From the Principal

On behalf of the staff and community of South I wish you all a warm welcome to this year especially those who are new to the school. During the past two weeks I have noticed a terrific sense of certainty and purpose about the way the year has started. It is reassuring to students to come to a school where this exists.

There have been relatively few staff changes since 2011 and this brings stability particularly for those who return to leadership positions. Please click here to see a list of our 2012 Leadership Team and new staff.

COMMUNICATION
It was pleasing to see such a significant number of parents attend the Middle School Information Evening and I am confident that a similar number will attend next week's Junior School Information Evening on Tuesday 14 February 7pm to 7.30pm in the South Hall and 7.30 to 8pm in the classrooms. Please make yourself known to your child's teachers and I anticipate that all students new to South this year will have received contact from the school by this time. The relationship between staff and parents is a critical one that is well worth investing in. A strong relationship allows parents and staff to work together to help support students through the challenges of growing up. I am particularly grateful to the teachers of Reception who have expertly guided their students to a more significant transition, although I know for some that this will continue for some time.

OUR EXPECTATIONS
At the beginning of each year we spend considerable time working with students to establish clear expectations of behaviour. While some students, particularly those in the Middle School, feel it is their responsibility to question expectations, it is evident that school rules empower rather than inhibit behaviour and can create freedom by giving certainty. I know that sometimes you will feel the same questioning at home but if the rules were simply chosen by individuals then we as teachers would not be doing our job in preparing students for future expectations of society such as workplaces, where we cannot pick and choose expectations. Students and parents have a right to expect that we will apply expectations consistently even though that may sometimes be challenging. At the same time the “everyone else is allowed to but me” argument can simply be a selfish attempt to avoid responsibility. We will endeavour to support you and look forward to working with you to ensure our common expectations are met for the benefit of your child.

2012 THE YEAR FOR EXCELLENCE
I hope you have already heard from your children that we have adopted this theme this year. The idea of excellence is a focus on personal excellence rather than achieving an “A” grade although for some students this should be the goal.  I know that you share the hope of personal excellence for your child as well. Using a common language means that at home you can be reassured that when you encourage your child to complete their homework to an excellent standard, participate in co-curricular activities to an excellent standard and behave in an excellent fashion that you will be supported at school. I emphasised that while reward for excellence is a sense of achievement, this is not a victory won without cost. That is, some effort is required to achieve excellence and I hope that students would heed this message particularly in the classroom. While all the opportunities offered at South are important the most important is performance in the classroom because this has the most bearing on future success.

FACEBOOK
Like all schools we have had a number of instances of students behaving poorly using this forum. You will be reassured to know that we undertake a significant education of students across all year levels with respect to how to use Facebook, mobile phones and other communication devices responsibly. The simple reality is that to do otherwise in a workplace can result in loss of employment or worse still, legal ramifications. Despite this, some students still fail to fully comprehend that what they write on Facebook is both permanent and public. Permanent in the sense that while you can delete a comment, others can retain them for future and that is becoming increasingly done by prospective employers. Public in the sense that all of the enormous number of so-called ‘friends’ will be able to view what is written. If you would like further assistance about the use of social media and the internet visit the Stay Smart Online website.

STUDENT ABSENCE
If your child is going to be absent please phone the South School Office on 8522 0626 or text 0416 905 258 by 9.00am. After 9.30am an SMS text message will be sent to the mobile phones of all Middle School parents explaining that our records show that your child is absent from school.

STUDENT LEADERS
The whole school assembly this week was dedicated to the Induction of the South Student Leaders for 2012. On behalf of all I wish to congratulate those who have been elected to this important role. As Student Leaders I would expect that they would act on behalf of all South students from Reception to Year 10 and while their role is mostly a representative one I also expect that they will be prepared to stand up as individuals and good role models.

PARENTS AND FRIENDS 
In 2012 we will continue to seek support from parents for individual events rather than for all P & F events so that a greater number of parents are involved. New parents are most welcome and this is a very rewarding way of involving yourself in the school community. If you're interested please complete a Volunteer Form and return it to South Office.

DRIVERS AND THE CAR PARK
From time to time we have had complaints from drivers about the behaviour of other drivers with respect to their driving, parking in loading zones, the bus bay and even parking in car parks designated for disabled drivers. It seems to me that the 200 car parks are sufficient to allow the efficient collection of students for a school of our size providing reasonable courtesy is observed. It is unreasonable to expect staff to police this behaviour and I would remind the minority of drivers about whom we receive complaints that the role modelling they offer may not be something they wish to be followed by their children as future drivers.

