It has been great to see students so involved in their learning with many exciting events happening throughout the school. 

Our reconciliation assembly was a huge success and we would like to thank Kylie Gardner for her leadership in this area. Some of our staff (Kylie Gardner, Michelle O'Connell, Anna MacIntyre and I) attended the reconciliation breakfast, alongside the Blackwood reconciliation group where we were inspired to take reconciliation action in many ways.

The choir have been signing at our Monday morning assemblies and supporting with the singing of the 'National Anthem' and 'We are one'. 

Our Junior Primary students have had an enjoyable week at Westminster school learning about water safety(and keeping warm). 

Many of our senior students have had the opportunity to play in a range of knockout sports competitions and we thank the teachers who have made their participation possible.

On the 27th May we held a Biggest Morning tea, alongside our volunteers, and raised over $300 dollars towards the cancer council.

Our Pedal Prix team, training hard with Megan, finished second in their category at the recent Tailem Bend event. They now have their sights fixed on coming first at the next event.

UNIFORM

As the cold weather embarks upon us we are seeing a range of non uniform items appearing in the school. Our school provides a range of uniform options at an affordable price. Our uniform shop is open on Monday afternoon and Friday morning.

Our uniform policy allows students to wear alternative clothing items as long as they adhere to our school colours which are sky blue, royal blue and navy blue. Black clothing and jeans are not acceptable uniform items. Please refer to the uniform policy below for accurate information about uniform requirements.

https://coromandps.schoolzineplus.com/uniform-policy

Next Friday 18th June we will have a pupil free day so that staff can engage in training for our upcoming IB PYP evaluation, to take place later this year.

Two workshops will be run, providing staff with valuable information around developing productive learning environments and learning diversity and inclusion.

The them for Reconciliation Week 2021 is ‘More Than a Word: Reconciliation Takes Action’. Our school community took action for Reconciliation in many different ways before, during and after Reconciliation Week, and is committed to take ongoing action. You might have seen the amazing learning experiences that students shared at the Reconciliation Week Assembly. If you missed the assembly you view it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_YhmGmV18U where you will also see Uncle Tamaru sharing a Welcome to Country. Ngaitayla to Uncle Tamaru for this very important and special experience. 

Here are just a few of the ways the students, staff and families are taking action for reconciliation: 

• Many of the families in our school community joined Blackwood Reconciliation Group’s Reconciliation Walk on Sunday, 30 May. Students walked with the Coromandel Valley Primary School banner and giant painted hands to show their commitment to Reconciliation. Some students also brought their own flags and banners.
• Aliah and Ashley from RG weren’t able to join the Reconciliation Walk but visited Colebrook Reconciliation Park in their own time with their families.
• Mrs Melbourne’s class read the book Family, written by Aunty Fay Muir and Sue Lawson, illustrated by Jasmine Seymour. Her students noticed the elders in the story and connected to Uncle Tamaru’s Welcome to Country. They said “Mrs Melbourne, we can’t walk in front of Aboriginal people or behind them, we have to walk together!”.
• Following a visit from Uncle Tamaru, where students learned to represent their sense of place using symbols, Eliza from RM went home and drew her own maps to represent her connection to this new learning.
• Valerian from 2OT was so moved about his learning about Reconciliation that he went home and created his own poster.
• Keanu from 6/7H wrote a letter to the Minister for Indigenous Australians about his passion for the Free the Flag movement and suggested a solution for the problem.
• Students in 2M initiated a student-led project to teach the school community Kaurna language by creating artworks and turning them into a book. Copies of the book were given to every class.
• Mrs O’Connell and Mrs Gardner worked with Di Grigg from Blackwood Reconciliation Group to review the school’s collection of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resources. Ngaitalya to Di for donating her time and experience.
• Mrs Pelling, Miss Mcintyre, Mrs O’Connell and Mrs Gardner attended the Reconciliation Breakfast on 27 May at the Convention Centre. They were joined by Colebrook Resident Raymond Finn, members of the Blackwood Reconciliation Group, Di Grigg, Anne Barkaway, Helen Sage, Anneka Skirrow and Mayor of Mitcham, Heather Holmes-Ross.

Want to join us in taking action?

• If you’d like to find out more about taking action for Reconciliation with our school community you can join the Coromandel Valley Primary School, Kindergarten and OSHC Reconciliation Working Group. The RAP Working Group is meeting on Thursday, 22 July at 4:30pm at Coromandel Valley Kindergarten. For questions and to RSVP please email gardner980@schools.sa.edu.au

The Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group

At the end of this term, you will be receiving your child’s report for their first semester of learning. In the report, you will notice that they have been given an effort grade for their Approaches to Learning. Within the IB Programs, the Approaches to Learning (ATLs) act like a bridge that connect students’ conceptual understandings (ideas about learning) to the curriculum (what they are learning). The ATLs are grounded in the belief that learning how to learn is essential to a child’s education, as it equips them with the skills to learn in any context. In short- the ATLs help to build lifelong learners.

Through a variety of strategies, teachers plan opportunities to develop the students’ ATLs. These skills help students to become self-regulated learners who know how to ask good questions, set effective goals, and pursue their aspirations with the determination to achieve them. There are five categories within the ATLs, as shown in the image below. Students regularly reflect on them and discuss ways that they can improve their learning by applying the different skills.

