watch this space – as our students have fun, learn new skills and improve their heart health…all while demonstrating their compassion and community spirit.

Alongside of this, we will be participating in the Premiers Be Active Challenge. The challenge provides a great opportunity to encourage physical activity in the school community. The aim is to get students doing 60 + minutes of physical activity on at least 5 days of the week. This is not too far-fetched as they have access to PE lessons and various activities at recess and lunch times. Physical activity can help with focus, improve behaviour and promote a positive attitude.

The 3-5 class will be starting a program called Fresh Start this term. This program incorporates reading accuracy, fluency and comprehension as well as spelling and writing. This is a very structured program and I will be excited to see the progress the students make over this term.

In HASS this term we are focusing on Celebrations and Commemorations. We will be investigating some of the wars Australia has been involved in and working on our research and writing skills.

Miss Hayley Brown
Year 3-5 Teacher and HPE Coordinator

Year 6-12 class

Welcome back to Term Two everyone. I hope you had a wonderful Easter holiday.

Determination, Inclusion, Resilience, Respect and Cooperation are our school values and Hawker Area School endeavours to incorporate these into every aspect of schooling.

This term, the 6 – 7 class have been involved in a lot of NAPLAN practice tests in preparation for Week Three of Term Two. The class will complete two Narratives, one Persuasive, one Reading Paper and one Language Conventions paper. This will obviously be a lot of work considering that it needs to be completed by Week Three. This will definitely demonstrate my learners’ resilience and determination. They will also do a mini research project on an animal that fascinates them and then write an information report for me. Their major final task for the term will be poetry analysis. This will be the first time 6 -7s will be taught poetry critical appreciation and we need the parents and care givers to assist them embrace this learning experience though it always proves very challenging to learners.

The 8 - 10 English class will focus on bettering their research skills. They will research a historical figure who is fascinating to them and then write an information report on this figure. They are going to be assessed on how they evidence and reference researched information. Students studied Steinbeck’s Of Mice and Men last term and they will do a number of essay practice questions based on this novel before doing a movie analysis.

In History, the 6-8 class will explore Ancient Rome and investigate information on the beliefs, values and practices of Ancient Romans. Furthermore, students will study contacts and conflicts Rome had with other societies and the legacies Rome left to modern life. The learners will be involved in role play and they will choose to belong to one of the social classes in Ancient Rome and then write a diary entry describing their position in Roman society and will explain the laws they need to abide by as well as consequences of not abiding by these laws.

This semester in our SACE Stage One we have students who have resumed studying Modified English and PLP and they are trekking very well. The SACE Stage One candidates seem to be ready to grapple with all the challenges that come with studying at this advanced level.

There is only Research Project being offered at SACE Stage Two this semester. Most of the Stage Two subjects will commence in Semester Two.

I wish the 6 - 12 class an exciting and rewarding study time this term. All the best!!

Mr Mphilisi Manombe
Year 6-12 Teacher

Language Music

It’s week 3 and learning in the ngawala wadli is well under way for Term 2.

Adnamatna

Adnamatna classes are well under way, and we’re reaching new levels of language learning, not previously seen at HAS before! Be sure to ask your children in Years 3-7 to demonstrate some 3 and 4 word sentences in yura ngawala! The 6-7 class is also delving into issues of discrimination and social justice, through resources developed by the SBS in conjunction with their program ‘First Contact’.

Students in Years Foundation to 5 will spend the next few weeks learning about Reconciliation Week and what this year’s theme means to them, as well as learning the difference between a welcome and an acknowledgement to Country, and then will learn to write their own. NAIDOC Week is in the holidays again this year, but plans are underway for another NAIDOC Fun Day in Week 10 – details to come at a later date.

In bahasa we are still working on sound development and appropriate pronunciation, using a range of authentic resources purchased in Brunei. This supports the Foundation to Year 2 students’ phonetic development and letter formation. Students in Years 3-5 are extending this work into reading a story about a boy starting school in Brunei, which has been supporting their inference and translating skills, as well as opening a window into Bruneian schooling culture. Students in the 6-7 class will be extending this even further during the term and wil be looking at bahasa jawi, a script taught in all Bruneian schools and some of the culture that exists around this.

