The Vine Issue 6 – 2022

COLLEGE PRINCIPAL

Mr James Tamblyn

A very happy Mother’s Day last week to all our mums. I hope you got spoilt and cared for in a way that adequately expresses your family’s appreciation for everything you do. Mother’s Day provides not only a chance to remind our Mums how much we love them; it’s also the ideal time to celebrate the Mums who are no longer with us, and share the special stories that keep the memories of these Mums, and grandmothers, well and truly alive. To all the Pedare mothers, thank you for everything you do for your children, and for the school community more broadly. 

Congratulations to our VEX Robotics team who this week competed in the VEX World Championship in Dallas, Texas. Our ‘BroBots’ team finished fourth in the divisional finals and ended up in the top 10% of all 785 teams that competed from across the globe. This is a remarkable achievement and testament to the hard work of the students and staff involved. We look forward to welcoming them back to school next week and hearing about their experiences.

On Friday this week, we held our annual Reception Commencement Service. This is an opportunity to formally welcome our Reception students and families to the College. It was wonderful to have a large number of parents and family members with us. We look forward in the coming weeks to the recommencement of a number of face-to-face activities that haven’t been possible so far this year. Assemblies and worship will revert to a face-to-face format for the Middle and Senior Schools next week. Masks will continue to be required for adults and Year 7-12 students for at least another fortnight. We thank all community members once again for your cooperation with these expectations as we continue to prioritise the health and wellbeing of our community members.  

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL / HEAD OF SENIOR SCHOOL

Mr Andrew Whiteman

A warm welcome back for Term 2 to our families. Students and staff look forward to resetting this term and have already begun to settle into the routine of daily school life. The ever-present COVID restrictions are still in place, but we are hopeful of these easing in the coming weeks. The community is excited to be back together and is ready to begin another exciting school term. 

Year 12 students will head off next week on their annual retreat to Nunyara at Belair. Here, they will have a chance to spend quality time together away from the pressures of their studies. Year 12 comes with a level of importance (and stress) and it is valuable to stop, reflect and appreciate their classmates and the experiences that the year is providing for them. The retreat offers a chance to reset their goals and begin to seek clarity on their futures for their journey to the end of their educational journey at Pedare. 

We wish our Year 10 students well on their Outdoor Education experience next week. Students will travel to the River Murray and be genuinely pushed out of their comfort zone together. The sense of ‘we are all in this together’ will be required, and the bonds from this experience will no doubt be appreciated in the future.  

As always, communication is important with families and class teachers as we begin another school term. Parent/Teacher interviews were held successfully last term with many fruitful and informative discussions. Please remember that if you would like any updates or information about your child’s progress in a particular class do not hesitate to contact their teacher via email or phone via the College Office. The SEQTA engage platform provides continuous academic data to ensure you are informed of their progress. 

Thank you again for your support and we look forward to welcoming parents back into the College to celebrate our students’ achievements as soon as we are able.

HEAD OF MIDDLE SCHOOL

 Mr Callum Iles

With eight and six-year-old boys in my household, needless to say, Bear Grylls is a staple of our Netflix and reading diet. Grylls is such a great role model to my boys because he shows them the wonder of creation, the importance of character, and how to approach challenges when they come across them in life. Bear shows them that problems are challenges to be solved, not things to be avoided, and our creativity and knowledge of the world will help us solve them effectively. 

I love the Bear Grylls quote, ‘It’s only when we get kicked down that we see what we are made of. It’s easy to be positive when everything is going well, but the heart of all great endeavours is the ability to stagger back to our feet and keep moving forward, however grim it gets.’

Sometimes I reflect on the current generation of Middle Schoolers and feel that we need to normalise challenges a bit more, and this is why activities like NAPLAN and Year 8 Aquatics Camp are so important. Through the good intentions we have to love and protect our children, we can sometimes shield them from the challenge and therefore reduce their resilience. Young people are capable of so much more than they or we realise, and we need to expose them to realistic challenges and show them that.

Resilience is the ability to push through challenges, in the same way that the best method of building muscle is to stress it and the best way to help a broken bone recover is to put some pressure on it at certain times. Year 8 Aquatics Camp involves students going on a kayaking expedition and camping at a site down near the Murray Mouth. This is wet and cold and some students find it extremely challenging, having never experienced anything like it before. But I know talking to them afterwards, once they have completed the expedition, they are so proud of what they have achieved and have proven to themselves that they are capable of more than they realise.

