In Week 4 of this term, Year 5 attended Camp at Chaldercot on the Port Hacking River, run by Youthworks. 

Everyone had a fantastic time abseiling, canoeing, sailing, fishing, swimming, water sliding, rock and rope climbing, completing team puzzles and challenges, and learning more about Jesus in the Christian Discovery talks. Old friendships were rekindled and new ones forged. We were blessed with perfect weather and enjoyed great fun, food, accommodation and natural surroundings. 

Thank you Mrs Blight for your amazing organisation, time and effort and to the camp instructors, teachers and parent helpers who were fun and made us feel safe. 

In the Year 7 History 2 Class, we have been studying Ancient Rome. Students learnt about Ancient Roman gods and goddesses, the features of Pompeii and Mt Vesuvius and the role that Julius Caesar played in Ancient Rome, and his legacy.

Creative and insightful student class and home tasks (in the attached picture) reflect the students' learning and understanding of this integral aspect of ancient society.

History is creative, intriguing and fun!

It is so exciting to see the growth in Year 3, which has become quite apparent from the start of the year until now. They conducted themselves fantastically, very settled and very capable, as they participated in Orientation Day and experienced Year 4 for the first time. 

Term 4 is an exciting one, bringing the culmination of so much learning and the fruit of many skills. Last week we were measuring area in various places around the playground, using a newspaper metre square made by the students. We have been creating dioramas in Art that are inspired by artist Pro Hart’s landscape paintings of the Outback, and transformed into 3D imagery. We also painted landscapes using watercolours, with a focus on layering colours and shapes from the background to the foreground. 

Many students have learnt to recite the poem 'My Country' by Dorothea Mackeller and received a special in-class certificate for their efforts. We have been enjoying writing narratives about the worst or best Christmas play, and writing short poetry about ourselves. 

This term, Middle School Missions are pleased to support WestCare in their Christmas Appeal for the homeless and underprivileged in our local area.

We are asking for your support by permitting your child to bring in non-perishable goods to help fill Christmas Hampers. Everything should be sealed, non-perishable, and well within the best before date of 25 December 2018. To ensure hampers can be packed in time before distribution, the last day to bring in your donations will be Friday 7 December 2018.

Some suggestions for Christmas Hampers are:

Year 7 recently attended an incursion with special guest Charlie McMahon. Charlie is a professional musician and an advocate for the education and preservation of Aboriginal culture. He is widely known for his association with the band Midnight Oil, playing didgeridoo in many of their performances, but he is also passionate about passing on knowledge of Aboriginal kinship, customs, music and art to upcoming generations.

Our students were enriched with knowledge and understanding of the significant Aboriginal heritage in Australia. We were also treated to some amazing musical performances where some of us were asked to come up and perform too!

Mr Phil Gentile Entertainment Industry VET and Music Teacher

On Thursday 15 November, over 400 Year 10 students and teachers from public and private schools, got together to hear some great messages from speakers, empowering them to be the best they can be and make wise choices. 

Our first key speaker at Girls Rising was Melinda Tankard-Reist, an advocate for women and girls, who spoke about the harms of media messages, objectification, mental health issues, the importance of respect-based relationships, to name a few.

Next, a favourite of the girls, World Champion and Olympian Jessica Fox, spoke about her journey as a competitor whilst sitting her HSC and setting her goals. She also encouraged the girls to be resilient and determined when failures and setbacks occur.

We have just completed our yearly exams for Years 7- 9. I would like to take the opportunity to congratulate some of our top performing students in those exams:

Gaumitha Jeganathan in Year 7 got 96%.

Jessica Harrison in Year 8 got 95%

Ben Armstrong in Year 9 got 92%.

This year our School teams have again participated in F1 in Schools State Finals and we are so proud of their achievements.

Our Junior Professional Team, Vectory, was placed 3rd on the podium and will be advancing into the National F1 in Schools Championships to be held in March 2019. This team of achievers had to beat 15 senior professional teams to advance. Vectory team members are: Imogen Rogers (Team Leader), Paige Foley (Marketing and Resources), Brock Stinson (Design Engineer), Alexander Weeks (Manufacturing Engineer).

We entered two teams in the Cadet Class (featuring Year 7 students) and they achieved very good results also. We are looking forward to what these students can achieve in the years to come!!

On Tuesday last week, we hosted 96 students from Tomeikan High School in Kyuushuu, Japan.

It was the first time such a large group visited PCS, and our students and teachers did a great job of making our Japanese guests feel welcome.

The day started with an Aussie Morning Tea with Year 7; then they were shared out in Junior School and Year 6 classes. All the students thoroughly enjoyed their time with us, and the teachers and staff accompanying them were all very appreciative of how well behaved and accommodating our students were.

On Monday 29 October Kindergarten ventured out beyond the gates of the school for our very first excursion. This was not just an adventure within our local area. NO! We went all the way to The Sydney Observatory in the city. This excursion supported our learning in Science about the Weather.

The excitement began travelling on the big school bus and for most children, this was a first. During the trip, there was some initial confusion with thinking we may be going to McDonald’s or Wet’nWild and that Parramatta was the city as we travelled along the M4. But as we made our way over the ANZAC Bridge, and with the Opera House and Harbour Bridge in view, all misconceptions were cleared up.

The program at The Sydney Observatory was specifically designed for the Kindergarten Science curriculum and was just amazing. The children had the opportunity to see how the weather changes with the seasons through time-lapse photography.

