YAS News - Week 7, Term 3

Van Gogh Alive - Installation Excursion

On 27th August we travelled down to Van Gogh Alive and to the Gallery of South Australia to look at some inspiring installation art.  Installation art is art designed to fit a space or can be art that is easily moved.

The Van Gogh Alive experience included a journey through Van Gogh's life with both his own art, art that influenced him and music that accompanied the images, adding to the overall experience.  Students were surprised at the amount of art Van Gogh created in his life and shocked by the dramatic end to the installation ( won't give it away, in case people are planning to attend!)

The sunflower and starry night rooms proved very popular with the selfies and has hopefully given students some ideas that they could use in their own pieces.

We had a very brief visit to the gallery, looking specifically at 3 pieces of installation art on display.  Chiharu Shiota's "Absence embodied" grabbed our attention, with not only the webbed cocoon effect, but also the body part bits that held it together.  Least favourite, but definitely a piece that generated a lot of discussion was "We are all Flesh" in Gallery 13.  If you haven't had a chance to see the gallery lately, it is well worth a visit.

Thank you to the students, who were great ambassadors for Yankalilla Area School and also to the parents and our wonderful front office staff, who were able to process the invoices so quickly.  Last but not least, thanks to Mr Mikulcic for an entertaining bus trip in and out of town.

Penny Ellin, The Arts

Van Gogh Alive

Book Week

Our Book Week celebrations last week were a big hit with students and staff. 

Our guest author from Kangaroo Island was Becky Westbrook. Becky wrote the book 'Evie and the Bushfire' and she presented a story-writing workshop together with Mark Koolmatrie. Mark told his story of his Aboriginal heritage through pictures painted on a 'story stick' and then students had fun writing their own stories.

On Thursday 26 August we held our annual Book Week Assembly. This year it was hosted by students in Ms Pope's 5-6A class.  Some of the 5-6 students shared their favourite stories with us all. 'Granny Taylor' (or was it really Bu Taylor?) announced this year's favourite book, as voted by YAS students. 'Your Birthday Was The Best!' by Maggie Hutchings was a clear winner with a total of 109 votes. Ms Symonds birthday really was the best.  She dressed as a birthday cake and the entire assembly sang 'Happy birthday' to her.

Junior School classes had a great time parading around in their book week costumes whilst rocking out to a live performance from our very own YAS school band.  

Sonia Parker and Rosie Simpson read aloud a beautifully illustrated picture book written by Year 12 student Madi Munro entitled 'Toby's First Day Of School'

YAS Staff also joined in the fun. Our Junior Primary teachers magically transformed into unicorns and several 'Little Miss' SSOs also made an appearance. 

We can't wait to do it all again next year.  The Theme for 2022 will be: 'Dreaming with eyes open'.

Book Week Fun!

Award Winning Olive Oil!

Our school Olive Oil has received a Bronze medal and second place in the School class at the recent Royal Adelaide Olive Awards. This is a National Competition and there were 91 entries from across Australia including; VIC, SA, NSW, TAS and WA. 

Judging was undertaken by 10 judges who have had Regional, National and International judging experience.

The oil is judged on Aroma, Palate and Harmony and Complexity. Our oil was described as a medium style and the comments from the judges included; aromas of camomile tea, honeysuckle and herbs. Moderate transfer. A light mouth feel with a medium finish of milk, pepper and bitterness. Short length.

It is great to know that our Olive oil is competitive with some of the best from around Australia. Bottles of the oil will be for sale in the Front Office in the coming weeks. 

Nicola Wehr, Agriculture Teacher 

Senior School Subject Counselling - 2022

On Monday 30th August, our Senior School team held subject counselling for Year 10 and Year 11 students. We had 3 teams of staff for 2022 subject selections and 1 team for VET pathways. We had a great turnout of students and families. 

