30 June 2022

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Dear Parents and Friends,

Welcome to the 4th edition of the Pinnacle College newsletter this year. This newsletter is again full of exciting news and snapshots of activities around the school that you will enjoy when you scroll through!

Firstly, I would like to share with you a section of an article which was published in ‘The Guardian’ newspaper- “ 10 tips for being a better parent: a headteacher writes”. I know there are many similar articles but I especially enjoyed reading this article, since I personally agree with the points he brought up in it.

1. Your children love you and look up to you. They copy what you do, so please set an example. If you act aggressively in everyday life, in the street or car park, that could be reflected in how your children behave – to their teachers, peers, or even to you. At school we try to set an example of politeness and consideration. If children tell their classmates to piss off, they are not learning this from us.

2. Please show your children you care about them. I’m not talking about “I love you” all over the place. When your 11-year-old gets into the car after school, please get off your phone – she wants to tell you about her day. Please, ask her how it went, celebrate her successes, encourage her if she finds it difficult. Your child will do far better at school if she knows how important she is to you.

To be continued…

For the past several years, we have been receiving inquiries from our parents to open OSHC facilities onsite to accommodate the needs of working parents. This hasn’t been a possibility due to the lack of space around the school until now. With the new building and additional classrooms, this seems like a possibility for the 2023 education year. We are now in the application process and you will be notified here in the future if there is any update on this matter.

Finally, I would like to thank Mr Alaa Ahmed and Mrs Melek Akkus for their service at Pinnacle College until now. Mr Alaa is going back to his home country for a period of time. We wish him all the best in his endeavours. Mrs Akkus is taking her maternity leave and we wish her all the best with her new baby boy. Hopefully we will be together again in the coming years when there are new opportunities for both of the teachers.

Kind Regards,
Mr Atilla Sinik
Campus Principal

SECONDARY COORDINATOR

As we are near the end of the term, the year 10’s are gearing up for their end of semester exams. These will occur from Wednesday to Friday during week 9. If your family is travelling over the holidays, please ensure to put in a leave form as soon as possible.

It has been pleasing to see some exciting and successful initiatives around the school. These include lunchtime sports practice, art club, keyboard club and the year 9 peer support group with the younger year levels at lunch time. Keep up the good work girls!

Pinnacle College will again be participating in the ICAS assessment this year online. This is a great opportunity to celebrate students' accomplishments. A letter has been sent home to register your child no later than Wednesday the 27th of July, Week 1 Term 3. Access details and links for parents are provided in the letter.

As of term 3, the uniform shop will be open Mondays and Fridays so please ensure that your children have the correct uniform including the blazer, tie, correct school shoes and the grey chiffon hijab. Navy gloves, scarfs and beanies are permitted during the cold weather.

Several sports and subject excursions have occurred this term which was great to see. A main one included the annual year 10 Port Adelaide Intercultural Gala Day where the students participated in several AFL football games. All the students had a great day!

As the weather has dulled, the flu season has begun so please continue to monitor your child/rens symptoms and do not send them to school with flu or covid symptoms. Thank you all for your cooperation and understanding.

I am sure the students are looking forward to a well-earned end of semester break! Relax, enjoy and stay safe!

Kind Regards,
Mrs Molly Scott

PRIMARY COORDINATOR

Dear Families,

After the recent Parent-Teacher interviews, a common discussion surrounded grades and how to maximise the potential of their children. I would like to share some information with you on this topic. First, I think it is key to look at the type of learner your child is.

Most of us have a preferred way of learning. Get to know the learning style you're most comfortable with and study in the ways you learn best. Note that these styles are just a way to think about different studying techniques – they're not hard and fast rules that say you should only study in one way. Try each of these out and see which ways you prefer.

• Auditory learners prefer to learn by listening. Try reading your notes aloud and discussing them with other people. You might like to record key points and play them back.
• Visual learners prefer to learn by seeing. Try using colours in your notes and draw diagrams to help represent key points. You could try to remember some ideas as images.
• Tactile/kinaesthetic learners prefer to learn by doing. Try using techniques like role-playing or building models to revise key points.

