Principal: Robert Boucher Tambo Campus: Ph 5159 4366 Fax 5159 4408 Flagstaff Campus: Ph 5159 4267 Fax 5159 4484 Department of Educaon and Training Email: swiſt[email protected]Web: www.swiſtscreeksc.vic.edu.au Twier: twier.com/swiſtscreekp12 Swifts Creek P-12 School February Newsletter 2016 Everyone learning to be the best they can be, academically and as global citizens. We will succeed together by showing: Courage Joy Kindness Year 7 Camp
We are half way through our first term of learning and we have had many great successes already, none more than the swimming sports. It was fantastic to see all of the school working so well together and students per-forming to their best in the pool.
Throughout this term we will have a number of learning opportunities that will be presented to students. It would be a pity if some students do not take these up or, even worse, if they couldn’t be trusted to represent our school in the positive manner which we expect.
Shoes are great and are part of the school uniform and it is a reasonable expectation that students wear them. Please make sure that shoes are on your feet if you are a student as they are intended to protect your feet and are part of the social norms that we all work within.
Effective learning communities are communities that work together to be the best they can be not just some of the time but all of the time. Student effort is a key aspect of this so for all of our students, whatever their differ-ent age and stage of learning, they should all be able to share with their parents some simple things that they do multiple times each day which are indicators that they are putting effort into their work.
Some examples of this are:
Correct equipment is taken to class
Toilet breaks are taken at recess and lunch, not during learning times (the majority of times)
A learning posture is used when in class
At least one question is asked about the learning
Tasks that are set are easily broken down into the learning they are achieving.
In effective learning communities learners develop scripts they can repeat to themselves to enable them to build on their success, which then allows them to be even more successful. As our learners age these scripts become more complex and allow for them to produce learning outcomes that we all get to celebrate.
Actions such as having to have a drink during learning time are distractions from the learning. The more you
learn, the greater the choices you have later in life. We all know that the responsibilities of each and every stu-
dent is to their future self. The greater the effort that goes into learning whilst they are at school the more ap-
preciative the future self will be, as they will be doing what they are wanting to do.
Robert Boucher
Parents’ Group Notice for All Parents
Tambo Valley Races Easter Sunday
Parents’ Group assists the school by contributing those extra things to benefit the children, your children. So we would really appreciate some new people to volunteer their services to help at our big fundraiser. We make quite a large sum of money for one day’s work. The Lions Club kindly took over the ordering and majority of the organis-ing. We just need to supply BBQs and people. We only ask you come for one shift on the day. That is 2 hours of your time. Maybe you have a relative or friend who is happy to help. Think about it. It’s for your kids.
The money raised from this year’s catering will go towards our current projects which are the update of library furniture and IT storage equipment.
Please let the office staff know if you can help out.
Thank you
Please note that the next meeting of Parents’ Group is on March 9th, 3:30pm at the Flagstaff campus staff room.
The 2016 Year 7 Camp was enjoyed by all and again provided a fantastic beginning to the school year for the Year 7 class. After setting off on a rainy morning we arrived at Orbost were we ate, played and stocked up on supplies as we headed to the coast. A break in the rain gave us the opportunity to get down to the beach for a swim, flag races and a game of British Bulldog. Our dinner that night was provided by Ms Carr and her Yrs 8-10 Applied Learning class. We enjoyed pasta bake, nectarine crumble and ice cream. Thank you Ms Carr and students for your time and expertise. It was a privilege to watch Wayne Gaunt introduce the Year 7’s to two of his signature camp games, Sock Wrestling and Dog and Bone. This was Wayne’s last school camp and everyone will miss him.
For the first time ever, the girls claimed the sort after loft in the lodge as their sleeping quarters.
Day two, and what a glorious day. The sun was out, and spirits were high as we headed down to the beach. After fishing, exploring and lunch, we headed to the Yeerung River with the canoes. Wayne gave the students a talk on safety procedures and then the students canoed to the mouth of the Yeerung and back again. From the river we drove back to the beach and met up with Pete from the Surf shack. With boards in hand we got into the surf. All the students showed a great deal of stamina and enthusiasm.
Back to the lodge for a barbecue dinner and then a team challenge of “Hungry Hippos”. A tired group of Year 7’s eagerly went to bed that night.
We were all up early the next day to tidy up the cabins and pack the bus. We headed to the rock pools and caught up with Parks Victoria ranger, Amelia. She explained to us how the Cape Conran ecosystem works, and how it de-pends on even the smallest of creatures. On the way back home we stopped off for fish and chips and a drink at Lakes Entrance.
A big thanks to all the parents and carers who provided food for the camp. The cakes, slices and biscuits were deli-cious and were well received.
It was great to have Jen Smith, our new wellbeing worker, with us on camp, and making sure the students had the best time possible.
