HouseNews

Jake has come along most mornings to support the HSC students as they go into their exam. He is already a star with the students, and it seems his fame is spreading. Students (and Staff) alike see this gentle and calm therapy dog who loves nothing more than constant patting and being told how gorgeous he is… and one or two treats never hurts. Thank you, Jake, for making the trip to Pittwater House each day throughout the HSC exams, and a special thank you to Jake’s handler, Trish Byre; we are all indebted to you.

It was no accident that a Facebook Post last Friday that acknowledged World Teachers’ Day by a shout out to our wonderful Staff, resulted in a deluge of ‘likes’ and lovely, supportive comments from parents. Yes, our Staff are a superb team of professionals. They constantly think of better ways to support your sons and daughters, giving so much more than the time they are on Campus. And like everyone, they do appreciate that word from their students and the parent body, where their constant attention to the lives of our students, is noted and truly appreciated. I enjoyed hearing from one Principal, who in asking their Year 2 students about their teacher on World Teachers’ Day, responded by saying, “my teacher is better than Tim Tams… high praise indeed…”!

In this vein too, it was wonderful to attend the Teachers’ Guild of NSW Annual Dinner and Presentation of Awards last Friday night. Mrs Achurch and I were thrilled to be there with Year 6 teacher Mrs Bridget Garing (nee Farrell) and her family where she was presented with a World Teachers’ Recognition Award, one of fifty presented across New South Wales for 2019. The citation on the Award stated: Bridget is an authentic, humble and dedicated educator who has made a significant contribution to the growth and development of herself as a teacher, her students, her colleagues and the teaching profession as a whole.  Pittwater House is a learning organisation and Bridget has successfully led numerous Professional Learning experiences, including whole school research based professional learning groups of teachers across her P-12 School and has contributed to the improvement of the school’s pedagogical practices. Her professional approach and her reflective manner have earnt her the respect of her colleagues. In addition to her teacher leadership skills, Bridget has inspired a team of students to successfully compete in debating at a national level and has generated ideas for school-wide improvements through her involvement in the Student Representative Council.  Bridget is a motivated professional who brings a fresh perspective and innovative ideas to the classroom. 

Term 4 is a marathon, run in sprint conditions. Already in Week 3, our Stage 4 students are about to go into their examination block. Of course, they still have significant work to be completed beyond the exam period; this assessment is but one style used through the course of the year. Stage 5 exams then begin and beyond this there are a raft of activities and opportunities for our students, with College Performing Arts Festival, Brofest, and Junior School Christmas celebrations to prepare, before we conclude our year with our two Prize Giving days.

Academic work is scheduled until the final day of the School year, including significant transition meetings for those moving between stages. Meanwhile our new Year 12 students, the Class of 2020 have their first assessments in each subject, right through until Week 9 of the Term. Ensuring they have a formed a sound study regime, recognising the importance of their study from the start, and making smart choices when social events are inevitably in conflict with required academic time, is all a part of senior schooling. Planning, and making the necessary step from Year 11 Preliminary studies means that students should be consolidating their academic learnings and consider a structure to their lives that transcends the final two years of school. 

As this edition of HouseNews goes to air, Pasi Sahlberg is visiting our School. This is a remarkable opportunity and one that many parents, will, I trust, take up. Rarely can we say that a global educator of Pasi’s standing, is giving our Staff and parents, such an opportunity.

Pasi is speaking in the Creative Arts Centre at 6pm tonight (Wed 30 Oct). An event not to be missed.

In what has become a tradition, I enjoy recognising the new Leaders through this form of HouseNews across Term 4. In the coming weeks, each of the Prefects will share their thoughts with you. The Prefects got off to a hectic start, with their presence and contribution to the New Parents Evening on the first day of the Term. Additionally, it has been wonderful to see the new Environmental garden created by the team under the leadership of Prefect, Lachlan and supported by Mr Hine and Mr Macaulay; the students came in on a Saturday to create the new structure and watering system.  This new garden will provide a selection of herbs and vegetables that will be used in our Canteen; a superb initiative.

My thanks to this great team of leaders. They are off and running and are determined to make their mark in varied ways in the coming four terms. Please do support their initiatives.

Our first article comes from our new Head Prefects, Alexander in the Grammar School and Gracie in the College.

May these coming weeks provide a deep academic focus and support structure for your children.

Pittwater House students compete at the National Finals of the Future Problem Solving Competition.

Some of our Year 8 students earned the right to compete in the National Finals of Future Problem Solving.

Isla, Jaime, Maya and Ruby’s Happiness Project was one of the nine projects selected for the Finals in the Middle Division (Years 7-9) of Community Problem Solving. Isla, Jaime and Maya represented the team at the finals. Over the year these girls have had to identify an issue in the community and devise and implement a project to address the issue. At the finals, they were given 2 hours to set up their display which was visited by members of the public at lunchtime and they were interviewed by the judges. The girls did a fantastic job and learnt a lot. The standard of projects was very high and unfortunately they did not earn a top placing. We are very proud of the girls in making it this far.

Rory earnt one of only five places in the National Finals of the Middle Division of the Individual Global Issues Problem Solving Competition. Over two hours, Rory had to read a scene set 20 years in the future centred around the issue of stress. He had to identify potential problems, potential solutions and come up with an action plan for the solution he rated as the best. Once again, Rory gained enormous experience by competing at this level although he did not earn a top placing. 

