28 June 2019

Newsletter Articles

OUR MISSION, VISION AND VALUES

Our Mission

Pinnacle College strives to establish and maintain a safe and nurturing environment so that every student may reach their full potential and achieve a high level of academic excellence determined by state and federal standards.

Our Vision and Values

When you enter Pinnacle College you will be met with a friendly smile. Our level of pride is displayed by our teachers and staff. Apart from a high standard of education at our well-maintained campuses, we aim to develop responsibility in our students, alongside appreciating and valuing different cultures, possessing positive behaviour and a high ethical conscience. We also guide students to accept actions, widen their view of the world which in turn enables them to learn from the consequences of their choices. Studying in a diverse multicultural community, students have the opportunity to widen their view of the world, enabling them to help each other and be productive both now and in the future.

Principal’s Message

Dear Parents, Caregiver and Friends,

As term 2 draws to a close, I would like to wish all families a peaceful and relaxing vacation break. The 3 weeks holiday is an ideal opportunity for students to reflect on what they have achieved during this semester and start planning for the upcoming terms as well.

This term students will receive their first comprehensive reports and some of them will receive a report for the first time. It’s a good opportunity to see your child(ren)’s performance at the school. The grades and standards will give you some idea however, we know that the communication between the school and parents are the best methods of reporting and this is a live communication which will provide more detailed information. Having said that, parents should evaluate their child(ren)’s report well and start the new semester with a better understanding. Parents should adjust the expectations from the school as well as from the children with the new data and approach the teachers where and when necessary. Another parents and teachers conferences will be held in the middle of the term 3 in order to facilitate this communication. The conference SMS and emails will be sent towards the end of week 4 in term 3.

This year we have had the opportunity to see Mrs Grace Jaench as one of our English teachers in secondary. She has been a very friendly face for everyone at school. Unfortunately, we will have to say farewell to Mrs Jaench since her contract expires at the end of this semester. I would like to wish her all the best and good luck with her new journey.

We look forward to seeing all of our students happy and refreshed next term.

Kind Regards,
Atilla Sinik

A Message from the Coordinators

Dear parents, caregivers and students,

I would like to congratulate our students on completing their semester exams. They have been working hard throughout the semester and it is now time for them to have a break! I would also like to acknowledge the effort and support of parents and caregivers in the growth and wellbeing of our students.

At Pinnacle, our educators value the wellbeing of our learners and we encourage them to become life-long learners. It is crucial to understand student resilience and wellbeing are essential for both academic and social development, and are optimised by safe, supportive and respectful learning environments. Not only do confident and resilient children with a capacity for emotional intelligence perform better academically, these skills can also contribute to their ability to create strong social bonds and supportive communities, and to maintain healthy relationships and responsible lifestyles.

The school holidays can be a great opportunity for our students to spend some time with family and friends. I hope you enjoy your holidays and we can’t wait to see you back in Term 3!

Warm Regards,
Afra Temizkan
Secondary Girls Coordinator

What’s Been Happening?

Ramadan is a special time of spiritual reflection in which we can increase devotion and worship. It is also a time to reflect on the fortunes that we have compared to others. We should help those in need by giving to charity and helping the less fortunate during this time. With all the stresses in life it is sometimes hard to see the bigger picture. We are fortunate enough to be in Australia where we are free from war, famine and disease. Others are not so lucky.

Once again, Pinnacle college hosted the Eid festival celebrations for students, teachers and parents to celebrate the end of Ramadan. The SRC decided to donate the majority of proceeds to the Refugee fund. Miss Watkins also had a table dedicated to the Cancer Council’s biggest morning tea. With the help of Alexis Jarmyn and her family they were able to raise over $300 for the Cancer Council foundation.

On behalf of the SRC and Refugee Fund I would like to thank all staff members, parents and students who helped during the festival. It could not have been as successful without the clear dedication they have to the school. Please enjoy the photos of the day and I hope everyone had fun as well as thought about those who are less fortunate.

Eid Mubarak everyone.

Message from the Counsellor

Greetings all,

This term we have commenced ‘What’s the Buzz’ for years 3-6. This is a social enrichment program focussing on equipping students with skills to interact and seek out friendships of varying kinds. The program takes a practical and fun approach to modelling positive behaviours by including games, challenges and plenty of open discussion. Students have enjoyed the opportunity to get out of their comfort zone by identifying and changing problem behaviours accordingly. The aim is to develop sociable young people who are more self-aware, resilient and contributing members both inside and outside of the classroom. We have covered the following topics this term: greetings/exits, getting attention and following instructions. If you have any questions regarding the program then please do not hesitate to contact me at the school.

