HouseNews

Issue 2022 / 08

FROM THE ACTING PRINCIPAL'S DESK

As we enter Week 8 and near the end of Semester 1, I would like to thank the members of our community for how well they have bounced back into school life, as activities have re-commenced, learning tasks are back to normal and the experiences offered at Pittwater House, both in and outside of the classroom, are back to full capacity. It is worth me making a special mention of how lucky we are to have such an amazing team of educators and student support staff, who as they near the end of Semester 1, have probably had one of the busiest Semesters of school we have ever seen. I would like to sincerely commend them for their ongoing dedication, student focused attitudes, flexibility, and hard work.   

This hard work has been replicated by our students and it has been pleasing to see the numbers of Year 11 and 12 students who have this year been making use of our Senior Study Centre, supervised by two of our academic staff, through to 6.30pm each evening, Monday to Thursday. Seeing this many senior students making great use of this facility, demonstrates the pleasing work ethic of our students, but also their willingness to seek direct assistance and feedback from our teachers. I would encourage, particularly our Year 12 students to continue to utilise this resource over the coming months, as they prepare for their Trial HSC, scheduled to take place in Weeks 3 and 4 of Term 3.

In terms of activities this week, it was great to walk around the campus on Tuesday and see Year 6 Students participating in a Bollywood incursion in the Hall. Where they were engaged in hands on experiences, to complement the work they have been learning in HSIE and the texts they have been studying in English. These authentic learning experiences continued Wednesday and Thursday when our Years 10 and 11 Visual Arts and Photography and Digital Media students spent two days at the Bundanon Artist in Residence Camp. We will also see our HSC Music and Drama students performing their HSC Major works to a live audience on Thursday night, to allow them to showcase the huge amount of work they have put into their HSC, as well as to get valuable practice in front of an audience prior to them performing their final HSC major works Term 3 to the HSC markers. It is also amazing to see how many of our elite athletes are excelling on the various representative pathways. All of this is worth mentioning, as experience has continued to reaffirm the concept that the students who achieve the best results and experience the greatest academic growth, are those who continue to maintain the balance in their schooling, between hard work in the classroom, great teacher mentoring, a comprehensive wellbeing program, and a strong cocurricular program.

I would like to remind our Year 8 and Year 10 students that they need to complete their 2023 online elective subject selection by Wednesday of Week 9. I would like to also encourage them of the need to make sure they have completed their surveys, sought advice on the options, and have accessed all the resources to ensure they are making smart decisions on their future. 

From the Head of Teaching and Learning

Building a HEROIC Learning Model

This term as a whole school, we have sought opportunity to gain momentum, as teachers and students continue to articulate the attributes of a ‘HEROIC’ learner. One of our first Wednesday afternoon professional learning hours this term was devoted to staff reflecting on their own priorities for teaching and learning at Pittwater House. Having previously collaborated in faculty and stage groupings, staff defined our HEROIC learning model in terms of our purpose (Why?) our process (What?) and our unique difference (How?) We enjoyed an afternoon of reflecting on our colleagues’ definitions of the Why, What and How of our HEROIC learning model, to then narrow down the pertinent definitions that each individual staff member resonated with. Sticky dots, post-it-notes and butcher's paper have never been more fun and important in a professional learning hour! I share with you a snippet from the afternoon’s work, creatively presented by our Marketing Director, Ms Leanne Munro. 

We are now committed to shaping this data from the teachers, together with the powerful voices we have harnessed from our agentic student body - K-12, via a school survey. The next critical data-gathering stage, will be from our parents and carers and I look forward to inviting you all very early next term, to reflect and respond to a survey that asks you similarly to consider our unique learning model and what it is about your child's learning that you value most and where we as a whole school, could further refine. My colleagues and I are committed to continuing to refine and reflect on our unique HEROIC learning model ready to be launched at the commencement of the 2023 academic year. Meantime, we continue to ensure that our students are harnessing their skills and knowledge through ‘Deep Learning’ principles, explicit literacy and numeracy strategies and student voice in the classrooms to develop confident, successful learners. It is very encouraging as I continue my learning walks around the College this term, to witness authentic examples of learning and our measure is in the last few consolidatory minutes of each lesson as we ask our students to consider the ‘What’ ‘Why’ and ‘How’ of their learning.

I wish our entire school community a wonderful Winter break and I hope that each student returns to Term 3, safe, well and ready to embrace their HEROIC way forward. I am looking forward to some sleep-ins and enjoying the delights of winter in our beautiful harbour city before I join the accompanying teachers on the July Snowsports Trip. For those of you whose children are attending, I look forward to spending time with them in the winter wonderland and hope they are kind to me as they zoom past me, whilst I snow plough cautiously down the mountain. 

FROM THE SENIOR SCHOOL

From the Heads of College and Grammar

UN Youth NSW Young Leaders Summit

UN Youth Australia is a national youth-led organisation that aims to educate and empower young Australians on global issues. In 2022, they are hosting an event for students in Years 9-12. The event will focus on 2-3 interactive problem-solving sessions and students will be encouraged to apply their problem-solving and communication skills whilst working with fascinating global scenarios.

