Anti-Bullying Seminar by Brett Murray

On Tuesday 27 February, we listened to Brett Murray speak about Anti-Bullying. I liked how Mr Murray told us he wanted to help kids understand bullying and how to stop it because he was bullied as a kid and knew how stressful it was. I liked how he made us laugh and described things in a way we could understand. I liked how he said to follow our dreams. I liked how he didn’t just talk about anti-bullying, but about Jesus. I think he was very brave sharing his childhood problem. This has helped me to know what to say to other people and how to say it.

‘Don’t let the past affect your future!’

‘Let’s make bullying history!’

‘Anti-bullying is purely about respecting one another!’

As part of our History unit, ‘First Contacts’, Year 4 recently had a visit from Chris Tobin who is an expert on Aboriginal traditions and culture of the local area, and who is an active member of the Darug community.

Mr Tobin is an amazing speaker and students had a chance to listen to traditional Aboriginal stories, see authentic tools and weapons, and even have their faces painted for a traditional dance.

Mr Tobin spoke passionately about the long history of the Aboriginal people in Australia, including this area, and shared what life was like for men, women and children before European settlement.

We wish to farewell Mrs Trish Webber, as she leaves the PCS Uniform Shop; her last day is tomorrow (Tuesday 20 March). We thank Trish for her hard work and commitment to assisting PCS families with their school uniform requirements and wish her every blessing as she begins this next season in life.

We would like to warmly welcome Mrs Kathy Byron to the Uniform Shop. She will be looking after you once she has transitioned into the role.

When you next visit the Uniform Shop, please give Kathy a great big PCS welcome.

We love books and we love reading, and we love to share that with our students. The iCentre staff are keen to run a student reading circle/book club where students can come and share about the books they’ve been reading, and discover new books they might not have thought of reading before. Reluctant readers are just as welcome as avid readers – we want to encourage everyone to find the books that light up the world of reading for them.

Reading for pleasure is strongly linked to success not only at school, but in life outside of and after school.

At this stage we are gauging the level of interest in a student book club, so if attending a book club at school might appeal to your child, please contact Mr Danial Ollis or Mrs Bethany Evans in the iCentre.

The children are taught that unhelpful thinking can make a problem seem much worse than it is. Maybe you could practise helpful thinking at home if you hear your child express unhelpful words.

Helpful thinking:

accepts that mistakes happen

focuses on the future, not the past

Jesus is the reason for the season and the Kindy Easter Hat Parade is a chance for parents and children to focus on the true meaning of Easter while creating a simple, elaborate, crazy or beautiful hat together.

Join us at the Kindy Easter Hat Parade on Wednesday 28 March 2018 at 8.30 am under the Junior School COLA area.

CLICK HERE for full details.

Middle School celebrated the launch of Crunch&Sip® at Chapel on Friday 9 March with a Crunch&Sip® Game show with three rounds: Fruit & Veg taste test, Pictionary and a quiz. 

Fruit and vegetables were kindly donated (including an apple for every Middle School student attending Chapel) by Glenbrook Greengrocer, owned by the Kohler family who have three children at PCS.

For more information about Crunch&Sip®, CLICK HERE

The iCentre staff have been very encouraged with the fantastic number of books being borrowed out each week. Keep up the good work, and encourage your friends.

There is an amazing world awaiting within the pages of all of the books in the iCentre.

On that…….

If your child/ren catch a school bus, please read the important message below sent to us from Busways:

Does your child catch a School Bus? Help them keep it!

As the bus operator providing your child’s school bus services, we are asking for your help in getting your child to use their Opal card on every bus trip.

One of the largest STEM programs in the world, the F1 in Schools STEM Challenge™ is the world’s foremost student competition for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics.

Five students from Penrith Christian School entered this competition in 2017 as the 'Penrith Pistons'.

Each year more than 17,000 schools in 44 nations take on the challenge of developing the world’s fastest miniature F1 car. Here in Australia approximately 22,000 students are involved each year with over ten times that being exposed to the program and having access to the same classroom technology used by the students to design and build their cars.

Effective from Monday 12 March the afternoon drop off for Glenbrook will be the bus stop outside the Glenbrook Museum directly opposite the tennis court dressing rooms in Ross Street.

Please refer to the below map. The red arrow points to the new stop, the red/blue circle indicates the current highway stop.

A lot has happened in the first six weeks of school! Our students have settled into classroom routines and friendships. We enjoy worshipping God together in the mornings, learning the books of the Bible and discussing how God’s Word is relevant to our lives. 

