30 January 2020

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Hello Swan Reach,

It was wonderful to see and hear an exciting buzz from the students at assembly on Tuesday morning. It was also nice to have many reception students’ families join us to share the first ‘official’ schooling minutes with their children. 2020 presents a timely opportunity for SRAS staff to further implement and embed the department’s ambitious plans to ensure growth for every learner in every class. Whilst ALL areas of ALL subjects are important, SRAS is confident in our specific and highly focussed goals of improving students’:

• Reading - especially Comprehension for Reception to year 12s
• Numeracy – especially Place Value for year 2 -10s
• Reading – especially Oral language, Phonemic Awareness and Vocabulary in Preschool to year 3s

We look forward to regularly communicating with our community about teaching and learning cycles because what we are targeting shouldn’t be and isn’t a secret. Our Site Improvement Plan (SIP) explicitly details our plan and strategies for the 3 goals listed above. Once finalised, it will be available for your information on our website.

WELCOME

We warmly welcome our new reception students and their families, moving on from preschool – Halle, Rylee, Bailey, Sienna, George and Macie. It was lovely to see your enthusiasm regarding this special event for you.

We also welcome Karl, who joins our year 7/8 cohort and Mrs Jill Lienert who will be supporting students in the 1-3 class.

COMMUNICATION

Term 1 is always hectic with swimming, athletics, new timetables and new routines. The need for on-going and positive communication, between school and home and visa-versa, will enable the best positive start for ALL.

Thank you for making time to keep in contact with staff and share information that is affecting, or may affect your child’s education. There are a number of ways to communicate with teachers—phone, texts, email, diaries, meetings and communication folders are the most effective means. Taking 5 mins to check diaries and communication folders is a quick way to keep in touch - even with older students! Let’s remain connected through timely communication as your child(ren) and our students deserve our ongoing collaboration .

Circumstances such as address, telephone numbers and students’ needs often change over the holidays. If this is so, thank you for updating details with our office staff

SCHOOL CAPTAINS

Congratulations to Michael and Kailem on their appointment as School Captains for 2020. They’ll be well-supported by our proxy captains, Dalton and Olivia. We look forward to their leadership over the year and input into improving SRAS for ALL students.

PARENT VISITORS ON SITE

We believe it is important for parents to feel comfortable when on site when the 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.

COMPUTER ALLOCATIONS

SRAS is fortunate to be able to provide 1:1 computer use for each student. Each student will be allocated a computer to use and be responsible for. As part of this scheme they will each sign a computer use agreement. Thanks for going through the agreement with your children to help them understand their responsibilities. While this need is becoming more a necessity for 21st Century learning, it is a privilege and not a right. A reminder for all parents and students to keep in mind Cyber Safety. The key message to adhere to when using Internet and computers is to be respectful and responsible users.

BUSHFIRE PROCEDURES ON CATASTROPHIC DAYS

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

GOVERNING COUNCIL (GC) AGM

You are cordially invited to our GC AGM on Mon 17th Feb at SRAS. There will be a free BBQ tea after a Finance Committee meeting to approve our 2020 budget. Times for the AGM, BBQ and finance meeting will be in the next newsletter and also posted on our phone app and facebook pages.

There are positions needing to be filled or re-filled. Being on GC is an important and great way to support your child(ren) and our school. Nomination forms for SRAS GC membership will go out in the next newsletter. There are 2 options to nominate:

• self-nominate to be a GC member
• nominate a peer to be a GC member

All office bearer positions – Chairperson, Treasurer and Secretary – are open to nomination and voting processes at the AGM.

Mr John Robertson
Principal

EARLY CHILDHOOD IMMUNISATION REQUIREMENTS

From January 2020, early childhood services are required to keep immunisation records for children. Parents and guardians with children enrolled in a government early childhood service (eg Preschool, rural care, occasional care, family day care or respite care service) will be asked to provide approved immunisation records for their child. Please contact the school if you have questions or concerns.

