Oakbank Area School

154 Onkaparinga Valley Road

Oakbank SA 5243

Phone: (08) 8398 7200 Facsimile: (08) 8388 4718 Email: dl.0762.info@schools.sa.edu.au

Website: www.oakbankas.sa.edu.au Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/oakbankas

Principal: Mrs Kylie Eggers

17 February 2016 VOL: 33 FOLIO: 02

PRINCIPAL’S REPORT

In order to start a journey you need to know where

you’re going: In the last 4 months, staff have been

working together to develop and refine the Oakbank

Area School Vision.

A vision is the over-arching goal of an organisation, ie

what the school would look like in an ideal world - who

wouldn’t want to work towards that?

The proposed vision was presented to School Council

on Monday night and we will be consulting the

students to see what they think, through the Assembly

and Civics Program.

Please read the proposed vision and let Kylie Eggers

dl.0762.info@schools.sa.edu.au know what you think.

Each of the superscripts links to a clarification or

inclusion point below.

OAS Proposed Vision:

OAS is a holistic1 school of continual improvement2

where students3, staff4 and the community5 work6 and

learn7 together as partners8 to help everyone9 flourish

and achieve10.

1. Wellbeing, academic achievement and

attendance are important. Positive Education is

part of our core business. Equitable (Differentiated)

and Multiple Learning Pathways are available to all

students.

2. Decisions are based on data. OAS is a school of self

–review. Staff / students/ school all developing.

3. Reception to Year 13 & pre and post school.

4. Teachers and support staff.

5. Parents, support agencies, partnership schools, and

Adelaide Hills Pathways.

6. OAS is focused on challenge and effort.

7. All are expected to learn, staff and community

included, inclusive of all relevant curricula.

8. We are collaborative. Student voice is valued.

There are integrated learning opportunities.

Feedback occurs in multiple directions.

9. We believe in equity and are inclusive of all

students Reception to Year 13 in our community

including students with disabilities, Aboriginal and

Torres Strait islanders, and non- English speaking

background students.

10. We are always striving to thrive.

WELCOME TOM FROSSINAKIS In Week 2 we welcomed Tom Frossinakis to the teaching

team. Tom comes to us with many years of experience in

teaching and leadership in Australia and the USA. He is

teaching several maths classes across years 8 to 12,

please make him feel welcome.

PRINCIPAL TOURS Each term we will be hosting Principal Tours to showcase

our school and the benefits of attending OAS.

The first of these will be on:

Wednesday 16 March 2016 at 9:30am.

WHY IS THAT TEACHER IN MY CLASS? Effective feedback is the best method of improvement for

students; teachers are no different.

In 2016 OAS teachers will be in classes observing others

teach to help them improve and to reflect on what they

see in light of their own teaching. So, if your student

comes home and says “There were two teachers in my

class today “, it was so that we can all improve.

COMMUNICATION & THE OAS FACEBOOK PAGE One focus of the 2016 Site Improvement Plan is to increase

the amount of communication between home and

school so that everyone feels informed.

A small part of this is reaching parents through the

Oakbank Area School Facebook page where images and

information about events are posted. This can be a great

way for grandparents and community members to stay in

touch with what is going on at school. Our aim is for 70%

of families to follow our page.

ON-SITE EVACUATION PRACTICE Congratulations to all students and staff who safely exited

all buildings in 4½ minutes last week for the on-site

evacuation drill.

This is a great effort for over 300 people over such as large

space. All of the bell sequences were signalled while the

students were outside to help them learn which sequence

is for which event.

Please discuss with your children the role of safety drills

and practice.

Newsletter

SCHOOL LEADERS At this week’s assembly the concept of School Leaders

was introduced. Year 12 students will apply for one of

four positions (2 males, 2 females), nominations will be

vetted by staff in light of the student’s school history

and then the student body will vote for who they think

will fulfil the role best. The role of the school leaders will

be:

To be an active and contributing member of the

Student Leadership Council (SLC)

To take ideas, issues and suggestions on behalf of

other students to regular SLC meetings for group

discussion & action

To work collaboratively with the student body to

address identified issues and social justice themes

to be explored and promoted throughout the

school year

To represent the student body at various School

and public events

To welcome prospective students and their parents

and other visitors to the School eg: Open Day,

Information nights

To wear the school uniform and encourage all

students to do so with pride.

To work cooperatively with all staff and peers

To be a leader of students within the School,

working closely with the staff Leadership Team in

building the School culture, enabling the students to

feel connected and involved in various whole

School events and activities

To be a leader of students within the School and

wider community by:

o Demonstrating pride in appearance and loyalty

to the School,

o Interacting with a cross section of the student

population,

o Working collaboratively with and support the

staff of the School,

o Having the strength of character to lead and to

call other students to account, and

o Having a strong commitment to academic

studies and the co-curricular program.