PARENTING TIP
Find out more about an Autism ipad/iphone app here.

Best wishes

MARK SIMPSON
Principal
Trinity College South
 

From the Head of the College

Welcome!  I hope all families had a joyous Christmas.  I particularly would like to welcome new students and families to our community.

YEAR 12 RESULTS
2011 finished very strongly for Trinity College and I was delighted the hard work from our Year 12 cohort was rewarded.  Some wonderful academic results were achieved and we were particularly delighted to see the rewards that came from students who may have struggled or had to overcome adversity but still persisted.  The results are a credit to the students, their families and our terrific staff who have guided our young men and women on their journey, some of whom started at our Montessori pre-school.  To have five students receive an ATAR above 99, 36 achieve an ATAR above 90 and 239 graduate with their SACE is a wonderful achievement.  Read specific highlights here.

COMMUNITY SURVEY - MOVING FORWARD
We are committed to providing the best College we can and listening to our community is a vital component of that.  Over the holiday period the College circulated an electronic survey to the community.  We received over 800 replies, which is an excellent amount of feedback.  I thank respondents for taking the time to complete this survey.  The feedback was particularly affirming in many areas but also, constructive and instructive in others.

Pleasingly, 90% of respondents said they would recommend Trinity to another family.  When compared to similar surveys in other like schools, this is a positive figure.  In the interest of transparency, I have included survey data responses to some key questions.  There are some themes that have emerged from the survey.  Parents certainly are keen for us to ensure our communication is relevant and timely.  The community encourages us to continue to offer a broad range of opportunities.  The amount of homework caused some concern and during 2012, the Director of Studies, Ian Rossotti will lead a review of this.  Parents want to ensure our fees remain as affordable as they can be.  Focus on the individual strengths of all our students is another key theme coming from comments in the survey. Survey Results. 

CONGRATULATIONS
Trinity students and Trinity old scholars have recently had particular success in the world of sport.  We currently have three former students on Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) scholarships in Canberra; Ben Warland (Soccer), Dylan Pickett (Soccer) and Amelia Schmidt (Netball).  One of our 2011 graduates, Travis Head played cricket for the SA Redbacks against Victoria and Myles Scotson has been selected in the Australian Under 19 cycling team to attend the World Championships.

Warm regards

NICK HATELY
Head of Trinity College

Junior School News

JUNIOR SCHOOL ACADEMIC AWARDS - WEEK 2 TERM 1
In 2012 we are challenging all of our students to set goals and to strive to do their very best in all areas of learning. In the Junior School we are concentrating on the 5 P’s of:

• Paying attention – listening and focussing on the lessons
• Participating – joining in activities and contributing to discussions
• Persisting – keeping on trying, even when tasks are challenging
• Planning – organising ourselves, our time and our belongings
• Polishing – checking our work and using our neatest presentation.

During the first week we concentrated on paying attention in lessons. Congratulations to all students who were presented with their PAYING ATTENTION certificates at the South Assembly.

JENNY BEDNALL
Head of Junior School

School Captains' Report

Welcome back everyone to the new school year! Our names our Emma Shuttle and Harry Dearing and we are the School Captains for 2012.

Our role as School Captains is to represent and influence the student body at South School. We are the figureheads of the student body, so if anyone has questions, ideas or would like to chat, we are always eager to listen and make Trinity South a suitable environment for everyone.

Just like all the students that started at Trinity South this year, we are new in this role, but are looking forward to the challenges it presents.

There is also a team of 19 Year 10 students, including us, that make up the Student Leadership Team. These students are fantastic role models and will be a solid foundation of leadership at South. These students are also always up for a chat, so feel free to approach them with anything of concern.

The Student Leadership Team is working hard with Chaplain Craig Loveday to plan the Year 7 ‘Transformers’ Retreat, which will be held next Friday at Para Wirra. Additionally we have been working hard to organise activities and team building games for the Year 7s to participate in for the day and make it enjoyable and fun. We look forward to the day and for the hard work to pay off.

We wish to accomplish numerous goals this year, which include many charity events that we hope you will all get involved in. We are also going to keep some traditions from previous years such as City to Bay, Junior School Disco and Inter-House Sports. We are hoping to make Trinity South’s City to Bay team bigger than ever and find a worthy charity to sponsor.
We are eager to begin our new roles as School Captains and make 2012 a great year for Trinity South.

Feel free to email us (Harrison or Emma-Jayne).

Thanks to all and we look forward to the year ahead.

