Principals Report
Term Two has started with the extensive construction program that was mentioned at the start of the year. From the Thursday before school started we had our fence around the school being removed ready for installation of our black flat top fence which was in by the Wednesday of week one. This was a big moment that has been about 3 – 4 years in the making, providing security to our students and staff in the yard. In terms of access to the school this has meant the following:
- The main side entrance gate on Arkaba Street is being bolted open in the morning through to 8.50am for parents and students to enter the school and get ready for the day.
- From 8.50am to 3.10pm the gate is locked, to support the safety of our students. The gate will be opened at 3.10pm at the end of the day.
- Late arrivals to the school will need to enter the school through the gate on Wirreanda Terrace and report to the front office.
- Members of the community can still attend the Community Library by entering through the library entrance gate on Arkaba Street, this leads directly to the library door.
- Parents and visitors to the school during the day similarly need to use the Wirreanda Terrace entrance to sign in at the front office.
Also in tandem with the installation of the fence around our hard yard area, we have seen the beginnings of the construction of the oval fence, which will be 2.1m high black corromesh design, with a concrete plinth designed to keep kangaroos out and should discourage the local rabbits as well. There will be the one personal access gate to the oval, with the current vehicle access gate on the northwest corner still in place. Construction of this fence is ongoing and should be completed during week three of the term.
Also commencing has been the lifting of pavers in our basketball court area down to the lunch shed. This was approved by the department due to the uneven nature of the previous paver surface. This will be replaced by a concrete surface over the course of term two.
Hawker Area School will have two pupil free days this term:
- On Tuesday June 13th at the end of the Kings Birthday Long Weekend we will have a Pupil Free Day for our LEAP Level training for our teaching staff.
- On the last day of term, Friday July 7th we will have a Whole School Closure day, the day of local significance being the NAIDOC celebrations in Port Augusta. This will mean that Thursday July 6th will be the last day of school for the term, the day finishing at the normal time of 3.10pm.
In addition to this our whole school camp to Monarto will be held on June 19th to 21st.
Parents and students would be aware of the recent absences due to COVID. We are in the cold part of the school year, and in addition to this flu is once again becoming evermore present with some members at school absent due to this also. Please be aware of these issues when getting your students to school.
Enjoy reading the newsletter, including the articles by our teaching staff. As always I can be contacted at the school through our front office on 86484003 or by my email daren.oneill253@schools.sa.edu.au