FROM THE PRINCIPAL Well, we find ourselves almost at the conclusion of another school year and there are so many things to be grateful for. The students have had wonderful learning and engagement opportunities, which, in some ways has seen our students be more privileged than city kids. However, that is not to say there are not significant things we miss out on too. It’s a credit to us all that we work hard as a school and community to make sure we can offer as much opportunity for our students as possible to ensure they don’t miss out.

The students recently enjoyed their Term 4 swimming lessons (for the 3-5 class) and everyone loved the Growing With Gratitude pro-gram delivered by the Crows AFL Club at St Barbera’s Parish school last week in Roxby. A great day for all.

Also last week, I had the honour of meeting Professor Brian Cox, renowned Particle Physicist and TV presenter of BBC documentary fame for Wonders of the Universe, Wonders of Life and other nu-merous programs. In addition, he has written or contributed to at least 950 peer-reviewed journal papers as an academic from the University of Manchester. I can barely get my head around his abil-ity to write so much scientific information so prolifically. Professor Cox generously gave of his time after his Adelaide show at the Con-vention Centre on 14th April 2017 to listen to and watch video of our students posing scientific questions about space. His video reply to every question that our students presented can be accessed from our school website at www.andamooka.sa.edu.au . A very proud moment and hopefully a real inspiration to some of our budding sci-entists, engineers and other technocrats of the future.

I wish for all students and families to have a safe and enjoyable summer holiday. I, too, am looking forward to a bit of a getaway with my partner and furry kids. However, I will be available at the school until Christmas and I’m sure I’ll catch some of you at intermittent times during January.

Just one final note, the teachers and I are already busy in planning directions for 2018 and we are excited about some initiatives and positive programs coming into the school. So, be safe, have fun, enjoy family time and we’ll look forward to seeing you all in the New Year.

TERM 4 WEEK 6 DATE: 23rd November2017

Andamooka Primary School Newsletter PRINCIPAL: Ms Tricia Williams Opal Ck Blvd, Andamooka SA 5722 PO Box 143, Andamooka SA 5722 Ph: 86727018 Fax: 86727197 Website: www.andamooka.sa.edu.au Email: dl.0509.info@schools.sa.edu.au

Diary Dates

Tuesday 5th Dec 2017—School

Christmas Concert, 6pm Communi-

ty Hall.

Wednesday 6th Dec 2017—

Student Free Day for staff training.

Friday 8th Dec 2017—Last day of

term, early dismissal at 2pm.

Monday 29th Jan 2018—First day

of school for 2018.

APS Values High Quality Learning

Respect

Relationships

Voice

“Quality Teaching—Quality Learning”

Last Governing Council

Meeting for 2017 on

Tuesday 28th November

at 4pm.

School Reminders/Notes

Community Library Hours

Library hours during school terms are as follows:

Monday 8am—4pm

Tuesday 1pm—4pm

Wednesday 1pm—4pm

Thursday 8am—4pm

Friday—By Appointment

School Summer Holiday Library Hours

are:

OPEN: Mon. 11th Dec to Thurs. 14th Dec

2017, 8.00am to 1.00pm

Mon. 18th Dec to Thurs. 21st Dec

2017, 8.00am to 1.00pm

CLOSED: Mon. 25th Dec 2017 to Sun. 7th Jan

2018.

OPEN: Mon. 8th Jan to Thurs. 11th Jan

2018, 9.00am to 2.00pm

Mon. 15th Jan to Thurs. 18th Jan

2018, 9.00am to 2.00pm

Mon. 22nd Jan to Thurs. 25th Jan

2018, 8.00am to 1.00pm

Normal library hours, as per school term

timetable, resume Mon. 29th Jan 2018.

Library is closed on Public Holidays, Fridays

and Weekends, but can be opened by ap-

pointment on Fridays.

I would like to thank everybody who has

patronised our School Community Library in

2017 and wish you all a very Merry Christ-

mas, a safe, prosperous and Happy New

Year.

Thanks,

Nancy

Andamooka Yacht Club Lunches

This week saw the delivery of the last AYC lunches

for the year. No AYC Wednesday lunches will be

available for the following two weeks. AYC will also

officially close for the year from 4th December 2017

and re-open on 3rd February 2018. School lunches

can resume from 7th February 2018.

School Christmas Concert and Presentation

Evening

The End-of-Year School Concert is scheduled for

Tuesday 5th December at 6pm in the Community

Hall. Please come along to enjoy some of your fa-

vorite Christmas Carols and other eclectic items

from the students. If we’re very lucky Father Christ-

mas may join us at the conclusion of the show. The

School raffle, which has unbelievable prizes, will be

drawn on this night too.

Student Free Day—6th Dec

The day after the Christmas Concert will be a Stu-

dent Free Day to facilitate teacher professional de-

velopment. The Children’s Centre will also be

closed. This will give all the kids a well-deserved

break the day after their Christmas Concert efforts.

Last day of Term 4—8th Dec 2017

Early dismissal at 2pm.

School Reports

School Reports will be sent home on Thursday 7th December. We are sending the reports home a

day early to give parents an opportunity to raise any issues with teachers or myself if you have any

questions arising from your child’s report. Trish :-)

What kind of a school are we at Andamooka Primary and to what do we

aspire?

