Yankalilla Area School eNewsletter

A note from the Principal

Hello everyone,

This promises to be a busy term with the year 4/5 camp, Outdoor Education Camp, Year 11 Tourism Camp, R-6 Inquiry Based Learning Showcase, Middle- years aquatics, graduations, transition meetings for students and Senior School exams. As well as all the pre- Christmas festivities!

Staff have been reviewing our most recent NAPLAN data to create improved learning opportunities for students. You should have received a copy of your child’s NAPLAN results at the end of last term. Please contact the school if you have not received these.

I had the pleasure of being one of the judges for the Numeracy ‘Inquiry Based Learning Showcase’. Students impressed the judges with their creative ideas and it was great to see so many confident presenters. Thanks to Emma Zimmerman for her work in organising the showcase.

We are continually navigating the COVID situation through the WH&S committee. This team meets regularly to discuss and review processes and requirements directed by SA Health and the Department for Education. Thank you for your flexibility and support following these directives over the last 18 months. In accordance with the current DfE update masks are no longer required to be worn in schools for staff and students.

We welcome parents back to the quadrangle area at drop off and pick up times. Parents must enter through the front office, QR code and wear masks. We appreciate your cooperation with this.

Great news! We have purchased equipment to live stream our end of term assembly, more details to come.

Finally, we wish every one of our year 12 students the best of luck with their exams and final assessments in the coming weeks: you have the whole school community behind you.

Until next time, Sonia

Arbury Park Outdoor School Camp

In Week 2 the Year 4 and 5's went to Arbury Park Outdoor School for a 3-day camp. Day 1 consisted of hiking into the campgrounds from the Bridgewater Oval with our amazing Arbury leader, Paul! From there we split into our dorm groups and were shown around the grounds before playing some games to become familiar with the maps and where everything was. It was lots of fun! After a delicious dinner (we were very well fed throughout the whole camp!), we played some Pictionary, did a night walk and enjoyed a Milo and biscuits for supper before climbing into bed.

Day 2 was jam packed! The students were split into their day groups and participated in Aboriginal cultures and team building games before lunch. In the afternoon they all played the Web of Life game (which was a crowd favourite) and then got to choose between a hike, orienteering or nature art to finish off the planned activities for the day. After dinner we had a bonfire where we played games, cooked damper on sticks and roasted marshmallows. Yum!

The third and final day started with us splitting into our day groups once again and participating in plant propagation and exploring freshwater life. It was fascinating! We had our final meal at Arbury Park before catching the bus back to school.

It was an amazing 3 days with great staff, wonderful leaders and a fantastic group of students!

With community support, our school was lucky enough to secure funding to implement the Hoops4Life program in the Middle Years. H4L promotes the wellbeing of students by inspiring, engaging and encouraging them on life's lessons through the game of basketball. Through students' participation, they learn how to develop, enhance and maintain life skills such as: effective communication, self-management, emotional control and management skills, problem solving and decision making, resilience, self-belief, self-worth and confidence.

The 20 students involved are off to a fine start. During a double lesson each week with Coach Kara and Coach Dut, they are drilled hard and given quite a workout! They are already learning lots of valuable lessons and starting to come together as a team. I can’t wait to follow their journey. Take a look at a couple of action shots!!

Jane Joshua

Rotation Drama - The Grinch is stealing Normanville's Christmas!

This rotation, the drama group are working on a performance of The Grinch for the R-5 classes, with a local twist. We have been learning lines and creating dance routines in readiness for a performance in week 8. Fantastic props have been made on the laser cutter by Mr Owen, adding to the festivities. With Abby performing as The Grinch and Mexie as Cindy-lou and the rest of the Grinchster cast, the JP classes are in for a big dose of Grinchy Christmas!

STEM Showcase of Learning

Throughout the year, Primary students have been working on a variety of STEM inquiry learning tasks related to the theme 'Coastal Communities' and connected to the Sustainable Development Goals. As a class, teachers and students selected the top 3 entries to share their learning at our YAS STEM Showcase of Learning.

The following students were awarded with first place and their entries are progressing to the Fleurieu STEAM Expo next Wednesday at Victor Harbor Primary:

Reception – Ameia

Year 1 - Queenie

Year 2 - Ella, Evie, Sophia

Year 3 - Otto, Riley d, Noah b, Blake p

Year 4 - Holly Wheaton

Year 5/6 - AJ, Oliver, and Charlie

Year 6 - Blake and Charlotte

A bit of Bahasa

Every year the Premier's Reading Challenge runs and Indonesian Reading Challenge in conjunction with West Java, Indonesia, as part of an ongoing cultural and business exchange.

Students write a book review on an Indonesian story and the best 150 entries receive medals. This challenge has been running for several years now, with schools from all over SA participating, and not just those with Indonesian Language programs!

