The Vine Issue 16 – 2020

COLLEGE PRINCIPAL

Mr James Tamblyn

Earlier this week I wrote to our Year 12 graduates as they prepared for their final formal lessons as Pedare students, and the ensuing examination period. I wrote to thank and congratulate them all for the maturity, resilience and focus they have demonstrated over the course of this year. Unlike any cohort of students that have graduated from Pedare, they have encountered challenges that have tested not only their commitment to their studies but also their capacity to adapt, think and work flexibly, stay connected and support each other.

Through some very trying personal circumstances our 2020 graduates have proven to be exceptional role models as the senior students of the College. In my first year at Pedare I could not have asked for a more respectful and welcoming group of Year 12 students, and I will remain forever grateful for the significant role they have played contributing to our culture, and our community of learning, through such a challenging period. Their support for each other has been obvious and is something that I am sure will continue to bond them for many years to come.

My very best wishes to all our Year 12s through this final week of lessons, and for the exams in front of them. We have encouraged them to enjoy this very special time together, whilst continuing to keep their focus on their studies in this final leg of a long journey. We wish for all our 2020 graduates every happiness and success with whatever comes next for them, and for every future endeavour. There will always be a home for them at Pedare, and we look forward to them staying connected with College life as our most recent old scholars and Year 12 Graduates.

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL/HEAD OF SENIOR SCHOOL

Mr Andrew Whiteman

Welcome back to Term 4 and I hope you are all ready for a term that always seems to fly past. As always we wish our Year 12 students well as they embark on their final weeks of school, move directly into Swot Vac in Week 3 and then take on their final SACE examination in Week 4 and 5. Many years of hard work will be put to the test and we hope that they are all able to perform to the best of their ability.

Friday 23 October, saw us farewell the Year 12 class of 2020. It was a wonderful occasion with the day always bringing with it lots of emotion (for both parents and students). A delicious breakfast with families is always a nice way to start the day before we headed to the Chapel for our final worship together. Each student was presented on stage by their Community Coordinator and Home Group teacher and received a small gift from them. It was after the formal part of the day that the students took the opportunity to show their hidden talents as they performed some musical items. A lot of organisation and costume preparation was the order of the day and with a good dose of humour, the students entertained the crowd. Well done to everyone and the 2021 Class of Year 12 is already in the planning stage for their final day!

This week has seen our Year 11 students attend the Stage 1 Geography camp with Mr Penny. The students enjoyed the great outdoors and were able to use the theory that they have learnt in the classroom and put it to use in the surrounds of Barmera. Our Year 10 Geography students head off in Week 3 to Port Elliott.

Congratulations to Mrs Williams and the Year 11 Drama students for their drama performance ‘Little Women’ by Jacqueline Goldfinger, held on Tuesday 20 October. The play was based on the 1864 Novel by Louisa May Alcott. All students prepared and then performed to a very high standard. We look forward to seeing them in their Stage 2 Drama production in 2021.

Another reminder to please check the SEQTA Engage platform for recent academic results. Subject teachers will enter results for marked assessments as they are completed, and this gives you timely feedback on your children’s achievements. Please discuss with your children the results they achieve and the feedback that has been given to them. This feedback can take many forms, written feedback on drafts or final pieces, verbal feedback, comments provided in Google docs or any other general feedback that teachers have provided. As always please do not hesitate to contact your child’s teachers if you need more in-depth information.

ACTING HEAD OF MIDDLE SCHOOL

 Mr Josh Willis

With 2020 proving to be a challenging year for many of us, Pedare students have been investigating how they can improve their personal wellbeing and the wellbeing of their peers. Year 9 students have been engaging in different wellbeing workshops as a part of their Pedare Passage lessons this term. Gratitude, Empathy and Mindfulness will be key topics during these lessons as students look to build on their resilience and look at finishing their time in Middle School positively. Year 7 students are looking at how to create a “Happy Society” at Pedare as part of their Term 4 Spark projects. These projects will allow students to research and create new and innovative ways to improve the wellbeing of our college community. Students have been proposing their ideas to members of leadership to see how their ideas can come to life and help spread happiness across the college.

It has been fantastic to see so many Year 8 students putting forward applications for formal student leadership positions in 2021. We encourage all students at Pedare to develop their leadership skills during their time with us and take on the various opportunities available to them, to enhance these skills. Those who have put forward applications will gain valuable experience in this area by engaging in interviews with College leadership and speaking in front of their peers. We look forward to announcing our 2021 Middle School Student leadership team in the coming weeks.

