30 September 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 2nd newsletter of Term 3. Again in this edition of the Pinnacle College newsletter, we will be sharing our students’ amazing works in/out of their classrooms and their learning experiences throughout the last several weeks.

As an example of this vibrant school life at Pinnacle College, I would like to proudly mention our students’ involvement in the “Future You Exhibition” which is organised by the Tea Tree Gully council and will be displayed at Gallery 1855. The exhibition of Artworks is reflective of how students see themselves in years to come: their family’s future, our City’s future, nature’s future or our planet’s future and will be open from the 5th of October until the 5th of November. The art centre contains artistic works of more than 80 students from Pinnacle College, Pedare College, The Heights and Torrens Valley Christian schools. I personally visited the gallery and our students' works made me extremely proud. They have demonstrated their art skills beyond my expectations and made me question myself if we are really doing everything we can to give them the opportunities to bring out their full potential. This exhibition has been an eye-opening experience for me and I would like to see more involvement from our students on many other platforms where possible.

I also would like to take this opportunity to thank our art teacher Mrs Mungall for her hard work and dedication to this initiative. Her passion for Arts provides many opportunities for the Pinnacle students and we are very lucky to have such an inspiring teacher.

Lastly, I wish everyone a refreshing and relaxing holiday.

Looking forward to seeing you all in term 4.

Kind Regards,

Kind Regards,
Mr Atilla Sinik
Campus Principal

PRIMARY COORDINATOR

Dear students, Parents and Caregivers,

We are nearing the end of term three, which has been jam-packed with activities and events, in which we all participated and enjoyed ourselves as staff, students, and families. Here are some highlights from some of these activities:

• Our Tournament of Mind team proudly competes against 25 other schools, and one of the teams received honor medals.
• Students had a great time in the Book Week parade and the door decoration competition.

• Our children also participated in the PGT and had a wonderful time exhibiting their talents.
• R U Ok day, our students learnt how to communicate their emotions, support one another, and demonstrate empathy for others.
• Children University students are working hard to complete their hours; the last day of activities is on the last day of Term three holidays, and graduation will be held on Monday, November 7, 2022.
• Year 5 girls are running a Chemistry Club this term, demonstrating their duties and excellent leadership abilities.
• Proudl, our children went on a behaviour excursion, and they had a great time. Congratulations to everyone who participated, and keep it up.

I'd also like to add a couple more reminders:

• Please ensure that your children arrive on time and in formal uniform.
• Due to the high number of children requesting early leave, we respectfully request that you notify the office in advance if your kid needs to leave early for an appointment. We understand that appointments must be made, but we would prefer to keep the disturbance to daily learning to a minimum.
• To minimise wasting students' study time, it would be appreciated if parents could assist their children in preparing lunch orders.

Finally, I hope everyone, families, students, and staff have a calm, relaxing, happy, and enjoyable holiday as we all deserve it.

Kind Regards,
Ola Abdelmonem

UPPER PRIMARY CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a professional development session on Technology in the Curriculum. I would like to share with you some of the key points that were discussed regarding technologies at home.

Learning Technologies can bring many benefits to the early years of education. Used purposefully, these tools give our young learners new means of self-expression and ways to explore and make sense of the world around them. That’s not to say that by providing technology to students our work as educators or families is done. Teaching and guiding appropriate use is still essential and requires constant work and reflection to ensure that children use the technology appropriately and in ways that enrich their learning and leisure experiences.Here are some points on how you can help your child navigate technology.

Be actively present

By playing or viewing with your child, you can ensure that content is appropriate and models good use of technology. This also allows you to turn solitary play into a social, relationship-building experience which lays the foundations for open dialogue about technology use and digital citizenship.

Be informed about the content that your child is accessing

The website commonsensemedia.org has excellent reviews of a vast range of apps and other digital content which can be helpful when deciding what is appropriate, although viewing first-hand is always recommended. Being aware of elements such as micro-transactions or messaging is important when filtering content for young children (and indeed older ones) who are not yet able to think critically about the content they are accessing.

Support your child in transitioning from a technology activity

For younger children who are still building the skill of self-regulation, being asked to stop abruptly in the middle of a game, episode or activity can be challenging. A five-minute warning and support in transitioning to a different fun or interesting activity will help them to build their ability to cope with change.

