VOLUME 3            1 March 2001

Ph: 8381 7166
Fax: 8381 6041

Email:
hvsadmin@happyvalley.sa.edu.au

Website:
www.happyvalley.schools.sa.edu.au

Inside this issue…
Jessica Sandru,Fraulein Kuhlenbeck, Digimon Games, Fundraising, Kookaburra Café, Out of School Hours Care, Panalatinga Reserve, DETE Web Site, Sport, Kid’s Kitchen, Diary Dates, Community News Flyer (Sport)

ASSESSMENT AND REPORTING 2001
Late last year, a random sample of parents provided us with very positive feedback on the current assessment and reporting procedures.  Student achievement records were considered to be very informative and the comparisons between term 2 and term 4 results were well received.  Check This Out! stickers were also considered to be valuable; suggestions for improvement mainly pertained to the need for teacher comments to accompany the stickers and the need for greater clarity on how many stickers to expect.  Teachers found that managing the process of selecting work samples to highlight, keeping track of the stickers each student received and getting back student work books that had been signed by parents were challenging aspects of using this process.

EDUCATING FOR THEIR FUTURE NOT OUR PAST.
Last weekend the Sunday Mail ran another inane article with the headline “Bring Back The Basics”.  It was predictably sensationalist and based on responses to a question on the 3Rs, in a very skewed readers’ survey.    Last year when we asked parents to help us construct a common understanding about what we value at Happy Valley, we were able articulate a much broader, modern set of basics.  We said that HVS students should develop good thinking skills, be able to get along with others, feel confident about them selves and the values they have been taught, communicate effectively, be optimistic and happy.   Good literacy and numeracy skills are integral to all aspects of our curriculum and are not just about reading writing and ‘rithmatic.  We think we have a well informed school community that understands that the essential learnings of 21^st Century students have to relate to their futures, not to our past.

An Interview with Fraulein Kuhlenbeck
Britta Kuhlenbeck, our visting German Assistant, was asked to respond to the following questions from students in Simon Mueller’s Year 3/4 class.

Q.Welcome to Adelaide’s hottest summer on record.  How are you enjoying the heat?
A .I love the heat!  When I left Germany in the middle of January it was –5 C in Frankfurt.  I love the sun and the beach.  Even the water in the ocean and the rain is very warm.  I do not miss the German winter at all.

Q. Which part of Germany do you come from?
A. I come from Hamburg, which is in the north of Germany.  I was born in Osnabrück, which is about 250 km south of Hamburg.  I moved to Hamburg seven years ago, when I started studying.  I enjoy living there because Hamburg is an interesting and beautiful city.

Q. What three things will you tell people about when you get back to Germany?
A. I will tell people about you and your school and the time I have spent with you.  I will also tell people about the Australian weather and how you deal with it i.e. that you have to wear hats during your breaks, that you should wear sunscreen whenever you are exposed to the sun and that everybody tries to stay in the shade even when you wait to cross the street at a traffic light.  Thirdly, I will tell people about the huge spider I found in my car when I parked it at home.  It had probably been a passenger in my car all the way home.  I have never seen such a big spider before.  We do not have huge spiders like that in Germany let alone as passengers in cars.

Q. Have you visited any other places in South Australia other than Happy Valley School? A. Because I am also working at Aberfoyle Park High School I am getting to know another school besides Happy Valley.  Two weeks ago I bought a car and since then I have started to travel around a bit on the (long) weekends as I am working only three days a week, which is lucky.  For example, I went

Q. What do you like about Happy Valley School?
A. Firstly, I think the students and staff are really nice.  I feel very welcomed and enjoy my days at Happy Valley School.  I also appreciate that I am involved in all activities and trips that happen at the school.  I also enjoy working with Tracey Ranaldo, who is my ‘boss’ and would like to thank her for ‘looking after’ me.  Moreover I like the setting of Happy Valley School, its ‘rural feel’ and all the green parts of it, including the oval and the native reserve adjacent to it.

Overall, Happy Valley School is a very pleasant place to be !

Fundraising At Happy Valley School

How is it organised?
How many fundraising bodies to we have?
What is the purpose of each group?
How do they connect in with the total school program?
Why do we have several fundraisers occurring at the same time?

These questions are often asked by parents and because we are approaching our first fundraising activities, we thought we should provide some clarification for you.