We are always very grateful for the support given to our students from parents and families volunteering their time, in a multitude of different ways, to enrich learning experiences. As part of the Department requirement volunteers are asked to complete an application form and have a discussion with site representatives regarding the specific role they are volunteering for at the school. Volunteer application forms are available from the office and more information can be provided by phoning the school. 

Some volunteer roles require a current working with children check. Please use this link to determine if you require a working with children check.https://www.education.sa.gov.au/webforms/find-out-if-you-need-working-children-check   

All volunteers are required to have an up-to-date Responding to Abuse and Neglect training and a volunteer induction course. The training can be done online.The following link takes you to an online training module where you can nominate to complete the course as a volunteer working within a school setting.

This year, members of our school community have been participating in Children’s University which has been a great opportunity for students to continue building successful habits of learning outside of their classroom.

Each Wednesdays at lunch time, we have been offering a Children’s University lunchtime club to further support participants. Children have been invited to attend the computer room at lunch time to check in and reflect on learning, participate in research tasks, visit learning destinations virtually, access other online learning activities and use the printing facilities.

Congratulations to our participants who have been very busy collecting learning hours in their passport towards their graduation.

Dan Johnson

Y3 Teacher

One week to go to order your warmie!!

We are fundraising to buy some new seating for our library.  There are some pretty cool choices, there is a range of them in the office. Please see the order form attached, hard copies are available from the office. Warmies Order Form.jpg

Congratulations Marley!

Marley, a year 5 student, participated in this year's Dream Big Festival

Across the first week of the DreamBig Children's Festival, Marley got to experience what it is like to be an actor, participating in 10 performances of a show called The Narrator. The venue for the show was on a bus as it drove through the streets of Adelaide.

The Narrator boards the bus and tells the audience a story of a boy and a girl who used to be friends. Outside the bus, the story of the boy and the girl is played out for the audience to see. Marley played the younger version of the girl, when the boy and the girl were still friends. 

Marley learned a lot about what it takes to put on a show, from working with the director who was telling her how to act and move, learning about all of the things a stage manager is responsible for (it's a lot!), and hearing from professional actors about their experiences performing in theatre. She especially enjoyed getting to work next to her friend and loved seeing the enjoyment on the audiences faces at the end of each show. 

Our team of yr 6/7 students headed up early to The Bend for our first race of the year, a 6 hr event. 12 riders experiencing the competitive racing for the first time. Lots of excitement and anticipation from the kids and parents alike.

A little unexpectedly, Black Betty was in first place for much of the race. By the finish we were a very happy team coming in 2^nd place by only 2 laps.

The team will be racing again on Fri 18^th June at Victoria Pk in another 6 hr event. Go Coro!

In week 6, our year 6 and 7 boys took part in SAPSASA Knockout Footy at Flagstaff Hill Football Club Oval. While we were there, we played games against Craigburn and Belair Primary Schools with Woodcroft Primary School ultimately progressing passed this round.

We had standout performances from all our boys on the day and everyone who participated, proudly represented themselves and our school community extremely well on the day.

Dan Johnson

Y3 Teacher

Last week our Boys’ Knockout Soccer team played its first round of matches against Edwardstown, St Peters Woodlands and Colonel Light Gardens at Frank Smith Reserve

The boys played a very disciplined and skilful brand of football, easily winning all three of their matches.

The scores were:

Coromandel Valley v Edwardstown                        2          0

Coromandel Valley v St Peters Woodlands             6          1

Coromandel Valley v Colonel Light Gardens           5          0

Having knocked those three schools out of the competition, we now progress to the second round of matches.

Volunteers on the Learning Assistance Programme (LAP) come from varying backgrounds.  They spend half an hour supporting students one-to-one, once a week.

This week we profile Di Furness who joined LAP this year.

What is your background? Tell us a bit about yourself

I grew up in Queensland, worked in UK and USA for nearly 8 years and have since worked in Queensland, Victoria and for the last 29 years in South Australia.  I originally studied maths as part of a science degree and went on to study computer science for a project based masters. I work as a computer programmer in Healthcare helping hospitals collect data related to infection control.  I also am a parish councillor for the parish that includes the church next door to the school and am involved in playing the piano for services as well as helping run Bible studies and other activities.

How long have you been a volunteer on the LAP program?

Just started this year but I helped at Craigburn Primary quite a bit with reading and some other computer related skills when my children were young.

What inspired you to volunteer?

I know that if a child does not understand basic maths or has troubles reading when quite young that it will lead to many difficulties in studies later on at both primary and high school.

What does a typical LAP session involve?

Reading, going through math problems but with a different perspective to hopefully allow the child to understand the problem better, playing games related to reading or maths.

What do you enjoy most about being a LAP volunteer?

I enjoy the time with the children, getting to know them and helping them understand their school work better.

What is your message for anyone thinking about volunteering?

Give it a go – it is a challenge but also very rewarding.

If you’re interested in becoming a LAP volunteer, please contact LAP Coordinator Jenny Tucker.

Jenny.tucker37@schools.sa.edu.au