16 May 2019

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPALS REPORT

Hello Swan Reach,

Hoping the brief rain was kind to those most in need and that more will come your way soon. A number have commented that it’s been one of the driest periods they can remember. We empathise with the difficulty and struggle experienced by those on the land due to the dryness.

NAPLAN ONLINE

All the best to our year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students as they undertake the NAPLAN tests this week – you can do it! Whilst the tests attract scrutiny from some aspects of media, they provide an opportunity for students to participate in test conditions that they’ll experience in later years and a chance to display their knowledge and understandings gained to date.

GOVERNIING COUNCIL

The council welcomes newly nominated and elected member, Claire Durant. The somewhat new-look council will share more about their functions and roles for our school in the next newsletter.

John Robertson
Principal

EARLY LEARNING CENTRE NEWS

The ELC children invited “all the special ladies in their lives,” to a Mother’s Day Afternoon in the ELC last Friday. Mums, Nannas/Grandmas, Aunties and Sisters attended and enjoyed a great afternoon together. The children baked biscuits that morning and lots of different activities were out for ladies do with their children. We made cupcakes the day before, so they needed to be decorated at the cupcake decorating table.

A relaxing massage room was set up and the children were upskilled in the art of back and head massages to deliver to their special ladies. Of course, the children all managed to get massages given to them as well! Our ‘Nail Painting’ table was loved by all, as well as the yoga area and puzzles table. We had some beautiful painted artwork and lots of participants in Mother/Child Yoga! Special memories were captured at the photo booth. Thank you to everyone that was able to come and we hope you had fun and a beautiful Mother’s Day.

Trish Horstmann
Pre School Teacher

Year 12 Food & Hospitality Picnic

As a part of our assessment for term 1, we needed to create various foods for a picnic, showing that some foods can be high risk, if not prepared properly. On Thursday last term, our Year 12 Food and Hospitality class cooked a range of foods suited for a picnic. We (Madison, Sally, Amanda, Mr Tun and his nephew) went down to the reserve with our prepared foods. We all had a good time eating everything we created and drinking our punch we made. For the picnic, Sally made some delicious chicken cold rolls with peanut dipping sauce. Amanda made some scrumptious profiteroles and Madison made some show stopping bacon, cheese and pesto scrolls, she also made prawn cocktail rolls. It was a great way to finish the term off! The food we cooked turned out great and we’re sure we will get an A for the task.

by Madison, Sally and Amanda.

INSIDE THE CLASSROOM

This week I stopped to have a look into Mr Coleman’s Stage 1 English class. They were working on a text analysis by studying the book ‘The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas’. This assessment requires the students to explain the cultural context, novel structure, use of language and the dramatic irony of the text. Stage 1 English is a year long compulsory subject completed in year 11.

Troy Cowland
Deputy Principal

PARENTS & FRIENDS NEWS

With a little bit of a rocky start a new energised Parents and Friends has emerged and is raring to go! Our new committee has Hayley Griffiths as President, Mardi Le Brun as Secretary, Liz Woodgate as Treasurer and members Liz Haby, Tash Wightman, Shona Haby, Somma Donald, Kristy Castle and Claire Durant.

We have hosted and survived our first lunch day on Friday of Week 2! All reports have been very positive and we are keen to host a few more over the rest of the year. We will be looking for feedback and future menu suggestions from the students so make sure you get any ideas into the SRC. Our next event will be hosting the Biggest Morning Tea on May 31st @ 10 am in the library. All P&F members will be there ready for a chat and a cuppa. Please come along and meet the new committee and support a great cause. If anyone would like more information about Parents and Friends or think you would love to get involved please get in contact with Hayley Griffiths or myself. Looking forward to our future.

Mardi Le Brun
P&F Secretary

INFORMATION FOR PARENTS

If your child has the ‘flu’ (which is a contagious infection) the Department for Education requires a medical certificate to verify the case. The child/children should remain home until well.

A Free Online Parenting Seminar “The secrets of raising beautifully behaved children” will be webcast on Wednesday 22nd May 2019 between 7pm and 9pm. Please check out the information sheet for more information.

WOOLWORTHS EARN & LEARN PROMOTION

Thanks to everyone who has sent “Earn and Learn”stickers to the front office. There has been an amazing response and we are very appreciative. Keep them coming in!

PEDAL PRIX – BLACK SWAN RACING

On Sunday 5th of May 2019 the Black Swan Racing Pedal Prix team ventured to Loxton for our first race of the season.

