PCACS News - No 14 - 2022

Carnivals, Science Week, Book Week…it must be Term 3! From Pre Kindergarten to Year 12, there has been much going on to create joy and connection across the school. A stark contrast to Term 1 when restrictions caused a halt to gatherings and events. In many ways this has made the celebration of events this term even sweeter.

With a change in the weather, we had some lovely sunny days for the Year 6 KSSA Winter Sports Carnival and the Senior School Athletics Carnival. Thanks to Mrs Karen Layman and the team for the organisation of the Athletics Carnival. Students have competed in the ACC Basketball Championships, Science Week, Hackathon, the Bebras Challenge and the WAASA Student Leaders Reunion at Archbishop’s House.

Senior School Athletics 

The spirit of competition was alive and well last week at the Senior School Athletics Carnival. Not only did we witness record breaking performances and fiercely fought challenges, there was also an inspiring spirit of participation and friendly House rivalry. Congratulations to all our Champions and Runners up and all those who have been chosen for the ACC team. Congratulations to Murray for winning the House trophy.

Bookweek

Both Calista and Wellard enjoyed this year’s Book Week Theme, Dreaming with My Eyes Open this week. It was a delight to see staff and students dressed up as their favourite book character. Both assemblies were a great way to focus on reading and the love of books. Thank you to the staff who entertained us with their creative skit. 

15th Anniversary Celebrations

This week the 15th Anniversary photos were taken, making the most of the perfect weather. Our Calista students came across and joined the whole school for two photographs. The PCACS 15 photo and video was taken by drone on the oval and a whole school photo was taken on the embankment above the basketball court. Special thanks to Mr Adam Halliday, Mrs Natalie Smith, Mr Cam Allen and Mr Kevan Carroll for organising the photos. We can’t wait to see the results.

 Calista Campus visit Grace Chapel

It was delightful to host the Calista student at Wellard for the occasion of the photographs. The opportunity for a visit to the Grace Chapel was too good to miss. After the photographs, our Calista students appreciated a recess break on the playgrounds and then enjoyed their first Chapel service in the Grace Chapel, hosted by the Year 6 students. It was joyous to see our youngest PCACS students in the Grace Chapel. 

Student Leadership

The process to select the 2023 School Prefects is well and truly underway. Our 2023 candidates have written testimonials to me, outlining their vision for the role and took to the stage to deliver their speeches to the Senior School. The speeches were well crafted, thought provoking and well delivered, making our decision a very difficult one. The selection process moves to the voting stage, followed by interviews. The Junior School students are also immersed in their Junior School Leaders' selection process, delivering their speeches today. Thank you to all those who have applied, it takes courage to put yourself forward. We wish them well as the process continues. Announcements will be made next term.

Operation Op Shop

Thank you to our community for your support for Operation Op Shop and the Anglicare Sleepout. Congratulations to Team PCACS who raised $12,698, making us the third top fundraising school in the state. This is a wonderful result and will make a significant contribution to the work of the Street Connect Bus, which work with young people living on the streets to get their lives back on track.

P&F AGM

The P&F AGM is being held on Wednesday 21 September in the Administration Seminar Room at 6.00pm. Nominations for office bearers are now open. I encourage parents to consider nominating for a role on the P&F and thank the current committee for their support of the school. Further details can be found on the P&F section of our website.

God bless.

Ms Felicity House
PRINCIPAL

2023 Year 7, 8 and 9 Laptop Programme

Attached is the information pamphlet for the laptop programme. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at the school. Laptops are required for all Senior School students next year. 

Student Mobile Phone Policy

A reminder to families that mobile phones must be stored in student lockers during the school day. Parents should not be messaging students during the day. Any urgent messages can be passed to students via Student Services. Students found with a mobile phone will have it confiscated until the end of the day. Repeat offenders will require their parents/guardians to collect the phone from Student Services.

PCACS Team  - National Second Place!

Huge congratulations to the Year 7 and 8 Team (Taqdeer Cheema, Audrey Doyle, Alexis White, Nikolas Paschini, Xander Richardson, Gracie Spears, and Anushka Pun), who achieved the national runner-up place in the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Office (ANSTO) Science Hackathon last week. They produced an innovative glass-recycling scheme. PCACS also competed in the Senior Division, and that team produced a glass recycle-reuse-reward scheme. Well done to all the students for competing in this intense 3-day event. 