It is that time of the year again when we begin to prepare for the 2021 Academic Year. Please note that Welcome Day for Middle School students in 2021 will take place on Thursday 26 November 2020 (Week 7, Term 4). Core teachers have begun the important task of constructing classes for next year. In the Middle School, students have been offered an opportunity to express what is important to them in transitioning to next year, in terms of their learning and wellbeing. Core teachers will be placing students in appropriate classes to provide the best possible learning experience for all students in 2021.

HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL

Mr Randall Pearce

Term 4 is a busy, fun filled and full of activities and adventures for both the children and staff.

Year 5 Camp

Due to COVID-19 restriction in April, the Year 5 camp was moved to Week 1 in Term 4. This saw Year 5 students and their teachers experience camping life with a 3-day 2-night camp at Douglas Scrub McLaren Vale. It was actually quite wonderful to experience this camp in another season, which green grass and a softer ground to sleep on, though I must admit the inch ants and mosquitoes were not a welcome addition to the camping experience. Many thanks to Mr Andy Peartree, Ms Marika Brown, Mr Heath Perry, Mr John Morton and Mrs Lyn Davis for supporting the Year 5 Camp.

Year 4 Sleepover

On Friday 16 October, we completed our Year 4 Sleepover, where the children camped overnight on the Junior School oval in front of the Blue Gum Sports Centre. Despite the inclement conditions, the children soldiered on and enjoyed the experience. Many thanks to Ms Simara Conroy, Ms Sophie Elliot and Mr John Morton who camped out with the children on a wet Friday night.

School camp is a fantastic opportunity for children to develop new skills, friendships and interests. The benefits of school camp are numerous, here are my top five:

1. Development of social skills

School camp is a great opportunity to develop a range of social skills. Most activities at camp involve teamwork, which is great to strengthen established friendships and also to develop new friendships by connecting with children they don’t regularly talk with at school.

Through bonding activities, children develop supportive relationships not only with different children, but also with their teachers. At camp, children have the opportunity to learn about acceptance, caring and understanding.

2. Development of independence skills

For many children school camp is their first time away from family and home for a few nights. Parents are not there to remind their kids to eat their vegetables, brush their teeth, or to have a shower.

Therefore, this is a great opportunity for kids to grow up by learning how take care of themselves and to do things on their own. Most kids do rise to the challenge and learn to rely on themselves when they spend time away home.

3. Development of decision-making skills

Should I go with my friends or should I do the activity I really want to do? Should I have sneak in my iPad / iPhone or similar? Should I stay up or go to bed? Supervising teachers are not able to hover over each child all the time, so at camp, children are responsible for making more of their own choices.

4. Increased environmental awareness

During camp, children are exposed to authentic nature-based experiences. Hands-on activities in the outdoors stimulate all senses and facilitate learning. Children become more aware of the environment, develop outdoor skills and appreciation for nature.

5. Learning new skills

At school camp, children will be exposed to a range of activities that they may not have tried before. When away from their parents, children are often more adventurous and willing to try new things.

Finally, school camps provide children with the opportunity to work with a variety of adults, that will nurture experiential education, build intergenerational relationships and result in a different style of learning. Teacher involvement is, of course, vital to every successful camp, with the bonds between students and teachers strengthened away from the classroom. Our students have the opportunity to form relationships through first-hand experiences with trained, caring adult role models and experience a sense of achievement in a supervised, safe and positive environment as a result.

Please click here to view photos and reflections from our Year 4 and 5 students whilst on camp.

2022 ACADEMIC SCHOLARSHIPS

Registration is NOW OPEN

Registration for 2022 Academic Scholarships are now open to both new enrolments and current students and awarded following the ACER examinations. The value of the scholarships is up to 50% tuition fee remission with Scholarships being reviewed on an annual basis to monitor the student’s continuing performance. It is expected that recipients will complete their schooling at Pedare.

The ACER scholarship examination will be held at Pedare Christian College, 12-30 Surrey Farm Drive, Golden Grove on Saturday, 6 February 2021.

Online registrations are now open and the closing date for registrations is Thursday 21 January 2021. The fee to sit the scholarship test is $110.

Please follow the link to register.

For students in Years 5 or 6 in 2020, for Year 7 or 8 in 2022, please apply for a Level 1 Scholarship Test. http://scholarships.acer.edu.au/intro/2039

For students in Year 7 or 8 in 2020, for Year 9 or 10 in 2022, please apply for a Level 2 Scholarship Test http://scholarships.acer.edu.au/intro/2040

For students in Year 9 in 2020, for Year 11 in 2022, please apply for a Level 3 Scholarship Test http://scholarships.acer.edu.au/intro/2040

Please direct any enquiries to the Community Relations Manager, Mrs Julie Holland, on 08 8280 1700 or via jholland@pedarecc.sa.edu.au

Please note that for all scholarships and bursaries the other College charges, such as the Resource Fee, Camp and eLearning Levy are to be met by the candidates’ parents/caregivers.

