Coomandook Area S

“Striving To Make The Difference”

Coomandook Area School

Term 1, Week 2 Newsletter 28th July, 2020

Principal: Kaye Fitton Governing Council Chairperson: Louise Pitt Phone: 85 733007 Fax: 85 733185 www.coomyas.sa.edu.au [email protected]

Respect

Honesty Persistence

Calendar Dates Term 3

August

4th /11th Operation Flinders

5th SAPSASA Net/Football Trial at Coonalpyn

10th PUPIL FREE DAY

11th SSSSA Open Boys Football

13th SSSSA 8/9 Football

17th /21st Shearing School

24th /26th SAPSASA Soccer Carnival in Adelaide

September

5TH Mallee Schools Formal

7th /9th SAPSASA Net/Football Carnival in Adelaide

10th Year 8 Immunisations Visit 2

11th SCHOOL CLOSURE

14th /17th Footsteps

21st /25th Year 10 Work Experience

25th END OF TERM 3

October

12th START OF TERM 4

Items for the newsletter must be submitted by 9am,

Monday morning. Newsletters are printed every

fortnight. Thank you.

Welcome to Week 2 Term 3 I would like to take this opportunity to welcome everyone back for Term 3. For our SCAE students this can be a make or break term. Please ensure your children are getting plenty of rest, fresh air and having a good diet as all these things impact on positive study habits. Students involved with SACE exams should be revising units of work from T0erm 1 and 2 now. Staff changes We have had a number of staff changes this term. At this stage Mr. Smith is on leave and Mr. Marks is his replacement. Mr. Huang is a student teacher doing his last practicum. He is working with our Maths and Science teachers. Mr. Dawson has taken on the role of SACE teacher in Biology, Chemistry and Physics. Mrs. Lucas has taken leave this term and Mrs. Gibbs will soon be on maternity leave. As a result a number of our current SSOs are backfilling Chris’s role and we have employed 2 new SSOs, Simone de Villiers and Georgia Seidel to support students in the classroom. Principal Ad Currently the position for a new principal is being advertised. The advert closes on Thursday 6th August. From there a panel process will evolve and a new Principal possibly chosen. My appointment As a result I have been appointed until the end of the year to ensure educational stability within the school environment. My absence Unfortunately due to an emerging eye issue I will be absent for the next 2 weeks having a corneal transplant. During my absence Mr. Dawson will be Acting Principal.

COVID 19 Update Although South Australia has been relatively quiet on the Covid front it is imperative that we all continue to practice healthy hygiene habits including washing our hands regularly and coughing into our elbows. We all should maintain the 1.5 meter rule when meeting. To support us please ensure your children stay at home if they show cold or flu like symptoms. If a family member is tested at any stage all members of the family should self-isolate until the results are known. The latest advice suggest that the infection is not the same for everyone and has mutated differently in different people. Certainly the issues being felt by

From the Principal John Sutton

Coomandook Area School Newsletter


Victoria and now NSW show how quickly the virus can spread if we don’t maintain our preventative measures. The Department has finished with its support around cleaning playgrounds but is maintaining its cleaning program during the day. School Sport can be undertaken again. We are also able to hold meetings at school including assemblies so long as we keep up our social distancing and hygiene measures. Outside Learning Last Week a number of the secondary classes were either involved with outside learning or experimental activities. Our science classes under Mr. Hwang and Mr. Marks have been looking at Chemical reactions - chemical and physical changes and Ms. Lee, water purification in Geography. Please see photos in the newsletter. SFD Staff will be involved in Training and Development on Monday 10th August. The training is designed to support students’ improvement in writing and is part of our Site Improvement Plan. Secondary staff are currently looking at writing task, stages of development from Year 7 to Year 12 across their subject areas. Primary staff are looking at how they incorporate good quality literature to support improvements to writing. School Closure Our school closure is timed for Friday 11th September. Reroofing of building 12 - Current computing Year 8 and 10 building Our building 12 current Year 8 and 10 rooms will be undergoing a refit of the roofing structure from Monday 28th September until 30th October and therefore will be out of action. Prior to that we will need to shift those classes along with furniture. Whilst this will cause some disruption we will benefit in the long run. Immunisations Recently laws came into place called “No jab no Play”. Basically this means that children who attend Early Years Services including Occasional care must be immunized and show proof from ATO website to attend. The existing Blue book is not considered as evidence of inoculation. If parents need help accessing the required documentation please contact Crystal Berling in the Pre School. At this stage the education department is seeking an exemption for Pre School Students.

Hi, my name is Neville Marks and I am a Statewide Permanent Relief Teacher which obviously takes me all over S.A. to help out in schools where there is an unfilled vacancy.

Usually I am working in the Far North of the state but very fortunate to be assigned to Coomandook Area School for Term 2. Previous to this role I was a Principal of International Schools in China, Fiji and before that, in Robe here in S.A. I’m the proud dad of 3 now adult ‘children’ and the only Principal they knew was their Dad! Josh works in Melbourne for Glencore as an International Grain Trader, Tristan is a vet who works in Murray Bridge and Hannah is a G.P. and works in Adelaide I’ll be teaching Yr 7 Maths and Science, Yr 9 and Yr 10 Science here at Coomandook A.S. We’re fortunate to have Mr Tao Huang as a prac teacher this term and he will be taking most of these lessons under my supervision, My ‘home’ is now in the NW of Bali and I help run an orphanage there as well as teach English to kids living in remote villages and also our team visit and support some women from Thailand, Russia and South Africa who are imprisoned in Bali. I usually go ‘home’ 4 times a year but now, of course, can’t until international flights resume.

