3rd November 2023
Highgate Happenings 2/11/2023
Last Updated 03/11/2023
Hot off the Press………..
SPORTS DAY – FRIDAY 10/11/23
Looking at the weather forecast, we are in for a hot day.
We will monitor the situation closely, in line with our Hot Weather Policy
If the BOM forecast for Friday is 36C and above at 12pm on Thursday, we will have to cancel Sports Day.
If the BOM forecast at 12pm on Thursday is between 30-35C, we will run a modified program and this will be communicated on Thursday.
Unfortunately, it is unlikely that we will be ablet reschedule if we do have to cancel, due to the number of external organisations involved in making this event possible.
Thank you to all of our volunteers – we have enough people stepping up to support 🙂 Fingers crossed, we can go ahead.
PROPOSED AEU ACTION – THURSDAY 9/11/23
As you may be aware, the AEU has voted to take strike action next Thursday, unless a positive outcome to negotiations eventuates on Monday.
The school will notify families about whether our school will be open with a modified program, or closed as soon as possible.
P & F Movie Night – Sunday 10/12/23 at 2pm
Movie night information flyer
$15 per ticket – available in QkR under EVENTS
2024 New Enrolments
We are open for 2024 enrolments at years R-4. The department has relaxed restrictions around zoning and we are able to accept out-of-zone enrolments where capacity exists. If you have children at Kindy/Pre-school and intend to enrol them with us, please make sure that you have completed an EOI.
Library Leaders: Friday Lunch time activities
Our Year 5 Library Leaders are running a variety of lunch time clubs this term. Today was R-2 Story Time and next week will be Comic Club for the R-2 students. Week 4 will be another origami session. We will then decide on other activities based on the popularity and feedback from these sessions.
School Card
The 2023 School Card scheme is available for Low-income families who attend government school can get financial help with school fees – materials and services charges – through the School Card scheme.
School Card is available to families with children aged 4 and over who attend a school full-time.
Applications close: 24th November 2023
For more information and this years income limits please use the following link: https://www.sa.gov.au/topics/education-and-learning/financial-help-scholarships-and-grants/school-card-scheme#title1
Upcoming Events
School Calendar
Check out our school calendar for upcoming events and assemblies.
Highgate Calendar
Term 4 Assemblies
17/11 Whole School Assembly
24/11 Rooms 21,25,27 – Year 1s Communicators NOTE CHANGE OF DATE DUE TO SPORTS DAY
1/12 Whole School – Specialists Balanced
8/12 Year 2 Balanced
15/12 Leaver’s Assembly
Volunteer Induction
In person, in the Library on Wed 8-11-23 at 9am.
Term 4 Whole School Events – Save The Dates
Fri 10/11/23 Sports Day
Mon 4/12/23 Student Free Day
Thurs 7/12/23 EOY Concert
Sun 10/12/23 2pm Exclusive advance screening of ‘Wish’ (P & F event)
Wed 13/12/23 Year 6 Graduation
Fri 15/12/23 EOY Assembly
New Library Management System and Term 4 borrowing
As we continue to develop our library to support students’ recreational and research based reading, we will be upgrading our library management system at the end of the term. The new system will allow parents and students to search our catalogue online at school and from home, as well as to access electronic books from the same system as our library search engine. In addition, the new system will allow users to access the system in a range of languages, including French, Chinese and several other family languages. There are other great features of the new system which will allow us to better support student learning.
In order to implement this new system, we have set the last day for parents and students to borrow books as Friday 17th November, with all books due back at school by Friday 24th November. We recognise that there will still be three weeks left of school after that, so students will be able to access books in their classrooms until the end of the term, as well as in the library itself. The new system will be installed during the week ending December 1st. Next year, we will ensure that students are provided with training on how to use the new system and will similarly provide training for parents to access it from home and in the library.
Wellbeing
SRC Executive Leaders morning
Thursday 25th October 2023, 11 of our SRC Executives went to Unley PS with Sarah and Clare to work with the DfE Wellbeing and Engagement team. Other school executives that attended were: Linden Park, Parkside, Goodwood, Black Forest, Unley and Highgate.
This was the second time we had all come together to work collaboratively on Wellbeing throughout our partnership. It was also an opportunity to get together with students from other schools going to the same secondary schools.
In week 3 we will begin the process of electing our Year 6, 12 SRC Executives for 2024.
6 SRC Executives, 2 SRC Bilingual Executives, 2 Wellbeing and Sports Executives, 2 Environment Executives.
Students need to nominate for a position and then are interviewed by Sarah and a current Executive member. We then shortlist students based on a student created criteria. Students then prepare a speech for their peers and votes are taken. All nominees are then reviewed by teachers and leadership.
