23 July 2020

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

Hello Swan Reach,

It was fantastic to open the school and have our parents and carers join in our end of term 2 assembly. Staff and students have certainly missed the closer contact with our families onsite and it was great to share our students’ learning and talents. Well done to all students receiving certificates for attendance, academic achievement and You Can Do It skills (Organisation, Confidence, Getting Along, Persistence and Resilience). Congratulations too, to our student performers – the Preschool and Receptions with their Ngarrindjeri song and Olivia with her modern dance solo.

Indeed, it was pleasing to celebrate with our community the teaching and learning successes after a tough couple of terms. We have the confidence that whatever the uncertain future holds, especially regarding COVID-19, SRAS has the collaboration, skills and determination to continue with our core business – teaching and learning.

We farewelled Mr Peter Jesser and it was wonderful to hear students’ comments about him and his teaching. SRAS is keen to continue the Arts (including Music) legacy he established. The Arts are fantastic for students’ creativity and deep, meaningful connections with learning and real-life applications. We thank Peter for his donation of an original canvas that is proudly on display in the front office.

COVID-19 UPDATE

It is terrific that SA is experiencing easing of restrictions that allow SRAS to re-open a number of services. These include:

• Playgroup
• Occasional Care
• Parent Child Mother Goose (PCMG)
• Normal Community Library hours
• Assemblies
• Intra state excursions
• Most school sports
• Volunteers onsite

We know the importance to maintain our COVID-19 free environment and thank you for following the advice below given to schools and preschools by Chief Public Health Officer Nicola Spurrier, based on the current COVID-19 risk level in South Australia:

• Parents / Cares and Volunteers staying onsite for an extended period (eg Playgroup, PCMG, meetings) must sign at the front office with a COVID-19 site entry form.
• Community members accessing the library must sign in on the community library register
• All adults onsite need to continue adhering to social distancing and hygiene practices – using sanitiser and covering coughs and sneezes
• If you’re unwell, or you have symptoms of COVID-19, cold or flu, no matter how mild – this applies to staff, students, parents, carers and volunteers (ALL) we thank you for staying home.

As we have seen, the COVID-19 pandemic can be unpredictable. It’s important we remain well prepared.

School and preschool staff must:

• Have the most up-to-date contact details (including phone number) for all parents/carers so they can be quickly contacted in the event of a temporary closure or regional closure.
• For term 3, the department intend to maintain extra cleaning but stop the additional after hours shift and daily cleaning of playground equipment.

SCHOOL-HOME COMMUNICATION

Communication is paramount in education. Whether it is teacher to student, student to student, teacher to teacher, teacher to parent, teacher to admin or admin to parent, or vice versa, communication is needed to make sure our students are successful.

Governing Council (GC) members discussed and shared a few ideas to further improve school-home communication. It is evident that some families receive more communication from school than others. This is the same for SRAS, with some families making more contact than others.

The following actions are a result of this discussion and SRAS is thankful for GC input into this essential and ongoing need.

• SRAS encourages parents and carers to initiate contact with staff regarding their child(ren)’s learning and wellbeing, beyond 3-Way Conferences. This can be done by phoning or messaging the school to arrange a suitable phone or face-to-face meeting
• An overview of the main topics being taught and learnt in each class and subject will be sent home at the beginning of each term
• Our newsletter and face book page are key communication modes
• Our SMS alert system is used to notify of any major changes or upcoming important events and notices

WELLBEING PRIMARY

The Mannum Hub is re-connecting its services with SRAS through Seasons for growth, Drum Beat and Stormbirds sessions. These will be for the 1-3 and 4-6 classes. This term they’ll run one session of Seasons for Growth and Drumbeat and in term 4 one session of Drumbeat and Stormbirds, on Friday afternoons.

Seasons for Growth is an innovative, evidence-based change, loss and grief education program that draws on the metaphor of the seasons to understand the experience of grief. It builds the knowledge and skills necessary to strengthen social and emotional wellbeing following significant loss by:

• Exploring the impact of change and loss
• Learning about effective ways to respond and adapt

Participants learn that they are not alone in their experience of change, loss and grief, and are able to build their communication, decision making and problem solving skills within the context of a safe and supportive peer group learning environment.