In Literacy, we have been focusing on Aboriginal Dreamtime stories, where the students have participated in various group activities including presenting a news report, role play and PowerPoint presentations. Students have identified the elements of a narrative and have applied this to their own writing of Dreamtime stories. This all ties in beautifully with our MIGW topic, 'Community and Change', where we have been studying the Aboriginal people who lived in our local area!

Students have been enjoying reading with our new librarian, Mr Ollis and visiting the Music bus.

Students at PCS once again have the opportunity to take part in the Premier’s Reading Challenge. The Challenge is a special initiative of the Premier of NSW presented by the NSW Department of Education to foster a love of literature and to encourage children to read widely for leisure and for pleasure.  It is open to all students from Years K-9 in 2018.

For students in Kinder to Year 2 the challenge is to experience 30 books by 31st August, 25 at least of those books should be chosen from specific booklists. Up to five of the books can be their own choice.

NOTE: Experiencing a book means that the K-2 child may either read the book themselves, or have the book read or shared with them in a joint reading situation and it still counts towards their Premier’s Reading Challenge records.

What an awesome year it has already been with the blessings of the Lord.

I wanted to take this time to officially greet you all in Jesus Name as the new Service Coordinator for Camp Australia 2018.

I have worked as a School Learning Support Officer, Teacher’s Aide in Hebersham Public School, Emerton Public School and Holy Family Primary School. I have also worked as an Educator in Family Day Care.

Anyone for chess? A note was placed in the iCentre a couple of weeks back in response to the number of students playing chess at lunch times, to gauge how many would be interested in a formal Chess Club at PCS. The response that I received was very encouraging.

If you (or your child) has never considered chess as a pastime, can I share with you some information from Gardiner Chess:

‘Australia’s #2 chess player, David Smerdon: David went to Robertson SS and was a terror as a youngster and as he puts it, was borderline ADHD. His parents got him involved in chess and he channelled his energy into it, to become a brilliant player. Further he attributes his channelling of energy into chess as a stepping stone to his academic success where he has achieved an OP1 at Churchie, and been on scholarships at Melbourne University, and The Tinbergen Institute in Amsterdam.’ (https://gardinerchess.com.au/educational-benefits-of-chess/).

PCS will be administering the NAPLAN tests online this year. 

Students will have an opportunity to do a 45 min Practice Test this term on 22 March. The practice test will enable students to become familiar with the test environment and will have a variety of questions similar in style to the Reading, Conventions of Language and Numeracy tests. 

There will be no Writing questions in this test.  It is purely so that students will understand HOW torespond to different types of questions they will meet in the Online NAPLAN tests in Term 2.

Last Tuesday 27 February, PCS held the first of four Parent Seminars being run in 2018. Brett Murray from Make Bullying History presented his seminar, ‘Bully-proofing Your World’, to almost 100 parents and staff.

Brett’s presentation was both entertaining and very informative. He covered important issues such as defining bullying, identifying factors that cause bullying, the role parents play in preventing bullying behaviour in children, and also the science associated with adolescent brain development.

Brett is the founder of the Make Bullying History Foundation and has been involved in extensive research into the issue of bullying. Brett’s findings are the foundation for the information that he presented in his seminar.

Penrith Christian School's Year 7 Information Night is being held on Tuesday 20 March 2018, from 6.00 pm – 7.30 pm. This is a night for NEW families (not yet enrolled at PCS) who are interested in 2019 Year 7 enrolments.

At this event you will:

discover how our unique 'Middle School' structure supports your child's well-being and learning;

get a feel for the ethos and values of PCS and how this enhances your child's schooling

We all said goodbye to our Guide Dog, Rosie on Monday 26 February. It will be the last time we see her until graduation in a few months’ time.

Mackenzie Colbourn and Angelina Bounassif joined me, Elizabeth Weeks, to take Rosie to her induction ceremony. We had an hour’s drive to Richmond Guide Dog Centre where, when we arrived, two of her dog friends were already there and saying goodbye to their owners, and hello to their new friends and trainers.

Mr Pickworth met us there. When he came, he informed the staff that Rosie had Kennel Cough. Due to this Rosie was then sent back with us until she got better.

It has been a delight to come and work at PCS.

My husband James and I have found moving to Penrith really encouraging and a blessing from God. James grew up here in Penrith and the lower Blue Mountains, this is back home for him. We have been married for two years this month and are excited to see what God has in store for our lives here.

I grew up in Valla Beach on the mid coast of NSW, near Coffs Harbour. My Mum and Dad are still up there. I have grown up knowing God, in church and Christian education. I have an older sister and younger brother and we are all teaching in Christian Schools.