The Vine Issue 12 – 2022

COLLEGE PRINCIPAL

Mr James Tamblyn

I have had the pleasure of attending multiple performances this week of our Junior Musical Production, The Wizard of Oz. Congratulations to all students, staff and volunteers who were involved in the preparation and execution of such a magnificent show. For students so young to produce a performance of such high quality is a credit to all involved. The courage, skill, camaraderie and energy displayed by our young performers were quite remarkable. The quality of costumes, props, sets and choreography is a testament to the extraordinarily hard work of staff and volunteers. I commend all involved and thank them, on behalf of the community, for the joy that their hard work has enabled the performers and the combined audiences to experience over the past few days.

Happy Father’s Day to all our dads and grandfathers for Sunday. You play such an important role in the lives of your children and grandchildren. We hope you all have a wonderful day. It was fabulous to have so many fathers and grandfathers join us for our Junior School Father’s Day breakfast on Friday this week. My thanks to the team of Junior School staff who organised the event and to the families who came along to celebrate.

This week’s Middle and Senior School Assembly theme was ‘Perfectly Imperfect’. Those present were encouraged to embrace their own imperfections, and those in others. Students explored the notion of failure being an integral ingredient for success. We cannot ever succeed greatly without risking failing spectacularly. Scottish novelist and playwright Sir J M Barrie, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan in 1904, is also accredited with this little gem; We are all failures – at least the best of us are. Only those prepared to risk failure, and embrace their imperfections, will ever know the satisfaction of great accomplishment. 

To be human is to be imperfect. I encourage you all to embrace your imperfections, knowing that God’s perfect love for us all is sufficient.

‘But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.‘ – Corinthians 12:9-10

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL / HEAD OF SENIOR SCHOOL

Mr Andrew Whiteman

The past two weeks have seen our current and future Senior School students start to make decisions on the subjects that they will study in 2023. For some, this has been a smooth process and a clear direction is ahead of them. For many others, more time is required to consider the options available, discussions at home and with teachers and, of course, some real investigation is required before any subjects are decided. We appreciate this is not an easy decision and if you or your child would like any assistance or guidance with subject choices, please do not hesitate to contact me or classroom teachers at the College. Our current Year 9 students were presented with information this week, and an optional subject counselling session is planned for Thursday, 8 September, 1.45 – 5.00pm. Families can drop in with your child to investigate the many different pathways available. I was pleased to hear so many questions already coming from our students. The last day for selections to be made is Friday, 9 September. An email has been sent with the instructions for entering subjects into the online portal Edval. 

Hillcott Assembly this week focused on human imperfections and how failure is a natural and common part of everyday life. The student leaders presented the notion of any failure being an opportunity for growth. We need to be brave and learn that the feeling of being vulnerable, e.g. going for a job interview, applying for a leadership role, or public speaking, is an important part of improving ourselves. Yes, there will be times when being nervous will impact our performance. Yes, there will be times when we don’t perform to our best, and there will be times when we all fail. Everyone fails in life at some stage. However, how we bounce back from that failure builds our character and makes us who we are. The Assembly was hopefully inspirational to our students, highlighting that being a failure doesn’t have to be a bad thing or leave a lasting impression on our character. A number of awards were presented to students as recognition for outstanding results in various competitions in English and Humanities. 

This week, Year 11 and 12 students were visited by the South Australian Police to hear important information about keeping themselves and others safe. The world these students live in exposes them to the many dangers of our society. Students heard first-hand about the impacts of dangerous driving and how the decisions they make while driving (or while passengers) can have devastating effects on them and others. The powerful messages of looking after each other and thinking before acting made these presentations truly impactful. We cannot wrap our students in cotton wool and not allow them to access opportunities, but we need to continually talk to them about the dangers and how they can positively influence others.  

HEAD OF MIDDLE SCHOOL

 Mr Callum Iles

I once completed an aptitude survey that looked at different strengths that I had. I think it was called Strengthsfinder. At the end of the extensive survey and self-assessment, it came out that two of my greatest strengths were strategic thinking and historic thinking. Basically, I am good at planning for the future and learning from the past. I remember the analysis saying that the biggest problem for someone with this particular skill mix is that they can sometimes forget to live in the moment. This explained a lot of things.

Living in the moment can be a challenge when we are setting goals and thinking about what we are doing with the coming holidays. If we don’t plan for the future, then life will just happen, but if we spend too much time thinking about the future, we will never experience the wonder of the moment.

In the same way, we can learn so much from history. People’s failures and what we can do to avoid them; inspiring stories of courage; hilarious blunders. But if we spend too long analysing history, we can get caught in the past, forgetting to create our own history and our own memories.

Mindfulness is essentially the practice of being present. Whether that is by focusing on our breath, or by eating a strawberry slowly, or by putting our phones down to look our children in the eyes, these are all practices of living in the moment. You can see why there are a lot of sources outlining the benefits of mindfulness.

The Bible encourages us to live in the moment as well. Matthew 6:26 says, ‘Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are they not much more valuable than they?’ Jesus encourages us not to worry about the future but to live in the present and make the most of each moment.

