30 August 2022

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Dear Parents, Friends and Students,

Welcome to the first newsletter of Term 3.

It has been a great term so far with minimum disturbance. While teaching and learning disruption is a major concern across Australia, in my opinion, Pinnacle College is one of the least affected schools due to having the required steps and precautions in place.

I presume you have already seen some developments at the construction site already. The Steel frame is completed and now the timber work is in progress. We have been putting in strenuous efforts to complete the project by the beginning of next year. In spite of some hiccups, as you all expected, we are still in a reasonable time frame.

Unfortunately, we had to postpone the sports day due to bad weather. It will likely be organised in Term 4 and you will be informed as soon as a date is set with the athletics field.

As a tip from the principal’s section in this newsletter; Please do not forget to ask your child about their school day when you pick them up or meet them at home. Use open-ended questions, such as “What was the best thing you did at school today?” instead of “How was school today?” They won’t be able to get away with a “good or bad” short reply.

Also, please use the suggestion box located at the front office. Any feedback from you is greatly appreciated.

I hope everyone stays healthy and covid free for the weeks ahead of Term 3.

Kind Regards,
Mr Atilla Sinik
Campus Principal

SECONDARY COORDINATOR

Dear Parents,

I am excited to announce that very soon, our Year 7-9 students will be given the opportunity to attend an outdoor adventure camp (school camp)! This will include a 2-night stay at Woodhouse Activity Centre with several exciting activities planned. I have personally observed several examples of students growing in character and skills whilst participating in high school camps. They learn new communication and camping skills, teamwork, leadership, resilience and independence. These events challenge them to look at ideals in new ways, develop preparation skills, positive risk-taking, open-mindedness and tenacity. These skills, while learnt outside of the classroom, are readily transferable back into a student’s academic life. They contribute strongly to positive goal setting, as well as the desire and will to pursue these goals. At Pinnacle College, we aim to develop responsibility in our students, possessing positive behaviour and a high ethical conscience. This camp will enable your child to have the opportunity to widen their view of the world, empowering them to support each other and be productive both now and in the future. Therefore, all students are encouraged to attend. Parent volunteers are also welcome! Please let me know if you are interested. You can contact me at molly.scott@pinnacle.sa.edu.au.

Secondary students will also be partaking in the annual Sports Day at the end of the term. The Year 7-10 girls will combine with the Elizabeth Campus to compete in Athletic events such as shot put, discus, 100m and 200m sprints, high jump, long jump and relay practice. The girls have been practicing these events enthusiastically.

A big thank you to Mr McLean for organising ICAS for the high school students during week 3. I trust the girls went well!

Kind Regards,
Mrs Molly Affolter

JUNIOR PRIMARY CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

Dear Parents,

For SSO week, we celebrated our wonderful SSO’s Mrs Donna and Ms Heidi. All primary teachers and students made lovely cards and posters to say thank you to our SSO’s for all their hard work, continuous support and dedication to ensuring our students succeed and reach their true potential. We are so lucky to have them and we couldn't imagine school without both of them! Thank you!

I would like to inform you that as of Week 8 this term, I will be on maternity leave. I would like to thank you all for the incredible support and strong relationships we have formed throughout my role as Junior Primary Curriculum Coordinator. I have loved visiting all your children in the Junior Primary years and have seen such great progress. I would like to take this opportunity to introduce our new Junior Primary Curriculum Coordinator Mrs Chloe Rees, who will be taking on my role. I would like to wish Chloe all the best with her new role and I am certain that she will continue to do great things for our children in the junior years.

