3 March 2021
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,
I hope you enjoyed some refreshing time off over the holiday period. I would like to wish you all the best for 2021. Welcome back to the new 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. Also, I would like to extend special thanks to all parents and guardians who attended Welcome BBQ 2021.
This year, as Pinnacle College, we have a number of projects to bring to life. We’re absolutely delighted to be part of the National Community Hubs Program. I am also delighted to welcome Mrs Hannan Hassan (Pinnacle College Community Hub Leader). Mrs. Hasssan has recently been appointed to the position of Community Hub Leader at Elizabeth East Campus. As part of her role, she will be working collaboratively with our community members closely and organising classes for them such as English, computer and cooking classes as well as breakfast with families and fitness sessions. During these programs childminding service will be organised by Community Hub.
The 2021 academic year has already started actively. We had a successful award ceremony for high achieving students from SACE. It was a great moment to celebrate their successes with their family and friends. I would like to thank Mr David Hannan for organising this event.
In regards to our new construction, we have upgraded our gymnasium with a new fitness facility which will be fully operational by Term 2 and has a new modern library. In addition to this, our year 12s have a common room. This room provides them an opportunity to socialise and have a study environment when they do not have any scheduled lesson.
In addition to these new developments, we are also planning to make Pinnacle a better place. Therefore, we will construct a new shaded area between building A and Science/Art building. The process has started and hopefully by the end of semester 1, we will be able to start using it.
The Pastoral Care Department has already started activities. I would like to thank the PC department for their limitless support to the school.
After a year of principal position, I have had great friendships with the society members and students. It is nice to see every day happy students and smiling faces. Our aim is to have more quality both on education and student characters. Therefore, this year, secondary students have one period wellbeing session to discuss and improve their behaviours and school life. For this program, I would like to thank the Inclusive Education Department and Mr Nuru-Deen deeply from my heart.
Another important note is for the SRC department. Last week we had a gathering and lunch with them. From year 1 to year 12 each SRC members talked about their views and ideas about the school. They have plenty of ideas and projects. I am so proud of seeing them being eager and enthusiastic. So, I would like to thank Mrs Nibal for the beautiful organisation and look forward to seeing their projects rising as soon as possible.
There is no change about the “Open door” policy. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have not only concerns and also projects or ideas to have a better Pinnacle College.
Lastly, COVID precautions should be taken as a responsible citizen. Please do not forget to use QR code when you enter the school.
And please do not forget “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today..” as Malcolm X states.
Till next issue…
Educationally Yours,
Mr Kot
Campus Principal, Elizabeth East
Community Engagement
These are some of the events Community Engagement have hosted so far and some of the ones still to come for Term 1!
- Parents Welcome Bqq and fun day program: 13 February, Saturday at GG campus
- Ovarian Cancer Morning Teal (Year 11 Girls Excursion): 19 February, Friday- Morning teal and meeting with the Senator the Hon Simon Birmingham, Minister for Finance at the University of Adelaide.
- Fig picking activity/Pick your own figs: 20 February, Saturday (GG and GP campus parents and staff) at Glen Ewin Estate
- GG campus Pinnacle TALKS (Year 5-10 students): 24 February, Wednesday. We hosted Gabriel Akon. Gabriel is a South Sudanese-born Australian hip hop artist, poet and activist.
- Fig picking activity/Pick your own figs: 27 February, Saturday (EE campus parents and staff) at Glen Ewin Estate-
- Pinnacle Community Hub Breakfast: Breakfast (only women and under age children), 3 March, Wednesday at EE Campus
- EE campus Pinnacle TALKS: (Year 7-12 students): 5 March, Friday, we will be hosting Mr Bruce Djite, former Australian association football (soccer) player and Director of Adelaide United.
- The International Women’s day Picnic: 13 March (all three campuses, women/children only event!)
- EE campus Pinnacle TALKS: (Year 7-12 students). We will be hosting Mr Merv Yazarloo-SAPOL Detective Sergeant.
Counselling and Inclusive Ed
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
A massive WELCOME to 2021! It has been an incredible start to the year with so many projects and developments coming to fruition.
If you picked up on my hint in the last edition of 2020, you may have noticed that we have introduced a new lesson in the Secondary School, Growth and Wellbeing. In this lesson we are giving students a taste of the life skills and exposure to learning opportunities that they may have not otherwise experienced. Mr Nuru Deen and myself are excited to assist students with maintaining a balanced approach to their learning and becoming respectful members of the wider community. Stay tuned for the varying competitions, incursions and excursions lined up for 2021.