Martin, Dalton, Lochlan, Ryan, Harley, Briannah and Kai all competed fiercely and clocked up some excellent lap times. It was Harley’s first race in the bike. The Loxton track is 1.4km in distance and Ryan cycled the fastest time of 2m:12s which was the first lap of the day. The best average lap time was 2m:52s which was achieved by Kai. Overall the team came 7th out of 25 in their category and 53rd out of a field of 119 bikes.

Allisandra and Angelina came along to support their comrades and to help out on the day with timing rider’s laps, and helping to keep them hydrated.

We would like to thank Mr Tun and his Home Ec class for generously supplying delicious food for everyone. Mr Carter and Mrs Griffiths supported the team and it was great to see some of the Swan Reach Area School staff members at the track. We would also like to thank Cassie Wiebrecht for taking photographs and filming the team in action.

Check out the link below to view Cassie’s Videos.

Throughout the day the students applied life-long learning skills to achieve the most successful results to date.

Organisation - Getting to the bus on time, having equipment ready and being prepared to race.
Resilience – Working tough, especially through the uphill climb.
Getting Along - Working as a team, encouraging everyone, pitching in to help with setting up and then packing up the gear and trailer.
Confidence – Using a positive attitude to achieve personal and team goals.
Persistence - Not giving up and putting in effort for better lap times.

Our next race will be the 28th of July at Victoria Park, Adelaide and the 24-hour race is at Murray Bridge the 21st and 22nd of September.

Greg Griffiths
Team Manager

SRC REPORT

Last Thursday and Friday the SRC held a Mother’s Day stall. We offered this to the students as an easier way to get their mother/carer a gift. The day was successful and all the gifts were sold. We hope everyone had a lovely Mother’s Day.

SAPSASA ATHLETICS

SAPSASA Athletics was held at Unity College on Monday 6th May 2019. Overall the day was fantastic and the students were terrific. They all participated with great spirit and proudly represented the school.

Results:

Narelle Griffiths – 3rd in 800m, 1st Long Jump 3.75m, (13 year old girls).
Jacob Hodge – 4th High Jump, 1st Discus, 5th Shot Put 6.59m (11 year old boys).
Shana McNeil – Equal 1st High Jump, 3rd 200m, 2nd 100m (13 year old girls).
Koby Bolt – 5th Long Jump (11 year old boys).
Tommy Trezise Donald, Ella Johnson and Leslie Harris were all valuable participants on the day.

We came 4th in the Handicap Shield (8 students participating), and 9th overall with Mypolonga winning the competition.

JAPANESE EXCHANGE

Unfortunately Hineno High School in Osaka, Japan the school that has been coming to Swan Reach for last 10 years plus, is no longer involved in the language exchange program. I would like to take this opportunity to say a huge “Thank you” to all the families and the school communities who were involved in this program. We are still planning to have an Undoukai (Japanese sports Day).

Yuka Endersby
Japanese Teacher

NEWSLETTER INFORMATION

Due Date for the next Newsletter is 10:00am, Tuesday 28 May 2019. Please note that as from this term the newsletter will be 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. Check out the details below to subscribe and get all the latest news from the school.

Playgroup

Swan Reach Playgroup at SRAS Early Learning Centre. Tuesdays during term time 10am-12pm. All children birth to school age are welcome for indoor and outdoor play. Please wear sun-smart clothing, bring a hat, water bottle and fruit/veg to share for healthy snack time. $2 per session, per family. Contact Kristy Castle 0438857721

P-CMG

Parent-Child Mother Goose at SRAS Early Learning Centre. From 10am selected Thursdays during term (usually fortnightly). PCMG is a chance to get out of the house for babies and toddlers and their carers. Bond with your children and have fun using the power of songs, rhymes and stories. Trained facilitators Kristy and Claire lead a relaxed session for parents and children with a play and coffee n chat after. Sessions are free and there is no booking involved! Contact Kristy Castle 0438857721

Term 2 dates – beginning May 2, and Weeks 3,5,7,9 thereafter.

Coming Events

Community Notice Board

Kids Club

3:15pm-4:30pm FRIDAY 17th May 2019, at the Swan Reach Lutheran Hall. For Reception to Year 6 students. Cost $1. Enquiries Phone Taryn 0427 702 377 or Kristy 0438 857 721.

Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea

Parents and Friends will be hosting Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea on Friday May 31st @ 10 am in the library. All community and school members are invited to come along. Please bring a plate of food to share. There will also be an opportunity to meet the P&F members and enjoy a chat and a cuppa, while supporting a great cause.