In Focus - Vol 6 - Edition 4 - 15 June 2018

Week 7

It’s always wonderful to have parents, grandparents and loved ones coming into the School and we have seen hundreds in the past few weeks.  Music Recitals, Cross Country, Winter Sports, Grandparents' Day and Founders’ Day have created excellent opportunities to join us to see the students in action. Thank you to the P&F for organising the Parent Morning Tea and the refreshments for the recitals, providing parents with a lovely opportunity to chat to other parents and meet members of the P&F. 

Our students have been out and about, with the Year 3 travelling to the Baldivis Children’s Forest to study Science, the Year 11 Geography students travelled to Alcoa’s Pinjarra Bauxite Mine whilst the Year 12 Geographers headed to the City for field studies. Incursions included the Suitcase Circus for the Year 7s, Dance for the Year 8s and all Senior School students participated in Cyber Safety workshops with Paul Litherland. I thank Mr Adam Halliday for organising these workshops and the parent information night as it provided everyone with information to make good choices about the use of technology.

Founders’ Day

Founders’ Day is when we come together to honour those who had the wisdom and foresight to found this wonderful School. Our School Patron, The Most Reverend Peter Carnley is a regular visitor to our School and several of our House Patrons join us every Founders’ Day to celebrate the passing of time since the site was blessed on 16 June 2006. Without the passion and dedication of the ASC and the Steering Committee, Chaired by Mr Keith Lindbeck, we would not be here today. I also thank the Mayor of the City of Kwinana, Mrs Carol Adams for joining our celebrations. Mayor Adams is strong supporter of PCACS and we thank her for her advocacy and sustained interest in our School.

During our Founders’ Day Service, we recognised staff who have been serving at PCACS for 5 years and 10 years by presenting them with a Service badge. I would like to thank the staff who have reached these milestones for their long standing contribution to the School, especially Ms Marion Caunt, Miss Kierin Janes, Mrs Kim Gianoli and Mr Roh Weddikkara who have reached the 10 year mark.

Last week I had the pleasure of travelling to Esperance Anglican Community School for their 10^th Anniversary Founders’ Day Service on June 6. Their School sits near the port of Esperance and incorporates a Boarding House for rural students. Archbishop Kay Goldsworthy, Reverend Peter Laurence, fellow ASC Principals and a number of dignitaries joined the celebrations.  

Staff News

Our Head of Junior, Mrs Maggie Dunnill, will be leaving us at the end of term. After eight years of distinguished leadership and remarkable service and we have scheduled a number of farewells for Mrs Dunnill. The Calista students will say their farewells at an assembly on Tuesday 26 June, whilst the Year 2 to 6 students will do so on Wednesday 27 June. Parents are welcome to join our student farewells on either or both of these occasions.

As we look towards the end of term, there is some other staff news to share. Miss Kate Lawrenson is leaving to take up residence in Sweden and we will welcome Miss Angela Ridge next term. Mrs Fleur Gwerder will join Mrs Jenny Swanepoel in a part time capacity next term. There is more joyous news about babies with Mrs Rhiannon Chapman and Ms Shannon Grant leaving to prepare for the birth of their children. We farewell Mrs Wendy Simms from the administration team as Ms Megan Thomas returns from her parental leave. We also farewell Mrs Tracey Kirk from her role as Lab Technician. Ms Eloise Hicks has joined our staff as School Counsellor and comes with vast experience in Schools and within the field of positive psychology. We wish all of these staff well as they begin or end their journey with us.

Ms Felicity House
PRINCIPAL

In two weeks’ time, I will be leaving PCACS to begin yet another new phase of life.  I have no idea where it will lead, but I have no doubt that it will be full of interests, challenges, satisfactions, disappointments, enthusiasms, the mundane, and more.  Being interpreted into real life activities, it probably means cleaning out cupboards, gardening, travelling, moving house, caring for others, and even (perhaps) returning to School as a relief teacher! Who knows what will eventuate.

One thing is certain, I will continue to cherish every moment of each day as a gift, as each day will never come again.

Looking back on my eight years at PCACS, I am filled with gratitude for the good things that have emerged throughout our Junior School community.  Our single stream Junior School has now expanded into three classes in each year group, and covers two campuses.  Calista Campus is a flourishing mass of colour, fun, little people and delight.  Wellard campus enjoys the freedom of bush play and coordination trikes; of learning to understand responsibility, self-control and the challenges of developing maturity.  Outdoor areas have been redesigned into active and exciting play spaces, and indoors, an energetic curriculum demands focus and rigor from students and teachers alike.

I will be taking with me memories of vulnerable and uncertain students (and teachers) who slowly gain self-confidence; the strugglers who need support to clamber over the line to success; the sad and disappointed who begin to understand that these are the very emotions that build inner strength;  and those who have come to know the clear differences between right and wrong, justice and unfairness, honesty and lies, healthy ethics and corruption.  What a privilege to have observed such rich growth.

