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- PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
- 3-WAY CONVERSATIONS
- STUDENT LEADERSHIP INDUCTION
- SRAS SPORTS REPORTS
- LEARNING IN ACTION
- SCHOOL UNIFORM
- SCHOOL LUNCHES
- PARENT VISITORS ON SITE
- NEWSLETTER INFORMATION
- SRAS WEBSITE
- SWAN REACH PLAYGROUP
- COMMUNITY LIBRARY NEWS
- BUSHFIRE PROCEDURES ON CATASTROPHIC DAYS
- AFTER SCHOOL SWIMMING
- CALENDAR OF EVENTS 2023
- COMMUNITY NOTICES
The week 3 swimming carnival was a wonderful school-community event. Thank you to our families who came in to support it. Despite the hot conditions, the general vibe of the day was terrific. Once again, so many families came to cheer and support their child(ren) that the delicious BBQ catered by P&F sold out – Well done and thank you P&F. Staff, led by our sports coordinator, Mr Jayden Coleman, organised and facilitated the day with good execution and delivery.
Our awesome students are to be congratulated, with most showing excellent participation and support for peers. It was pleasing to see some participate for their first time. A shout out to the parents and carers who jumped in and gained valuable house points. The parent / carer relay team gave the staff team magnificent competition, turning the tables, and assisted by a few tyre tubes, to record a narrow win.
Our attention turns to sports day, which is scheduled for Friday, 3rd March, where the Eagles will be keen to reverse the result from the swimming carnival. Weather leading into the day hasn’t assisted athlete’s preparations but next week’s cooler conditions will ensure much needed practice occurs.
WELCOME
We are excited to welcome Austin and Dustin, and their family to our shores. Both have joined the R-2 class, which makes it our largest cohort.
We also welcome Mr Shane McGrath, who is joining the 5/6 class, as he completes his practical component for his Certificate 4 in Community Services.
GOVERNING COUNCIL (GC)
The SRAS GC AGM occurred on Monday 20th Feb. We are pleased to announce the Councillors for 2023 and thank them in advance for their time, effort and investment into governance at SRAS. The team, listed below, has a wonderful blend of experienced and new Councillors.
- Mardi Le Brun - Chair
- Joke Wenske - Vice Chair
- Tash Dabinet - Secretary
- Claire Durant - Treasurer
- Kristy Castle
- Helen Crisp
- Julie Woods
- Kate Howie
- Rocky Warren (Community Member)
Principal
Mr John Robertson
RAISING A COMPLAINT
SRAS staff work hard to provide the best learning and care possible for your child(ren) and understand that your child(ren) are precious - without them we do not have a job. Home-school communication (both ways) assists to build healthy school-community relationships. SRAS acknowledges that we don’t always ‘get it right’ and that perspectives can vary. The full ‘Raising a Complaint’ fact sheet is included with this newsletter for your information and reference. Below is a quick summary of it.
Complaints about a school or preschool
There are 4 steps in the complaints process and these must be followed in order.
Relevant staff members must attempt to resolve a complaint at each step.
If a parent is still dissatisfied after they have received a response, it can then be escalated to the next step. For example if unresolved at step 1 the complaint goes to step 2.
THE RESILIENCE PROJECT (TRP)
SRAS homegroup teachers have begun introducing TRP to students through the ‘inspire’ component. The ‘inspire’ component has a series of videos with presenter and founder, Hugh Van Cuylenberg who introduces them to GEM (Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness – he also introduces Emotional Literacy but it doesn’t fit well with the acronym GEM). The students are quite excited about TRP and hopefully they are beginning to bring TRP dialogue into your homes. SRAS will launch TRP with our families in term 2, using the Parent Inspire Program. TRP will also begin for our preschool, who’ll engage with the TRP ‘inspire’ preschool program.
Part of the TRP implementation is a ‘Youth / Student Resilience Survey’. It allows schools to measure the positive impact it has on the students’ wellbeing. Attached to this newsletter is an information sheet with more details about this online (anonymous) survey for years 3-12s.
SRAS has partnered with Mid Murray Our Town (MMOT) to bring Hugh’s co-presenter, Martin Heppell, to our community through a live webinar. This is in response to the Flood Crisis and the ongoing impact is has on our communities’ wellbeing. The webinar will be screened in the gymnasium on Friday, 16th June at 6:30pm. A free BBQ will be available at 5:30pm.
It is one of our continuing priorities to address issues of attendance amongst students. We understand that this may be due to unavoidable reasons, including illness or family holidays that cannot be taken at any other time of the year.
However, irrespective of the cause, research shows that students who are absent for more than 10 days per year are disadvantaged both educationally and socially. We have a growing number of children in this category. Parents and Carers of children in this category need to be aware that such time out of school will have some detrimental effect on his/her education.
Some of the effects experienced by these students may include:
Gaps in knowledge and understanding resulting in missing basic concepts.
Lack of continuity and familiarity resulting in them feeling less secure within the school environment.
The loss of opportunities for play activities which improve social/emotional and cognitive development.
Missing out on learning important basics such as class rules and behaviour norms.
