Phone: 8852 1233 Fax: 8852 1024 Email: dl.0767.info@schools.sa.edu.au Web: ww.yorketownareaschool.sa.edu.au

Diary Dates

November 26 Governing Council 6.30pm

29 Year 7/8 Transition

December 3rd PRESENTATION NIGHT

6th 7/8 Transition

Last Day of Year 10

Mon 9 – Fri 13 Activities Week

13 Last day of term, 2.05pm

dismissal

Reports Home R-11

CANTEEN

November

27th Tammy Turner

28th Kath Borthwick

29th Lauren Smith

December

4th Tammy Turner

5th Kath Borthwick

6th Tina Russell

Growing Minds, Shaping Hearts, Changing Lives Issue 11 22nd November

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Last week our community was faced with a very

uncertain few days and the impact will start to hit home

this week. During the crisis everyone is focused on

managing the situation but when the immediate crisis

passes we have time to think, and that is when anxiety

and stress can take hold. This looks different for

everyone and as children may not be able to articulate

how they are feeling, it may be expressed in their

behaviours. We have included in our newsletter a

Department for Education “help sheet” for supporting

students through difficult times.

Staff will be ready to listen and help students understand

their emotions and we will have social workers on site

this week to support children who would benefit from

speaking to someone.

Thank you for your responsiveness to both the school

closure and cancelled bus runs – all went smoothly.

Facebook is a great way to monitor these situations and

I would encourage you to follow our Fb page – just

search Yorketown Area School and follow.

The processes and procedures we follow are the

emergency procedures of the Department for

Education which are developed in consultation with

emergency services to ensure safety of students. When

afternoon bus runs are cancelled – students will be

looked after for as long as required – the last thing we

want is parents driving through roads at risk. Please do

not feel you have to get to school as quickly as possible.

Thank you to all of you who have been out there

helping to fight the fires and support our community. I

have not witnessed a fire response before and the

swiftness that resources are deployed and managed is

impressive. I have always thought that by living on the

coast I was safe from fire but this week proved

otherwise.

Our sympathy to those who have lost homes, property,

stock and income, we wish you well in recovering from

this disaster.

With the interruption to the week, we didn’t get to farewell our Year 11’s for the year. They are a

gregarious group and like to have fun but this term we have seen them step up their academic

endeavour and we are looking forward to teaching them in Year 12. All the best for the summer

break – think about your Research Project and we will see you next year.

Fiona Haselgrove

Junior School Progress

The Junior School is making very good progress and we

are hoping it will be completed by the end of term 4.

Furniture is arriving and we are preparing to set up ready

for the start of the year. The building is looking great –

the scheme is very natural and uncluttered

Furniture

We have a lot of surplus furniture including student desks

and chairs. We are offering Junior School students a

desk and chair if they would like to set up a work space

at home. Please call Belinda if you would like to request

a colour and shape (circle, rectangle, blue, red) table.

The chairs are small child size in either red or orange.

There is a range of other furniture and towards the end

of term we will be putting furniture under the shelter

outside of Design & Technology and anyone is welcome

to take it.

Surf Team – Good Luck! Our Surf Team is heading to Margaret River for the Junior National Titles and Nationals School

Surfing Titles. This includes: Digby, Connor, Aurora, Ed, Corey. A contingent of families and Surfing

SA members will travel with them. Our exchange student Jules will also travel with the team

which is a great opportunity for him to experience this stunning area of Australia. The competition

at this level is very tough but we are confident our surfers will show some great style.

BYOD - 2020 Secondary School – all senior students (10,11,12) should be bringing their own device. Students

can connect to our internet and drives. Students also get free Office 365 for up to five personal

devices. If you are looking at purchasing devices check battery life and look for 8 hours. We do

allow charges to be used but they must be electrically tested at school.

We have some older devices available to students to borrow from the library for lessons.

Middle School – we are encouraging Middle School student to BYOD. There are class laptop

trolleys but there many advantages of using your own device. School laptops will be phased out.

Junior School – has laptop trolleys and iPads. Students do not require their own device.

Social Media/Device Policy We are revising our ICT policy to reflect the changing nature of ICT. The ICT policy is in the student

journal but we are looking to develop to incorporate students becoming good “digital citizens”

in the virtual world. This will be developed over term one with students and Governing Council.

In the meantime we will ask that all devices (including laptops, phones) be stored in students’

lockers UNLESS the teacher asks the students to use in learning. We have purchased combination

locks for the lockers. Students set the combination however if forgotten they are keyed so we

can unlock them and the student can reset the combination. These will be issued at the start of

the year. Each lock is $11 – if a student loses it an invoice will be sent home. We believe this will

help students regulate behaviour with devices and take responsibility for their own devices.

Parent Opinion survey

We value parent opinions. You can provide feedback at the

link below:

https://www.schoolsurvey.edu.au/s/agceCtvX

JUNIOR SCHOOL

REMEMBRANCE DAY AT BUBLACOWIE

On Monday 18th November the Junior School took part in the

Remembrance Day service at the Bublacowie Military Museum.

