Dernancourt School R-7 Newsletter

11 December 2020

Wishing all of our families a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

From the Leadership Team

Happy Holidays

On behalf of the staff at Dernancourt School R-7,  we would like to thank families for their support in what has been a challenging year for us all. Through the  changes that 2020 presented us with, we have admired the way our learners and their families have adapted and worked with us, embracing unpredictable situations and turning them into learning opportunities. 

Special thank you to the families that volunteered on committees and assisted with classroom support and extra-curricular activities. We have appreciated your efforts to remain connected to your child's learning and classroom. We are hopeful that 2021 will see us returning to more opportunities for  our parents and other volunteers to be involved.

We would like to thank our dedicated staff for the support they have offered our learners through 2020. They have remained committed to providing the best education they can to our students.  We are grateful for their passion towards school improvement. Our teachers begin their holidays from the end of the school day on Friday 11th December and they will be offline and unavailable to check emails or private messages until they return to work on 20th  January  2021. We hope they are able to re-energise over the break and spend time with their loved ones. 

Next year we have many plans to continue to improve our school grounds and facilities as well as continuing our school  improvement journey. We are excited about the introduction of laptops into our year 5-7 learning spaces and we look forward to the new opportunities,  innovation, creativity and inquiry that technology brings; adding a layer to our learning programs that will enable us to align our students digital skills more closely with other schools in our partnership and ensuring our students are well placed in their preparation for education in secondary settings.

Our Front Office will close from Friday 18th of December and re-open on Monday the 11th of January 2020. If you need to contact school during this time, please use our Skoolbag app, as this will be monitored intermittently by staff offsite.

Again, we thank you for your support, understanding and partnership. By continuing to work together we make Dernancourt School a great place to learn and belong. Enjoy the holidays, Merry Christmas. We look forward to seeing you back on Wednesday 27th January 2021.

Classes 2021

We would like to thank parents for their  support in our class placement process. This task is undertaken over a number of meetings with whole staff, year level teams, levels of schooling, and specialist teaching teams at the centre of these decisions. We always focus on what is best for student learning and as we know that wellbeing plays a significant role in learning, these are both integral in our considerations. 

While we acknowledge that some of our students are anxious about changes,  we are confident that we have made the best decisions based on the information we have gathered from students, teachers service providers and parent letters/emails to leadership.  We are aware that after class visits and reading reports, some students and families have made requests to have these decisions changed. While it may appear that moving your child is only a minor change, this has a significant impact across our school and would mean unpacking all classes. You are able to provide feedback or further information about your child, however meeting these requests may not be possible. Any request based on teacher preference will still not be considered. We appreciate your support on this matter. 

Below is our 2021 class structure and teacher names. Unfortunately, in some classes we are still not able to confirm the teacher.  We know that this is also unsettling for some learners but we will advise you of any staff additions as soon as we are able to via our Skoolbag app or email. 

J2Year 2TBC
J3ReceptionPam Williams 
J4Reception / Year 1Adam McCaskill
J5Year 1Georgina Nikolopoulos
J6Year 1Rose Crompton 
J7Reception - Year 2Kaye Coley
P2Year 2 / Year 3Amelia Travis
P3Year 2 / Year 3Georgina Watkins
P4Year 3 / Year 4Guy Barbara
P5Year 4 Niki Kenyon
P6Year 3-7Linda Brooks
P8Year 5/ Year 6Meredith McCade & Emma Salini
P10Year 4/ Year 5Karen Bell
P12Year 6 /Year 7TBC
P14Year 6 / Year 7Amy Farquharson

Celebration and Farewell Assembly

​On Friday 11th December we concluded our school year with our End of Year Celebration and Farewell Assembly.

At this assembly, we said goodbye to staff and students who are moving on from Dernancourt School R-7. All of these members of our school community were thanked for their positive contributions to our school and we wish them every success with the next part of their journey.  We look forward to hearing of your successes. 

Leaving Students

We have a number of R-6 students moving to other schools to continue their learning journey. We acknowledged these students with a photo presentation at the End of Year Assembly. We thank these students and their families and hope that their time at Dernancourt has created many treasured friendships and memories.

Staff Farewells

We have a number of staff who we needed to say farewell to at our final assembly this year. Some are moving on to new schools and others are unsure of their direction for 2021 at this time. We would like to thank the following staff for their valuable contribution to our school and their commitment to student learning.  We know that they will continue to touch lives and have a positive influence on student learning wherever their next appointment is.

