30 September 2022
Newsletter Articles
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE
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,
Mr Atilla Sinik
Campus Principal
SECONDARY COORDINATOR
Wow! It has been a busy few weeks for our Secondary students. Just some of our major events this term included:
- Woodhouse Camp - During week 7, many of the Year 7-9 girls attended the Woodhouse Activity Centre where we took part in several outdoor activities. These included the Tube slide, Challenge Hill, Hike along the Heysen trail (when we found it), The Labyrinth (giant maze), Cam’s climb (rock climbing), orienteering and a survivor challenge where the students made huts and started small fires, which we then gathered around and roasted marshmallows. It was a wonderful few days and it also provided the opportunity for students to work on team building and developing their self confidence.
- Secondary Sports Day - What a day we had! The new Bridgestone athletics stadium was a brilliant location and the sun was shining throughout the entire day. Congratulations to Torrens Dragons for winning the Athletics trophy and Angus for winning the Spirit trophy, very well deserved. Congratulations to all event winners and to everyone for having a go at the events! It was great to see everyone encouraging and supporting each other. Go Torrens!
- STEM Incursion - During week 8, UniSA STEM Education team visited our Golden Grove Campus. The Year 7-8 girls undertook the mini-mayhem workshop. The Year 9-10 girls undertook a harmonic springs workshop. The students were engaged in the program and enjoyed the challenging activities. A huge thank you to Mehmet, Genine, Ayse, Raza, Alparslan and Atilla for assisting in the planning and preparations of these workshops.
- The top 30 behaviour students will also be going ice skating in week 10 as their reward for their excellent behaviour during Semester 1. I am looking forward to a great day out with the students.
Please ensure students are arriving at school with the correct uniform and no additional jackets. The weather is heating up so additional clothing will not be necessary. If your child is cold in her HPE (Sports) uniform, please encourage her to wear layers underneath. Thank you for your cooperation.
Please also continue to support your child with staying on top of their studies as we near the end of the term and final assessment submissions. Remember to check in with them! Student wellbeing is at the forefront of their education and this time of year can be challenging for many.
Kind Regards,
Mrs Molly Affolter
PRIMARY COORDINATOR
Wellbeing is an important aspect of a child’s development but it can often play second fiddle to the rigmarole of daily life and the tasks that are present at any moment. Students, as well as staff, can become so focused on the next assessment, lesson or due date, that we can forget the human component. Students often speak of pressure, stress and an overwhelming schedule – particularly in recent times – but we do not always emphasise strategies to alleviate these ailments.
The Year 6’s and I have begun a weekly program that we aim to increase throughout the year and in time, encourage other year levels to adopt where possible. As a school we are investigating possible opportunities to collaborate with businesses who provide wellbeing programs to strengthen the resilience and peace of mind in all our students and staff.
In my reading, it is evident through multiple sources of research that humans, by design, register negative experiences more readily and for longer periods of time than positive stimuli. This is known as the negativity bias.
Our aim, is through taking part in semi-frequent activities and returning to them to develop our skills, we can slowly move this negativity bias to help us appreciate what we have, rather than have not, and when we encounter negative stimuli, we are equipped to deal with them and move on in a healthy manner.
One such activity we have been working on is a reflection of gratitude:
- What are three things you are grateful for today?
- What are you looking forward to tomorrow, or at a later date, that will fill you with gratitude?
I encourage you to give this a try. Leading by example to my students, I have been doing this daily and I feel a positive change. Personally, I find it rewarding to complete at the finish of my work day before I arrive home to my family.
As students have only just begun, their awareness of improvement is only beginning and we hope over the coming weeks, they can see in themselves such a positive growth.
Thank you.
Kind Regards,
Mr Myles Mclean
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,
Mrs Shalini Moss
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT DEPARTMENT
Community Engagement Sydney Trip
The Parents Sydney 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 community (Amity College) , is investing so much effort into keeping up with new ideas and serving their own community. This visit had a big impact on us as parents. Understanding how important we are as parents to our community and building enough awareness about this, was one of the top benefits that we gained from this visit.
Thank you Pinnacle College and its sister school, Amity College, for creating beautiful memories. We had good company and a fully prepared program with well-organised arrangements. -Dr Haneen Alalami
The Sydney trip which was organised by the parents community engagement committee at Pinnacle College, was a great journey with many memories. It was an amazing opportunity for us parents to visit the beautiful blue mountains, the city of Sydney 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 the new mosques in Sydney where we all were able to pray together. The trip was a nice way for the parents from Pinnacle 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 (Parent)
Kind Regards,
Dr M Aslan, Community Engagement Manager
SCHOOL COUNSELLOR
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.