Music

In Music, I am pleased to say that students in Years 3-5 and 6-8 are continuing to work to a higher and higher standard every term. Rhythmic dictations are becoming an easy task for students and melodic dictations aren’t far behind – which means our aural skills are developing! This term we will continue to work on developing all our musical skills, including introducing new rhythms and pitches, developing our ability to write in both stick and staff notation, and improving our vocal skills.

Band

The Band has had a better start to term this time, and students are getting back into the swing of things. Students now have music diaries for Band, which allow students to mark their practise, write in their homework, and keep an eye on any upcoming performances. Students should be asking parents to sight and sign these each week. This is an opportunity for you to have a chat with your child about their practise schedule – remember that the Band Contract indicates 6 days practise as minimum!

Choir

In Choir, after our amazing assessment result (B-, for those who can’t remember!) we are continuing in exactly the right direction. Songs are sounding better and better, and accuracy and expression continue to improve. Memorisation is the next step for all songs, so make sure students are listening to their targeted songs every day! Congratulations also to all students who were at assembly at the end of Term 1, you all did wonderfully! Please also see the information about the student website contained in this newsletter.

Aboriginal Education News

In AET News, in addition to the teaching and learning in Adnamatna, as mentioned above, Leonie and I are working on breaking down Aboriginal students’ data, after attending a Partnership AET/ACEO Workshop in Port Augusta, to get the best picture of our students’ ability and achievement, so we can better support teachers and families to better support students; the school has received funding to support a number of individual students with their reading, and I am working with staff on how best to use this funding; the staff room has a new display, highlighting Indigenous Perspectives at HAS, in education and in the media, to support staff to gain insight into various issues and updates of things impacting Aboriginal people around the country; and finally, there have been a number of issues outside our control, but we are working hard to book a Yura Muda Group Meeting. Please keep an eye out for the invitation, and contact me if you have any agenda items.

As always, if you have any questions about anything mentioned above, or any other queries about your students learning, feel free to call me at the school 86484 003, or send me an email.
sasha.andersson157@schools.sa.edu.au

See you around!

Mrs Sasha Andersson
Language Music and AE Teacher

HAS Community Library News

Did you know that 10 minutes of reading a day will change your child's life?
While that may seem like a big statement to make, numerous studies have consistently shown that 10 minutes exposure to reading materials each day is all it takes to positively shape your child’s future. And this doesn’t just include complicated educational texts – any reading materials, be it picture books, comic books, novels, recipes, the television guide or the back of food packets – all count towards your child’s daily reading goal.

Reading any of these materials for 10 minutes a day exposes your child to more than 600,000 words in one year – interestingly, that’s more than double the exposure of a child who only reads for five minutes or less each day.

The benefit of this word exposure is immense – research shows us that reading more improves a child’s performance in general knowledge, vocabulary, reading comprehension, verbal fluency and spelling.

But this goal of reading for 10 minutes each day isn’t only to improve your child’s academic success; the effects of this achievement are far more long-term than you may have anticipated. Frequent reading also improves a child’s empathy and emotional intelligence, allowing them to better understand people and the world around them, which is especially important in today’s connected world.

(From Issue 3, Term 2 2019 Scholastic Book Club)

Here are some great ways to get your child reading:

1. Set aside a reading time. Pick a reading time that is suitable for everyone. It might be before bedtime or even after homework.
2. Pick a reading place. It is important that everyone is comfortable so they can enjoy the book. Try reading in the living room, or maybe seated at the dinner table works best.
3. Read together. One person can read the book, or family members can take turns.
4. Visit your local library. Enjoy free resources such as books and read-aloud events.
5. Involve and engage everyone. Before reading, point to the book’s title, author and illustrator. Ask listeners, ‘What do you think the story is going to be about?’ As you read, ask your family members what they think will happen next. And be sure to use exciting voices to engage listeners!
6. Fill your home with reading materials. Place books, magazines, newspapers, cookbooks and more throughout the house so your child is surrounded by things to read.
7. Get caught reading yourself. When your child sees you read, they will be inspired to read.
8. Have older siblings read to younger siblings. By reading to a younger sibling, the reader will gain confidence.
9. Start seasonal traditions. Pick a book to read every year when your child goes back to school. You can also read the same special book during a holiday.
10. Keep favourite books around. It can be comforting for a new reader to build confidence and fluency by practising when re-reading a favourite book.