Regards,
Mr K

Library

2019 Newsletter 4/ Term 2 from the library..

Mascot - a wombat

The library has a new mascot. He is happy to be read to or play a game with the students. He likes being held, but not argued over. I think he has been a great addition to the library.

Premiers Reading Challenge (PRC)

The Winter break is a good time to catch up on reading to complete the PRC. When it is cool and wet, it is a great time to spend reading some books. Reminder – it only takes 12 books to complete the challenge. The Playford library is open 9am to 5pm M-F and 10am to 2pm on Saturdays. The Playford Civic Centre Library is located near the Elizabeth Shopping Centre. If you signed up for a library card with the mobile library – it will also work at the library.

Book Week 2019

Book week is coming in term 3. The theme is “Reading is MY secret power”. We will have the books in the library early next term and would love to have students review them for everyone to see.

In the Classroom

Primary

Foundations

What a busy term we have had in Foundation. For Science, the students enjoyed choosing an animal that they liked and researching information about their habitat. They also thought about all the things their animal needs to survive like water, food, air, shelter and space. They created a diorama of their animal habitat using boxes, paint, modelling clay and other classroom resources. I’m sure you will agree that there was a lot of effort put into their creation and that they look totally amazing! In Technology, students created ‘name tiles’. First, they learnt how to open Word, insert a text box and add a background colour. Next, they typed their name and changed the size and colour of the font. Finally, they chose an animal picture to add to their design. The students are so proud of their results, as they should be!

Year 2

So we’ve come to the end of another term filled with lots of learning, laughter and growth in the Year 2 classroom. We never see a day, without trying to do something positive, and the moment you visit our classroom, you’ll be delighted with a warm and friendly greeting; so be sure to pop by whenever you have a chance!

The students travelled all the way to the city for an excursion to visit the Migration Museum. They were educated about how students went to school in the past, and got to dress up in uniform, play games, look and touch real indigenous artefacts and even got to experience a snippet of a school day by being a student all from the past.

The Eid Festival was another beautiful and holy time of year to celebrate and the students had so much fun! The students were dancing, jumping so high on the jumping castle, spending time together eating a kabab or drinking Bubble Tea, getting their faces painted and so many other events.

We are half – way through the year and there are so many more thrilling times to come. But always remember to keep smiling and be kind to one another!!

Ms Natasha Parletta

Year 4

Dear Parents,

This term we have a number of accomplishments to share and celebrate with you.

During our technology lessons, the Year 4s researched an explorer. They took notes about their early life, midlife, later life and found other interesting facts. Students then wrote a fascinating biography using this information. I thoroughly enjoyed reading them all!

The Eid Festival was definitely a highlight this term. It was beautiful to see our students running around, enjoying themselves and participating in our school community.

Another highlight for the students this term was building catapults. They designed them, made them, tested them and competed for the furthest launch of a ping pong ball. Nasiba and Sarah took out the WINNERS title.

This term, our students were lucky to attend an excursion at the Maritime Museum in Port Adelaide. This experience was chosen to enhance our learning about explorers. We have some fantastic memories from the day!

As it is half way through the year, please remind students they must keep pushing themselves to try their best every single day. Every accomplishment starts with the decision to try.

Enjoy the break,
Miss Sarah Watkins

Year 5

Year 5s continued their research on Afghanistan’s refugee crisis and began to explore the reasons behind the issue: conflict, human rights, a lack of education and poverty. Students found many examples to support their writing and in this, we developed new ways of presenting information. Students focused on visual aids rather than pictures; they would add a visual picture that also presented statistics or useful information, for example a graph, a comparison of countries, or even a diagram with labels. As we near the end of the term, students are studying correct presentation skills such as body language, voice and eye contact. This will support them in Term 3s Public Speaking Unit.

Music

The Year 3-6 classes have been focussing on pitch this term, identifying high and low sounds and learning good technique when playing tuned percussion instruments (chime bars, glockenspiels, xylophones and metallophones). Year 3 have learnt about Polynesian music, and have written and played 2-note melodies. Year 4 have learnt about the musical alphabet and played ostinato patterns in 3 and 4 time. They have also started to learn how to improvise on a D minor scale. Year 5 have learnt about riffs and have played their own riffs in a funky style, as well as playing chordal riffs in a calypso style. Year 6 have learnt about Celtic music and have collaborated to write and perform their own lyrics in a Celtic style, as well as playing third and held harmonies while learning about music from the Pacific Islands.

