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.

Year 1 enjoyed starting their History studies of ‘Past and Present Family History’ with a History Mystery.

Students were given a historical object, and in pairs discussed what they thought it was, what it was made of and how old the artefact was. We had some very interesting suggestions and creative ideas from the Year 1 students.

We have also enjoyed sharing photos of our families and discussing how families are different and the same. The students are also looking forward to our Fantastic Family History afternoon in Week 5 where parents and family members will join us for an afternoon of investigating changes in toys, activities and homes over time and enjoy some old fashioned games.

We have already met Middle and Senior School students as they borrow their textbooks for the year, and Junior School classes have also begun this week. The iCentre’s focus is to assist students and staff with their information and technology needs as well as provide wonderful books for their reading enjoyment.

Students from Prep to Year 6 all require a library bag for borrowing. If you have misplaced yours, a replacement bag can be purchased for $10.00. All new students will receive their library bag in their first borrowing lesson. Please ensure your child has their library bag this week as they are very disappointed when they are unable to borrow.

We really appreciate all our Mums, Dads and even Grandmas who have helped us out in the iCentre by either covering books, re-shelving, or other library tasks. If you are interested in helping out in the iCentre or taking some books home to cover and would like to contribute to your PIP hours, we would really love your help! Please contact us in the iCentre if you are interested or have any questions.

We are off and racing in the Kindergarten team. It has been so exciting getting to know our new little friends and exploring ‘big school’ together. One thing we hear almost every year from some of our eager young learners is ‘when is the learning going to start?’ Little do they know that the learning has already started.

Our Preschool and Prep programs have done a wonderful job in preparing the children for school, as have the parents, in providing rich play-based learning environments;  we continue with that in Kindergarten, with lots of hands-on learning. We use games and activities to not only practise skills and concepts that are being taught, but also to encourage the children to discuss and teach one another what they are learning. As it is said, ‘What I experience I understand, what I teach I master’.

So what have we been up to? We have been playing with our hermit crabs (to learn what living things need to survive); playing lots of number games, counting, subitising, comparing and ordering in our Whole Number unit; inquiring about homes and creating models of our houses in Geography; building our fine motor muscles using Lego, chopsticks, fishing games and peg boards to help us develop our Handwriting, and learning all sorts of social skills in all of our play-based activities.

WHAT IS CRUNCH&SIP©?

Crunch&Sip© is a break during class

students refuel on fruit and/or vegetables, and rehydrate on water

Crunch&Sip© assists with physical and mental performance, and concentration in the classroom.

Congratulations Tim and Amanda Copeland on the arrival of Lorelai Joan, born Friday 1 February 2019 weighing in at 3.596k.

Tim is on staff in our IT Department and we wish them all the very best with their new bub and addition to our PCS community.

The 2019 Years 7 - 12 Swimming Carnival was held on Wednesday 6 February at Ripples Penrith. It was a sunny and humid day, and a great way to start the school year. There was great participation of students, with many wearing House Colours, ready to cheer each other on. The Sport Captains (Seth Atkinson and Caitlin Williams) and House Captains (Caleb – Victoria Trevitt, Daniel – Matthew Galea and Joshua – Luke van Esch) did an outstanding job revving up their teams throughout the day to go in events, cheer their Houses on and enter relays. They also revived the House Cheers – something that hasn’t happened at a Years 7-12 Carnival for many years – and they did such a wonderful job! All the students got behind their House cheers. The three judges (Mrs Shelley, Mr Favretti and Mr Ascott) said it was a very tough choice between the Houses, but awarded first place to Daniel, then Caleb followed by Joshua.

See below for some great photos from the Carnival.

Many new records were set on the day – all by our resident superfish Matthew Galea who set new records in ALL events for 18 Boys/Senior Boys! These new records are:

Early Childhood families are invited to join us for ‘Meet The Teacher 2019’ on Tuesday 12 February 2019 (7.15 pm - 8.00 pm).

We warmly invite all parents of students from Preschool and Prep to come along and meet your child’s teacher/s for the year. This will be an informal evening where we will cover some basic reminders, expectations and questions followed by an opportunity to chat with the teachers and fellow parents.

NOTE: Enter at the Early Childhood gates at the bottom of the carpark.

Junior School and Middle School families are invited to join us for ‘Meet The Teacher 2019’ on Tuesday 12 February 2019 (7.00 pm - 8.45 pm). 

We warmly invite all parents of students from Kindergarten to Year 8 to come along and meet your child’s teacher/s for the year. You will learn about class themes, culture, special events, daily schedules and learning expectations.

INTRODUCTION: 7.00 pm - 7.15 pmThe Introduction session will provide important information for all Junior and Middle School families.

On Tuesday 27 November, twenty Year 4 Junior Missions students went to visit Governor Phillip Nursing Home. The gospel went out through songs, cards and the Christmas Story narration.

These students have given up their lunchtime on Thursdays for most of the year to serve and help others locally and in the nation of Uganda through fundraising and letter writing.