Prefect Voting

Leadership Speeches took place on Thursday and Friday, followed by voting by all Senior School students at our polling centre in the Chapel foyer. Congratulations to all the candidates – the quality of the speeches and nominee letters of application was outstanding.

Athletics and Basketball Carnival

Last Friday was a very enjoyable day on Wellard Oval. Despite the heavy track, a number of records were set and the spirit of competition was alive and well.

PCACS also sent two Year 10-12 teams to an interschool ACC basketball competition during the week. Congratulations to all team members.

God bless.

Mr Steve Wynhorst
HEAD OF SENIOR SCHOOL

2023 Enrolments

2023 Enrolment interviews and confirmation of places for both our Calista and Wellard Campuses are now well underway. If families have any sibling applications that are yet to be submitted for 2023 we ask that you to complete and return these applications as soon as possible, waitlists are now in effect for some year groups.  

Students signing in Late or being collected early through the School Day

Any student who arrives at School after the bell must sign in at Student Services or Calista Administration. Should a student need to leave campus before the end of the School day Parents are reminded to place a note in their child’s diary or contact the office if you are collecting them for an appointment during the School Day. This way the Teacher knows when they will be leaving and when to send them up to Student Services to be ready for when you arrive. It is difficult for staff to locate students during recess and lunch breaks so please be aware of the student break times and be mindful of this when arranging appointments. 

Absences

If your child/ren is absent from school please send us an email at absences@pcacs.wa.edu.au, fill in the online absences form on the website or ring the absences phone on 9411 4814. All absences are to be reported prior to 9.00am on the day of the absence. If your child/ren is absent from school due to being a close contact or testing positive for COVID-19 please complete the student notification form available on the SEQTA parent page.  

Smartrider Cards

All student Smartrider cards should be ordered directly through the School and not with Transperth. The cost of the cards will still be $5 which is payable to the School either through EFTPOS/Credit Card or bank transfer. Ordering through the School ensures that your child’s Smartrider card comes with a photo and has the correct student number and barcode required for the card to be used with our current School systems. 

Carnley's Cuppas

We are excited to announce that $10 and $20 cards are coming soon to Carnley's Cuppas. More information to follow in the coming weeks. 

School Stream

School Stream will be launched very soon! What this means, is from your mobile device you will easily be able to report an absence, order your pre paid Carnley's Cuppas card, register for the PCACS bus service and send us any change of details. Over time we will look at other services we can incorporate into this app.

Ms Ardie McCoy
OFFICE MANAGER

Book Week

Book Week provides us with the avenue to celebrate the joy of reading in a fun and creative way. In Week 6 the students at both campuses dressed as their favourite book characters and participated in a Book Week assembly and parade. Thank you to the Junior School staff who provided entertaining skits at the assemblies. Parents, you have excelled again this year by providing amazing costumes for your children. Thank you!

Book Week reminds us about the positive impact reading has on our well-being. Research shows that regular reading:

• improves brain connectivity
• increases your vocabulary and comprehension
• empowers you to empathize with other people
• aids in sleep readiness
• reduces stress
• lowers blood pressure and heart rate
• fights depression symptoms
• prevents cognitive decline as you age
• contributes to a longer life

(Healthline, 2022)

Knowing this, I encourage families to continue fostering healthy home reading routines for your children at home. The joy of reading is a year-long, life-long exercise, as well as something to be celebrated each year during Book Week.

I wish you joy and peace for the fortnight ahead. God bless!

Mrs Shirley Steel
HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL

This week our school celebrated Book Week. The theme of this years Book Week was “Dreaming with eyes open”.

We started the week with two West Australian Children’s Authors.

Sean Avery, a picture book author and illustrator entertained the Year 2 to 6’s. He read his latest book ‘Happy as a hog out of Mud’ to the students and the children with his guidance drew the main character ‘Charlesworth Oinkington’. Sean explained to the students that he had written many books that were rejected by publishers and how important it is to keep persisting in life until you succeed.

The Year 1’s attended a workshop with Kelly Canby. Kelly showed the students how to create an interesting story from the children’s own ideas. The children were given the opportunity to create their own character starting from a circle, then using a dice to decide how many legs, arms, eyes, ears, etc their character should have. Kelly also signed the school copy of her book ‘The hole’.

