There are less than two weeks left before the Premier’s Reading Challenge closes for 2020, so remember to update your child’s reading record online.

The Challenge closes at 11.59 pm on Friday 28 August – no late entries accepted (they are very strict!). PCS already has over 200 students who have completed the Challenge for 2020, and others are within reach of finishing.

Some rules have been relaxed for this year in light of Covid-19, including:

Kindergarten love to learn about the world they live in as well as the family they belong to. But what does it mean to be a part of a family? What is history? Connection. Belonging. Learning. Sharing. Tradition. Celebrations. Memories.

It is what we experience as a class, as a grade and even as a school community. In essence, we live history every day. This term will bring family and personal histories into focus for Kindergarten. It puts things into perspective for them and helps them to feel a part of something bigger than themselves.

Conversations with friends and family, reflecting on activities in the classroom, all of the things that we have accomplished in previous terms, and even acknowledging our differences and celebrating them, helps the children to understand that history is important and that it does start with them. In the same way that we all love to open a present, the Kindergarten children have prepared a ‘Family History Box’ to add special items to that will help them to unpack their own stories. The exciting part of this journey is that they will discover the role they play in HIS-story as well. 

In 2021, Penrith Christian School will be adding a ‘Toddler Room’ to our Early Learning Centre.

Children aged 2 (turning 3 in 2021) will have the option of attending a five-day, three-day (Mon - Wed), or a two-day (Thurs - Fri) program.

If you are interested in finding out more about this new program, please book a personal tour and/or contact Sharon Tuft on 4737 4300 or sharon.tuft@pcs.nsw.edu.au

Now that most of our current construction is complete, we are seeking quotes to have our front garden landscaped. If you or someone in your family are interested in providing a quote, please contact Neil Clark on 0438 319 547 or neil@inchurch.com.au

Group Dance Classes at Penrith Creative Academy provide a cost effective and fun option for learning. We currently have vacancies in the following groups:

Lyrical/Jazz: Tuesdays 3.00 pm - 4.00 pm (Kindy to Year 3)

Lyrical/Hip Hop: Tuesdays 4.00 pm - 5.00 pm (Years 4 to 6)

Classes are $15 a week and there is no registration fee. Classes run during the school term at Penrith Christian School.

This week Year 10 Science students used their knowledge of genetics to create 'Ma Potato' and 'Pa Onion'. They then performed genetic crosses to determine the genotype and phenotype of their offspring.

Well done Year 10!

Denise Bailey

The Entertainment Book Missions Fundraiser is up and running again. We really appreciate all the families and friends of PCS who have purchased their Digital Entertainment Books already; your support of our Missions projects is very valued!

To order your own Digital Entertainment Book, please click on this link: https://www.entertainment.com.au/orderbooks/216y180

For any further enquiries, please contact Mrs Melinda Brinks in the iCentre at Melinda.brinks@pcs.nsw.edu.au

After a short break BOOK CLUB IS BACK.

The children love Book Club and our school benefits from all purchases made with the Scholastic Book Club.  Leaflets were distributed last week and families can also go online to check out what is on offer this term at https://www.scholastic.com.au/book-club/book-club-parents/.

Please note credit card payments can be made online using the preferred Scholastic LOOP system with full details available via http://parentpayments.scholastic.com.au/. 

There are only a few weeks left before the Premier’s Reading Challenge closes for 2020, so remember to update your child’s reading record online. The Challenge closes at 11.59 pm on August 28 – no late entries accepted (they are very strict!).

PCS already has over 50 students who have completed the Challenge for 2020, and many others who are within reach of finishing.

Some rules have been relaxed for this year in light of Covid-19, including:

People are generally creatures of habit. We tend to follow the same routine for certain aspects of our day. For example, our bed time routine will most likely follow a pattern every night. We might end our evening with a cup of tea, watch a TV show, have a shower and clean our teeth, get into the bed on the same side every night, read our Bible and even lie in the same position to fall asleep.

The same can be said for morning routines for children. For children, a routine for going to bed usually encourages a peaceful night’s sleep. Studies have shown that going to sleep and waking up at approximately the same time each night and day may support positive behaviour.

“School-age kids need 9–12 hours of sleep a night. Bedtime problems can start at this age for a variety of reasons. Homework, sports and after-school activities, screen time (on computers, TVs, smartphones, and other devices), and hectic family schedules all can contribute to kids not getting the sleep they need.

Please be advised, uniform fittings will commence again in August during school term hours. All fittings are by appointment only and bookings are available online by visiting www.ranier.com.au.