This is a wonderful opportunity for students in Years 9-12 to explore their interests and develop communication, teamwork and leadership skills.

The details are:

Date: Saturday 25 June, 2022

Time: 10am – 3.30pm

Where: University of Technology

Cost: $30 (please note that if financial hardship is a barrier for involvement, please reach out to UN Youth NSW)

Students can register individually for the event. Please note that there will be no Pittwater House staff present at the event and students will need to find their own way to and from UTS.

If any students in Years 9 – 12 are interested, please register here: https://unyouth.wufoo.com/forms/qnoth6d1c3nuje/

Please direct any questions to Kyla Rivera, NSW Summits Convenor 2022 via: nswsummits@unyouth.org.au

Well Being Conference

On Friday, 8 Year 11 students travelled to Knox Grammar School to attend a student-led wellbeing conference. The day-long session was split into two parts, the first was a lecture from two keynote speakers, Matt Cogin, who spoke to us about the Doors of opportunity in becoming an agent of change and Dr Kirsty Goodwin who educated us about how to optimise our digital lives. These presentations were extremely educational for all of us, and some key takeaways were the ability that we have at any given time to turn our lives around and see the positives in every situation, as well as the effects that technology can have on our brain and the ways that we can use our devices in productive and healthy ways. This also gave us the opportunity to get to know people from other schools by participating in interactive games to get to know each other and our core strengths.

During the second part of the day, we were split off into groups with students from other schools where we sat in on interactive seminars. These were student-led by some Ravenswood and Knox students who provided us with coping mechanisms for dealing with stress in everyday lives and how we can implement these strategies into our wider school community. These seminars further extended our leadership skills by allowing us to learn and practice, engaging and connecting with people of all ages. With this, we were taught the steps to build and maintain positive relationships with our peers, parents, and teachers. Us Pittwater House students came together to speak with some Knox and Ravenswood students about their wellbeing initiatives at their school which allowed us to brainstorm as a collective different strategies we can implement in our school community. 

Overall, it was a really engaging experience that will help enhance our school’s wellbeing programs and start more in-depth conversations with our fellow students. 

By Shontelle and Isla (C11) 

JUNIOR SCHOOL NEWS

K-6 Junior Performing Arts Night

We are looking forward to our Junior Performing Arts Night, being held on Tuesday (21st June). This event showcases every class in the Junior School, and the Co-curricular Performing Arts ensembles. The students are so excited to be able to showcase their Performing Arts items for family and friends. Therefore, this event is our first unrestricted audience event since 2019, and we are expecting a full house.

This event is one of 2 compulsory evening events of the year, and we are thrilled to be able to hold it without restrictions this year.

This special evening commences at 6:00pm. All students are required to be at School at their designated meeting places at 5:30pm where their class roll will be marked. As the evening is designed for each class to showcase the semester’s learning, each student needs to be present to play their special part.

This event encapsulates what Pittwater House is about and exemplifies our HEROIC values.

We are looking forward to seeing our students shine, and your happy faces in the audience.

NSW Junior School Chess Tournament

Last week, nine very eager Junior School boys ranging from Kindergarten to Year 4 represented Pittwater House at the NSW Junior School Chess Tournament held at the Cromer Community Centre. Each student played seven games. At the end of the day Individual Age Champions were presented prizes, as were the 3 top School Teams. Our students were very successful with Pittwater House placing third in the Schools’ competition. In the individual results, Lincoln (PK) was 1st in the 5 years, Miles (P2) was 1st in the 6 years and Leonardo (P2) came 1st in the 7 years. Congratulations to the entire team for their participation and representation in this exciting event. The team members were; Lincoln and Xavier from Kindergarten, Leonardo, Nolan, Jackson, Manning and Miles from P2, Ethan and Noah from P4.                         

Year 6 - A Taste of India Incursion

Year 6 are experiencing a Taste of India this week to support their learning of a unit called Diverse Asia. Students attended an informative session to learn more about the incredibly diverse country of India.  Students then learned a Bollywood dance, created Rangoli sand art and enjoyed an Indian Feast provided by The Indian Joint.

Lego Donations

In our quest to provide options for students on the playground, we are looking to create a place in the School where kids can play with Lego.  If any parents have any Lego that would like to donate to the school, please send it in with your child to give to their classroom teachers.  

Junior School Code Camp

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FROM THE CO-ORDINATOR OF HIGH POTENTIAL AND GIFTED STUDENTS

Spotlight on Character

This week Heidi in Year 6 has decided to shine a spotlight on the Character traits which help her to lead a happy and successful life. 

If you would like to contribute to HouseNews then please email our Co-ordinator of High Potential and Gifted Students at: Victoria.james@tphs.nsw.edu.au

Character - by Heidi, Year 6

Character is an extremely important trait that everyone should have. It is vital to have character because it builds confidence, allows you to express yourself in countless ways and defines who you are.