We will also be improving our Literacy Support provided for Years 5-10 through a targeted intervention program. The skills taught here will assist students in all subject areas and increase confidence with the english language.
In the Primary School we will be running Wellbeing Programs that focus on compassion, empathy and humility (just to name a few).
If you have any questions or feedback to improve Wellbeing and Personal Development within the school, please get in touch.
Kind regards,
Mehmet Kavlakoglu
Library
The new library is looking fantastic this year. The library has moved to a larger room in the new building. Students seem to enjoy the larger space with lots more natural lighting.
We also welcome Mucella as an assistant in the library on Wednesday and Thursdays. This allows the library to be open every day for studying and relaxing at breaks.
We are participating in the Premiers Reading Challenge (PRC) again this year. Please encourage your children to read for pleasure. It has been proven that reading for pleasure increases children’s’ comprehension. There is a wide variety of books on the PRC list. Come and ask for recommendations.
Lisa Preston
Librarian
Pinnacle College – Elizabeth East Campus
2020 High Achievers Assembly
On Friday 26th of February, Pinnacle proudly opened its door to honor its 2020 high achievers. The students, their families and current Y12s & 11s were joined by special guests Mrs Marilyn Baker, Deputy Mayor for Playford Council, and Mr Akram Arifi- Councillor for Playford. Congratulations to our students!
Front Office Notices
Primary
Foundation
We had some visitors in our classroom today. We have 6 wanderer caterpillars. Three of them have gone into a cocoon already but the other three are munching through their leaves. We all had a good look at them. This is what we said
“they are eating the leaf.”
“the cocoons look like plastic.”
“they are sleeping.”
We can’t wait for them to turn into butterflies. We guessed that they maybe green, pink or maybe even rainbow coloured butterflies.
Year 1
We were so lucky to go on our excursion to the Adelaide Zoo. We were able to deepen our understanding and knowledge on Australian Animals.
Arham H: “I loved looking at the Koalas”.
Mohanad: “I enjoyed looking at the rabbits”.
Sudale: “I learnt that the penguins can swim very fast”.
Romaisa: “The kangaroos can jump up to 8,”.
Emaan: “I loved looking at the tall giraffes. They are very tall animals”.
Year 2
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Year 2 has had a wonderful start to this year! It has been so lovely getting to know and teaching the Year 2s. This term we have spent some time learning about Place Value. The students loved using the dice and manipulatives to create and represent different numbers.
“I loved drawing the hundreds, tens, ones and thousands” – Aref
“I liked Place Value because we learnt it up to the thousands” – Waleeya
“Place Value was really fun because it was really fun drawing the lines and cubes!” – Lilly
“I liked expanding numbers” – Abdulaye
Year 3
Hey everyone,
Our names are Samiha and Selim, and we will be writing this week’s newsletter article!
So far this term, in Maths, we have been learning about how to tell the time using ‘to’ and ‘past’ and we are learning how to write interesting stories in English. In Sport, we have been learning about T-Ball. We have learnt how to throw and catch using a glove - which has been really cool but hard! This week, we got two Green Tree Frogs and they are so fascinating. Our class decided to call them Big Chunga and Peppermint.
Looking forward to the year ahead!
Year 4
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
What an exciting start to the year we have had! I have loved every moment of teaching the beautiful Year 4 class! Our Literacy focus has been information reports. Students have had a blast delving into the areas of research writing and structuring a report! We have looked at information on countries, our favourite animals and rainforest animals! I am very impressed with how the students can paraphrase information based on what they have researched. Keep up the great work Year 4s!
Mental addition/subtraction, length and 2D shape have been our major areas in Numeracy this term. Mental calculations are such a vital part of day to day life and it is so exciting to see students recalling facts quicker and quicker!
Please remember that students should be reading every night and that Mathletics and Literacy Planet activities are compulsory over the weekends.
Kind Regards,
Emily Rowlands
Year 5
Year 5 Issue 1
During our first few weeks of school we visited the new library. We went upstairs and Ms Preston read us a book that we had to guess which book it was- it was really exciting. The new library looks awesome and we can’t wait to visit again. In science, Miss Marcoionni, put us into groups of 3 for an experiment on liquids. We’ve been learning about which liquid has the highest or lowest viscosity (resistance to flow). We tested water, oil and honey.