The school’s sustainability group began earlier this year when Mr Macauley, Mr Hine and Ms Leman decided to start hosting fortnightly meetings. The group began working on improving the school’s waste management (by introducing plastic recycling) and fundraising for a garden. During the first weekend of Term 4 a number of volunteers from the sustainability group, including Alexander, Lachlan, Benjamin, Joshua, Roman and Yarra, gave up their Saturday to help build the garden with Mr Hine. Since this time the group has organised a compost bin which the Canteen is now using to dispose of their food waste. The sustainability group will continue to work with staff, students and the maintenance team to improve the School’s ecological footprint.

Year 6 Canberra Study Tour
While the rest of the students at Pittwater House were enjoying their final day of the last school holidays, Year 6 headed down to Canberra for our annual 4-day study trip where we were able to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy. We began our tour of Canberra at the National Capital Exhibition at Regatta Point. It was a great way to kick off our time away as it gave us a lovely understanding of how and why Canberra was created, before we headed off to explore our capital city. Some standout events for us this year were seeing our government, including the Prime Minister Scott Morrison, voting in Parliament House and watching the barristers battle it out in a High Court session. Of course, we also enjoyed our regular favourites such as participating in a morning of sport at the AIS, being taken on a wonderful tour through the magnificent War Memorial, scurrying through challenges at the CSIRO, showing off our understanding of preferential voting at the Electoral Education Centre, enjoying a multitude of science experiments at Questacon, and finally bouncing the last of our energy out during a night at Flip Out.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education. To assist with the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $20 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs. The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

We had a fabulous time away and want to thank the teachers who came along with us – Mrs Tickle, Mrs Garing, Mr Colquhoun, Mr McGregor and Mrs Holgersson – as without them and all their planning, the trip would not have been possible.

'Boots and All' Fundraiser

In the Moree area, many underprivileged families cannot afford to buy shoes for their children so that they can play sport. This term, the Junior and Senior School SRC teams have been taking part in the ‘Boots and All’ Fundraiser to help the children and families of this community. Students from K-12 have been asked to donate any sports shoes or boots that they have grown out of to give them another life. It is recycling at its best!  For the purposes of this fundraiser, we only require enclosed sporting shoes. These can be sneakers or sporting boots but we ask that no school shoes are brought in. Also, please note, we do not want shoes which have been worn out, but rather those that have been outgrown and are still in good condition. Junior students are asked to place their second-hand shoes in the designated tubs in their classrooms. The drop-off point for Senior students is outside the Sports Office on the oval.

If you haven’t done so already, please bring in your donations by the end of this week, as we are hoping to send them to Moree on Friday 1st November.

In the words of our Year 6 SRC leader, Keisha Nepia, “Pittwater House can really make a wonderful difference and even bring about a change in these kids' lives.”

Kindergarten and ECC Transition Session
Please be reminded of the first Kindergarten and ECC transition session this Friday morning, especially if you have, or know of little ones ready to commence in these areas in 2020.

Robokids
I would also like to draw your attention to the Robokids Holiday Workshop flyer below.

Congratulations to both Noah (P4) and Conner (G8), who both finished 1st for their age groups at Coolangatta Junior Ironman Championships, well done boys.

Congratulations to Shontelle (C8), who has just been selected in one of the two 2020 NSW Metropolitan Girls Softball Teams to compete at the 2020 Australian Regional Softball Championship in Perth January 4 - 10 2020. Congratulations and good luck Shontelle.  

Congratulations to Maxim (G9), who played in a few tournaments over the holidays (playing up an age group in 16/U and AMT). He and his doubles partner won 16/U doubles at the Newcastle Topspin Bronze AMT and JT. Well done Maxim.

Congratulations to Meg (C11), who has been named in the 2002 Australian Women’s Water Polo Squad again, this time to prepare for the 2020 World Championships in Netanya, Israel in September.  In addition, she has been selected from this Squad to be in the team travelling to train and compete in Japan from 7-17th November this year. Well done Meg.

Congratulations Cameron (G11), who has now officially been named in the Australian U17 Men's National Football Team to represent Australia at the FIFA U17 World Cup in Brazil in October.

Please see below game times for those who would like to watch the games:

https://www.socceroos.com.au/news/trevor-morgan-names-australias-brazil-bound-boys

Australia v Nigeria Date: Friday, 1 November 2019 Venue: Estadio Bezerrao, Brasilia (Gama), Brazil Kick-off: 5.00pm (local) – 7.00am (AEDT) Saturday, 2 November 2019 Broadcast: Live in Australia via SBS and theworldgame.sbs.com.au

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.

Tickets still available for the 2019 Golf Day & Dinner

Join us for an excellent opportunity to socialize with parents of the Pittwater House School community. Have a team round of golf (Shot-Gun start - Ambrose format) from 11:30am and enjoy drinks, music and much more at Dinner from 6pm. Open to all families and friends, golfers and non-golfers alike...Friday 8 November at Mona Vale Golf Club. Book today at: trybooking.com/BBCEN

The Canteen has moved to it's Summer Menu which runs from Term 4, 2019 to the end of Term 1, 2020.  View Here

Please Note: The School Uniform Shop will be closed on Monday 11 and Tuesday 12 November.

College girls needing a senior uniform for 2020 can be fitted during recess or lunch this term, please pop in and make your appointment.

Grammar boys starting Year 10 in 2020: Navy senior tie is in stock now.

Bookings for fittings are essential. Please contact Mrs Tess Spark on: 9972 5721 during opening hours to make an appointment or email at: teresa.spark@tphs.nsw.edu.au

The Council is running another FREE Helping Learner Drivers Become Safer Drivers Workshop and this will be the last one for this year.

Book online

https://www.northernbeaches.nsw.gov.au/things-to-do/whats-on/helping-learner-drivers-become-safer-drivers-workshop-0

If you have any questions or need more information please call or email on the details below. 

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.