Kind Regards,
Mrs Maria Vokolos

Dear Parents,

I am super excited to begin my new role at Pinnacle College after 6 years of being full time in the classroom. I have big shoes to fill from Maria, as she has done an excellent job of handling all Junior Primary curriculum issues. I am located at the Golden Grove campus, so please don’t hesitate to contact me by email if there is something I can help with! -
chloe.rees@pinnacle.sa.edu.au

Kind Regards,
Mrs Chloe Rees

UPPER PRIMARY CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

It was wonderful to read over so many report comments at the end of Semester 1. It highlighted the way students were building relationships and displaying their strengths. The challenge I have for students now is to reflect on how they can make a positive impact on their learning and interactions with one another. Students need to be accountable for their own learning. Use the feedback they are given to improve their learning, be organised for their lessons and be ready to learn. They must demonstrate cooperation by working productively and positively with others and respecting their peers and the learning environment. With this attitude, students will excel and will be actively participating in lessons. They will strive for better grades and look for challenges in their learning. Let’s work together, to ensure our students inculcate good learning habits and manners so that they can do well at school.

Kind Regards,
Mrs Shalini Moss

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT DEPARTMENT

The Abrahamic Faiths Panel & Noah's Pudding (Ashure)

The Abrahamic Faiths Panel & Noah's Pudding (Ashure) event were held at the Joinery in Adelaide. More than 65 people joined from diverse cultural and faith backgrounds. It was great to see many different faiths and people from different organisations gathering together to meet and discuss our commonalities. The topic for consideration was thought-provoking. A favourite part was also the Kahoot competition and Mr Bekir Pamuk's traditional OUD musical performance which was very entertaining. Invited guests also enjoyed delicious Noah's Pudding and mingled with each other after the event. As a McYESS Platform, we were very happy to be part of these gatherings. A huge 'thank you & appreciation' goes to McYESS Ltd, Multifaith SA, the Abraham Institute and St Peter’s Cathedral.

A Spiritual Diversity

‘When Noah’s Ark came to rest on Mount Ararat in Turkey, Noah’s family celebrated with a special dish according to Abrahamic faiths and traditions. Sharing Noah’s pudding has become a symbolic representation of the unity and essential relationship between people and the creator. Noah’s Pudding, a porridge made of grains and fruit, is traditionally served in the Balkans and Turkey during the month of Muharram, in which the Day of Ashure takes place. The dish is often called “ashure”. It is traditionally made in large quantities to commemorate the ark’s landing and is distributed to friends, relatives, neighbours – by tradition those living within 40 houses from you, according to traditional lore.’

Noah’s Pudding (Ashure) symbolizes different cultures living together peacefully in harmony with preserving original identities. Noah’s pudding can offer us a global metaphor for richness of diversity, dialog of civilizations, democracy, multiculturalism, tolerance, harmony of colours and world peace.

I would like to thank Mrs Serap Sinik, GG/GP PnF Ladies, McYess ladies’ group who made these special puddings and assisted us with organizing Ashure preparation.

Kind Regards,
Dr M Aslan, Community Engagement Manager

FRONT OFFICE NOTICES

Please see the Front Office Noticeboard below.

LIBRARY

Premiers Reading Challenge forms are now due. If you have not returned your PRC forms to the library please do soon. (Please note: Reception, Year 1’s and 2’s, your teacher has returned the forms).

Week 4 has been Science week and the students have had lots of fun discovering science items in the library.

This week we are getting ready for Book Week in the library. It is going to be a very busy week. The theme for this year’s Book Week is ‘Dreaming with Eyes Open’. We ran a competition for Book Week Poster designs. We judged on appropriate images , design and meaning (as it will be used over all three campuses for Book Week). Thank you to all students who entered – we had over 40 wonderful entries!

The winners are:

Syed Ahsan (secondary-EE) and Faria Shikder (primary-EE)

During Book Week, the classes will be decorating their doors in the theme of reading, books or Book Week. During Book week, the costume competition will be on Thursday the 25th of August. We are also excited to announce that an indigenous Australian, Trent Hill, will be talking to the primary students about Artefacts and Dreaming stories on Thursday the 25th of August. Then the following week, we will have ‘Perform Education’ visit the school for a musical interpretation of the Book Week theme.

