6 March 2020
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 and Carers,
Welcome back to the 2020 school academic year, and a special welcome to our new students and parents. I am aware that all students are eager and excited about all the learning that will take place this year.
I would like to welcome all new families who have joined us at Pinnacle College and thank you for choosing our school for your children to be educated in. I am glad to see that our school community and student numbers are growing.
This year, as Pinnacle College, we have a number of projects to bring to life. Therefore, we have a new role, which is Community Engagement Department Manager. I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce Dr Mehmet Aslan to you. Dr. Mehmet Aslan has recently been appointed to the position of Community Engagement Manager at Pinnacle College. Prior to this, Dr Aslan was managing an independent school (School Principal) (K-10) based in Wollongong, NSW.
As part of his role in Adelaide, Dr Aslan will be working collaboratively with leaders in our community, members of parliament and government departments, councils, schools, universities, faith-based organisations and other multi-cultural communities to further develop our community outreach.
Furthermore, CED (Community Engagement Department) will run projects with ‘Parents and Friends’ Association together. They have already organised International Women's Day for all Pinnacle Mothers at Golden Grove.
The year has already started actively. We had an amazing award ceremony for high achieving students from SACE. I had an opportunity to meet graduates of 2019. I would like to thank Mr Emre Secgin for organising this event. The speeches made by students were so amazing and inspiring for both teachers and Year 11 and 12 students.
In regards to our new construction which is at its initial stage, we are upgrading our gymnasium and will have a new modern library and a number of new rooms. Hopefully, by the end of this year, we will be able to open the new building’s door to everyone.
In addition to these new developments, we are also planning to make Pinnacle a better place. Therefore, for lower primary students a new playing/learning area will be designed by semester 1. Additionally, 2 more shaded areas will be constructed.
The Pastoral Care Department has already started activities and will have a project based approach this year. I would like to thank the PC department for their limitless support to the school.
As being a new principal, I have an open door policy. Please don't hesitate to contact me at the school if you have any concerns as it is always nice to have the opportunity to hear the problem from the person concerned instead of via a third person.
And please do not forget “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” as Nelson Mandela states.
Till next issue…
Educationally Yours,
Mr Kot
Campus Principal, Elizabeth East
Councillor
Dear Parents and Guardians,
My name is Zina Almufti and I am the new counsellor here at Pinnacle College. I am pleased to be a part of the Pinnacle family and thank everyone for the warm welcome. As a school counsellor, my job is to support our students through their schooling by addressing social, and emotional issues. This may include friendship issues, emotion regulation, social skills and anxiety management to name a few.
I look forward to working collaboratively with our amazing staff and parents to provide the best possible support. Please do not hesitate to come say hi, I am eager to get to know the students as well as their parents.
Community Engagement
Dear Parents,
I'd like to take this opportunity to introduce myself to you. My name is Dr. Mehmet Aslan and I have recently been appointed to the position of Community Engagement Manager at Pinnacle College in Adelaide.
Prior to this, I was managing an independent school (Amity College, School Principal) (K-10) based in Wollongong, NSW where my team and I successfully created a thriving community of upstanding citizens who contributed to our local and wider community.
As part of my role in Adelaide, I will be working collaboratively with leaders in our community, school parents, government departments, MPs, local councils, schools, universities, faith-based organisations and other multi-cultural communities to further develop our community outreach.
As CE department, we started visiting independent/Catholic schools and community leaders. For instance: We are organising a Joint Harmony day program with St Thomas More Catholic school and St Francis of Assisi on the 19th and 20th of March. CE department is also starting ‘Pinnacle TALKS’ program for our Year 7-12 students where we invite guest speakers who are specialised in Education, Art/Sports, Business, Values Education. Inviting guest speakers to our school is a not only a wonderful way for students to learn about a specific topic/subject, but it also introduces our students to other professions and career opportunities in future.
You will also have advance notice of CE upcoming events so that you can get involved in different activities.
Educationally Yours,
Dr Mehmet Aslan
Community Engagement Manager
Library
Front Office Notices
Primary
Foundations
What a great start to what promises to be an exciting year of learning for the Foundation students. We have now settled into the classroom routines and are learning how to be independent in our organisation. We have six very interesting visitors at the moment. One of them ate so much on the first day and decided to go to sleep in the cocoon. We are enjoying watching the other five munch their way through their juicy leaves. We cannot wait to watch them hatch into beautiful butterflies very soon. We are keeping a diary of our observations as well as recording them on Seesaw.
Year 1
Hi beautiful families!
The year 1’s have done a wonderful job settling into their new class and routines. I have loved coming in and seeing smiling faces and positive attitudes! We have been revising single sounds taught in Foundation and are now beginning to learn diagraphs such as ‘sh, ck, ch, oo and th.’ Please remember to practise your child’s sight words with them each night. You will also notice that your child is bringing nightly readers, please make sure these are read as they reinforce Literacy skills taught in class. Maths class has been filled with lots of counting! Majority of the class is now counting and recognising numbers from 0-100 which is a big improvement! I post a lot of work on SeeSaw so please make sure you have your account activated and notifications turned on!