A Book Character Dress-up day was enjoyed by students and staff. Many thanks to the parents, the costume were fantastic. Staff at the Calista and Wellard Campus showcased their costumes and talents with a skit, who ever knew that James Morris was a singer at the Book Week assemblies, we also announced the Children's Book Council Award Book Winners for 2022.

Today the Pre-primary students attended a session with author Brienne Stewart at the Darius Wells like.

To follow on with our PCACS tradition, today we have had a Staff Vs Students Debate. The topic was Is higher education a necessary prerequisite for financial success. The students were affirmative and the staff were negative.

Staff team members are Nick Rust, Nicole Secker, Isabella Dudek
Student team members are Byron Silchinger, Sophie Hall, Stephanie Wilkinson

Mrs Melaine Hill
LIBRARY OFFICER

Peter Carnley’s Got Talent

The event on the School calendar that all performers have been waiting for - Peter Carnley’s Got Talent! If you are a student in Year 2 – 12 and you can sing, dance, act, or entertain be sure to enter this annual event.

The Audition Process

Junior School students who wish to enter the competition will audition during their weekly Music lesson with Mrs Przytula or Mrs Roberts during Week 8. Students entering the competition are to bring any props, costumes, backing tracks or equipment that they may need for a successful audition to their Music lesson during this week. 

Senior School students who wish to enter will be required to sign up via the audition sign up sheet outside the Music Office during Week 7. Students will then be allocated a lunchtime audition time and perform in front of a guest judge during Week 8.

The Talent Show

Successful acts will move forward into the Peter Carnley’s Got Talent Show, an outdoor concert that will run prior to the Opening of the Art Exhibition on Friday 16 September, Week 9. The top acts will then be selected to perform at the Grand Final, which will take place during the Principal’s Assembly on Thursday 22 September, Week 10.

With great prizes to be won, and to be crowned the winner of Peter Carnley’s Got Talent for 2022, ensure to start rehearsing ready for the Week 8 auditions!

The Performing Arts Showcase

The Arts continue to permeate in all that we do at PCACS and it is with great excitement that on Monday 19 September the PCACS School Choirs, Bands, Ensembles, Dance Troupes and Drama Groups will join together in a celebration of performances! Family, friends and the wider community are welcome to attend this event which will commence at 5.00pm in the Keith Lindbeck Centre. More information will be emailed home in the coming weeks to the families of the performers. 

If you have any further questions regarding any of these events please contact Mrs Lucy Roberts.

Mrs Lucy Roberts
MUSIC TUITION COORDINATOR
JUNIOR SCHOOL MUSIC AND PERFORMING ARTS COORDINATOR

Last Friday the sun was shining upon us as we held our annual Interhouse Athletics Carnival. 

It was never going to be a fast track with the amount of water-logging of the previous weeks, but there were still a lot of spectacular contests across all age groups on the track and in the field. 

It was great to see all the students out giving their best effort to throw, jump, run and cheer for their House and the support from staff and parents built a fantastic atmosphere. 

I would just like to reiterate my appreciation to all the staff and participants for your efforts to embrace the carnival this year and build an encouraging and enthusiastic atmosphere throughout the day. The P&F for the amazing canteen service provided on the day and all the grounds and maintenance staff for their contributions to set up and pack away. 

The carnival totals were as follows; 

Laurence 1276 points

Lindbeck 1604 points 

Moody 1687 points 

Murray 1947 points 

Champions and Runners-up for each Year level and gender were presented with their medallions at assembly yesterday;

The following students managed to break an existing school athletics record and I would like them to come forward to receive a certificate acknowledging this achievement. 

The interschool team list has been put together and the students representing PCACS at the ACC Athletics carnival on Monday 5 September will continue training next week. 

Mrs Karen Layman
ACTING PHYSICAL AND HEALTH EDUCATION LEARNING AREA COORDINATOR

On Friday 12 August in support of Homelessness Week, students participated in Operation Op Shop and the Anglicare WA School Sleep Out. The events helped raise awareness of the role of op shops in our communities, how to responsibly donate to op shops and how we can support the homeless in our community.  

