KEITH AREA SCHOOL

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Sep 1, 2017 - Facebook page for details of how to book into the ... We will continue to monitor issues in this area but
KEITH AREA SCHOOL

Tolmer Tce Keith SA 5267 P: 08 8755 1177 ACHIEVE - COURAGE - COOPERATE - RESPECT

FROM THE PRINCIPAL We have another packed newsletter this week, an indication of just how busy things are lately, especially with our recent Book Week celebration, SAPSASA Basketball, SACE Parent Information evening, preparing for the Royal Adelaide Show and much more. I know there is a lot also going on in out of school sport at the moment with finals season well underway. I’d like to say good luck to all our students playing in finals and hope that regardless of a win or a loss, they play their best and have fun! Coming up we have the parent-student-teacher interviews, subject counselling and our Show Team is competing at the Royal Adelaide Show with their steers, goats and sheep. I wish the Show Team the best of luck in Adelaide next week. Wellbeing Week – Geared for Life Have you heard about our Wellbeing Week coming up? We’ve called it Geared for Life and the week is shaping up to be huge! With something happening every day for students, staff and our community to get behind. Of particular note for parents to mark in their diary is Wednesday 20th September. On this night we have 6 keynote speakers organised to run workshops for parents. This has been a significant investment in resources and time from our Wellbeing and Inclusion Coordinator, Sally Lush, to coordinate and put together for our community. Did you know that approximately 1 in 4 people are affected by mental health problems or mental illness at some point in their lives? As educators we are certainly more aware of, better equipped and proactive about supporting our young people who are affected by mental health issues. We want to make sure parents are also equipped with strategies and tools to support their children should mental health problems or illness arise. Do you know what you would do? Who would you turn to? Who is around to support? Our Geared for Life event is part of our school’s ongoing commitment to mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention. So why not check out the parent workshops on Wednesday 20th September and stop by our Wellbeing Expo on Thursday 22nd (in the hall). The Expo offers a great opportunity for students, parents, and wider community to be well informed about our local support services (and those further afield)– who they are, what they do & how to contact them. Look out for further information in this newsletter, posters, our Facebook page for details of how to book into the workshops. A big thank you to Mrs Lush for her coordination and to the many organisations who have generously agreed to support the expo or workshops by attending on the day, or through their generous sponsorship.

No. 2 of Term 3, 1st September 2017

Diary dates Term 3, 2017 August  29th August NAPLAN trail  30th August Year 10/11 Subject Counselling  31st August Year 2, 3 and 4 camp September  1st September SCHOOL CLOSURE  4th September PAT Testing Starts  4th—6th September R—12 Conferences  5th—7th September Adelaide show team  8th September Year 12 PE moderation  12th September F—12 Assembly at 2:15pm  18th—22nd September—Wellbeing Week “Geared for Life”  21st September Family wellbeing expo  22nd September Jump Off  25th September Team Day JP—9:05— 11:55am Primary 11:55—3:05pm  26th September USE 5 a side Soccer Years 8—10  27th September Literacy Award Assembly at 9:05am  29th September PAT Testing  29th September Last day of term FEEDBACK At Keith Area School we value the input that we receive from parents and community members. If you would like to provide the school with some feedback there are many ways that you can get in touch with us. In person, speaking to a teacher, leader or another staff member. You can also provide us feedback in writing via a letter or email to [email protected].

Staffing Appointments Congratulations to Mrs Alicia Keatley on her appointment as Deputy Principal for the next 5 years. Also, congratulations to Mrs Jen Culley on her appointment as Primary Assistant Principal for the next 5 years. I’d also like to congratulate Mrs Keatley on recently completing her Advanced Diploma in Strategic Leadership. It certainly isn’t easy trying to fit in study with work commitments. Well done Alicia. Have a look inside to see all the fun activities the students got up to during book week!!

From the Principal FROM THE PRINCIPAL continued… NAPLAN Results Our schools 2017 NAPLAN Results have arrived and Year 7s have improved compared to our recent averages in all areas except for grammar and punctuation. This is great to see! Year 5 reading has seen a dramatic improvement compared to our recent averages. Excellent! Disappointingly, there is a decline in results in other areas and in many cases this continues what is very much a ‘sawtooth pattern’ of results up one year, down the next. We continue to work with staff to review results and our practices and hone in on areas for improvement. We know that reading will continue to be a major focus across our school as will our focus on number sense and number fluency. The averages (above) vary one year to the next as the children are different e.g. this year’s year 5 students will be different to next year’s year 5 students. Therefore, a better indicator of success is when we analyse how students performed compared to the last time they sat the NAPLAN. This is referred to as growth. Our growth results tell a more positive story. We’ve seen good growth in Year 5 Reading, Year 7 Numeracy, Year 9 Reading and significant growth in Year 9 Numeracy. As always, we will continue to use a range of data sets and tools to help inform us of how children are going and to inform our teaching and intervention programmes. If you have any questions or concerns about your child’s NAPLAN results, please make an appointment to speak to your child’s teacher. Take Care,