HARRISON DEARING
EMMA-JAYNE SHUTTLE
Trinity South School Captains

Music Lessons at Trinity

Instrumental music lessons are available to all Trinity College students on a variety of instruments.  If you would like your child to learn an instrument this year, contact the Music Office or your School Office for an enrolment form. We have instruments available for students to hire upon request (pianos, guitars or drum kits are not available).  Music lessons will resume across the College in Week 2. Previously enrolled and continuing students should have been notified of their lesson day and time.  If you have not yet been contacted please notify the Music Office by email or phone 8522 0637.

LOUISE SKELTON
Director of Instrumental Music
Head of Music Curriculum

College News

STAY SMART ONLINE
While the internet offers many benefits from shopping and banking to staying in touch with friends and family we need to be careful about the information we share and how best to protect our personal details. The Australian Government's Stay Smart Online website provides information for all internet users on the simple steps you can take to protect your personal and financial information online. Checkout the website and download a number of helpful fact sheets.

SAVE THE DATE - TERTIARY STUDIES AND CAREERS EXPO
29 – 30 April 2012
Adelaide Convention Centre
North Terrace, Adelaide
For further information visit the website.

South Parents and Friends

A special welcome to all the new families who have started at South this year, I am sure you will grow to love this school as much as we do.  Welcome back also to all returning families for another year of waking your children up, telling them to dress properly, making sure they have packed their lunches, making sure they have done their homework, racing around to all the sporting events and then telling them to go to bed because it all happens again tomorrow!  Boy I like the holidays.

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL
The year started off quite a bit cooler than expected for the first day this year. The P & F arranged to have 860 fruit boxes frozen for two weeks to distribute to all the students and even though it was cool, everyone enjoyed the treat. Also on day one we held a tea/coffee and biscuit morning for the new families to come along to and mingle with each other. It was great to see so many people there. Thanks to everyone who came along and to those who helped on the day.

PARENT HELPERS
Once again the P & F will hold various events throughout the year. Once arrangements are finalised we will send a note around to all the families with the details. We are very keen to have a list of parents who may not have the time to be a part of the P & F for the whole year but would be happy to help organise or work on the day of the event. Please keep this in mind when looking at the events that we will run over the year.

NEXT MEETING
Our next meeting is on Wednesday 15 February at 7.00pm in the South Staff Room. Please come along if you are able to or send us an email.

Keep smiling and don’t forget to have fun with your children.

BRUCE HOBBY
President

Sports News

GREAT MEDAL HAUL AT STATE SWIMMING CHAMPIONSHIPS
Trinity College students enjoyed a sensational State Swimming Championship recently winning a host of medals. In addition to our impressive medal haul Tyler Zecchini (North), Emma Jensen and James McKechnie (Senior) achieved times that qualify them for the National Championships in Brisbane in April. Well done to everyone. See a full list of results here.

TRINITY TRIO LAND STATE TEAM HONOURS
Trinity students Koen Sapwell (Yr 8 North), Bradley Skuce (Yr 7 North) and Brodie Nathan (Yr 8 South) were selected in a 20-player State U14 Basketball Squad that formed two teams to compete in a Sydney invitational tournament in January.  Nathan’s team landed the gold, while Sapwell and Skuce’s team finished third.

2012 BALLARAT CRICKET EXCHANGE
The Trinity College Cricket Academy played its annual cricket exchange against Ballarat Grammar on the weekend, coming away with a thumping win in the Years 8 to 10 game, and a narrow loss in the Year 11 - 12 match. The weekend also included a trip to the MCG for the T20 match between Australia and India. Read the full reports on the Years 8 to 10 and Years 11 - 12 matches.

EXTRA TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES
Trinity College currently offers several opportunities to improve skill levels and athletic performance through endorsed development programs conducted by coaches affiliated with Trinity College. Available to all students these include private cricket coaching sessions from ex Australia A coach Mark Sorell and small group basketball skills sessions with ex-NBA player and 36ER legend Kevin Brooks. For more information on either of these services, check out the cricket and basketball webpages.

SPORTS NOMINATIONS
All sports nominations for the current summer season and upcoming winter season are now due.  Students can still join athletics, cricket and swimming, as well as Hot Shots Beginners tennis, netball (NetSetG0!) and Teeball.  The winter season (starting in Term 2) includes basketball, hockey, football, netball, athletics and soccer. Visit our Sports News webpage for more details.

TRINITY NETBALL ACADEMY NOW AVAILABLE
Trinity netball continues to make giant strides with the introduction of an elite-level Trinity Netball Academy.  Players will undergo focussed skills and conditioning sessions twice a week with specialist coaches in an effort to provide a high-performance pathway for motivated Trinity students.  Read more here.

