12 April 2023

Newsletter Articles

OUR MISSION, VISION & 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

Dear Parents,

Welcome to the second edition of Pinnacle College Newsletter for Term 1.

The month of Ramadan is indeed the highlight of the Term 1 and we are celebrating it as much as we can with the busy schedule of our lives. As far as I can see, the students have adapted themselves very well and majority of them are in very good shape. The school iftar dinners are at full speed and the Parents & Friend Committee is doing a great job of organising these programs smoothly and enthusiastically. I have been lucky enough to attend several primary school iftar dinners. Seeing parents around the table and breaking fast with them has been a great privilege. In previous years we had some amazing iftar dinners as whole school events, however it is almost impossible to organise such a big event due to the increased number of students at Pinnacle College. The new year level iftar format has been a great success so far and we are very pleased with the attendance of our parents. I would like to thank everyone of those parents who attended the nights, especially to those parents who took the lead in organising all the delicious food and making this event possible. I would also like to thank the Community Engagement team for their contribution.

The pick-up traffic problem is getting better at the Gilles Plains campus, however the Golden Grove campus pick-up problem gets hectic from time to time. I would like to remind parents once again not to stop on Bicentennial Drive. If the parents can’t drive into the turn pocket they have to continue and make a loop at the roundabout. This may delay your pick up for a few minutes but the traffic will be able to flow and other people will be able to continue. We need to set a good example as the Pinnacle Community to everyone.

We will be farewelling our long serving staff member Mrs. Donna Freeman as she will be stepping into a new era of her life with her retirement. As the Pinnacle College community, we greatly appreciate her service for the past years. She has always been a role model to all of us and taken care of people around her where and when needed. We wish her all the best in her retirement with her grandchildren.

Finally, I wish you all a relaxing term break. I also would like to wish Eid Mubarak in advance to everyone who is observing Ramadan.

Kind Regards,
Mr Atilla Sinik

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Dear Parents,

I would like to begin by thanking so many of you for your warm welcome to Gilles Plains Campus. I am excited to begin my work with this campus, having collected a wealth of experience at our Elizabeth East and Golden Grove campuses. Please, come say hi in the yard or some of the mornings when I am on duty to welcome you and your children.

Recently I met with the Parents and Friends Committee and we will again meet to discuss how we can collaborate on projects for the school and how best to support your children in their learning, their excursions and school events. Soon, we will announce some dates where parents can come and read with their children, attend sporting events and raise funds for the Committee to use for future planning.

Our recent iftars have been a success and I am so grateful to the hard workers behind the scenes for preparing the facilities, cooking the food and sharing in the community spirit. It was a pleasure to attend the Year 4 event and meet so many new faces.

As NAPLAN concludes, staff continue to review last year’s data and, in time, review the current data to make improvements in our delivery of education to support the specific needs of our students in regards to literacy and numeracy.

Swimming for our GP students will be occurring in Week 6 of Term 2 and we invite all parents to involve their children to develop their water skills. Forms will come to you soon.

Kind Regards,
Mr Myles McLean

PRIMARY COORDINATOR

Dear Parents,

First and foremost, I would like to wish all parents and families who celebrate Ramadan a Ramadan Mubarak. May ALLAH bless us all during this holy month.

I would also like to thank all the parents who organised and participated in the school iftars. It's a fantastic event, and I appreciate all of your efforts to bring the students, parents, staff, and community members together. Thank you.

This term, we organised Harmony Day with the Parents and Friends Committee, which was a great event representing different cultures and backgrounds. Thank you for your continued support and efforts in making this event such a success. I look forward to working with you on upcoming events.

We are almost at the end of Term 1, and I would like to take this opportunity to wish you a wonderful and relaxing holiday, as well as a Happy Eid to all families who will be celebrating.

Kind Regards,
Mrs Ola Abdelmonem

UPPER PRIMARY CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

Dear Parents,

Ramadan Kareem! I was fortunate to attend the Year 4 class Gilles Plains iftar organised by the Parents and Friends Committee. Participating in different celebrations is one of the reasons I love working at Pinnacle College. It is such a special time, the children are so excited and full of life. I can proudly announce that the Year 4s were the winners of the Ramadan Pinboard Competition at Gilles Plains Campus. Congratulations! It was all them. They were totally unassisted by me and they did a fantastic job. Please take the time to admire all the class displays in the main building next time you are at the school.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding your child’s learning. Have a safe and enjoyable holiday.

Kind Regards,
Ms Sarah Watkins

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION COORDINATOR

Dear Parents,

Ramadan Mubarak! Wishing all those who celebrate, a blessed Ramadan!

What is inclusive Education?

