3 June 2022

Newsletter Articles

OUR MISSION, VISION AND VALUES

Our Mission

Our mission is to foster academic and creative excellence in a respectful and nurturing educational environment. We strive to support student wellbeing and provide meaningful learning experiences that develop socially responsible and resilient life-long learners. Through collaboration and leadership, our students will engage in, and contribute to the community, both locally and globally.

Our Vision

At Pinnacle College, we celebrate diversity and uniqueness in an innovative and inclusive learning environment. Our vision is to equip students with the confidence and skills to reach their potential and meet the challenges of the future as global citizens, leaders and innovators.

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE - Gilles Plains

Dear Parents and Friends,

Welcome to the first edition of the Pinnacle College Gilles Plains Newsletter in Term 2.

We have had a smooth start of the term with no major covid disruptions. The removal of mask requirements is in effect with the new update and this could trigger an increase in some classes' infection numbers but hopefully, it will stay at a low and manageable level.

I am very happy to let you know that the new grass play area is ready for our students’ use. Due to not being able to use the oval of Wandana Primary for a while, we desperately needed extra space, so this addition will give us some relief in terms of play space for the students. We are also planning to convert the building on the corner of the new site into an indoor activity and assembly area. The new facility should be available towards the end of term 3 if all goes well.

Our parent-teacher interviews are now concluded. We tried to give extra opportunities for our parents to come to school and have a chat in person with the classroom and subject teachers. Our parents can make an appointment with the teachers at any time in person or via zoom. So, please do not wait for the interviews and contact us regularly if you need an update on your child’s learning progress.

Please let us know if you have any suggestions regarding any matters via email or the suggestion box located at the front office of the school.

I wish everyone a great and smooth term.

Kind Regards,
Mr Atilla Sinik
Campus Principal

PRIMARY COORDINATOR

Dear students, Parents and Caregivers,

Welcome to term 2 in this academic year. It's lovely to see our students return to school for a new chapter this year.

I am pleased to report that our school offers an amazing programme to our students called "Children's University CU." This programme intended to promote high-quality after-school activities for children while also involving the larger community as learning partners in the process. The most significant CU principles are that participation is voluntary and that activities must take place outside of the typical school day at lunch, after school, on weekends, and on vacations.

The University of Adelaide is in charge of this initiative, which aims to develop aspirations and foster a love of study. It will be under my supervision.

This year, we begin the programme with grades 3, 4, and 5. We intend to enhance the number of students next year by adding more year levels.

Finally, some school admin reminders:

• Please help your child with organising their lunch orders at home, with the correct money attached. 
• Please provide your child with a spoon/fork when needed, with their food. 20c will be charged for a spoon/fork. 
• Please make a booking time, if you require to purchase items from the Uniform Shop. Only those with bookings, will be able to make purchases. 
• After school pick up times:
  Year Foundation, 1 & 2 - 3.15pm
  Year 3, 4, 5 & 6 - 3.30pm
  All students need to be collected by - 3.45pm

If there is an urgent matter, please let the school know that you will be late in collecting your child.

I appreciate the parents' efforts and cooperation in assisting us in creating and strengthening our children's futures, and I always encourage parents to contact me if they have any questions or concerns about their children.

Kind Regards,
Ola Abdelmonem

JUNIOR PRIMARY CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

2023 Foundation Expression of Interest and Assessments

We are now in the process of organising assessment times for children who will begin their first year of school in Reception 2023. If you haven’t already done so, please contact the front office staff and ask to complete an expression of interest form. We will then be able to contact you to organise a time for you to bring your child to Pinnacle College. For your child to be eligible, they are required to be 5 years old before the 1st of July of the enrolment year. For those who have followed the process, please keep in contact with the school to organise the assessment time for your child. This year, teachers conduct Reception 2023 Assessments this term, from 7th - 8th of July. It is strongly encouraged you organise a time in July as our class numbers at all three campuses do fill up very quickly.

