The Vine Issue 4 – 2022

COLLEGE PRINCIPAL

Mr James Tamblyn

This week marked the two-year anniversary of Scott Morrison’s March 22 Sunday night address to the nation, outlining actions the National Cabinet had decided upon to protect the Australian community from the spread of COVID-19. From midday the following day, pubs and clubs, gyms and indoor sporting venues, cinemas, entertainment venues and places of worship were restricted from opening. Restaurants and cafes were limited to takeaway services only. The Prime Minister suggested restrictions would be in place for at least six months. 

I listened again to snippets of this press conference over the past few days and was surprised at the emotional response that it evoked in me. It took me back to a time which now seems an eternity ago when, together, we had to figure out what indeed a pandemic was and how to adjust our lives to cope. 

Initially there was a degree of novelty about the new arrangements, some of which I must admit I quite enjoyed. Being forced to spend more time at home, watch a load of family movies, order more takeaway than was good for us, camp in the backyard and not have to worry about going out had its charm. Initially. 

Fast-forward two years, and the physical and emotional exhaustion that so many are experiencing from the constant uncertainty presented by the Pandemic is abundantly obvious. This week’s media attention on the pressure schools are facing to remain open with the current isolating settings in place was something impossible to have imagined two years ago. 

1 Peter is a powerful letter written to persecuted Christians, reminding them that they are chosen by God and have a future hope in Jesus. This message of hope serves to sustain and strengthen us through the most challenging of times. 

‘And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.’ 

1 Peter 5:10

Thank you all again for the incredible support you offer our community as we push on together through whatever comes next. Our strength comes from our unity; a unity highlighted and celebrated last Monday on Harmony Day. I invite you to reach out to the College should there be any support you or your family need at this time, and I look forward with hope to the return of community life that more closely resembles the fellowship we have been starved of in recent times. 

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL – TEACHING & LEARNING

Mrs Lauren Brooks

Student Checkpoint Program

Students’ ability to report thoughtfully on their own performance, can more than triple the speed of learning (Hattie, 2012). 

When students self-assess, they are more likely to take ownership of their learning, reflect on the criteria for success and feel more motivated as they see themselves growing, making progress and seeing learning as a continuum. Furthermore, the data from a student’s self-assessment can yield powerful and meaningful conversations between students, teachers and parents that will make connections, lead to insights and improvements. 

This term, we have introduced our Year 12 Checkpoint program, which tracks student progress with a particular focus on; effort, formative and summative assessments, commitment to homework and study and attendance. Next week, we are looking forward to the second Checkpoint period to support Year 12 students’ positive academic trajectory. 

Next week, we will also launch our Year 6-11 Checkpoint program, an opportunity for students to report thoughtfully on their own progress pertaining to their skills, capabilities, and academic journey. Through self-analysis, students will evaluate their progress and development in a range of capabilities and employability dispositions, as well as spend time setting goals for the future. 

We are looking forward to our Checkpoint programs serving as a platform for data-informed conversations to support your child succeed at Pedare. 

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL / HEAD OF SENIOR SCHOOL

Mr Andrew Whiteman

“Isolation is a way to know ourselves”

At the beginning of the school year, the College Chaplain, Mr John Morton, spoke to staff about January being a traditionally frenzied start to the school year. A time when everything seems to be new and our holiday routine changes very quickly into the daily school routine. He spoke about taking a moment to stop, reflect and enjoy the moments that we have at school. The act of taking a moment has really stuck with me and I have tried each day to take a moment to recenter my thinking. 

Over the previous week, I have been in isolation and have had a lot of time to stop and think about the year we are all experiencing. I know that many College families have also experienced a time of isolation and have found themselves confined to their homes. I hope that during this time, although sometimes inconvenient, there has been time to ‘take your own moment’ and to reflect. These periods of isolation have forced us all to slow down and hopefully appreciate the things we have rather than think about the things we don’t. 

Congratulations to Middle and Senior School students who competed in the Athletics Day held Friday at Tilley Reserve. The day was filled with stories of fun and excitement as our students competed for bragging rights and the Community Shield. The new format allowed each year level to spend the day together whilst enjoying competing and striving to do their best. Congratulations to Hillcott who took out the day. Our next big community event will be the Swimming Carnival to be held in Term 2. 

A reminder about the upcoming Parent Teacher interviews that will be held on Tuesday 5 April and Wednesday 13 April. We look forward to sharing a conversation with you via Google Meet about your children’s progress in Term 1.

HEAD OF MIDDLE SCHOOL

 Mr Callum Iles

Journalist, politician and successful leader, Matt Ridley, has written numerous books on innovation. He beautifully articulates the complexity and simplicity that has progressed society forwards as we invent and improve on what has come before.

Innovation takes many forms at Pedare Middle School. This term, I have had the privilege of teaching the Year 8s SPARK, a Middle School subject that was introduced to allow students to research areas of interest and create projects that inspire real change in the school and society at large. As students work in teams, contribute their own unique creative ideas, identify problems to solve and formulate solutions in this course, they are building the skills which will be beneficial both now and in life beyond school. 

This term, Year 8 students have been focusing on learning empathy and helping younger students at Pedare to apply empathy. Students have demonstrated incredible creativity in explaining empathy, and younger year levels will learn so much from them about navigating Junior School well.