Secondly, for most students it will be around creating and/or maintaining a rhythm in regards to study, organisation and fore planning. Where possible, 3 weeks prior to a test or assessment, compile a list of the content that will be assessed. Two weeks out, note out the answers and problems to resolve. One week before the test, students should know all the content, have practiced solving questions in more ways than one and this time is about consolidation, and most importantly… REST!

In regards to frequency, it is different for everyone. The key is frequency, but how it is structured will depend on free time, commitments, and the like. First, note all the time you are busy, have commitments, or just want a rest day. With the leftover time, look at how to structure study into ‘chunks’. Some students may like to revise most nights but only for 10 minutes, others may wish to have nights off but will need to increase the study length.

If you would like specific advice for your child, please book an appointment.

Kind Regards,
Mr Myles McLean

UPPER PRIMARY CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

How quickly this term has gone. We are in the middle of the year and your child will be getting a report with comments from the teacher soon. Please go through this report with your child. Celebrate their success and discuss how grades can be improved. Make a plan and guide your child to achieve better results next term. Please do not hesitate to speak to your child’s teacher if you need more input.

I wish you a safe and restful holiday.

Kind Regards,
Mrs Shalini Moss

JUNIOR PRIMARY CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

It has been an exciting term, as our Community Engagement Department has been working very hard with organising times at all three campuses in order for our parents to meet and come together. It has been a great opportunity for our Junior Primary parents to meet each other and begin to form special bonds, as their children will be going through their schooling life together for the next 10 years. A special thank you goes to Mrs Serap Sinik for organising these special meetings amongst the parents and teachers.

Making the dinner table conversation more interesting

We often ask our children questions such as, “How was School?’ and “What did you do today?”. However, we should be asking questions for them to express their day. You could ask the following questions and create a game out of it over the dinner table. Questions such as, What did someone do today to make you happy? What did you do to make someone else happy? or What did you learn today? These questions allow parents to help their children find a positive in each school day. This type of questioning helps take all stresses of work life away and helps you as the parent to learn more about your child/children.

Holiday Period

I would also like to take this opportunity to remind parents that listening to your children read and reading aloud to them is very important. It is vital that their reading skills are not lost during the holiday period.

Kind Regards,
Mrs Maria Vokolos

SCHOOL COUNSELLOR

Dear Parent and Guardians,

We have approached the end of term 2, I wish you all a very relaxing and fun holiday break.

During the holidays, it's important to encourage your children to engage in extracurricular activities such as sports, musical instruments, arts and volunteering. Engaging in extracurricular activities has many benefits including learning new skills, improving academic performance, expanding social circles, improving social skills as well as learning time management skills. Extracurricular activities allow individuals to develop personal interests as well as discover their strengths and weaknesses. This will encourage your children to build confidence and resilience which will evidently translate into their schooling. This will also teach your children to have and maintain a balanced lifestyle resulting in healthier overall well-being. I hope you have a restful holiday.

Kind Regards,
Miss Zina Almufti

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT DEPARTMENT

Visiting Our Local Leaders

We recently had the opportunity to meet with Her Excellency, Hon Frances Adamson, the Governor of SA. The Governor was most welcoming and put us at ease. Our chairperson, Mr Kamber Bagsoken and Mr Deniz Erdogan from the Australian Universal Federation (Director of Education Services) also joined us at this meeting. It was a very insightful gathering and we had much to learn from Her Excellency. We spoke about our school community, our intercultural dialogue & understanding and multi-cultural projects.

Our Chairperson, ‘Mr Kamber Bagsoken’ and I, also met the new Premier 'Hon Peter Malinauskas' at the beginning of Term 2 at the Ramadan Reception. This was held at Parliament House. The Premier was very open to our discussions and projects. We congratulated him on his new venture and appointment. The Premier was most welcoming and was interested in our conversation.

Pinnacle TALKS at Golden Grove

We have recently had the opportunity to host, Dr Rajeev Kaminemi, for our Pinnacle TALKS program. Dr Rajeev is currently the Associate Head of accreditation at Adelaide Business School. Apart from owning and operating businesses, Rajeev was actively involved in financing 35 movies and producing 14 movies in the Indian movie industry. As a former bookseller, entrepreneur and movie producer, Dr Rajeev is passionate about social enterprise and entertainment start-up ventures and he is a member of book clubs, arts and social organisations in India and Australia.