The following students are to be commended for their commitment to Missions and heart to serve others: Summer Hayes, Jion Bae, Makanaka Maenzanise, Elsie Wilson, Abbey Gee, Chloe-Rose Siorokos, Leyla-Rose Toughlajian, Lachlan Wild, Tyler Shaw, Kayla Dunn, Jake Jeffree, Chantale Lufu, Amy-lee Prince, Adam Marczak, Mia Jones, Blake Robbins, Madeline Hauer, Zara Stanford, Kaitlyn Armstrong, Chiara Gallo.

Over the past three weeks Year 10 students have been working hard on a project to make the world a better place, forming teams based on problems which affect our community. This year the projects they chose included Domestic Violence, Children’s Cancer, Depression and Suicide, Gangs and Violence, Gangs and Drugs, Animal Welfare, Hate Groups, Human Trafficking and Refugees.

Students researched statistics and scientific links, learnt how to write and conduct an interview, learnt how to make a documentary, did community service, created artworks and came up with words of hope and solutions. They did voice overs, edited and connected with the community. The Refugee group even created a permanent mural on a brick wall at school. I could not be prouder of them for taking on an adult challenge, in an adult world.

Their documentaries were presented on the last Friday of term to the school community. Well done Year 10, you are ready for the HSC!

Last week nine students and two teachers travelled to New Zealand for the Duke of Edinburgh Hike.

Congratulations to Katie Dal Santo who is now on her Gold Award, while Anna Petherick is on her Silver Award.

Year 8 Drama classes participated in a puppet making workshop last week to coincide with a unit of work they have been doing on puppets.  Students made their own puppet which they will now use to create a short puppet play in class.

The photos below show how creative they got with their puppets and I’m looking forward to seeing the plays come about from these works of art.

Mrs Charmian Cavanagh

In Education Support we often talk about Early Intervention being a key factor in supporting our children. It is often a long journey for families to firstly be informed that their child has special needs and then to delve into all the options available to support their child.

For any learning needs, we always suggest that the family take their child to have their hearing and vision tested. Once this is completed it may be suggested that the child goes for Speech, Behavioural Optometry and/or Occupational Therapy assessments, depending on the specific learning needs. These Allied Health services then work with the teachers and the family to support the child at school as well as possibly requesting further assessments to be completed by a Paediatrician and/or Psychologist, depending on the learning needs.

PLEASE CLICK HERE for a fact sheet about intervention for children who are on the Autism Spectrum, and possible interventions that families could expect on this journey.

Art With Punch is a formal exhibition of the HSC major works which also presents the opportunity for our Year 11 artists to display their work.  

The talent was exceptional and as we wandered around, we were treated with punch and canapés, as well as music from the Year 11 Music Class.

We also heard from an ex-student Kwani Tevita, who shared about her TAFE Arts course this year.

The Victor Chang Cardiac Research institute School Science Awards have been developed to foster and encourage an interest in science among secondary science students and to promote science as a viable and interesting career path.

The recipient of this award for our school is Zoe Green. She has worked consistently well in Science throughout Year 11 and submitted outstanding Depth Study Assessment Tasks. Zoe has been invited, with other recipients, to participate in a tour of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research institute in the city.

Congratulations Zoe!

Divine Junior School students have finally received the Banner we made and letters we wrote to the students last term. (Snail mail…lots of delays) The $2140.80 we raised has been received and the Bible teaching training has started. Please pray that they also get good deals for the laptops and printer that they are purchasing for their school.

We painted a beautiful banner and they have sent us a picture of some of their students holding the ‘painted hands’ (Kindy to Year 4 Junior Missions' hands are on that banner).

A big thank you to our Junior School students for supporting Divine Junior School, our sister school in Uganda, Africa. Divine Junior School students are busy writing letters back to us and both the staff and students earnestly pray for us.

The Validation of Assessment for Learning and Individual Development (VALID) program provides end-of-stage diagnostic assessments for the Science KLA (Key Learning Area).

It is a state-wide NAPLAN style exam for Science. PCS Year 10 Science students, on average, scored 10% to 20% above state average for every aspect of Science in the exam.

Teagan Bowler achieved 100% for the Extended Response Section.

Abbey Lindeback, Jayden Pogmore, Noah Colbourn, Kerryn Morley and Sally O’Brien achieved 100% for the Designing, Planning and Conducting Investigations Section.  

Recently some of our Year 8 and Year 9 students attended a STEM incursion.  This involved using critical thinking and problem solving skills to solve a murder. All students were placed in groups, given specific roles and worked together to perform a blood analysis.

The results were tabulated and conclusions drawn. Congratulations to Ellen Margetts who came first and Benjamin Armstrong who came second!

Mrs Denise Bailey

In Term 3, students were selected from Years 3 to 11 to take part in the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) English, and the Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC).

The ICAS English competition is designed for primary and secondary students and is conducted annually in Australia and in over 20 countries in Asia, Africa, Europe, Pacific countries, and America.  

The Australian Maths Competition started out as a national competition but is now run in over 30 countries where students attempt the same problems within a certain amount of time. The problems are designed to test mathematical thinking and questions are designed so that they can be answered with our without a calculator.