HouseNews

'Head Above Water'

In a further example of community spirit, our Prefects took part in the 'Head Above Water 24-hour Swimathon' at Collaroy rockpool late on Saturday evening. Head Above Water was started by a group of mates from the Northern Beaches who have been touched by the negative effects of poor mental health. We understand that over $82 000 was raised and over 19000 laps (859km) was swum. The money will be used to support the great work being undertaken by 'Gotcha4Life’s' mission to support mental health for men and boys through better connections with friends, family and community. Our Prefects dived into the somewhat murky water just after 8pm as the rain came pelting down and were swimming till almost 11pm. In a show of solidarity that typifies our wonderful School, the whole Prefect team was there; swimming too at this late hour was Hugo from G7 and the Smith boys were due to dive in at 7am on Sunday morning. Once more it was wonderful to see a group of Alumni behind this important work.

When we posted the event on our Facebook page it was lovely to receive the following comment:

Thank you all so much for showing your support. The Feedback on the representatives from Pittwater House was that they were lovely and amazing! All the old boys of Pittwater House who created the Head Above Water 24hr swimathon were so impressed that a school showed genuine support. Many declined. It shows that we take mental health seriously at Pittwater House ?

In a busy 24-hours for a number of these Prefects, the C12 Diamonds Basketball team played off on Friday evening against the only other undefeated team and came away with an awesome win to claim the top of the table title. Whilst our HSC Chemistry students continue to take revision classes at School each Saturday morning, Sunday was also a hive of activity with rehearsals for the Major Production 'Footloose'. This has been an incredibly busy term once more.

Ensuring that the sense of community is not limited to students, the PHPA held their first networkers and volunteer’s morning tea recently. With Co-Presidents Connie Pople and Kate Parsons being supported at Committee level by Helen McMahon and Petrina Rousel who head up the volunteers and networkers, the large group who had gathered, heard of the plans for the PHPA through 2019. Subsequently we have had even more volunteers sign up. Unsurprisingly, the Mothers’ Day Lunch SOLD OUT within one week of going live at midnight last weekend. 

And speaking of community, it was marvellous to meet with our Head Prefects and the President of the Alumni, Anthony Buckton over breakfast. That was a busy day for Anthony as following our breakfast he was in his car heading for Canberra where he caught up with the ever-growing group of Alumni studying at the ANU. Pittwater House Alumni Association Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/PHAA.OZ/

So, whilst community is such a strength of our School, the exciting daily opportunities are often shared on our Facebook page. I caught a group of P5 students as they were in the midst of a great science experiment. I shall leave it to Michael to explain…

In P5B we have been learning about states of matter and how energy can change that state from a solid, liquid or gas.

P5B completed an experiment about Non-Newtonian fluids. Our experiment required cornflour and water. We learnt that using too much water would have morphed the ‘oobleck’ into a liquid and if we had put too much cornflour it would have turned into a solid. We learnt that when impacted ‘oobleck’ acts as a solid but when poured it acts as a liquid. We thoroughly enjoyed our first experiment for the year.

Michael P5B

May this be a wonderful week of learning and engagement for all members of the Pittwater House family.

Watch this space for the link to book your tickets to the 2019 Major Production 'Footloose' (available soon)… we would not like you to miss out on this marvellous event. 

At the last Stage 6 Assembly many members of the Stage 6 community were awarded a ‘Murray Award’ for being outstanding in a plethora of ways. Acknowledging the efforts, improvements and commitments by our senior students is an important way to highlight the fact that we are very conscious of the hard work and dedication that is the demands of senior study.

Congratulations to the following students:

Girls College
C12: Maddie  - Commitment to Symphonic Winds,
Bella - Commitment to Symphonic Winds,
Bianca - Commitment to Symphonic Winds,
Penny - Commitment to Symphonic winds and consistently working hard in Economics,
Ashley - Working exceptionally well in Chemistry, attending Saturday classes and consistently working hard in Economics,
Annabelle - Consistently hard working in Economics,
Isla - Consistently hard working in Economics,
Hannah - Consistently hard working in Economics,
Maddie - Outstanding effort and team work in the Open Girls basketball team,
Bella S - Outstanding effort and team work in the Open Girls basketball team,
Ali - Giving it her all in Food Technology and
Jemma - Giving it her all in Food Technology

