Hallett Cove East Primary School

• November 10th - 12th - Yr 6/7 Camp to Wirraway
  
• Tuesday November 23rd - Yr 6/7 Aquatics program
• Tuesday November 30th - Proposed Concert
• Thursday December 9th - Yr 6 and Yr 7 Graduations

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

2022 CLASS PLACEMENT PROCESS

Parent input forms for the class placement process are due by Monday. (Please note that these forms were available via download from the Week 2 newsletter.) Forms received after will not be able to be considered as the placement process begins on Tuesday.

Please also notify the school as a matter of urgency if your child/ren will be moving to another school to commence in 2022.

“SQUID GAMES”

Due to the current worldwide phenomenon we have been asked to share the following information with you about the Netflix series “Squid Games”. (We have already heard children as young as 6 discussing and playing this game in the schoolyard, so ask for you to please be aware of the impact of this program and follow up at home with your children.)

Squid Games is a South Korean Netflix series where characters compete in well-known children’s games with sometimes extreme and violent outcomes. There are reports that children have been acting out these games in the school yard and on Social Media platforms.

The series is rated MA 15+ in Australia. Under the government’s classifications and advisory category, children under the age of 15 may not legally watch, buy or hire MA 15+ rated material unless they are in the company of a parent or adult guardian.

If your child/ren have not seen the series it is possible they have seen aspects of it on social media. If they have seen the series or aspects of it, we encourage you to monitor their reactions and engage in open and honest conversations about the content and their online activity.

If this series has triggered any concerns for your child/ren, the following supports are available:

Kids helpline: 1800 55 1800

Lifeline: 13 11 14

https://eheadspace.org.au

If you have any questions about the information above, please get in touch. 

END OF YEAR CONCERT - TUESDAY NOVEMBER 30th

Our End of year Concert is fast approaching and everyone is already in full swing preparing and practising for this event! While we are still organising the details of how it will be managed in a COVID safe way, the following is what we are planning so far:

·         Due to current Department for Education COVID expectations requiring physical distancing, this event will be ticketed at a maximum of 2 tickets per family. Details about how to order tickets will be out soon.

·         Entry will be via 2 gates only, (those next to House 9 and House 8), and entry to the audience area will be with the tickets only and include COVID safe scan or sign in processes

·         Attendees will need to remain seated throughout the concert. We are currently trying to source enough seats for all attendees so we can ensure correct physical distancing. Up to 2 children below the age of 5 may attend as long as they sit on the lap of the adults at all times.

·         Currently, adults are not expected to wear masks when outside on school grounds, however, we do encourage adults to wear masks during this event, as everyone will be seated in an area in close proximity to others.

·         The Concert will start at 6:00pm and be held in the large COLA.

·         Gates will open at 5:25pm. One of the attending adults will be asked to deliver their children to their classrooms and sign them in with their teachers at 5:30pm. All children need to be at classrooms no later than 5:40pm.

·         Classes will move to their designated seating spaces in the COLA at 5:45pm and students will then sit with their teachers throughout the Concert.

·         At the end of the Concert, students will return to classrooms with their teachers and wait for one adult to come and sign them out. For safety reasons and the inability to effectively manage dismissal within a very large group, students are not able to be dismissed from the COLA.

·         Organisation of the Concert itself will be the same as our last concert in the COLA with class, whole school and staff items. Students will be seated throughout the Concert with their teachers and move to the stage and back from their designated spaces.

·         The COLA will be sectioned off for seating. The stage will be set against the fence side of the COLA and classes will be seated directly out from the front of the stage and performing floor area. Behind that there will be a sectioned area for seating for family members. No prams will be allowed in this area.

·         The playgrounds will be out of bounds.

·         As this is a school event and on school grounds parents are reminded that smoking and alcohol are not permitted.

As we get closer to Concert we hope there are no issues with COVID but as has been the case for the last 18 months, if circumstances change suddenly we may need to cancel. Fingers crossed we can all get to enjoy a wonderful evening to end our school year.

