2 June 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 and Friends,

Welcome to Issue 3 of the school newsletter of 2023.

After a long break during the Covid era, we finally held our swimming classes at the Thebarton aquatic centre across all primary year levels for the Golden Grove Campus. We are very pleased with the interest in these classes and hope to see this interest grow in the future. We were very lucky to secure these classes due to various reasons, including the swimming instructor shortages, however, it has worked well until now. There are several issues we need to tackle for the next year to give the best experience for our students and we are very hopeful that these problems will be sorted in our favour. The Gilles Plains campus will hold the classes in the following week.

The Gilles Plains car park is now open for our parents and staff. The new parking space has provided us a significant flexibility so our parents can park and collect their kids much safer. I would like to thank the state government for their contribution to this project which encouraged the school board to take this initiative.

The Golden Grove girls high school building will be handed over in a few weeks of time. I have seen how this project started with a humble idea and ended up with this complex project. It has been a significant challenge with this post-Covid time to get this project to come to an end, however, witnessing the fruits would make anyone forget all these difficult times. I am hopeful our students and community will also appreciate the hard work and efforts from everyone involved from day one.

The enrolments for the 2024 school year have officially started with the message to our new applicants, which was sent over the weekend. As you are all aware, we have limited capacity in our primary school and I urge all our current parents to contact the front office if they have any enrolment inquiries. Unfortunately, we do receive late applications from our parents sometimes and this puts us in a very difficult position to accommodate the requests if not informed accordingly.

Lastly, I wish everyone a great term and look forward to seeing our secondary parents at our Parent Teacher Interviews in Week 6 of this term.

Kind Regards,
Mr Atilla Sinik

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE

Dear Parents,

Currently at Gilles Plains, we are looking to increase our parent participation across a variety of activities. Thank you so much to those who have already responded to Seesaw messages and staff discussions. We look forward to welcoming you to our reading programs, school events and excursions. If you are interested in joining your children in any capacity, please inform their teacher and we can build this initiative.

On the 16th of June, Week 7, Friday, Pinnacle College will be hosting a Qurban Festival at our Golden Grove campus. We look forward to seeing our families on this day to celebrate. Please note that to minimize issues, the event will be cashless. In the week leading to the Festival, students can exchange their money for tickets at the front office. Staff will remind students closer to the date.

Our SRCs are busy planning initiatives around the school and soon they will add some greenery to our school. They will be busy planting shrubs and ferns along the fencing of our Upper Primary area and potentially even the fencing by our car park to liven up the spaces for our students. I look forward to seeing them fulfill their other plans such as a mural, some fundraisers and how we can use our surrounding parklands to provide more opportunities for our students.

Kind Regards,
Mr Myles Mclean

PRIMARY COORDINATOR

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to Term 2. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and had a wonderful Eid for those who celebrate. During the first five weeks of the term, we had our first behaviour excursion with the top five students from each class. Students enjoyed it and had a great time. We will have this excursion twice a year to give our students more opportunities to participate.

We also had a Parents and Students session for Children University, which explained how the programme works. Please encourage your child to do more hours for those who participate. I am looking forward to their graduation in November this year and celebrating their successes.

We are looking forward to Swimming Week in Week Six as it is an important programme for our children to learn about water safety.

Kind Regards,
Mrs Ola Abdelmonem

JUNIOR PRIMARY CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

Dear Parents,

A busy start to Term 2 with Sports Day, Swimming Week and excursions to Para Wirra Conservation Park, Gorge Wildlife Park and Uleybury Museum. Our little Junior Primary students have been having a blast with all of the adventures taking them outside of their comfort zones (the classroom!) and learning through nature play and hands-on experiences.

It has been great to see our teachers taking learning outside of the classroom. At GG, Miss Amy has been taking her students outside in the sun for some Spelling. At EE, Miss Ritchie’s Year 2s have been learning the jump strategy for addition outside using chalk and number lines on the floor. At GP, Miss Villani’s creative art students have been learning how to use different camera angles taking pictures around the school!

I hope our new families and new Foundation students enjoyed their first Sports Day at Bridgestone Athletics Track and it will be great to see you again at our GG campus for our Qurban Festival Day!

