Hawker Area School eNewsletter

Adventures in the Library

Transforming the Library

Further work has occurred in the last few weeks in the library. The public library computers have been moved closer to the front entrance and bay end panels have been attached to all the bookshelves. A bright coloured rug has helped create a welcoming area for students to use during lesson time as well as at lunchtime.

Library Opening Times

As the school holidays commence on Friday, December 10, the Hawker School Community Library will operate at the following times until school resumes on Monday, January 31.

Please Note: The library will close for the Christmas/New Year period on Wednesday Dec 22 @ 4:30 p.m. and will open again on Tuesday January 4, 2022 @ 12 noon.

Overdue Notices

Hawker School Community Library is one of 5 libraries left in the state to be transitioned to the agreed standards for notices that inform members of their overdue items. This changeover will occur in the next few weeks. In short, this means that you will receive notices to inform you that an item you have borrowed, or has been borrowed by your child, is due to be returned and/or is overdue. The main aim of this is to provide consistency across the One Card Network with the overdue notices. We will be able to provide you with more information early next year.

Space to Dream Challenge

Earlier in the year, the 3-5 students participated in the Space to Dream Challenge, one of three challenges created by the Commissioner for Children and Young People that students could participate in. The purpose of the challenges is to expose students to critical and design thinking through their involvement in digital technologies. The Space to Dream Challenge supports students to learn design thinking skills and then apply their knowledge to design a toy or gadget for someone their age who is moving to Mars. Our students used the 3D printing program, Maker’s Empire, to do this.

Of the around 10,080 students from 220 schools in SA that took part in this year’s challenge, 21 designs are currently featuring in the Space to Dream Exhibition at the Australian Space Discovery Centre on North Terrace, Adelaide. This is the site where the old Royal Adelaide Hospital used to be.

It was very exciting to receive an email in early November to inform me that Jimmy Morgan took out the grand prize this year winning our school a 3D printer, which was donated by Maker’s Empire. His New and Improved Fix Bot was selected by the Commissioner as the highest ranked design for 2021 for its ingenuity and versatility. Design to fix spacecraft, Fix Bot has a ‘parachute, iron filings for making screws, an electric screwdriver and drill, a battery charger, laser eyes, and a welding tongue. It even includes paint. It has a remote controller with three buttons that you can use to tell it to come to the operator, to go back to the charger or power down.’

The top-rated designs, including Jimmy’s, will be on display in the Endeavour Room at the Australian Space Centre until the end of January 2022. These designs will also feature in a Travelling Exhibition that will be held at Hawker School Community Library in April/May 2022.