HouseNews

I delighted in hearing of a new opportunity for our mountain bikers from both the Junior and Secondary school, thirteen of whom took on hundreds of fellow riders at Thredbo. Ruann of G9 took out the bronze podium position (and setting a PB) at the Australian Athletics Championships at Homebush in Javelin whilst a goodly number of our HERIOIC students, and Staff, swam in support of the Head Above Water 24-hour swimathon at Collaroy. Stella participated in the National Beach Volleyball Championships having, with her team, taken out the silver medal at the NSW Youth Championships. Most of our Touch Football Team members won through the CDSSA competition to now attend the AICES Championships. Five of our surfers took on tough competition at the Lifeline High Schools Surf Challenge whilst at the AICES Swimming Carnival, Pittwater House took out the overall School champions as well as three Age Champions: Sadie, Lillie and Zara, with our girls also setting new AICES records in five events. Fifteen students have now qualified to swim at the CIS Championships… these are all stunning results for our students. And in a further wonderful result for our CDSSA Netballers in both the AICES U15 Team and the Opens Team, where 12 students overall will represent Pittwater House. Isla has had a marvellous season in Long Jump; recently she participated in the Australian Athletics Championships achieving great results including 1st in U17 Long Jump, gaining a PB and coming 4th in the Opens competing against a Paralympian. This past weekend three Pittwater House students, Zara, Connor and Noah gained podium positions at the Australian surf lifesaving youth championships; Zara first in U15 Board Rescue, first in U15 ironwoman and first in U15 swim race, Noah second in the U14 event and Connor in the U17. Zara also took out the gold in the U15 surf race.

This week also saw a fantastic array of colour and creativity with Junior School students taking on their favourite HEROIC character, a modern-day hero, representing at least one of our School’s Core Values. And in addition, the students will be donating to the NSW Flood victims through the GIVIT website and collecting dance gear for those who lost everything in Lismore. 

Our K to Year 2 Easter Concert and hat parade was a special event this week along with our ANZAC Service to be held on Friday.

And looking ahead to the Easter Recess, more than seventy cadets along with Major McClean and Ms Marion together with additional army staff will undertake the annual bivouac. And Lexi and Hannah will be journeying to Florida to compete in the IASF Dance World Championships.

It feels like a term where students were making the most of opportunities denied them through two COVID years and where our Staff have gone above and beyond to ensure every challenge and enjoyable experience was navigated. My sincere thanks to these extraordinary professionals who, in addition, have been covering for their colleagues to prevent any of our students not having a teacher in every class, every lesson, each day. I am sure you are aware of many schools that have needed to send whole cohorts home for remote learning, or worse, had students freely roaming the grounds where staff could not be covered…

A holiday is needed. Rest is essential. And I do hope that every member of our community finds the peace and restorative time for their family; for I know that every family, and workplace has really had a difficult few months.

Stay safe.

We look forward to welcoming back our students on Wednesday 27 April.

And finally, I am delighted to share the thoughts of another four new members of our Staff this Term. As you will read, they have brought diverse experiences and have embraced the spirit of Pittwater House. 

Our prefect body have had a strong focus these last few weeks on raising awareness of two important issues. Makayla and Olivia spoke to the students in assembly in the weeks leading up to the National Action Day Against Bullying and Violence on Friday 18 March. Their focus was on speaking out about bullying, where to seek help and most importantly the idea of the ‘bystander effect’, a phenomenon in which bystanders do nothing to help a victim when other people are present. The more people that are present, the less likely people are to offer assistance. Students were challenged to consider how they could fight the bystander effect and demonstrate Upstanding Behaviour. Senior school students were invited to participate in a BBQ to acknowledge the day as well as being provided with orange ribbons to wear on their uniform to show their commitment to tackling bullying.

