NEWSLETTER April 2015 Dear Families and Friends of Reynella East College, Term 1 was certainly action packed with Acquaintance Nights, Interim Reports, Parent/Teacher Interviews and our Innaugural P-12 Sportsday Carnivàle and a range of other programs reported on throughout the term. Special congratulations to the Sports Day Committee: Scott Corbett, Beck Truran, Aaron Roach, Julie D’Lima and Tania Guest who worked tirelessly with me to plan for this fantastic event. 63 Malbeck Drive, Reynella East, SA 5161 E: [email protected] reynellaec.sa.edu.au Emergency: (08) 8329 2323 Absentee Hotline: (08) 8329 2300 Ext:2 or sms 0427 787 254 T: (08) 8329 2300 F: (08) 8329 2319 One of the major objectives of the day, was to further develop a P-12 ethos and I think we’ve made real progress here. Thanks to those who have taken the time to make Facebook posts, complete surveys or write to us with feedback or suggestions for improvement. We do value your opinions and advice and wherever possible build it into future planning. We have also been undertaking a review of our Behaviour Management procedures across the College. For the R-7 students, this has involved a focus on trialling pro-active play strategies at lunchtimes and restorative approaches to sorting out problems and repairing relationships. A group of secondary teachers and leaders are also undertaking a review of the Time Out processes and procedures and general behaviour management practices. So far, this has included analysis of the Time Out room data to track and monitor which students are sent out of classrooms and for what, which will help us determine where we need to focus support and intervention for both staff and students. The team is also visiting other larger secondary schools to look at middle school teaching practices and how these schools structure their classes and home-groups. They will be reporting back early in term 2 and we will formulate recommendations for improvement from there. As we approach term 2, can I ask parents to remind students about the College Uniform as the cooler weather approaches. You can find information on the College website at www.reynellaec.sa.edu.au Thanks also for supporting our first two Student Free days on Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 April. Staff will be learning more about technologies for 21Century Learning which will play a vital role in setting directions for world class learning at Reynella East College. Caroline Green - Principal DIARYDATES April Mon 27 Apr Student Free Day Tues 28 Apr Student Free Day May Tues 5 May Open Day 2.00-7.00pm Wed 6 May Yr 8 Vaccinations Thurs 7 May P-7 Principal Tour Tues 12 - 14 May NAPLaN Wed 13 May Yr 12 SACE Info Evening Fri 15 May 8-12 Principal Tour Mon 18 May Governing Council 7pm Fri 29 May Yrs P-7 Assembly, 9am Byards Gym June Tues 2 June Fri 5 June Playgroup Wednesday’s 9.00-10.45am P-7 Principal Tour REC Preschool Student Free Day Mon 8 June Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday Wed 10 June College Music NIght 7pm Mon 15-19 June Year 11 Exams Enquiries: 0401 121 668 Newsletters online Tues 16/6 June 8-12 Principal Tour Frid 19 June End Semester 1 Mon 22 June Start Semester 2 Our Newsletters are available to view or download here: NO PARKING http://reynellaec.sa.edu.au/news/school/ Parents are reminded that no parking is allowed in the staff carparks, before and after school. 2015/16 Entertainment Books Now at the Finance Office. $65 Remembering Private Tomas Dale As ANZAC Day approaches, we remember one of our own, Private Tomas James Dale who was killed while on active duty in Afghanistan on August 20, 2010. Tom’s family attended his Memorial in our Memory Garden to lay a wreath in his memory. 2 INSPIRING SUCCESS aavvvvw Primary news Sustainable Art The Ramsey 5/6 Unit have been looking at Australian Artist Ash Keating. Ash Keating is known for using his sustainable art to draw attention to environmental issues such as excessive consumerism and the amount of clean waste that goes into landfills each year. Students looked at Ash Keating’s piece ‘2020?’ to inspire them. Our classes then began collecting recyclable items found around the home to create their own master pieces. Their art creations highlighted a variety of environment issues including recycling, landfills, waste management, pollution, the Great Barrier Reef and much more. We showcased an Art Gallery for Parents/ Caregivers to view our work. Elke Schipanski - Ramsey Unit Teacher The Farmers Donkey A story about resilience and positive thinking “One day a farmer’s old and smelly donkey was walking around the farm, he forgot there was a well and he fell in. The old donkey was frightened, very, very frightened. So he started making really loud noises for a long time. When the farmer found the donkey, he wondered how he could get the donkey out. Then he decided that the donkey was old and no use to him anyway, so the farmer called his neighbours over to help him fill up the well with wet sand. The donkey was hysterical and crying when he found out what was happening. The farmer looked down the well and saw the donkey was getting covered in dirt. Suddenly the donkey stopped making the loud noises and the farmer thought he was buried so he looked in the well. The farmer was amazed at what the donkey was achieving. Every time the farmer and his neighbours were chucking another shovel full of sand in the well, the donkey was shaking it off and stepping up… he kept saying it in his head. The donkey had calmed down and thought, “I can fix my problem.” He kept shaking it off and stepping up. He soon got back up onto the nice green grass and trotted away!” Retold by the children in Carew 2 INSPIRING SUCCESS 3 aavvvvw SCHOOL NEWS Why we support NAPLAN The real value and importance of NAPLAN is its use as another diagnostic tool to help teachers improve your child’s learning. The information the college receives details the strengths and weaknesses of a range of skills in the areas of Reading, Writing, Language Conventions (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation) and Numeracy of your child. For example in Grammar: • Identifies the set of words to complete a sentence correctly • Recognises the correct use of punctuation such as commas to separate a name in direct speech • Recognises the correct form of a verb This information allows teachers to ensure your child’s strengths are sustained and extended. It also helps staff to develop programs to help specific weaknesses your child may have. The skills assessed in NAPLAN are those being taught as part of the College Curriculum. Some of the past NAPLAN questions may have also been used in lessons so that your child should be comfortable doing the NAPLAN. If you would like to look at some past NAPLAN examples simply log onto the National Assessment program website at http://www.nap.edu.au/naplan/naplan.html The NAPLAN dates are: Tuesday 12th May Wednesday 13th May Thursday 14th May Language Conventions and Writing Reading Numeracy All years 3, 5, 7 and 9 students are expected to undertake NAPLAN assessments. Occasionally there might be a reason such as travelling overseas that prevents a student from completing the NAPLAN. In this situation parents may ask for their child to be withdrawn and not complete the NAPLAN. Withdrawal applications need to be submitted before the 20th March 2015. The only students who can be exempted are those with a verified intellectual disability or students who have recently arrived in Australia from a non-English speaking background. Forms for withdrawal or exemption can be obtained from Beck Truran in Primary and Sue Richards in Secondary School. Sue Richards - Assistant Principal - Years 8 & 9 4 INSPIRING SUCCESS sports day What a day! Friday 20 March, 2015 will go down as a day to remember in the lives of our REC community. Our inaugural Preschool - Year 12 Sports Day Carnivàle was a great success on many levels. Bringing all year levels together on the one day to compete in sporting and fun events was enormously appreciated by all, as well as the colourful and vibrant atmosphere created by the ‘Carnivàle’ theme. Together we all appreciated the opportunity to foster relationships and strengthen our P-12 ethos. Opportunities to promote student leadership and enterprise as well as raise funds for our College were great, with scope to further expand next year. We wish to thank the many students and staff who arrived early on the day to help with setup and to parents and staff who baked for the cake stalls, helped out on BBQs, assisted with class activities, loaned equipment or assisted in any other way. Your support was invaluable to us. Our review process has identified some small areas for improvement but overall the event was considered a resounding success. We would be pleased to hear from Parents who have any ideas, or may be able to offer helping hands for our 2016 event. Please contact [email protected] Tania Guest for Sports Day Carnivàle Planning Committee INSPIRING SUCCESS 5 sports day Congratulations to these student Record Breakers: 6 Open Girls High Jump Morgan B Open Girls Relay Team Open Girls 100m Sophie l, Marisol R, Keah W & Morgan B Morgan B Open Girls 400m Morgan B Open Girls Long Jump Morgan B Open Girls Shot Morgan B Year 9 Boys 800m Ryan M Year 9 Girls Javelin Jade W Year 10 Girls Shot Megan H Year 10 Girls Javelin Tayla B & Bonni K Open girls Javelin Chloe G Year 8 boys Javelin Nathaniel T Year 10 boys Javelin John T Year 9 boys 800m Ryan M