We did note at our assembly, we have been unable to renew some contracts at this stage. Many of our support roles are tied to funding which we don't have details of yet but we hope that we are able to contact some staff over the break to invite them back onto our staff team in 2021.

Thank You and Farewell

SCHOOL VALUES AWARD WINNERS

Congratulations to the following students who received the School Values Award

YEAR 7 GRADUATES

Congratulations to our 2020 Year 7 Graduates.

We hope your future is filled with exciting challenges and you reflect on your years at Dernancourt School with fond memories.

P12 - Isaac, Fatimah, Sky, Sarah, Jack, Devina, Dion, Kiarna, Ramsey, Tyler

P14 - Feroz, Connor, Larissa, Henry, Lachlan, Bradley, Erin, Ceridwen, Jack, Domenic, Digby, Clever, Ethan

P6 - Angas, Monique, Alex

AILI AWARD WINNER

Congratulations to our 2020 Aili Award winner

AILI AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE

This year is the 31st Anniversary of the Aili Award.

Each year as part of our Year 7 Graduation Ceremony this perpetual trophy is awarded. As part of our 2020 Upper Primary Leadership Day the Aila Award criteria were explained and discussed. Making the criteria explicit meant that our Year 7s were able to show us what this looks like in action.

The trophy, donated by Mr W. Finger as memorial to his wife Aili, a teacher at this school who died on the 31st of August, 1989. This trophy is available to a student at Dernancourt School who displays qualities of 'excellence' according to the following criteria: 

  • academically very able, book work of a high order
  • possessing excellent social skills
  • reliable
  • exhibiting qualities of citizenship
  • involvement of self in school activities sporting or otherwise
  • an enthusiastic participant
  • possessing leadership qualities.

This criteria is adapted to incorporate our current school values

  • Confidence
  • Commitment
  • Respect 
  • Co-operation.

This year we presented the Aili Award to a worthy winner, displaying excellence in criteria.

Congratulations Feroz.

SCHOOL SPIRIT AWARD

School Spirit Award

Congratulations to Larissa Gepp who was presented the School Spirit Award by Dana Wortley MP today at assembly. Larissa was identified by her peers as someone who is a good leader, demonstrates a solid knowledge across all curriculum areas and is independent and friendly. She completes all of her work on time, has been an excellent Sports Day Captain and a responsible flag and crossing monitor. 

We wish Larissa all the best as she moves into High School and congratulate her on receiving this award.

VOLUNTEER AWARD

Congratulations Ash

Each year we acknowledge our fantastic volunteers who assist us across the school in many ways. This year we have been unable to welcome our volunteers into the classrooms for a lengthy period, but we were still fortunate enough to be able to have offered some of the sports programs.

In 2020, Ash Macdonald has coached our Senior Football and Cricket teams, been involved in District Cricket, been a member of the Sports Committee and coordinated SAPSASA and Knockout Sports teams. He was responsible for initiating and coordinating teams at Dernancourt School R-7 during the past 5 years and always makes sure students and their families are informed about sporting opportunities. 

Congratulations Ash on being presented with the Torrens Award for Outstanding Service at assembly today. Our staff, students and community are very lucky to benefit from your dedication to sport.

Year 6 & 7 Commemorative Tops

During this term, a committee of Year 5 & 6 students have been working with the Leadership Team to design the commemorative tops for the 2021 Year 6 & 7 students. 2021 is a special year in that it will be the final year that Year 7s will graduate from Primary School and the first year for Year 6s. The students decided they would like a unique top for each year level but would like the designs to be similar and the names of all graduates on the back of the tops. 

We are proud to be able to give you a sneak preview of the tops. Orders need to be made ASAP so we can have them ready to begin the year. Well done to our committee for their hard work , consultation and ideas.

SRC NEWS

WORLD VISION CHARITY

Casual Day donations for World Vision raised $354.60. Thank you to everyone for your generosity.

UNIFORM SHOP NEWS

UNIFORM SHOP OPENING TIMES

 

The uniform shop will be closed from 11/12/20-15/1/21. While the shop will be closed during the school holidays online ordering is still available 24/7 and orders will be filled before school returns. The Uniform shop will re-open Monday 28th January 1pm-4pm and Tuesday 19th January from 8am-12pm in preparation for week one and online orders will be available for collection in these times. Online orders can be placed via https://www.jssportsonline.com.au/collections/dernancourt-r-7-school   

Please book a time to visit the uniform shop using this link  https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code?code=epksh

Happy Holidays!

SCHOOL RESUMES WEDNESDAY 27 JANUARY 2021