Kind Regards,
Mrs Chloe Rees

UPPER PRIMARY CURRICULUM COORDINATOR

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to another term! I hope you have all had an enjoyable holiday. My name is Mubarak Ashimajy, or 'Miss Mubarak' as the students prefer to call me, and I will be acting as the Upper Primary Curriculum Coordinator while Miss Watkins is away on maternity leave. I cannot begin to express how thrilled I am about this opportunity, and wish Miss Watkins the best of luck with her beautiful new baby. I am sure I speak for all of us when I say we look forward to seeing her again soon.

Term 2 has many exciting events in store for us, one of which is the Book Fair. It is no secret that reading has many benefits. Not only does it help students develop their vocabulary, reading comprehension, and critical and creative thinking skills, it is also proven to reduce anxiety and stress levels. Reading aloud can improve speaking skills and confidence. I strongly advise all parents to take a moment out of their day to listen to their children read. Our students are consistently striving to improve, and they would love a chance to share their knowledge and skills with the people they care about most.

Kind Regards,
Miss Mubarak Ashimajy

INCLUSIVE EDUCATION COORDINATOR

Dearest Families,

Welcome to Term 2. I trust you all had a wonderful holiday break! I would like to welcome our newest learning support officer, Dalia Micheal to the Pinnacle college family. Dalia has extensive experience working with students with a wide range of learning difficulties, including those with special needs. Please give her a warm welcome if you spot her in school!

This term, the inclusive education department has been focusing on building our intensive literacy program, developed by SPELD SA (Specific learning difficulties South Australia.) Students participating in the program are working on their literacy skills in phonics, grammar, punctuation and reading.

SPELD SA also maintains a register of qualified and specialist tutors, who provide individual tutoring for children and adults with specific learning difficulties. For more information, please visit their website below.

We will also be commencing our Social Skills program called ‘What’s the Buzz’, an evidence-based program now used in more than 130 countries to teach young people social and emotional intelligence. The program is facilitated by our lovely school counsellor, Zina Almufti.

Finally, your child’s teacher will be organising a meeting with you in the upcoming weeks to discuss the learning goals and adjustments on individual learning plans. We look forward to meeting with you soon! If you have any questions, as always please feel free to get in touch with me by making an appointment at the front office or via email Kerry.sangermano@pinnacle.sa.edu.au

Kind Regards,
Mrs Kerry Sangermano

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Dear Parents and friends,

We’ve started another term with a very busy agenda. I would like to begin with a big thank you to our parents who volunteered at the Mother's Day stall and helped to raise $1000. Our dear sisters from both the Gilles Plains and Golden Grove Campuses donated this money to sponsor 5 surgical operations on (one eye of) a cataract patient in Mali, Africa, through the “Cataract Campaign” of the Australian Relief Organisation. We are very happy to know that priority will be given to patients who are bilaterally blind from cataracts.

As the Community Engagement Department, we work with the Pastoral Care Department from time to time. We organised a candle-making workshop for the Pastoral Care students, where they decorated their own handmade soy wax candles to give to their precious mums at the upcoming Mother's Day Afternoon Tea. Thanks to the Pastoral Care teachers Mrs. Ola And Mr Huseyin for their help to make this program happen!

Another great news from this term is that some of our P&F members will have a trip to Sydney to experience Vivid Sydney, visit this beautiful city and our sister school (Amity College) as well as partner organisations like ARO and ISRA. Please join us in Gilles Plains P&F Group and be a part of these wonderful events.

We are having our regular P&F meetings with Mr Mclean in Weeks 3 and 7 termly. We really appreciate that Mr Mclean is giving his valuable time, sharing his thoughts, and trying to encourage more parents to be a part of their kids’ school life through volunteering. We are always looking for new P&F members.

Regards,
Mrs Serap Sinik
Community Engagement Coordinator
serap.sinik@pinnacle.sa.edu.au

LIBRARY

Dear Parents,

The library is always a place where things happen. This term we are hoping all students will complete the Premiers Reading Challenge. Reception, Year 1 and 2 complete this as a class. All other students should be completing the PRC form.

A reminder that all books need to be returned before the due date, otherwise children cannot borrow books or readers from the library. We are encouraging primary students to read books the colour of their sports team to add to our Sports display.