But I will also be taking with me the more turbulent memories of those I have let down: moments when I’ve made mistakes at another person’s expense, caused offence in some way, been blunt in delivery, refused to apologise, not supported or cared… For these things I apologise, and won’t pretend that they haven’t happened.  We all struggle to find the balance between the good, the bad and the ugly; none of us sits on a pedestal for very long without toppling off!  At these times, I can only thank you all for your patience and tolerance.

Thank you to our parent body for your constant support and friendship.  Thank you to our students for your fun, forthrightness, and open conversations. Thank you to each member of our School staff, whatever your work area, for your kindness and generosity, and for your confidence in my leadership.

Saying “Goodbye” is not an expression of finality.  It is actually derived from “God be with you”.  I pray that God will be close to each of us for the rest of our days; that wherever our journeys take us, we will grow into worthy people who live out our values to the best of our ability, celebrate both successes and disappointments, and rejoice in the well-being of others.  Be compassionate always, give, and ask for, forgiveness.

Don’t forget: wrong is wrong – even if everyone is doing it; right is right – even if no one is doing it.

God be with you all.

Mrs Maggie Dunnill
HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL

ACC Cross Country

One of my favourite events on any school calendar for the past 35 Years is the ACC Cross Country event held at Perry Lakes each year during May.  This event boasts thousands of student competitors from across the state who come together to complete in Girls and Boys events, 3 Kms and 4 Kms respectively.  The atmosphere is electric and the spirit of competition is inspirational and spans from students who give the race their best shot to students who are clearly competitive and highly skilled runners.  The organisation is on a grand scale and all contributions from those who go to this event,  play some part in the success it enjoys.

Our thanks to Mr Weddikkara and his staff who train the PCACS squad and who on the day did us proud.  Well done team!

Semester 1 Examinations

Congratulations to all Senior School students who completed their Semester 1 Examinations in fine style.  Semester 1 reports will be finalised by the end of this term and will be available on SEQTA.  If you wish to discuss your child’s Semester 1 results please contact the School to arrange a suitable meeting time.

Years 9 and 10 - 2019 Option Choices

As Semester 1 draws to a close, students in Years 8 and 9 will begin a reflective process to assist them to choose their Non-Core Options for 2019.  At an assembly last Thursday students were given a form to begin thinking about their option choices for 2019.  Parents and carers should have received an information booklet, which gives a detailed overview of their child’s curriculum for 2019.

Please discuss your child’s choices for next year and when completed return the form by the due date.  Please contact me if you wish to discuss your child’s option choices.

Year 10 Focusing and Exploring

Year 10 Career students will begin the process of exploring choices for Year 11.  This process will involve a review of each student’s Semester 1 results and exploring the recommendations for course selections by teachers and the information supplied by the School Curriculum & Standards Authority (SCSA) that outlines the performance criteria and desirable results to succeed in all courses.

This exploration journey will assist all Year 10 students to choose a successful and rewarding timetable to study in Year 11 2019.  The Parent Information Night will be held on Tuesday, 24 July in the Keith Lindbeck Centre commencing at 6.00pm and concluding at 7.00pm.  Please note this important information evening in your diary.  More details will be sent to parents / carers early in Term 3.

Parents are welcome to contact the School for further information.

God Bless

Ms Judith Stringer
HEAD OF SENIOR SCHOOL

Enrolments

Interviews and enrolment confirmations in both Junior and Senior School for 2019 are now well underway, if you have not yet submitted an enrolment form for a sibling for 2019, please do so as soon as possible.  Places are limited, and we do not want people who already have a connection to the School community to miss out.

Student Absences 

Families are reminded of the need to contact the Student Services office by 9.00am to report any absences.  The direct number is 9411 4814, or you can email details to absences@pcacs.wa.edu.au.

Hello parents and friends,

We’ve had a busy couple of weeks with providing refreshments for music recitals and Grandparents' Day. It was lovely to hear all the wonderful music and see all the grandparents share in our beautiful school.

Of course we can’t forget our Wellard Campus friendraising morning tea, which this term happily coincided with the Junior School Cross Country. Lots of parents jumped at the opportunity for a warm cuppa and a yummy treat while they were waiting for the cross country to start. We will definitely look at coordinating these events again next year.

Our last event for this term is one of our most popular all year, our winter Incredible Movie Night!  This year’s movie will be Incredibles 2 and will again be held on the evening of the last day of term, Thursday 28 June 2018 at United Cinemas in Rockingham at 6.30pm. Movie only tickets are $8 per person or you can take advantage of our combo option which includes a small popcorn and small soft drink for $16. All persons over the age of 1 year old will need their own ticket to attend the event. Make sure to head down early to allow time to grab your snacks and a seat well before the movie starts.