Students were given the opportunity afterwards to explore the

memorabilia and talk with veterans.

Thank you to Chris at Bublacowie for providing a wonderful

opportunity and to Amy and Scott for driving us there.

SENIOR SCHOOL

YEAR 10 KAYAK TRIP

On the 6th to the 8th of November, the Year 10 students went kayaking as part of their Physical

Education studies.

The trip consisted of the students showing and developing skills in kayaking, camping and

preparing their own food. The weather was not in our favour, and we were all challenged by

parts of the trip.

On the Wednesday, we left Port Vincent and kayaked 13 km to Pt Julia. Arriving at about

5:30pm, we set up tents and sleeping bags and started to prepare our dinner using trangias.

On Thursday, the wind was strong. We only made it a few kms towards Black Point before

deciding to turn back as we were going straight into the wind. Once we got back into the bay

we did some races and capsizing before heading back to camp.

On Friday we kayaked around a few points and then hung out on the beach before being

picked up and returning to school.

Harper Davison

WHOLE SCHOOL

EDITHBURGH ART EXHIBITION

This year, organisers of Day at

the Burgh kindly welcomed a

collection of works from YAS Art

and Tech students to be

displayed at the Art exhibition.

It was a fantastic opportunity

for students to exhibit alongside

established artists from around

the Peninsula. The feedback

from organisers, other artists

and the general public was

overwhelmingly positive. Our

students have a reputation for

producing refined high-quality

works of art and this reputation

was upheld over the weekend.

Many students opted to sell

their works, with quite a few

selling on the first night and

more across the weekend.

Thank you to the families who

attended and celebrated the

success of our students.

Students should be very proud

of the work displayed. We look

forward to participating in more

exhibitions in 2020. To see a

larger body of student work

from 2019 please come along

to presentation night on the 3rd

of December where there will

be a small exhibition.

Alex Flynn

Visual Art Teacher

Supporting Children Following a Disaster

Hundreds and

sometimes thousands

of people every year

are affected by a

disaster around

Australia.

A large number of

these are children

who may have

suffered major

disruption, losses, or

lived through

frightening

experiences.

Many other children

have been affected

indirectly,

through hearing

about the disaster or

knowing someone

who has lost their

home.

These can

all be challenging

experiences for

children.

Australian Psychological

Society

Children’s reactions may vary, the sorts of reactions you can expect include:

Nightmares

New Fears (i.e. fear of the dark)

Clinging to parents

Loss or increase of appetite

Aggressive behaviour

Withdrawal

Loss of interest in regular activities

Sleep disturbances

Decrease in energy

Irritability or Restlessness

What can you do to Help? Let children know your own feelings about the incident (normalise)

Its normal to feel upset after a terrible experience

Encourage children to express their feelings, without any strong

reactions/judgement from you

Listen

Reassure

Be predictable

Include children in any decision making for future plans

Work together (parent/school) to support children

Keep to regular routines where possible

Be emotionally available, give hugs

Allow children to talk about the disaster, however don’t ask them

questions or insist that they talk about it, take your cues from them

Let them be more dependent on you for a while and try to re-establish

daily routines (i.e. bedtimes, meal times)

Keep your responses about the traumatic event appropriate to the

age/understanding of your child

o Young children often need reassurance more than facts.

Listen closely to what they are asking or saying, and think about

whether they are looking for factual information, or if the questions are

expressing anxiety about the event

Monitor how much your children are being exposed to media stories

o Children can become re-traumatised by watching repeated

images on the TV

Parent Resource

Adults to be conscious of the presence of children when discussing the

event

It is important to look after yourself, as it is likely that you have also

been distressed by the experience. When parents are feeling cared for

themselves, they are better able to respond to the needs of their

children

Warning Signs:

Continual and aggressive emotional outbursts

Serious problems at school

Preoccupation with the event

Intense anxiety or emotional difficulties

When normal reactions persist over a period of time, and impacts

on wellbeing and day to day functioning

Referral Pathways:

Talk to GP about referral to a psychologist

Headspace

CAMHS

References: 1. Lifeline (2010) Helping Children cope with the after effects of a bushfire disaster

2. KidsMatter (2014) Trauma information Sheet

3. QLD Government Natural Disaster Response (2011) Childhood trauma reactions: a guide for teachers from Preschool to year 12

4. ANU (2010) Helping students recover after trauma: classroom activities

5. Australian Psychological Society (2016) Looking after children who have been affected by

Cyclones

SCHOOL CANTEEN

AMY AND HER FANTASTIC BAND OF HELPERS WOULD LIKE TO ASK

ALL STUDENTS AND STAFF TO RETURN METAL CUTLERY SUPPLIED

WITH MEAL ORDERS TO THE CANTEEN SO THAT THEY CAN BE

WASHED AND REUSED.