Character is a essential skill and/or trait that allows you to express yourself in many ways. I express myself through character using musical theatre, singing, and dancing. Musical theatre, singing and dancing allows me to be in the moment and connect and have fun. I have found that musical theatre, singing, and dancing teaches many skills such as creativity, collaboration, character, self-expression, confidence, and empathy. I believe that performing allows you to escape into another character but build on your own.

Character definitely builds confidence in people. Character build confidence because it allows you to be happy with who you and not care what someone thinks of you. Studies show that people with confidence are happier, more successful, and healthier than someone dance. People with confidence are happier because they don’t stress over a decision and are likely to have anxiety, this improves your mental health make both happy and healthier. It has been proven that people with confidence are most likely to be successful do you too them taking opportunities and having a good character.

It is crucial to have a good character because it allows you to be more successful in life. In fact, 67% of people with a good character are happier and more successful, this is because they cause less conflict and are more helpful, determined and driven. Character is arguably one of the most if not the most important trait because it defines your personality, the way you act, speak, and think. Your character is generally based off the people you surround yourself with so make sure those people have good characters. A way to test if someone has a good character is to see if they are empathetic, kind, helpful and confident, you try to describe them in 3 words and if they aren’t good words then probably don’t have a good character.

In conclusion, character is an exceptionally significant skill that everyone should possess. Remember to be confidence, express yourself and have a good character.

daVinci Decathlon Results 2022

Pittwater House had 6 teams from Years 5-10 compete in the recent daVinci Decathlon, run by Knox Grammar School. It is a rigorous academic competition designed to stimulate the minds of students across 10 different disciplines: Engineering, Mathematics, Art and Poetry, Code Breaking, Science, English, Ideation, Cartography, Creative Producers, and Legacy. Each team was comprised of 8 students per grade, and they had to display great collaboration skills to compete in each of the challenge areas.

We should be extremely proud of all our students who competed. Not only did they stay focused and work to the best of their ability, but they also represented our school with pride.

Considering there was fierce competition from many other schools per discipline, we came away with some exceptional results.

Here are the highlights:

Year 5: 10th Creative Producers and 12th Engineering.

(72 teams competed for Year 5)

Year 6: 9th Code Breaking

(81 teams competed for Year 6) 

Year 7: 13th Code Breaking

(76 teams competed for Year 7)

Year 9: 3rd Code Breaking and 7th Science.

(76 teams competed for Year 9)

Congratulations to you all!

Tournament of Minds (TOM) - Years 7-9

Tournament of Minds (TOM) is a program providing the opportunity to solve authentic, open-ended challenges that foster creative, divergent thinking whilst developing collaborative enterprise, excellence, and teamwork.

Our focus will be on Social Sciences - A journey through the moral and ethical issues confronting society in the 21st Century.

We are inviting students in Years 7-9 to register their interest with Ms James via victoria.james@tphs.nsw.edu.au by the deadline of 24th June.

The challenge begins when Term 3 returns.

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MATHEMATICS NEWS

From the Co-ordinator of Mathematics

This week in the 'Are you smarter than...' series, we move to Year 8

So... Are you smarter than a Year 8 student???

Gift Wrapping

A box in the shape of a rectangular prism is strapped as shown. The length of the straps are 100cm, 60cm and 80cm.

QUESTION: Find the possible values of x, y and z.

This question was part of the recent Accelerated Mathematics Year 8 Assessment Task.

NOTE: Solution will be posted in the next edition of HouseNews but if you would like to check your answers prior please email maths@tphs.nsw.edu.au to see if you are correct!

Maths Problem of the Week

GREEN LEVEL - PROBLEM OF THE WEEK

In this 5x5 grid, the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 are to be placed so that each number appears only once in each row and once in each column.

QUESTION (Green Level): When completed, what number is the square marked X?

NOTE: Solution will be posted in the next edition of HouseNews but if you would like to check your answers prior please email maths@tphs.nsw.edu.au to see if you are correct!

RED LEVEL - PROBLEM OF THE WEEK

PQR is an equilateral triangle with a side length of 2.

S is the midpoint of QR. T and U are points on PQ and PR such that STXU is a square.

QUESTION (Red Level): What is the area of the square?

NOTE: Solution will be posted in the next edition of HouseNews but if you would like to check your answers prior please email maths@tphs.nsw.edu.au to see if you are correct!

GENERAL INFORMATION

School Uniform Shop News

Note: Bookings are essential. Please use our online booking system:  CLICK HERE to book your appointment.

For further enquiries please call Mrs Spark on: 9972 5721 or email at: teresa.spark@tphs.nsw.edu.au

Term Dates 2022-2023

Note: For more School information regarding Form Class Lists, School Directory etc. please log into Tass Parent Lounge or Student Cafe and click on the Links drop-down menu.
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2022 Pittwater House Calendar

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Canteen Winter Menu - Terms 2 and 3

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