Pinnacle College students at Golden Grove campus were very enthusiastic and eager to interact with Dr Rajeev. The Year 7-10 students thoroughly enjoyed Dr Rajeev’s Pinnacle TALKS on ‘Star Wars, Lights, camera, action-My Movie making journey’.

Kind Regards,
Dr M Aslan, Community Engagement Manager

FRONT OFFICE NOTICES

Please see the Front Office Noticeboard below.

LIBRARY

Thank you to everyone who supported the Book Fair. I hope this generated some interest in reading. The library acquired some interesting books as a benefit to the Book Fair. We also acquired some prizes for the upcoming Book Cup. Book Cup is open to year 5’s-6’s (and some year 4’s), where they read 5 books and get quizzed on them. The Book Cup will happen mid-next term. The three campuses will compete against each other.

Book Week is coming up in Term 3 (week 5). The Theme this year is ‘Dreaming with your eyes open’. Some classes have discovered some of the shortlisted books though a Book picnic. The Shortlisted books will be presented to primary classes throughout the first few weeks of next term.

We have some exciting events planned including an aboriginal elder coming to talk to primary classes about Dreamtime stories and aboriginal artifacts. If you are thinking about costumes for Book Week - the judges will be encouraged to focus on BOOK characters.

There is also a competition for poster design for Book Week. This is open to ALL students (primary and secondary). The winning design will be used at all campuses. The design is due the 1st Friday AFTER the school holidays (July 29th).

Have a fantastic break!

Keep Reading,
Mrs Lisa Preston
Ms Tammy Skelton
Library staff

PASTORAL CARE

This month, the year 8 girls have raised money for the Qurban Fundraiser by selling lots of yummy foods and sweets. They have also been busy in the past few weeks cooking lots of delicious food and sweets such as: rocky road, cake and cookies. We also decided to paint some rocks for fun and they turned out beautifully. They have also learnt about Hajj and its importance. In addition, we had an open session talking about backbiting and slandering and why it is forbidden due to its destructiveness among people and society.

Kind Regards,
Mrs Soheir Habib
Pastoral Care Team

ART CLUB

In Art Club, the senior students have enjoyed working with clay modelling and have created small models, jewellery & key charms. The Primary art club has been creating scratch pads and scratch artworks.

Kind regards,
Mrs Jocelyn Mungall
Art Teacher

STEM CLUB

We are finally making! It’s been a long and slow process but the ball is well and truly rolling now! All students have completed their computer program training component and are onto making their designs with the 3D printer. Exciting times ahead…

In other STEM news, the STEM Girls Academy students joined with other schools for a Creative Challenge at the University of South Australia’s City-East Campus this semester. Our students participated in a three-day workshop series where they were asked to solve real-world industry problems using the Design Thinking Methodology. During the sessions, students were matched with industry professionals, academics or graduate students as support mentors. Our Pinnacle girls have been working hard, using their initiative, positive mind-set, and social skills to collaborate with other students. They displayed amazing creativity in finding solutions for future problems.

“The Creative Challenge Workshops were a way for me and my friends to socialise and form teams outside our group. This experience taught me all the different stages and mindsets of the Design Process. I learnt that socialising is an essential part of forming a strong connection with your team. My time spent in the STEM Girls Academy Workshop Series was an enlightening and enjoyable experience for me.” - STEM Girls participant

Well done STEM Academy Girls!

Kind regards,
Mr John Incoll
STEM Teacher

FOUNDATION

In Technology this term, children have had so much fun. We have had the opportunity to work with the Bee-Bots. Bee-bots are an exciting new robot design for young children. It has helped the Foundation children with sequencing, directional language and programming. Children have been introduced to the Bee-Bots and now are able to code Bee-Bots to particular routes on the special Bee-Bot mats.

