46 East Terrace, Kingston SE SA 5275 T (08) 8767 2677 F (08) 8767 2247 E dl.0737.info@schools.sa.edu.au www.kingstoncs.sa.edu.au

Kingston Community SchoolH o n e s t y . P e r s o n a l B e s t . R e s p e c t . F r i e n d l i n e s s . R e s p o n s i b i l i t yPrincipal: Mrs Samantha Murdock Newsletter 9: 30 August 2021

DIARY DATES1st & 2nd September - Yr 10 Subject Counselling3rd September - Pupil Free Day6th September - School Closure7th & 8th September - Adelaide Show (Sheep)24th September - Cross Country

FROM THE PRINCIPALIt seems that everyday lately there is some extra curricula activity running which takes staff and students away from our school. As an isolated school a long way from Adelaide it is important to us that we give our students as many opportunities as possible. At times this means travelling long distance to access extra curricula events and relying on parents to transport students and staff to attend along with students as support. To all the parents and staff who make these events possible, thank you for your time and efforts, thank you also to the students who do us proud, representing our school and showing everyone out there how great country kids are and what supportive families and teachers they have.

COVID 19 UPDATEAt schools throughout South Australia masks remain in place for students in Years 8 and above unless outdoors or involved in PE. Staff are also required to wear masks indoors unless directly teaching. Masks also need to be worn correctly by students in Years 8 and above during bus travel. Please be mindful and dispose of all masks safely.

Volunteers are still being limited on site and parents are being asked to remain outside of classrooms when dropping off and collecting children.

All events are being done so under COVID regulation rules including social distancing, mask wearing and QR code check ins.

SSO WEEKRecently we celebrated SSO week by thanking our SSO’s with morning tea and a coffee. Kingston Community School has 14 SSO’s, admin staff and grounds men we rely on everyday for support with students and the running of the school. We could not function without them, they often know more than we do about how the school runs as they are the ears and eyes and without them we could not do what we do.

SCHOOL CULTUREStudents in Years 7-12 were spoken to last week about the overall culture of the school and their ownership of making our school great. Culture is the way we think, act and interact.

Students were reminded that Kingston Community School is a great school, some of them have just forgotten to respect it and each other. The bar of expectation on behaviour is lifting and all students and staff need to work together to bring about positive changes. Students, parents and staff are the voice for change within a school community and its culture, so if you don’t like the way something is do something about it to make it better. Speak up, create solutions, model positive culture not negative culture. As a school community we need to work together and support each other to develop a strong culture that we can all be proud of being a part of for many years to come.

2022 INTENTIONS/REQUESTSAs we near the end of Term 3 we are busy planning for 2022. Schools need to have staffing in place and classes organized well ahead of 2022. If you know that your child will not be continuing on with us for 2022 it is really important you let us know as this sometimes can make a big difference to staffing and class structures. Any specific requests regarding placement of your child should also be discussed with the school as a matter of urgency. Whilst all requests may not be able to be met, it is better to share your ideas with us so we can look at what might be available.

The Year 3 class used recycled materials to create a diorama of their chosen animal.The animals included: Rabbit, Deer, Bird, Wombat, Arctic Fox, Dolphin and Snake.They wrote about their habitat, diet and enemies.

YEAR 3 SCIENCEDIORAMAS ON LIVING THINGS

NAPLANStaff will have an opportunity to analyse the 2021 NAPLAN data this week. Following this student results will be sent out to all families of students in Years 3,5,7 & 9. Please contact your child’s teacher if you have any concerns regarding these results.

Eight students participated in the Industry Immersion day in Millicent on Wednesday 25th August. Students heard from current tradies across the construction industry and participated in hands-on activities that provided them with insight

and understanding into what it is like across the diverse trade that make up the building industry. Students learnt about the skills and capabilities required in different trades and what employers value.

Students also participated in a rapid build project, supported by qualified tradies, to learn about first fix and second fix stages in residential construction.

MULTI-TRADE CHALLENGE DAY AT MILLICENT HIGH SCHOOL

BOOK WEEKWell done to all students and staff who dressed up for Book Week. There were some awesome costumes!

Children’s author and illustrator Paul Rutter presented drawing workshops to our primary classes.

AUTHOR VISIT

HOME ECONOMICSStudents have enjoyed cooking in the new Home Economics kitchen.

65%

74%

83%

94%

An observational study of middle school,high school, and college students shows

how easily young people are distracted bytechnology... Observers recorded minute-by-minute activities over a 15-min periodand found that participants averaged less

than 6 min on their main task before beingdistracted by technology such as checkingtheir social media and texting with friends.

Media Multitasking and Cognitive, Psychological,

Neural, and Learning Differences

"The changes have already been profound. There’s so much more joy and

interaction, and I can’t count the number of parents who have asked me, ‘How

do I buy this for my home?’”

“I’m not wasting class asking students to get on task - Yondr increased valuable

academic time.”

“I look out at our center space and see kids laughing, playing Uno together, and

looking at one another. They seem to be learning how to connect again.”

"Rates of teen depression and suicide have skyrocketed since 2011. It’s not an exaggeration to

describe iGen as being on the brink of the worst mental-health crisis in decades. Much of this

deterioration can be traced to their phones."- Jean M. Twenge, The Atlantic (2017)

Have Smartphones Destroyed a Generation?

Saw an improvement in academicperformance

Cell phone use & YONDR's IMPACTBelow you will find studies, legislation, feedback and survey results

underscoring the impact of phone-use on adolescents and Yondr's role in schools.

Mental Health

Saw an improvement in studentbehavior

A cross-sectional study in almost 500adolescents (age = 11–15) found a positiveassociation between social media use andpoorer sleep quality, anxiety, and depression;this association was even more pronouncedfor adolescents who had higher levels ofemotional investment in social media.

Social Media Use and Display of DepressiveSymptoms Online by Adolescents and Young Adults

Saw an improvement in studentengagement in the classroom

Academic Performance & Behavior

Nearly twice as many teens displayedhigh elevated levels of “school

loneliness,” an established predictor ofdepression and mental health issues.

Yondr surveyed over 900 school partnersregarding their experience with the YondrProgram, of which:

LegislationSince 2018, all legislation highlights mentalhealth as the main concern when focusing oncell phone use and adolescents. Across theworld, the impact is global and so is thegrowing conversation.

To date, California, France, Australia, Canada,Israel and China have passed legislation thatlimits or prohibits student cell phone useduring school hours. Click each of thecountry names above to read more.

Of teachers identified moreteaching and learning time in

their classrooms afterimplementing Yondr

Wyong HS: 2021 Yondr Impact Study

Loneliness among adolescents aroundthe globe has skyrocketed since a

decade ago.

"There is growing evidence thatunrestricted use of smartphones bypupils at elementary and secondaryschools during the school dayinterferes with the educationalmission of the schools, lowers pupilperformance, particularly amonglow-achieving pupils, promotescyberbullying, and contributes to anincrease in teenage anxiety,depression, and suicide."

- California Assembly Bill 272

partner testimonial

Teens around the world are lonelier than a decade ago. The reason may be smartphones.