The Book Fair is May 30th - June 5th. Book Fair is a great opportunity for every student to have books of their own to keep and treasure. To encourage this, we will have a special when buying 3 or more books. Come and see the staff at the Book Fair during lunch, recess and after school. All primary classes will Browse the Book Fair during library time on Thursday. May is History Month in South Australia and the primary classes have enjoyed some items from the early 1900s and even the late 1900s.

Keep Reading,
Mrs Lisa Preston

SCHOOL COUNSELLOR

Dear Parents,

I would like to bring your attention to mental health and seeking support. I am well aware that in our communities there is stigma surrounding the topic of mental health and seeking support. It is important to understand that everyone experiences mental health issues at some point throughout their lifetime. It is crucial to have knowledge and educate ourselves on the topic of mental health to better understand our children whilst also creating a positive, supportive and accepting environment for them. This will allow your child to better express their problems and seek support when they are struggling.

Counselling is available to provide tools and strategies to support your children to manage and overcome challenges. If you believe your child needs support please don't hesitate to reach out and contact me at zina.almufti@pinnacle.sa.edu.au

Kind regards,
Miss Zina Al-Mufti
School Counsellor

PASTORAL CARE

Dear Parents,

We have been doing our pastoral care after school programs since Week 2. Alhamdulillah, majority of our students participate in it. In week 4, we had a special event for Mother's Day. Our Year 6 students made candles for their mums. We believe that one day is not enough for them. All days should be Mother's Day!

Kind Regards,
Pastoral Care Team

SRC

Dear Parents,

The SRC have been busy fundraising over the last few weeks and should be commended for their efforts. The last day of Term 1 we celebrated Crazy Hair/Hijab Day and raised $109.85 for Cystic Fibrosis. SRC also enjoyed Reading to students for National Simultaneous Storytime on May 24th. We have many more fundraising events planned for this term so please keep an eye on the important dates for Term 2 below.

Kind Regards,
Miss Kiya Norris and Miss Reem Musa the SRC Team

CHOIR CLUB

Dear Parents,

This term, the choir has been working very hard! They had their very first ever combined choir rehearsal at Golden Grove campus, where the choir students from all campuses came together to practice for the DreamBIG festival and their repertoire so far! Some students attended the DreamBIG Festival in Week 3! They got to sing alongside 2000 other students at the Adelaide Festival Theatre, where they sang the song ‘My Island Home’. Some special moments of the event were that the MC was Jack from BTN, they got to watch a live performance from a singer on The Voice, and there was a performance of some dancers who used hoverboards! It was such an incredible opportunity and a spectacular day!

Kind Regards,
Miss Natasha Parletta

SPECIAL EVENTS: SPORTS DAY

Dear Parents,

Physical Education this term has started with a bang with our Primary Sports Day! Students participated in Athletic events and fun games. We finished the day with sprint races, which are enjoyed by all. School spirit was high with lots of students cheering for their house and displaying sportsmanship. Congratulations to all competitors and particularly Angus House who were our winners for the day!

Kind regards,
Miss Bridget Andrews

SPECIAL EVENTS: NATIONAL SIMULTANEOUS STORYTIME

Dear Parents,

National Simultaneous Storytime is an annual event that promotes the value of reading and literacy. This year’s chosen book was ‘The Speedy Sloth’ by Rebecca Young. Our Junior Primary classes enjoyed a live reading of the book all the way from Singapore Zoo. They then created their own speedy sloths using paper plates. It was a highly enjoyable experience.

Kind regards,
MiMubarak Ashimajy

MUSIC

Dear Parents,

Music has been such a blast this term! All classes have been VERY busy learning lots of new things, mainly how to play instruments! The Year 5/6s are learning chair drumming. Instead of using a drum kit, they are learning exactly how to play using chairs and real drum sticks. The Year 3s are learning how to play the recorder and the Year 4s are learning how to play the Ukulele. Instruments can be very challenging to learn, but the most important part about it is to practice. If you have the chance to purchase any instruments for the students to practice at home, you won’t regret it. Keep up the amazing work!