Meningococcal Vaccination

Important Information for parents and students re Meningococcal Vaccination

The free Meningococcal B catch-up program has been extended until 29th February 2020 for young adults, who were aged 17 to less than 21 years when the program started on 1 February 2019.

The Meningococcal ACWY is offered through the school program to 14 -16-year-old in year 10 however students aged 15 to less than 20 years of age who have not received the vaccine are able to access this vaccine through an ongoing GP and council clinic program.

The Meningococcal ACWY and Meningococcal B vaccines are available from G. Ps or your local council immunisation service for students who missed the opportunity at school to access these free vaccines.

From January to November 2019 there were 26 cases of invasive meningococcal disease reported in South Australia, compared to 30 cases recorded at the same time last year. Of the 26 cases in 2019, 18 have been serogroup B, four serogroup Y, and four serogroup W.

Ref; SA Health Media release 21 November 219

Help put a stop to this devastating disease.

Students or parents may phone HAIMS 8152 0363 if they have any questions relating to this notice.

LEADERSHIP INDUCTION

The Student Representative Council, House Captains and School Captain induction ceremony will be held on Friday, February 7th, in the Gym at 9:15 am, prior to the Swimming Carnival. All inductees are asked to wear school uniform for this presentation.

SRAS SWIMMING CARNIVAL

The 2020 SRAS swimming carnival will be held next Friday, 7th February. The long-term weather forecast looks very promising; hopefully we are set for a great day of fun, participation and competitive spirit. The swimming carnival will be formally opened with our school leader’s induction at 9:15am in the school gymnasium. Thank you for joining us as we congratulate these students. I am excited to see the return of several new events which were a great success in last year’s carnival. These included; big bomb, diving competition and yabbies in the deep end. I am also excited to announce the addition of ‘the big tube’ to this year’s carnival. As usual, the mini sub junior events will be a huge hit, especially with the addition of our preschoolers (preschool students). This year, the mini’s program will run in its own timeslot from approximately 12:00-12:30pm. If parents wish to bring in their child/ren for this event, they’ll need to arrive by 11:30am. The mini’s events will be followed by a 30-minute lunch break. Our amazing Parents & Friends team will be cooking a BBQ if you wish to purchase your lunch on the day. Interested parents are also invited to bring their bathers if they wish to compete in the staff vs parent vs student relay at the end of the day. Be warned, it will take a big effort to knock off the staff as the reigning champions of this event. I look forward to seeing everyone out in a sea of red and blue colours next Friday. Go Murray Eagles and Mallee Kangaroos.

Mr Jayden Coleman
Sports Coordinator

PARENTS AND FRIENDS NEWS

Welcome back. We are off and running. Swimming Carnival will be our first catering event for the year next Friday. A sausage sizzle and ice creams will be available during the lunch break so don’t forget to bring some lunch money. If anyone wants to get involved jump on the Parents and Friends Facebook page and send us a message. Everyone welcome. Bring on 2020! Have a great week.

Mardi Le Brun
Secretary

MID MURRAY COUNCIL AUSTRALIA DAY AWARDS

On Sunday, 26 January the Mid Murray Council presented the Australia Day Awards and the MaryAnne Reserve, Mannum. Miss Rohie Griffiths was the award winner for Young Citizen of the Year, and the Swan Reach Progress Association received the award for the Community Event of the Year (Ski for Life luncheon/presentation). Congratulations to all recipients for their contribution to our local community and district.

SRAS WEBSITE

The Swan Reach Area School website is where you can find all the school information including the newsletter, forms and polices. Please visit the link below.

NEWSLETTER INFORMATION

Due Date for the next Newsletter is 10:00am, Tuesday 11 February, 2020. 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.

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 Katie O’Shaughnessy at the school on 8570 2053.

P-CMG

Parent Mother Goose sessions will return to Swan Reach. All details are being finalised and more information will be available soon.

Coming Events 2020

Community Notice Board