Thank you for all your support thus far.
Love Miss Rowlands
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Year 2
The Year 2 students have most certainly settled into the school year and couldn’t be happier! We have been practising mindfulness each day, reading outside with our Playford Library books and doing lots of learning! Playford library truck comes every fortnight on a Monday and it allows students to borrow books from our neighbouring local library. Reading is so vital for a child’s learning and it is important to have them read every single night out loud to parents, siblings or other family members. Our students have been recording themselves onto Seesaw & reading out loud to their partner readers in the classroom!
Keep up the good work :)
Year 3
The Year 3’s have been challenging themselves with a ‘five-minute fast start’ exercise where they race with time to write a sizzling start that starts with action or the moment of change to become more creative in their writing.
Year 4
Dear Parents,
What a brilliant start to term 1! All students have been trying their best and asking for help when required. I see a very strong work ethic in this bunch. Please ensure students are completing their homework and bringing it on Fridays to mark.
In Science this term we are learning about plants. Last week the students began an investigation about the growth of a bean. We have spent time designing and making our very own greenhouses as a part of Technology. Students will be recording their observations as a part of their Science assessment.
There is a lot to look forward to before the end of the term. I think the class are most excited about the Life Education bus visit and our excursion which is yet to be revealed.
Kind regards,
Miss Sarah Watkins
Year 4 Teacher
Year 5
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
I would like to welcome you all back for another exciting year. I hope that we all stay positive and prepare ourselves for a great academic year building on our learning experiences from last year and enjoy the new challenges we face in 2020.
This year, as you may be aware, I am new to Elizabeth East Campus. I have been working at Pinnacle College, Gilles Plains Campus since 2012. My role this year is to teach Grade 5/6 Literacy.
In Literacy this term, our focus is on narrative and persuasive texts. Students are working hard on using dynamic dialogue and show, don’t tell and complex sentences in their writing to create strong pieces of writing.
Homework booklet and spelling words are given every Wednesday, students are expected to complete their set homework tasks to the best of their ability and return to school on Wednesday each week for marking.
Year 5 Science
Dear parents,
Welcome to 2020… students had a great start to the year. Please feel free to approach or email me if you have any concerns or questions, as I am the home group teacher for the grade 5s.
This year I will be teaching Science, HASS, ICT and Health to the grade 5 students. In science, we started off with Biology and started focusing on living things. Students began to plant a seed in class. Time to see, who’s seeds will grow?
Students also received their first project for the year, which is to make a cell model. All the best to the scientists of grade 5...
Mrs. Nesibe Sezen
Year 6
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
I would like to welcome you all back for another exciting year. I wish that we all stay positive and prepare ourselves for a great academic year building on our learning experiences from last year and enjoy the new challenges we face in 2020.
This year, as you may be aware, I am new to Elizabeth East Campus. I have been working at Pinnacle College, Gilles Plains Campus since 2012. My role this year is to teach Grade 5/6 Literacy.
In Literacy this term, our focus is on narratives and recounts. Students are working hard on using dynamic dialogue and show, don’t tell and complex sentences in their writing to create strong piece of writing.
Homework booklet and spelling words are given every Wednesday, students are expected to complete their set homework tasks to the best of their ability and return to school on Wednesday each week for marking.
Year 6 Science
Dear parents,
Grade 6 students had a great start to the year so far. This year I will be teaching Science, HASS, ICT and Health to the grade 6s. In science, we started off with Biological Sciences and started focusing on micro-organisms. Students also had a visit to the science lab to do some experiments on yeast.
Students also received their first project for the year, which is to research on an animal of their choice. All the best to the grade 6 students...
Mrs. Nesibe Sezen
Arabic
The main points students are learning this term are parts of speech in Arabic language. Students get the opportunity to compare the difference between English and Arabic. English has eight parts of speech 1. Noun (A word which refers to a person, a place, or a thing, e.g. teacher, town, bus) 2. Pronoun (A word like he, they, and we used to replace a noun) 3. Adjective (A word that describes a noun, e.g. a tall man) 4. Adverb (A word that gives additional information about how, when or where an action takes place, e.g. He walked slowly, they will arrive tomorrow) 5. Interjection (A word that is independent of other words and is used as is, e.g. hello and hi) 6. Verb (The action or doing word, e.g. sleep, eat, drink) 7. Conjunction (A word joining two clauses in a sentence, e.g. and, because, but) 8. Preposition (A word used to relate a noun or pronoun to some other part, e.g. of, at) while Arabic has only three parts of speech 1. Noun اسم 2. Verb فعل 3. Particle ْ حرف.
Art
We started Art classes with fun and exciting projects. Year 2 students learn about colour theory through weekly tasks that will evolve into using colour as a symbolic gesture. Year 3 students learn about how ghostnets negatively impact ocean life and ways to upcycle ocean waste into art. Year 4 and Year 6 students explore contemporary indigenous art through works of Rennie and Olsen and find connections between their artworks and ongoing bushfires. Year 5 students started the term with exploring meaning in abstract art and we continue with media arts for the rest fo the term.