Kind Regards,
Miss Natasha Parletta

FOUNDATION

Dear Parents,

It has been an amazing start to Term 2 with students demonstrating incredible sportsmanship, skill and camaraderie as the class took part in track and field events at Sports Day! We also enjoyed a wonderful excursion to the Gorge Wildlife Park, learning all about Australian Animals. Thank you to those families who have come to support our class at these events. Please contact me if you are interested in volunteering to support our class at future events!

Kind Regards,
Miss Kiya Norris

YEAR 1

Dear Parents,

Welcome to Term 2! This is a very exciting and busy term. In English we have been learning all about procedural writing. In Maths, we are learning to skip count and identify before and after numbers all the way up to 100. In HASS, we are learning about things in the present and past! We cannot wait for our upcoming trip to the Uleybury School Museum to learn all about schools in the past!

Kind Regards,
Mrs Carolina Hoyos

YEAR 2

Dear Parents,

Welcome back to Term 2. In Week 5, all Year 2 students from Pinnacle College visited Para Wirra Conservation Park to learn more about animals, their habitats and the important role national parks play in native flora and fauna conservation. We examined animal scats, played on the nature playground and get-up close and personal with creatures big, small, hairy and yes, scaly! Students will use their knowledge from this experience to plan, design and make their own Dream National Park.

Kind Regards,
Ms Bianca Villani

YEAR 3

Dear Parents,

Our Year 3 students have made a wonderful start to Term 2. In our English this term, we’ve worked hard on how to structure and write an informative text and are in the process of writing about a wide range of wild animals. In Maths, we have learnt about number patterns and problem solving, and are now working on 3 dimensional objects. I am looking forward to seeing the 3D castles that the students have begun to construct at home. In Art this term, we have been learning about drama, and have been to see a brilliant show as a part of the DreamBIG Festival to inspire our creativity and imagination.

Kind Regards,
Mr Peter Sowerbutts

YEAR 4

Dear Parents,

Sadly, my time with the Year 4 class has come to an end. I have enjoyed getting to know this bunch of vibrant personalities and will miss them while I am on maternity leave. I will be sure to pop in and visit, as well as keep an eye on their progress from afar. Goodluck for the remainder of the year!

Kind Regards,
Ms Sarah Watkins

YEAR 5

Dear Parents,

So far in Term 2, the Year 5s have been busy learning about Subtraction and Multiplication in Maths. It is fantastic to see so many students volunteering to be the ‘Mini Teacher’, who shows their classmates how to solve problems on the whiteboard. I hope the students maintain the same level of enthusiasm throughout the term. We have many more exciting events and activities planned!

Kind Regards,
Miss Mubarak Ashimajy

YEAR 6

Dear Parents,

We can’t believe we are already in Term 2! We hope you had a relaxing holiday. We have already had a busy term with upcoming events and a lot of learning. Students had a great time at Sports Day, cheering on their friends and trying their best. We look forward to learning all about Australian History this term with an upcoming excursion to the Southern Cultural Immersion Centre. As always, thank you for your ongoing support!

Kind Regards,
Miss Reem Musa and Mr Myles Mclean

RELIGION & VALUES

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

Dear Parents,

We have been focusing on 5 Pillars of Islam this term. We are refreshing our minds on the principles of daily prayers and reminding ourselves the importance of cleanliness in our belief. We are going to learn about Fasting, Zakat and Hajj as well.

In memorisation, we practice Surahs and Duas as a whole class with Lower Primary. With Upper Primary, we created a portfolio so we can see which Surah each student knows. They practice Surahs individually.

Kind Regards,
Mr Huseyin Toker

ARABIC

السلام عليكم و رحمة الله و بركاته

In our Arabic classes this term, we are learning about families and family members. We are also learning about how we celebrate in our countries, particularly Eid, which students must represent and share. I appreciate parents' efforts and cooperation in assisting us in building and strengthening our children's connection with Arabic.

Warm Regards,
Mrs Ola Abdelmonem

TURKISH

Dear Parents,

Merhaba (Hello)! We have started Term 2 by revising what we learned in Term 1. We support Year 1-2 and Year 3-4 with booklets. Students love the exercises and wordsearch puzzles in the booklets. This term, our Upper Primary students are practicing a Turkish song called "Bütün Dünya Buna İnansa". Students will be rewarded if they memorise the song.

Kind Regards,
Mr Huseyin Toker

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