PCACS News - No 4 - 2023

The last few weeks have been jam packed with opportunities for students to shine, as illustrated all through this newsletter.

KIC Art Awards

Congratulations to PCACS students Siena Bosi and Kaili Hohl who were successful in the recent KIC Art Awards. Siena received Highly Commended in the Category – Visual Art 2D and also in the overall KIC President’s Award. Kaili received Runner Up in the Fabric, Fashion and Accessories Category. Congratulations to all of our students who had work selected for this Exhibition. Recognition also goes to our talented Arts and Technologies staff who taught and guided these students. The calibre of work was impressive.

Harmony Week

Australia is one of the most multicultural nations in the world and this week the nation celebrates the rich tapestry created by the contribution of so many cultures. The successful integration of cultures is based on the values of inclusivity, respect and belonging. We celebrated Harmony Week across the Calista and Wellard campuses with class activates and dress up days. Our students and staff chose to wear orange or an outfit that represents their cultural background. At PCACS, Harmony Week we recognise the importance of being inclusive, respecting others and encouraging a sense of belonging.

An integrated multicultural Australia is an integral part of our national identity. All people who migrate to Australia bring with them some of their own cultural and religious traditions, as well as taking on many new traditions. Collectively, these traditions have enriched our nation.
Byron Silchinger, Head Boy

Australia is a vibrant and multicultural country, from the oldest continuous culture of our first Australians to the cultures of our newest arrivals from around the world. Our cultural diversity is one of our greatest strengths and is at the heart of who we are. It makes Australia a great place to live.
Ada Isidienu, Deputy Head Prefect

ACC Swimming

Last Friday a squad of 47 swimmers represented PCACS at the ACC Interschool Swimming Carnival. A huge congratulations to Chace Jolley on achieving Champion Girl. The team was united and energetic. Congratulations to Mr Simon Bell for leading his first ACC Carnival at PCACS.

Crazy Hair and Funky Sock Day

Bringing our community together to help raise awareness for those in need beyond our gate, today we had our craziest hairstyles and wore our funky socks in support of raising funds for cancer research. We also had 10 students and 2 staff taking part in the World’s Greatest Shave. As a collective, the team has already raised over $10,000.00. Congratulations to our brave students and staff who participated in the shave.

ASC Combined Schools Concert

This coming week is the ASC Schools Week where all of the Anglican Schools Commission Schools come together to celebrate, including Trinity Anglican School, Cobram Anglican School and Cathedral College Wangaratta who travel to join the WA schools. The ASC Schools Week Eucharist will be held in St George’s Cathedral on Wednesday with our Junior School and Senior School student leaders attending to represent PCACS. Parents are welcome to attend. It begins at 1.00pm. Next Friday night 31 March the ASC Combined Schools Concert will be held at the Perth Concert Hall. Music students have been practicing with other ASC students in preparation for the Concert.

An Audience with the Minister

Member for Kwinana, Mr Roger Cook MLA, hosted an event today for Principal's and P&C Representatives with special guest The Minister for Education, Dr Tony Buti MLA. Schools from right across the Kwinana electorate were in attendance. President of the PCACS P&F Ms Maree Owen and School Council member, Ms Donna Oxenham joined me to represent PCACS. It was a privilege to have an audience with the Minister, who gave an outline of the priorities in education and provided an opportunity for questions and comments. Teacher workloads, the status of the profession and the impact of the teacher shortage were high on the agenda. Thank you to Mr Cook for providing this opportunity.

God bless.

Ms Felicity House
PRINCIPAL

Last week, the PCACS Inter school Swim team competed in the ACC carnival. Congratulations to all swimmers especially the Junior Girls who came second in their group division. A special congratulations to Chace Jolley for being the Champion Under 16 Girl.

This week the Year 10s undertook their annual Penguin Island excursion investigating the dynamic features of the natural environment and how humans can both affect and protect that environment. This excursion is an important part of the Geography curriculum and helps our students understand the concept of sustainability as well as appreciate the awesome beauty of the natural world.

