Term 1, 2024

From our principal

Welcome to all of our new families, with more than 200 students enrolling this term, it has certainly been a very busy start to the school year. As a result of this increase in student numbers, we have also had quite a few contract teachers return to the school and have welcomed several new teachers. 

We currently have 540 students in classes and are expecting to enrol approximately another 100 new students in term 2. Although this growth is exciting, we do have issues around the limited classroom space currently available. 
Our site funded upgrades of additional outdoor undercover shelter and refurbishment of student toilets are expected to be completed by the end of term 2. 
Throughout term 1, we have maintained our focus on school improvement and student learning, with increasing student achievement in reading and writing as our improvement goals for 2024. Our term 1 Professional Learning Teams have focussed on vocabulary development and effective teaching strategies across all subject areas. 
As a school community, we have revisited our school vision and mission statements, to ensure they align with the Department for Education’s new purpose statement, and students have been involved in consultation workshops focusing on the department’s areas of impact. Our Student Representative Council (SRC) have worked closely with staff to host assemblies and celebrations, including Harmony Day and most notably the visit by “Little Amal”. 

“Little Amal” is the 3.5 metre puppet who represents a 10 year old Syrian refugee girl searching for her mother and we had the pleasure of hosting her visit on Friday the 15th of March. Little Amal has visited more than 15 countries and although she was in Australia for the Adelaide Festival, we were very fortunate to have her visit our school. Her message of hope and compassion, was well received by the 55 cultural groups represented at Adelaide Secondary School of English.
Harmony Day was celebrated on the 21st of March, and two students were awarded Peace prizes, Payton (class 33FB2) for being a positive role model, taking an active role in supporting others and creating a culture of good relations and peace in his classes, and Gabriela (class 30AC) for her artistic Peace design. The $100 awards were donated by the Medical Association for Prevention of War (MAPW) South Australia Branch Committee and presented by Dr Amanda Ruler.
As an internationally accredited school, we will also hosting a Council of International Schools (CIS) reaccreditation visit in term 2, 18th - 24th May. A team of 4 representatives will be meeting with teachers, parents and students during their visit and will be reflecting on our comprehensive report which highlights our 2023 school improvement outcomes in oral language, vocabulary instruction, student self-directed learning and supporting students with additional needs. The team will also visit classes and will provide the school with feedback and future recommendations.
Lastly, we are very excited to have launched our new school app (SZapp), to enable parents to better communicate with the school on matters such as absences and to also enable the school to send reminders to families as necessary. Information will be distributed to families early next term, and also as part of our enrolment processes. 
A new school website, will be launched in term 2 and will have a translation function which we hope will also better meet the needs of our families.
As we head into term 2, we wish all of our students and staff, a restful school holiday break and look forward to another productive term. 

Anti Macri

Little Amal's Visit

One Little Girl, One Big Hope

Our school was honoured to host Little Amal. Whilst the event lasted just over an hour and she made a profound impact on our students and staff. Little Amal is a 3.5 metre tall puppet who has been travelling the world trying to highlight the urgent needs of refugees, immigrants and asylum seekers. Little Amal has visited 15 countries, spreading the message of hope and compassion for displaced people everywhere. She visited Adelaide as part of her world wide travels and we were the only Australian school to host a visit. We had a number of special guests attend our school to also be part of the event.
ASSoE is proud of the work we do and we are 
honoured to have had the opportunity to join
Little Amal in her walk.
We also want to send a message of hope and
compassion to the millions of children fleeing
war, violence and persecution around the world.
Thank you to all of our students and staff who
participated in the event and ensured that Little
Amal felt welcomed and loved.

Little Amal's Visit

Lunar New Year

ASSoE ceelebrated Lunar New Year on Friday 9th February. Students made lanterns, played music and engaged in crafts.

Harmony Day

On the 21st of March, our school celebrated Harmony Day with a whole school assembly and an event at lunch time. Students where able to dress in cultural clothes or casual clothes. $380 was collected. The Student Representative Council decided that the money will be donated to the Little Amal fund to support people of Gaza.

SA SRC Summit

On the 22nd March we had three students Noor Dlem (13TB), Amir Ebrahimi (3AB2) and Sekou Sheriff (28TA2) who were selected due to their high leadership and interpersonal skills represent our school at the SA SRC Summit at the Adelaide Festival Centre. They will meet each term to further develop their leadership skills. These students are in a team that will focus on student voice and issues of free public transport for all young people in SA. Well done to these students.

SRC Student Leadership Day

On the 20th March, Carly Squire (ARA Youth Engagement Officer) facilitated a leadership forum with our SRC students. The sessions focused on extending student leadership and team work skills, as well as further working on students interpersonal and engagement skills with each other as a group of leaders. Fatima a former student of ASSoE attended as a guest speaker focusing on resilience and goal setting.
Student Wellbeing Team

Futsal

Congratulations to our junior futsal team who went through the term undefeated including the final vs Woodville High School. It was a great team effort from a group of players who learnt how to maximise their individual skills by playing together as a team. Well done!
Mr Tom Ellenbroek

SAPOL Workshop - The Law in Australia and the Role of Police

On Thursday 22nd February, Senior Constable Pavlos Economou, a
representative of the SA Police multicultural team gave an introductory talk and interactive session to all Intermediate classes about the Law and the role of police.

Homegroup Activity (class 39TB)

The other day, I asked students to assist in making ASSoE a safe space for LGBTQA+ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer & Asexual) individuals through activities like badge making and event planning. Some students seemed uncertain, considering their cultural and religious backgrounds.
However, Martin, being proactive, volunteered to host an informational session about LGBTQIA+ during Homegroup. All students participated by asking questions and engaging in discussions. It was an educational experience for the students, helping them understand concepts like Australia being a free country where individuals are not persecuted for their LGBTQIA+ identities.
Mr Alex Sirenko

Gardening

Class 33FB2 collected parsley and broad bean seeds as part of their Gardening activities. They also packaged these seeds for future gardening purposes.

Term 2, 2024 Dates