Written by Maryam Solieva Year 5
Year 6
Year 6A
In Maths we have been learning about Place Value and Mental Strategies for Addition and Subtraction. We have played multiple fun maths games based on our topics such as ‘roll it’ and ‘greedy pig’. The Mental Strategies we have been learning to use are compensation, rounding and the split strategy. In Place Value we have learned about large numbers, which place value each number is and how to read, write and say numbers in words.
- Mubina and Mahya, 6A
6B
In Science this term we have been learning about many interesting things. One of the things that we focused on was animals and whether they hibernate or migrate. We each chose an animal to focus on and created some amazing projects about them. We put a lot of hard work into our animal projects and learnt a lot about a range of different animals. Now we are beginning our topic on microorganisms including focusing on the different types of microorganisms and whether they are helpful or harmful to humans. So far, it is very intriguing.
Kamran and Esma-Eel, 6B
Art
In Art, the Year 2 students have been exploring colour and self. The students have created a monochromatic self- portrait using pencil, texter and paint. Students have also created a mixed media artwork including some of their favourite things.
‘I like the colour rainbow because every colour is pretty’. -Zeynep. A
Arabic
This term we learnt in Mrs. Yasmin class what are the Arabic days of the week and we sang the directions song in Arabic. We were learning masculine words and how we form a sentence with demonstrative pronouns (this is). We made posters by cutting out masculine sentences and we stuck them under the suitable pictures. Every time we started the class we said what day it was. Everyone enjoyed the class and we had so much fun. Reading the sentences was a bit hard but everyone improved more because they practiced.
Jannat Hossain
Year 4
Secondary
Art
Islamic Art uses a combination of different shapes of many sizes to form one big repeating pattern. When drawing Islamic Art one must be patient and delicate; it takes time and dedication. You also need to be considerate of the colours and how they blend with the patterns. That’s why we have been working on developing our patterns for the first few weeks in our art class.
Dani Mazwardi, Year 7
English
We’re off to a creative start in Term 1 with our Year 9s showing the extent of their imagination as they explore the techniques of crafting effective short narratives. There are mysteries to uncover, survival in harsh landscapes, and personal challenges to overcome. We’re looking forward to seeing what fantastic work they all produce!
In addition to getting underway with their English learning, we’re encouraging all students to keep up with their reading. With the Premier’s Reading Challenge running again this year and with more exciting worlds and ideas to explore, we hope to beat last years participation record! Whether its thick prose novels filled with adventure or brilliantly illustrated graphic novels, embrace the vast benefit of reading this year!
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” -Roald Dahl.
PE
This term for Physical Education, students in years 7-9 have been learning European Handball, the 2nd most popular sport in Europe, behind soccer. It consists of elements from Soccer and basketball, where a team needs to pass, bounce and throw to score a goal, without entering the goalkeeper’s half circle. The top teams in the world are Denmark, Sweden and Norway, funny enough the same countries where the Vikings came from (which we are learning about in History!) It is a fun sport and we have had a few good moves including our favourite ankle breakers (A move where you make your opponent slip)! We hope to learn more skills with Mr T.
Aizihaer Aizimaiti, Year 8
Humanities
This term the Year 8 boys have been learning about Samurai’s in Feudal Japan. We have been enjoying lessons creating bushido banners and samurai masks. Earlier this term we went on an excursion to the art gallery and observed many different types of samurai artifacts including katanas, banners, armour and paintings which helped us drastically with our Samurai journal assignment.
Science
The term is truly well on its way and the year 12s have been busy with multiple assignments. This year in nutrition we will be doing a couple of summative and formative practicals. One such practical is the starch and iodine experiment. Iodine is used to test for the presence of starch. A solution of iodine (I2) and potassium iodide (KI) in water has a light orange-brown colour. If it is added to a sample that contains starch, such as the bread pictured above, the colour changes to a deep blue. We can use this to investigate how much starch is in a sample.
Pastoral Care
Secondary Pastoral Care Picnic
The Pastoral Care department is organising a picnic on 13th of March for our secondary male students at Jenkins Reserve , Salisbury Park. We are looking forward to seeing all our secondary male students in the picnic as we believe this is a great opportunity for our students to mingle with their fellow friends and teachers on a nice sunny day.