The profits from the BBQ were in turn used to support another valuable program. Head Above Water Australia. It was founded to address the high rates of suicide on Sydney’s Northern Beaches and the mental health challenges faced by many in the community. After two postponed attempts, the Head Above Water 24-hour swim-a-thon took place on Saturday 26 – Sunday 27 March. Ewan coordinated a team of over twenty Year 11 and 12 students to participate, completing over five hundred laps in an hour. In addition, several Year 9 students participated earlier in the day with their form teacher, Ms Audrey Marion. Congratulations to all these students and those that participated with their families for giving up time on their weekend to raise awareness of such a critical issue. We are so proud of our students for raising over $1000 through the BBQ and the swim-a-thon. The money raised is used to support program partners to educate young people about mental fitness. These include Tomorrow Man and Tomorrow Woman, both of which are delivered at Pittwater House.

Congratulations to all involved in increasing awareness, participating, and making a commitment to reduce bullying and improve mental fitness in our community. 

As I have been settling into my new role at Pittwater House, I have valued the opportunities to collaborate with the teaching staff to set strategic intents for learning across the College; K-12 in 2022. My colleagues and I have set a clear path for learning in 2022 as we focus together on building a HEROIC learning culture where all at Pittwater House, learn deeply and through explicit instruction. I am therefore buoyed by the energy we have been creating to ensure that all of our students (K-12) from Term 2, have the opportunity to be truly agentic in their learning.

We will make explicit connections to the 6 C's ‘Six Deep Learning Capabilities’ (Collaboration, Critical Thinking, Creativity, Character, Citizenship and Communication) and the success criteria necessary for students to learn for life. We value our parent partnership enormously, as we grow your child’s confidence and capabilities in learning and we invite you to become involved in measuring your child's learning growth, together with us. One easy and powerful way to do this is simply to inquire about your child’s current learning, through guided questions that measure your child’s mastery of learning.

As teachers we will give our students the confidence to answer the following questions at the end of a lesson sequence.

You may like participate in a similar enquiry, by rephrasing the questions:

What did you learn today?

Why do you think you are learning this?

How will you know when you have learnt it?

This articulation of learning and the confidence that comes with being able to apply this learning to unfamiliar contexts, is key to a child’s academic growth and socio-emotional intelligence and best of all, they will in turn enjoy teaching their first educators - their parents.

Over the last few weeks, I have turned my attention to our youngest students, working closely with my Junior school colleagues to define the way we learn explicitly at Pittwater House through literacy and numeracy strategies embedded in Deep Learning principles. I have been thoroughly enjoying myself watching learning happen through the eyes of our youngest. During my learning walks, I have had the pleasure of experiencing morning tea with ECC, an empathy writing task led by Ms Jade Fassen with Kindergarten on Harmony Day and differentiated Spelling groups with Mrs Hannah Holmes in Year 4. I practised my childhood French with Ms Audrey Marion and Year 3 girls, as we learnt about our family members and I have been out of my depth in Mathematics (I'm an English Teacher!) in awe of the wonderful ways in which we are teaching numeracy through the 6 C’s in Year 6.

A student’s ability to move through the learning progressions from K-12 is fundamental to ensuring that each child’s learning is progressing at a challenging rate that is right for them. So important is this progression, that the government has embedded these principles in the latest NSW Curriculum Reform that remains in its implementation stage. Ms Sacha Webster (Assistant Head of Junior School - Curriculum) and Mrs Belinda Treloar (Year 6 teacher) with Year 6 teachers, have partnered with the senior school Mathematics department, led by Mr Adam Demasi, to bridge the gap between Primary and Secondary numeracy learning. Year 6 teachers have been preparing our students for a confident start to high school, differentiating the needs of all of our students so that they embark on problem solving at a challenge level right for them. High achieving mathematicians in need of problem-solving strategies rotate through 3 problems, in groups of 4, for 10 minutes each. I was so captivated by the authentic ways in which our Year 6 students were learning through the Deep Learning competencies of Character (grit), Collaboration (team dynamics), Communication(purposeful/impactful) and Critical Thinking (making connections/identifying patterns). Similarly, in a Year 4 Maths class, led by Mrs Bridget Garing, I observed an engaging lesson where students applied deep learning principles through ‘arrays’ (arrangement of objects, pictures, or numbers in rows and columns as representations of multiplication concepts) to solve Maths problems in groups. Finally, last week, I had the pleasure of joining Mrs Stephanie Cockerton's class as well as a Year 6 class where Ms Tickle, our Assistant Head of Junior School (Wellbeing) led her class through a most innovative multiplication lesson on Commutative Law. Students used the multiplication chart to explore and understand the properties and patterns in multiplication, thus making it easier to learn and understand multiplication.  Students started by exploring commutative properties (changing the order of factors does not change the product) in the timetables chart.  Through their existing knowledge of numbers, students delved deeply by looking for patterns in the chart, allowing them greater confidence and ability to solve multiplication algorithms quickly. It was an absolute pleasure to observe the real buzz of deep learning that was occurring in these rooms.