Also at GG, our secondary students have started working towards market day during our wellbeing lessons. Market day is an initiative started by Mr Saad where students will create their own stall and sell their products on Market Day. This initiative will help students develop life skills and enhance social and emotional wellbeing through skills used throughout planning and implementation. It's very exciting to see what our students will deliver.
Kind Regards,
Miss Zina Almufti
FRONT OFFICE NOTICES
Please see the Front Office Noticeboard below.
LIBRARY
Book Week was a huge success. Thank you to all classes that participated in the door decorations, reading many books and promoting the shortlisted books. We had the opportunity to listen to Trent Hill who shared many indigenous dreamtime stories. We welcomed Perform Education and Story Quest as a special event.
Book Cup was a great success. This was a competition between all campuses for the Year 4,5,and 6’s. They had to read 5 books and get quizzed about them. At the end, there was a draw between one team from Golden Grove and one team from Gilles Plains. I hope the Year 4-5’s 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 a lot of fun activities over the break at the local library. Check out the activities from the link below.
https://www.teatreegully.sa.gov.au/Events-programs-and-activities/School-holiday-program
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.
Keep Reading,
Mrs Lisa Preston
Ms Tammy Skelton
Premier's Reading Challenge Secondary Competition 2022
Congratulations to the 10 winners of our Premier's Reading Challenge Competition:
Medina Yousuf Russell
Sharlee Jarmyn
Joudi Babaa
Namariq Elrayah
Shaharin Cholakkalakth
Mashaier Adam
Wasifa Suha
Zahra Zaidi
Amina Allouche
Nuralhuda Almsater
These students will be going on an excursion to Latitude Friday Week 9 as a reward for reading the most books. A total of 1,435 books were read by Year 7-9 girls as part of the Premiers Reading Challenge competition: an outstanding effort by all participants!
Kind regards,
Dr Liz Allan
PASTORAL CARE
During this term in Pastoral Care, we commenced with our regular programs. In Week 9, one of our 2017 graduates visited a Pastoral Care session to talk about her journey as a uni student and her interesting experience in her workplace as an occupational therapist. We would like to thank Mutia for her time and her beneficial session during pastoral care!
Kind Regards,
Pastoral Care Team
LUNCHTIME CLUBS
ART CLUB
Art Club has been busy the last few weeks. We have been creating scratch art, painting, sculpting and looking at modelling terminology with slime. The Senior Art Club has been busy learning textile skills. We have been creating some wonderful embroidery.
Some of our senior Art students will be taking part in a Local school’s exhibition at Gallery 1855. The exhibition will run from the 29th of September to the 5th of November.
Kind regards,
Mrs Jocelyn Mungall
Art Teacher
STEM CLUB
In STEM Club, we have been very busy printing the rest of the students' mazes. As shown in the image, we have seen what can happen when the 3D Printer prints incorrectly. As each maze takes a minimum of 1 hour and 30 minutes to complete, this has been a slow process. We hope to have them all printed by the end of term.
Kind regards,
Mr John Incoll
WRITING CLUB (DDLC)
The Doki Doki Literature Club has been hard at work creating stories and artworks for the collection they will be publishing in Term 4.
Kind regards,
Dr Liz Allan
BOOK CLUB (PCBC)
The Pinnacle College Book Club has started reading their first book, The Midnight Library, by Matt Haig. A review will be coming soon! The PCBC has also begun planning their design for their library notice board.
Kind regards,
Dr Liz Allan
PRIMARY CLASSES
FOUNDATION
In Foundation this term, we have been learning to write recounts! The students have been using the 5 W’s (what, when, where, who, why) to tell a reader about their weekend. They have come a long way in their writing and have developed further independence when working on sentences. Next term, we will be looking at making our sentences more exciting!
On Friday afternoons, we do creative play, in which the students construct their own play. The students are developing a range of skills throughout this time, while having fun! They have been working collaboratively to build castles and towers, developing their fine motor skills through beading, playdough and craft and developing their literacy and drawing through bookmaking tasks. They are really enjoying themselves and learning a lot.
Play is the highest form of research- Albert Einstein
Kindest Regards,
Miss Amy
YEAR 1
Students in the Year 1 class have been busy creating their Show and Tell projects on transport! They were required to make a transport system using recyclable materials and answer questions including what type of transport is in their system? What workers are needed? What would happen if they didn't do their job? What natural, constructed and managed features are in their system? How has their transport system and transport changed overtime?