CONTENTS

Book Week – VIP Day/Parade 

Year 2 – Marine Discovery

Year 3 – Birdwood Motor Museum Visit

Year 4 & 5 – Camps

Year 12 – Last Day

Spring Carnival

2021 Senior School Captains

Year 11 – Drama ‘Little Women’

Year 11 – Business Excursion to Tonsley

BOOK WEEK – VIP DAY & PARADE

What a fabulous celebration of books and reading the 2020 Book Week has been! For the first time Year 6 and 7 students joined the Dress Up Parade. We have been so amazed by the ingenuity and creativity of all those involved. Mr Randall Pearce, Mrs Lyn Davis and Mr James Tamblyn had us captivated by their award-winning performance of Frog on a Log by Kes Gray and Jim Field.

We also enjoyed the visit to our Junior School classes by author, Katrina Germein. Our students were very well engaged, asking so many thoughtful questions and behaving impeccably. Many students have borrowed and reserved her books which we have in our library.

The artistic creations contributed from individuals and classes throughout Book Week were impressive. This reminds us of how talented and innovative our teachers and students are here at Pedare. It was also wonderful to see the interaction of our Year 10s and Year 9s enjoying reading time with our younger students in Reception and Year 2.

Here are some Year 2’s comments about the author visit:

• “I liked the fresh water crocodile in the story.” – Kari
• “Katrina Germein must have had a very good teacher because she taught the children to dance, to act out a story.” – Jessica
• “I liked the crocodile story when the kids went, “Roar!” and, “Stomp!” and then the crocodile ran away.” – Tyson
• “I liked the author visit because she told us about writing books. She started writing when she was even younger than us!” – Emeline

Book Fair has been well supported by our community and we appreciate this very much.

Thank you so very much to all involved.

Mrs Liz Denton-Brown – Teacher, Librarian

Year 10 – Picture Books with Receptions

In English we have been analysing picture books and the literary techniques used to engage younger students in the stories through words and pictures. This led to completing an assignment which involved creating a letter from a fairy-tale character based on the picture book the Jolly Postman, written by Janet and Allan Ahlberg. To get some inspiration for our assignment, we were able to read picture books to the mid-year reception students. There were lots of laughs and giggles as the students marvelled at the detailed pictures and exciting events in each book. This activity was perfectly timed due to book week as we were able to discuss their favourite books and unique costumes with the younger children. It was a great experience and we are looking forward to being able to do more activities with the junior school students in the future. – Amelie Sams

• “The reception students were very good at guessing the plot of the story and learning new vocabulary.” – Jemma 
• “The students were highly engaged while reading the books which made reading picture books enjoyable again for us as older readers.”  – Oliver 
• “It was helpful  that we were able to develop effective communication skills by working with the younger students which helped inform our assignment.” – Grace

YEAR 2 – MARINE DISCOVERY

On Thursday 15 October, Year 2s went on an excursion to the Marine Discovery Centre and Star of the Sea School.

Here are some student comments:

• “My favourite thing was going to the beach and finding a living sea star.” – Leo
• “It was amazing putting the living sea star back into the water.” – Jessica
• “I really liked it. I especially liked the man who played the didgeridoo.” – Emeline
• “I liked finding items on the beach and finding out what they were.” – Jordan

YEAR 3 – BIRDWOOD MOTOR MUSEUM VISIT

On Monday 19 October, Year 3s went on an excursion to the Birdwood Motor Museum. Upon arrival students enjoyed a quick recess break before moving into their activities. The day was divided into two parts. One group of students learnt about the history of hawkers in South Australia, while the other group completed research about the museum and the exhibits on display. The students thoroughly enjoyed being on excursion and discovering artefacts from the past. Well worth a visit if you are in the area.