Keep Reading,
Mrs Lisa Preston
Ms Tammy Skelton

PASTORAL CARE

The Term 3 started with regular Pastoral Care programs such as after school programs and sleepovers. Students enjoyed being involved in different activities: The peer support club, one of those regular activities, focusing on “Being grateful” and making beautiful gratitude jars for students to keep. The Weekly Sleepover programs for Year 8 and 10 students have been initiated to support students academically and develop their self-esteem and responsibility while socialising with peers.

The Year 7 students at the Golden Grove campus enjoyed their PC sessions participating in various activities for the first 3 weeks including sports and cooking. During these sessions, students also have weekly PC discussions reflecting on the importance of friendship. Our PC programs also allow the opportunity for students to socialise, build bonds with their friends and have a relaxing and productive time.

Kind Regards,
Pastoral Care Team

ART CLUB

It has been great to see so many students join the Art Club for this semester. We have started the term looking at modelling skills. Students have created colourful pencil toppers and charms using Bright Super Clay. I have seen some amazing creations so far!

Kind regards,
Mrs Jocelyn Mungall
Art Teacher

STEM CLUB

Students were asked to design and 3D print a maze that can be used with a 3mm ball bearing. Students are using Makers Empire's Blocker Module to design their maze in 3D and with each maze taking 1 hour and 30 minutes (roughly) to print, this will take some time to print them all. Once completed, the students will challenge each other to solve their maze puzzles and evaluate their designs. Who has made the trickiest maze? Why? What has worked well? What could make the maze more successful? More fun or trickier?

Kind regards,
Mr John Incoll

WRITING CLUB

The Doki Doki Literature Club (DDLC) is a secondary student writing club who meet weekly to plan the publication of a collection of their creative writing at the end of this year. The club has begun planning the collection theme and allocating various club member roles and responsibilities. Soon, the writing will begin!

Kind regards,

Dr Liz Allan

BOOK CLUB

The Pinnacle College Book Club is a secondary student book club who meet weekly to plan activities and share their love of books. For Book Week, club members run book-themed cupcake stalls, and bookmark decorating stalls. Students loved choosing their favourite book themed cakes and decorating their own bookmarks!

Kind regards,
Dr Liz Allan

PHYSICAL EDUCATION -PRIMARY

Primary Physical Education is super busy this term with lots of preparation for our Sports Day! We have had Greg from Speed, Sport and Fitness teaching our Grade 4, 5 and 6 classes about athletics events, including running, relay baton changeovers, shot put and discus. See how motivated our students are! Our lower primary classes have still been preparing in their lessons and practicing their throwing, catching and basketball skills. Unfortunately, our Sports Day had to be postponed due to wet weather. It will be held early in Term 4. Our Grade 5 and 6 girls competed in the Bachar Houli Cup competition, they won several of their games. Special mentions to Aya Ismail, Aya Hamada and Malak Abd El Latif who played very well on the day.

Kind regards,
Ms Sarah Watkins

PHYSICAL EDUCATION-SECONDARY

Students in secondary classes have been practicing athletic events in preparation for their Sports Day which will take place in Term 4 at the Bridgestone Athletics Centre. Several secondary students in Year 7 and 8 also competed in the Bachar Houli Cup - our girls won the competition and were undefeated all day! Congratulations to those who competed. A special mention to our captain Jihan, and Mashair who was voted second best player of the tournament. This term we have had two school sport SA competitions: Basketball and Badminton. Our Basketball students had a lot of tough competition but they greatly increased their skills and gained some experience playing basketball matches. Our badminton teams won several games, including Zoha and Mahliya, who were undefeated in their pairing.

Kind regards,
Miss Bridget Andrews

SECONDARY SCIENCE

SCIENCE WEEK

Last week Golden Grove primary students had the opportunity to experiment and explore with a variety of science experiments and demonstrations run by a group of Year 8 & 9 students. They did a fantastic job and all students were amazed with the results!

It gave an opportunity for the Year 8 & 9 students to explain the different chemical reactions that occurred and answer younger students’ questions. They will make wonderful scientists one day!