Last week the opening of the KIC Art awards took place. Congratulations to Siena Bosi who received a special commendation in the President’s Choice category as well as in the Visual Art 2D category and to Kaili Hohl who was runner-up in the Fashion, Textiles, and Jewellery category.

Siena Bosi: The Door (pencil on paper)
Highly Commended Category 1: Visual Art 2D
Highly Commended KIC Presidents Award

Kaili Hohl: Octopus Hoodie
Runner Up in Category 5: Fabric, Fashion, Accessories
$200.00 prize

On Thursday at the Senior School assembly, we had a guest speaker from the Leukemia Foundation – Lauren Stacey – who described her treatment journey to the students. Today our school participated in Crazy Hair and Funky Socks Day to raise funds for the Foundation and the Canteen charity supporting young people and families impacted by cancer. Well done especially to the students who participated in the World’s Greatest shave (collectively raising over $10,000) and to everyone who rocked some pretty wild hair and socks and donated to this vitally important cause.

At the Assembly, we also had the pleasure of presenting student Council badges to the successful Year 7s. Congratulations to Samardeep Singh Dhillon, Isatu Fofanah, Ryle Noveno, and Mia Russell. A very multicultural set of representatives for our multicultural School! This key strength and value of our nation was celebrated throughout Harmony Week and it was great to see so many students dressed in the costumes of the culture they identify with on Wednesday.

This week on Thursday PCACS sent a team with Mr Flintoff (TIDES Coordinator) to the Synergy Schools Solar Car Challenge. The team of Vansh Agarwal, Eric Patel, Matai Scott, and Angelita Madruga-Hogarth have been building and preparing their car over the course of the last month. Congratulations to the whole team as they progressed through all of the South of the River elimination rounds undefeated and are now through to the State final at Murdoch University. Well done!!

The Interim reports were released earlier in the week along with a SEQTA message to Year 11 and 12 families detailing how to make a booking for the Year 11 and 12 Parent Teacher interviews next Thursday evening. If you are needing assistance with making a booking please contact the school.

God bless

Mr Steve Wynhorst
HEAD OF SENIOR SCHOOL

Flourishing in Junior School

Children flourish at school when the right conditions, relationships, support and opportunities are in place. At PCACS, we want every child to flourish! For this reason, we regularly reflect on our practices, upskill staff, and keep the children’s interests at the heart of our decision-making. We aim to provide an education that is relevant now but also prepares children for the future. Our educators are dedicated and collaborative. We encourage curiosity and wonder.

A positive atmosphere, routines, realistic expectations and clear boundaries are central to children’s safety and their sense of belonging to their class and school. Parents will know that this is also true for a home environment. It can be said that a friendly, loving environment with clear parameters fosters a sense of security. Our recent Harmony Day celebrations epitomised the beauty we have in the diversity of our students and how proudly our students belong to our school as unique and capable individuals.

Recent years have brought the ‘student voice’ to the forefront of education, recognising that young people are capable, confident contributors to their school and community. As I wander around classrooms and the playgrounds I witness the ‘student voice’ of Pre Kindergarten to Year 6 students as they actively engage in their learning and socialise with each other and school staff.

Providing leadership opportunities for students of all ages is important to us. Students from Kindergarten to Year 6 have the opportunity to lead our assemblies and chapels. This week a team of Year 6 students attended the GRIP Leadership Conference to gain insights into growing leadership further for themselves and others in the Junior School.

Providing the right amount of challenge for each child allows them to stretch themselves further. I am very excited that our upcoming Learner Strengths Day has a STEM focus this year. I look forward to seeing the children grapple with solving challenging problems and reflecting on their learning across the domains of the PCACS Learner Strengths. We have a signature Learner Strengths song that will also feature on the day. Don’t forget to ask your children all about Learner Strengths Day after school on Tuesday 28 March!

I wish you all a lovely fortnight.

God bless!

Mrs Shirley Steel
HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL

As the end of term approaches, we wanted to highlight the important work of Anglicare WA in supporting local youth in crisis. For over 40 years, Anglicare WA has been providing a range of essential services and support to young people in Western Australia who are facing challenges and difficulties in their lives.

