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Maitland Area School
Maitland | Yorke Peninsula | South Australia
The 2014 MAS Leaders’ Induction Ceremony was held on Tuesday 11th February in the Performing Arts Centre. Special guests included Councillor Trevor Davey deputising for Mayor Ray Agnew; Victoria Johns, Chairperson of the Governing Council; Letitia Linke, President of the Parents and Friends; Peter Lindsay and Matthew Campbell representing SAASTA and our guest speaker Dr Rebecca Morgan.
Special Guest
The ceremony was opened with the Acknowledgement to Country read by Candice Rankine and Andrea Rigney. Special thanks goes to our guest speaker Rebecca, who completed all of her schooling at Maitland Area School. Whilst at school Rebecca also carried out leadership roles such as Spencer House Captain, secretary of the Prefects and a bus monitor.
Rebecca described her educational journey to reach her present role as a doctor and her 6 top tips to make year 12 a more successful experience.
Prefect Induction
Our four Prefects - Patrick Dodd, Pria Sandercock, Nathan Tucker and Ben Feutrill - were then inducted. They read the Prefects' Endeavour together followed by Patrick, as Head Prefect, making the response to the audience.
Thank you to all the families who came to our Meet the Teacher evening on Tuesday February 4th. We appreciated the opportunity to share classroom routines, goals and plans with you. Each teacher prepared a class information leaflet and for those families unable to attend this printed information was sent home with students the next day.
We invite parents to feel more than welcome to contact teachers at any time to discuss their child’s learning and welfare. It is often a good idea to arrange an interview time and we ask that Monday and Tuesday after school is not a preferred option as staff meet formally each of these afternoons for discussion of agenda items and training sessions.
It was fun running the first two Primary Assemblies this year and a big thank you to the parents who supported my efforts. I hope you were entertained! We've made a few changes to our Assembly format. We plan to include the 'Acknowledgement of Country' after the school hymn, recognising the stewardship the Narungga people have had on the land our school is built on. We're also extending the National Anthem to include the second verse, and it was a pleasure to hear the enthusiastic singing from our R-7s on our first sing-a-long last week. We're continuing the recognition of student achievement with our weekly merit cards; a new batch has arrived and should be good for the next ten years! There are no birthday jelly-beans this year; instead birthday-students receive a certificate and light up bouncy-ball. Not as tasty, but much more healthy!
A huge thank you to Scott Wilson who has just donated this amazing Roland Electronic Drumkit to the school. A number of students have already had the opportunity to try out the kit and comments included 'brilliant', 'amazing' 'cool' and 'can I please, please, please have another go?'
I'd also like to thank Scott for the time he took to set up the kit and ensure I knew how to operate it. Our school has extensive facilities for making music but Scott has ensured our students can practice, perform and compose on a truly remarkable instrument.
This week we welcomed, Sam Power, an old scholar of the SAASTA programme to our staff.
Sam has been employed by the SANFL as a trainee based at Maitland Area School. In his role Sam will be working across the school and supporting the SAASTA programme.
As school came back after the long Christmas break the primary playground almost resembled the airport scene from the 'Love Actually' film! Along with reunions, (six weeks is a long time for little kids!) there was laughter, tears, bewilderment, worry, anxious adults but everywhere a sense of energy and purpose. Yay for 2014!
Classes quickly settled into their new home rooms and the two-lesson morning period quickly flew by as rules, responsibilities, leadership nominations, school events, classroom jobs and academic expectations were introduced and discussed with the students.
I toured the classes handing out school hats to our new students - welcome Gemma, Lily, Hallie, Summer, Lucy, and Nellie - and captured a little of the positive buzz in the class photos on the next page. We plan to retake the photos at the end of the year to see how much the students have grown.
A great first day back that was only spoilt by the hot weather resulting in students being confined to the classrooms for recess and lunch.