OPERATING HOURS:

Tuesday: 7.30 am - 11.30 am

Thursday: 2.00 pm - 6.00 pm

In Term 3, Penrith Creative Academy is proposing to run a Shakespeare Course. We will be looking at Shakespeare's exciting and dramatic play, 'Macbeth'. We will be discussing stage directions, acting skills, voice projection, accents, learning sword fighting, rehearsing scenes from the play and much more!

WHEN: ThursdaysTIME: 3.00 pm - 4.00 pmAGES: 10+

To express your child's interest in this course, please email academy@pcs.nsw.edu.au or call Sally on 0425 369 838

PCS families and students of all ages are invited to our 2020 HSC Music Concert on Thursday 6 August, 2020 at 7.00 pm.

This event is an opportunity to showcase the talents of our Year 12 Music students as they perform two of their HSC pieces in a high level performance setting. PCS has some amazing talent - come along and see for yourself!

PLEASE NOTE: Due to COVID-19 restrictions, only PCS families and students are able to attend, seats are limited and all attendees must be registered, so please book your place ASAP via:

What a fun way to finish the term with Crazy Hat Day on Wednesday 1 July in Junior School. Students and families went all out with their creativity and unique designs - there was even a spaghetti and meatballs hat!

Through our ‘Coins for Missions’ class containers and Crazy Hat gold coin donations, we raised $603 this term. Combining this with $168 earned in Term 1, we have a grand total of $771 for Divine Junior School Uganda. This money will be sent immediately to directly support the teachers who are not properly being paid due to prolonged COVID-19 restrictions in Uganda.

Thank you students and families for your generous support of Missions - every dollar makes a HUGE difference! In fact, $771 in Australian dollars equals $1,987,930 Ugandan Shillings! 

A huge warm welcome to over twenty new students who commenced at PCS on Wednesday 22 July.  We pray you and your families are already feeling a part of our school community we call family.

Given the number of new students this term and the volume of applications already received for 2021, and beyond, existing families are encouraged to lodge sibling applications as a matter of urgency to avoid disappointment.

Please contact Sharon Tuft via email at sharon.tuft@pcs.nsw.edu.au, or on telephone number 02 4737 4300, for further information regarding enrolments.

It is timely at the commencement of a new term, and with new families joining our school community, to reiterate to some and introduce to others, the traffic management procedures for drop off and collection of students.

The importance of these rules cannot be stressed enough to ensure the absolute safety of all children and families at all times, especially at these extremely busy peak periods of car park use in the morning and afternoon. Please ensure all other authorised adults who may drop off or collect your child/ren on your behalf, are aware of the following requirements.

Please Note: Parent/s or Guardians MUST adhere to the Frogmore and Simeon Road 40 km per hour and the car park 10 km per hour speed limits.

The fun continued in Early Learning with our Crazy Hair Day on Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 June 2020.

We saw the creativity of parents and children abound when given the scope to create crazy hair. We had unicorns, surfers, spiders, lizards, bug gardens, Minnie Mouse and all the colours of the rainbow. The teachers even got into the fun of the day and created some amazing hair styles for themselves as well. The children had so much fun and many conversations were had around what type of hairstyle they had.

Prep created some amazing artwork around crazy hair and the children showed great control and regulation skills to be able to blow the coloured dye to create the crazy hair style.

In Science this term, Year 4 have studied the unit ‘Beneath our Feet’.  We have been investigating how our world is constantly changing, whilst focusing on the process of weathering and erosion, and how it impacts our environment. The students also investigated the different properties of soil, examined various types of rocks, and discovered how our unique landforms are created over time. We have enjoyed collecting soil and rock samples from our homes, and around the school.

Working in collaborative learning teams, we used our samples to conduct different experiments, observing the changes that occur when they undergo the process of weathering and erosion. We even used a rock tumbling machine to polish rocks.

Below are some student reflections:

With our growing reputation in the community, and the overwhelming success of our Early Learning Centre, our Preschool 5 day (Monday-Friday) and Preschool 3 day (Monday-Wednesday) programs are already fully enrolled for 2021. Limited vacancies are available in our Preschool 2 day (Thu-Fri) and our Preparatory School (2 and 3 day) programs for 2021 and beyond.

Parents wishing to enrol their sibling children into PCS for future years are strongly encouraged to lodge enrolment applications urgently to avoid disappointment as waiting lists are imminent in several year groups.

If you have friends or family members who are considering a Christian education for their child/ren, please encourage them to contact Sharon on 4737 4306. Enrolment interviews for 2021 and 2022 will be conducted from the commencement of Term 3.

During Term 1, Year 10 music students were learning about Theme and Variations, a form of music where the composer or performer experiments with a musical idea and varies it. Little did we know when we started that the students would be in isolation to finish their performances and compositions.

This creative group made the most of their time at home and finished their tasks:

compose a theme and vary it

perform a simple piece and play it in different styles