Our Stories

Dolly's Dream

13 May 2022

Today, Friday May 13^th the students of Hawker Area School participated in a fundraiser for Dolly’s Dream. Dolly’s Dream was created by Kate and Tick Everett following the shattering loss of their 14-year-old daughter, Dolly, to suicide, after ongoing bullying. Kate and Tick’s goal is to prevent other families walking this road. They want to change the culture of bullying by addressing the impact of bullying, anxiety, depression and youth suicide, through education and direct support to young people and families. Dolly’s Dream is proudly brought to you by the Alannah & Madeline Foundation. https://dollysdream.org.au/about-us/ .

Annabelle and Madi were inspired by Dolly’s story when they read about it on Instagram. They spoke about it with the SRC and organised today’s fundraiser. They organised a Cupcake / Cookie stall with a smorgasbord of sweets for the community to choose from. This included:

• Chocolate cupcakes
• Vanilla cupcakes
• Blue choc chip cookies
• Gluten free blue choc chip cookies

The cupcakes were complete with delicious blue icing which is the official colour of Dolly’s Dream and was Dolly’s favourite colour. The SRC would like to especially thank Stef Teague, Jane Fisher and Kat Bevan for their fantastic efforts here in making the cupcakes. Steven Allen provided the important funds to purchase all the necessary items for the cooking and Doogal Hannagan at Flinders Food supplied the boxes to package some of the products.  Amanda Hilder also supported the cause generously by cooking up some of the Blue Choc Chip cookies. The SRC on Thursday slaved away in the Kitchen with the valuable support Jo Du Bois, Esther Eager, Kim Adele and Joelle Sharples. It was a great community effort in support of a significant cause and everyone’s efforts have been invaluable.

As a result of all this we have raised $378 for Dolly’s Dream and shared the importance of this cause. For more information the following links are really useful in broaching Dolly’s story and the importance of the cause, they can be found on any social media platform –  #doitforDolly   #bekind @Dollysdreamaustralia

Regards,
Daren O'Neill
Principal
daren.oneill253@schools.sa.edu.au

SPELD SA Workshops Online

11 May 2022

SPELD SA have made the difficult decision to host the weekend's planned workshops online now instead of the previously planned face to face, due to low numbers of bookings in particular as well as some concerns with COVID in the area. The promotional information below outlines the planned online workshops:

This Friday and Saturday! - Don’t miss out!

**FREE WORKSHOPS**

Our FREE workshops will now be offered ONLINE this weekend.  You don’t even have to leave the house to find out more about how to support your child or students with learning difficulties and learn strategies and tips for teaching literacy.

• Dyslexia – what is it and how to help FRIDAY or SATURDAY
• Hearing Sounds in Words (Phonemic Awareness)
• Vocab is Important – Find Out Why
• Executive Functioning Skills
• Writing Using a Six Box Planning
• Technology that Helps Dyslexia Students

Book now here: https://www.speldsa.org.au/regional-parent-workshops

If you live in a rural or remote area then we’d love to have you in these sessions.

All welcome. ?

Regards,
Daren O'Neill
Principal
daren.oneill253@schools.sa.edu.au

School Calendar Update - SPORTS ALERT

11 May 2022

Please take note of the following upcoming sports event which can be placed on your calendar at home:

Date:Thursday 26^th May - Year 3/4 and Friday 27^th May - Year 5/6

Sports Event: Hot Shots Tennis

Students Involved: Year 3-4 on the Thursday  and Year 5-6 on the Friday.

More details to come on this sports event in Schoolzine.

Regards,
Daren O'Neill
Principal
daren.oneill253@schools.sa.edu.au

Dolly’s Dream Fundraiser

09 May 2022

Click on the link to find the details for the 'Dolly's Dream' fundraiser which went home from the SRC today, May 9th. Just in case any families have missed it read it here. 

Dolly_fundraiser_print_copy.pdf

Regards,
Daren O'Neill
Principal
daren.oneill253@schools.sa.edu.au

Interview Locations

09 May 2022

Please find attached a map that can be used to guide parents to interview locations over the next two days. Dont forget Session Keeper is still open for bookings.

If assistance is needed please contact the front office on 86484003.