Be clear and consistent with rules

A simple family technology plan with clear, consistent rules can help to minimise struggles around technology. When every member of the family has their own set of rules to follow, this helps children to develop healthy and positive habits and to understand that they aren’t being singled out.

Avoid using screen time as a reward

It’s all too easy to use extra screen time as a reward or remove it as a sanction. This can reinforce technology as a high-value commodity, which can lead to less desirable behaviours.

Kind Regards,
Shalini Moss

LIBRARY

Book Week was a huge success. Thanks to all classes that participated in the door decorations, reading and promoting the shortlisted books. We had Trent Hill visit to tell us indigenous dreaming stories. We welcomed Perform Education and Story Quest as a special event.

Book Cup was a great success. This was a competition between the campuses for years 4,5,and 6. They had to read 5 books and got quizzed about them. The winner was a tie between one team from Golden Grove and one team from Gilles Plains. I hope the year 4-5s from this year look forward to doing it next year.

The holidays are coming up and it may be cold and wet. It is a great time to read some books. We would love to have reviews of books already in the library and/or recommendations for new books.

It has been a hard term on books this term – the library has had MANY books returned damaged and no longer usable. We do charge families for damaged books. Please take care of all the books. We also have had LOTS of overdue books this term. Students can NOT borrow any books if they have overdues books.

There are lots of fun activities available for school aged children the the PAE Libraries and Light Centre…check them out from the link below.

A reminder – week 6 next term is the LAST week to borrow books for the year. We need all library books returned by the end of term 4.

Mrs Lisa Preston
Librarian
Keep reading..

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Community Engagement Sydney Trip- Parents Reflections

Parents Sydney's trip with Pinnacle College was really fascinating, amazing and full of enjoyment! Discovering the world through different eyes and understanding the needs of a different community, is an important step to make. We could see how the Sydney sister college (Amity College) community is investing so much effort in keeping up with new ideas and serving their own community. This visit had a big impact on us as parents. Understanding how important it is we as parents, are to our community and building enough awareness about this, was one of the top benefits that we gained from our visit.

Thank you Pinnacle College and its sister school (Amity College), for creating very beautiful memories. We had good company, a pleasant and fully prepared program and well-organised arrangements

Dr Haneen Alalami

The trip to Sydney, that was organised by the parents community Engagement team at Pinnacle College, was a great journey, one with lots of memories. It was an amazing opportunity for us parents to visit the beautiful Blue Mountains, the city of Sydney, the scenic world and of course Amity College. It was really exciting to meet everyone at the school and the school grounds were absolutely stunning. Everyone was super kind and we received many welcoming gifts. We were also lucky enough to visit new mosques in Sydney, where we were all able to pray together. The trip was a nice way for the parents from Pinnacle College, to be able to extend our relationships to the amazing community in Sydney. The trip was well- organised and it will be one to remember.

Mrs Ratna

SCHOOL EVENTS & SRC

The end of Term 4 has come with some wonderful events to mention.

Our school Tournament of Minds teams competed in the State Tournament Day at Adelaide High School on Sunday 11th September. Well done to our two STEM Challenge Teams.

Congratulations to

Team 1: Amr Chama, Hisham Chama, Gabriel Shabbar, Shubbar Shabbar, Ansab Sikandar, and Abdul-Rehman Sikandar

Team 2: Ula Al-Hadad, Hajar Al Gweied, Zunairah Habeeb, Adib Kamal, and Aaizah Najeeb

Also, an extra special well done to our Language Literature Team, being awarded Honours.

Congratulations to

Team 3: Salima Anwar, Maysa Arkawazi, Leah El-Maryati, Zarin Tasnim, Sameeha Tazmeen, and Maham Usman

Our final event and fundraiser for Term 3 is our SuperHero Day on Friday 30th September.

Have a wonderful holiday and see you back for Term 4 in October.