We’ve been talking with you, our students, parents and community over the past year and unapolo-

getically pursuing a vision for our school of community, connectedness, wellbeing and scientific en-

deavour. This is entirely consistent with our School’s Site Improvement Plan and we believe our

school approach particularly towards Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) is a signifi-

cant vehicle through which to facilitate an engaging curriculum that is numeracy and literacy-rich

while exposing our students to the global necessity for innovative and creative individuals who can

grow into being the thinkers and provocateurs of the future. Our teachers are passionate about what

they do and aim to inspire and motivate the students to see the benefit and reward of doing learning

for themselves and not because they ‘have to’. We want our whole community to ‘get on-board’ to

focus on sending the ‘right’ messages to the students to engage in school not because they ‘have to’,

but because of what it leads to…….dreams for the future! Education, and ability to learn, matters and

it is what remains once students have long-left their schooling years. Your child’s education, in all its

glorious and different guises, will be the most economical, fulfilling and valuable investment you and

your child(ren) will ever possess. There is so much that can come and go in our lives but the ability to

learn for oneself can never be taken away.

CHRISTMAS RAFFLE TICKET REMINDER

Please return all tickets and money back to

the school no later than Friday the 1st of

December, if the tickets are not sold they

still need to be returned.

Kindy Transition

This term the R-2 class have welcomed Macey, Cooper

and Julian from the kindy room. The kindy children are

transitioning from kindy to reception over the next 4-5

weeks, this is a great opportunity for the students to

mingle and for the kindy children to get a feel for the

“big room” and also for the teaching staff to get to know

the kindy children. A big welcome to you all .

Crows AFL Footy Clinic Last week we travelled to Roxby for a Crows footy clinic and a

Growing with Gratitude presentation. All of the children had a

fantastic time and learnt a few new tips from the football staff

including how to tackle, hand ball, take a screamer and kick for

goal. We also got to meet Claude the crow mascot and finished

off with a sausage sizzle and ice block. Yum.

Adelaide Football Club

Growing with Gratitude session Last weeks “Growing with Gratitude” session with the Adelaide Football club was a hit with the students! The first

part of the day was spent inside the hall learning about the 5 habits of happiness and the second part of the day

was spent outdoors practicing footy drills and having a lot of fun! The day was enjoyed by all and we will continue

to teach the students more about gratitude through the Growing with Gratitude resource into next year.

The 5 habits of happiness 1. Attitude of Gratitude

2. Random acts of kindness

3. Positive Reflection

4. Get active

5. Be a Wellbeing Warrior

Andamooka Kindy Program 2018

Does your child turn 4 years old before the 1st May?

TAKING KINDY ENROLMENTS NOW FOR 2018

We also have other programs, including:

3-5 years Early Learning (Thursday morning 8.30am to 12pm)

Occasional Care ($5 per session, less for Concession):

for under 2’s – Wednesday 9am – 12pm

for 2 – 5 years – Thursday 12 – 3pm

Also operating at Andamooka Children’s Centre is a lovely

Playgroup on Tuesday mornings from 9am and an active

Parents Group on Friday mornings from 9am, with guest

speakers; welcoming and relaxed atmosphere.

Call Anne or Trish on 86727018 for enquiries.

Reminders:

School Christmas Concert and

Presentation Evening—Tuesday 5th

December at 6pm in Community

Hall.

Christmas Raffle drawn at Christ-

mas Concert and Presentation

Evening. Winners not present on

the evening will be notified with

their details provided.

Student Free Day on Wednesday

6th December. No School or Chil-

dren’s Centre on this day.

School Reports go home on Thurs-

day 7th December.

A big thank you to the Christmas Raffle sponsors who have really

looked after us this year. We are humbled by your generosity and

know the fabulous prizes are really attracting great sales of tickets. The

money will be put to excellent use for student wellbeing resources next

year for outdoor recess and lunch activities such as large format Snakes

and Ladders, Checkers, Skittles, Art Resources, possible expansion of

the playground and learning games. We ask that the community keep

supporting our local businesses who look after us. You rock! More

Raffle tickets are available for sale from the school, or at the Wool-

worths Mall in Roxby over the next two Saturdays from 9am to 1pm.

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day this year the students made up

crosses with poppy's on them so that we could lay

them in the garden around the flag pole at school

for those people who sacrificed themselves to give

us the freedom we have today.

Ms Williams also said a few words in respect for

the soldiers who had fallen, before our one minute

silent remembrance and reflection.

Lest We Forget.

Preschool News

Wow! What a busy term we have had in the Preschool!

Macey, Julian and Cooper have been enjoying themselves immensely with their

transition to school, which concludes next week with three full days in the

Junior Primary class.

Our Preschool children have been busily preparing for our Christmas concert,

practising our songs and creating Christmas tree decorations for our tree en-

try in the Festival of Trees at Roxby Downs. Once completed, our tree will be

displayed with other entries from the local area.

Very soon we will say goodbye to our group of Preschool friends, with some

moving on to Reception, some moving to Roxby Downs Kindergarten and the

others staying to become our 2018 Andamooka Preschool children. We hope

that with new families moving to Andamooka that we may have some new faces

for next year. In the meantime, Preschool for 2018 will operate similarly to

the modified program that was offered this year, unless our numbers increase.

Merry Christmas and have a safe and happy holiday!