Interview_locations.pdf

Regards,
Daren O'Neill
Principal
daren.oneill253@schools.sa.edu.au

Student Parent Teacher Interviews

04 May 2022

This morning at 9am our Session Keeper portal will be active for parents to book in for interviews for next week on either Monday May 9th or Tuesday May 10th. Lookout for the schoolzine message at 9am, you will need to log into Session Keeper with your email and password that would have been used previously for any parents who have booked this way before. If passwords have been forgotten then choose the forgot password option to get in again. For new parents please click on the link in the message and then create your Session Keeper account. 

Regards,
Daren O'Neill
Principal
daren.oneill253@schools.sa.edu.au

SPELD SA Workshops

03 May 2022

After cancelling their workshops in term one due to the COVID restrictions SPELD SA will be returning to Hawker on Friday May 13th and Saturday May 14th. This will be a free event, providing workshops on topics including Dyslexia, Executive Functioning Skills, Resilience and Self Esteem, Numeracy and general literacy.

These 11 FREE workshops are suitable for parents of children in preschool, junior, primary and secondary school. Bookings can be made through  https://www.speldsa.org.au/regional-parent-workshops 

Sessions will be held in the community library and the Multipurpose Room.

Please find a link to an outline of the eleven workshops as well as a poster displaying how to book in for the workshops.

SPELD_SA_Regional_Tour_Hawker_FREE_Parent_Workshops_May_2022_outline.pdf

SPELD_SA_Hawker_Regional_Tour_Poster.pdf

Regards,
Daren O'Neill
Principal
daren.oneill253@schools.sa.edu.au

May 2 Newsletter

02 May 2022

Click here to view the May 2 Schoolzine eNewsletter!

Start of Term and Pupil Free Days

28 Apr 2022

After a busy term one we are looking forward to the start of term. School starts on Monday May 2nd for all our students. 

A reminder as well that we have two Pupil Free Days at the end of the first week on Thursday May 5th and Friday May 6th.

Regards,
Daren O'Neill
Principal
daren.oneill253@schools.sa.edu.au

COVID-19 at Hawker Area School

14 Apr 2022

The following letter concerns myself as the member of the school community who has tested positive to COVID 19. I was at the school on Monday and visited the classes below for no more than 5 minutes each, with a face mask on. On Tuesday morning I started experiencing symptoms of COVID 19, I completed a RAT on Tuesday morning which was negative, and then completed a PCR on Tuesday afternoon, recieving the positive test result today. 

This situation does not fit the definition of a student close contact which is if a student were supported by an SSO or teacher who has tested positive for COVID-19, for a cumulative period of 4 hours, indoors, in close physical proximity and face masks were not able to be worn.

This now is the official communication, please ignore the references to being at school but read the monitoring advice:

Today members of our school community tested positive to COVID-19 from the following classes.

Positive COVID-19 cases were in the following year levels

Your child should continue to attend school, however you must monitor for symptoms for 14 days. You, as the parent/guardian, must ensure your child is well and has no symptoms of COVID-19 (even mild) prior to them attending each day.

We will continue to provide regular updates if anyone else in our school community tests positive for COVID-19.

If your child develops symptoms such as a fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of smell/taste, muscle/joint pains, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting or extreme tiredness, please:

• Obtain a PCR test (You can find your nearest COVID-19 testing clinic here)
• Inform the school and keep your child at home until you receive confirmation of a negative test and their symptoms have resolved, whichever is longer.
• If your child tests positive, s/he is a COVID-19 case, must remain isolated for 7 days and must follow SA Health instructions. Siblings of confirmed positive cases are considered as a close contact and should not attend school for the quarantine period as defined by SA Health.

If your child has recovered from COVID-19 they are not considered a classroom contact for 12 weeks after their release from isolation. After 12 weeks, your child will still be considered a classroom contact if they are exposed to COVID-19.

The safety and wellbeing of our students and staff are paramount. As such, we will continue to work closely with SA Health to ensure that all necessary health advice is closely followed. While we recognise this can be disruptive and inconvenient for many families it is important that we follow SA Health advice and take all necessary precautions to minimise the risk of further transmission within our community.

My contact details are below, but if parents prefer to call me I can be contacted on 0408667313.

Regards,
Daren O'Neill
Principal
daren.oneill253@schools.sa.edu.au