Upcoming Dates to Remember:

Mrs Sandra Holland

SCHOOL COUNSELLOR

Dear Parent and Guardians,

Dear Parents,

I hope you are all doing well and looking forward to the holiday break. This term we celebrated R U OK day at both Golden Grove and Gilles Plains. R U OK day is a day dedicated to reminding everyone that every day is the day to ask, 'are you OK?' and support those struggling with life's ups and downs. This R U OK day we focused on the importance of support from family, friends, professionals and those around us. Those around us might notice that we are struggling, it's important to start the conversation and encourage each other to speak up. When we have a great support network we can get through difficult times.

Zina Almufti

Art Club

It has been another fun semester in the Art Club. We have experimented with modeling, scratch art and painting and created some amazing arts and crafts. We have also created slime and explored some modelling vocabulary.

FOUNDATION

Dear Families,

Term 3 has passed by so quickly but the memories and experiences will last a lifetime!

Enjoy the holidays and remember to keep reading over the break because …

“The more that you read, the more things you will know, the more that you learn, the more places you will go”!

Have a safe and restful break and I look forward to seeing you all in Term 4!

Kind Regards
Miss Kiya Norris

YEAR 1

And another term flies by…. Students have thoroughly enjoyed this term, learning about the different transportation systems, healthy eating, making a claymation and have showcased their gymnastics skills in a very smooth manner.

Thank you parents for all your efforts and support this term and over the holidays, please continue to explore with your child….. the wonderful adventure of reading!

Kind regards,
Ms Victoria Mackowiak

YEAR 2

As Term 3 comes to a close, it is so wonderful to see the Year 2 class having fun with their learning. Students thoroughly enjoyed learning all about national parks in HaSS and how different materials can be combined for different purposes. The recreation of an oil spill and clean up was certainly a highlight for the class! We also had a wonderful time celebrating book week with our fantastic door creation and wonderful costumes. Have a great holiday and looking forward to seeing you back for an exciting and busy Term 4!

Mrs Sandra Holland

YEAR 3

Dear Families,

What a wonderful term it has been. We have had so many exciting events and learning experiences, from our Planetarium Excursion, to celebrating book week! The students have worked so hard this term and now it’s time to rest and recharge. Don’t forget to keep up with your daily reading and homework activities during the break, but most importantly; have a relaxing holiday with your friends and families!

Kind regards,
Miss Kerry Apergis

YEAR 4

Dear Parents,

How quickly this term has passed. We have completed most of our assignments and are looking forward to watching Matilda on screen so as to do a comparison between the book and the movie. During the holidays, students will receive Holiday homework to revise what they have learnt in Term 3. Fractions and decimals is an area of concern. As of next term, students will bring home past year NAPLAN papers for homework.

Thank you for your continued support and I look forward to seeing you all after the holidays.

Stay safe.

Kind regards,
Shalini Moss

YEAR 5

Dear Families,

In the blink of an eye, we’ve wrapped up another successful term. Term 3 has been by far the busiest, but also the most enjoyable, particularly in English, where we wrote film and book reviews. We also partook in Book Week activities, with some happy snaps pictured below.

Kind regards,
Ms Mubarak Ashimajy

YEAR 6

Dear Parents and Carers

Another term is nearly done, and so much great learning has been achieved. We've built earthquake resistant structures in our STEM lessons and debated several thought provoking topics in English. We won first prize in the GP Book Week door competition and pushed towards a brighter future producing posters to change the world for the better.

Now we set our sights on a big term 4 as we prepare for high school next year.

Kind regards,
Mr Peter Sowerbutts

LOTE - Arabic

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

This Term is nearing the end. We had a lot of activities and hands-on projects in Arabic classes.

Year 2 and 3, we learn about animals and students made their own zoos, farms and see animals, they really enjoy present their work to class.

In years 4 and 5, we learn about families and students present their family trees to the class.

I'd like to thank all of the parents for your unending support and efforts. And best wishes for a happy Holiday.

Warm regards
Mrs Ola Abdelmonem

LOTE - Turkish

Merhaba everyone!

In Term 3, Turkish students enjoyed learning about diverse and interesting topics and skills including spelling, listening, vocabulary and translating words and phrases from English into Turkish.

Year 1 Turkish class has learned about colours and body parts, while year 2 and 3 is studying new vocabulary and phrases related to school subjects and jobs. Year 4 and 5 Turkish class has engaged in learning about family, time, daily routines and food and drink in Turkish.

Warm regards
Mr Ahmet Sonmez

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