To lead and work collaboratively with staff on (but

not exclusive to):

o Developing programs within School

o Parent Information Evenings and Open Day

o Transition for new students

o Identified social justice themes

o The annual School Presentation Night

If your student is in year 12/13 please discuss with them

whether they would make a suitable School Leader.

IF WE CAN’T SAY IT, WE CAN’T WRITE IT! There is a strong link between schooling success and

vocabulary size (the number of words we know). If

children don’t grow their vocabulary, reading

comprehension will be affected and they aren’t able

to articulate the differences between words which can

lead to confusion and disengagement with schooling.

Think of these synonyms and the slight differences

between them:

bellow, yell, scream, holler, or

error, mistake, wrong decision, booboo, or

upset, sad, crying, grumpy, cross.

They each mean similar yet quite different things, but if the

only word we knew was angry when the feeling was only

annoyed or was actually irrate, others may not get our

message.

At times people resort to swearing because they don’t

know the actual word for what they’re trying to say which

ends up offending people.

Some simple ways to build vocabulary are:

Don’t “dumb down” your language because of the

age of the person you’re speaking to - get them to ask

if they don’t understand a word.

Read with your children, even up to year 12, it doesn’t

have to be a story book.

Play synonym games where people take it in turns to

list a word that is similar to the previous yet slightly

different and hasn’t been named previously.

Check out the website: www.newsinlevels.com – it

helps explain recent events in the news using 3

different levels of vocabulary so that everyone can

understand. You could discuss the different ways of

describing the same event.

Have a great fortnight!

Kylie Eggers, Principal

SCHOOL COUNCIL

Annual General Meet ing

Oakbank Area School Parents and Caregivers are invited

to attend Oakbank Area School’s Annual General

Meeting which will be held on:

Monday 7 March

7pm

Resource Centre

Everyone is welcome to attend, especially those parents

who are willing to volunteer some of their time to help

govern the school.

KI – PURE SUGAR GUM HONEY

Kangaroo Island Pure Sugar Gum honey,

$10 kilo pot, supporting the Kiwanis Club of

the Adelaide Hills, which supports local

families and children in need.

Send your order via your child or ring me

directly, and collect from the school.

Anyone wanting to know more about Kiwanis, (a friendly,

sociable service club with no political or religious

affiliations) is welcome to contact Annie on 0422 907 108

or email Annie.Bainger384@schools.sa.edu.au

Annie Bainger

SRC Coordinator

AVAILABLE APPRENTICESHIPS

1. Cert 3 Carpentry – Littlehampton. Could be full

time or school based for the right

applicant. Mostly second fix and some

framework. Driver’s Licence.

2. Cert 3 Cabinet Making (Kitchens and Bathrooms)

North Plympton – on and off site work. Driver’s

licence.

3. 2 x Cert 3 Wall and Ceiling Lining – Flagstaff Hill

and Macclesfield – Could be school based for the

right student.

4. Cert 3 Outdoor Power Equipment – Mt

Barker. School based position around 1-2 days

per week.

5. Cert 3 Hairdressing – Stirling. Full time

apprenticeship but could be school based for the

right student.

Students need to ring Abbie Cerchi – Apprenticeship

Broker 0488942192 for contact and application details

for these positions.

Kirsty-Lee Rogers

Senior Pathways Improvement Leader

VOLUNTEERS & SCREENINGS

Many of our parents and guardians volunteer at our

school to support their child’s learning.

To make it easier for parents and guardians to

volunteer their time, the Department for Education and

Child Development has updated its relevant history

screening policy and procedures.

As a result, parents and guardians who volunteer to

directly support their child will no longer require a

relevant history screening.

This will mean many of our volunteers can help out

sooner.

A screening is still necessary for parents and guardians

who are volunteering at school camps and sleep

overs, as well as those hosting billets and homestay

students.

As has always been the case, a screening is not

needed to attend single events or activities at our

school. These include concerts, fundraisers, swimming

week or sports day.

Screenings are just one measure used to help keep

children safe. Everyone who works with children plays a

part in child protection, including watching out for

inappropriate behaviour.

Find out more about relevant history screening and

keeping children safe at www.decd.sa.gov.au.

If you have any questions about screening or these

changes, please speak with school staff.

Kylie Eggers

Principal

SCHOOL CARD APPLICATIONS

Applications for 2016 School Card are now available from

the Front Office.

Please note that eligible parents are required to complete

an application for School Card assistance each year.

Joh Heiser

Business Manager

SLEEP On Wednesday 24 February at 11am, Oakbank Area

School is hosting Emily Watson (PhD Candidate from

the University of South Australia, Centre for Sleep

Research) to speak to our year 7 to 12 students

about ‘SLEEP’.