This provided students with the opportunity to practice looking at an audience, projecting their voice and presenting their information confidently and clearly. I was very proud of all students’ efforts! :)
Kindest Regards,
Mrs Centofanti
YEAR 2
This term the Year 2 students have been exploring materials, their properties and their purposes. We examined and pulled apart face masks to reveal the many layers and parts that help keep us safe from particles. Then we applied this knowledge to make our own face masks using everyday household materials. To conclude the unit of work, we had a special mission to clean up an oil spill from the Pacific Ocean. The students worked in collaborative teams to explore the best material to absorb the spill and clean up the oil substance. All students thoroughly enjoyed their experience as Environmental Warriors and working together to protect our marine parks and oceans.
Kindest Regards,
Ms Villani
YEAR 3
We have been busy with lots of hands-on lessons in class this term. Students have been weighing objects in Maths using pan-balances, finishing off our Day and Night Dioramas in Science/Tech and learning to play ‘Mary Had A Little Lamb’ on the recorder. Procedure Writing has been delicious! From Vegemite Sandwiches to Cheese and Tomato Pizzas, we have been exploring the use of Imperative Verbs and descriptive adverbs in our writing.
Kindest Regards,
Mrs Rees
YEAR 4
Dear Parents,
I hope you are doing well. This term has gone by so quickly!
In Science, we have been learning about Rocks and Soils. As part of our excursion, we visited the Barossa Goldfields and learnt about panning gold, gold mines and adventures through the museum to see different rock types. It has been fascinating learning about the rock cycle, different forms of soil and exploring through seeing different types of rocks and minerals. In HASS, students completed a digital research poster on the First Fleet covering topics about life on board, the convicts, indigenous Australians’ perspectives and famous explorers.
Over the holidays students are encouraged to complete their NAPLAN practice homework and continue with their reading logs.
I hope you all have a safe, blessed and enjoyable time together.
Kind Regards,
Miss Sawafta
YEAR 5
In year 5, we have been all systems go! With assessments. As we are nearing the end of the term, so are many of our subjects. Students had a short amount of time to complete a big HASS and Science project. So if you saw your son or daughter working tirelessly at home on these projects, that is because they wanted to make one final effort at either solidifying or getting those grades up. We had a very busy end to the term with projects, presentations, investigations and many tests and assessments. We are very much looking forward to a well-earned holiday.
Over the holidays, there is an expectation that students complete the holiday homework set. I hope you all have a safe and wonderful holiday.
Warm Regards,
Mr Incoll
YEAR 6
In Year 6, students have completed a series of debate topics where they have experienced all speaker roles and their associated expectations and worked with a variety of students, drawing from their strengths and supporting their learning needs. As students have become competent in unpacking a concept and coupling evidence with their points of view, they have shown they are ready to tackle their final major assessment where they will debate their position against fellow classmates. Good luck students!
In STEM, students put their skills to the test whereby they designed an earthquake-resistant structure within a defined budget. Almost all students were successful and we were all surprised at how even some structures that didn’t seem capable were able to resist the earthquake for the pre-set time. Amazing work students!
Kind Regards,
Mr McLean
PRIMARY PHYSICAL EDUCATION
This term Foundation students were lucky enough to have Miss Andrew’s Year 10 class facilitate coaching sessions. The Year 10 girls planned activities to help Foundation work on their throwing and catching skills. The children thoroughly enjoyed having our helpers and were smiling the whole time!
Kind regards,
Ms Sarah Watkins
SECONDARY CLASSES
YEAR 7
The Year 7’s have been writing and studying poetry as part of their English poetry unit. The students have enjoyed studying song lyrics from contemporary artists, as well as analysing a variety of traditional and contemporary poetry.
Many of the year 7 students had a wonderful time at the Woodhouse activity Centre for our Secondary School Camp! Check out the photos below!
Kind regards,
Year 7 Teachers
YEAR 8
In Religion and Values, we have all created and planned informative and fun presentations based on various stories. From the migration of Medina (Hijrah) to the farewell Hajj. To make our presentations more interesting and inclusive, we have created brochures, Kahoots, word searches, videos and more.