C11:  Izzy  - Diligence in Ancient History,
Charlie - Overall diligence in her subjects and being a friend and support to a younger girl in the College,
Robyn - Conscientious approach to Investigating Science,
Filippa - Enthusiastic and hardworking student in Visual Arts,
Gracie - Enthusiastic and hardworking student in Visual Arts,
Meg - Enthusiastic and hardworking student in Visual Arts and
Paris - Enthusiastic and hardworking student in Visual Arts

Grammar School
G12:  Jack - Consistent work ethic and improvement in uniform,
Luca - Working exceptionally well in Chemistry, attending Saturday classes and giving nothing but 100%,
Sam - Working exceptionally well in Chemistry, attending Saturday classes and giving nothing but 100%,
James - Working exceptionally well in Chemistry, attending Saturday classes and giving nothing but 100% as well as for ongoing commitment to Symphonic Winds.

G11:  Rayden - Mature approach to his studies and
Matthew Norton - Enthusiastic and hardworking student in Visual Arts.

Careers and Tertiary Advice
Please keep a look out for the Careers and Tertiary Newsletter coming out this week via Skoolbag.

University Open days will be attached to the Careers and Tertiary newsletter.

Round 1
The Year 7 and 8 (Middle division) students prepare their debates to enable them to research the topic, practice and build their argument with structure and cohesion. This allows them to focus on listening to their opponents and writing rebuttals on the day and to ensure they can practice their skills and hone their speeches based on the opposing team. Their topic was: “That we should implement a quota for indigenous athletes in the Olympics.”   Both TPHS C - Hadiya Williamson, Alice Brennan, Ciaran Murphy and TPHS F – Rory Connors, Ruby Hume, Jaime Young, Maya Weaver won their debates and should be congratulated for their efforts. They were able to develop a strong response on the negative side of the argument. 

The Year 9-12 students are given a topic on the day and they have one hour to prepare their teams case, brainstorm ideas and write their speeches. They then deliver their case and speeches.  Year 9 students are in the Senior Division and Year 10-12 students are in the Open Division. Each division has a different speaking time to ensure they can develop their debating skills as they get older.

The Senior debating topic was “Foreign aid does more harm than good,” which the students found quite challenging. They did an excellent job in formulating an argument for opposing sides and TPHS C won their debate. The Open teams were given a very challenging topic of, “There should be military intervention in the US, not Venezuala,’ which the students found challenging but did their best to explore the reasons and state a clear, structured argument. TPHS B consisting of Dom Connors, Ryan Garray, and Paris Hallett won their debate. 

Round 2

The Pittwater House debating teams competed in the second round of the HICES debating competition on March 14 at Pittwater House. There were a number of excellent debates and the students represented the school in an exemplary manner, displaying their ability to develop and argument and speak fluently to an audience.

The Middle Division debates focused on the topic ‘that drones are a breach of privacy’. It was impressive to see the level of research completed by these students before the debate, providing a number of interesting statistics and ethical dilemmas which drones have caused. Well done to Pittwater House F and Pittwater House A who won their debates. The Senior Division’s topic was that ‘the Australian parliament should have an indigenous member elected separately by indigenous nations’. This challenging topic elicited a number of interesting arguments about the complexity of representation as well as its importance in forging reconciliation within Australia.

The Open Division had to debate a very contentious topic: ‘there is no good reason to teach Shakespeare in 2019’. Students demonstrated an impressive awareness of contemporary playwrights when arguing in the affirmative. Conversely, students were also able to account for the universality and timelessness of the Bard’s plays, emphasising their continued relevance in 2019. Congratulations to Pittwater House B who won their debate with an impressive performance by their third speaker Ryan Garay.

The Pittwater House debating teams will have their next debate on Monday 8 April (Week 11).

Debating Team Teachers: Mrs Anna Cameron, Mr Adam Hine, Ms Charmaine Leman and Ms Carly Biddolph 

The Year 7 Parent/Teacher/Student interviews will be held from 3.30 to 7pm on Tuesday 26 March in the Hall.  Students are expected to attend with their parents. Students are to be in full school uniform. These interviews are an essential part of the feedback process and it is strongly encouraged that all parents attend.

An email has been sent in recent weeks to all parents with instructions on how to book.

