SWAN REACH AREA SCHOOL NEWSLETTER

22 August 2019

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Principal’s Report

Hello from Mt Hotham! We are midway through term 3 already. Time has really flown by. It is at this crucial stage of the year that our Year 10 and 11 students need to start planning and selecting their subject choices for 2020. This can be a stressful time for parents and students as many are still not sure of their career path. For these students my advice is to pick subjects that interest you and that you are going to be the most successful in, and keep your options open. Enjoy your week everyone.

Mr Troy Cowland
Acting Principal

Early Learning Centre NEWS

We are lucky enough to have Miss Shailey Coleman helping us out in the kindy this term. Shailey is a former student and SSO and is doing her observation hours in the kindy as she is working towards her Certificate 3 in Education Support, specialising in Early Childhood. Shailey bought her baby, Everly in for a visit last week, which the children loved.

The R-1 Class visit the ELC every Thursday morning. This week they all eagerly lined up to get their bike licenses so they could join the kindy children on the bike track. Bike riding is a very popular activity at the kindy. We have a few bikes now, but if anyone has any spare at home (need to be in excellent condition) that your children have outgrown we would love to check them out if you would like to donate them. Three-wheelers and 30-40 cm bikes with or without training wheels would be perfect!

During one of the R/1 visits, we invited Sally and Rylee to teach the children the Ngarrindjeri Welcome Song. Sally gave an excellent outline of what a “Welcome to Country” is all about, and Rylee lead the song for everyone to join in with. Everyone had a turn to tap the beat with the clapsticks while Rylee demonstrated a mini didgeridoo.

We have had a couple of cooking sessions over the last few weeks. We cooked pasta bake one week and ricotta fritters another. Children learn so many numeracy and literacy skills when helping with cooking, it’s worth the extra time it takes to get them involved. We also had a visit to Mr Griffiths Technology building. Children were amazed at the machinery and grateful for the wood that Mr Griffiths donated to our carpentry bench.

The Kindergarten students will be involved in the Book Week activity morning next Friday morning, as well as Parents and Friends Lunch Day. Please send orders in by the due date. An order form was sent home last week-one per family.

Book Week Dress Up Day- Friday, August 30th
Parade-12.15pm in front of the primary classrooms

Mrs Trish Horstmann
Primary and Early Years Leader

YEAR 2-5 BOOK REPORTS

Students in the Year 2-5 class has been busy reading lots of book and then reporting on the stories.

MIXED NETBALL CARNIVAL

Years 7,8,9 and 10 students competed in the annual mixed netball competition last Friday. The event was held at Mannum and involved multiple mini games against other schools including Karoonda, Mannum and Lameroo. All students participated with enthusiasm and represented the school with pride. We were fortunate enough to finish second for the day as we only lost just one game. Well done to all students who made the day a success.

Mr Alex Pfieffer
PE Teacher

PRIMARY NEWS

The Primary students have been very engaged in dance sessions over the last two weeks. These sessions are run by Cara from Footsteps Dance Company. So far our budding dancers have learnt about using their space in 3D, different timing in music and how to apply that to dance, and have learnt a partner hip-hop dance. We are looking forward to what dance moves the next two sessions bring.

This week is Book Week but, as we have on other years, we have decided to have our celebration day next week. This gives us two weeks to immerse the students in literacy activities based on the nominated books, culminating in an art and craft activity morning and dress up parade next Friday. We are then able to have it coincide with Parents and Friends lunch day. If parents are available, they can come help put with lunch preparation in the canteen, watch the dress up parade, and then help with serving lunch.

BOOK WEEK DRESS UP DAY

Friday, August, 30th, 2019

PARADE COMMENCING AT 12.15PM in front of the Primary classes

Attached are some photos that went missing from my last report. Also please have a read of the next Child Protection Curriculum Overview. This week we feature years 3-5 and years 6-9. I encourage all parents of year 5 and above to attend the Shine information session on Thursday 29th August and to ask any questions you might have regarding this particular Child Protection Curriculum program.

