On Monday 8 February 2021, students participated in our annual Years 3-6 Swimming Carnival. We were blessed with an absolutely amazing day at Ripples Penrith, with students competing in a range of events throughout the day.

There were a number of students who achieved personal bests on the day in their chosen events. We would like to give a special mention to Olivia Galea, who set an astonishing five school records which included: 11 Year Girls 50m Freestyle, 50m Breaststroke, 50m Backstroke, 50m Butterfly and 100m Freestyle.

Twenty nine students have also been successful in qualifying to attend CSSA Nepean Zone Primary Swimming Carnival which will take place on Thursday 18 February 2021 at Glenbrook Swimming Pool. All notes and information will be sent to those students and their parents shortly.

On Wednesday, some students from Years 5 and 6 competed in a CSSA Primary Sport Cricket Gala day. With limited training, the boys were nervous yet ready for the competition.

Congratulations to the boys for being runners up in the competition! We are very proud of their efforts. A big thank you to staff member Mr Whale, as well as parents, Mrs Wild and Mr Prince, who assisted on the day.

Joshua De Martin Year 6 Teacher

Last week our Year 11 students had Seminar Week, under the theme of SOAR – Strive, Opportunity, Attitude and Resilience.

On Tuesday we were blessed with a seminar from an exceptional motivational and study skills speaker, Mr Glen Gerreyn, under the banner of ‘Brilliant Young Minds’. Students were provided with inspiring stories and an abundance of strategies and skills to propel them positively into their senior studies. Our students were also visited by Mr Steve Baird, CEO of International Justice League, who spoke passionately about modern day slavery (including in Australia) and ways in which we can all play a role to eliminate it.

In the afternoon our students completed emotional health checks and became totally absorbed in the afternoon’s creative arts session that provided a meditative, quiet time for creating an artwork on where God is in their lives. Our thanks to Mrs Amal Siorokos for coordinating this opportunity.

Week 1 was a busy week for K-2 students. So much to learn with new drop off and pick up routines, new bell times, and a new playground! The children amazed me with their ability to adapt and embrace the changes. Naturally for some, this was more daunting than for others but parents, they did you proud.

Our new bell times mean that recess is a little earlier (10.15 am) which is good timing for young children who are ready for a break and a snack. They are enjoying exploring our play areas and making new friends as you can see in the photos.

It was a hot week, but some classes were able have fun in the adventure playground. Some of the children realised that they had grown a little since last year and were keen to have a go at the monkey bars for the first time. Their bravery always amazes me.

Human Society in Its Environment (HSIE) is the study of Geography and History, along with other disciplines of Social Science in Years 10, 11 and 12, such as Commerce, Business Studies, Legal Studies, Studies of Religion, and Society and Culture. In Years 7-10, it is mandatory for students to study these courses. We are grateful for the opportunity to engage students in their HSIE classes as it is a wonderful opportunity, alongside learning content, to challenge them to think about what shapes society and to consider many facets of ethics.

Year 7 is studying Geography in Term 1, the unit of work is called Landscapes and Landforms and students also begin to use mapping and other geographical skills as they study the geomorphic processes that shape our Earth. Years 8 - 10 are studying History in Term 1. 

The units of work are all designed to link together around a central theme, and for each unit, this theme has relevance to our lives and the factors that influence people. In Year 8, students are investigating Why an individual would commit an atrocity for an Ideology as they explore The Crusades during the context of Medieval Europe. In Year 9, students are investigating the Industrial Revolution as they seek to answer the question Disruptive Innovation – for the Betterment or Detriment of society? Finally, our Year 10 cohort are studying Australia in the Vietnam War Era, which also covers an exploration of the time between the end of World War II and the start of the Cold War, exploring What influences Conformity and Rebellion? The themes of conformity and rebellion are also being explored by Year 10 in their English unit as they conduct a film study of Dead Poets Society.

Last week, Year 9 Science students conducted flame tests as part of the ‘Useful Chemistry’ unit. They discovered that some metallic salts burn with distinct colours (e.g. Strontium turns the flame colour to red, Copper to blue/green and Potassium to purple). They then discussed the real life application of this chemistry to make spectacular fireworks displays and the significance of this experiment in leading the Scientist, Neils Bohr, to develop the planetary model of the atom.

I think they also enjoyed making their own pyrotechnic displays!

Denise Bailey

It is my privilege and delight to be sharing with you about Learning at PCS. We will be communicating with you each week from various teaching areas across our school, and my focus is outlining our philosophy and priorities for learning under our transition to being One School, a Whole School, Our School. The purpose of this edition is to give insight to the basic premises underpinning this approach.

During our January Conference Days, the teaching team co-created a united strategy for developing new cultural norms (or ways of being) for working with students to support us to collectively Strive for the Highest. We are working on being above the line and classes from K-12 have discussed how they can show up in ways that will help them stay above the line in many contexts – classroom, playground, individually and in our treatment of others. 

The Living Bible translation of Colossians 3:10 says ‘You are living a brand new kind of life that is continually learning more and more of what is right, and trying constantly to be more and more like Christ who created this new life within you.’ Our united approach to helping our children shape their character to be more Christ-like is fundamental to good life and good learning. Common language and consistency across the school with our above the line approach will help us in this way as we have the ultimate example of being above the line in Jesus.

Thank you to all of our parents and carers for your patience in these last weeks as we have managed our drop-off and pick-up routines. We are blessed with an onsite facility for doing this, and although it takes longer than we would like, these routines help to keep us safe. Please take the time to note the following:

K-2 early pick-up at 2.40 pm will continue until the end of this week when we will revert back to the regular pick-up time of 2.55 pm. Parents are able to use the Simeon Road entrance for this week only.