The Drumbeat program is a behavioural intervention that explores a wide range of relationship issues that impact on healthy lives. The program has a strong evidence base with outcomes including reductions in anti-social behaviour and increased levels of mental health well-being. Among the different relationship themes tackled by the program are several that directly confront bullying and assist students implement strategies to reduce its prevalence in the schoolyard and through cyberspace.

Stormbirds provides an opportunity for children and young people who have experienced a natural disaster to share their experiences of change and loss in safe and creative ways, understand and attend to their feelings, and learn skills for adapting and recovering. This takes place in an atmosphere of like-to-like peer support. This will assist students to openly discuss and share the effects of COVID-19.

WELLBEING SECONDARY

Murray Bridge CentaCare, through their Supporting Children and Youth (SCY) program is scheduled to facilitate its RAGE program for up to 6 secondary students in term 4. The RAGE Program runs for 6 weeks and helps young people understand their anger, where they feel it in their body, how they can express it in a healthy way and what strategies are useful for them to use.

It is wonderful that these external agencies are reaching out to SRAS and can provide much needed services for our students. It is affirming that SRAS has connected with these service providers through our WeMatter initiative and wellbeing plan.

Families wishing to know more about outreach support services available are encouraged to contact the principal on 8570 2053.

Mr John Robertson
Principal

Subject Selections 2021

It’s that exciting time of the year where our year 10 and 11 students decide what subjects they wish to undertake in 2021. We invite you to be actively involved in this process with your son/daughter in the following ways:

• Engage in rich discussions with them about their aspirations and possible plans for their future
• Help them decide what they enjoy doing and what they’re good at to identify potentially suitable career path options
• Discuss their study strengths and areas for improvement as they have demonstrated during their time at school
• Talk with them about the information and ideas they considered in their Personal Learning Plan

Subject selection interviews are being held during week 1 of Term 3 on Wednesday 22/7, Thursday 23/7 and Friday 24/7 from 9:30am-4:30pm. Thank you for informing the school with a time and date that suits. If you are unable to attend you can book in for a phone link up.

Mr Troy Cowland
Deputy Principal

Parents and Friends Report

The parents and friends have missed being on site for the students. We will be holding a meeting next week to gather our ideas for the remainder of the year. Last term and this year is a time we will definitely look back on later in life and understand the meaning of resilience. We hope you all have had a wonderful break and are looking forward to doing a special lunch day this term. Next P&F meeting will be at 10.30am in the library on Friday 31st 2020. All welcome.

Cheers,
Mardi Le Brun
Secretary P&F

PLAYGROUP RE-OPEN

Kovee, Tate, Holly and Jasmine enjoyed re-connecting with our early years playgroup session. Holly and Jasmine commented that it is fantastic to be able to get back out into the community and encourage other families to attend on Tuesdays starting @10am. Tate loves the ELC and his excitement in running to class with the Receptions shows the benefits of his Preschool sessions and his readiness for school. Kovee loved playing on the playground.

IMMUNISATION EVIDENCE REQUEST NOTICE

SCHOOL LUNCH ORDERS

We thank the Swan Reach General Store for supplying lunch orders for the school. The menu and ordering details are below. Please note there are no lunch orders available on Wednesdays.

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 4th August, 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. Every Tuesday 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.

For more information contact the school on 8570 2053.

P-CMG/Playgroup

Parent Mother Goose sessions will soon return to Swan Reach in the Early Learning Centre. Dates and times to be advised. 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 lead a relaxed session for parents and children with a play and coffee and chat after. Sessions are free and there is no booking involved!

Coming Events 2020

Community Notices

Community Library Hours

We are back to normal

It is expected that we will return to normal hours after the holidays, 20th July 2020.

Top of the Town Op Shop

Lutheran Community Care Support Services