Tobias O’Connor Principal

From the Deputy Principal—Mrs Alicia Keatley Cyberbullying issue Over the past week or so we have been dealing with an issue relating to online activities of secondary students. This has raised serious concerns with staff about a particular application, ‘Sarahah’ that students have been using. Our research into this application, tells us it allows users to say whatever they want to another person anonymously with no consequences, hence the issue of cyberbullying. Online reports state this app promotes online bullying and is a breeding ground for suicidal thoughts as the users are receiving threats and are being bullied in an environment that many adults are not aware of. We will continue to monitor issues in this area but we also encourage all parents to chat with their children about this application. We also encourage you to seek support for your child if this online activity or other issues are impacting on their mental wellbeing. Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences Last week a letter went home to all families about booking conferences with teachers across F-12. Conferences are an important part of our reporting process where the focus is on how students are progressing and what both parents and teachers can do to help support a child’s progress. The timing of these conferences allows early information to be provided to parents and students on areas they can further develop to achieve greater success in different subjects or areas of learning. Please make the effort to book appointments and speak to either class teachers in primary or subject teachers in secondary. Bookings are available via this link: http://bit.ly/aabbcc3 Good luck to our Show Team As this newsletter is published our show team are in their final stages of preparation for the Adelaide show. Students have put a lot of time and energy into preparing their animals, as well as feeding and cleaning out pens. We wish Mrs Watts and the students all the best at the show and we look forward to updates during show week.

Help Stop the Spread of Germs! Given the coughs and snuffles this time of year we encourage students to wash their hands before eating, after using the toilet or after blowing their nose. Soap is readily available in all student bathrooms. We would also like to remind parents that sick children should stay home to help stop the spread of germs and illness.

From the Secondary Assistant Principal—Mr Ben Lamont SACE Information Evening On Wednesday 23rd August, week 6, we opened our doors and invited parents to come along and learn more about the SACE and what student’s options are for year 11 and 12. Unfortunately there was a very poor turn out to this event, with only 1 parent attending, and we were unable to run the program as planned. It was disappointing, as we saw this as a great opportunity to connect with the community and a lot of time and effort goes in to preparing these out of hours sessions. Regardless of this, we will continue to offer opportunities for parents/caregivers to connect with the school and learn more about their child’s education. I hope that we see a greater attendance at the Parent/Student/Teacher conferences in week 7. Please continue to check the calendar for other events that are coming up and I strongly encourage all people in the community to engage with the school and help promote the education of our young people. Will Schreiber As you will have read on several occasions this year, Will has been extremely successful with his Football in 2017. On Sunday he added to his long list of accolades by winning the KNTFL Senior Colts Lehmann Medal. Will only played a total of 10 games out of 16 and managed to poll 23 votes to win the award by 5. What a fantastic way to finish the regular season and hopefully Will can now experience some team success through the finals. I would also like to congratulate him on making his A grade debut on the weekend. Well done! Lastly from me, I would just like to wish all the members of the Show Team good luck in week 7 and say well done to Mrs. Watts for all her efforts in getting the students and the animals ready. This is a massive job each year and hopefully we will see some success again in 2017.

Position Available!

Book Week 2017

8—12 Assembly

Bronze Award Winners: Back row L—R: Nicole, Rebekah, Lachlan, Seb, Declan and Amanda. Front Row: Rafferty, Kheeli, Caitlin, Ella and Madalin.

Gold Award Winners Back row L—R: Jack, Tilly, Siobhan, and Amber Front row: Ellie, Megan, Lily, Ryan and Georgia

Silver award Winners: Back row L—R: Tiana, Dayna, Mitch, Aydon, Kyle and Caitlin. Front Row: Macy, Connor, Kate and Charlotte.

Knockout Netball L—R: Nicole, Ellie, Lily, Kate and Callie. Hockey Back row L—R: Abbey, Nikki, Thomas, Zac, Zack, and Daniel Front row: Charlotte, Osten, Penny and Connor

Well done to all of the award winners! Raffle Books We need all People’s Choice Raffle Books back – Sold, partially sold or unsold – by Monday 4th September. Please return them to the front office at the school. Thank you.

F—12 Assembly

Junior Primary Merit Award Winners Back Row L—R: Riley Jacob, Eddie, Alex, Max, Cooper and Rex Font Row: Dylan, Maddy, Sophie, Madison and Lily

SAPSASA Individual Table Tennis Award Winners L—R: Chloe, Phoebe and Jack

Primary Merit Award Winners Back Row L—R: Jack, Willow, Thomas, Boston, Thomas and Marley. Middle Row: Lillea, Daisy, Emma, Anna, Allie, and Acacia Font Row: Will, Chloe, Jordis, Declan, Brock and Bianca

SAPSASA Cross Country, Country Champions Award Winners Back Row L—R:Will, Jack, George and Nick Front Row: Sophie and Meg

Jack received a SAPSASA award for AFL Football.

Maisy and Mel won SAPSASA awards for Netball. SAPSASA Hockey Award Winners L—R: Bianca, Taya, Emilee, Georga, Elina and Bella

Wellbeing Week 2017

Students

Helping the People In Your Family

Students

Keynote Speakers on Wednesday 20th September