Whether it's homelessness, family breakdown, mental health issues or drug and alcohol abuse, Anglicare WA is there to provide practical and emotional support to young people in need. Their services include crisis accommodation, counselling, mentoring, education and training, and more.

Anglicare WA's commitment to helping young people in crisis is more important than ever, particularly as we continue to face the ongoing challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has had a significant impact on the mental health and wellbeing of young people, as well as exacerbating existing issues such as family violence and homelessness.

To support the important work of Anglicare WA, we will be running an Easter Egg Hamper raffle at the end of term. We have five generous hampers to raffle with one being Kindly donated by Hon. Reece Whitby. All proceeds from the raffle will go directly to Anglicare WA to help them continue their vital work with local youth in crisis.

Tickets for the raffle are available for purchase through our online event via Trybooking.

Each ticket costs $1 for 1 entry, $2 for 3 entries, or $5 for 7 entries. Ticket sales close Wednesday 5 April at 1.00pm. The hampers will be drawn after the Easter Chapel Service held on Thursday 6 April in the Keith Lindbeck Centre. The Easter Egg hampers are sure to be a treat for whoever wins, but the real winners will be the young people who benefit from the support of Anglicare WA.

We encourage everyone to consider purchasing a raffle ticket to support this important cause. Together, we can make a real difference in the lives of local youth in crisis and help them to build a brighter future.

Mrs Katie Frampton
YEAR 11 AND SERVICED LEARNING COORDINATOR

Besides gardening, Meridian has been learning about childcare this term. How to hold babies, changing nappies, feeding, burping and rocking them in the correct position. We even had a visit from Mrs Alicia Walter with her young Freddie. She gave us a few reality checks and once Freddie was tired of hearing what his mum had to say about babies, he picked up her bag, walked to the door, opened it and walked outside. It was a clear signal who was boss in this case and that he had had enough of his mum talking about him and it was now time to go.

Students got to wear a 9-month pregnancy belly vest to experience the feeling of the fullness of pregnancy. Each student wore it for about 5 to 10 minutes and that was enough for them. It was really heavy. I showed them how to hang forward or bend over on all fours to get some of the weight off. Students were then able to choose their babies and name them.

Students have loved holding their babies and tending to them and had many trial runs for a couple of minutes at a time. The day came for the entire lesson to be all about dealing with REALCARE babies. I programmed them for an hour, starting at noon and ending at 1.00pm. Students were asked to please be on time as I did not think I could cope with four crying babies. Two students were there on time, and on the hour, four babies started screaming! Emily Bogaers held two, Michelle Shaw one, and I held one until Kaitlin Gash and Makayla Lynn arrived. It was a fun lesson and we had to feed them rock them burb them and watch them sleep. This was just the start...

Last weekend, 5 babies were programmed on the hard setting to start at 4.00pm Friday and end at 8.00pm Sunday night. The next morning, I got a couple of emails: "Miss I’m never having a baby it kept me awake all night!" and "Miss what am I going to do about the baby while I am at work?" I wrote back to Kaitlin, telling her that new mums sleep in the day while the baby sleeps. Pheobie managed to get her family members to help her babysit. I even offered to be a babysitter for one afternoon for her and my husband even asked how he could help. What a relief we didn’t need to look after them for her.

Monday morning came and the girls very happily said goodbye to their babies. There were no tears, no fond farewells, just exhausted girls.

I think they have all learnt some valuable lessons. I guess this was the point of it all, finding out how very needy a new baby is; knowing that you always need a support network around you to help you when you just need half an hour break, or when you must go to work.

The sad thing about the REALCARE babies is that the girls did not get to see the cute baby smiles and coos that make you fall in love with them in the first place. Essentially it was a plastic baby that cried on and off and was programmed to be cared for. A second round of babies go out this coming weekend and I believe that students have booked off work for the whole weekend in order to be able to care for them.

Mrs Melanie Hunt
MERIDIAN COORDINATOR