New staff
Lauren Webb is our new Year 3 teacher, sharing the class with School Counsellor Helen Moloney. Lauren, along with many of our staff, spent many hours in the holidays setting up her room and preparing for the new year. A big thank you to Jackie Norman (now on Long Service Leave) who worked with Lauren and helped her settle into her new role. I wish Lauren a wonderful and rewarding time in our school.
Our 'First Day Back' in 2014 is on Tuesday, January 28. School starts at 8:50 with the official meet-and-greet and class allocations in the Performing Arts Centre.
Parents and family welcome to see their children off!
Instrumental teacher Deb Schwartz was named 'Maitland Citizen of the Year' at a special Australia Day ceremony at the 'Heart of Maitland' on Januray 26.
Over her twenty year career at MAS Deb has been choir trainer, isntrumental music teacher and band director as well as community roles with the Uniting Church and the Msuic & Arts Club. Her noimination, by the Polkinghorne family, was in recognistion of the personal time, talent, and dedication that Deb has shared with Maitland and indeed Yorke Peninsula over that time.
Thank you to the Maitland Progress Committee and Lions for their organisation of the Australia Day breakfast and for the opportunity to recognise community workers such as Deb.
At Presentation Night we took the opportunity to thank the staff who are leaving at the end of 2013.
Whilst the time served at MAS is vastly different they all have demonstrated commitment and a deep desire to support students to achieve their best.
On behalf of the community I would like to acknowledge and thank them for their service.
- George Hewitson – Aboriginal Education Coordinator, 2013
- Ali Newbold – Literacy Coach, 2012/13
- Brooke Edginton – JP teacher, 2012/13
- Steve Heyes- Numeracy Coach, 2013
- Fiona Myers: Flexible Learning Manager, 2013
- Star Derrington: Maternity leave for first half of 2014
- Jackie Norman: Primary teacher, 1984 – 2013
- Kaye McCauley: Primary teacher, 1962 – 2013
Kaye McCauley and Jackie Norman have been part of Maitland Area School for a combined total of 80 years, with Kaye teaching at MAS for 51 years; truly amazing.
With not even a day in between, the Concert Band was back on the road again on Saturday December 9, performing at the 2013 Curramulka Lights community gala celebration. The teachers met at the PAC at 4.30pm and transported the equipment to Curramulka for an early setup, leaving everyone time to enjoy a leisurely dinner and wander amongst the many stalls and attractions.
At 6pm we assembled to tune. A sizeable audience also appeared and settled down on the grass to listen to the items. This time the emphasis was on Christmas items, with both contemporary and traditional tunes. The band was well received by the Curramulka crowd and our 45 minute set passed quickly, Thank you to the Curramulka Committee for erecting our tent and to the parents for transportation.
The MAS Concert Band and Choir were out and about on Friday December 8, playing concerts at Yorketown Area School, Minlaton District School and Ardrossan Area School as part of their annual Yorke Music Tour.
Despite the tight time schedule, we played a full programme at each school, with both the band and choir performing well in the varied conditions.
The Concert Band performed selections from its 2013 programme as well as some Christmas favourites. Our vocal version of 'Little Talks' proved popular with all the schools.
The Choir dressed up to perform 'Socks and Jocks' and 'Stand Together', both from the 2013 Festival of Music programme. At AAS the choir was joined by the Ardrossan Festival Choir and the two groups sang together, in perfect harmony!
A big thank you to Nixon's buses for our transport, to Community members Malcolm Kinch, Di Morgan and Helen Stocking for your support, to the band members from the school's we visited and to the schools for helping us set the tour up. Thanks also to our roadie and DJ Jesse Lawler for organising the PA system.
Well done Mrs Schwartz for organising another opportunity for our students to demonstrate their musical skills to a wide and diverse audience.
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Newsletter 02 - Feb 14 (119)
Newsletter 01 - Jan 29 (147)
Newsletter 21 - Dec 13 (113)
Newsletter 20 - Nov 28 (123)
Newsletter 19 - Nov 14 (118)
Newsletter 17 - Oct 17 (161)
Newsletter 16 - Sept 19 (140)
Gallery Photos 2013
