ENewsletter

FROM THE PRINCIPAL'S DESK

We are in the final throes of the 2021 academic year and this week marks the conclusion of the HSC examinations, whilst the Class of 2022 are having their initial assessments in most of their subjects, together with the continuing assessments across other secondary year groups. Along with this, I have been delighted to witness a range of presentations at both an individual and group level, from both the junior and secondary years, and as always, staff share with me examples of student work. I know that significant achievement has occurred, and is occurring, until the very end of the year.

In addition to these concrete examples, I am in the process of reading every report for every student at Pittwater House. In these reports, comment on the return to face-to-face learning acknowledges both the challenges, and the ability of students to overcome these obstacles, and thrive. The required content for the year has been covered and students are well placed to proceed to what is expected of them when school returns for Term 1. It is both an exciting and exhausting time. We recognise the need now for refreshment and critical downtime, for both students and the Staff.

Our final week though allows for each year group to come together, with parents in attendance, and acknowledge the successes for our School, and individual Award recipients. In a similar structure to that of 2020, this more personal approach provides a greater number of students to accept leadership roles, as presentations will be made, and speeches crafted. A performing arts performance too will capture some of the focus from the year. It will be a meaningful way to conclude an extraordinary year.

When a reflective history is written of the COVID-era, in the education chapter, much will be made of mental health and wellbeing. Many surveys have been undertaken. One national survey of more than 1000 young people aged 14 to 25 held in December 2020 and September 2021, showed from this data that 56% reported poor mental health resulting from study stress and living with COVID restrictions. Issues with inability to focus, sleep, nutrition and family dynamics were highlighted. Significant coverage will also be given to the impact on educators. The challenge and stress for staff in schools has been profound. A survey of 571 teachers conducted in July, the NEiTA-ACE Teachers Report Card 2021, produced concerning results for our nation’s teachers. Whilst the majority find great reward in our great profession, the media continue to report the worrying trends of teacher shortage. A focus on the impact that workload, constant curriculum changes at state level and at national direction, interactions and relationships with parents, and student behaviour, are ongoing themes.

We know that the pandemic has taken a global toll. In education, consequences of isolation from peers and colleagues are very real. Just as it is time for our students to have a long break and reset ready for a new academic year, so too for our Staff. I am keen for our Staff to have a well-earned break, knowing how much their work has been valued by our families, whilst as a School, we continue to listen to our Staff and provide support to enable them to provide the best learning environment for Pittwater House students.

As we face the final week, I ask once more that our traditional Christmas Tree appeal run by our Prefect team is bigger and better than ever. Food items for One Meal and toys for Bear Cottage will be appreciated by those in our Beaches community who do not have the luxuries we take for granted, daily.

Please make us proud of our giving and caring community.

And in addition, please support the Prefects’ charity further, through purchasing the PHPA Raffle tickets: click here, half the value of which will go to their charity.

I look forward to sharing the Prize Giving ceremonies with you next week.

Reminder - Events for Last Week of Term 4 2021

Monday 6 December 2021:

9.30am - Year 12 Valedictory Assembly and Prizegiving
11.30am – Year 7 Prizegiving
1.45pm – Year 8 Prizegiving
6.30-10.30pm – Year 12 Valedictory Dinner (Novotel Manly)

Tuesday 7 December 2021:

9.30am – Year 9 Prizegiving
11.30am – Year 10 Prizegiving
1.45pm – Year 11 Prizegiving

Wednesday 8 December 2021 – last day of school for all K-12:

9am – Kindergarten Prizegiving
10.15am – Years 1 and 2 Prizegiving
11.45am – Years 3 and 4 Prizegiving
1.00pm - Year 5 Prizegiving
1.45pm – Year 6 Prizegiving

Students will have classes and activities on campus on each of the days through until the end of Wednesday 8 December. Therefore, Monday to Wednesday will have normal school attendance expectations.

House Captains - Class of 2022

Continuing with our introductions to the new student leadership team I am delighted to share the thoughts of the House Captains of the Class of 2022.

Lauren and Joseph, House Captains Butterworth

Here at Butterworth our house captains Lauren and Joseph are giving it their all!

