Martin Garcia and the Word of Life Australia team brought 'KickOff' to PCS on Friday 8 March. Martin and his team of Bible College students from Florida, USA, ran two sessions: one for Junior School (from Year 1 to Year 4) and one for Middle School. These fun, energetic sessions also included large scale games and a presentation of the Gospel through drama and talks.

Below is a report from some of our Middle School students:

KickOff is a Christian presentation by Word of Life Ministries where we could play fun games and learn about Jesus.

On Wednesday 6 March, Year 5 families attended our annual Welcome to Middle School BBQ. We were thankful the weather held out for us, and the night was a huge success. It was fabulous to see all the families connecting and enjoying themselves.

This event is a favourite night amongst the staff as we get to mingle informally with families, and enjoy some social time together.

Thank you to everyone who brought a plate of food and/or drink to share; and thank you to Mr Benbrook for the fantastic photos!

I would like to introduce two new additions to Mathematics staff in 2019. This staffing is intended to provide support for students in our continued implementation of 21st Century Learning in Mathematics.

Mr David Badger is a NESA accredited and approved Teacher of Mathematics. He comes to PCS with a wealth of teaching and leadership experience both in Government and Christian Schools.

He has extensive experience in teaching all levels of Mathematics from Years 7 - 12. He has a strong understanding of the curriculum and what it takes for students to succeed at Mathematics. His passion is that all students enjoy Mathematics and have success for the effort they put into their learning.

Congratulations to all our students who represented PCS at the recent Nepean Zone Swimming Carnivals. Everyone competed with sportsmanship and determination to put in their best efforts. It was fantastic to see so many personal best performances, in addition to many places achieved and records broken. We have two large teams heading to CSSA State Carnivals, with many students achieving 1st, 2nd or 3rd places.

PRIMARY ZONE (Years 3 to 6)

The 2019 Nepean Zone Primary Swimming Carnival was held at Glenbrook Swimming Pool in Week 3 this term. PCS sent a strong team of around 20 swimmers. The day was a bit wet to start and the ground was quite boggy but that did not dent the enthusiasm of the PCS swimmers. Our students all performed outstandingly well on the day, dominating in most events, including winning three out of four relays and 2nd in the other relay. We had a number of new records set by Olivia Galea in Year 3 and several age champions named on the day as well as PCS winning the overall Zone Champion School for the day.

The Year 12 Physics class have been building motors over the past few months and explaining how they work using the principles of electromagnetism. These models contribute to their Depth Study Assessment Task. All motors are up and working!

Congratulations Year 12 Physics on this section of the Task. Well done!

Mrs Denise Bailey

Only around 5% of NSW children eat enough vegetables. To help our community do better, our school will be taking part in The Big Vegie Crunch (part of Vegetable Week) at 10 am on Thursday 4 April.

Schools across NSW will be joining together to break the record for the most students crunching vegetables simultaneously. Last year 50,260 students crunched together.

What can you do to help?

This event is now BOOKED OUT! Although there are no tickets left at this stage, you can add yourself to the waiting list by clicking on the ticket link: https://www.trybooking.com/BBIPQ

For those who do have a ticket, if your circumstances change prior to the event, and you are no longer able to attend, please contact School Reception on 4737 4300, as there are already people on the waiting list who will be happy to take your place!

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As an expression of our gratitude and desire to honour our PCS mums on Mother’s Day, we invite you to our Tea-riffic High Tea at 1.30 pm on Friday 10 May, 2019. There will be beautiful food, as well as student performances and other special activities designed to spoil our mums!

PCS Middle School students Isaac Cavanagh (Year 8) and David Quinn (Year 7) recently returned from representing Australia as part of the Australian Ice Crocs Ice Hockey team at the 60th Anniversary International Peewee tournament in Quebec, Canada. This tournament attracts ice hockey teams and players from all around the world. 

The Australian Ice Crocs, consisting of players from all over Australia, didn't train together until they reached their pre-training camp in Troy, New York. Although they had been training, they had not played competition games since September. This was in stark contrast to the majority of the other teams who are still in their competition season and are used to playing together.

Despite this, the Ice Crocs did extremely well, and became the first Ice Crocs team in over five years to win a tournament game in the knockout round, and became the first Ice Crocs team ever to make it to the semi-finals (teams in previous years had won exhibition games but not a tournament game). Despite not advancing past the semi-finals they took consolation that the two teams they lost games to were the eventual gold and silver medallists in their Division. 

The NAPLAN exams for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will take place between Tuesday 14 May to Friday 24 May 2019. The NAPLAN exams will be completed online this year, and we will also be running an online practice session in March.

In accordance with the Disability Standards for Education (2005) equity principles, some students who have a learning or physical disability may qualify for adjustments or for exemption from sitting these NAPLAN exams. The aim of any adjustment is to facilitate access to all of the tests for the student. 

If you think your child might qualify to have adjustments granted, please contact Jenni de Villiers at jenni.devilliers@pcs.nsw.edu.au, or Brian Cavanagh at brian.cavanagh@pcs.nsw.edu.au, to discuss this further.

What a fabulous start to Year 2! The Golden Retrievers and the Polar Bears are well and truly in the swing of school and are already achieving some fantastic learning goals!

We have welcomed some new students to our grade and they already feel like family.

We also welcomed some new class pets that relate to our Science topic of 'Watch it grow'! We have been using all our science skills of predicting, developing ideas, defining information, organising and investigating the changes that take place in the life cycle of a mealworm and a stick insect!

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 Kindergarten to Year 9 in 2019.