Open girls 800m Sophie L Year 8 girls High Jump Montana M Year 8 girls Long Jump Montana M Year 8 boys High Jump Kye O INSPIRING SUCCESS sports day aavvvvw INSPIRING SUCCESS 7 a aavvvvw international news World Challenge 2014 At the end of 2014, a group of REC students travelled to Vietnam and Cambodia to trek, to teach, and to experience something new. On the 28th of November, six students with Mr Marsh and Ms Schipanski, journeyed for over 24 hours to arrive in their destination of Ho Chi Minh City. For the next four weeks, along with students from Mary Mackillop College, they travelled north through Vietnam before moving into Cambodia. Throughout the expedition there were long treks, early mornings and lots of hard work. There were also amazing moments too, such as watching the sunrise over Angkor Wat and the joy on the children of Kep Garden’s faces when the team had completed their flying fox. World Challenge was an amazing experience and all those involved would recommend that students at Reynella East College also take the opportunity to go to another country and encounter incredible things. EMMA CURLEY – World Challenge team member Pictured below: TEAM REMAC 2014 (Reynella East College & Mary Mackillop College) aavvvvw Ashley Morrissey wins Mishima Scholarship Congratulations to Year 10 student Ashley Morrissey on her successful selection as a participant in the 2015 Scholarship Exchange Program to Mishima Japan in the April school holidays. Ashley will join other successful student applicants from the Southern Schools Network and is pictured with her trip chaperone, Ms Paula Wright (REC Japanese teacher). We hope you all have an amazingly rewarding trip. Reynella East College has a close relationship with Mishima School, south of Tokyo, as students regularly come here on both short and long term programs. The opportunity to send some of our students to Mishima in Year 10 in a reciprocative arrangement is therefore a life changing intercultural experience for our young people. Paula Wright - Japanese Teacher and Trip Chaperone 8 INSPIRING SUCCESS aavvvvw international news ISEC Excursion Students explore Glenelg Forty eight International students and their Aussie friends went on a historical tour around Glenelg on 2 April. It was wonderful seeing the German, Japanese and Thai students refining their English skills across a number of play and learning experiences. The Aussie students did a marvellous job of explaining the concept of proclamation at the Old Gum Tree, sea travel at the Buffalo and South Australia’s history from early Indigenous settlement and Federation, to more recent beach culture in the Bay Discovery Centre Museum. Overall it was a wonderful cultural exchange experience for all students. Kate DeSmit aavvvvw Making Conversation Students share two-way Japanese-English conversation. Many opportunities exist through our International Program for both our visiting students and REC students. Not least of which is the opportunity to share conversation opportunities in another language. Pictured here are students sharing two-way conversations in Japanese and English. INSPIRING SUCCESS 9 aavvvvw school news Design and Innovation Day Five REC students: Waide R, Eamon F, Brandon S, Jordan K and Kyle G represented the school in the Design Challenge competition at Flinders@Tonsley on the last day of March 2015. The students had to use the Autodesk Inventor computer software to create a ‘Clothes Hanging Device” which was then finally produced by a high speed laser cutter. There was also a guest speaker from the company who created the Retimer, who imparted valuable pointers on where design and innovation can lead to and the students heard about real-world experiences regarding product setups. Students were also taken on a tour of the Hills company centre at Tonsley which has a focus in medical devices and assistive living technologies and a glimpse of the quarter of a million dollar 3D printer. The day culminated with the testing and measurement of the clipping force of the various devices which the students invented. Our Year 12 student Waide ended up with the unofficial 2nd best placing of the day as a result of the popular vote. Wendy Toogood - Science Coordinator Andy Thomas PRESENTATION Be Quick! REC has been offered 70 places for students to attend a special presentation by South Australia’s own Astronaut, Andy Thomas on May 5th. Please see Mrs Toogood for an excursion letter if you are keen to attend. Places will fill quickly. Wendy Toogood - Science Coordinator Maths and Science COMPETITIONS Enter now! Entry forms for both the annual National Maths and Science competitions are available from subject teachers. Both competitions involve multiple choice questions that test problem