This invitation is also extended to parents of children from

any year level, who are interested in learning more about

this important topic.

Emily’s talk will cover:

an overview of sleep (i.e. sleep stages, sleep patterns,

sleep measures, and what makes us sleep),

why sleep is good for you,

what happens if we don’t get enough sleep,

if there is an interaction of diet with sleep.

a very basic overview on sleep apnoea and some of

the other sleep problems.

As adolescents are notorious for poor sleeping patterns,

Emily will discuss how they can improve their sleeping

patterns and the importance in ensuring they are vigilant

with proper sleep at night and not to rely on the

weekends.

A list of outside resources will also be provided to those

who wish to have them.

Over the course of the year Oakbank Area School will be

hosting a range of Guest Speakers in relation to our units

of PERMA + (Positive Education).

If you require any further information please don’t hesitate

to contact Keysha Errington on 83987200 or

keysha.errington405@schools.sa.edu.au

Keysha Errington

Arts Teacher

PRIMARY NEWS

ICAS COMPETITIONS ICAS competitions are a modern, quality assessment

tool that recognises and rewards student achievement

at a high level.

If you are interested in participating in the Digital

Technologies, Science, English or Maths competition

this year please complete the form attached and

return to the front office.

ALL payments and forms need to be back at school by

Thursday 24 March to enter.

Costs and dates are listed below:

Digital Technologies - Years 3 to 10 - Tuesday 17

May 2016. Cost = $8.80.

Science - Years 3 to 12 - Tuesday 31 May 2016.

Cost = $8.80.

English - Years 3 to 12 - Tuesday 2 August 2016.

Cost = $8.80.

Mathematics - Years 3 to 12 - Tuesday 16 August

2016. Cost = $8.80.

NEXT RECEPTION TO YEAR 6 ASSEMBLY Our next assembly will be held at 9am on Wednesday

24 February - Week 4 in the Hall.

PORT POWER VISIT On Monday last week the R-7 students were fortunate

enough to have a visit from 3 Port Power players.

They spoke to the students about their training regime

and how to stay healthy to get the most out of your

body.

Our students asked some great questions and loved

listening to the port power players. They were lucky to

get to share a kick with them after the talk as well.

R/1/2 CLASS We have started the year with many fun games and

activities to ease into the school routine and get to

know each other.

We have made a fantastic window display with the

kids hanging from, sitting on or holding up the first letter

of their name. They have also designed colourful book

covers, crazy monsters and pattern filled name art.

The Receptions are working hard to learn a new letter

sound every day, while the Year 1 and 2 students are

continuing to develop their skills in spelling and writing.

3/4 CLASS We have had a great start to the year and all students

are working hard. We have been learning how to be a

great classmate and practising these traits to ensure

school is enjoyable for everyone.

Students have completed art work to be displayed

around the room and have been working on their

writing skills.

In Positive Education lessons we have been talking

about OPTIMISM and how this affects our happiness

and mental wellbeing. Based on the quote “I may not

be perfect but parts of me are pretty awesome”,

students wrote 3 things about them that are awesome

to enhance their positive wellbeing.

5/6 CLASS Students have been focusing on the topic ‘All About

Me’.

They wrote sentences about themselves and their lives

as well as designing a shield that represents their life

and what they enjoy.

WOODSIDE WARRIORS

NETBALL CLUB

We are calling for coaches and players of all ages (u9

– seniors) for the 2016 winter season!

If you are wanting to get back into it, start new or just

have a change of scenery, please get in touch, we

would love to have you!

2016 is set to be a great year with a real focus on junior

development as well as whole club growth with the

introduction of a Development Manager and Junior

Coaching Coordinator.

2016 is YOUR year to become a Warrior! Contact the

club today to find out about pre-season training, trials

and our upcoming events:

woodsidewarriorsnc@gmail.com

ADELAIDE HILLS

HOCKEY CLUB

Adelaide Hills Hockey Club invites your family to our

Club Come ‘n’ Try Day and registration,

Sunday February 28 4-5pm at Cornerstone College

(synthetic tennis and hockey surface),

Mt Barker (entry via bottom gate)

We have teams: under 9s under 11s, under 14s, under

18s, Mens, Womens and Seniors teams.

Hockey sticks will be available to loan on the day.

For further information please call Sally 0428 849 753 or

email secretary@adelaidehillshockey.org.au

DRUM LESSONS

Is your child interested in

learning the drums?

If so, please contact Paul

Angas on 0418 854149 to

find out more information

and to register your

interest in your child

having drum lessons at

Oakbank Area School.

Paul also teaches drum’s at Murray Bridge High School

and the Mount Barker School of Music

YEAR 8 CAMP PHOTOS