Year 12 students celebrating their completion of the compulsory SACE Research Project

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A TERM MAKES!

At the end of last term, we were preparing to move our delivery of teaching and learning to an online environment. With a cluster of cases in the Barossa, COVID-19 was very much on our doorstep. By Week 10, only 10% of our students were physically attending school.  Teachers were very quickly learning new technologies and preparing resources so that the bulk of our students could learn from home. We’d developed information booklets for students and their families that outlined the ‘new’ ways of working.

The good news is that in South Australia, the rate of infection declined to such a level that mid-way into the second week of term, we were able to largely return to face-to-face lessons with most of our students back at school by Week 4.

Despite this, restrictions have changed what we have done this term with no excursions or camps, no face-to-face assemblies or staff meetings, a restriction on visitors to the school, no inter-school sport, no work experience, no Australian Business Week, etc.

From Monday, many of these restrictions will lift and we look forward to gradually returning to ‘normal’ – albeit working hard to maintain social distancing between the adults in our school community.

I would like to especially acknowledge the teaching staff for their tremendous work this semester.  Many did not get a break over the Term 1 holidays as they worked to prepare for a term of online learning. When that didn’t eventuate, they had to be agile and change their plans to accommodate both students learning from home and learning at school at the beginning of the term, until we had most students back at school. Even then, with a range of restrictions in place, they needed to adjust their teaching and learning programs to work around these.

Thank you also to the support staff who have had a myriad of additional responsibilities through this time as a result of COVID-19.

RE-DEVELOPMENT UPDATE

Early works are commencing next week with the arrival of the two temporary classrooms.  They will be positioned on the courts at the rear of the gymnasium.

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In the first two days of the holidays we need to vacate Rooms 100 and 105 as well as the Music Room. The Music Room is being re-positioned onto the Agriculture area while the other rooms are ultimately being demolished.

We have agreed to move all the furniture and equipment ourselves to save money so are looking for some extra pairs of hands to assist on Monday, July 6 and possibly Tuesday, July 7.  Please contact our Reception on 8566 2203 or email Kristen.masters775@schools.sa.edu.au if you can assist.

Asbestos removal is occurring during the holidays.  No-one is permitted on site at all during that time. Look out for more details re this.

When students return to school at the beginning of Term 3, they will have some room changes as a result of this work.

YOUTH OPPORTUNITIES GRADUATIONS

Next Monday and Wednesday evening sees the Youth Opportunities graduations.  Youth Opportunities is a personal leadership programme for year 10 students.  Students nominate to be involved and go through a selection process. 

Students are selected for many reasons – sometimes they lack motivation with their learning, sometimes they are looking to develop extra confidence, sometimes they are looking to develop a clear idea of their pathway beyond school, sometimes they want to improve their relationships with others. 

Facilitated by two trainers, students come out of classes for one day per week during term 2 to participate in the programme.  This year has been very different with the program being delivered online, rather than face-to-face due to COVID-19 restrictions.  This has added an additional level of complexity for the students and they have shown, in most cases, tremendous resilience and perseverance to work through these challenges.

A special thanks to Ms Karen Bromley and Mrs Meagan Menzel who have been our school-based Youth Opportunities Trainers this term

END OF TERM ARRANGEMENTS

Friday, July 3 is the final day of the term.  There will be lessons in the morning and after lunch we will have our customary end-of-term assembly prior to dismissal at 2:15pm.  Buses (apart from the Gawler Link SA Service) will leave shortly after.

At our assembly, we present Personal Best Awards for students who have achieved ‘excellent’ effort in all or most of their subjects.

Hard copy reports will be issued at the end of assembly.  They will also be available on DayMap from the end of the day.

The first day of Term 3 is Monday, July 21.

Kristen Masters

Principal

artwork by Anthony Lioi

Year 9 Art has seen the return of landscape painting this term. With freedom to choose a landscape the students were introduced to painting techniques such as colour mixing, layering, using sponges, blending, sgraffito and scumbling. This class has achieved consistently high results throughout the semester due to their patience and effort. Well done, the Year 9 Art class!

 Year 10

artwork by Jayde Golding

The Year 10 Art class were tasked to research into a movement within art history. Movements included, cave painting, ancient Egypt, ancient Greek, High Renaissance, Romanticism, Pop Art, Street Art, Surrealism and Abstract Expressionism. They needed to analyse the style of the movement so that they understood the stylistic characteristics. The students then had to work in the style of their movement to create their own individual artworks. There was a good range of mediums chosen ranging from painting, printmaking, digital art and clay sculptures. With many good quality artworks produced, the students should be proud of their efforts. 

To end the term, the students participated in a short fun task themed ‘glow in the dark.’ The class were provided a black light to create glow in the dark artworks using highlighters and a few had a go at face painting using fluorescent paints. 

Jennifer Ahrens

Visual Arts teacher

Year 9 students, Bethany Hancock, Leilah Prior and Alexander Harrison with bee homes

Mr Nathan Brady and Year 11 student, Zoe Perry

Year 10 student, Jessica Both

Year 8 History students have enjoyed some rigourous debating recently.

Foundation Barossa

Established in 2002, traditionally we have invested and grown donations to create a long-term funding stream to support scholarships and programs for many years.  We still do that.
 
But as our region has grown, so have we. We’re working with our community to address other needs like homelessness, mental health and disability.
 
Thanks to a grant from the Foundation for Rural and Regional Renewal (FRRR) earlier this year, we've made a short video that showcases many of our programs and the incredible people they benefit.  You will no doubt recognise some familiar faces, in addition to meeting some of our grant and scholarship recipients.

Please view this video and if you've got questions about any of our programs, don’t hesitate to get in touch at info@foundationbarossa.org.au

Foundation Barossa Scholarships

Read more about Foundation Barossa scholarships here.

Read more about: Thomas Scholarship here.