My name is Simone de Villiers and I’m a new SSO working with the juniors. I’m 22 years old and was born and raised in South Africa. I moved to Australia at the age of 15 along with my brother and parents. I am currently a University student studying

Occupational Therapy. I would love to become a mobile OT, specialising in therapy for children. I live on a farm just outside of Coomandook with my Fiancé and our two dogs. I’m a farm girl at heart with my grandparents and great-grandparents being banana farmers. Three words I like to use to describe my Australian experience includes… ”Bunnings Sausage Sizzle”.

New Staff



Hello Coomy, my name is Georgia Seidel and I am a new SSO. I will be working a little bit in the Year 7 class, 4/5/6 class, 2/3 class and the Coop so most of you should see me around. I am a past Coomy student and I am looking forward to helping you all learn. I am also currently completing my university studies at Harvard

University in America, but because of covid-19 I can’t go back so I will be finishing my studies online and working here at Coomy.

I am Tao (Mr. Huang), a pre-service teacher with specialisation in secondary maths and science from the University of Adelaide. I originally came from China and am excited to be a part of the Coomandook community. I love sports (by sports, I mean any sport) and food. So don't be surprised to find me chasing a

ball on the oval or proudly enjoying a XXL-size homemade four-dish Chinese lunch in the staff room!

10 Students and 2 staff will be trekking through the Flinders Ranges for 8 days (which includes travel time) as part of Operation Flinders from 4th August to 11th August. The team will trek more than 100km and will be confronted with physical, emotional and psychological challenges in an isolated and unfamiliar environment. Students have been preparing for the program and all students are looking forward to going. Activities that the team will be doing, include cross country hikes, abseiling, team building, bush survival skills, navigation, first aid skills and an understanding of Aboriginal culture and history of the Flinders Ranges. Some positive goals from the program include:

To improve self-esteem and to gain

confidence.

To continue engagement in education and job

aspiration.

For participants achieving their full potential.

To increase sense of responsibility.

To improve understanding of importance to

make positive life choices.

Congratulation to all students who received awards at

the end of Term 2 assembly.

Quicksmart Award

Congratulations to Jackson who

has completed the Quicksmart

program.

Certificate of Encouragement

Attendance Awards

Operation Flinders Jared Wallis

End of Term Awards



We looked at ‘physical’ and ‘chemical’ changes

through a ‘kitchen’ chemistry unit!

Most cooking involves chemical changes.

The indicators for chemical changes are:

Burning

Temperature changes without heating or

cooling

An explosion / s (can be small i.e. popcorn)

A colour change

An odour given off

Bubbles or fizzing

Being irreversible

The indicators for physical changes are:

The changes can be reversed

No change to the arrangement of atoms or

molecules.

i.e. folding or cutting paper and phase

changes (ice to water to water vapour)

so…… cooking popcorn and pancakes involves

chemical changes!

Science Neville Marks



Can you recognise the mummies? In Pastoral Care, the Year 7s have been focusing on team work and co-operation. For this activity, the students had to work together to cover their nominated mummy as much as possible. Everyone had lots of fun and it was a great 'back to school' activity.

Water in the world

Year 7s have been learning about water and where

water comes from in Geography class. They have been

investigating the scarcity of water and the impact this

has on the world. The class learned about how we use

water and the amount of water each person uses in a

day. The class even made their own water cycles.

Pollution is a major problem around the world and the

class competed to build a water filter that produced

the cleanest water.

Pastoral Care Steph Lee

Year 7 Steph Lee

Pupil Free Day and School Closure

Coomandook Area School

will be having a Pupil Free day

on

Monday 10th August in Week 4

for staff training

There will be a School Closure

on

Friday 11th September in Week 8



PLANNED ABSENCE NOTIFICATION

Name:_________________________________________ Year Level:_______________________

Homegroup Teacher:________________________________________

The above named student will be absent from school on:

________________________________________________________ (please list date/s)

Reason:____________________________________________________________

Signed:______________________________________ (Parent/Caregiver)

PLANNED ABSENCE NOTIFICATION

Name:_________________________________________ Year Level:_______________________

Homegroup Teacher:________________________________________

The above named student will be absent from school on:

________________________________________________________ (please list date/s)

Reason:____________________________________________________________

Signed:______________________________________ (Parent/Caregiver)

BUS TRAVEL SLIP

Student Name : _____________________________________ Year Level :_________________

The above named student would like to travel on the ______________________________ bus run

On (date/s) ____________________ (am) ______________(pm)_______________

Travelling with ________________________ Reason:_______________________________

Parent Signature_______________________________

BUS TRAVEL SLIP

Student Name : _____________________________________ Year Level :_________________

The above named student would like to travel on the ______________________________ bus run

On (date/s) ____________________ (am) ______________(pm)_______________

Travelling with ________________________ Reason:_______________________________

Parent Signature_______________________________

Coomandook Area S

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