Kindest Regards,
Mrs Vokolos

YEAR 1

Students have been working hard on their procedure writing this term. They have grasped the purpose of a procedural text and have written a variety of procedures for different purposes including recipes, directions and instructions. They have developed their understanding of verbs and adverbs and practised using these words when writing steps in the correct order. Students consolidated their understanding by making their own pizzas in class which provided an enjoyable and rich learning experience!

Kindest Regards,
Mrs Centofanti

YEAR 2

In Term 2, the Year 2 class hosted two Pre-Service Teachers from UniSA. During their placement, David and Joel made some great observations on how students learn and their individual learning needs. Both Pre-Service teachers delivered mini lessons and supported small groups. The students enjoyed the extra support and it was refreshing to see them bring new ideas into the classroom. The students celebrated the end of their placement with a shared lunch and wrote letters of encouragement. We wish David and Joel very success on their journey towards becoming a teacher.

Kindest Regards,
Ms Villani

YEAR 3

There has been lots of hands-on learning these last few weeks! The children have had so much fun. We’ve been on angle hunts around the school, making a web of acute, obtuse and right angles using string for Maths. In Science, we have been looking at Solids, Liquids and Gases using fruit loops as particles and filming Superhero Drama plays on the iPad! A busy and fun term - NAPLAN feels like a lifetime ago!

Remember to read every night during the holidays and stay up to date with Typing Tournament and Mathletics/Literacy Planet!

Kindest Regards,
Mrs Rees

YEAR 4

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

I hope you have been doing well.

This term has been filled with many fun, exciting and engaging events! In week 7, we had our incursion with Sprout Kitchen and cooked up some lovely Kofta with a salad and yoghurt sauce! Students were thoroughly engaged throughout the activities as it linked with our text type focus in English which is procedure writing. Everyone worked incredibly well in their groups to share tasks, cook and dish up the wonderful meal – which tasted as amazing as it looked!

In week 8, we also celebrated our Annual Qurban Eid Festival. Our class participated by running a bake sale stall and I am so glad to share that we fundraised $160 which will be going towards the Qurban funding. I am extremely proud of everyone’s effort!

Over the holidays, I strongly encourage students to continue reading and practice their timetables. Make sure you take time out to enjoy yourself and have a well-rested and safe holiday!

Kind Regards,
Miss Sawafta

YEAR 5

The year 5’s had an amazing time at the Adelaide Gaol. Let’s hear their experience from one of the students.

Aaya S:

“The year 5 class went on an excursion to the Adelaide Gaol. Our experience was both cool, but also very creepy. We learnt about the people who were put behind bars and the reasons why. We also learnt different types of punishments for different crimes. Along with all this, we were also informed that many people think the jail is haunted, and at the start of the visit, I was beginning to think they were right. They were telling us a lot of creepy stories, involving ghosts and a lot more. They also told us that even kids had been put in that jail for petty crimes. We went into some of the cells that inmates had also been in, where scenes had been set up. There were mannequins, beds, books, and even some words that had been graffitied onto the walls when the jail was in business. Over time, these comments and words became heritage to the old Adelaide Gaol. In HASS, our class had been learning about the convicts of Australia and the reasons why they were sent to all these different jails. Going to this jail really painted some images in our mind about what jail and punishment was like in the 1800-1900’s. Although it was quite scary, it really gave us a cool experience that our class had been waiting for.”

Kind Regards,
Mr Incoll

YEAR 6

Recently the Year 6’s attended an excursion to Adelaide city. They took in the sites and tourist destinations to see first-hand how these could be used as stimuli to present a persuasive discussion on top tourist destinations as part of their persuasive unit. Fun was had by all and I was pleased at the engaging questions and even some reflective links to our HASS unit on the First Fleet’s efforts to colonise Australia prior to Federation.

Kind Regards,
Mr McLean

YEAR 7

For their Humanities excursion, all the Year 7’s went to the Adelaide Museum in week 5 to look at the Ancient Egypt display and the Aboriginal Australian Gallery linking to their first history unit.

