Sports Day

Our Sports Day held last Friday was a fantastic day, highlighted by high rates of student participation and sportsmanship. While Hewett were the victorious team on the day, all students who took part in the carnival should be congratulated on their efforts. Our school qualities were on display throughout the day, as students strove to accumulate points for their respective houses while supporting their peers, often irrespective of the house they were representing.

I would like to thank Andrew Wright and his team for their organisation of the carnival. A whole school event such as Sports Day takes an enormous amount of work both in the lead up and on the day.

A wide range of photos taken from the day are up on our school Facebook page.

School Captains

Last Friday I had the privilege of announcing our school leaders for the 2024 school year prior to Sports Day presentations. Our student leaders play a critical role in contributing to decision making processes and school improvement planning. Matt Black, in his role as Student Voice Coordinator, coordinated our election process to ensure it again closely resembles the one that students will engage in future years when they vote at a federal and state level. Polling booths, ballot boxes, electoral officials and formal voting papers all featured as part of the election process and provided students with an authentic voting experience.

Congratulations to the following students for being elected as a student leader in 2024:

School Captains: Brodie White & Shannon McGregor

School Vice-Captains: Charlotte Steward & Harry Miles

I would also like to acknowledge those students who stood for election but were unsuccessful in winning a position. We are very fortunate to have many, high quality candidates that would have made outstanding school captains. It takes courage to stand for election amongst your peers, and I commend all candidates for doing so.

Open Gardens SA – Urumbula Garden

Last Saturday our Urumbula Garden hosted a wide range of visitors from across the state through being a member of the Open Gardens SA organisation. Being included in the Open Gardens SA program is a significant achievement and just recognition for the outstanding work of students, staff and volunteers. The garden continues to evolve and grow under the leadership of Bruce Mules, with the significant, continued support of Roger Nottage.

The Urumbula Garden is an amazing resource to have on our school grounds, providing a living educational resource showcasing the variety of ways Aboriginal people use plants.

Policy Updates

Our Governing Council have recently endorsed updates to two of our school policies.

Our Student Use of Mobile Phones and Personal Devices has had a change to include a behaviour record issued for students who do not have their phone ‘off and away’ during the school day. A text message will also be sent to parents/carers. Any phone not ‘off and away’ during the school day will continue to be confiscated. These changes will come into effect from the start of Term 4.

School staff have also reviewed and updated our Bullying and Harassment Policy.

Both policies are available on our school website at Policies - John Pirie Secondary School (jpss.sa.edu.au) .

I hope everyone has a great holiday break and look forward to seeing everyone back on the 16^th October.

Michael Gaunt

Principal

In week 6, Mr Pater’s Year 10 Outdoor Education class completed an overnight camp in Mount Remarkable National Park. Students pushed themselves physically and mentally to navigate some tricky terrain. 

A 9km hike along the Alligator Gorge Ring Route gave students beautiful views of the National Park. The short trek into the campsite was challenging, with uneven ground and steep inclines, however, students pushed through. After setting up camp dinner was cooked on the trangias while enjoying the warmth of the cloudy evening. 

The early morning drizzle left students feeling slightly soggy for the walk back to the bus. Although it was tough at times, the experience was positive for all involved. 

Year 10 HASS students participated in a role play activity in the JPSS Aboriginal Learning Centre, where they enacted displacement of six different First Nations language groups since colonisation began in South Australia in the 1800s.

The role play involved students standing in six groups on a large map of South Australia, then being directed to relocate around the map by various colonisers or colonial laws from the past 200 years. The role play was facilitated by four incredible, world-class educators from our Aboriginal Learning Centre. Students relished the opportunity to ask questions and share a yarn, deepening their understanding of Australia’s rich and complex history.

In week 8 John Pirie Secondary School held its Art Prize Night to showcase students’ artistic abilities to the wider community. The night consisted of musical and dance performance videos, Year 10 Drama Performance of 'Murder at the Manor' written by our very own drama teacher Hannah Nicholson and our Art Prize Winner announcement. The John Pirie Art Prize winners were this year judged by Georgia Northcott from Georgia Ellie Art and Design. The winners were:

Overall Winner – Latina Key for Pink Petal Beauty

Senior School Winner – Fei-Lin Kao for Cat

Senior School Runner Up – Declan Scarman for Sad Woman

Middle School Winner – Lara Hunter for Safe Place

Middle School Runner Up – Zahra Wilson for Motorbike Girl

Photography Winner – Filip Cojocea for Men’s Watch

Photography Runner Up – Filip Cojocea for Portrait Photography

Lauren Richards

Arts/Year 8 Coordinator

Construction of an aquaponics system has been completed by year 9 & 10 HASS students, supported by volunteer Greg Jamieson (Mr MJ’s father).

Aquaponics uses fish waste to grow hydroponic vegetables. This week we took delivery of our first fish for the system, a school of 100 Australian native Southern Purple Spotted Gudgeon (SPSG). The fish were generously donated by Urrbrae Agricultural High School. JPSS is now a member of the SPSG school breeding program, managed by Nature Glenelg Trust. Tomatoes, cucumbers, corn and peas are growing well and have strong root systems bonding to the expanded clay growing media. The vegetable trellis system is inspired by the commercial system at Sundrop tomatoes.

On Thursday 14th September the Year 9 Outdoor Ed classes went for a bushwalk at Telowie Gorge Conservation Park accompanied by Mr Silvestri, Mr Pater and Miss Griffiths. 

Leo Johnson gave some insight into his experience of the bushwalk: 

What were the most enjoyable parts of the walk? 

‘Being able to talk to other students that I don’t usually get to talk to. The walk was also very scenic and nice to look at. I enjoyed watching my friends fall in the water when we had to cross over it’. 

What was challenging about the walk? 

‘Having to push through when my legs were tired, rationing my food as I wanted to eat it all at the start, and the track was difficult in parts’. 

Next time I would… ‘Take my time by walking slower and looking around more’ 

All students did a great job of tackling some tricky water crossings. It was certainly memorable and a funny experience for many students! 

For the eighth-year students with disabilities gathered in Port Pirie for a Regional Inclusive Basketball Carnival. Organised and run by the Faculty of Learning Difficulties staff of John Pirie Secondary School it brought students, teachers and carers from Kadina, Port Augusta and Whyalla to compete with Mid North Education Centre and John Pirie Secondary School.

For two days everyone got to participate in an opportunity that is often overlooked for these students. There was no hiding the excitement on everyone’s faces as the noise in Donaldson Stadium rose with each goal, pass, dribble & rebound. But the best cheers were received for the examples of sportsmanship that many displayed to provide everyone with a chance to score a goal and have success. Thursday was a round robin between the eight teams entered with everyone going home with a medal acknowledging & celebrating their individual success.

To broaden their experiences, the Solomontown Football club again hosted a dinner and disco social event for the evening before sending everyone home to sleep and come back on Friday.

Friday became a skills development day with workshops, 3vs3 games and other activities run by staff from John Pirie.

None of this could have happened without the work put in behind the scenes by our staff: SSO’s -  Mrs Budd, Ms Adams, Mrs Caputo & Mrs Leske; The Teachers - Mr Elmendorp, Mr Gapp, Ms Tregilgas, Mr Borland, Mr Pater and volunteers -  Cooper Promnitz & Indiah Raynor. Thanks also must go out to the management of Donaldson Stadium and the canteen for access to the courts and Solomontown Football Club for the social event.

The best part of the whole event was the memories made and they all want to do it again next year!

Deb Tregilgas
(Special Class Teacher)