‘All students from foundation through ninth grade, had the chance to participate in Science Week. It has a fantastic connection to every subject we have studied. Numerous classes joined us as we observed and taught them science experiments and other educational activities. This was so much fun and a fantastic way for everyone to sharpen their scientific abilities.’- Ayman Sabir Year 8

‘For science week at Golden Grove, we experimented with different things like plasma and chemical reactions. We got to witness things like 'elephants toothpaste', and balloons inflating without being blown into. There was also a fun competition where we could see who put in the human body organs the quickest, as well as many other fun experiments. The best part was all the experiments had explanations as to why they happened.’ - Maha Year 8

‘Last week some students were chosen to demonstrate science experiments. I was picked along with others. Zeenat and I did an egg experiment. The experiment revolved around air pressure and how it changed with heat. It was an amazing experience!’ -Wania Year 8

Kind Regards,
Mrs Ayse Aslan

PRIMARY CLASSES

FOUNDATION

I cannot believe that we are already half way through Foundation. I am extremely proud of all the children in my class as we have seen lots of progress since the beginning of the year. We have started the term with many learning experiences in all areas of the curriculum.

In Design and Technology, children have been learning about community vehicles. They have learnt how to distinguish between an ambulance, fire engine and police car. Once children had a solid understanding of the design and colours of all three vehicles, they then were able to begin their assessment. Children worked in groups to create a two-dimensional version of their community vehicle. Once completed the children were able to create a three dimensional version of their vehicle. The children were engaged during the designing and making process. We hope you like our emergency vehicles.

I would like to introduce Miss Amy, who will be taking over my Foundation class due my maternity leave. Miss Amy has been with us for the entire term and has developed such positive relationships with all the children. Miss Amy is loving every aspect of our classroom life and she is looking forward to working with you all from week 8.

Kindest Regards,
Mrs Vokolos

YEAR 1

In Year 1, students have been learning about the different modes of transport as well as comparing the differences and similarities between transportation systems and vehicles from the past to the present. Students had the opportunity to visit the Maritime, Railway and Aviation museums which consolidated their understanding of how we use transport and how it has changed from the past to the present. Students had so much fun exploring ships, walking on aeroplanes and taking a ride on a train! Definitely an unforgettable excursion!

Kindest Regards,
Mrs Centofanti

YEAR 2

The Year 2 students are busy writing their own narratives in English. We have been exploring character descriptions using the five senses, learning about similes and rewriting the start of familiar stories to begin with a BANG! Over the next few weeks, students will publish their individual stories and convert them to a digital format for others to enjoy.

In Maths, the students have been learning how to count collections of coins and show different ways of making given amounts. We have also been playing a range of money games, including Snap and Bingo to help us learn the importance of following rules, taking turns and attending to others.

Kindest Regards,
Ms Villani

YEAR 3

We have kicked Year 3 off with such a big force that we have been thrown into outer space!! For Science, we have been exploring the Sun, Moon and Earth and looked into the reasons we have day and night. The students went to the Planetarium where we took a trip to the moon and looked at different constellations of stars. Tied into Art, we studied Van Gogh and used oil pastels to recreate his famous Starry Night artwork. In English, we have been learning more about Poetry - looking at different poetic devices and techniques to better our Cinquain and Haiku writing.

Maths has been lots of fun as we have been learning times tables. We have looked at lots of different strategies such as the Split Strategy and Grid Method for multiplication and played many Around the World and Bang Bang games to learn our times tables. I am sure we are all happy to have a break from it for a few weeks! We challenged Miss S and the Year 4s to a Times Tables Bee. A very big well done to everyone who participated and the winners, Elrayah Y3, Manha Y4 and Armaan Y3.