Years 3-12 pick-up: if possible, please arrive on campus from 3.00 pm to allow our earlier traffic flow to move through; we will look after younger children until then.

All parking on campus is rear to curb in Bays 3 and 5 only (not Bay 4).

Please limit your use of the car park to collect students; this slows down the Kiss and Go process as cars park and then attempt to leave, and also increases pedestrians through the car park.

Penrith Christian School is thrilled to announce Alicia Weir in Year 6 has been honoured for her brilliant dancing abilities with a Scholarship to attend the Glenbrook Ballet Theatre Academy on Wednesdays during 2021. Alicia is very passionate about dance and this is an amazing opportunity for her to follow her dreams. Dance has been such a big part of her life and has provided a platform for her to shine.

Congratulations Alicia and know we are so proud of you!

Congratulations Imogen on receiving the Victor Chang Award for Excellence in Year 11 Science. Imogen placed first in both Year 11 Chemistry and Year 11 Physics in 2020.

The Victor Chang School Science Awards aim to foster and encourage an interest in science among secondary school students, with the goal of promoting careers in STEM as a viable and interesting career path.

Established in 2004, the Victor Chang School Science Awards celebrate young, gifted students, and aim to stimulate growth in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subject areas. 

Penrith Christian School runs Scholastic Book Club each term through the iCentre.  Our students love Book Club and the School also benefits from all purchases. Leaflets are distributed through the iCentre, class teachers and can also be found online at https://www.scholastic.com.au/book-club/book-club-parents/

Please note credit card payments can be made online using the Scholastic LOOP system - CLICK HERE for full details. All orders that are paid by cash will need to be sent back to the iCentre in an envelope with the correct money included. Please mark the envelope “Scholastic Book Club”.

All orders should be received at school or placed online by 3.00pm Friday 19 February 2021.

Coco Purcell is a young tennis champion, winning many matches and competitions, in and around Sydney. During January this year, she travelled to Ballina and Tweed Heads to compete in a Junior Tennis Tournament in both Doubles and Singles tennis matches.

She won many of her games, competing against some older students to place 9th overall. Coco trains six to seven times per week and absolutely loves playing tennis.

We are so proud of her achievements.

The School’s Uniform Shop has received new stock of our PCS branded swimwear and caps. These items are not compulsory, however we encourage students who are likely to compete at Triathlon/Biathlon, Zone and State events to consider purchasing the swimwear. All students are welcome to wear the PCS swimwear for PCS swimming carnivals and extra-curricular events.

Our students look amazing in the swimwear and I’m pleased to advise there has been no price increase since 2019.

If you have any questions regarding the PCS swimwear please contact Sharon Tuft on 4737 4306 or via sharon.tuft@pcs.nsw.edu.au

Penrith Christian School welcomes applications for casual experienced bus drivers (MR licence minimum) who are flexible and able to assist during school excursions and staff absences.

To be considered for a casual role, please complete and return the Application for Employment and provide the requested documentation with your submission.

For further employment enquiries, please email hr@pcs.nsw.edu.au.

There is an updated menu for the PCS Canteen in 2021. Fortnightly Specials are also available - please check the Flexischools app to see what's available and to order. Don't forget that pre-ordering via Flexischools is the best way to ensure desired items are available - and importantly, most items on the updated menu are ONLY available via pre-order.

CLICK HERE for Canteen Menu - February 2021

Please note the following important information:

Penrith Creative Academy is back from next Monday, 1 February 2021. There are a few vacancies in a range of classes listed below - but get in quick as they will be snapped up fast!

Guitar

Monday - 4.00 pm, 4.30 pm, 5.00 pm

On Thursday 17 December 2020, some kind Year 7 students delivered 100 Christmas cards made by Year 4 students for the residents and staff of Governor Phillip Nursing Home. Louis Stoodley, Jeremiah De Martin, Faith Martinez and Megan Garratt worked together to pump up 100 balloons to bring some much needed Christmas cheer to every resident and hard-working staff member. The cards and balloons were presented at the entrance due to current visitor restrictions.

For the past seven years, Year 4 students have loved visiting Governor Philip Nursing Home during Term 4 to sing Christmas carols and present gifts made by Junior Missions at PCS. Even though we couldn’t see the residents face to face this time, we wanted them to know that they are still loved and valued by our Penrith Christian School community. Only four students had the opportunity to go this year but they well represented the heart of our school.

See below for photos of our Year 7 students delivering the cards and balloons, as well as the beautiful card artwork created by our Year 4 students.

STOP PRESS!! We have some amazing news to end the school year. Our two F1 in Schools teams have been competing in the State Finals, and we are very pleased to announce the following results released today:

CADET CLASS

2nd Place NSW Final – Adrenaline  – Penrith Christian School

In Week 7, students from Years 7 to 10 performed experiments with dry ice.

They observed the sublimation (moving straight from a solid to a gas, bypassing the liquid stage) of the dry ice and how that can make a chunk skirt around the table with little to no friction.

They saw the acidification of water and the production of carbonic acid (H2CO3) and related it to how excess fossil fuel burning was leading to ocean acidification and the killing of ecosystems like the Great Barrier Reef.

The Accountants Daily 30 under 30 is a prestigious national accounting awards program. Our own Nathan Sloane was nominated in the Management category and on Thursday 3 December was awarded winner.

Last year Nathan was nominated and this year has pulled off a win! This is fantastic recognition of everything Nathan contributes to our School in the areas of management and finance.

Congratulations Nathan!