With regards,

Anne Rathjen

Principal

COMING EVENTS

PROPOSED CONCERT – TUESDAY 30th NOVEMBER

GRADUATIONS – THURSDAY 9th DECEMBER

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

This week has been very busy and I would like to highlight two events.

On Wednesday of this week we had our final partnership Student Voice In Learning ( SVIL) session. As part of this day the students were asked to prepare an “elevator” presentation for a SVIL group of students next year. This is what they prepared and presented:

“Although at first SVIL can be quite intimidating keeping an open mind will (help you) go a long way. You are very lucky to have this opportunity. SVIL will expand your knowledge and help you solve problems by yourself or in a group. This experience will enable you to grow in many ways. Just remember to always do your best.”

It has been a privilege to work with this group of students this year and I would like to thank Soma Govender for her most considerable contribution.

As I mentioned in our last newsletter we had a cyber-safety session planned for our year 4/5 students today. Matt, an officer from SAPOL, talked with our students based on a presentation from the Australian ThinkUKnow website https://www.thinkuknow.org.au/  

For those parents who had children attend today please ask them what it made them think about. Whilst many of the students present were not on some of our more common social media outlets a vast majority of them were gaming on line. I was surprised at how many students had a mobile phone and how many students said they were on apps and websites without their parent explicitly giving them permission or supervising. The KS: CPC themes* that we talk about here at school were reiterated in the presentation and the Kids Helpline was also shared.

In our meeting today Matt mentioned the app Discord. Many of the students knew of this app but all said they were not currently using it. We didn’t discuss the app but were told the police are finding increasing issues, especially around children. Matt asked me to bring it to the attention of our parents as many of our children are gaming on line.

The following information is from the Carly Ryan Foundation:

“Discord is an app used widely in the gaming community. It allows users to invite each other to servers, which allow them to talk to each other over text, microphones and send photos to each other. Users find this platform a convenient and easier way to communicate rather than through the game directly.

 Some of the issues with Discord are that younger children may get invitations from random users thinking it is safe to chat with them. A criminal has the potential to groom the child and get various sources of information such as: credit card details, house address, school, age and much more. Ensure that you have conversations with your young person about the potential risks involved with using platforms like Discord. The Carly Ryan Foundation is seeing young users being asked to add people on Discord. This can create the opportunity for criminals to groom, manipulate and coerce young users through conversations that unfold via various gaming platforms. Discord is a great app to help users communicate with their friends but without the right settings in place it can expose the user to unwanted or inappropriate contact from criminals or by strangers.”

Having been directed by SAPOL to this website for information on apps I would encourage you to have a look. Each app is described and the challenges are mentioned as well as information on how to close accounts and block. The link is https://www.carlyryanfoundation.com/resources/fact-sheets

 *The Keeping Safe; Child Protection Curriculum ( KS:CPC) follows 2 main themes:

·       we all have the right to be safe

·       we can help ourselves to be safe by talking to people we trust.

And next week promises to be even busier.

On the 10th November we are looking forward to meeting with some of the parents of our 2022 reception students as we begin the transition process. Over the following 3 Wednesdays our new students will also begin their transition process.

On the 11th November we will have our Remembrance Day service lead by a group of year 5 students.

And did I mention that we have our year 6/7 students going on a three day camp? We have our fingers crossed for good weather!

Kind Regards,

Andrea Hayden

Deputy Principal

Growing up is not straightforward: Challenging Experiences

The following is an extract from a parenting blog by Michael Grose. Stay tuned for the next section ‘Positive Experiences’ in the next newsletter or read the full article via the link:  parentingideas.com.au

The experiences that develop maturity and coping capacities fit into two broad areas – challenging and positive experiences.

The challenging experiences that a child encounters enable them to build their coping capacities and develop their emotional resources that contribute to their maturity.