- Meryem Year 8 student
During R.V, we learnt about the life of our Prophet Muhammed, (s.a.w), the battles and migrations that occurred, and the sahaba (r.a). To summarise what we learnt, each chapter was covered by a group, and was presented to the class. Presentations included; videos, PowerPoints, word searches, brochures and Kahoots. As part of memorization, we learnt about the meanings of the surahs we were memorizing.
- Maha Year 8 student
The Year 8 girls were an exemplary group at camp at Woodhouse! They took part in challenge hill, tube slide, adventure activities and survivor challenges! Everyone had a great time!
Kind Regards,
Year 8 teachers
YEAR 9
Some of our Year 9 girls went to Woodhouse and took part in several enjoyable adventure activities. This included Challenge Hill, a hike to the local conservation park, tube slide and a survivor challenge where they made huts and learnt how to make a fire!
Kind regards,
Year 9 Teachers
YEAR 10
The year 10 girls are busy choosing their SACE subjects for next year. They have been to the Elizabeth Campus for their information day and have just selected their round 2 subjects. A very exciting time for all!
Kind regards,
Year 10 Teachers
SECONDARY PHYSICAL EDUCATION
Secondary PE has been super busy this term with many SA School Sport days where students get to represent Pinnacle College. Additionally, we had our Sports Day! Golden Grove sent 2 soccer teams to compete in a 5 a side soccer tournament, and both teams placed equal 3rd out of 9 schools which was a fantastic effort. See the pictures for our strikers in action!
Secondary Sports Day this term was an exciting day with lots of energy and great school spirit on display. This event was held at Bridgestone Athletics Track in Salisbury. Our students competed in high jump, long jump, shot put, discus, 400m, 200m, 100m and relay events. There were also two fun events for students as well. Our girls showed their fierce competitive nature and we had some standout students winning multiple ribbons. Well done to all who participated!
Congratulations to Angas who won the Spirit Cup and Torrens who were the overall winners on the day!
Kind regards,
Miss Bridget Andrews
SECONDARY MATHEMATICS
Similar to other subjects’ students undertake, Mathematics also has a way that students may study effectively and with little effort, do well. In simpler words, there is a short-cut to achieving well in Mathematics. This method mostly benefits those students who are currently achieving a B grade and below. So, what is this short-cut? It is not learning the different ways of solving complex arithmetic’s manually, you have a calculator for that.
It is effective note-taking!
Think of it as a savings account, you have a goal to reach $2,000 for the new iPhone 14. It’s difficult to save up that much straight away. But, if you put aside $20 (one hour of physical work) each day, you would be holding an iPhone 14 in a couple of weeks.
Similarly, copying down key formulae and definitions (your teacher writes on the board) onto a piece of neatly organised and structured paper each lesson (with little effort), you will be holding a cheat sheet (simplified set of notes) that contains all you need to know for that topic. Then, in a couple of weeks, you will be holding a completed test paper that you will be proud of. This method was proven by the current year 11 and 12 Methods cohort.
How do I do this? you ask. Easy!
From now on, use the below sample note-taking template when writing your Mathematics notes. Remember, the aim is to write as little notes as possible but at the same time covering all that is important for the topic. And, the key is to use this and only this piece of paper to answer questions during class and at home.
Kind regards,
Mr Sami Hussein
LANGUAGES AND RELIGION
RELIGION AND VALUES
The Year 9’s had an amazing start and end to this term. We learned about Sunnahs and Hadiths and its importance in our daily lives. We demonstrated our understanding about this topic through group presentations. It was very creative and enhanced our academic achievements. In Values this term, we completed and studied the ‘science of hadith’, which discusses how scholars developed a method to verify hadith, classify it and so on. We found this very educational and interesting as it helped us understand the importance of hadith and the sahabas who collected them. This term, we also focused on human rights, how Muslims define human rights and why it is important to protect human rights. We learned a lot of new and different things about human rights. After learning about this topic, we had the opportunity to make a poster about human rights. We chose Gender Inequality because, in some countries, females still don’t have the same rights as men, like the right to work. This was a really fun and educational project!
We are all looking forward to seeing what will be offered in Values next term!
Kind Regards,
Mrs Gulsum Altunkopru
RV Teacher
LOTE - Arabic
السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته
Year 1 Arabic
In term 3, the Year 1 Arabic class continued their Arabic learning at an introductory level with a focus on reading. We combined previous learning of alphabets and single vowels with newly acquired learning. Towards the end of the term, students were introduced to Sukoon and Shadda (Diacritics) written on top of consonants each with its specific function.
Warm Regards,
Mrs Soheir Habib