I just wished someone had taught me Maths like this when I was young. I share with you images from the Junior School from the last fortnight. 

The Year 5 students went away to Camp Wombaroo near Mittagong for four days and three nights last week. For some it was their first ever camp away from their families whilst others were clearly seasoned professionals. Despite what experience they had at camps every single student had a fantastic time doing all the activities that had been planned by the OEG staff. Whilst every activity was amazing, the giant swing, canoeing and the vertical climb were the favoured ones by the majority of the group.

The weather was not on our side but that did not dampen anyone’s spirits. We were provided with full weather jackets and pants meaning that we stayed dry for the most part even with some of the students slipping and sliding along muddy paths on our bushwalk. The night activities were also a big hit with students participating in talent shows, camp fires and camp cookouts.

When it came to feeding times, everyone got more than their fair share, with some even getting up for seconds and thirds. The quality of the food was great according to the students. The most pleasing part during mealtimes was hearing our students exercise their manners to those who prepared and served their food.

It was a wonderful four days away and it was amazing to see all the student show their HEROIC values throughout the week. Whether it was done through pushing themselves on an activity, eating something new, being kind to others, coming up with new ways to solve a problem and working collaboratively, it was wonderful to see all the students represent Pittwater House so well.

On Tuesday 29th May, two of the Pittwater House Year 12 Economics students, Peter and Ewan, attended the Federal Budget at Parliament House in Canberra. The students were recipients of the Northern Beaches Economics Prize 2022 awarded by the Member for Mackellar, Jason Falinksi. The minister’s office and his wonderful staff gave generously of their time during a period that is arguably their busiest day of the year! As such, the students were given an extraordinary insight into what goes on behind the scenes in preparing and presenting a federal budget.

They met and discussed current issues with several ministers including the Minister for Finance, Senator Simon Birmingham, The Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and Digital Technology, Senator Jane Hume, The Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Housing, Michael Sukka and the Assistant Minister for Waste Reduction and Environmental Management, Trevor Evans. The students were able to ask questions of these Ministers that related to what they are learning in the economics classroom and receive honest and frank responses which highlighted successes and issues the Government faces in delivering policy in such dynamic times and just before an election. For example, Senator Jane Hume, gave them almost 30 minutes of her time, explaining the importance of the digital technology small business tax offset and the role this initiative would have on the long-term economic growth.

In addition, the students received a behind the scenes look at the Press Gallery within Parliament House, in particular the ABC studios. They were given a personal guided tour by Andrew Probin and Greg Jennett, two of the well-known broadcasters from Budget night. The students were even able to sit behind the news desk and read from the telly prompt. Greg and Andrew also explained the process of when they receive a copy of the Budget at approximately 1pm on the day and then the entire press gallery goes into lock down so no information is leaked before 7:30pm!

Last, but certainly not least, the following morning of the Federal Budget, the students met Josh Frydenberg in his office to have a private 15 minute conversation with him on the budget. The students were able to impress Minister Frydenberg with their impressive economic questions and he was tactful but candid in his explanations and we hope to see some reference to this in their HSC economic responses! The students were spellbound from the time we arrived to when we departed, initially from the energy of budget time, but subsequently from the calibre of the people they met, which will inspire them to work hard during their time at school (and beyond) and choose a career that is both challenging and fulfilling. 

The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award is a global framework for non-formal education, which challenges young people to dream big, celebrate their achievements and make a difference in their world. Through developing transferable skills, increasing their fitness levels, cultivating a sense of adventure and volunteering in their community, the Award helps young people to find their purpose passion and place in the world to become #WORLDREADY.