It is an excellent opportunity to develop leadership skills and meaningfully contribute to the school community. If you have a student in year 5 who is interested please encourage them to apply. Leaders will be elected by week 5 to work with the existing SRC Executive team and to handover the Wellbeing Action Plan (created from these leadership sessions) as well as introduce some new initiatives this term ready to roll over into 2024.
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Learning at Highgate
Traditional vs IB, PYP teaching and learning
From discussions with parents at our PYP information sessions last term, there was some interest in seeing a comparative document explaining the similarities and differences between traditional schooling and that provided through the IB, PYP framework. Whilst the IB doesn’t specifically have such a document, I have put the following diagram together, to hopefully explain this in simple terms. If you have further questions, or any feedback on this, I would love to hear from you in one of the information sessions running next week on Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning.
| Traditional | PYP |
| Teacher centred: Teachers decide on contexts and how curriculum is presented. | Student centred: Student interests help direct the context and how curriculum is presented. |
| Students are required to listen, memorise, repeat to learn. | Students are encouraged to explore, discover, apply and present to learn. |
| Independent work. | Collaborative tasks (with some independent work). |
| Teachers make decisions on student learning. | Students make decisions on their learning. |
| Direct instruction. | Varied forms of instruction including explicit teaching and research-based learning. |
| Short isolated lessons with predetermined answers. | Long term investigative lessons with open ended results and opportunities to delve deeper or more broadly into subject matter. |
| Australian/French standards-based curriculum. | Australian/French standards-based curriculum. |
| Assessment via tests with grades given for set responses. | Assessment is ongoing, include feedback and opportunities for improvement. |
| School based activities. | Real-world connections and experiences. |
| Values the curriculum and test results. | Values student questions and interests. |
| Quizzes and tests to inform teachers at the end of units. | Reflective practices to build students’ awareness of their learning skills and inform teachers during and at the end of units. |
| Teaching to the test: knowledge and skills. | Teaching conceptually so skills and knowledge can be transferred to a range of situations. |
| May be some differentiation to meet ability levels but generally all students create the same end product to show their learning eg. “We made posters about our favourite mammal” | Differentiation is mandated by the IB so teaching is individualised to meet students’ needs and students make choices to show their learning and specific areas of interest/skill eg “Some of us made posters and others did presentations, a play, or a book.” |
| Provides opportunities for students to do research, be social, manage their learning, communicate and think with or without explicitly teaching how to do these things and improve them over time. | Directly builds students’ non-academic skills to prepare them to be responsible and confident learners in Secondary and Tertiary education eg research skills, social skills, self-management skills, communication skills and thinking skills. |
| Based on Australia and Australian culture. | Can be applied to all countries and cultures. |
| Local mindedness. | International mindedness. |
| Isolated skills valued by schools are assessed but not necessarily explicitly taught or connected with each other so students can identify their own set of learning skills and apply them beyond school. | The IB learner profile is explicitly taught so students can articulate their strengths, challenges and how to improve their ability to continue to learn beyond school. |
| Future fragile: information (like encyclopedias) rapidly becomes obsolete. Do students have the skills to keep up? | Future proof: concepts do not become obsolete and neither do the attributes of the learner profile so even as adults they have the skills to keep up. |
| Values and utilises English. | Values and utilises all languages. |
| Focus on finishing the worksheet. | Focus on developing and deepening ideas. |
PYP (International Baccalaureate Primary Years Program) Parent Sessions
Please remember to book in for one of this term’s parent sessions (information sent through EdSmart last week). The sessions will be as follows:
A Unit of inquiry experience
Wednesday 1st November from 3pm until 4pm
Thursday 2nd November from 8:30 am until 9:15am
Getting the most out of your child’s Student Learning Journey:
Wednesday 6th December from 8:30-9:15am or 3pm until 4pm
Further information
We have lots of information about learning at Highgate on our website. Select the main menu button and then Learning.
French Program News
Delegates from Highgate School and Unley High School attended the Australian Association of French-English Bilingual Schools (AAFEBS) Conference in Sydney last week. For the first time, the conference also welcomed delegations from New Caledonia and New Zealand.
It was a great networking event allowing our teachers to receive bilingual professional development and continuing to advocate for bilingual education across Australia.
Did you know that our Mission and Vision for the French Bilingual/Binational program is on our website, along with answers to FAQs. Visit our website, Main Menu, Learning and then French.
Other News
Highgate Snack Shack (Canteen) News
Can you help? The Snack Shack is looking for volunteers, especially for our special days. If you can help, please contact the front office.
Do you have ideas for our menu or special days? We would love to hear from you. Currently we have a special Sushi Day and Ice Cream day each term, but we are looking for other creative ideas for both our specials and our everyday menu. If you have ideas you would like to share, please complete this form.
Did you know we are now making our own pizza in the Snack Shack? We use “light” cheese and ham to make sure they fit with the Right Bite strategy.