Sometimes I ask the class, “Who has played something today that they have never played before?” When most hands go up, it makes my heart sing!

Tracy Schache
Music Teacher

Physical Education

On Thursday of Week 6, the Golden Grove Campus and Elizabeth Campus came together for an Intercampus Tournament. Students took part in Table Tennis and Soccer and put their learnt skills to great practice. It was a pleasure to see positive rivalry as they faced each other in the matches but even more impressive was their support and encouragement of each other as they mixed teams later in the day. In the end Elizabeth Campus triumphed but chose to celebrate with the Golden Grove students. The day concluded with a fun match in the sun and a lot of laughs.

Secondary

Visual Arts

Year 7 students learned about current issues informing indigenous art throughout the term; how traditional artists created meaning in their work and how contemporary artists handle the question of aboriginal identity. As an outcome of their learning they worked with symbols of significant things in their daily lives. Year 8 students have been learning about Cubism and its influence on modern art. They came up with collages inspired from Cubist movement with an intention of expressing multi-faceted everyday reality. Year 9 student completed the term with research on digital art and its meaning in the contemporary world. They prepared a poster addressing the question: “is digital art ‘real art?” Overall, student have worked hard towards a well-deserved break.

Drama

In Drama, we have created our own Soap Opera and incorporated the conventions of melodrama. Over the term we have created and developed stock melodrama characters. We have practiced delivering lines with appropriate emphasis and have been representing our characters personality through the appropriate choice of body language and movement. We have also looked at using body language to show the emotion of the characters lines. The students have explored how to manipulate and maintain tension through acting and editing. Over the last fortnight students have been structuring their drama into a coherent and polished production. With many over exaggerated characters and plot lines this term Drama has been lots of fun.

Music

The students in Music have been working on theory, practical and composition skills this term, and those that are putting in the effort are reaping the rewards for their hard work. Taking a piece of music that they have learnt to play on the keyboard and composing a new version for it has been really interesting, as every student has their own ideas about what sounds effective and what they think works well together. Making music via apps has been quite exciting, as the students are able to create very sophisticated-sounding backing music. The challenge remains to finish writing their own lyrics, which they will either rap or sing, and then develop their performance skills to confidently perform for an audience.

Tracy Schache
Music Teacher

Science

The year 9 STEM class have been learning about space and the importance of critical thinking in different situations this term. A few selected students were lucky enough to travel to the Space School at Hamilton Secondary school in Mitcham. It is the only school in South Australia with a designated facility and specialist curriculum to lead space education.

The Space Centre has four main areas which supported the students immerse themselves in the space science program – a simulated Martian crater and landscape with seven different geological zones, a Mission Control Room, a Briefing Room, and a space laboratory.

The briefing room was an audio-visual experience where students watched an introductory video about some of the issues that they had to overcome in moving humans to Mars. The students enjoyed a day of role playing in space scenarios. The teams took turns to operate as astronauts dressed in full space suits collecting samples on the Mars surface, and scientists monitoring data and problem solving in Mission Control.

The design simulated a real-life Martian exploration in the same way that NASA sends space probes to land in craters, as they are prime locations to gather samples. The excursion was a unique learning experience which the students can use in their future endeavours.

Sport

Year 8 and 9 Girls Soccer

On Wednesday, 29th May the year 8 and 9 girls participated in the Northern Zone 5-a-side Outdoor Competition. Pinnacle played in both Divisions 1 and 2 and demonstrated brilliant enthusiasm, resilience, encouragement and teamwork in such harsh conditions. It was one of the coldest days of Autumn! The Div 1 team finished 5th while the Div 2 team finished 8th. The Div 1 team won both their finals, toppling Thomas More College in their last final, 5-1 (who they lost to at the beginning of the day). Great effort girls, well done!

Year 10 and 12 Volleyball

The 3rd of June was the day before Eid celebrations started. A few dedicated year 10s and two year 12s decided to participate in the volleyball competition at Marden sports complex. Even though many of them hadn’t played volleyball before, it didn’t stop them from trying their best. They received a quick training session from Rahmatulloh and Rami in year 12 and throughout the day they became more confident. They gained skills throughout the day and closed the margin between the other teams. Great job guys!

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