“My favourite was the Ancient Egyptian Museum” - Jihan

“I liked the mummies” - Sarah Sabir

“If you like rocks, crystals and minerals, you will find beautiful ones at the SA museum” - Sharlee

Kind regards,
Year 7 teachers and students

YEAR 8

For their Humanities excursion, the Year 8’s went to the Adelaide Himeji Gardens in week 5 which are stunning Japanese gardens on the southern edge of the city. This will link to the ‘Japan’s under the Shoguns’ unit where students learned about ancient Japan and Japanese Samurais. We will walk the gardens and travel to the markets to feast on some Miso soup.

At the end of term 1, we were learning about the life of the Japanese Vikings and life under the Shoguns rules. As we finished this topic, we decided to go on an excursion to physically see how life had been in Japan. We visited the Himeji Garden which was filled with stunning, eye-catching views!! It was an amazing experience. The garden was filled with heart-warming nature plants and Japanese styled equipment. The garden was so peaceful. After this remarkable experience, we walked to Chinatown. We tried out some mouth-watering Japanese food. Seeing this incredible culture makes me want to go there every day :)
- Asmaa

The Gardens were a great link to our topics and a great place to refresh and relax! The markets were a great place to explore and try different things from different cultures, as well as help to build our economic skills.
- Maha

I enjoyed the Himeji Gardens and the Central markets. The tranquility was very much needed. At the markets, I was able to explore and visit (buy from) the many pleasing cafes and bakeries. All the desserts were delicious and I would recommend the small kitchener bun from the Skala Artisan Bakers on Gouger Street.
- Mahliya

In Science, year 8 students attended a spectacular incursion run by Science Alive “The Crazy Colourful Chemistry Show,” on the 8th of June. Year 8 students also continued to conduct more chemistry experiments to investigate “the particle model of different forms of matter” in the class. Thank you Wania and Mesha for assisting during the experiment. Here is some feedback from the students on the science show:

Today an amazing scientist by the name of Nitro Nat, came to our gym and showed us a bunch of chemistry science experiments. We think that everyone enjoyed the fire on her hands the most, but the other experiments were also very enjoyable. We really hope to have more shows as we loved this one so much.
- Zahra year 8

As part of our Chemistry topic in Science, we had an incursion showing various different chemicals and reactions. We also learnt new and interesting terms, such as C 6 H 12 O 6, which is the formula for sugar. This was a fun and new way to start off our topic and improve our science skills!
- Maha year 8

Kind regards,
Year 8 Teachers and students

YEAR 9

The Year 9 class visited the Army Museum of SA and were given tours by military historians and veterans. The students got to explore the artefacts and stories of South Australians who served in World War I, as well as investigate other wars Australia has been involved with.

The Year 9 class also received a visit from Tommy Hicks, the Aboriginal Secondary Education Transition Officer at Urrbrae High School. Tommy shared valuable knowledge with the Year 9 and 10 students about First Peoples culture and history.

Kind regards,
Year 9 Teachers

YEAR 10

As part of the Port Power Intercultural Program, the Year 10 students participated in the Gala Day festival. This was a full day of football and celebration with 12 other schools at the Karen Rolton Oval. The Year 10 students played six rounds of football against other schools, showing good sportsmanship and school spirit as well as wearing a guernsey designed by a Year 10 student, Tasnim Tanisha. The students have also been running craft activities with the primary school students, as part of the Integrated Learning program.

Kind regards,
Year 10 teachers

RELIGION AND VALUES

This term, the Year 8 and 7 classes had an excursion to visit Al-Khalil Mosque where they received a very deep and meaningful lecture about mosque etiquette by Mr. Mahmoud Hassan. They learnt mosque manners like: why we need to take-off shoes, moderate clothing and manners inside the mosque. They also had an open conversation about different topics which students wanted to discuss in depth. Students felt overjoyed for having different experiences that educated them and gave them a different insight into their religion.

Kind Regards,
Mrs Soheir Habib
RV Teacher

LOTE - Arabic

This term, the Year 6 class had an Arabic speaking class project where they had to write and present a letter to the principal requesting something they think the school needs to help improve the school quality.

The Year 4 class also had an Arabic speaking project. The students needed to write a letter to their mother expressing their appreciation and admiration for her.

Kind Regards,

Mrs Soheir Habib
LOTE Teacher

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