Kindest Regards,
Mrs Rees

YEAR 4

Dear Parents/Caregivers,

We went to a forensic science incursion for National Science Week. As a class we looked at different fingerprints and looked at our own fingerprints as well. In groups, we participated in solving a crime investigation. There was a fallen chair and table and we had to search for evidence to figure out what happened at the crime scene. We matched the clues, fingerprints and DNA to see who committed the crime. We really enjoyed the experience and the crime investigation was very engaging!
– Muskaan & Vulcan Year 4

Kind Regards,
Miss Sawafta

YEAR 5

I can’t believe we are already in week 5. We have had a very busy start to the term; we’ve had an excursion to the Planetarium, an awesome Forensic Incursion, a Soccer Clinic with professional soccer player, Emily Hodgson (thank you Ahmed El Haj), as well as preparing for the End of Year Concert. All while maintaining an extremely high level of focus in the classroom. Well done Year 5’s.

I have seen a very settled group of students this term; a big thank you goes out to you, the family of these amazing Year 5’s. The little things you do with them when they get home from school and before they come to school each morning have a big impact on their focus throughout the day. As we are moving into the assessment part of the term, maintained focus will be essential.

Warm Regards,
Mr Incoll

YEAR 6

Students are currently learning how to take their persuasive skills to the next level as they join forces with other students to create debate groups. Students utilise the Debating SA Structure and unpack statements to understand the variety of opinions that can form around a topic. Next students carefully select evidence and persuasive devices to enrich their points and convince the audience that their point of view is the most logical. The Year 6s also recently took part in Jeans for Genes Day where they raised a lot of money for a needy cause. Great effort students!

Kind Regards,
Mr McLean

SECONDARY CLASSES

YEAR 7

The Year 7 students have been learning film techniques this term as part of their Brave film study. Students have been perfecting their own film techniques by using the iPads to film around the school grounds. Students have also been enthusiastically planning and designing their designs for the Book Week door competition.

Kind regards,
Year 7 Teachers

YEAR 8

It was an adventurous couple of weeks in the Year 8 science class at the Golden Grove campus. Incorporating technology working as a 16th-century scientist and recording their observations and data, gave them the opportunity to experiment with their tools to finish the scientific report in groups. Students also examined and researched different elements and compounds with their classmates.

Kind Regards,
Mrs Ayse Aslan and Year 8 students

YEAR 9

These past few weeks have been very academically productive for the Year 9 class. The students have been enjoying their English text, and decorated their door to match the theme of the book with enthusiasm. In Science, students explored the transfer of energy using waves and measured the wavelength of specific sound frequencies using toilet paper rolls. They also actively participated in their weekly mentoring sessions with junior students, and provided consistent support to the Science Week activities day. We are very proud of their dedication to their studies and activities these past few weeks!

Kind regards,
Year 9 Teachers

YEAR 10

The Year 10 students visited Elizabeth East campus for a SACE information session. The session informed students of the range of subjects available for them to study in Year 11 and 12. It also provided them with important information about their future career and study prospects.

Kind regards,
Year 10 Teachers

LANGUAGES AND RELIGION

RELIGION AND VALUES

This term the Religion and Values topics for each year level is all about “Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) and his sacred life” Students have opportunity to learn details and interesting stories about Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) . Lower primary students enjoyed learning the family tree and the childhood years of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).

Kind Regards,
Mrs Gulsum Altunkopru
RV Teacher

LOTE - Turkish

Dear Parents,

My name is Serap Sinik and I am the new Turkish teacher.

The Year 1 students including Dana, Abdukuddus, Elirose, Aleena, Arken , Muslima and Sevde are learning the colours “Renkler” in Turkish. Our next topic is body parts “vucudumuz”.

With my Year 2 and 3 LOTE students, we are studying (dersler ,muzik, resim, matematik vs) in Turkish.

I hope my students love the Turkish language and learn more in the second half of the term.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me!

Warm Regards,
Mrs Serap Sinik
LOTE Teacher

LOTE - Arabic

Dear Parents,

It is a busy term for the Arabic department. We are already in week 4 and a lot of exciting events are taking place. There is the Book week parade but most importantly Arabic students are working hard on their projects. The Year 2 and 3 students are learning about fruits and working on a project to present their favourite fruit, hence building their conversation skills in Arabic.

Warm Regards,
Mrs Soheir Habib
Mrs Rasha Tabet
LOTE Teachers

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