Inclusive Education provides support to students who may have additional needs. At Pinnacle College, our teachers and staff celebrate diversity and uniqueness. We value student differences and support our student’s learning needs, to the greatest extent possible. Some students require more support from their teacher, or in class support from one of our friendly learning support officers. Other students might need occasional assistance throughout the year, or counselling services to help them get back on track. Our goal is to create equal learning opportunities for all children to fully participate in their education.

Here are 3 tricks and tips you can implement at home these holidays:

1. Switch off devices and encourage movement
Take a movement break with GoNoodle. You can sign up for a free account from the link below where you can access a ton of free and engaging brain break videos.

2. Visual Schedule
Although holidays can often be busy, visiting family and friends and going out, children generally thrive on routine. Create a visual schedule for your child to help them get into the swing of things. This is particularly helpful during Ramadan, where eating habits may change. You can read more on the importance of visual schedules here:

3. Fidgets
Put the iPad away and encourage concentration and emotional regulation with fidget toys. They are inexpensive and are available basically everywhere! I highly recommend Kmart and KaiserCraft for all your sensory needs. From pop its, to slime, stretchy bananas, they have it all!

Kind Regards,
Mrs Kerry Sangermano
Inclusive Education Coordinator
Gilles Plains & Golden Grove

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Dear Parents,

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our volunteers and P&F members for their efforts to help people who were impacted by the earthquakes in Turkiye and Syria. We raised a total of $3,150.95 at the kebab stall, which is one of the highest amounts.

The most rewarding month of the Islamic calendar is here and our P&F members are very busy organising year level family iftar dinners. This will give us a chance to meet with other parents whose kids are sharing the same classroom for several years. Our first iftar dinner was held in the new assembly area of Gilles Plains Campus with Mr. Peter and 15 families from Year 3. We will have the last iftar for our Year 6 families on the 7th of April. Special thanks to all our volunteer P&F members who coordinate the nights with lots of help from our parents. On behalf of all our parents, I would like to thank Mr Mclean and all the other teachers who waited until 7pm to share the meal with us.

Please check the photos for the highlights of our Term 1 events, such as the Barossa High Tea, IWD forum, Harmony Day event, Kebab Stall, mothers’ afternoon teas, and iftar dinners.

If you would like to be a part of our parents and friends group please let us know by email at serap.sinik@pinnacle.sa.edu.au.

We are looking forward to seeing you at one of our iftar dinners. Ramadan Kareem.

Regards,
Mrs Serap Sinik
Community Engagement Coordinator

LIBRARY

Dear Parents,

This term we have been advertising the books we have read. This encourages others to read these books. Most classes are working really hard in completing the Premier’s Reading Challenge (Foundation, Year 1 and 2 are doing this as a class). The tree outside the library will grow and bloom with those who have completed this challenge.

We still have a problem of students not being able to borrow from the library. It is school policy if students have overdue books of any kind, they cannot borrow library books or readers. This really impacts the progress of the younger ones to improve their reading skills.

Students are welcome to borrow library books over the holidays. Please encourage students to keep reading.

Next term is the Scholastics Book Fair from the 30th of May to the 6th of June in the library at Gilles Plains. This encourages young people to care for their own books and to enjoy reading without having to borrow books from the library all the time.

Keep Reading,
Mrs Lisa Preston

SCHOOL COUNSELLOR

Dear Parents,

Ramadan Mubarak to all celebrating this holy month. May it be filled with many blessings.

During the month of Ramadan students usually decline in energy and may struggle to maintain their regular study routine. Here are some tips to help students study during this month:

• Resting and taking frequent breaks
• Being organised
• Staying hydrated and eating well/healthy during Iftar and Suhoor
• Finding the right time to study (after Fajr prayer or mornings, etc)
• Having good sleep schedule (getting enough/restful sleep is essential)
• Finding study techniques that work better for you, e.g. visual revision/ interactive learning
• Studying with friends/ study groups to increase motivation and encourage each other
• Setting up a clean study space free of distractions

Kind regards,
Miss Zina Almufti

PASTORAL CARE

Dear Parents,

This term, our PC students organised a number of activities, beginning with a Ramadan decoration competition in which students decorated the school's main hallway. They also decorated the entrance and made the Ramadan Kindness countdown board as well as the Tree of Gratitude. Pastoral Care was stopped when Ramadan began, and it will resume in Term 2 Week 2.

Ramadan Mubarak to you all. We hope you have a wonderful holiday and a happy Eid.

Kind Regards,
Pastoral Care Team

SRC

Dear Parents,

Now that our SRC members have been voted in, we are beginning to address some important issues within our school community. SRC has been busy gathering ideas and input from all the students in regards to what we would like to see implemented in our school. From this, we will be having a Crazy Hair/Hijab Day on the last day of school, April 14th. We look forward to seeing all the crazy hair and hijab styles you come up with! This is to raise funds for Cystic Fibrosis. We ask that you please bring a gold coin donation to support this important cause.

