PCACS News - No 7 - 2024

Welcome to Week 6

These past few weeks have seen several important events that reflect Pillar 4 of the new School Strategic Plan – A Connected Community:

Actively building connections between and within the School and the community, growing strong relationships and creating opportunities.

Grandparents and significant others in our students’ lives were invited into the Junior School to visit Calista and Wellard Campus classrooms for our Grandparents Morning. It was delightful to see the differing generations interacting, and the Grandparents enjoyed seeing the school activities and exploring the classrooms. Thank you to the P&F, who catered for morning tea.

It was also wonderful to see so many parents at Calista and Wellard over these past weeks for the Parent Teacher interviews. These meetings are critical in ensuring our partnership with families remains the cornerstone of their child’s development and academic progress. I also enjoyed the opportunity to discuss with parents their feedback regarding school activities and to engage in rich conversations about the educational process.

In 2024, the PCACS community Netball and Basketball teams continue to thrive and provide an essential sporting opportunity to our students. Thank you to the parents involved in coaching and coordinating these teams. They are a vital part of our School community.

Mothers’ Day

The P&F held the annual Mother’s Day stalls across both Campuses last week as well as via the online store. The event was so popular they sold out of stock. Thank you to the families who volunteered and assisted in running these. We hope that all our mothers and significant mother figures in the lives of our PCACS students had an enjoyable Mother’s Day.

School Open Tours

We held a Calista Campus Open Tour last week with several prospective families visiting to learn about PCACS. Our next Wellard Campus Open Tour is on Monday 20 May, starting at 9.00am in the School Chapel. If you have any family or friends who are interested in 2025 or future years, please let them know. Many of our year groups are filling up quickly. This tour is suitable for both Junior and Senior School aged children.

God bless.

Mr Steve Wynhorst
ACTING PRINCIPAL

Founder’s Day Colour Run

It is almost time for the Junior School community to gather and put our energy into raising money and running through obstacles, whilst trying to avoid (or not!) being covered in colour. This year we are inviting families to join in running with the students, so that the whole community is involved in the effort.

The Junior School Colour Run/Lapathon has a strong history of raising money for those in need beyond our gates. In the past the proceeds have supported a village in the Philippines through purchase of four large water tanks, a pre school in Sri Lanka through the purchase of playground equipment and the building and support of the Bintang Timur School in Bali. This year we are supporting a small Anglican School in Samoa called All Saints.

All Saints is a Primary School with students from Year 1 - Year 7. They run a Preschool and Kindergarten across the road in an Anglican Church. The Primary School is on a small site, with 8 classrooms and some outside play areas, plus a small library that they use as a multi purpose room. There are 150 children enrolled at the school with an additional 50 attending the Preschool and Kindergarten. Samoa is a tropical climate and the staff and students learn in the classrooms without air conditioning or ceiling fans, which can prove very warm throughout the day.

Previous support from PCACS and other ASC schools has provided All Saints with provision of physical resources for the classrooms such as tables and books and also with small building improvements like fixing and painting buildings in disrepair. This year we are hoping to raise enough money to provide some fans for the classrooms, in an effort to make the learning environment more comfortable for staff and students.

The PCACS Junior School help to ensure that students at All Saints are provided with a quality educational experience, as all children deserve. We are commencing fundraising for the Colour Run from today. Please encourage family and friends to get behind this worthy cause. I will be updating the Junior School regularly to let them know which class has raised the most money so far, with an announcement of the final amount on Founders’ Day.

Please see the donation link below:

https://www.trybooking.com/CRTNK

Pre Kindergarten and Kindergarten Enrolments

Enrolments for 2025 are well underway.

Interviews for future Kindergarten students will commence this term and families who have submitted applications will be contacted for interview times. If you have a sibling who you intend to commence Pre Kindergarten or Kindergarten in 2025, this is a timely reminder that they will also need an application submitted.