If you would like to know more about this process, please feel free to contact me via the front office or email maria.vokolos@pinnacle.sa.edu.au

We are looking forward to meeting you all in July.

Kind Regards,
Maria Vokolos

UPPER PRIMARY CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

This term has started off better with less disruptions and more students attending school. The NAPLAN tests were carried out in Week 2 and 3. Having the writing tests online for the Years 5, 7 and 9 brought to light the need to master touch typing so that students are able to type quickly and efficiently. Students from Year 3 have access to the Typing Tournament online program. Please encourage them to practice at home using the correct finger positions.

Reading assessments will start soon and I encourage parents to ask your child questions about what they are reading. Our students can read fluently however comprehending the text is what they need help in. Talking about reading and books at home will encourage your child to see the value in reading. Ensure they also take home readers everyday to boost their reading.

If you have any questions regarding reading or NAPLAN, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Kind Regards,
Shalini Moss

LIBRARY

The library has been very exciting this term. May is History month in South Australia and we have been reading stories about history or set in history in Australia. There have been lots of interesting objects to discover throughout the month of May. An old typewriter, old iron, record player and even a cassette player.

The Book Fair for 2022 is May 24-31st at Gilles Plains.

Reconciliation week is May 27 – June 3rd and we will be discussing how we can all ‘Be brave, Make Change’.

National Simultaneous Storytime was a great success listening to ‘Family Tree’ by Josh Pyke and Ronojoy Ghosh. Many of the classes then discovered our own family and the family of Pinnacle College.

We encourage all students to complete the Premiers Reading Challenge. It is only reading 12 books between February and September. The Lower Primary classes do in this in class, but the upper primary and secondary students should be recording these themselves. When students have completed the PRC, please return to Ms Lisa Preston.

We still have a concern about library books being overdue. If students have overdue books they cannot borrow books from the library. Please return books or pay the FRONT OFFICE if you have lost books.

Please if you have any concerns about the library – come and talk to me.

Mrs Lisa Preston
Librarian
Keep reading..

SCHOOL EVENTS & SRC

On Thursday 19th May, students enjoyed morning tea treats whilst raising money for the Cancer Council’s Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea. Through your generosity, we raised $224.90 from the sale and put big smiles on lots of student’s faces! Thank you for all the donations of treats and for supporting the morning tea.

I would also like to thank all the individual donors for your support and our total funds raised stands at $495. This equates to providing 309 children with SunSmart education, or 7 calls to trained cancer professionals on 13 11 20, or 4 days of a PhD student’s world-class research. So again, thank you!

Finniss Dinosaur House also celebrated their birthdays with a pizza party on Wednesday 1st June.

Go Green House!!

Term 2 Dates to Remember:

Mrs Sandra Holland

MUSIC

What a great start to Music for Term 2! So many of our students are learning to play a new instrument this term, whether it's the chime bars, ukuleles or recorders. Some of our older students are learning to research and analyse elements of music and some of our younger students are beginning to learn about different types of rhythm. Once again, I've been impressed by the effort and persistence shown by students when trying new things in Music.

Kind regards,
Mrs Sarah Hateley

Art Club

Students have enjoyed crafting jewelry, keyrings and explored dying clothing and paper. We have created a pastel relief artwork using the dye from streamers as our wash and have made some colourful tie-dye t-shirts.

Kind regards,
Mrs Mungall

SCHOOL COUNSELLOR

Wellbeing is essential to our overall happiness. It’s good to know there are lots of things we can do to strengthen and enhance our wellbeing.

The following factors all contribute to our wellbeing:

• connecting with others (support networks and social connections)
• being physically active (at least 30 minutes a day)
• giving to others
• good sleep and diet
• finding time to relax
• spending time in nature
• seeking help and support from a family member, friend, teacher, counsellor, GP and helplines.