We would also like to acknowledge the amazing job our Year 6 SRC members did when hosting the Harmony Week Assembly. Well done!

We look forward to many more fundraising events, fun days and implementing change through the Student Representative Council!

Kind Regards,
Reem Musa and Kiya Norris
SRC Team

CHOIR CLUB

Dear Parents,

This year I am so lucky and blessed to be running our very first Pinnacle Choir, which consists of a group of students from each campus. These students came to the 'Come and Try' session in Week 3, and have decided to stay on. I knew I was going to be lucky with even 1 or 2 students joining, but it turns out that I ended up with a total of 39 students ranging from Years 3-6.

So far, I have been teaching them all the ropes there is to being a successful, confident and competent singer and with these skills they have been able to sing in front of the class either with others or on their own, learn how to read music (yes, that's right, proper sheet music), learn about dynamics in singing and also about vocal anatomy. I couldn't be more proud of their progress in the short amount of time that we've had! They have their first upcoming performance opportunity, which will take place at the Adelaide Festival Theatre. The choir will sing 'My Island Home' during the opening ceremony of the DreamBIG festival along with 2000 other school students from SA. I cannot wait for you to hear them!

Kind regards,
Miss Natasha Parletta

SPECIAL EVENTS: Harmony Day

Dear Parents,

This term, we celebrated Harmony Day by having all of our students, staff, and families represent their cultures and traditions. We had a wonderful day with the participation of parents and families and the display of cultural foods, clothing, and tools. The students also enjoyed wearing their traditional clothing and participating in the Harmony Day parade and assembly. It was a great day to celebrate and demonstrate our harmony.

Kind regards,
Mrs Ola Abdelmonem

SPECIAL EVENTS: Premier’s Be Active Challenge

Dear Parents,

This term, Gilles Plains Campus was lucky enough to receive a visit from Mark Williams, the Premier’s Be Active Challenge Manager, and Michelle Wilson, an inspiring international athlete who represented Australia across numerous karate events. Michelle told us about her experiences as a child, the importance of never giving up and even gave a karate demonstration with three of our lucky students, Rauzat, Haroon and Mohammad Aoid. It was a thrilling experience!

The Premier’s Be Active Challenge will be running until the end of Term 2. Students who complete 60 minutes of physical activity every day across four weeks will be eligible for a medal. Physical activity can include participation in after-school clubs or even doing chores around the house. All students are highly encouraged to participate in this program, which hopes to build healthy life habits.

Kind regards,
Miss Mubarak Ashimajy

MUSIC

Dear Parents,

The students have been busy bees working really hard in their music classes, all learning very different things! The Year 2s have focussed on learning all the notes in the treble clef and how to play them on different instruments, which they have been so amazing at! The Year 4 classes have reconstructed an instrument with recycled materials, and they are looking fantastic! The Year 5s have been learning about different genres of music and have created their own information PowerPoint about an artist from a specific genre. Some of the genres are rap, pop and rock. Lastly, the Year 6s have really delved into learning about the history of Video Game music. They have made their very own composition using a program called Beep Box. I am so proud of all their efforts. It’s been so lovely getting to know all the students here at GP Campus!

Kind Regards,
Miss Natasha Parletta

FOUNDATION

Dear Parents,

Term 1 has been full of amazing events and learning experiences. We have been developing our reading skills by learning the Jolly Phonics letter sounds, blending words and recognising high frequency words. I am so proud of your children for all that they have achieved this term! To celebrate all your children's hard work this term we will be going on an excursion to the Botanic Gardens in Week 11.

I wish all families a restful holiday break and I look forward to many more exciting learning experiences in Term 2!

Kind Regards,
Miss Kiya Norris

YEAR 1

Dear Parents,

The Year 1 students cannot wait for their excursion at the Hahndorf Farm Barn. We have been writing information reports about farm animals so it is very exciting that we get to see different animals and their habitats. We have been very busy working on our habitat dioramas and cannot wait to share it with you all!

Kind Regards,
Mrs Carolina Hoyos

YEAR 2

Dear Parents,

The Year 2 classroom was transformed into a ‘Funky Food Science Lab’ earlier this term to help students learn more procedures by listening to, following, making and writing ‘How to Make Sherbet Lemonade Volcanos’. The students were mesmerised by the creative efforts of Jess from Cook and Create. Learn more about this incursion, view our Funky Food Science Lab Gallery and the video on Seesaw.