If you have not already done so, please submit application forms for future students by contacting our Registrar on (08) 9439 3499 or registrar@pcacs.wa.edu.au

God bless.

Ms Kierin Janes
HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL

Year 12 Examinations and EST

The Year 12 ATAR students commenced their Semester One examinations today and the Year 12 General students continued their Externally Set Tasks (EST). We congratulate the students for the mature and purposeful way they have approached these significant assessments. This week has also been an opportunity for the Year 12 not only to prepare for their examinations but also catch up on work so they can start Semester Two confidently.

Year 11 will begin their examination period on Friday 24 May. They are working diligently to prepare for these assessments, working with their teachers to navigate through this first set of upper school examinations. I encourage all students to ask for guidance to direct their study to those areas most needed for their individual success.

Sporting opportunities

RKAS sport continues Wednesday afternoon with our teams not only building success but also demonstrating excellent sporting behaviours on and off the field.

The ACC Lightning Carnivals held 6 - 8 May were also an opportunity for our students to shine in the sporting field. Please read the full report from Mr Harry about these carnivals.

Year 9 Leadership

On Monday 20 May, a small group of Year 9 students will attend the Altitude Leadership Day. This is an annual one-day event created to empower Year 9 students during this important stage in their school journey. Through a blend of inspirational talks and energising group activities, students will learn how to become active and inspiring leaders of their school and community. We hope our selected students will learn new skills during this exciting opportunity and we thank Mrs Rust for accompanying them on the day.

Young Writers workshop

Thank you to Jacinta Bass and Nicole Secker for accompanying a Year 8 class to the second Young Writer workshop for the year. The students spent the day on Thursday 16 May engaged in creative writing workshop for young writers to learn from award winning Western Australian authors and screenwriters and to meet groups of like minded young people from other schools.

Computational and Algorithmic Thinking Competition

This Online competition for selected Year 7 - 9 mathematic students will enhance their problem solving skills in the area of mathematics. We wish these students all the best as they represent themselves and PCACS in this competition next week.

God bless

Mrs Rachel Shotch
ACTING HEAD OF SENIOR SCHOOL

The Premier's Reading Challenge is here!

The Premier's Reading Challenge is a literacy engagement program established to encourage students to read more books, enjoy reading and improve literacy levels.

The challenge is open to students in Kindergarten to Year 10. It challenges students to read 12 books over 4 months from 6 May to 6 September 2024.

Students can read 12 books, 12 short stories, 12 comics, 12 graphic novels, 12 poems, or a mix.

To enter students will need to visit www.premiersreadingchallenge.wa.edu.au and create an account by selecting the 'sign up' option. Alternatively, students can collect a reading log form from the library and email it to premiersreadingchallenge@education.wa.edu.au when completed.

There are great prizes and every child who reads 12 books will receive a certificate signed by the Premier.

Mrs Julie-Ann Holyman
LIBRARY TECHNICIAN - DIGITAL RESOURCES

On Thursday, the Kindergarten students were visited by the Better Beginnings Team from Kwinana Library. The students enjoyed a story, song, and dance, before speaking about how much fun it is to visit their local library. Students also received a Better Beginnings reading pack to take home which included a storybook, crayons, and activities. This program aims to inspire a love of reading and learning for students and to connect families with books, while highlighting the different resources available through public libraries. Thank you to Annie and the team at Kwinana Library for their exciting visit.

Mrs Brooke Suckling
PRE KINDERGARTEN TO YEAR 1 LEARNING COMMUNITY COORDINATOR

The Young Change Agents programme

Currently in the TIDES classroom students are working on The Young Challenge Agents program, which is all about reimaging the future of food. Our choices impact not only our well-being but also the health of our planet. As the world's population grows and climate change continually affects traditional farming, we need more sustainable food systems. These systems should provide nutritious food for everyone while fostering community connections and joy.