Belief that punctuality and attendance are not important.
Inability to maintain friendships resulting in isolation, bullying or teasing.
Loss of self-esteem and self-confidence.
Increased likelihood of leaving school early.
You can keep track of he number of absent days by calling the office or checking out the record your child/ren’s report. If concerned, contact staff at school who are happy to assist in this matter.
SRAS strongly encourage all parents, cares and students to make a booking for an interview (face to face, telephone or written) with their child’s teacher(s). Bookings can be made through Daymap by following the link on your home page. You are still welcome to organise 3-way conversations by phoning the front office. If these times/dates are not suitable, contact the individual teacher and organise a suitable time.
Attendance at an interview is highly desirable as it gives parents / caregivers and students the opportunity to receive more information regarding their child’s learning and their goals using the Individual Learning Plan (ILP) template. If you have already consulted your child’s teachers during the course of another learning plan and would still like to have an interview feel free to make a booking.
The conversations are scheduled for Tuesday 21 March and Wednesday 22 March.
NOTE WELL:
- The school will close early on Tuesday 21st March at 2:20pm to allow for parents and carers to access earlier time slots.
- Buses will depart at 2:30pm
- Preschool Conversations will be held at the Early Learning Centre (ELC) with Mrs Trish Horstmann on Tuesday 21st March. Thursday 23rd March and Friday 24th March by negotiation.
Mr Troy Cowland
Deputy Principal
The SRAS Swimming Carnival, held on Friday of week 2, was a brilliant way to kick start our 2023 schooling year. Having cancelled our carnival last year due to COVID, this year’s swimming carnival was extra special for students, staff and families involved.
The day began with a brilliant induction of our school leaders in the gymnasium from Craig Fromm. As a previous SRC member, house captain and school captain at SRAS, Craig highlighted the importance of these roles for our school, as well as the many life-long skills he has gained from such responsibilities. I’d like to send a huge thank you to Craig for giving up his time to induct our school leaders and setting the tone for a great day of fun, participation and competition for all involved.
There were some amazing individual and team efforts witnessed throughout our carnival. Once again, it was brilliant to see a number of students put their hand up to attempt the 100m freestyle as the opening event of the program. Many students, staff and parents took advantage of the opportunity to gain participation points for their team, when given a 15-minute break at 11am. Swimmers earned their team 1 point for every lap of the pool completed in this timeframe. Our Pre-schoolers were also able to join in with mini-sub junior events held straight after our lunch break. These events are always extremely exciting for our younger students to get their first crack at joining in with a carnival. Thank you to the parents who assisted their child with these events in the water.
Scores between the Murray Eagles and Mallee Kangaroos were highly competitive throughout the carnival. The Eagles took the early lead, before scores levelled up, and a late surge got the Mallee Kangaroos over the line. Congratulations and thank you to all students who willingly participated.
Many thanks must go to everyone involved in the organization and running of our swimming carnival. A special thank you to all of the staff for your support – everyone had a key role to play in the running of the event. Also, thank you to Richard Harper for having the pool ready and in great condition for our event this year. We also required a ‘lifeguard’ under new Department regulations – a special thank you goes out to Holly Cowland for fulfilling this role to enable us the chance to still hold our carnival this year. The school is also extremely grateful to see Holly is running after-school lessons for students to improve their swimming skills – thank you for contacting the school if you would like your child/ren to be involved.
Our amazing Parents and Friends team again kept us fed and watered. I look forward to working with them again for our upcoming Athletics day (NEXT FRIDAY…). Another thanks goes out to both Elise Horstmann and Lyn Detloff for both volunteering to support with timing and ribbons on the day.
Once again, we had huge support from parents, carers and grandparents. This adds to make for a great atmosphere and family event. Lastly, to end the day, we had our hugely iconic STAFF vs PARENTS vs STUDENTS race. In one of the most anticipated events of the last 5 years, this race simply had everything thrown at it. Word on the street is that the parents had been practicing for this event since the last swimming carnival in 2021. It seems most of their practice was put into sabotaging the staff swim, with some very questionable tactics employed to hold back the staff team’s stronger swimmers. As a result, the review officer has deemed the STAFF team as the official winners, after going back over the footage of the race. Congratulations on your huge efforts parents – let’s hope for a more cleanly swam race next year…….
Well done to the following students on winning individual trophies, medals and certificates:
|
Open Girls 100m freestyle |
Winner: Jade Durant Runner up: Maliyah Haby |
|
Open Boys 100m freestyle |
Winner: Kai Gribble Runner Up: Naite Gribble |
|
Sub Junior Girls |
Winner: Rylee Dabinet Runner up: Halle Dabinet |
|
Sub Junior Boys |
Winner: Sebastian Hartley Runner up: James Brown |
|
Junior Girls |
Winner: Charlee Bolt Runner up: Ahna Lowe |
|
Junior Boys |
Winner: Shawn Lane Runner up: Rayden Pentland McKinnon |
|
Intermediate Girls |
Winner: Maliyah Haby Runner up: Jade Durant |
|
Intermediate Boys |
Winner: Jacob Hodge Winner: Tyron Baehnk |
|
Senior Girls |
Winner: Jasmine Challenor |
|
Senior Boys |
Winner: Kai Gribble Runner up: Naite Gribble |
RMD Swimming
On Monday 20th February, SRAS had six secondary students selected to compete in the River Mallee & Districts swimming carnival event, held at Murray Bridge. For this event, students combined with Meninge Area School to form our team. Overall, students represented our school extremely well, competing against other students who are coached and are involved in swimming clubs – simply competing in this event is a huge accomplishment. Congratulations to Jazzy, Jacob, Koby, Tehya, Jade & Tommy for your selection and participation in this carnival.