solving and logical thinking. The Science competition is for Years 2-12 and is held on June 3rd, and the Maths competition is for Years 7-12 and held on July 30th. Wendy Toogood - Science Coordinator 10 INSPIRING SUCCESS sports news Primary CRICKET Girls from the College’s first Kanga girls team - Erin, Chelsea, Kaitlyn, Mackenzie, Ebony, Billie (Paringa Park PS), Annabelle, Kaylee (Galilee PS), Ashlee, Zoe, Paige (Absent: Gypsy) accompanied by their Southern District Cricket Club coaches Jess and Brandi, were awarded trophies after winding up their games in the southern competition. The girls are now eagerly looking forward to their first SAPSASA Knockout match against Reynella in October. During their journey starting in 2013 several have been invited to participate in the Southern Metro inter-zone SAPSASA championships, Specialist coaching, Southern District CC women’s teams plus the (Redback) Gary Putland Cricket Academy, with potential to be selected in SAPSASA’s State primary school team for 2016. The girls must be congratulated for the way they performed in all their games, how they challenged themselves as they learned new skills and for their keen attention to their coaches. Thanks go to Team Managers Paul Heath and Tammy Kennedy and all parents who were so supportive and wonderful role models for our teams. Trish Pinder - Primary Cricket Co-ordinator Primary SAPSASA Five students represented the school for the Southern Valley SAPSASA district swimming team in week 9. Congratulations Oscar C, Caleb J, Elain J, Amber W and Gabrielle F! Both the boys and girls team made it through to the quarter final stage of the Knockout Cricket, a great achievement so far! The boys had a very nail biting victory in round 1 against Woodcroft Primary, before a comfortable 40 run win in their second round against Flagstaff Hill. Evan S was the star in both games, remaining undefeated with the bat. The boys also had very good games in the field taking many exceptional catches and stopping many singles being scored. During Term 2 we will look forward to students representing REC in Cross Country, Badminton, Knockout Football and Knockout Cricket. Aaron Roche - Primary PE Teacher Secondary SPORT Last month the Rugby League held a Tag Carnival at REC. Ninety of our Year 8 and 9 students took part. REC won both the girls and the boys trophies. Our Year 9 boys won the ‘Come and Try Touch Carnival competition. The REC secondary team came a very healthy 2nd to Willunga in the Fleurieu Athletics competition, with our best score ever. Congratulations to the whole team who were happy to step into events that were not their speciality, to gain valuable points for the team. Jo Draper - Secondary PE Teacher INSPIRING SUCCESS 11 community news aavvvvw School Dental Service The School Dental Service is the major provider of dental services for babies, children and young people under 18 years in South Australia. Around 130, 000 children attend every year. The Commonwealth Child Dental Benefits Schedule for 2 – 17 year olds started in 2014. ALL children are very welcome to continue to access dental care at the School Dental Service. Dental care is FREE for most children and the School Dental Service will bulk– bill Medicare. Children who do not qualify for the Child Dental Benefits Schedule can also attend – a small fee will apply for each course of general dental care provided. Dental Benefits Schedule, visit www.sadental.sa.gov.au Homestays NEEDED Are you interested in becoming a Host Family for International Students? We are always looking for new Homestay families who ideally live close to Reynella East College and are interested in sharing their Australian lifestyle with an International student. Visits can vary from 10 days to a full year. A generous allowance is paid. Contact : Carole Edgeworth - Ph: 0403 605 979 vvvwwv Sports Voucher Program Your child may be eligible for $50 The Sports Voucher program is a State Government initiative. It is an opportunity for children R-7 to receive a $50 discount off club/membership fees. Conditions apply. More info: www.sportsvouchers.sa.gov.au/ Kids Can 2 Family Fun Day Reynella Neighbourhood Centre 17th May Free Raffle Chance to WIN a skateboard 10am—2pm aavvvvw Kids Can 2 Free Family Fun Day : 17 May 10am-2-m Reynella Neighbourhood Centre FREE Family Fun Event Face painter * Smoothie bike * Reynella Guides * Giant Board Games * DJ * Silent Disco * BBQ * Lots of free indoor and outdoor activities for the kids. Ms Fairy * Arts and Crafts * Henna * Indoor Sports * Cooking * Music * Waste Not * And Much More... Indoor and outdoor activties Come rain, hail or shine Skateboard kindly donated by Preston Building 12 INSPIRING SUCCESS
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