MILO in2CRICKET PROGRAM
MILO in2CRICKET is a fun introduction to the game of cricket for boys and girls aged between 5 to 8 years. The program provides children with an enjoyable and safe environment where they can learn skills and play games. Every registered child receives an in2CRICKET Pack including bat, ball, t-shirt, bucket hat, backpack and some other goodies. To find out more visit the website.

STARplex

SPECIAL DISCOUNT FITNESS MEMBERSHIP 
A SPECIAL discounted Fitness Centre membership applies for Trinity Parents when they join. There is no start-up fee (saving you $149) and a special rate for direct debit/upfront payments. To take advantage of this offer call to make an appointment with a Lifestyle Consultant and don’t forget to bring a copy of your latest school account.

STARfun APRIL SCHOOL HOLIDAY PROGRAM EARLY BIRD DISCOUNT
Book before Thursday 5 April and receive 10% discount on STARfun April School Holiday Program.

HEWITSON THEATRE COMING EVENTS

• La De Da Market Friday 24 February - Over 60 new and well known stalls.
• Blue Light Disco Saturday 25 February
• Dorothy's Beach Party Friday 13 April - Presented by The Wiggles join Dorothy’s Beach Party
• Jay's Place Monday 23 April - Jay Laga'aia's brand new children's show is coming to the Hewitson Theatre
   

PRE-SEASON NETBALL CARNIVAL
Saturday 31 March - A fun way to try-out your team in time for the new season. Suitable for juniors and seniors. For further information or to make a booking visit the STARplex Reception or call 8522 0622.

Did you know?

NEED A TAX FILE NUMBER? 
The Australian Tax Office offers students aged 13 years or over the opportunity to apply for a Tax File Number (TFN) through the Secondary Schools Tax File Number program. Find out more here.

SCHOOL SAVER PLUS
Anglicare SA is seeking new participants for the Saver Plus program. Match your savings, dollar for dollar, up to $500. Contact Debbie Rieger by email or phone 0457 778 022 for further details.

BANK SA LITTLE SAVERS CLUB
Learning to save for the future or that something special is a valuable lesson for all children. It serves your child well as they grow up, and of course it forms a part of their life education. The BankSA Incentive Saver Account and Little Savers Club offers:

• $10 gift voucher for new accounts opened before 30th March 2012
• FREE Little Savers bag, school banking wallet, deposit book, money box, fridge magnet and calculator
• access to the BankSA Little Savers website, including games, competitions, newsletters and information to learn all about money and making saving fun
• Monthly bonus rate incentive* for savers
• weekly school bank collection from Gawler Branch
• no monthly account service fees
  unlimited deposits and one free everyday banking withdrawal per month (other fees and charges may be payable)

Application packs are available from the South Front Office or contact BankSA on 8522 1067.

*Bonus variable interest is paid for a month when at least one deposit and no withdrawals are made and a minimum balance of $1 is maintained for the month.

Local Community News

SOUTH AUSTRALIAN U18 YOUTH GIRLS FOOTBALL TEAM TRIALS
Sunday 19 February 2012
6.00pm – 8.30pm
Max Basheer Reserve
West Lakes Boulevard, West Lakes
Contact Tim Stewart  by email or phone 0423 250 614 for further details.

YOUTH FOR UNDERSTANDING (YFU) AUSTRALIA INFORMATION NIGHT
Wednesday 22 February 2012
6.30pm – 7.55pm
Bray Room 1, State Library of South Australia
Youth for Understanding is a not for profit exchange organisation for high school students who wish to spend time on an educational experience overseas. Choose from over 40 countries in Europe, Asia, Africa or the Americas. Contact Louise Au by email or phone 0422 079 534.

BALAKLAVA TENNIS CLUB JUNIOR TENNIS TOURNAMENT
Sunday 26 February 2012
8.30am
Ralli Park Courts, Balaklava
Double and singles events for boys and girls aged 10 to 17 years. For further details contact Tania Allen on 88622 212 or 0419 034 096.

CARMINA PLAYGROUP 2012
Every second and fourth Wednesday each month
9.30am – 11.30am
Carmina Room
Evanston Primary
Para Road, Evanston
Contact Megan or Marshel on 85212 080 for further details.

DAD SPACE
Fridays
9.30am - 11.30am
A meeting place for Dad's and their children. Activities include craft, play, reading, outings and guest speakers.
Carmina Room Evanston Primary
Contact Michael Evans on 85212 080 or 0434368 981 for further details.