Kind regards,
Ms Zina Almufti

FOUNDATION

It has been an amazing start to term 2 with students showing motivation and enthusiasm to continue their development in reading and writing by growing their knowledge of Jolly Phonics letter sounds, sight words and spelling simple words.

We learnt all about Australian Animals with an excursion to the Gorge Wildlife Park. It was amazing to feed and interact with some wild and beautiful animals, learning many unique and interesting facts throughout the day.

I am looking forward to many more exciting learning experiences this term.

Kind Regards
Ms Kiya Norris

YEAR 1

Term 2 has finally felt like a normal term should. In Year 1, we have made a solid start with our procedure writing. Students have been learning about the meaning of Ingredients and Materials and the importance of using action words, when writing the steps. Another wonderful highlight has been our excursion to Uleybury School Museum. Students were taken back to the year 1856, to experience what schooling was like in the past. An experience enjoyed by all!

Kind regards,
Ms Victoria Mackowiak

YEAR 2

The beginning of Term 2 has been very busy in Year 2! We read a story from Museums Victoria called “My Grandmother’s Toy Box” in HaSS, which is about Hannah looking through the toy box and delighting in all the old toys within it. Students then thought about what toy they would add to a special toy box that children of the future might find and explore. We have created our own museum exhibit in class to display our toy choices and made catalogue cards to accompany them.

Mrs Sandra Holland

YEAR 3

Congratulations to all the year 3 students for completing their very first NAPLAN tests this term! I have no doubt that all the students tried their very best and went into the test remaining calm, cool and collected. Thank you to all parents for making the time to discuss your child’s progress thus far in year 3. This week we are very much looking forward to our hands-on assessment for our topic 3D shapes for Maths. We will be creating 3D castles with a partner; we can’t wait to show you the finished product!

Kind regards,
Miss Kerry Apergis

YEAR 4

Hello,

This term has seen our class attendance improve tremendously. I am happy to see that, however, we still have many students coming to school late. Please ensure your children are in school on time.

In English, we are reading the book, BFG by Roald Dahl. We answer comprehension questions after every chapter. At the end of the term, there will be a test on the book. We are also writing biographies and getting to know our families better. Thank you for answering those questions.

In Mathematics, worded problem sums seem to be an area we have to work on. This requires both mathematical and reading comprehension skills. There will be more practice worksheets in the homework booklets.

Please come in for a chat if you have any queries.

Kind regards,
Shalini Moss

YEAR 5

Dear Families,

This term, the Year 5s have started a very exciting project in Design & Technology. We are going to plan, create and evaluate our own arcade games.We can’t wait to share them with you once we’re finished!

Kind regards,
Ms Mubarak Ashimajy

YEAR 6

Dear Parents/Caregivers

In term 2 our year 6 class has been working very hard on writing letters to their local member of parliament expressing their opinions about important issues in our community and in Australia. They have also started building projects based around water and energy sustainability which are coming along brilliantly.

We have also been playing a geography game while students eat their lunch called Globle. This game has really helped many students in our class to strengthen their understanding of the names and locations or the countries of the world.

Kind regards,
Mr Peter Sowerbutts

LOTE - Arabic

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the second term of the current academic year.

Students in Years 2 and 3 study about families and create their own family trees as a project. They learn about their relatives, their names, and their meanings, as well as expanding their vocabularies and improving their reading and writing abilities. Year 1 and 2 have done an excellent job. Year 1 students continue to study about Arabic letters and their short sounds.

Finally, we thank the parents' efforts and cooperation in assisting us in building and strengthening our children's connection with the Arabic language.

Warm regards
Mrs Ola Abdelmonem

Arabic - Gilles Plains

LOTE - Turkish

Merhaba everyone!

This term, year 1 Turkish class has started learning about classroom objects, while year 2 and 3 is studying new vocabulary and phrases related to daily routine. Moreover, year 4 and 5 Turkish class has engaged in learning about school subjects in Turkish.

Warm regards
Mr Ahmet Sonmez

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