Kind Regards,
Ms Bianca Villani

YEAR 3

Dear Parents,

What a fantastic term we have had to start the year! Thank you to all the parents and caregivers for making me feel welcome and to many of you for all the support you have provided. I am very grateful to have already had the chance to meet so many of you. It has been a particular pleasure getting to know the students of our Year 3 class. What a wonderful group we have! I look forward to working with all of these amazing children for the rest of the year.

I wish you all the best for the rest of Ramadan and for all of your Eid celebrations.

Kind Regards,
Mr Peter Sowerbutts

YEAR 4

Dear Parents,

Thank you for all your support so far this term. We have had lots of exciting adventures lately including: the Life Education Bus, Harmony Day and the recent Nature Play excursion. The Life Education Bus taught our class bucket loads about feelings and how to recognise them.

I have been pleased with the majority of students completing their homework. I commend those who come to me with questions before the end of the week. Please give students time to complete Mathletics and Literacy Planet, perhaps over the weekend. Don’t forget to continue reading over the holidays!

Kind Regards,
Ms Sarah Watkins

YEAR 5

Dear Parents,

The Year 5s have had a highly productive end to Term 1. We completed the NAPLAN tests, participated in a session on internet safety in the Life Education Van, took an excursion to the Adelaide Gaol as part of our History unit on Colonisation, and so much more! I am proud of all the achievements my students have made so far, and hope to see more improvements in the terms to come.

Please encourage your child to continue reading throughout the holidays. I strongly advise monitoring your child’s device usage, particularly if they are accessing social media, as well.

Wishing you all a restful holiday and joyous Eid!

Kind Regards,
Miss Mubarak Ashimajy

YEAR 6

Dear Parents,

We have had such a busy ending to our term in Year 6! We have enjoyed becoming authors and writing our narrative stories in English, researching the impact of Natural Disasters in Science and unleashing our inner artist through watercolour in Art.

Highlights of our term were the Life Education Van where we learnt about the dangers of smoking, and Harmony Week where we shared our cultural food with one another and of course our Quiz Day excursion, where we had the opportunity to meet and get to know the Year 6s from all campuses.

As always, thank you for your ongoing support and we wish you all a blessed Ramadan and Eid!

Kind Regards,
Miss Reem Musa and Mr Myles Mclean

RELIGION & VALUES

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

It is the end of Term 1! Time really flies. This term in Religion and Values, our focus was Faith in all year levels. We tried to deepen our faith in all six pillars. Along the way, our students extended their knowledge about Allah, angels, the day of judgement and destiny. We also read prophet and sahabah stories. Students asked many questions, which was amazing!

In memorisation, I prepared excel sheets for each year level to see their progress. This year, we have changed our surah and dua policy. We set individual memorisation goals rather than the whole class. We encourage students to memorise all the short Surahs behind their books.

Ramadan gives us a great opportunity to get closer to Allah. It is amazing to see many students pushing themselves to fast every day in Ramadan. They learn patience and see the value of the gifts from Allah. Oh Allah! Please help us to make most of Ramadan and deepen our faith in you.

Kind Regards,
Mr Huseyin Toker

ARABIC

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

Ramadan Mubarak to all.

This term, as we neared the end of Term 1, we ran a variety of activities aimed to improve our children's reading fluency, comprehension, listening, speaking, and writing skills, as well as increasing their Arabic vocabulary.

Year 1/2 students continue to learn short/long vowels for the Arabic Alphabet and improve their reading and writing skills through a variety of activities.

Students in Years 3/4/5/6 work hard on their reading and writing skills through various activities and apply some basic grammar.

We appreciate parents' efforts and cooperation in assisting us in building and strengthening our children's connection with Arabic.

I wish you all a blessed Ramadan and an Eid Mubarak.

Warm Regards,
Mrs Ola Abdelmonem and Mrs Rania Moustafa

TURKISH

Dear Parents,

Merhaba! (Hello!)

This term, we have studied the Turkish alphabet, greetings, how to introduce ourselves, classroom materials, numbers, and countries/nationalities. Because we have 6-8 students in each year level, our classes are always fun and we are able to use our extra time for playing word games and puzzles, and watching educative videos.

It is very satisfying for Uyghur and Uzbek students that the Turkish language has so many similarities to their mother language. This year in Year 3/4, new students joined us from Afghani and Bengal backgrounds. It is great to see their outstanding performance in Turkish classes.

I wish all of my students the best for their academic studies.

Kind Regards,
Mr Huseiyn Toker

FRIDAY CLUBS: Arts & Crafts

Choose how to add this event to your calendar:

Apple Calendar iPhone, iPad, Mac - Download .ics file

Outlook Desktop Outlook - Download .ics file

Android Calendar Android devices - Download .ics file

Other Calendar Google Calendar, Yahoo, etc. - Download .ics file

Download Event