1000 Books before School

In previous years, the Library has supported the 1000 Books Before School Program and we are continuing to do this. Come in and register with us to receive your first Reading Record and information. How it works:

• Mark or colour your Reading Record each time you read together with your child. Every book that your child completes, or actively listens to, counts – this includes stories read at our Babies and Toddlers Storytime sessions or at kindy, as well as the same book over and over again. You can read books from anywhere – not just library books.
• Each time you reach a milestone in your Reading Record, bring it the library for a special reward.

Digital Literacy – F-2 Students

This term, we are using the Solution Fluency – 6Ds - model to plan and design a 3D rocket in Maker’s Empire. The 6Ds are Define, Discover, Dream, Design, Deliver and Debrief. After reading the book, Funky Chicken: Chooks in Space, we defined the task, which was to design in Maker’s Empire a rocket for Funky Chicken. Through using Notes on their iPads, students are discovering, dreaming and designing their rocket. They will then transfer their thinking into designing in the 3D software app, Maker’s Empire, to create their rocket. The deliver part will be when we print their design on the 3D printer later in the term. The debriefing happens throughout the process as we discuss what needs to be done, how to do things, how to improve our design and when we evaluate the final product.

Digital Literacy – 3-5 Students

Blogs, Biodiversity and QR Codes are what the Year 3-5 students will be focusing on over the coming weeks. This is all part of the Commissioner’s Digital Challenge, which is mainly aimed at Year 3-6 students. The challenge is to complete four free digital thinking Challenge Activities at school between the start of Term 1 and the end of Term 3. For the Year 3-5s, the work we are doing in Blogs, Biodiversity and QR Codes will cover their four digital thinking activities.

The students will be creating their own blogs, doing some research on biodiversity in our school and creating QR codes related to their research that the F-2 students will be able to use next term on the research they will be doing then. Further information about the Commissioner’s Digital Challenge can be found at

If any Year 6 student would like to take part in the challenge, they can look at the activities on the website provided. When they have completed their 4 activities, they need to complete the form found at this site

Children outside of Years 3-6 are able to take part but will not be in the running to receive rewards for taking part in the challenge.

Baby and Toddler Sessions have begun
at Hawker School Community Library
Every Tuesday at 10 a.m. during term time
(following on from the Active Play Sessions that
are held in the Multipurpose Room at Hawker Area School).
For children from 0-3 years and their parents/carers

National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) is held annually by the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA). Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in libraries, schools, pre-schools, childcare centres, family homes, bookshops and many other places around the country. Now in its 19th successful year, it is a colourful, vibrant, fun event that aims to promote the value of reading and literacy, using an Australian children's book that explores age-appropriate themes, and addresses key learning areas of the National Curriculum for Foundation to Year 6.

We will be enjoying this book in the library at 11 a.m. on Wednesday May 22. The book will be read by our Principal, Daren O’Neill. All welcome, especially if you have young children in your care on the day.

Hawker School Community Library is registered as a Be Connected Network Partner. Be Connected is an Australia wide Federal Government initiative empowering all Australians to thrive in a digital world. There are online learning resources as well as a Network of community partners. If you would like to learn more about using a computer/tablet and/or the Internet, then joining the Be Connected group allows you access to numerous online learning sessions.

As part of the Be Connected Network, Rosie and Ailsa can offer in-person support so you can develop your digital skills and confidence. Recently, we held an information session to introduce the network to members of the community. We are starting digital literacy classes for adults this month.

