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Ranier website: shop.ranier.com.au
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This week the new captains for 2021 were announced at a small assembly with the Year 11 cohort.
Our 2021 Captains are: Kyla Martin and Brock Stinson
Our 2021 Vice Captains are: Imogen Rogers and Jaspa Cooper
Our PCS community is so proud of Elizabeth Weeks, Year 10, who has been offered a place in the Young Trailblazers program, open to only 15 students nationwide in this Term 4, 2020 intake. All students in Years 9 and 10 were invited to apply.
The aspect that she is looking forward to the most is ‘working with students from around Australia to together shape what we are doing in schools to make learning experiences better’. We are excitedly anticipating hearing what Elizabeth has to share with us during her project, we will keep you posted!
Click here to find more about the program
Year 12’s last week of school looked very different to a normal year; no Graduation service (this has been delayed until Friday 13 November), no big final chapel, no tunnel of love. What did happen was pretty amazing, considering the year 2020 has been. The famous Year 12 Netball game still happened, where the girls take on the boys and everyone dresses in netball gear. We had two huge teams and a fiercely competitive game which saw the girls triumph.
On their last day, Year 12 came dressed as characters of all descriptions: super heroes, film and book characters, Aussie tradies, etc. The day started with our first live chapel service in months, with Year 11 and staff as the audience. During the service we watched an excellent farewell video (almost a motion picture) which paid tribute to our talented students. There was a surprise 'virtual visit' from Kindergarten, who made a video for them. They performed sign language for the song 'You’ve Got a Friend in Me' and read a book to Year 12, as well as sending up little hand-made cards and chocolates.
The surprises kept coming. The traditional tunnel of love couldn’t happen, which they were very disappointed about, so instead they were led around the school in a 'Walk of Honour' past every student and staff member, grouped in all the areas, clapping them as they went past. There were a few tears shed on the way.
A lot has been happening in the Junior School iCentre and Boost.
In Term 3 we moved the library into the new building. We now have an upstairs and downstairs library! We then had Bookweek which was a fantastic celebration of reading and books! Thank you to all of the parents who helped their children with costumes, and thank you also for supporting us and your children by purchasing books at the book fair. It was all a great success.
With the move of the new library, Boost is now happening in the new building as well. The Boost students have been very excited about using our new space! In Term 3, we focused on Science, where the Boost students did some inquiry-based research, extending them on the Science topics they had studied in class. They also participated in the ICAS Science competition, involving higher-order thinking and problem-solving skills. Congratulations to all of the Year 2 to Year 4 students who competed in this. A special mention goes to the following students who achieved high results in this competition.
ICAS English Competition
In Week 5 of Term 3, twelve students from Middle School participated in the ICAS English Competition. The ICAS English Competition is designed to recognise academic excellence. Students are assessed on their ability with Text Comprehension, Writing Craft, Syntax and Vocabulary.
Well done to the following students on challenging themselves and the effort that they put into completing the ICAS English Competition: Jewel Alamil, Ethan Scott, Jack Walker, Caleb Baines, Adam Marczak, Lachlan Wild, Megan Garratt, Faith Martinez, Jaida Timbs, Laura Whitehouse, Ethan Bennett and Leah Westcott.
What a fun way to finish Term 3 with Super Hero Cape Day on Wednesday 23 September! A huge THANK YOU to our amazing Junior School students and families who generously donated to support our sister school in Uganda. You unceasingly go above and beyond! Many capes were decorated with encouraging messages on the back like; ‘Love God’ ‘Be Kind’ ‘I am a super helper’ and my favourite ‘Be Super, Be Kind, Be Amazing, Be Yourself!’ Jesus shows us the way by being better than any super hero with his love and miraculous power to help us. We know that even though our world changes - Jesus is the same yesterday, today and forever!
Principal Lawrence of Divine Junior School, is believing to reopen the school in October and possibly purchase a small plot of land opposite the school that is for sale. With government restrictions only allowing class sizes to be a maximum of 10 students in Uganda they are definitely in need of more space. $1287.30 was the incredible total raised on Super Hero Cape Day which will go far in helping the school reopen and assist them in reaching their goals.
