HouseNews

As the Term draws to a close, there is much to celebrate. We have been most fortunate to have achieved so much when other states, and schools, have had to weather such serious dislocation to all their offerings, and undertake a complete term of remote learning, in the case of Victoria.

And indeed, we do have much to celebrate.

On any day of the week as I wander the corridors and grounds, I happen upon all manner of inviting activities. In the past week I have appreciated the P1 boys undertaking a scientific experiment with their versions of glass houses, applauded the G8 boys making slot machines in their Tech class and the Junior School public speaking finalists. Additionally I was delighted at the win of the Open Soccer team against their nemesis from last year’s disappointing Grand Final result… And all the while, our marvellous cleaning team keep moving around the Campus, constantly cleaning door knobs and railings...we are so grateful.

Yarra from C8 is to be congratulated on gaining a finals position in the National Future Problem Solving competition, whilst she and other Year 8 students spent a creative and earnest lunchtime during History Week, to produce a parachute from the simplest of materials,  to emulate the marvellous achievements of the WWII soldiers landing in Nazi occupied France. History Week too allowed our History teachers to move into character… to the delight of their classes!

It has been a fortnight too when the Year 11 students have been writing their examinations to conclude their Preliminary studies. The start of HSC is literally weeks away for the Class of 2021.

And finally, my weekly meetings with our Head Prefects Alex and Gracie, have come to an end. Since the beginning of Term 4 last year, as is my custom, I meet each week with our student leaders to discuss all manner of issues. Another tradition in Term 3 is to meet for breakfast with the Head Prefects and The President of the Alumni Association. It is an honour and a privilege to spend this time with the leaders of our student body, to understand their approaches to leadership, their work with the Prefect team, their cohort, and the way they seek to maximise their role across our School. Their vision for 2020 has been challenged by forces beyond their control, yet as they conclude their term, Alex and Gracie should feel proud of what has been achieved. Their names will forever shine on the Honour Board of past Head Prefects. My sincere thanks to both Alex and Gracie.

In the final two days of Term, we will farewell the Class of 2020 in a different, COVID-safe way. Our shortened gathering on Thursday morning will be live streamed to families and we have managed to secure a post exam booking at our Valedictory Dinner venue. I am sure you will all join me in wishing our HSC students every success through the holiday recess, as they attend the schedule of classes for each subject, together with similar opportunities in Week 1 of Term 4, prior to the final examinations beginning in Week 2. The Class of 2020 is unique. They have been challenged in ways never imagined when they started their courses last year and the resilience and tenacity, they have shown, will stand them in good stead for whatever life asks of them in the years to come.

Our very best wishes to the Class of 2020.

On Friday, the final day of Term we will be inducting our student leaders for the Class of 2021. Again, in a COVID safe way; live streamed to parents and zoomed to the rest of the School. We continue to find new and creative ways to ensure the key events of our School Calendar are maintained in an inclusive way.

And finally, I wish all members of our School family a happy, healthy and relaxing Spring Recess. Enjoy these weeks to refresh for all that the final academic term of 2020 asks.

During school holidays the School is officially closed.  All persons wishing to enter the campus must first contact Main Reception on 9981 4400 to arrange access or an appointment.

There are a number of Senior students with HSC holiday classes. These students must ensure they sign in and out from reception each time they are on campus.

Visitors will need to sign in at the School Shop for uniform fitting appointments and for all other purposes at Main Reception.

The recording of visitors on campus is essential for contact tracing purposes. Therefore, we appreciate everyone’s cooperation in following these rules. 

Congratulations to the Class of 2020 Visual Arts students in completing their final Bodies of Work which were due this week. The submissions range in a variety of expressive forms including Photo media, Painting, Drawing, Graphic Design, Collection of Works and Time-Based forms. In a year that has been fraught with challenges these works are a testament to the hard work, dedication and perseverance of these students and their families that support them through the journey. We are so very proud of your work and wish you all the best as you focus your attention to the HSC exam.

In Week 6, the Geography students in Year 7 were given the opportunity to travel to Bantry Bay as part of our studies this term into Landscapes and Landforms. It was fantastic to get off school grounds after the COVID 19 restrictions and we had a beautiful day weather-wise for this excursion. The students were taken by tour guides to explore the area and had plenty of hands-on activity measuring soil depth and moisture, testing the local creeks for water quality and bush walking through the National Park. The students in Year 7 were highly engaged on the day, willingly offered thoughtful and insightful comments and were proud ambassadors for the School. I want to thank the students for their enthusiasm on the day, Mrs Dunstan and Mr McKee for their hard work and our very knowledgeable tour guides, Kathy and Don. 