This term six Duke of Edinburgh Award participants have achieved their respective award.

Congratulations to the following students:

Bronze Awardees - Phoebe, Elita and Sophia 

Silver Awardees - Blair and Angelina 

Gold Awardee - Anderson 

Note from Ms Fonso (Award Leader): Term 1 has been a busy term for many of the Duke of Edinburgh Award participants who are returning to their goal activities after many disruptions due to COVID restrictions.

Resilience, grit, and determination are now understandable traits for many of the participants. I am very proud of the remaining 59 active participants who invest many hours into their goals. I wish you all a wonderful holiday.

After a hiatus from many excursions in 2021 due to the global pandemic, the Year 7 Geography students of Pittwater House were able to experience an excursion like no other. On the 17th of March, St Patricks Day, our Year 7 Geography cohort traded working in the classroom for a more hands on experience of their geographical studies by completing fieldwork in the bushland of Bantry Bay. During this term our Geography focus has been examining landscapes and landforms and students were able to study these landforms in the environment.

Using the topography of the land, our Year 7 girls and boys got to experience different skills by allowing them to see how hills and valleys are shaped by erosional processes. Our students looked at the change of the landscape over time by using topographic maps. The timing of the excursion was great, as it was a clear day and one of the first, we had had in an over a month. As a result, from all this rain however there was the odd scream in the distance from students and staff as everyone was attacked by leeches. Overall, the experience was positive as the students enjoyed their time in Bantry Bay. We would like to express our gratitude towards our guides during the excursion, the students for their impeccable behaviour and our staff Ms Leman, Ms Selvaggi, Mr McKee, and Mr Pleunik. 

The following is a very insightful and thought-provoking article written about the negative impacts of social media by Prudence in Year 10.

Changing the way we think - Prudence (C10)

In our world where the media serves us perfection and success 24/7, it is difficult to reconcile positive self-perceptions and acceptance of self-pride and accomplishment. People of all ages, in particular teenagers in the middle of significant personal change and development, frequently experience embarrassment when expressing their achievements, so the outcome is an awkward momentary discomfort before attempting to compliment themselves in the company of friends, peers and sadly even family. Our connection to personal recognition is complex, and although there are many influences in people’s lives affecting their self-belief, there is no simple explanation for why we react the way we do. People may deflect praise to avoid failure, embarrassment, disappointment, or rejection. Unfortunately, this instinctive self-protection can frequently deprive us of positive human connection. The threat here is the development of permanent disbelief in yourself coupled by the inability to acknowledge or recognise someone close to you suffering from a lack of self-confidence.

We all understand and recognise the negative effects of social media yet equally it's an important and relevant part of our lives. Our world would be very limited and restricted without it. Currently, social media is all-encompassing, we have become addicted and reliant on it having a subconscious impact on our minds. We cannot live without it and it influences everything we do. I can jump on 'Twitter' and watch a war live in Ukraine with world leaders themselves live on their own 'Twitter' accounts, or it may be a superficial post of what someone is having for breakfast on 'Instagram'. Why people are compelled to show us they get up at 5 am to do yoga on a beach somewhere I’m not, or on a fabulous holiday – somewhere I’m not. Exposed to a “look at me look at me” digital explosion trying to tell those who care to follow me everything is so fantastic. 'Tik Tok' and 'Instagram' are great platforms and successful for many good reasons, but they can show us a different world too. Sadly, in many cases an artificial world. It's sometimes very difficult to see the difference between real and unreal. What is normal and what is not. The more we are exposed the more it seems normal and what we should aspire to be. Influencers with gorgeous bodies huge houses amazing lifestyles is not real for all of us except those who have created this manipulated façade. Digitally manipulated beauty leads to physical, financial opulence leading to chasing false dreams. Overexposure to this can have us believe it is what we should aspire to be, and this can lead to a loss of self-esteem, self-worth when reality checks in. This is not new to us though. Its just 24/7 accessible and omnipresent due to the digital world but years ago we had Ken or Barbie, slim fit and driving a Ferrari - very similar but clearly different.