Primary Years: Years 3–5

Middle Years: Years 6–9

Mrs Trish Horstmann
Primary and Early Years Leader

Primary Design & Technology

Over the last two weeks the 2-5 class were set the task of designing and building a bridge that could withstand the most weight possible. The students could only work with glue and the popsicle sticks provided. They had to ensure that their bridge was a minimum of 30cm in length. Students experimented with many different design ideas to find which would be the most effective and strongest bridge. Our experiment revealed that we needed maximum support in the middle of the bridge, since this is where the majority of the weight will be distributed. Incredibly, our strongest bridge was able to withstand the weight of 45kg before breaking – quite impressive for a bridge made from popsicle sticks and glue!

Mr Jayden Coleman
2-5 Design and Tech Teacher

Science

As part of a Science Week activity, last Monday the year 10 science students were working on an evolutionary timeline of ‘life’. Thanks to the help of Mrs R and her 2-5 class, the year 10 students were able to make a gigantic timeline measured out with sheets of toilet paper. All up, the timeline consisted of 230 sheets of toilet paper; each sheet representing 20 million years on the scale. We had 12 key events spread across our timeline which shaped evolution – starting with the formation of Earth (approximately 4.6 billion year ago) right through to the first homosapien (approximately 200 thousand years ago). Although the weather wasn’t particularly on our side for rolling out sheets of toilet paper, the activity was a great visual way of illustrating the significant events which have shaped evolution as we know it today.

Mr Jayden Coleman
Secondary Science Teacher

SHINE PROGRAM
IMPORTANT INFORMATION NIGHT FOR PARENTS

Our school has been using SHine (Relationships and Sexual Health) Program as a core part of our Health (Growth and Development) in Year 5 to Year 10. SHine is a requirement of the curriculum in accordance with the Department for Education, with staff fully trained to deliver the program. We would like to have an information night for this program to introduce parents and families to the SHine program. Jill Spurling from SHine SA will be our guest speaker. It will be on Thursday 29th August from 4:30pm.

Please indicate if you wish to attend this session either via phone or text to the school so that the appropriate arrangements can be made.

Mrs Yuka Endersby & Mrs Sarah Bolt
Primary HPE Teachers

SCHOOL UNIFORM-

We have some sample winter pants in the Front Office for you to look at and make comment on. They are fleecy lined inside with easy low pill fabric on the outer. These would be a warmer winter alternative to the microfibre pants we offer now. They are:

• Double stitched
• Tailored leg for modern fit
• Elasticised drawcord waist
• Secure zip coin pocket
• Price would be $25.00 (same as microfibre ones)

Come into the Front Office and have a look and feel. We have various sizes to try and we only have

these samples for a short time so drop in and check them out.

Mrs Tracey Gierke
Finance Officer

BOOK WEEK 2019

This year we will celebrate Book Week on Friday 30th August. The theme is “Reading is My Super Power”, so students are encouraged to dress up as their favourite super hero or book character. Students will be involved in a book week parade (12:15 pm in front of the primary classrooms) and classroom activities in the morning. This also coincides with Parents and Friends Lunch Day and the SRC Father’s Day stall.

SRC NEWS

The SRC will be running a Father’s Day Stall at lunch time on Friday 30th August (Book Week celebrations and Parents and Friends Lunch Day). Good quality gifts will be available for purchase ranging from 50c to $5.00.

WHEEL TO WALK

PARENTS AND FRIENDS NEWS

Parents & Friends Lunch Day
Week 6. Friday 30th August.

Get your orders in by this Friday.

Honey Soy Chicken Noodles with veggies.
Small serve $3. Large serve $5
Pizzas. Ham and Cheese, BBQ Chicken and Hawaiian. $3.50

Special surprise for all superheroes!!!!!

Everyone welcome.

NEWSLETTER INFORMATION

Due Date for the next Newsletter is 10:00am, Tuesday 3rd September 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.

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 3 dates – beginning July 30, and Weeks 4,6,8,10 thereafter.

Coming Events

Community Notice Board

Kids Club

3:15pm-4:30pm FRIDAY 30th August 2019 and 20th September, 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.

Australian National Maritime Museum at the Swan Reach Town Hall

The exhibition “Submerged – Stories of Australia’s Shipwrecks” will be open from June-August from 10am-3pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays. Free Entry

Budgies for Sale

$8 each, all colours. Phone 8562 5034. Can deliver to Swan Reach.

Joyful Noise – Girls Night Out

Old Barn – Open Mic

The next Open Mic will be Sunday 1st September.

Women of the River