SRAS Athletics Day
A quick reminder that our SRAS athletics day will be held next Friday, 3rd of March, kicking off at approximately 9am. Students will nominate their chosen events this week, so parents can expect to receive a program with your child’s events by early next week (week 5). I look forward to seeing everyone back out to support this whole-school event. I’m sure another cracking STAFF vs PARENTS vs STUDENTS contests awaits to conclude this event. If you’d like to help out with marshaling an event at our Athletics Day, thank you for contacting the school.
Mr Jayden Coleman
Sports Coordinator
The Year 7-8 Home Economics class have been busy cooking a variety of meals including sausage rolls, tacos and yabby pasta. The Year 9-10 class are working on the Pedal Prix bike in readiness for the first 6 hour race at 'The Bend' on May 20th. The Year 7-10 Agriculture class have been busy clearing the waste fruit in the orchard to comply with fruit fly restrictions after an outbreak was detected in our area.
Mr Greg Griffiths
Class Teacher
The Swan Reach Area School apparel store is now live. This means you can now order school shirts without having to go through the school. For more information contact the front office. Please allow at least 2 weeks for production and postage if required. Orders can be collected from Print City in Murray Bridge when advised.
Please find following school lunch menu and prices which are supplied by the Swan Reach General Store. We thank them for this service to the school.
We believe it is important for parents to feel comfortable when an on-site need arises. When this occurs it is important that all are aware of the restrictions of free movement around the school. This does not relate to parents who are simply dropping off or picking up their children at the beginning or end of the school day. Parents who wish/need to visit their child(ren) during the learning day or meet with staff without prior organisation must check in at the Front Office first. DfE site safety policy mandates that we know who is on site, at all times during the day, in case of an emergency and to keep ALL children safe.
Due date for the next Newsletter is 10:00am, Wednesday March 8th, 2023. The newsletter is distributed via the SZApp and school website. Printed copies are still available upon request.
Articles can be emailed to dl.0423.info@schools.sa.edu.au clearly marked in the subject box as Newsletter, faxed to 8570 2325 or delivered to the library/front office. Due to the way the Newsletter is now being set up, not all photos are included in the print copy, however there are several photo galleries included online and via the SZApp. Apple devices: open the App store and search and download SZapp, on Android devices open the Play store and search and download SZappa; select the Asia Pacific region and search for Swan Reach Area School. Follow the prompts to register using an email address and create a password to access the online newsletter. Contact the school should you require any assistance.
The Swan Reach Area School website is where you can find all the school information including the newsletter, forms and policies. Please visit https://swanrchas.sa.edu.au.
OPENING HOURS
The library now has a mobile phone for communication. Please let me know if you would like to be included on the message list to receive notifications, holiday and opening hours etc.
The number is: 0460 366 067
COVID-19 DIGITAL PASSPORTS
Can't access your digital passport or load on your phone? The Community Library can scan your paperwork and reduce to credit card size for your wallet or purse. No charge.
LIBRARY MOBILE APP
On days where a Catastrophic Fire Danger rating is forecasted:
- All school bus routes travelling through any affected Fire Ban District(s) will be cancelled
- School will still be open and lessons will run as normal
- If the Fire Ban rating changes to ‘Catastrophic’ during the day, school buses will operate as normal, unless advised otherwise by authorised Emergency Services personnel
If a bushfire is reported in the area during the day:
- Affected bus runs will not to leave the school until the roads are declared safe by emergency services authorities
- Parents will be notified and students will be supervised at school, until buses can run, or until parents are able to collect their children
| 28 February | NAPLAN practice. |
| 3 March | SRAS Athletics Sports Day. |
| 10 March | Student Free Day |
| 13 March | Public Holiday, Adelaide Cup. |
| 15-17 March | NAPLAN. |
| 20 March | Governing Council/Finance Meeting. |
| 21/22 March | 3 -Way conversations. |
| 7 April | Public Holiday, Good Friday. |
| 10 April | Public Holiday, Easter Monday. |
| 14 April | End of term, early dismissal. |
| 1 May | Term 2 Starts. |
COMMUNITY NOTICES
Swan Reach Christian Women's Group invite you to join them for Bible study and fellowship each month. 11am, second Tuesday of the Month at the Swan Reach Lutheran Church Hall. BYO lunch. For more information please phone Taryn 0427 702 377 or Josie 0419 708 224. All welcome.
