School Newsletter Term 4, 2023

From the principal

As the end of 2023 nears, we take the time to reflect on many things, including our achievements and challenges. This year, we reached a peak in enrolments never before seen at the school, with over 480 new students enrolling and having more than 220 students transition at the end of term 4. We currently have 48 different cultural groups represented in the school, with the majority of students coming from Afghanistan, China, Vietnam and South America. 
As a result of our increasing student numbers, many new teachers and support staff have joined the school, enabling us to continue on our improvement journey whilst maintaining a focus on increasing student achievement in reading and writing. Throughout the year we have celebrated student achievements and progress at assemblies and we have had former students share their successes. The important work we do to develop effective learners, by teaching the foundational skills, the knowledge, the competencies and capabilities they need to successfully navigate future challenges and further education, has been highlighted and is reflected in student success. 
Having positive role models share their experiences is also an important part of the learning journey for our students, and recently we had the pleasure of hosting the Children’s Peace Literature Awards. The celebration was organised by Psychologists for Peace and our students had the opportunity to shine, asking interesting and thoughtful questions of the award winning author, Maryam Master.

Students were able to relate to the author, a former refugee who now calls Australia home, and were extremely appreciative of the large collection of 101 new books donated by the psychologists. 
Some of our post transition students recently had the opportunity to work with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra as part of their music elective, creating an inspirational piece of music highlighting their migration journey. Many students also participated in a range of community service activities, targeted programs and excursions, as part of the school curriculum.
As a school community we take pride in making our school a place where everyone belongs and is able to be their best and achieve their best. Together with our families and various community organisations, we will continue to endeavour to meet the individual needs of all of our students as best we can by providing quality education as we move into 2024.
Although it’s time to farewell a large number of students as they make the move to their new mainstream schools, we need to acknowledge the determination, courage and strength they have shown as they have embraced new opportunities and worked hard to improve their English language and communication skills. We also remind them of the importance of our school values of respect, responsibility and resilience. 
Lastly, thank you all for your ongoing support and collaboration throughout 2023.
Wishing you all the best for the festive season.

Anti Macri

Student response to Q&A session with the winning author Maryam Master:
* While I was asking Ms Maryam questions, I felt a little nervous because it was my first time holding a microphone and standing in front of a crowd, but I remembered the character Aryan from the book ... who hid in the bin when he was supposed to be reciting the poem. I reflected and thought I must be braver than him. It was a special moment for me.  Sokim D

* When I met the author online, I was full of questions to ask her about her refugee experience and how she became a famous writer in Australia but time was limited. However, I was glad others asked similar questions and clarified my thoughts. I was pleased I could relate to her experiences in Australia.  Neda O
* ... I am so proud of her because, even though she faced a lot of problems as a refugee when she arrived, she worked hard and became a successful author in Australia. She has inspired me.  Zainab H

Volleyball

This term we had a mixed volleyball team competing against other schools in the western zone. They learnt to play as a team and improved their individual skills each week, which helped them to make it into the final, where they had a narrow loss to Woodville. Well done!  Mr Tom Ellenbroek

ARA Leadership Day

Australian Refugee Association (ARA) Leadership Day took place in week 4 this term. Olexij and Ma-Musu from ARA came to run games and activities exploring leadership qualities and responsibilities with our Student Representative Council (SRC) members. There was then a self defence workshop followed by role plays using puppets. The highlight of the day was a leadership panel where we heard from Ma-Musu and her journey as a cultural community leader for African young people, and Brett from South Australian Police (SAPOL) talked about being a police officer. Then our school Principal Anti Macri talked about her journey into leadership and her beliefs around what makes a good leader. The day finished with a questions and answers for our panel. It was yet another successful Leadership Day run by ARA and the Student Wellbeing team.
Ms Leila Haq

Community Service

This term, class 8IC went to an excursion for our Community Service. We collected rubbish along the River Torrens area. We did this so that students could learn to be aware of keeping our environment clean.  Ms Grace Leong

Finding Our Voice

This term in English, class 31PT studied a unit called “Finding Our Voice”. This means people listening to something important you have to say. A series of guest speakers discussed with us different matters to do with finding our voice.
Mayor Angela Evans and Selma Barlow from The City of Charles Sturt Council talked with us about listening to people.
Mark Gauci, who started the community group Rosetta Street Greening, talked with us about having your voice heard.
Sergeant Michelle Hollis and Senior Constable Brett Massey from SAPOL talked with us about the limits to using our voice.

Community United
The 16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based Violence is a global campaign led annually by the UNWomen (a United Nations organisation). This campaign takes place all over the world. It runs every year from the 25th of November to 10th December (Human Rights Day)!
The Student Wellbeing team has been providing primary prevention education with our SRC students over the past few weeks around respectful relationships. We have participated in the clothes project in which t-shirts and texters were donated by the City of Charles Sturt. The students decorated t-shirts with words promoting positive and respectful relationships.  SWT