Students wore clothes from local op shops and there were some very impressive outfits from students and staff. The Pop Up Op Shop was a hit with students picking up some bargains and they also enjoyed the new designer rack collection. The soup van this year was a huge success with over 300 cups purchased. From the gold coin donations, purchases from the pop up op shop and ‘pay what your heart feels’ at the soup van, we collectively raised over $1,800.

41 students from Years 10 to 12 participated in the Sleep Out at Optus Stadium. They participated in an activity in which they were given a profile of a real homeless person and had to navigate their way through activities to source identification, housing, money and jobs. Throughout the night they were woken by sounds of dogs barking, sirens, people protesting and arguing, and city noise. Whilst the students were extremely frustrated, it really opened their eyes to some of the challenges faced by those living on the streets. The Sleep Out is always a humbling experience for the participants and they walk away with a fire in their bellies to do something about the homeless situation and with a deep gratitude for their personal circumstances. Thank you to Mr Ethan Foulkes, Ms Danielle Jones and Mrs Janine Lee for attending the Sleep Out and supporting the students.

Both events raised $12,698. Out of 18 Anglican Schools in WA, we were the third highest fundraiser and we should be really proud of our efforts as a community. Along with the other schools, over $157,275 was raised for the Street Connect Bus. This is a fantastic result. Congratulations to everyone involved and thank you for your generosity.

Mrs Katie Frampton
YEAR 10 COORDINATOR AND SERVICE LEARNING COORDINATOR

On Thursday 18 August all of the Year 6 Junior School students participated in the KSSA Wintersports Carnival against 7 other local schools. It was a fantastic opportunity for students to represent the school at an interschool level and they did our community proud. The behaviour and sportsmanship of our students was second to none and I received comments from umpires regarding how much they enjoyed umpiring our students’ games.

During PE lessons students participated in three week blocks of netball, AFL, soccer and hockey before choosing a sport they would like to play for the carnival. It was pleasing to see many students giving a new sport a go further developing their skill sets in a competitive environment. Despite the teams being formed of various friendship circles it was fabulous to witness the groups come together to form a supportive and encouraging team. Excellent teamwork translated into success with all of our teams playing well during the carnival.

AFL 3rd

Hockey 3rd

Netball A 2nd

Netball B 3rd

Netball C 4th

Soccer 3rd 

A big thank you to Mrs Lynne Hart, Miss Lana Ceklic, Ms Danielle Butler and Mr James Morris for assisting to coach our teams. I am also very appreciative of the families and friends who came to support our students during the day.

Mrs Rhiannon Chapman
PHYSCIAL EDUCATION TEACHER

Waste Free Wednesdays

As part of our School’s commitment to reducing our waste to landfill, we are implementing “Waste-free Wednesdays at both our Wellard and our Calista Campuses. 

A Waste-Free lunch contains no throwaway packaging and produces no food waste. The typical waste-free lunch is packed in a reusable lunchbox or bag.

Food is put in reusable containers rather than wrapped in disposable packaging. A drink is in a refillable bottle and all containers are resealable so that leftover food and drink can be saved for later. Fruit and vegetable scraps (e.g. apple cores and banana skins) will be composted at the School through our compost and worm farming system.

Australia is one of the highest producers of waste per person in the western world. The average student’s lunch generates around 3kgs of waste per school year. If you consider the impact of the collective lunches of your family, that’s a lot of waste. But with your assistance, we can make a great contribution towards avoiding waste.

By helping your child pack a waste-free lunch you will help fulfill a number of goals:

• Learn about waste avoidance and recovery, including reuse and recycling.
• Reduce the 13 million tons of lunch waste currently going to landfill in Australia.
• Reduce the cost of waste disposal so the school’s resources can be put to better use.
• Minimise litter around the School due to less waste becoming litter.
• Encourage healthy eating by avoiding prepackaged foods which tend to be high in fats, sugar, sodium and artificial ingredients.
• Help you save money – an average waste-free lunch can save you $10.50 per week or $397.50 per year per child.

Worm Farm

The Junior School has recently started a worm farm. Food scraps collected at recess and lunch are fed to the worms daily by the Year 6 Sustainability leaders.

Stay tuned for more exciting initiatives coming soon.

The WasteSorted School Committee

R U OK Day is a national day of action dedicated to reminding everyone that we all have what it takes to ask “Are you ok?” and support those struggling with their mental health and wellbeing. The day is about inspiring people to start conversations that could potentially change a person’s life.