Our Junior School students continue to display a big heart for missions in 2020, may we all continue to show kindness and love to others by what we say and do. On behalf of Divine Junior School community THANK YOU and GOD BLESS YOU!
Ranier are excited to announce a new and improved online shop platform starting in Term 4. In addition to the existing features that have served families well, we have introduced new features to improve your user experience. Our website is suitable for use on all mobile devices including iPads, tablets and mobile phones.
Families will be able to:
View images and prices of all products on one page
Find information on shop opening hours and location
There's a new Summer Specials menu for the PCS Canteen! The General Canteen Menu has also had a few updates (see links below). Don't forget that pre-ordering via Flexischools is the best way to ensure desired items are available.
CLICK HERE for Canteen Menu - October 2020
CLICK HERE for Daily Specials - Summer (term 4) 2020
Once again our PCS Book Day was a raging success. Despite the restrictions imposed upon us through COVID, the staff and students all embraced the day to make it a truly memorable and wonderful event.
Our world famous Book Character Parade still took place, albeit without the live audience that has always guaranteed an amazing atmosphere. Thanks to the talented Audio Visual staff, video footage of the awesome costumes making their way across the stage will become available soon.
The restrictions saw that we were unable to continue with our tradition of inviting authors in to speak to the students. However, the quality of the work produced by some of our students in their Book Day writing activities suggests to us that there may some budding authors within our midst. We look forward to the possibility of adding some books authored by ex-PCS students to our collection one day.
As a prep student at PCS, Evie was involved with raising funds for The Kids’ Cancer Project. Her sister, Alicia, and family and friends, continue to fundraise in honour of Evie and to continue her legacy.
The Kids’ Cancer Project are passionate about finding a cure by funding scientists and research.
On Tuesday 22 September, Middle and Senior School students are invited to wear a yellow or gold accessory in honour of Evie, and bring a gold coin donation to raise funds for The Kids’ Cancer Project (TKCP).
Every term in our Literacy program, Prep explores a different set of stories to broaden our understanding of sounds, words, and language. This term we have worked on the books of Lynley Dodd and her lovable dog characters in the stories of Hairy Maclary and his friends.
These books have introduced rhyming words and we have looked at the concept of characters, plots, problems and solutions in the context of stories. To round off our work, each student worked on creating their own animal character and rhyming description. This involved students thinking of and creating their character over a number of weeks. It introduced them to the idea of reflecting on, and evaluating their own work, and making changes where necessary. Students formed their characters from a variety of materials including recycled cardboard and timber off cuts from the Senior School woodworking class.
Rhyming words became a real highlight for the students and we spent a few weeks making our own word banks of rhyming words and introducing the concept of word families to the students. Such rich learning occurred through this term long project and we are proud of all their achievements.
One of our PCS parents, Ruth Baker, recently became a published author, with her book, Are We There Yet?. If you know Ruth, you will recognise her quick wit and humour in this book, as well as her ability to clearly articulate relevant issues, in an easy-to-read, practical format. Her down-to-earth and non-judgmental presentation of navigating the Christian journey makes this book a fantastic resource, no matter where you are on the journey. Well done Ruth!
Are We There Yet? is available for purchase from Koorong, The Wandering Bookseller, Amazon Australia and Amazon UK
Here is a more detailed description of the book:
Year 4 have enjoyed planning, composing and publishing a variety of persuasive texts this term. They have experimented with figurative language and other persuasive devices to engage the audience on a wide range of topics. Students have used self, teacher and peer feedback to improve the quality of their work. Year 4 used OREO (Opinion, Reason, Example, Opinion or ask a question) to improve the structure and strength of their paragraphs. See for you yourselves with a sample below of students published discussions and expositions that will blow your mind! Congratulations to all of Year 4 for your effort and commitment to improve the quality of your writing.