Miss Jasmine Orlowski, Miss Millie Noblett – Teachers, Year 3

YEAR 4 & YEAR 5 – CAMPS

YEAR 4 CAMP

Student reflections of their Year 4 Camp:

• “Before dinner, we set up our tents ready to sleep in them for the night. Skye showed us how to set them up. I found setting up the tents exciting because they looked nice to sleep in even though the inside of the tent was a little wet. We got mats to put our sleeping bags on so that our bags didn’t get wet. When we put up our tents my partner and I stayed in the tent all through our free time. I had a great time considering it was raining a lot! I hope next Year 4’s are prepared to get wet.” – Stella 4C
• “I liked the barbecue because the food was delicious, amazing and wonderful. I normally only eat chicken sausages but these ones were really good, I loved them! I also liked sitting with my friends while eating.” – Charlie 4C
• “I enjoyed building the Billy Carts because it got our groups to work together. Having to build something together was fun and then we got to race. My group worked well together and we all got a turn of riding. We had some issues, such as how tight we should do up the bolts and screws and who should do what to the Billy Carts. But we succeed in the end.” – Jas 4C

YEAR 5 CAMP

Some recounts of the Year 5 Camp experience:

• Tents – “Some of us were a little scared staying in the tent for the first time. But after a while we got used to it which helped us to sleep a bit better. It was so dark at night it was hard to see so the torches helped a lot.”
• Boomerangs – “At the start we learnt a little bit about boomerangs and their uses. We were shown how to carve them and make them turn and come back to you.”
• Orienteering – “My favourite part about orienteering was finding the other teams markers and visiting places all over the campsite.”
• Camouflage Games – The best bit about camo games was ‘ambush’ where we had to walk with her around the campsite and when she said Ambush!”
• Cooking Tea – “We had to set up the trangia first, add methylated spirits, ignite it and put some water in one of the pots to boil ready for the pasta.”
• Shelter Building – “We were put into groups to find large pieces of trees like trunks and branches to make a shelter in the bush. When we had all the larger pieces we gathered strips of bark and smaller sticks for the walls and roof.”
• Adventure Trail – “I think the best part of the camp activities in my opinion was the adventure trail. There was this one station where there was a swing, and we could go across the creek on the swing.”
• Last Day – “On the final day of camp we had a fun sports carnival where we played some fun games including sack race, egg n spoon and three legged race. On the final day of camp we had a fun sports carnival where we played some fun games including sack race, egg n spoon and three legged race.”

Luke, Elani, Chanel, Naavi, Ruby, Xavier, Nick, Owen, Ashton, Leo

YEAR 12 – LAST DAY

What a wonderful day it was for the Year 12s last day at Pedare on Friday 23 October. Students firstly enjoy breakfast with family and staff in the Wattle Courtyard before moving to the Chapel for their final worship. At the end of the service, the audience was treated to a very entertaining performance by the Year 12s. A highlight of this day is always the Guard of Honour, where students parade through a lineup of all year levels. This year, the youngest members of Pedare presented their buddies with a rose, which was a lovely to see.

SPRING CARNIVAL

On Thursday 21 October, our annual Spring Carnival was held in the Wattle Courtyard. We were blessed with a magnificent day, as students and staff enjoyed a bouncy castle, giant basketball ring and the favourite for everyone, the dunking machine. Much to the delight of the students Mr Tamblyn and Mr Whiteman were both dunked. Spring Carnival is also a time for the Year 12s to dress up, the theme this year was Aussie Icons.

2021 SENIOR SCHOOL CAPTAINS

Congratulations to the following students who were inducted into the 2021 Leadership team at Assembly on Thursday 15 October:

2021 COLLEGE CAPTAINS –  Vas Nair & Mia Furlan

BROOKLYN

 Emma Caeran & Lauren Booth

ELDERGREEN

 Taylor Sarich & Joshua Carrigan

GREENWITH

 Shannon Taylor & Paris Hedger

HILLCOTT

 Ava McTegg & Cameron Manson

SURREY

Alannah Begbie & Timothy Szabo

ARTS

Emma Nairn & Lachlan Thornton

SPORTS

Ashleigh Hogg & Jorja Schroeder

2020 COMMUNITY CUP WINNERS

Surrey

YEAR 9 – MEDIA ART

Year 9 Media students visited Miss Jasmine Orlowski’s Year 3 class on Tuesday 13 October. Kiera Crossman, Tyson Fisher, Maya McInnes and Mary Tolmachoff confidently ran a creative art lesson with the Junior school students. The lesson had a high engagement from the Year 3s as they created patterns with black markers, coloured paper and watercolour. Students were encouraged to find inspiration from nature and music with reference images from contemporary and abstract artists. The designs created from this workshop will be combined with the Year 9 sketches to create a mural for the Junior School courtyard.

Year 9s have already begun preparing the surface for the mural and we look forward to adding some bright colour for the community to enjoy.

Mrs Leah Grant – Middle & Senior School Teacher, Media and Visual Art

YEAR 11 DRAMA – LITTLE WOMEN

On Tuesday the 20 October, Stage 1 Drama students performed their production of ‘Little Women’ at the Golden Grove Recreation and Arts Centre.