This year, several of our Year 5/6 students received certificates for their book reports on the story "The Dancing Pig" by Judy Sierra , and Samiah Kuschel's entry won one of the 150 medals.

Bagus sekali, Samiah. Impressive effort.

Penny Ellin, Indonesian teacher

A bit more Bahasa

On Tuesday, in our 5 minute timed warm up in the 7/8 classes, teams made their vocabulary snakes using both the word list and the Indonesian dictionary. A record longest snake of 58 words was created - Juara dunia!

Both the 7/8 classes and 8/9 classes are consolidating the questions and vocabulary we covered last term by selecting learning activities from a choiceboard. Today some students started to write questions for their own Kahoot games, while others began creating their own zodiacs or digital posters. They then write a reflection about their learning.

In the 5/6 classroom, we are practicing writing challenge sentences. The smartboard chooses 1 to 5 words from our vocabulary list, and we have to use them in a sentence. Then someone has to draw what we have written. We ended up with some fantastic sentences and some VERY interesting pictures.

A big Terima Kasih to Mr Bell for putting up our newly made number charts in the Indonesian room. We think they look great and will certainly get a lot of use.

Sampai nanti, Bu Ellin

Connections with our Sister School

Last week 8/9a connected with our sister school in Makassar, Indonesia. First, we spoke with Pak Muhlis, a teacher at SMPN 6 Makassar, via whatsapp. He told us a bit about his school and some of us spoke with him about ourselves and Yankalilla. Later, we uploaded clips introducing and sharing a few pieces of information about ourselves onto flipgrid. We then watched clips sent back via flipgrid from Makassar, which was interesting. We were very impressed with their English.

Year 7/8's 'Do Please me with Poetry'!

This term, the Year 7/8 students are learning about poetry in English. The topic is called 'Please me with Poetry', and yes, I am more than pleased so far...I am super impressed!

We have been exploring different types of poetry such as, limerick, ballad, and haiku. Below are some amazing examples of limericks and ballads.

Over the next few weeks, we will be exploring the poetic devices and figurative language that is used in poetry, including song lyrics.

I can't wait to read more poems over the coming weeks and if these examples are anything to go by, we have many famous poets in the making!

Jade Barry (7/8 English Teacher)

YAS students attend RAA’s Street Smart High

Last week, we joined with over 70 schools in South Australia’s largest youth road safety event, RAA’s Street Smart High.

Our students arrived at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre to improve their road safety knowledge, skills and attitudes.

The four-hour program included a simulated crash scene, real life stories from people whose lives have been affected by road trauma, and a demonstration on the importance of ANCAP star ratings when choosing a car.

RAA Community Engagement Senior Manager, Ben Haythorpe, said it was vitally important to educate novice drivers about the risks and dangers they faced when they get in a car or on a motorcycle.

“People aged 16-24 years make up 13 per cent of the population but accounted for 21 per cent of all fatalities in SA over the past 2 years,’’ he said.

“Young people need to be exposed to road safety education consistently, and over many years, in order to develop positive road safety attitudes and behaviours.

“I’m confident road safety education is impacting positively on students’ attitude to risk taking on our streets and contributing to this long-term reduction in road trauma.

More than 60,000 year 10-12 students from over 80 schools across the State have attended Street Smart High since it began in 2009.

The event is supported by Think!Road Safety through the Department of Planning, Transport and Infrastructure.

Garage Sale Trail

The District Council of Yankalilla is bringing the Garage Sale Trail, Australia’s biggest celebration of second hand, back to the Yankalilla district this November. It’s a great way to raise money, bring your club/group/school together and divert usable items from landfill.

Each year almost $1 million is raised for schools, clubs, charities and local community groups nationally, with the average group sale making over $1,500 in one day.

This year’s event will see over 10,000 garage sales held nationwide over two weekends, 13-14 and 20-21 November, with more bargains, and more planet-saving fun than ever before.

See further information for details of the support provided by Garage Sale Trail, including guides and support to keep your event covid-safe.

Please go to https://www.garagesaletrail.com.au/register to register your sale.

We hope you’ll join us to bring this national event to life in our area.

COVID-19 Update

Masks

From Monday 25th October, wearing face masks will be optional for all students and staff in schools, preschools and children’s centres.

Vaccination resources for parents and students

Students from Heathfield High School, Para Hills High School and Frances Primary School asked Professor Nicola Spurrier about the COVID-19 vaccine. Watch on Youtube.

SA Health has also put together a brochure about the COVID-19 vaccine for children and teenagers.

Download the brochure (PDF 1MB)

SA Health also has a range of vaccination posters and resources aimed at teenagers. Visit the SA Health website (scroll to the bottom) to download and print.

YAS News - Welcome Term 4