The first session will be held on Wednesday May 29th at 10 a.m. in the library. If you have your own portable device, e.g. laptop, tablet/iPad or smartphone, please bring it along to the session. If you don’t, that’s okay. We are able to provide access to some of these devices during the session times. Information about the topic of our first session will be posted on the Hawker School Community Library Facebook page and on posters around the town or by phone/email if we have your email address or phone number.

Mrs Ailsa Green & Rosie Luckraft (CLA)
Teacher Librarian

S.A.K.G – Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden

Well, nature is doing what it does best, make everything flourish with some rain and lower temperatures. The bunnies are at it again! The vegie patches have been visited. It was not disastrous as the beds are being manured and no planting has taken place yet. We are growing plants in pots. LUCKY!!!

The students were called to an emergency gardening session - stop the rabbits from invading! The weather is at it's best for the season. Even Mr O’Neill joined in the fence repairs and holes blocking.

With the weather prediction inclining toward a La Nina cycle, all the classes will be concentrating on planting for the next lessons and we will go back to cooking while the gardens will be growing, safe from attackers.

Some students have started tidying the garden in readiness for the planting sessions: a job well done Ruby!!!

Mrs Joelle Sharples
Kitchen Garden Specialist

Welcome Meet Mr. Thompson

Hello, my name is Malcolm Thompson, the new teacher (sort of) at the Hawker Area School, I am working in a 1 on 1 capacity with Ruby in a contract position. I say sort of because I have been coming up to the Hawker Area School as a Temporary Relief Teacher (TRT) since Term 2, 2017 and enjoy coming up to Hawker and the Hawker Area School in particular.

My employment history is many and varied, some of which include working in a horse stud to being a storeman in (A) an egg factory and (B) Le Cornu’s at Keswick, a taxi driver, a Facilities Officer (cleaner), then a Technician in Quality Assurance at a Defence Department contractor.

Then in late 2008, I was queried by my sister (in Burra) as to why I didn’t become a teacher, my response was and I quote “Yeah, sure, ha, ha, joke.” But she was serious, so I went back home to Elizabeth and then to the SATAC office to see what was involved in registering/going to university. Having got the information, I selected the University of Adelaide and my courses (Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Teaching), filled in the paperwork, paid the fees, sat the entrance exam and awaited the results for the 2009 intakes. I missed out on doing the double degree by 1%, however was able to be successful in getting into the Bachelor of Arts at the University of Adelaide, from which I graduated in 2011. I then enrolled in the Graduate Diploma of Education at the same university in 2012, from which I graduated in the same year.

I did a year of Temporary Relief Teaching, first at a metropolitan super school in 2013, then in 2014 I worked out of Airdale Primary School in Port Pirie as a TRT, when I lived at Gladstone. In this position I covered a number of country schools, both primary and secondary over a wide area. I found that I enjoyed this experience and decided to add to my qualifications by becoming a librarian, so back to university, this time the University of South Australia to undertake in 2015/16, graduating in 2016.

After completing this degree, I went back to teaching, firstly at Keith Area School for a couple of days, then down to Mundulla Primary School for 2 days, later 2 days (Wednesday & Thursday) at Naracoorte High School.

It was just after I had finished day one at Naracoorte, I had a missed call from who I thought was the Deputy Principal at Keith Area School (no names to protect the innocent, right Mr O’Neill) but was actually from the Principal of the Hawker Area School, who wanted to know if I could come up to HAS on the Friday. When I explained the issue, he said it was okay, an 800 km trip overnight might be a bit awkward! However the following week I had another call to see if I could come up to teach, and the rest they say is history.

And in closing, might I say that I have not regretted my decision to accept the TRT work that I have undertaken at Hawker Area School.

I look forward to meeting the parents of the HAS students, either formally at the school or in passing in the street. So if you see me, say Hi, I’ll be glad to meet you.

Mr Malcolm Thompson
HAS Teacher

Reminder

Check our calendar for upcoming events each month –

Download our SZApp –