Tickets will be sold online only via Try Booking, so head to TryBooking.com/WGYT and grab your tickets now. This is a very popular event which always sells out so don’t wait or you might miss it!

Don’t forget that we plan to start Term 3 with a bang with our Annual Quiz Night. Just for parents, the event will again be held at Alcoa Social Club in the evening on Saturday 28th July. There will be tons of prizes up for grabs so make sure to mark your diaries and book your babysitter now so you don’t miss out!

Finally, our next committee meeting will be held on Wednesday 20 June at 6.00pm in the admin building at the Wellard Campus. We invite all parents and friends to attend and see what’s happening with your P&F.

That’s all from us this week. If you have any questions feel free to email us at pcacspf@gmail.com.

Ms Clarissa Thomson
PRESIDENT

‘Her facial expression was half angry, half competitive.  By now the boys had kicked two goals.’

‘Suddenly, Alex took the ball!  Just when Alex was about to kick… The whistle went.’ extract

This is an extract from Lucia Old’s winning narrative.

During first term, Lucia Old from Year 3G independently planned, drafted and submitted a two page narrative for the Western Australian Football Commissions 2018 Writing Competition (WAFC).  Competing against schools from around the state, Lucia’s story was judged as the winner of the Year 3 category.

The WAFC’s School Programmes Manager, Mr David Lindsay, presented Lucia with her awards at a recent Junior School Assembly.  Her prizes included, a Western Bulldogs backpack, scarf, Guernsey and beanie.  The School Library also received $200 worth of fiction books.  Additionally, Lucia’s prize also includes a writer’s workshop for her and her peers in Year 3G later this year.

A huge well done goes to Lucia for all her efforts.

Lucia said, “When I found out I won, I could not frown, only smile.”

Mr Ross Griffin
YEAR 3 TEACHER

Paul Litherland from ‘Surf Online Safe’ visited PCACS this week to run cyber safety sessions with all Senior School students.  He conducted workshops with Year 7/8, Year 9/10, and Year 11/12 students with each session exploring different topics that relate to student’s online safety.  The overwhelming response from students was very positive with some students providing the following feedback:

“Paul talked about a variety of topics including social media, IP addresses, location services (Which should be turned off in apps) cyber bullying and much more.  He was engaging and humorous which led to many open discussions.  Overall, Paul’s visit was great and we hope to see him again in future years”.

Tashinga Chipfunhu & Stephanie Beaumont Cabrera (Year 7)

“The presentation was great.  He avoided the cliché idea of what a cyber safety talk would be like and he made it really engaging and interesting.  He spoke to us about the reality of the world of technology and showed examples of what can happen if you commit online crimes.  He didn’t sugar coat anything which helped him connect with students”.

Georgia Knowling (Year 9)

“I found it shocking to hear how easy it is for people to find out your personal information online even if you have your accounts set to private.  This cyber safety incursion was definitely beneficial in raising awareness of online risks.  Hopefully this presentation has allowed for many students to be a little more cautious with what they do online”.

Caelen Browning (Year 11)

Paul also ran a parent information session with a group of parents on Tuesday night.  This session was extremely engaging and informative with a vast array of information on offer about potential hazards our students face in the online world.  We will continue our relationship with Paul Litherland and ‘Surf Online Safe’ in future years with sessions available for both students and parents.

Mr Adam Halliday
DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL CARE

Last week our 2018 PCACS Music Recital came to a close.  Over 3 evenings and 1 afternoon, 128 instrumental and vocal performers showcased their talents for staff, family and friends. Our youngest students in Kindy and Pre Primary showed us what they had achieved in only a few lessons, while our Senior students demonstrated what years of persistence and dedication can achieve. 

Through their lessons, our instrumental students have not only been learning how to make beautiful music on their instruments, but also how to read music, rehearsal technique, self motivation and self discipline.  All students involved should be incredibly proud of what they have achieved.  

Thank you to our dedicated instrumental and classroom music staff for preparing the students for performances.  Thank you also to the P&F for providing the interval refreshments.

The weather certainly could have been better, but that did not deter devoted grandparents taking their time to visit their precious grandchildren at our Early Childhood Calista Campus.  Students were very excited at the prospect of being able to show their grandparents their work and share in some wonderful activities.

The visit commenced with an assembly that included the delightful performance of The Cat Came Back sung by the Year 1 students.  We also had a visit from the Paint Kwinana REaD mascot Karrak and heard about how the money raised by our annual Lap-a-thons has supported and improved the Bintang school in Bali, from Miss Hoad and Mrs Dunnill.

