Crafers Primary School

Hi all,

We are fast approaching the end of Term 3 - which means we are three quarters of the way through the year - and what a year it has been!

Staff recently attended a workshop on teaching maths with Sarah Centofanti, from the Learning Improvement Division in the Department. This was a great opportunity for us all to be reflective about ourselves as educators, particular in maths. We looked at how we improve positive mindsets in maths (both for ourselves and our students), the Big Ideas in Number and how we improve student's reflection on themselves as maths learners and on their learning in maths. It was a very engaging day with lots of professional discussion. You can find out more about the Big Ideas in Number here and here, and mindset in maths from Jo Boaler's youcubed website here.

Family holidays

Just a reminder that if children are going to be absent from school for more than 4 days this needs to be approved by the Principal and an exemption form submitted by parents. Please see Carol or Cynthia at the Front Office for further information.

Family fundraising link

As many of you will be aware Mellita Froiland has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Obviously the family is having to make some significant adjustments to their lives and look at future planning. One of their family friends has set up a fundraiser for the family. If you would like to contribute to this fundraiser you can find it here.

Children's Learning

End of year reports will be coming out at the end of next term. I know that interviews/conferences didn't happen this year but I am aware that many of you have had conversations with your child's teacher about their learning and progress and that there has been lots of communication via Seesaw. Whilst we are not holding formal interviews if you would like an update please contact your child's teacher via email or Seesaw.

Classes 2021

We are about to start the process for planning 2021 classes. Please advise us if your child/ren will not be attending Crafers Primary School next year. Please let us know via email if there is anything significant that you would like considered during the class placement process (we cannot accommodate requests for specific teachers).

Have a great holiday with your children - fingers crossed for some sunshine. See you next term.

Pam

As many of you know there have been a number of cancer diagnoses this year amongst our parent community. All of them parents in their early 40s. Some say you don't need to worry about cancer until you're over 50. Well the 4 parents who have been diagnosed this year alone would tell you it's more common than you think. Cancer doesn't discriminate and often it comes out of the blue.

Now this is not a message to scare you, but to empower you.

Our best chance to beat this beast is to catch it early. Early detection has a high rate of cure.

Your best chance of doing that is to go and get checked.

Breast, prostate, skin, cervical and bowel all have easy to do cancer screening programs. https://www.cancer.org.au/cancer-information/causes-and-prevention/early-detection-and-screening

Other cancers just need you to be aware of your body and if something is hanging around longer than a week or 2, don't ignore it. Go to the GP.

We want to stop cancer affecting any more of our beautiful Crafers family. Don't wait. Please get checked today!

Mrs Barrie’s Year 6 class is buddies with Ms. Shepard’s Reception/Year 1 class. In buddies last week, we were asked to help our younger buddies to make and create resilient bugs. As the older buddies, we helped cut, decorate and support them to be successful. They had to think of a goal they wanted to achieve, i.e.: getting better at handwriting or include everyone in group activities. We then helped them write it on their bugs and how they would achieve their goal. The bugs were in a circular shape and as you lifted up the wings, it showed their goals and guides to succeed. Once they had finished, they got to colour and decorate their bug’s wings with sequins and give the bugs eyes, either with sticky eyes or by drawing them on. We then attached the wings to the body with a split pin. Overall, the younger buddies definitely enjoyed creating their bugs with us and hopefully they will achieve their goals.

Annabel Whyte, Year 6, Room 13

In recent weeks, students have been exploring different perspectives of characters. Anthony Browne’s fabulous book, “Voices In The Park” recounts the same event from the perspective of four different characters and illustrates the way we all view the world through our own unique lens. Utilising drama devices including Role Walks, Hot Seating, Sculpting and Freeze Frames, students have explored different perspectives and developed their inferential comprehension skills – as well as having a lot of fun along the way!

Performing Arts – with Sue McAllister

On Monday 14 September, all the Year 6 and 7 students went to St Francis de Sales in Mt Barker to participate in the Lightning Carnival. The students spent the day playing football, soccer, netball or basketball against other schools from the Hills and Barker Districts. It was a wonderful opportunity for our students to participate in sport (without keeping score), have fun with our friends and to meet new people outside of our school community.  

Victoria Gaetjens

On Thursday, Week 7, Room 2 presented our historical figures from the Hills and the Adelaide region. We have been working hard on researching our famous Australian figures and talking about them in front of the junior primary classes.

The junior primary kids walked around the room and we spoke to the students as if we were the actual historical people. We also dressed in costume to help make the experience more authentic. When we finished, they would ask us some questions that they wanted to know if we had not already told them.

The characters chosen were Andy Thomas by Tristan; Sir Douglas Mawson by Patrick; Don Bradman by Max; David Crafer by Jordan; Callum Hann by Ella; Poh Ling Yeow by Saskia; Mc Pressure by Bonnie; Laura Sharrad by Lara; Penny Wong by Madison; Bon Scott by Jack M; Lleyton Hewwit by Oskar; Tracy Collins by Lily; Simon Fairweather by Fabian; Eddie Betts by Leo; Guy Sebastian by Gabi; Sia Furler by Flossie; Suffa by Toby; Lawrence Bragg by Will; Abb Homes by Addison; Sir Hans Heysen by Oliver and Hamish; Jimmy Barnes by Conner; Doin Atkinson by Chayse; Mark Oliphant by Stefan; Sir Richet Hanson by Matt; Prince Philip by Zac and Peter Badco by Jack.

It was a great experience for everyone and we learned a lot such as working together and helping each other when we needed it. We are sure that the junior primary students now know a little more about the Adelaide Hills and South Australia’s history.

By Tristan Wallis, Patrick Perry and Max Lewis

Room 1 have been developing their visual spatial skills and 3D modelling techniques by designing treehouses. The following designs represent students engagement with the Engineering Design Process, as they formulated ideas, developed prototypes, considered audience and refined designs. Once designs were finalised in Makers Empire they were spliced into layers using a flash print program and supports added. Students were excited to see the 3D printer in operation and the amount of filament required to print and the time taken was a fun way to engage in estimation in maths. A typical print can be anywhere from 2 hours to 12 hours. The skills developed have many useful real world applications and there are companies now 3D printing houses within 24 hours for disaster relief. It has been a great experience for students to use this technology and we look forward to sharing more designs as they complete the Commissioner's Digital Challenge and share their future space technologies.  Sybila Ford

The year 5 students from Room 11 and 12 have worked together each Wednesday this term on our growth and development program. Recently we have explored gender stereotypes as an interesting topic to explore and discuss and looked at birthday cards of a broad selection. We grouped them by gender suitability and organized the collection by chronological age. We noticed once we looked across the range that each card very much described stereotypical interests, colour schemes and themes and projected strong expectations around “desirable” personality traits and hobbies.  

Very few cards were seen as suitable for both genders.  

As we looked at the interests and hobbies displayed we began reflecting on our own childhood experiences, and the joy of dressing up as firemen and trying out the wobbly high heels around the house. We giggled about those funny family photos we now look back on lovingly and the powerful memories of just being a kid. We considered the feelings gender stereotypical cards can generate and felt quite deeply for any young child who might miss or feel uncomfortable by such experiences due to gendered expectations. 

We were surprised when we stopped and noticed the volume of gender stereotypes all around us and wondered how these were impacting and shaping who we are and who we would become. 

A reminder that bookings for vacation care closes this Friday, 18 September 2020. We will not be accepting bookings after this date unless we have a cancellation on the day that you need care.

Please contact Rosie Jarvis on 0413 483 731 or email dl.0107.oshc@schools.sa.edu.au