Father's Day Stall

Thank you to all of the students (and families) that supported our Father’s Day stall fundraiser on Thursday.  The middle years SRC committee worked very hard alongside Trudy Noack to bring this stall to life. They started the day by wrapping gifts and setting up the stall.  Then they weathered the wind and heat to run the stall for all the classes throughout the day! Thank you very much to the SRC reps Eben Hall, James O’Flaherty, Mya Mcquay, Max Deed Cole, Lauren Vale’s, Hudson Cook, Mexie Marks and Tasi Wright for all your hard work and dedication. Also a special thanks to Steve Shute for his very popular donation of the custom made coasters and rulers.  Overall the day was a success with over $160 being raised for the school. 

Many thanks, Vanessa Chambers - Middle Years SRC Teacher Rep

Middle Years Update

It has been all-systems go here in the GLA. At our first assembly for the term in Week 4 we celebrated effort and commitment to learning. All students who achieved Very Good and/or Outstanding  for Effort in their semester 2 report were recognised and there were lots of students, which was great to see.

To celebrate National Student Volunteer’s Week we also presented our student volunteers who help out in many ways including the canteen, SRC, student leaders etc with Certificates of Appreciation.

Bu Ellin provided our art students with the opportunity to attend an excursion to Van Gogh Alive, which was very well received.

In English students have just completed their speech drafts for the Lions Speaking Contest, these are being presented in class this week in readiness for the semis and finals at the end of the term. This year the students were required to connect their speeches to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (there are 17 of them) and choose the one they considered to be most important. They have produced some fine speeches and Mrs Barry and Mrs Joshua are now looking forward to sitting back, ready to be entertained!

The new laser printer in Tech is well and truly up and running. Students have been designing and making some great projects. The machine also received a work-out to produce popular coasters and rulers for the Father’s Day Stall last week!  There were only a couple of Port Power items left over!!  Mr Shute and Peter Owen have recently designed new badges for our staff – check them out if you get the chance.

It was great to hear that our recent Olive Picking day resulted in award-winning Olive Oil. We can’t wait to try it out!

SRC have been very busy this term. The new GLA kitchen area is very popular at lunch times and students are learning to clean up their mess! We are hoping to get our fridge repaired by an electrician before the warmer weather sets in. SRC organised a Comfy Clothes Day to raise funds for end of year activities and a very successful Father’s Day stall last week. They are now planning for the Year 9 Graduation at the end of the year.

In Science Week Mr Jones and Miss Thomas planned some exciting activities for our students, which culminated in an entertaining showcase at the end of the week. The 7/8 students have enjoyed having pre-service teacher,  Miss J join the team this term. She has been mentored by Miss Shute and has been delivering some engaging lessons in HASS, one of which involved flour and quite a bit of mess to explain erosion, but it was very popular with the class!

Miss Shute, who also teaches Year 11 Tourism, took her Year 11 students on an excursion last week. A wonderful time was had by all. During our IBL  (inquiry based learning) lessons on Friday afternoons, students are now enjoying a range of activities such as cooking, sewing, learning a language, photography, woodwork and making projects on the laser cutter. We will be presenting a show-case of student work at the end of the year.

Phew! As you can see, we have been very busy!   

Jane Joshua

Circles of Support

Strengthening opportunities for an inclusive life through freely given relationships

Book now via Eventbrite for the online event
Thursday September 9, 10:30am

If you are interested in learning more about connecting with people and building friendships, join this short presentation and discussion about Circles of Support. This session is for families and allies of school aged children and teenagers or young adults who are living in the Fleurieu Peninsula.

The session will be presented by Taryn Waters from Community Living Project. You can send questions through to taryn.waters@clp-sa.org.au

School Holiday - Uni SA Tour

Please join Ruby and Kate from The Workabout Centre and other Year 12 students for a tour of UniSA City West Campus and learn about how Wirringka Student Services can support Aboriginal tertiary students.  

When: Friday 8^th of October 2021

Time: Meet at 10:15 for a 10:30 start to finish at 11:45 

Where: City West Campus. Hawke Building, cnr of North Terrace and Fenn Place Adelaide

Please wear enclosed shoes, bring a mask and a drink bottle as there is no access to water fountains.

To register please phone Ruby on 0417 232 388 or email ruby.wilson@sa.gov.au