As the new House Captains of 2022 the two have already begun to help plan out all sorts of games and activities alongside their cohort. In the upcoming weeks students should look forward to competing with their pals against opposing houses in an all-out tournament of Tug-O’-War. Beyond the House Cup, the two have an initiative to change the dynamic between years, hoping to spark camaraderie and friendship between the year groups above, to the year groups below. We are both extremely excited for the upcoming major house events in the following year, such as the Swimming Carnival, Athletics Carnival and House Dinners. Many of the students among our cohort have not had the pleasure of attending our House Dinners due to Covid, so it is our top priority to ensure that it is memorable. We are both so excited to celebrate all of the students in Butterworth's achievements in academic, sports and creative arts related activities and incorporate them into our house meetings. Student involvement is of the utmost importance and to ensure they enjoy themselves we will be incorporating their perspectives in everything we do.

Laura and Zane, House Captains Morgan

Zane and Lara are so excited to be the Morgan House Captains for 2022.

Our focus this coming year is regaining the massive amounts of house spirit we have lost due to Covid and reconnecting the different years using house activities. We have had to reschedule and cancel so many memorable and fun events this past year so we would like to make the upcoming events better than ever.

We are super excited for the Swimming Carnival in Term 1 which will be our first house event of the year and are eager to come out on top again. We are also looking forward to revamping the House Cup to make it new and exciting with fun new events to carry out through the year.

We are also thrilled to be able to bring back and make House Dinners better than ever this year. We want to make House Dinners a really fun and memorable experience/night for the 2022 Year 7 to 9’s who will not have attended one. We hope to use this as a showcase for Morgan’s house spirit and what house spirit is all about.

We are so eager to see what this year holds for Morgan House and to see everyone back in action very soon. There is a lot in store for the year and we are so thrilled to be able to help and guide you through it all. With everything that happened this past year, I think we all deserve to have a lot of fun. Most of all we are so excited to continue Morgan's winning streak!

Milla and Charlie, House Captains Orrock

As the new Orrock House Captains for 2021/2022, we are both so excited to lead Orrock through the next year. We are so hopeful for an uninterrupted year so we can create some awesome memories with our house. We hope that with the start of House Games and activities in 2022, that we can help our school cohort to make the most of the next year. Sadly, the past 2 years have had cancellations of either the Swimming Carnival or Athletics Carnival which has put a damper on house spirit. All the house captains are hoping for this coming year’s carnivals to be a great success so we can restore the excitement of these times and amplify the comraderie in the School between and within the houses. Along with house games and carnivals; we cannot wait for House Dinners next year. After more than 2 years since our last House Dinner, many students at the school have not attended a House Dinner. House dinners are valuable to bring together everyone in our House, ranging from Year 5 to Year 12, to share accomplishments, talents and simply have a good time with our friends. Our overall goal is to make house meetings, games and carnivals engaging and enjoyable for all students of different interests and to restore the house spirit which has been diminished by terms of online learning and many cancelled events. We cannot wait to lead Orrock through 2022 and to work with our other House Captains and prefects to bring a positive change to our School.

School Information

https://www.pittwaterhouse.com.au/portal/school-information

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GENERAL NEWS

From the Co-ordinator of High Potential and Gifted Students

Creativity Competition

After a challenging Term 3 with off-campus learning, we decided in Term 4 to hold a whole-school internal Creativity Competition to bring students across K-12 together to have some fun and to test out their creative skills!

Students were challenged to create a healthy and nutritious lunch to be added to the Pittwater House canteen menu until the end of term. Students had to first research what constitutes a healthy meal, then research what is currently on the canteen menu, draw and label their creation, and finally write a paragraph to persuade the canteen staff WHY they should choose their dish to go on the menu.

I was impressed by how many entries we received and by the quality of the work produced. It was wonderful to see students’ proactive approach to learning outside of the classroom.

A big thank you to Pam and Mandi in the canteen who gave up their time to help me judge the competition, and, by their efforts to put the two winning dishes on the canteen menu.

Congratulations to Chloe (J5) for her taco dish and to Lucinda (C7) for her summertime salad!

The winners each received a Prize Certificate and a $30 book voucher to celebrate their achievements.

I look forward to running similar whole-school internal competitions in 2022!

Chloe (J5)

Lucinda (C7)

From the Library

Recharges and Invoices

Accounts require all 2021 recharges and invoices to be finalised by Friday 10 December, therefore any library books outstanding are due back no later than Wednesday 8 December. Any books outstanding will be charged to your account.