Michael Cawley
Year 7 Home group Teacher
The Year 7 Barbeque
Parents and Carers of Year 7: You are invited to a barbeque on Wednesday 2nd March at Swifts Creek School. The venue will be the outdoor theatre at The Tambo Campus. The school will provide the barbeque, salads and drinks. The starting time of this event will be 6: 00 pm and will finish around 8:30 pm.
The barbecue will be followed by a PowerPoint of the Year 7 camp presented by the students. This is a great op-portunity to meet the Year 7 teachers and the parents/carers of other students.
All family members are welcome to attend. Any questions please call Michael at school on 5159 4366.
Flagstaff Campus
This year the art smocks in the Art Shed are well past their usefulness. If you have an old shirt or top your child could wear for an art smock, please send it into school. This will protect uniforms from stains and the take the frustration out of washing/soaking for mums and dads.
Ni hao! Students at Flagstaff were quick to learn this Chinese greeting when we had four Chinese visitors in our school last year. They were here to present a series of workshops of Chinese cultural activities. It was a day of great fun and lots of learning.
Ying Meng taught us the skill of Chinese paper cutting, with some fabulous results now on display in the Flagstaff office. Later Ying also demonstrated the more challenging art of Chinese knots. It was great to see many students have success and proudly show their beautiful, intricate knots. Luna Tai had her groups of students singing “Happy New Year” in Chinese after only half an hour of learning. Her Chinese dancing workshops were so engag-ing that Mr Boucher and Mr Mealing, from the DET Regional office, couldn’t resist joining in. Rui Xun helped eve-ryone to look graceful and feel peaceful in her tai chi workshop. Her next workshops in Chinese painting pro-duced a fine array of pandas by students using traditional Chinese brushes, rice paper and ink.
Yan Zheng of the Confucius Institute, which is affiliated with the University of Melbourne, organised this day for us, and Lowanna College kindly loaned Suri to us for the day.
Our thanks to the Confucius Institute and to Yan, Ying, Luna and Suri; or, as the students would say, Xiexie
(pronounced shishi) – Chinese for thank you.
JOIN A COMMUNITY OF GLOBAL FRIENDSHIP AND LEARN ABOUT YOURSELF! As Abraham Lincoln once wrote : “ the best way to predict the future is to create it.” Volunteer to host an interna-tional high school student from France arriving into Australia in May 2016 through Southern Cross Cultural Ex-change and prepare to be amazed at the way this unique and rewarding opportunity helps your family to become closer, to understand themselves better and see the world in a new light.You’ll have fun learning about cultural differences and language. Carefully selected students from France will arrive in mid May for one term. With excellent English language skills, they will attend a local Secondary High School, arrive, with their own spending money and comprehensive health insurance cover – all arranged by Southern Cross Cultural Exchange. To enquire about becoming a volunteer host family visit us at www.scce.com.au email [email protected] or call us toll free on 1800 500 501 for more in-formation.
2016 Swifts Creek Swimming Carnival On the 10th of February 2016 the annual Swimming Carnival was held at Swifts Creek Swimming Pool. With beautiful weather forecast it was destined to be a great day. With students donning their house colours proudly, there was a great atmosphere in the air. The day kicked off with the 50m Breaststroke with Catherine O’Brien, Jai Hayward, Laura Firus, Bailey Smith-Crisp, Bridgette Roberts and Erik Oliver all registering maximum points for their team. Lloydd Jones was swimming strong all day, and he pushed himself that little bit more in the 50m Butter-fly taking it out in a new record time of 40.72 seconds. Great effort Lloydd! The highlight of the day, apart from the great sportsmanship showed by all involved and the new record set by Lloydd Jones, was the novelty cork bob, rope rescue and tunnel ball. These three events have con-sistently brought out the fierce rivalry between Dargo, Wentworth and Timbarra. You could see and hear how much the title of Champion House meant to all students. I must congratulate all competitors for their constant encouragement of one another, and positive atti-tude during the course of the day. Participation was very high this year, and it was also great to see the senior students assisting the preps in the noodle races. Congratulations to the age champions: Junior Girls: Josephine Gallagher (Wentworth) Junior Boys: Morgan Jones (Dargo) Intermediate Girls: Laura Firus (Dargo) Intermediate Boys: Lloydd Jones (Dargo) Senior Girls: Brigette Roberts (Wentworth) Senior Boys: Ryan Ennis (Dargo) Overall House Championship: 1st Dargo 872 points 2nd Wentworth 591 points 3rd Timbarra 410 points Also congratulations to those competitors that made it through the East Gippsland stage, which will be held in Orbost on the 25th of February. Thank you to all involved on the day including staff, parents and most importantly students. Special mention goes to Wayne Gaunt who worked diligently behind the scenes to get everything in place. Over-all it was a successful day on the school calendar, and from a Sports Coordinator perspective I believe that everyone involved should be proud of their efforts and walk away with their heads held high, and grateful to be part of such a great school community. Well done. Mr Alexander Physical and Outdoor Education Teacher Swifts Creek School