Go to: https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/  and enter the code contained within the email.

Mr James Walmsley, Deputy Principal

On Wednesday 6 March, 25 students left school at 6:30am to compete for our school at the Heads of Independent Co-Educational Schools Swimming Carnival (HICES). The students chosen were the top two fastest from each heat at the Junior School Carnival. There were few records broken with the most memorable by Noah who broke a record for the 11 years 50 metre breastroke. It was set by Denis Wong, a Pittwater House boy, in 1992. Denis Wong’s son now also goes to the school; Ethan who is a keen pianist and swimmer. Noah was also very close to breaking the 100-metre freestyle record with a time of 1:08.20. He was two hundredths of a second off the record set in 1997.

From the start of the day, the Pittwater House team was powering ahead with many of the students competing, swimming PB’s and winning nearly every single event they entered.  We are very pleased with the results of our students and here is the list of some of the most memorable times throughout the day:

• Emma: 50 backstroke 37 seconds and had a great day winning many events and making it to CIS for everything!
• Noah: 50 breastroke RECORD 41.88 and a great day filled with many races and achievements throughout the day.
• Chloe: 50 Freestyle 34.00 seconds and a stunning performance in her backstroke achieving a PB of 43.15 seconds
• Antigone and Georgia: Both girls coming 1st and 2nd overall in breast stroke and winning many other events.
• Broghan swam like a champion on the day with no stress this year winning many of his races with ease.
• Adele achieved her personal best in freestyle when she swam the relay
• Zak swam a fast backstroke time and had a quick relay time.

The relays were a highlight with the Senior Boys and Girls both getting 1st place! The Junior Boys and Girls also did well, achieving 2nd place in both races. In conclusion, the Pittwater House team had an outstanding day at the Homebush Olympic Park pool. They achieved many goals and gave our team that extra nudge to win the overall shield for Division 1. This is the 4th year we have won in a row! Thank you to Mrs Achurch, Mr Browning, Mr McGregor and Bernie for organising the events and helping our day run smoothly. We would also like to thank the parents for cheering us all on as we swam like champions in the pool. 
Below is a gallery of photos from the carnival.

Adele (J6)

For information on the following Mid-Term 1 Nominations and Sport Reports please click  the Download button below.

Mid-Term 1 Nominations

• Golf Pathways
• Peninsula Cup Netball
• Snowsports Raceweek
• Peninsula Cup Soccer Competitions

Sport Reports

• Cricket - PISA
• Basketball

All students who will turn 13 or older in 2019 are able to join the cadet unit. Enrolment forms are available at Reception or click here.

This event was followed closely with the individual authors beginning their week of Residence by speaking to classes throughout the day. During the week Years 7-9 and Years 11-12 will receive targeted writing workshops. The authors are also making themselves available to students who may wish to have additional help with their writing throughout the week.

International Women’s day was celebrated at Pittwater House on Friday 8 March.

Year 8 girls presented at assembly detailing how women and girls' lives were limited in many parts of the world. They also talked about the wonderful changes that are occurring.

Purple ribbons were then sold at lunch and the money raised was donated to the Northern Beaches Women’s Shelter.

Each week is allocated to different year groups however you can still volunteer for any shift during the year regardless of which year your children are in.

To volunteer for a slot, please visit https://www.volunteersignup.org/BQDAD and put your name next to the time/date that suits you best.

Please click on image below for days where a volunteer is still required.

Canteen Manager is Amanda Corbett - Phone 9972 5718 after 8.00am

Thank you for your support!

For the latest menu and to find out the weekly specials visit the Canteen folder on the Skoolbag app.

Tuesdays from 8am-9.15am and Thursday from 2pm-3.15pm

Located next to the School Uniform shop the Clothing Pool is run by volunteer parents.

Please note: Purchaes cannot be charged to your School Account.

The Clothing Pool has a 7 day Return/Refund Policy.

The School Shop will be closed this Friday 22 March.

College and Junior  girls can  pop in at recess or lunch to make an appointment for their  winter uniform fitting. Junior school must have their blazer for Term 2 and 3, Years 1-6  blazers are in stock now. 

If you are interested in some basic training in Edumate and Skoolbag. Please call School Admin on 9981 4400 or email school.admin@tphs.nsw.edu.au to book a half hour appointment between 7.30am and 3pm.