One particularly impressive project comes from Keeley D and Chloe R. These girls compiled a number of helpful resources and created split ring cards for each of the students they will be working with. These resources are available for the students to use when they might need them. Some examples can be seen below that will help students navigate the playground, negative self-talk and negative emotions:

In his book How Innovation Works, Matt Ridley says that ‘prosperity comes from innovation, innovation comes from the freedom to experiment and try new things, and freedom relies upon sensible regulation that is permissive, encouraging and quick to give decisions.’

SPARK is a subject that gives students the freedom to try new things in a supportive environment. Some of these projects will have an immediate impact, while others will build skills and confidence in young people to have an impact in the future. 

Either way, the Pedare Middle School embraces innovation with a human-centred focus, and the future is bright!

HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL

Mr Randall Pearce

Harmony Day 

On Monday 21 March, Junior School celebrated Harmony day. This is a day to celebrate our inclusiveness, respect and belonging for all our students. The message of Harmony Day is everyone belongs, and to promote this; we challenged our students to think about how they can be better friends.  

During the day, students participated in an interactive presentation that offered an educational perspective on the foundational story of Easter. This provided an opportunity for our students to reflect inwardly and ask themselves a key question: 

“What if I was a person who took on the challenge to be a better person and make the world a better place?”.  

The students also explored further how to become a “Friendship Ninja” in their classrooms through the UR Strong program.    

Parent Teacher Interviews

This year, Parent Teacher Interviews were conducted over Google Meets over a three-week period. This is an invaluable experience for the teachers, and we hope the same for you as parents. A huge body of research indicates that parental involvement in a child’s schooling correlates with their educational success. Quite simply, if you want your child to improve his/her learning, then take an interest in their learning – attend as many school functions as you can, such as Parent Teacher Interviews. Celebrate the successes and, together with your child and teacher, work alongside each other towards solving any challenges.

Life Education 

Life Education (Life Ed Van) will revisit the Junior School from Friday 8 April to Wednesday 13 April. Students from Reception to Year 5 will visit the Life Education educator with their class in the Mid Year Reception class space to ensure appropriate social distancing. Life education’s mission statement is: 

Empowering our children and young people to make safer and healthier choices through education. 

The mobile Learning Centres provide a unique learning environment, and the trained educators use an innovative teaching and learning approach to engage our students. Life Education empowers young people to make safe choices. The programs offered are not a rulebook; they provide the information, understanding, skills and strategies our children require to make safe decisions about their own health and well-being.

Please see the link below to obtain free resources and tips for applying this learning at home.

https://lifeed.org.au/families/resources-for-parents-carers/

Lost Property

Please be reminded that there are currently several items held in lost property. We ask that parents visit the Junior School office to locate any lost items and, as always, please remember to name all belongings as this assists us greatly to ensure that each item is returned to the right owner.

Can you sew? Do you have some free time?

CONTENT

Healthy Eating Unit – Year 6

Year 7 and South Australian Artist Billie Justice Thomson

St Patrick’s Day – Reception C

Healthy Eating Unit in Food Technology

Year 6

Year 6 students have been exploring the art of presentation through their Healthy Eating unit in Food Technology. On Friday 11 March, they used their skills to create smoothie bowls and explore how eating a rainbow can be easy and delicious.

Bianca Chapman

Year 7 Art students and South Australian artist, Billie Justice Thomson

Year 7 Art students have been immersed in the topic of ‘Food as a subject’ in Visual Art. In line with the food theme, students were asked to take inspiration from the work and style of South Australian artist Billie Justice Thomson.

Our Year 7s were required to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of Justice Thomson’s aesthetic style through expressing their own personal connection with food. The Year 7 artists engaged in the process, using their observation skills to gain proportion and scaled sketches of their food items. As students applied tone and built layers of colour with watercolour paint, they developed careful consideration to contour and shape. A thin line of black ink was applied to outline the shapes and highlight areas of detail. Exceptional examples of artwork have been produced from all the Year 7 Art classes. 

This week, our student artists were surprised by a Google Meet with Justice Thomson in person, live from her studio. She spent time with all our five Art classes and answered questions as students showed her their work. The Year 7 students had excellent questions for Justice Thomson. Her responses covered topics such as inspiration, process, success, challenges, and her joy at being able to make a living doing what she loves, creating art.

Billie Justice Thomson’s time spent with our classes was a tremendous example of the connection and support we have in the Art communities in South Australia. We hope that the work produced by this unit will be displayed publicly in the future to commemorate its accomplishments.

Emily Kenny

St Patrick’s Day

Reception C

Reception C children learnt about St Patrick’s Day on Thursday 17 March. They enjoyed learning about who St Patrick was and how St Patrick’s Day is celebrated by children in Ireland. To celebrate, we made St Patrick’s Day badges with different symbols of Ireland on them. We also had a go at some Irish dancing and listened to Irish music.

Kimberley Capper

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 we would love to see you. We are located on the corner of The Golden Way and Wynn Vale Drive, Wynn Vale.

We invite you to join us for our Easter Services – 9 am Good Friday 15 April and 9 am Easter Sunday 17 April Holy Communion

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 10:00am on a Sunday morning.  Also, on the second and fourth Sunday of the month, we have a cafe style church, which is a relaxed contemporary worship service at 6:00pm in the Church hall.

On a Friday morning for parents/carers and children from birth to 5 years we have a Mainly Music programme starting at 9:30am. This is a fun, interactive 30-minute music session followed by morning tea and free play.

For further information, please contact the Office on 8251 4298 or by 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