After the assembly, grandparents were invited to share in a cup tea or coffee with a biscuit or two, whilst the teachers and students made final preparations to welcome the special visitors into the classrooms.  What a welcome it was!  There were smiles and laughter all around and the time went far too quickly!  Grandparents were able to see all the hard work that their grandchildren have been doing and spend time with pictures, painting and stories. 

A big thank you goes out to everyone who helped make this event a success and of course to our grandparents who embraced the opportunity to visit our school and share in their grandchild/grandchildren’s learning journey.

Mrs Nicky Jones
EARLY LEARNING COORDINATOR

As the term draws to an end, so does the Term 2 Co Curricular activities. Parents are reminded that the final sessions of Co Curricular will be conducted the week ending Friday 22 June.

Students from Pre Primary to Year 6 have enjoyed participating in a range of different activities this term. Next term, there are a number of new and exciting activities that will be available for students to register for.

Term 3 Co Curricular notes will be sent home in Week 7.  You will need to submit an online form, once for each child. The online forms will be closed 3.00pm on Wednesday 20 June 2018.

Miss Samantha Maddy
JUNIOR SCHOOL CO CURRICULAR COORDINATOR

On Tuesday 26 June the Careers Expo will take place in the Undercover Area, from 8.30am until 10.45am.  Students in Years 10, 11 and 12 will listen to speakers from Murdoch and Notre Dame Universities, Australian Defence Force, South Metropolitan TAFE, Hospitality Group Training and Building and Construction Industry Training Fund.

After these talks there will be an opportunity for students to ask one on one questions of the presenters. They can find out more detailed information about courses, applications and/or career options, with the aim of helping them make more informed decisions about future choices.

Parents are welcome to attend the Careers Expo along with the students. 

On 11 June, the Year 7 Performing Arts students were invited to a Circus Workshop.  There they met Joe, the instructor, who demonstrated to them all the amazing tricks of the circus.  He showed the many ways to throw, catch and juggle objects and how to keep the diablo spinning on the string.  They were shocked when he showed them how to pick up the flower sticks to make it look like they were levitating.  He invited students to perform in front of the class with the spinning plates and added drum music for the finale.

Joe brought many suitcases full of quirky circus paraphernalia.  One hid a machine, which fired juggling balls at the push of a button.  He juggled balls in three ways, the shower, the fountain and the cascade (criss-crossing pattern).  He spun the diablo along its string and threw it high in the air catching it confidently again.  He threw the flower stick in the air and caught it safely with merely two sticks.  He spun a plate on a stick and passed it to other students holding sticks.  He even juggled with batons and used the hula-hoops on different parts of the body.  All the students had the opportunity to have a go at learning the techniques require for all of these circus props.  The workshop was an educational experience that everyone was happy to be a part of.

Sam Nichols
YEAR 7 STUDENT

The next Library Busy Bee is Wednesday June 27 2018

TIME:  8.30am to 10.30am

WHERE:  Library

Morning Tea provided

(Always books to contact/cover for the Calista and Wellard Library.)

Homework actually getting done?

Does your child have a homework folder to bring worksheets, reading or information home with their diary?

Is there a routine in the evening for checking and signing the diary?

Review this process so you are all in the loop.

Are your children spending too much time on computer games?

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! Sit with them and watch what they are doing, do you approve? Discuss the games with them.

Change the wifi password daily for reward for doing their chores. 

Use a timer so it is for finishing homework or jobs or after sporting commitments. 

Inclusive Education Team.  

The Cross Country All Stars team is selected from the top five placegetters in each event at the ACC Cross Country Carnival held recently and also the winner of each No Limits age/gender/classification event at the carnival.  All students selected in the All Stars team receive a personalised certificate from the ACC and a cross country all stars pin.

The ACC Cross Country All Stars team 2018 has now been published on the ACC website and is available for viewing at http://www.accsport.asn.au/carnivals/cross-country/all-stars-team . 

We are happy to announce that PCACS Year 10 student, Madison Good has been selected after finishing 2nd in the U16 Girls category at the recent ACC Cross Country Carnival.

On 12 June, Joel and Lexi from the Sydney Dance Company visited PCACS to teach Mrs Layman's classes 8.2 and 8.4.

Our visitors taught us a contemporary dance routine that will be performed at the Mandurah Performing Arts Centre next weekend.  The dance was relatively simple but still quite challenging for some of us.  We started the session with really fun warm up's and Joel and Lexi encouraged everyone to get involved and be active throughout the session.  Using our imagination, we created 5 new moves to add to the end of our prepared routine.  (One of our group made a clock movement with their hands!)

On behalf of the students and Mrs Layman, we would like to thank Joel and Lexi for their time and allowing us to share this experience, certainly a very rare opportunity.

Jasmine Findlater and Eden Phillips
YEAR 8 STUDENTS