A group of Year 9 students have come together to participate in the Community Problem Solving competition. The program entails identifying a challenge in the community and creating a solution in a creative and effective way. This year, the team has decided to promote the use of Indigenous plants and recipes on the basis that these ingredients are more sustainable in our fragile environment. The project is called Stick to your roots! Throughout the year, the team have been releasing easy recipes to make at home. Here is their latest recipe!

We trust that the Cyber Safety Parent Webinar held for your benefit on Monday night was both informative and helpful as you guide and prepare your children to be safe in the cyber world. The way students are communicating with each other has been substantially impacted this year. The degree to which students are communicating on social media has increased and the number of platforms they have access to is constantly growing and changing. As a school we have seen more issues relating to social media use and misuse in the Junior School than ever before.

Please, if your son or daughter has a mobile device and uses platforms such as: Instagram, Tic Tok, Snapchat, be warned that they are breaking the law as they need to be 13years of age to use or post any media.

I will also take this time to remind families that in the Junior School students can only bring mobile phones to school if the express permission of Mrs Achurch has been sought by parents. Smart watches are not to be worn as per the School Handbook.

There is only one reason a primary school aged child needs to bring a phone to school and this relates to their safety when travelling home outside of school hours.

In every other situation at this school, during the school day, any child’s parents can and will be contacted if the need arises.

Year 6 is now well-prepared for their virtual study tour to Canberra in Week 1 of Term 4. An exciting program of events awaits them here at School.

You will all by now be aware of the resignation of Mr Ben McGregor, effective end Term 3, 2020. Ben has made a very difficult decision about his future and that of his family and will be pursuing a new career in the mental health coaching space involving a move to the north coast of NSW. Although we will all be sad to see Ben leave, we support him in his move and wish him the very best for his future. In Ben’s 8 years at Pittwater House he has had tremendous impact on the lives of the students through the design and delivery of the PDHPE programs.

Year 2 was thrilled to have their first excursion of the year!

Last Thursday, we ventured to Lane Cove National Park for a day of exploring, adventure and team games. We slid down a natural slide, spotted some ducks catching their lunch and we even discovered a ‘bush hairbrush’, all as we followed the river on our bush walk. Along the way, we stopped to build a habitat for a number of native Australian animals as well as learning lots of new, exciting games like Survivor Tag; Scissor, Paper, Rock splits and a variety of parachute games. We even made new friends, even if they were bush turkeys who didn’t stop following us and a lightning fast Kookaburra who stole Mrs Garrad’s lunch. It was a fun filled day that makes us very excited for Year 3 Camp!

In Geography this term, Year 3 has been learning about Australia and its neighbours.  We have been chosen to be Ambassadors to the countries surrounding Australia including Fiji, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Singapore, Solomon Islands and Timor-Leste.  As we have researched and learned more about each country, we have constructed a wall of information. This includes an annotated map, hand-drawn flags and a data display.  Year 3 Ambassadors have collected climate data and ordered our country's rainfall and temperature from hottest to coldest and wettest to driest.  We all posed and researched answers to geographical inquiry questions.  As the Ambassadors to Timor-Leste, our inquiry question was, ‘Are there any major landmarks in Timor-Leste?  If so, what are they and why are they significant?’ To finish off our unit, we presented our researched information to the whole of Year 3.  This information included population, capital city, native animal species, exports, religion, language, area, physical landscape and the flag.  We digitally published our information in the form of an informative brochure using Google Docs.

Written by Ambassador Sanders and Ambassador Scott

Week 8 saw the school transformed for History Week! We had Horrible Histories playing in the amphitheatre, and for students in the Senior School we had lunchtime trivia on three different days, a D-Day-themed parachute design competition, a trebuchet and ballista building contest, a Lego minifigure historical personality guessing competition, and a school-wide scavenger hunt. Students also had the opportunity to build on this at home by making Egyptian flatbread (with a recipe from the tomb of an ancient Egyptian noble) and writing in Egyptian hieroglyphics.

In addition to the school bells being historically themed each day, teachers dressed up for the occasion and the school was decorated with all things History – information about the historical origins of different features around the school (for instance, ancient canteens and toilets from the Roman period), historical quotes, notable historical events on ‘this day in History’, and five historical figures who have contributed to the development of each key learning area of the school.   

As History teachers, we delight in our students enjoying all things history-related, and History Week is a great occasion to see this happening every day.