Spare Clothes
We have had an increase in students requiring a change of clothes recently. Although we do have an emergency supply in the Front Office we are running low on certain items. If your child has borrowed clothes to change into we ask that you please wash and return these items to the Front Office. Additionally, please check that your child has extra clothes packed in their school bag for any accidents that may occur during the school day, especially during the wet weather.
Sport News
Sport Registrations are open
A reminder that Term 4 2023 & Term 1 2024 Summer sports registrations are open currently on Qkr for Basketball (Year 2-6), Volleyball (Year 4-6) and Summer Netball (year 2-6).
Softball and Cricket teams remain the same as term 1 as term 4 is the second half of those seasons.
Any questions, please direct to Ben.Beazley939@schools.sa.edu.au
External Provider & Community News
External providers are external businesses who run programs/clinics/lessons for students at Highgate School. Other providers are included for your information, but parents should give due consideration to the programs as they are not endorsed by the school.
If you wish your child(ren) to be a part of any of the below programs, please contact them directly.
Term 4 Netball Program
Taught and Bowled – Beginners Netball Program T423 (1)
MissFit Movement – Hip Hop Dance
Kelly Sports Term 4 2023
Foundation Tennis October Holiday Clinics
Foundation Tennis October holiday clinic 2023
Foundation Tennis Highgate afterschool program term 4 2023
Grand Slam Tennis Clinics
Holiday Swim
Holiday Swim is a Royal Life Saving Society South Australia initiative bringing affordable and educational swimming and water safety lessons to pools and inland waterway locations across Metro and Regional South Australia since the 1950’s. The aim of the program is to teach children critical life saving skills and basic swimming skills, to equip them with the knowledge to stay safe in, on and around the water.
The aim of keeping the program affordable, is to reach families and communities that might otherwise miss out on the opportunity to participate in swimming lessons, and as we approach the busy Summer months now is the time to equip them with the knowledge to save a life.
The program will be returning in December 2023 and January 2024 with the newly adapted Royal Life Saving Swim & Survive program.
Royal Life Saving also offer pathways into the aquatic industry with their ICONIC Bronze Awards. The Bronze Star, Bronze Medallion, Bronze Cross , Award of Merit and Distinction levels are designed for those wanting to further their knowledge and skill set, before moving into the aquatic industry as Lifeguards and Swim Teachers within the local communities.
Piano lessons – Chloe Grossman
Fullarton Scouts
If you are a boy or girl aged 6 to 18, come and try Scouts at the Fullarton Scout Group. We are currently recruiting in all age sections, and you and your family are invited to come to our hall at 1A Culross Ave, Myrtle Bank to have a look.
Our Joeys meet Wed at 6.15 to 7.15, Cubs Thurs 7.00 to 8.30, and Scouts Fri 7.00 to 9.00 during school terms.
It costs nothing to come and try, so give it a go!
For more details contact James Gardiner 0488507686 or gl.fullarton@sa.scouts.com.au
World Taekwondo
Goodwood Cricket Club
French tutoring
Do you struggle to support your children to do their French homework? No worries, I would be happy to do it for you!
My name is Marie, I am 33 yo and I am a French speaker. I worked in a French kindergarten in Melbourne for 3 years, and I have been supporting students’ learning in French for a year now. I would be available on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoon/evening.
I am based in Glenelg.
I have my Working with Children check and character references if needed.
You can contact me at fisselier.marie@hotmail.fr to discuss further. A bientôt !
Alliance Française
French wine trail
Thursday 16 November, 6:30pm to 8pm319 Young St, Wayville
La guingette
Save the date: Saturday 2 DecemberVillage Green Unley
Alliance Francaise Adelaide – La Guinguette (af.org.au)
Children’s Art Classes
Fullarton PCC
Sturt Academy Flyer
https://highgates.sa.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Sturt-Academy-Flyer-pdf.pdf
University of Adelaide – Fun and interactive workshop
No prior knowledge of French required
For more information, please visit https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/annual-french-workshop-tickets-518272395687?aff=oddtdtcreator
Contact Us
Please visit our website at Highgate School for calendar dates and further information about our school.
Our Front Office team are always happy to help with questions and can be contacted on 08 82719622.
Website Sign Up Option
We are now offering parents/caregivers and community members the opportunity to sign up to our newsletter through our school website
https://highgates.sa.edu.au/ – at the bottom of the landing page there is a subscription link.
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When a new Highgate Happenings post is created on the school website, a subscriber will receive an email with a link to the new post.
If you do not wish to subscribe, you can view the new posts by visiting the school website https://highgates.sa.edu.au/ and scrolling down to the bottom of that page, or view the newsletter page directly here https://highgates.sa.edu.au/connect/news/
Please be aware that when you first subscribe, you will receive all HH so far. After this, you will only receive the new ones.
We will continue to send out Edsmart messages each week with the link to HH.