These challenges include:

• Conflict: Disagreements, arguments and rivalry is part of growing up. Whether it’s a dispute with siblings or a fallout with a friend, negotiating conflict is a developmental task.
• Rejection: Rejection by a friend or group is hurtful and feels horrible, but it also builds a level of social smarts and judgement necessary for navigating relationships in later life.
• Loss: This takes many forms including a friend moving away, the death of a pet and the passing of a family member. Loss is the cause of sadness, grief and heartbreak that can feel overwhelming. However, with time and support kids learn to cope and get on with their lives.
• Disappointment: Losing a game, not being picked for a team, not receiving a gift they wanted are unpleasant but character-building experiences that help kids develop perhaps the most treasured resilience capability of them all – acceptance.
• Unexpected change: Although few kids like it, and many will fight it change, acceptance of change and the ability to adapt to circumstances is a short cut to maturity and resilience.
• Failure: Mistakes are seen in three ways. They are activities to be avoided, signs of failure, or opportunities for further learning. Resilient learners know that mistakes, even initial failures, are part of every learning process so the risk of failure doesn’t hold them back. Children and young people grow from these experiences as coping and recovery generally build character, confidence and resilience.

Joey Traeger

Pastoral Care Worker at Hallett Cove East Primary School on Wednesdays and Fridays. 

joey.traeger704@schools.sa.edu.au

2022 Materials and Services charge has been approved by the Governing Council for our polling process.  This year we are accessing the online polling process.  If your child is enrolled to begin in 2022 you will receive an email.  Poll closes on the 16th November 2021. 

If you are yet to pay your 2021 Materials and Services fees we remind families to clear all outstanding accounts. Debt collection process has  commenced.

If you believe you qualify for the 2021 School Card Scheme and you have not submitted your application as yet please be advise the last date for new applications to be accepted for the 2021 school year is 19th November 2021.

To determine eligibility for School Card please click on this link 

If you are experiencing financial difficulties we ask you contact the Business Manager via email dl.1053.finance@schools.sa.edu.au  

Imelda Jolly

Business Manager

おめでとう　

Omedeto! Congratulations to Mitchell, Connor, Reva, Samantha, Lacey- Jay, Noah, Lara, and Evie who represented our school in the Inter-school Hiragana Reading Competition at Reynella East College on Thursday 27th of October.

Out of the 12 schools who participated, our two teams the Hallett Cove East Yagis and Tatsus, did exceptionally well making it through to the finals.  A special thank you to Ollie and Ethan who supported the team during lunchtime practices prior to the competition and for being ready to attend as back-ups.

Well done for your efforts and achievements on the day Tatsus and Yagis!

Wallis sensei 

“Great lead up to the competition and I really enjoyed helping.” Ollie

“It was really fun and both teams made it to the finals.” Mitchell

“It was really fun, and I loved going there. I wish I could do it again.” Lara

“I loved going and competing against different schools. I wish I could go next year.” Evie

“I enjoyed the Hallett Cove East Challenge and the practice challenges at lunch.” Ethan

“It was a new and fun learning experience, and I would love to participate in another opportunity again.” Reva 

“It was a great experience and both teams did very well.” Lacey-Jay 

“It was all about fun and there was a raffle which was cool.” Sammy  

“It was really fun and I definitely recommend it.” Connor  

“It was really fun to be included in the first HCEPS team.” Noah

• Available via Qkr!
  
• Limited Lunch menu 
• Orders by 9.15
• We thank you for your continued understanding and support.

Volunteers Wanted !!

Volunteers are important to our school community. Our canteen relies on help from volunteers to deliver a meal service to our pupils.

To enable us to provide a varied recess and lunch menu offer to our pupils we really do need your help.   

If you have a spare hour or more we would welcome your support.

Not registered with the school as a volunteer?  Volunteer application packs are available from the front office containing all the information you need to submit your registration as a volunteer...... WE NEED YOU

If you have any uniform items in good condition that are now surplus to your needs our volunteers would appreciate donations.  

Donations can be left at the administration office.  Thank you.

Opening hours :- House 1, through the carport - facing Forresters Rd

Wednesday morning 8.30-9.00 

Wednesday afternoon 3.00-3.30 temporarily closed volunteers wanted

Qkr App (pronounced quicker) is Hallett Cove East Primary School and Out of School Hours/Vacation Care preferred form of payment. 

Please click for more details Qkr App

Download on the App Store or Get it on Google Play