For students in Kindy to Year 2, the challenge is to experience 30 books by 30 August, 25 at least of those books should be chosen from specific booklists. and 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.

Years 7 and 8 had a great time on camp at Collaroy recently. We hope that the students came home suitably exhausted after three days of challenging fun. For many students, it was their very first time to try high ropes, rock climbing or surfing. We are proud of our students for trying new things and giving it their best effort.

I’m very glad that in our camp survey, many students were able to nominate another student to receive an award. Many students were inspired and encouraged by each other and appreciated the helpful support from their peers.

I am very thankful for the former students and volunteers who came out from Imagine Nations Youth to inspire and connect with the students. With their help, Mr Wallace and Mr Favretti developed themes of ‘change’ and ‘leadership’.

Friday 22 February was the last day of Seminar Week for Years 11 and 12. Year 11 spent the day in the Blue Mountains, with one group bushwalking at Wentworth Falls and another group canyoning in Katoomba. I spent the day bushwalking and am so glad I did. After meeting at Penrith Station, we took a train up to Wentworth Falls. Upon arrival, we found a bakery for morning tea. Many of us also enjoyed having a hot chocolate as it was quite cold up in the mountains.

After morning tea, we walked to the National Park and then continued until we reached the waterfalls and a look out. It was a great opportunity to take in the beauty of nature, and the setting provided a great opportunity for photos. Some of the group then proceeded to the top of the falls, which were flowing well after recent rainfall. As we walked, we had the opportunity to talk and reflect on Seminar Week and the talks we had heard. I personally found them to be quite inspiring and motivating. At one point during the walk, we also had a moment to just be quiet and be still, and it was good to stop and appreciate the surroundings.

Soon enough, it was time for lunch and we headed to the Conservation Hut where we enjoyed a great meal. After lunch, it was time to head back to Penrith and so we took a train back to the station. We were all tired, of course, but definitely had a good time. Going bushwalking in Wentworth Falls was a great end to a great week.

The Validation of Assessment for Learning and Individual Development (VALID) program provides end-of-stage diagnostic assessments for the Science KLA. It is a statewide NAPLAN style exam for Years 8 and 10 Science students. The 2018 Year 8 results were delivered to the school during the Christmas holidays.

Last year 56,997 students participated in VALID 8 Exams.  Kiahna Kraus achieved the fifth highest score in the state along with 30 other students, placing her in the top 50 students in the state.

Congratulations Kiahna!

The 2019 Years 3-6 Swimming Carnival was held in Week 3 this term. It was a very hot and muggy day, but it was great to see tremendous enthusiasm by the students in entering plenty of events and cheering on their respective Houses.

It was also wonderful to have many parents there helping out – thank you so much.

The Year 10 Physical Activity and Sports Studies class was also there doing a variety of roles including serving food and cooking the BBQ.

F1 in Schools is an internationally recognised competition in which school students around the world design and manufacture miniature Formula One cars, and then race them.

They compete at Regionals, State, National Finals and then international. This competition brings the best out of high school students everywhere and has a huge prize for First Place. Being in a team like this requires dedication as there are many jobs and role descriptions.

Five students from Penrith Christian School have successfully made it through both the Regionals and State finals. The team’s name is VECTORY, winning the Western Sydney division and then coming third in the NSW State Final. The team entered the competition as Junior Professionals due to team members being in Year 9 in 2018. Coming third in the NSW Final meant beating a large number of Senior Professional students across the state.

Welcome to our new students and families starting in Senior School this year. The start of the year has been a busy one with all our students out and about in various spaces.

Year 9 went on an Urban Challenge, where they were split up in five teams competing in an Amazing Race style camp throughout the city of Sydney (with synchronised swimming just one of the fun activities they participated in).

Year 10 were hosted by Somerset Camp at Colo in the Hawkesbury, where they were canoeing, hiking and participating in other activities organised by the camp provider.

The Validation of Assessment for Learning and Individual Development (VALID) program provides end-of-stage diagnostic assessments for the Science KLA. It is a state-wide NAPLAN style exam for Years 8 and 10 Science students. The Year 8 2018 results were delivered to the school during the Christmas holidays. The average results for PCS Year 8 Science students were well above state average in every section of the exam.

The highest level in the exam is Level 6 and the following students in our school obtained this level.

Knowledge and Understanding Section

The new Junior School iCentre is open for business! 

Late last year, the Junior School library was moved in order to create a Senior Study space in the big iCentre building. Junior School now have their own library, and all of the Junior School students have been very excited to come and visit the new space. Library lessons for K-4 will now be with Mrs Brady, while Mr Ollis will still be in the main iCentre, as well as visiting the Junior iCentre to read to Preschool and Prep students.

As the Junior iCentre is sharing the space with Boost classes, some exciting Boost activities are being planned for lunchtimes. There is a new Makerspace area for creating, designing, and making things for our budding 21st Century learners.

We love how all our Year 4 students are all leaders as they begin to serve our Junior School throughout the year. I had the privilege to talk to our two Year 4 classes about what makes a good leader, and last Friday we introduced/presented all our Year 4 students, our Semester 1 Leadership Team of eight, and our two School Captains for Semester 1, Charlotte Miller and Reo Wiringi, at our Friday Chapel service. Both Year 4 classes are an integrous bunch and we cannot be prouder of them as they choose to be marvellous role models for our Junior School students.

As part of their application, each student had to write down what they thought a leader should do, which the team of eight will share with you below:

Daniella Bennett: A good leader should do the right thing and take responsibility, helping other people in the playground and in the classroom by being kind and generous.