One of the great joys of being a part of Pedare Middle School is seeing each student make the most of their moment. Whether playing soccer on the oval at lunch, sharing a laugh with their friends, or choreographing a dance routine for Physical Education, each student is engaged in what they are doing at the moment, and it is a great joy to see. Participation in sports, extra-curricular activities and producing high-quality work are further evidence that the outcomes of living in the moment are exceptional. By doing this, students begin to learn the practices that will help them build a great life.

As we navigate life, I encourage all to find a balance between living in the moment, planning for the future and learning from the past. By balancing these, we can begin building a life that counts.

HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL

Mr Randall Pearce

Spring is almost here! We are all looking forward to some sunshine and warmer weather. Please be aware that students will need to begin wearing hats during outside play from Monday, 5 September.  

Father’s Day Breakfast

For the third consecutive year, we enjoyed the Father’s Day breakfast, which was held in the College Chapel today. It was reported to me that many children were so excited about their Dad’s coming to school that they could not sleep and woke up very early, got themselves ready and were out the door prepared for the day. It was wonderful to see so many Dads in the same space enjoying the company of their children and fellow Dads. We had over 90% of our families represented at this event and hope to grow this further in the future.  

Many thanks to Rory, the catering team, and the numerous staff volunteers who cheerfully woke early to serve our community.

Parent / Teacher Interviews

Junior School Parent / Teacher Interviews will be held in person next week – Tuesday, 6 and Wednesday, 7 September, from 3.30 to 5.30pm.  

These interviews are with class teachers only, and you can book a time if there is something specific you would like to discuss regarding your child’s learning. These ‘optional’ interviews are not compulsory for families as Semester One reports have been issued. All interviews will be 15 minutes in duration.

Specialist teachers will not be available; however, if you would like to meet with one of them, please contact the teacher directly to arrange a suitable time.

Term 4 events

We look forward to hosting Year 3, Year 4 Sleepovers and Student Leadership Information Session in Term 4. 

Year 4 Sleepover will be held on Friday, 21 October (week 1), when students spend a night in tents within the school grounds. The newly established Year 3 sleepover will be held on Friday, 4 November (week 3).  

To help your child with a successful night away from home, we are planning for an information session where we will go through each program so you can help prepare your child for the sleepover.  

Please save the following time and date: Wednesday, 28 September from 5.00 to 5.30pm. 

Following the Sleepovers presentation (from 5.30 to 5.45pm), I will explain to the Year 4 parents about the Student Leadership/Captains process that will take place in Term 4.

STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT

The Wizard of Oz Musical

Wednesday, 31 August – Friday, 2 September

SciWorld Science Incursion

Year 1

Prime Minister’s Spelling Bee

Year 6

Individuals & Societies Museum and Gallery Excursion

Year 9

NEWS, UPDATES AND RESULTS

The Pedare Extra-Curricular Team are excited to bring you a new portal, containing information and links all in one location to our Sports and Clubs program.

The Portal is updated regularly to bring you the latest news, announcements, updates, results and more of Pedare Extra-Curricular activities and events.

Tea Tree Gully Anglican

Tea Tree Gully Anglican Church is a group of Christians who seek to serve Jesus in everything we do. Whether you are just visiting, or looking for a Christian home, we aim to be a loving and supportive family for you. We meet at the church at 8:30am, 10:00am, and 6:00pm in person. If you can’t join us just yet, we’ll continue to stream at 8:30am and 10:00am online using Zoom and YouTube  Service times are 8:30am and 10:00am.

Please contact Dave Brown on dave@ttganglican.org.au for more details, or check their Facebook page for links.

If you are struggling and would like to talk with someone from the church during these trying times, please phone 8264 3736.

Tea Tree Gully Uniting – Banksia Markets

Tea Tree Gully Uniting host the ‘local and friendly’ Banksia Markets on the first Saturday of each month from 8:30am to 1:00pm at 600 Milne Road, Banksia Park. Stalls inside the hall and in the car park include produce, fresh fruit and vegetables, jewellery, tools, bric-a-brac and lots more.

For more information contact the TTG Uniting Church website at https://www.ttguc.org.au/

St Mark’s Anglican Church

St Mark’s Anglican Church has a 9.00 am traditional service each Sunday morning and 9.30am each Wednesday morning. We would love to see you at either or both of our services. We are located on the corner of The Golden Way and Wynn Vale Drive, Wynn Vale.

For further information and updates about St Mark’s services and events, please visit our website at https://www.stmarksgoldengrove.org.au/ or visit our Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/stmarksgoldengrove.org.au

Golden Grove Uniting Church

Golden Grove Uniting Church, corner of Crouch and One Tree Hill Road, Golden Grove, has a traditional service at 10 am on Sunday. Also, on the second and fourth Sunday of the month, we have a cafe-style church, which is a relaxed contemporary worship service at 6 pm in the Church hall.

Café Youth is a fun, interactive program for young people ages 14 and up looking to engage in topics of faith. It is held in the Church hall on the first and third Sunday of each month during the school term, from 6.30-8.30 pm. Café Youth sessions start with a fun 30-minute activity based on the theme for the night, then followed by “Talk Time”, during which the group discusses a topic of faith whilst enjoying delicious snacks, refreshments and pizza! The cost for each session is $5.

For further information, please contact the Office on 8251 4298 or email office@goldengroveuniting.org.au. You can even check our webpage: https://www.goldengroveuniting.org.au

Please click here to visit the College Calendar for a full list of College events