Anna
Bethany and Ella
Charlotte
Last week Year 9 students presented their own solution to possible future food scarcity. All HSIE and Science teachers were very impressed with student creativity, skills used for problem solving, and finished products. This was a combined HSIE and Science project, using a project based learning framework which students worked on in both HSIE and Science classes since the beginning of Term 3.
Their driving question for this task was:
‘In 2050 the world is estimated to have 10 billion people and food shortages as a result. The United Nations looks to Year 9 PCS students for help. How can we feed the world while sustaining the environment?’
A large group of PCS parents recently raised funds to provide a 'thank you to PCS staff' for going 'above and beyond' this year. It was originally intended to be a lunch, but due to ongoing restrictions for group gatherings, a Canteen gift voucher was instead provided to each staff member.
The thank you message given to staff along with the gift voucher was as follows:
The families of PCS would like to thank you for going above and beyond during COVID-19 restrictions, supporting our children in off-site and on-site learning, while also juggling your own families and concerns. We greatly appreciate the many hours and extra care you have taken to provide a safe learning environment. We are blown away by the creativity, innovation and selflessness we have witnessed over the past six months. We acknowledge the visible, as well as the behind-the-scenes tasks, you have undertaken. Thank you to all staff: teachers, administration, support and executive. We hope the attached Canteen gift voucher goes some way to expressing our appreciation for you, and we pray for blessing upon each and every PCS staff member.
I never believed I could have the confidence in myself to pull off this glorious haircut, but I saw my opportunity to do so this September, and for a fantastic cause; Mullets for Mental Health.
Black Dog Institute’s Mullets For Mental Health has encouraged me to shape and cut my hair into this majestic mullet for the month of September to raise much-needed funds for Mental Health Research.
Suicide is the leading cause of death among Australians aged 15-44, and 60% of Australians reporting symptoms of mental illness don’t seek help. Your donations will make a real change through ground-breaking research into the early detection, prevention, and treatment of common mental health disorders.
PCS was so grateful to be able to host our annual ‘Father’s Day Breakfast and Stalls’ last Friday in honour of our amazing dads and grandads. The atmosphere in Express was uplifting and it was wonderful to see so many dads enjoying the ‘drive-through breakfast’ experience as they dropped their students off at school.
The excitement of our younger students choosing that special present for their dad at our gift stall was heart-warming and a true representation of love in action.
I welcome this opportunity to praise and give thanks to Vicki Denham for her assistance with the Father’s Day gifts, ‘Ash & Sons’ for donating 25 dozen eggs, our Canteen Manager Italia, for cooking the yummy breakfast, and our school and church staff who served, greeted and helped make the Father’s Day events such a huge success.
During lunchtime on Thursday 30 August, students from our Year 9 Elective Music Class put on a concert for our entertainment at School. The event would normally have been performed during the evening in the café, but due to COVID restrictions, this wasn’t possible.
This group of talented musicians performed Jazz pieces in a range of styles that showed precision, fastidious preparation, and a wonderful ability to communicate their pieces to the enjoyment of all. Part of their assignment was to include a designed solo section in their pieces, which was composed and performed to an impressive standard.
The quality of the concert was widely commented on by those in attendance, and while parents and family members weren’t able to enjoy the performance in person, the event was filmed in order to be uploaded online for parents to share in the experience.
This term, Year 3 have been having lots of fun with Science Day definitely being a highlight. We tried out the ‘Mentos in Coke’ phenomenon. Wow, what an explosion!! We then attempted to create fizzy bottle rockets, which only really resulted in Miss Welsman getting wet.
Students then worked together in groups to create the tallest tower out of marshmallows and spaghetti; so messy, yet so fun!
In Geography we have been learning all about different landforms across the world. We have been studying and learning about how deserts, mountains, and rivers are formed. Our Science topic this term seems to have sparked everyone’s attention. We have been discovering how we obtain day and night and our seasons. Year 3 have been exploring space and how amazing our God is for creating it so magnificently.