In this affecting, delightful adaptation of Alcott’s classic novel, the four spirited March sisters — Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy — endeavor to sustain their family in the absence of their father, who is away fighting the Civil War. Led by their devoted Marmee and accompanied by music from the period, each girl struggles to overcome her own limitations to become the best version of herself, even in the midst of disease, jealousy, and poverty.

In the lead up to the production, students went on an excursion to create their Victorian Era Costumes and spent many hours rehearsing and practicing for their performance. They worked together as a production company (Transcendent Theatre Company) and overcame many challenges to create all of their performance elements including promotions/marketing, props, sound, music, sets, hair and make-up. “In drama we spend a lot of time together, working and rehearsal for our performance – we have created some great friendships and enjoyed getting to know one another better.” Their hard work and determination paid off with an excellent performance that was enjoyed by an audience of Pedare staff, families and friends.

Mrs Rebecca Williams – English & Drama Teacher

YEAR 11 – BUSINESS EXCURSION TO TONSLEY

On Friday 16 October, a small group of Year 11 Business Innovation students had the opportunity to visit Tonsley Innovation District.

Tonsley Innovation District is housed on the site of the old Mitsubishi car manufacturing facility and is now home to many start-up and established businesses in high value manufacturing industries. The four focus sectors at Tonsley are;

• clean tech and renewable energy,
• health, medical devices and assistive technologies,
• mining and energy services and
• Automation, software and simulation.

Students met with a staff member from BAE Systems who spoke with them about the new processes and products being trialled and the new technologies being tested. This included a look inside one of their onsite testing labs.

Next the students participated in a iterative workshop based on the Ishikawa model of exploring cause and effect. This was a fun, hands-on activity that allowed students to iteratively improve their own product designs, by considering a range of factors that were impacting their success.

Students were then able to tour the facility, learning about the businesses that are operating there, about some of their current successful innovations developed at the precinct, and about the benefits to the businesses and the wider community of the collaborative innovation hub.

We are very grateful for the opportunity provided to us by STEM Works and Renewal SA.

Mrs Kirstin Davenport – Senior School Business Teacher

SCIENCE AWARDS

Congratulations to the following students who have placed in the state Science Awards. Also congratulations to Alannah Begbie, Year 11, who came 3rd in the One+ Titration Competition held on Wednesday 21 October.

Well done to all winners.

Miss Samantha Ireland– Learning Area Coordinator, Science

Year 6

• 1st Place – Eugene Lee – Dye Sensitised Solar Cell

Year 7

• 2nd Place – Jessie Cockburn – Transpiration Experiment

Year 8

• 1st Place – Caitlyn Ekins – Batteries cheap or expensive?
• 3^rd Place – Ranya Tongaria and Katarina Basic – Power up – How long before a race should you drink Powerade?

Year 10

• 1st Place – Ryan Jackson, Deniz Dogancay, Gloria Masango – Can waste bananas be harnessed…?

Congratulations to Mia Furlan, Year 11, who has received an A grade for her AMEB Piano Grade 5 exam.

Well done Mia.

Congratulations to Year 12 students, Dylan Oors-L’Estrange, Neel Puri, Ethan Weber and James Kyprianou who have been awarded 1st place in the first Cross Campus Mathematics Competition across the three campuses.

Well done to all winners and participants.

NEWS

Extra-Curricular Sports feature articles and results below:

EXTRA-CURRICULAR RESULTS

TERM 3

Week 10

Basketball

• Stars U10 – Pedare vs Prescott 4 – Won 26 – 6
• Year 6 Red – Pedare vs Pedare Boomers – Won 20 – 12
• Boomers U12 – Pedare vs Year 6 Red – Loss 12 – 20
• Panthers U12 – Pedare vs Keithcot Gold – Loss 14 – 22 (MVP Levi)
• Year 7 Blue – Pedare vs Sunrise Thunder – Won

Soccer

• Roos U9 – Pedare vs St Davids United – Draw 2 – 2 (MVP Will, Archie)
• United U11 – Pedare vs Panthers – TBA

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.

St Mark’s Anglican Church

St Mark’s Anglican Church currently have a 9:00 am traditional service and a contemporary service at 4:00pm. Please email office@stmarksgoldengrove.org.au to advise if you will be attending either service for COVID-19 requirements.

St Mark’s Kids Club (for Reception to Year 4 students) has also resumed this term on Thursday afternoons at 3.30pm (meeting fortnightly). Please email office@stmarksgoldengrove.org.au if you would like to attend.

For further information about St Mark’s services and Kids Club, please visit the website at https://www.stmarksgoldengrove.org.au

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