Good mental health allows an individual to deal with the challenges life throws at them. This includes being able to work and study, deal with day-to-day life stress, feel connected to others, be involved in activities in your community and ‘bounce back’ when things go wrong. Just like physical health, mental health takes regular effort and practice.

This year R U OK Day is being celebrated by the Senior School at PCACS on Friday 9 September. All Senior School students will be participating in workshops and activities throughout the day with a strong focus on building skills and strategies to improve their mental health. Workshops and activities in the R U OK Day programme include:

• Workshops with Armed for Life and The Happiness Co

• Dance workshop with G Madison from The Dance Collective

• Parkour workshop with The Wilding Project

• Year group creative activities

• Chill out sessions, inflatables and many more activities to create connection and support positive wellbeing

On the day, students are allowed to arrive and leave School in their sports uniform. The official colour of R U Ok Day is yellow so to embrace the message and theme of the day, students are encouraged to accessorise with the colour yellow.  Students are allowed to wear yellow socks, shoes, hats, wigs, jewellery and any other appropriate accessories on the day.  Please note that students are not permitted to spray their hair yellow.  

There will be food vans set up throughout the day for students to purchase snacks and food.

For more information, contact Mrs Weddikkara at info@pcacs.wa.edu.au.

Mrs Rebecca Weddikkara
DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL CARE

The wait is finally over – the Year 9 2022 Big Ball Bash Tournament has begun! So far, Moody has taken off with a whopping 8 point lead, followed by Murray on 3 points, Linbeck on 2 points and Laurence on 1 point. Moody is the team to beat – having won both the 2020 and 2021 championship!

Will they remain undefeated? 

Miss Lynne Rouda
YEAR 9 COORDINATOR

Friday 12 August, at the crack of dawn 6.00am, while the moon was still shining brightly in the sky, I met up with Tashinga Chipfunhu, Anna Sawicki and Anotida Chiangwa at the Wellard train Station. We yelled at poor Ano to run, and we caught the earlier train as the doors were shutting. Once we reached Burswood, (the moon was still shining brightly), we met up with Abbee Zikali and our party was complete. 

We were a very smart group indeed as we sat at Table 9 for the Governor’s Annual Breakfast Prayer. We were introduced to the new Governor, The Honorable Chris Dawson before partaking in a fancy breakfast. Prayers were spoken and an amazing singing group from King’s College performed for us. The Guest Speaker, Mr Graham Maybury, a prominent past radio announcer from Nightline, and the man who started Lifeline, spoke to our hearts. After the ceremony, school groups lined up to have their photos taken with the Governor and Mr Maybury before the mad dash home to PCACS.

Mrs Melanie Hunt
DUKE OF EDINBURGH COORDINATOR

Che bella giornata!  What a beautiful day it was for our excursion to the Rockingham Foreshore on Thursday 11 August. The Year 9 Italian class came with me by public transport to do their lesson by the beach. 

We found a sheltered table and sat down and I handed out worksheets. The topic of the day was how to make a phone call in Italian and how to ask for ice creams. Some students got out their phones and made real calls to each other in Italian. They learnt that ‘pronto’ was the word used to mean ‘I’m ready’ when answering a call and ‘te lo passo’ means – ‘I’ll hand you over to him’

Students were taught how to ask for ice creams in Italian and they followed the lesson by asking me for their specific flavours. We then went to Baskin and Robbin's and bought ice creams. It certainly bought Italian to life. Era delizioso!

Vorrei un gelato al cioccolata per favore. Can you translate that? 

Mrs Melanie Hunt 
ITALIAN TEACHER

Mrs Jenny Davey came into Meridian class to demonstrate the art of flower arranging. Jenny is a relief teacher at our school and managed to find time to demonstrate to my students how to create a flower arrangement from a few flowers and some beautiful garden greenery and old grapevines. She even showed us how apples can be used to create a unique arrangement. She told us that with a little bit of creativity you can create the most beautiful arrangements and I ended up with a stunning arrangement on my school desk. 

After the flower demo, Jenny taught students how to make their own corsages to wear either on their wrists or on their lapel. Students were very eager to make these and have been wearing them around the school today after the lesson. We are so lucky to have guests come in to show us new things. 

Mrs Melanie Hunt
DUKE OF EDINBURGH COORDINATOR