The Bible shares many stories about Church fathers and mothers who pushed through challenging circumstances to achieve great things through the power of God, and the disciples are my favourite example. Jesus brought together a rag-tag bunch of tax collectors, fishermen, a thief and other professions that were not interesting enough to even mention. They travelled around with Jesus for years, learning from him and seeing him perform incredible miracles. Then he died…… and they felt abandoned and questioned whether he truly was the Son of God. But together, they showed resilience, resolve and strength, growing the church from 150 to several thousand in a day. The church continues to this day because of the resilience of a few and reveals to us that when we strengthen ourselves through the Holy Spirit, God can use us to do great things.

I am often encouraged by the words of John where he says, ‘In this world, you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.’

When we are challenged, we need to remember that we bring the strength of God with us, and through his Spirit, we are able to overcome whatever the world throws at us, and this comforts me every day.

HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL

Mr Randall Pearce

Reception Commencement Service

Today Friday, 13 May 2022, we celebrate new beginnings as we welcome our new Reception students. We also acknowledge the contribution of our Year 12 students and wish them well with their studies this year.

This year, we have found a new way of doing things. At the start of 2022, we only had Reception, Year 1 and Year 12 students on-site for face-to-face learning. Year levels were not coming together as much as before, and our students have continued to practise physical distancing.

This has impacted the very special friendships formed during the year between our Receptions and Year 12s, as they have previously only met once. Today, I am glad to see us returning to more of what we know as ‘normal’, which is less distancing and more interactions.

The more time we spend together, the more we will find what we have in common. This week and today are a start to what we can look forward to many more interactions, fun and learning from each other.

During my time as the Head of Junior School, I have used today’s opportunity to read a story to the College that I feel is perfect for the occasion. The story I read was “Once upon a small Rhinoceros”, by Meg MicKinlay and illustrated by Leila Rudge.  

This story, I believe, has a wonderful message that no matter what age or stage you are in, there is a lesson you can take with you, such as: 

• That it can sometimes be good to get lost
• Or to do scary or strange things
• That to travel is amazing, as you discover new sights, sounds and tastes
• The power of a dream 
• And the importance of being a positive role model.

 In closing, watching Year 12 and Reception students together is pure joy; the smiles, the fun and the engagement we see as teachers. 

We know that our Reception students love their time with our Year 12s. They feel safe to be themselves and share their hopes, dreams, and concerns. 

Thank you to our Year 12 buddies, Mrs Robinson and Mrs Davis, who work with our Reception class teachers to develop a program of genuine care and love.

Mother’s Day

Last Friday, 6 May, our wonderful Parents and Friends volunteers provided the opportunity for all Junior School Students to buy a special gift for their mums for Mother’s Day. My sincere thanks to all involved in planning and preparing the stall. I trust that all our mums had a wonderful and peaceful day last Sunday.

Notice of AGM

School Photo Day

Wednesday 25 May

Uniform Update

Yearbook Collection

Student Achievement

Changes to the calls coming from the College

for the next two weeks

CONTENTS

Year 2 – Heritage Museum and Golden Grove Uniting Church Excursion

Year 1 – Ninja Friendship Potato Pal

Anzac Community Lesson

Year 7 – Author Visit

Stage 2 UniSA Excursion

Stage 1 UniSA Excursion

Year 2 Excursion to Heritage Museum and Golden Grove Uniting Church

Junior School

As a springboard to their in-class learning, students participated in a variety of activities to explore ‘Who We Are In Place and Time’ while gathering information to address our Lines Of Inquiry: ‘Change’, ‘The impact of change’ and ‘Preservation of significant features around the world’. Links were made with Who We Are and the related concepts of Form, Function and Connection as we unpacked the Lines of Inquiry: ‘Health and spirituality’ and ‘Why we are who we are’.

Commencing with a heritage trail walk around the township originally known as Steventon, students came face-to-face with a past era and imagined themselves living in bygone days. The repurposed buildings provided an insight into the preservation of significant features from the past. Inside the Highercombe Heritage Museum, students role-played attending an old schoolhouse, played olden-day games – including knucklebones and skipping and experienced a snapshot of life in a slab hut, subsistence farming and shopping at Dunn’s Cash Store. 

Our next stop was the Golden Grove Uniting Church, where students participated in traditional Church service and witnessed some forms of outreach through which we can serve others. The rain was unable to dampen the spirits of this enthusiastic group, who embraced the day’s activities with energy and interest.

Ailsa Burne

Year 1 Ninja Friendship Potato Pal

Junior School

Last week, as part of our UR Strong program, Year 1 classes explored the four friendship facts: 

1. No friendship is perfect
2. Every friendship is different
3. Trust and respect are the two most important qualities of a friendship
4. Friendships change

We then created our own Ninja Friendship Potato Pal to take home and share what we learned with our family.  

Rikki Hendry

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