News & Events 

Good afternoon everyone,
We are rapidly approaching the half way mark of Term 2 and dare I say it, we are also almost half way through the school year. For our SACE students, this means that effective time management, a strong work ethic and attention to your studies should be a prime focus area for each of you.

Staff News:
Student enrolments continue to grow strongly at Playford International College. As a result, we welcome the following staff to our school this term;
* Barry Williams – HPE, ISAM, Design & Tech and Global Studies
* Jenna Nottle – Communications
* Harlan Maple – HPE and Global Studies
* Becky Parker – HPE
* Judith Crossman – Learning Support Officer
* Nick Gillard – Learning Support Officer
At the end of Term 1, Steve Hughes suffered a serious illness that I am pleased to say, he is now recovering well from. Whilst Steve is recovering well, his recovery will still take some time. We are hopefully that he will return to work later in the year.
Nick Birch is currently undertaking an acting role as Assistant Principal of the Middle School during Paul Paris’ absence. Nick will continue in this role at this stage until the semester changeover.
I would also like to congratulate Kimberly Walker on her appointment to a Student Counsellor’s role for the remainder of the year. Kimberly replaces Lauren DeBono who has commenced maternity leave. David Green is also to be congratulated on his appointment to the Year 9 Manager’s role for the remainder of the year.

Student News:
I would like to congratulate our Vocal Ensemble and Director/Teacher Rachel Seager on their recent performance at the Generations in Jazz National Vocal Ensemble Awards held in Mount Gambier. These students managed to place 9th out of 29 schools in a National competition. Well done Rachel and our students.
Our Year 9 students have recently undertaken the annual NAPLAN test program and our staff was very pleased with their conduct and approach towards the test week. The NAPLAN provides teachers with important information that we use to assist children with their learning. Parents will receive their child’s NAPLAN report at the end of the term.
This school is quite remarkable for the breadth of learning programs and opportunities that are offered to our students by staff. If you can take the time to visit the school’s website and see our school calendar of events, you will amazed to see the extent of learning activities that your children are involved in both in and out of the classroom.
BYOD Program:
The number of students who are now using their own personal electronic learning device at school and at home is growing rapidly. As of last week, 220 students now have their own device and this figure represents around 25% of our students. If you haven’t yet organised a personal electronic leaning device for your child, please contact the school’s IT team for support. A range of low cost options starting from just $50 per year are available through the school. Learning in the 21st century is critically underpinned by the use of technology and without personal access to a laptop or tablet, your child’s learning will be compromised.

Student Behaviour:
It has been very pleasing to note the general improvement in student behaviour from Term 1. The general conduct of students has improved and very few behaviour issues in classes are being reported. I would like to recognise our students who have taken greater responsibility for behaving appropriately and also thank the vast majority of parents who continue to support the efforts of our staff. Without parental support and the continual reinforcement of our expectations, we cannot help children develop important life skills.

School Board:
The School Board met recently and I’m pleased to announce the following Officer Bearer positions:
* Chair – Rebecca Baker
* Treasurer – Michael Tricker
* Secretary – Julie Heddle
* Assistance Secretary – Damien Purling
I would particularly like to recognise Damien Purling. Damien is a Year 10 at Playford IC and he has volunteered to learn the secretarial role of the School Board.
At this stage, there are still four parent or community partnership vacancies on the School Board for this year. I am particularly keen to fill these positions with interested and committed people who are particularly interested in seeing our school development and improve. Please contact Nicole Bayliss (Executive Assistant) if you have an interest in joining the School Board.

Asset Management Plan:
Planning work is continuing steadily on the redevelopment of our school facilities. I am also pleased to announce that DECD recently added an additional $350,000 to the $7m development of our facilities in order to meet a projected shortfall in project funding. At this stage, site preparations will begin later in this year with full building work to commence in February 2017. It is anticipated that the redevelopment work will take all of 2017 to complete and that the ‘new’ school will open at the start of the 2018 school year.

Quote of the Week:
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education”.
Martin Luther King, Jr.

Regards,
Rob Knight – Principal