Firstly – the central parent/staff body is the Governing Council, which has many functions, one of which is to monitor the whole school budget.  The 2001 budget, which was accepted at the A.G.M. in November 2000, included an amount of $7500 as a target for the Fundraising Committee.

Last year we had a gala day, but we’ve decided to hold these every other year. This year, to achieve the $7500 target, the fundraising committee will organise the following:

Term 2   -                Readathon
Term 3   -                Federation(athon)
Term 4   -                End of Year Christmas Raffle

The ‘athons’ will link in with the classroom learning program and funds raised will go towards future library resources.  We will expect all families to participate in these activities. 

The second and separate body to Governing Council and one that also reports to Governing Council each month, is the Parent Club.  Parent Clubs or Parents and Friends as they are called in some schools, have had a long tradition of working for the school but with a slightly different role to the main body (Governing Council).  Fundraising activities for Parent Clubs vary from school to school and our Parent Club is very energetic and keen to raise money which is a great advantage to the school.

While we encourage all parents to respond to the great ideas Parent Club has planned, all parents have the choice to participate or not to participate.

Parent Club has annual commitments to pay e.g. Year 7 Graduation Novels, but mostly their funds go towards a special project, which for this year is a pergola/verandah between the Unit 4 block and the toilets.  This is to provide a shelter from the sun and rain.

The Parent Club has been announced in the newsletter before but Executive committee is Sandie Hutchings, Sharon Kreslin and Julie Zowtyj.

A third fundraising body that has evolved over the past four years is the Pedal Prix group, which raises money solely to support those Year 5/6/7 students who participate in the wonderful Pedal Prix weekend in September.  Their fundraising activities occur during Terms 2 and 3 and parents and staff on that body encourage all parents to respond to their fundraising activities.  These will be announced next term in the newsletter.

Key people in the Pedal Prix are Ian Tattersall, Lee Brine, Terry Merritt, John Karran and Wendy Nicolle.

A fourth group is the Kookaburra Council which mostly raises funds through it’s discos, which the students love attending and organising, and causal days.  Kookaburra Council has its own

We thank you in anticipation and hope those questions have been answered.  If they haven’t, please ask continue to ask parents mentioned above or Brian or Di.

A reminder that we are meeting in Unit 5 on Sunday 4 March between 9.30 and 12.00 to plan the year’s activities and to replant seedlings in tubes.

Please plan to be there and support this important initiative in our local area - an area that is used regularly by the children of Happy Valley School for environmental education activities.
                                                                Thank you, Jacqui Brettig

SPORTS NEWS
Soccer Update
Registration night will be on Wednesday 7 March at 7.30pm in the Resource Centre.  Registration fee will be $25.00 per player for the season and is payable on the night.  We also have a few 2^nd hand boots for sale.

Information on teams, coaches and training times will be made available on the night.

Help & Players Wanted
We are still happy to get new players - you must be turning 8 this year to be eligible to start playing.
We will have an U9s, U10s, seniors and a girl’s team this season.

Coaches are needed for U9s and senior’s teams and all teams need managers and First Aid people (except U10s).

COMMUNITY NEWS
SONIC LANDSCAPES is a concert with the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra where music and visual art meet.  This discovery tour, conducted by gifted young Australian Kynan Johns, explores the diverse environments of our world as imagined by composers across time and continents.  Imagine a pre-historic landscape where dinosaurs roam when you hear John Williams Jurassic Park Suite.  Immerse yourself in the deep amongst the soulful songs of the Humpback Whale in Hovhaness’ And God Created Great Whales.  Travel the planet with the music of Beethoven, Britten, Wagner, Smetana and Sculthorpe, with images featuring a stream of sketches, paintings, photographs and video on the theme of ‘escape to reality’.  Adelaide Festival Theatre 7.00 pm Saturday 24 March.  Book at BASS.

GLENELG DISTRICT CRICKET CLUB – Yr. 5,6,7 Boys.  Ray Sutton Trials Glenelg Oval 4.30 – 6.00pm Friday nights.  Phone Chris on 0417 816821.

HUB NETBALL CLUB – Girls 6-13 years to play at SUNA, Morphett Vale during winter season commencing 23 April.  Phone Faye Gardner 83873527 or attend grading at Reynella East High School on 26 March.  11 & under 4.00 – 5.00pm and 13 & under 5.00 – 6.00pm.