Music
It has been great to set up a Music Room in C29, which is shared with the Secondary students upstairs. Having all the instruments in one place which are easily accessed makes our Music lessons run so much more smoothly.
In Music, we learn by singing songs which focus on the learning outcome for the day, moving to music and feeling how the music makes us want to move, and playing sounds using body percussion, our voices and instruments. Learning in Music always starts with listening carefully, then creating sounds, and then playing.
Many students have told me over the past year that they love music! This makes my heart sing, because I do, too! Every now and then a student brings something musical to show and tell, which is a wonderful way of linking what students do at home as well as at school. That’s being a great learner!
With Harmony Day coming up, all students have been singing a song called Everyone Belongs which includes the wonderful lyrics:
“Everyone is different in so many ways,
Wouldn’t it be boring if we were all the same?
Celebrate your culture, your family history,
And when we’re all together, celebrate diversity.”
Tracy Schache
Music Teacher
Secondary
Humanities
In Year 10 Humanities, we have been learning about the importance of human wellbeing and what people need to live happy and contented lives. One of the important topics we covered during this unit was basic human needs such as access to clean food, water and secure safety. Important variables to these needs are wealth, health and education which are vital to maintaining wellbeing. We also learnt about different ways to measure wellbeing such as Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Human Development Index (HDI). We learnt about the struggle in developing countries to access basic health care services and the impact of HIV. We learnt about the links between wealth and health and what barriers exist to develop wellbeing such as lack of health care workers and finance. Overall, we learnt about the goals that we need to fulfil to ensure that everyone can reach their full potential.
English
During Term 1 our Year 10 English classes have been studying the novel To Kill A Mockingbird written by Harper Lee. The novel, set in an era after the Great Depression focuses on issues with ethical and moral dilemmas which our society has dealt with and continues to deal with today.
Our students have been working on various tasks to develop their critical reading and writing skills. Students are about to commence an assessment which they will be required to construct an opinion piece demonstrating their ability to write from the perspective of a character from the novel. This task allows students to develop skills in understanding views from different beliefs as well as empathy and open-mindedness.
Art
Secondary students had a good start to 2020. Year 7 students explore drawing portraits in anime and manga style. They focused on sketching their own characters in the previous weeks which will develop into a poster in the coming week. Year 8 students learn about traditional Islamic patterns, their geometric designs and symbolic meanings. For the past weeks they have been working on patterns inspired from traditional examples. Year 10 Fashion design students develop garment designs inspired from a cultural or natural theme of their choice while learning about basics of fashion illustration and design.
Pastoral Care Girls
Year 10 girls started pastoral care this year full of action and excitement.
- Students started after school programs, which involve spiritual and social activities. During these after school programs, students started brainstorming on projects to fundraise and support the Ramadan appeal (food packages). Stay tuned for the amazing fashion show that year 10s will organize, with the purpose of collecting money for those in need. Any support and help will be appreciated… Thank you all from now.
- Sleepovers also started, which will run fortnightly for the girls. These sleepovers will include study sessions to help support the girls educational wise when necessary.
- Also, Year 10s came together, to celebrate past birthdays and appreciated each other’s company and friendship. Inshallah many more wonderful years ahead
Malaika, Maryam and Sarah
We look forward to many more beneficial and engaging programs with the year 10 girls.
Regards,
Mrs. Nesibe & Ms Seydanur
Science
Pastoral Care Boys
At the end of 2019, the year 11 pastoral care boys ended the year with an exciting trip to Sydney with Mr Sami. For some, it was their first-time visiting Sydney and was the beginning of an unforgettable journey. A total of 5 days, 4 nights was spent at a boarding house our sister school generously provided. The boys had the opportunity to partake in activities including, a cinema session (Ford vs Ferrari) to mentally prepare for a go-karting race and drift session (Mr Sami always finished first), and hiking the beautiful Blue Mountains which spontaneously involved showering underneath the Wentworth Waterfall. Visiting the extravagant sights of Sydney such as the Harbour Bridge and Sydney Opera House, and touring through the city streets, it was a trip that will never be forgotten.
Year 12 Boys Pastoral Care
PE
PE has been very exciting this year as for the first time we have a combined year 11 and 12 PE class. The class has been competing in their first badminton tournament of 2020. In PE, we are learning about the energy systems we use and how we apply them in certain sports and we thought it was best if we do badminton as an activity to apply all these systems. It was very interesting knowing what energy systems are used for specific movements such as smashes as this uses ATP (Adenosine Triphosphate) because it is on maximal intensity. It was interesting, as I was playing I knew what systems I was using, helping me know what serves I needed to implement to trick and bet my opponent. I distracted my opponent by making them move all over the place making them use their aerobic system, as they got tired I could out win them as I still had plenty of energy to use.
Ahmad Hamada Year 11