Ninety six (96) Japanese exchange students came to Australia and we were so blessed to have had them visit our classrooms last week. Year 2 had the pleasure of meeting 16 of these senior students from Japan.

We sang songs and did the actions together and everyone was filled with smiles and joy! Next we made some origami planes together and then we went outside to test fly them.

We then took our new friends on our outdoor maths activities, where we measured the length in centimetres and metres of multiple surfaces, including some challenging curved surfaces.

Thank you to all the students and families who gave generously towards our fundraising efforts on Bandanna Day, Friday 26 October. Together we raised a total of $1420.20!

Special thanks also to the wonderful students who gave up their time on the day to help in selling the Bandannas: Kali Brewer, Jessica Dawkins, Zoe Green, Ashleigh Harrison, Abbey Lindeback, Lily Parry, Mason Maenzanise, Patrick Musico, Victoria Sebi and Elizabeth Weeks.

Mrs Janelle Shead

This semester, Year 1 has been exploring ‘Features of Places’ in Geography lessons. We learnt about natural, constructed and managed features; researching different types of places and what they contained.

We had a Field Trip to our local Jamison Park to identify features of the park and how it is used by people in our local area. The students were able to develop their mapping skills and used iPads to photograph particular features of the park. They identified natural features like trees, grass and rocks as well as constructed features such as play equipment, picnic tables, netball courts and solar lights. Features, such as soccer and cricket fields, are considered 'managed features'. We discussed how our local council is responsible for looking after the main features of the park, but we are all responsible for keeping it clean, tidy and nice to use.

Our excursion to Bicentennial Park at Homebush was also a highlight of this unit. We visited the Education Centre and saw some interesting animals, including Garrigan the blue tongue lizard. Students were highly engaged with their outdoor learning space, the Mangrove Classroom, and learnt about how mangroves are a special feature of the park. We walked the mangrove boardwalk and visited a dry forest investigating the animals, plants and non-living features that could be found. We also got to dip for mini-beasts in the swamp water identifying sea snails, blood worms, diving beetles and backswimmers.

A NOTICE FROM BUSWAYS:

Penrith Council are closing O’Connell St, one of the access points to Claremont Meadows, for a period of seven months.

This necessitates a change to the travel patterns for a limited number of PCS students, those residing in Claremont Meadows only.

All our 2018 volunteer helpers are warmly invited to attend Penrith Christian School’s special ‘Parent Thank You Morning Tea’ event, to let you know how much we appreciate your support and willingness to work as part of our team.

DATE: Friday 23 November 2018TIME: 10.50 am – 11.30 am

If you are able, please also join us for Junior School Chapel in the Auditorium at 10.10 am

All students, staff and families in the Penrith Christian School community are welcome to join us on Thursday 15 November (6 pm - 8 pm) for our annual Technology and Creative Arts Showcase.

This event is an interactive experience of the creative work of PCS students through technology, design, art, multimedia, music and drama. Food is available for purchase. So come along and enjoy a fantastic display of talent, skill and creativity!

No need to RSVP or book.

The Nepean Triathlon is held at the International Regatta Centre in Penrith and is Australia's oldest triathlon. It consists of 'Enticer' races on Saturday afternoon, and the main triathlon event on the Sunday. This year it was held on 27 and 28 October.

Congratulations to the students and staff from Penrith Christian School who competed in these events over the weekend (see below), with lots of PBs and steely determination. Triathlon is a sport which requires as much mental concentration as it does physical strength, so we are very proud of everyone's efforts!

It would be great to see even more PCS staff and students enter these races next year so we can have a strong Penrith Christian School presence at the events - see if you can beat Mr Gentile or Mr Grice!

As a teacher, it is my favourite time of year as we begin to see how far students have come. I am proud of Kindergarten who have progressed this year with learning to read and write.

They are starting to appreciate Literacy tasks and like reading informative books, such as Science topics of forces and the weather. Kindergarten classes enjoy opening a new reader in Reading groups and push themselves that little bit further in reading comprehension activities and games. Each child is excited to achieve a certificate from a sight word level, or find a new discovery in a book. It is beautiful to hear children spend time reading from the children’s Bibles in the classroom. Teaching children to read and use reading strategies to learn is the greatest reward.

At the beginning of Kindergarten, many children were eager to write a few letters and learn to write their name or some small words. Now in Kindergarten they are spelling and writing procedures, explanations, recounts and opinions in persuasive writing texts. They have learnt single sounds and are now using sounds and sight words to boost confidence in writing tasks.

The circus is in town and our very own Bella Grosse from Year 7 has been performing with Webers Circus Wild West Show for five (5) years now. 

Bella loves the variety of performing in a circus from riding her pony to aerial acrobats, hoops, etc. Bella was also on Channel 7’s Little Big Shots Australia with her pony last year.

Check Bella out at the Circus and enjoy the show. Shows are at Camden Equestrian Park until Sunday 4 November 2018 - see details below:

This month, I set a goal to ride 1000km in the Great Cycle Challenge to fight kids' cancer. As of today, I am pleased to announce that I’ve ridden 1003.7km and raised $3,711.35!

My goal when I first started was to ride 1000km throughout October but now that I have reached it, I’ll probably just keep riding because I can’t help myself!

Why am I doing this? Because cancer is the largest killer of children from disease in Australia – three (3) kids die of cancer every week. Kids should be living life, not fighting for it.