The Challenge
The big question for the Young Change Agents is: "How can we rethink food for the future?"
It is not just a thought experiment, but rather a call to action. Participants then choose from different themes related to food: 

1. Nutrition for all: Let's make healthy food more accessible for everyone. 
2. Connection and joy through food: How might we use food to create connection and joy in our lives?
3. Sustainable sourcing: How can we get food in an eco-friendly way?
4. Food Security: How do we create resilient food systems
   

Students will research, brainstorm, prototype, and advocate for their solutions and the final ideas will be entered into the competition and shared for the community to see. 

TIDES Robotics

The TIDES Robotics students are busy building and learning to program the REV robot ready for the 'FIRST Tech Challenge'. 2024 will be the first year that the 'FIRST Tech Challenge' has been held in Perth, and PCACS is working with a number of other interested schools with a view to hold the competition at PCACS during Term 4 2024. 

FIRST Tech Challenge teams of up to 15 members from Years 7 - Year 12 are challenged to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in a head - to - head challenge in an alliance format. Guided by adult coaches and mentors, students develop STEM skills and practice engineering principles, while realising the value of hard work, innovation, and working as a team. 

Mrs Beverley Wild
SENIOR SCHOOL TEACHER - TECHNOLOGIES

On Wednesday morning last week, our Year 11 General Children, Family, and Community class visited Mrs Bradney’s Pre Kindergarten class at the Calista Junior School Campus. The Pre Kindergarten students quickly warmed up to the Year 11 students as they engaged in playtime together, dressing up, building with DUPLO blocks, and exploring the kitchen. Initially, there was some shyness, but as the morning progressed, both the Year 11s and Pre Kindergarten students grew more confident.

Next, we headed to the library, where the Pre Kindergarten students eagerly selected books they wanted to borrow, and the Year 11s took turns reading to them. Afterward, we enjoyed recess and outdoor play before getting creative with special pasta necklaces in honour of Mother’s Day. By the end of our session, strong bonds had formed between the Pre Kindergarten students and Year 11s, leaving everyone a bit sad to say goodbye. We are already looking forward to our next visit, as these delightful friendships continue to blossom.

Miss Vanessa Krollig
SENIOR SCHOOL TEACHER - TECHNOLOGIES

The ACC Lightning Carnivals were held for Year 7, 8 and 9 across three days from 6 March, with over 400 students from Peter Carnley Anglican Community School in attendance. The Lightning Carnival is a participation-based format, with no scores kept in games, focusing on fun, being physically active and creating social connections. Students participated in various sports including basketball, netball, soccer, AFL and ultimate frisbee. The carnivals were supported by Senior School students in both coaching and officiating roles, complimenting their learning conducted in Certificate III Sport and Recreation, Certificate II Outdoor Recreation, as well as the Year 10 Physical Recreation course.

Congratulations to all who attended in representing PCACS in what was a fantastic carnival of sport.

Mr Chris Harry
SENIOR SCHOOL SPORTS COORDINATOR

On Tuesday 14 May the Year 9 Italian class caught the train to the Rockingham Foreshore for an Italian excursion. Here they had a lesson planned with various activities that prompted them to use their Italian language skills in real life situations. 

At the end of their excursion, students ordered ice creams using their Italian language skills and in turn were treated to two scoops of ice cream from the EYE SCREAM shop in Rockingham! 

Everyone was in high spirits and the weather was fantastic. It was also great to have Ms Jara Gillick-Lewis join us for the lesson. 

Mrs Melanie Hunt
SERVICE LEARNING COORDINATOR

On Thursday 2 May, the Year 11 and 12 ATAR art students were involved in an exciting full day acrylic painting workshop with guest artist Mr Cameron Allen. The students engaged in a variety of painting techniques, including layering and blending, preparing their own gesso mix, and exploring the importance of colour selection, composition and planning. It was a great day full of fun conversations and lots of creativity thanks to Mr Allen’s engaging workshop.

Miss Genevieve Rowlands
SENIOR SCHOOL ART ASSISTANT

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