What is normal is who I am and what I am. What I want to be and where/how I want to get there and I'm proud of that. We all should be. We need to remember that what is in the mirror is normal and we should value that very much. What I've achieved due to hard work, what I love and who, what I aspire to and admire. So much so we should be comfortable and confident to talk amongst ourselves celebrating normal successes, normal achievements. Celebrate and be open about who we are – confidently influenced by what’s on our screen. Do this and I can assure you it will rub off on the next person and the next. Shut each other down or ridicule, pick on each other for wanting to be positive, cut down the “tall poppy” and we deprive ourselves of the one single right we can personally control that no one can take away from us if we don’t let them - personal freedom of expression value and self-worth.

“Screen time” is not the only thing to blame nor am I blaming it. Its everywhere. We are continually exposed to a false perfection that manipulates our beliefs, directs our attitudes, and can control who we are. We are influenced by “influencers” who appear to have it all yet are not part of our real world. So much so they all must go live in the same house! Unfortunately, we are inspired and brainwashed by what we see as that “normality”. Because we spend SO much time on social media it's easy to become misdirected, misguided…. lost.

The challenge is to rise above this and have the self-confidence to love who we are and be happy to talk to others about it. because guess what? That’s normal. Follow many diverse people and things. Not just those we think we want to be like. Maybe those we would never want to be like. Like a poor child right now running from Ukraine to Poland scared and confused. Educate ourselves in all facets that life exposes us to. Direct your screen time into the good stuff the educational and the confronting.

Knowledge is power so they say, and if so, then knowledge is confidence. Knowing me is knowing you. talking about who I am and why I’m proud to be me who isn’t perfect yet aspires to be the best at what we can be!! –  trust me. It will rub off on others. 

We recently took 20 Year 10 students to a Science and Engineering Challenge Day at Sydney Olympic Park. Students were involved in an exhilarating day competing against other schools in fun and engaging hands-on activities such as designing an earthquake proof tower, building a bridge, providing electricity to a city, building a model turbine, or constructing a buggy to travel over Martian terrain.

There were 6 independent schools competing. It was an incredibly fun and rewarding day, with our fabulous TPHS team coming in SECOND place! A huge achievement! Congratulations to all who were involved.

Our G.A.T.E.WAYS Ignite program provided students in K-6 with the opportunity to participate in two half-day workshops led by specialist educators. Students explored scientific and mathematical concepts outside of the curriculum in these exciting, hands-on workshops designed to ignite curiosity, challenge, and inspire budding young scientists and mathematicians!

K -12 Music Festival 2022 – Tuesday May 3 and Wednesday May 4 (Term 2, Week 2)

Each year we offer an opportunity for students across the school to perform in front of an audience. We strongly encourage students who are having private lessons (either at Pittwater House or externally) to take this opportunity to perform a piece in front of a supportive and encouraging audience. Applications close Wednesday April 27.

To take on this opportunity and fill in the ONLINE form or scan this QR code.

Registration for 2022 Ensemble Membership

The ensembles’ structure has changed in 2022 to allow for greater inclusion and engagement throughout the entire school. If you require any further information, please email performingarts@tphs.nsw.edu.au.

We welcome current ensemble members and new members to join our 2022 Instrumental, Vocal and Dance ensembles, and hope 2022 proceeds with less interruptions caused by COVID than last year. Access the Ensemble Registration Form here.

Please come along even if you have NOT registered, as we welcome ALL new members to our ensembles.

Private Music Tuition

We have a group of private tutors who are experienced teachers and achieve great results.  If you are interested in having Private Music Lessons at Pittwater House during the school day please fill in the On-Line Form here. If you have any questions, please email us at: performingarts@tphs.nsw.edu.au.

If you have any questions, please email us at: performingarts@tphs.nsw.edu.au.

Enrichment Opportunities

We are looking for students to perform in our Senior School Assemblies. If your child is interested in performing please email your child’s interest to: performingarts@tphs.nsw.edu.au. 

Winter Uniforms are to be worn in Terms 2 and 3:

• Blazers are compulsory for Years 1-12 in Terms 2 and 3.
  
• Grammar Years K-12 can wear the School Grey long pant available from the School Shop for Terms 2 and 3.