The Vine Issue 7 – 2020

COLLEGE PRINCIPAL

Mr James Tamblyn

Reception Commencement Service

It was wonderful this morning to officially welcome our 2020 Reception students to the College. In preparation for the service I spent some time reflecting on my own memories as a Reception student. And despite the fact that this was a long time ago, many of these experiences remain vivid.

Most of my reflection centred around times I made choices which, in hindsight, weren’t particularly wise. These included entering out-of-bounds zones at my school, helping myself to items in the canteen which I thought came free with the privilege of being a school student, and leading my younger siblings into some precarious scenarios at home.

My favourite and most vivid memory of being in Reception was the day the Easter Bunny came to my school. I know he, or she, was there because I saw their ears bobbing up and down outside my classroom window. My class teacher took us all down to the paddock at the back of the school in the direction that the Easter Bunny had gone, but despite our best efforts to catch a glimpse we didn’t see it again.

We trudged back to our classroom despondently, but when we arrived back at class there were Easter Eggs waiting for each of us on our desks. The Easter Bunny had snuck in when we were out looking for it! I remember experiencing a mix of emotions, rueing the fact I’d been outsmarted by the wily bunny, but delighted that I had some Easter Eggs to appease my frustration.

The memory of leaning over that back fence of the school, desperately trying to spot that magical bunny hopping around with a basket of eggs, remains entrenched in my memory, as does the delight of finding my own eggs waiting for me on my desk. And is a delight to see similar wonder and awe in the eyes of our youngest students here at the College every day.

To all our Reception students, welcome to Pedare. Let me tell you, Reception is the best! Being in Reception is wonderful because you have all the magical experiences of school still in front of you. You have so many beautiful new friends to meet. And games to play. And stories to hear. And paintings to create. And songs to sing. And places to explore. And wonderful, mysterious new things to learn. We are so glad to have you at Pedare.

And while you’re learning all these great things, we want you to be happy and we want you to have fun. And most of all, we look forward to sharing all of this with you.

To our Reception parents, thank you so much for choosing Pedare. One of the things I am most looking forward to in my role the College is getting to know our parents, even though that’s a bit difficult at the moment, and ensuring we are working in partnership to provide the very best educational experience possible for your child.

Today’s service was for our parents, as much as it was for our students. The partnership between school and home is imperative, and whilst we aim for every day to be positive, happy, successful and enjoyable, we understand that that’s not always how life works. So, as we share this journey together, all the ups and down, the highs and lows that lie ahead for you and your children, we are committed to supporting you with a consistency and a care that our all our students and their families deserve.

DEPUTY PRINCIPAL/HEAD OF SENIOR SCHOOL

Mr Andrew Whiteman

Another very eventful two weeks at Pedare with our very first Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews being conducted by telephone this week. Our staff valued the time that was spent with parents and students discussing student achievements over the first semester and exploring strategies for improvement.  We value our parent community feedback and if you have any comments regarding this please contact me at the College. Next Tuesday, 26 May is our second Parent/Teacher/Student telephone interview night from 3:30 until 7:30pm. As always please contact your children’s subject teacher at any time if you have any questions or concerns.

Parents have truly valued the timely feedback they are receiving about their child’s learning on the SEQTA Engage platform. In the past week, Middle and Senior School students have completed their third action and reflection session where they reflected on their experiences during the remote learning program.

The remote learning experience provided us an opportunity to continue teaching and learning at a very high standard. The challenge now, is too learn from that experience and reflect on the positives that came out of this time. We want to move forward so that our learning programmes of face-to-face teaching and online learning are enhanced. Many Senior School students commented that they were able to better manage their time when given the independence of working from home.

This week, The Wattle Cafe opened for food service at recess and lunchtimes. Students have appreciated this opportunity and have handled themselves well when required to be seperated from each other in accordance with our social distancing protocols. We continue to remind our students about the importance of social distancing and maintaining excellent hygiene at this time.

Information has been sent home to all Year 10 and Year 11 families about the upcoming examination period in Week 8. Year 11 students will not attend normal classes during this week and only attend the College during their allocated exam. The Year 10 students will attend normal classes on Monday and Tuesday and attend their exams from Wednesday to Friday. All students are required to wear the formal College uniform including their Blazers for each of their exams.

It is amazing to think that next week marks the halfway point of Term 2 and we encourage all students to maintain their focus on their learning.

Have a wonderful week.

HEAD OF MIDDLE SCHOOL

 Mrs Lauren Brooks

We have been pleased to see our Middle School students transition exceptionally well back into our classrooms, demonstrating positive behaviours and settling back into day to day life at Pedare.

We spent time last week talking with our students about gratitude and kindness. Such a powerful takeaway from our remote experience was the importance of positive relationships – we missed our students and they missed us! They missed their peers and were missed in return.

Coming back into our classrooms after such an experience gives us an opportunity to harness the gratitude we have for one another, and truly understanding the impact of our positive interactions on one another’s wellbeing.

A core element of our Middle School is our IB way of life. The IB Learner Profile is a framework that guides us in developing internationally minded students and recognising their common humanity. We look for ways in supporting our students to be reflective in how they thoughtfully consider the world and their own ideas and experiences.

Last week our students spent time on their Action and Reflection plans as we work to further understand our strengths and weaknesses as learners.

Furthermore, this is an opportunity for transparency between students, teachers and parents to see how each child is reflecting on their recent learning journey and considering ways of improving moving into the future.

You can access your child’s Action and Reflection plan on your Seqta Engage App.

Finally, we look forward to our Parent/Teacher/Student Phone Interviews being held this week and next, to continue to enhance our partnerships between home and school.

HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL

Mr Randall Pearce

On Friday 22 May, we celebrated new beginnings as our Reception students were formally welcomed to the College.

The Reception Commencement Service was presented differently this year, however; the message was still the same, our youngest, our smallest and our newest learners are welcome and are an important part of the Pedare community.

As learners, we want our Receptions to not only gain valuable skills in literacy and numeracy, but also for them to grow into young people who love learning, who will ask questions, who will try hard every day and who care and nurture others.

Receptions have been presented with a Children’s Bible as a gift from the College. The Bible has some of the best loved stories. Our hope is they will read this with an adult and that this very special book will be a source of lasting interest and pleasure for them and their familes in the years to come.

Please read below some quotes, thoughts and ideas from Dr Seuss about what we can learn from each other. 

Be yourself

• Today you are You, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is Youer than You.
• Why fit in when you were born to stand out?

Life is full of choices

• You’re off to great places! Today is your today. Your mountain is waiting, so you get on your way!

You can make the world a better place

• UNLESS someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing is going to get better. It’s not.
• A person’s a person, no matter how small.

Everyone can be successful

• And will you succeed? Yes indeed, yes indeed! Ninety-eight and three-quarters percent guaranteed.

Find the inner child

• Adults are obsolete children.
• Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.

On conclusion, my wish and hope is that no matter if you are one of our smallest Receptions or our tallest Year 12s, at least one of these quotes will have some meaning and hopefully will encourage you to persevere, to show up, to do the work and ultimately find the courage to be yourself.

CONTENTS

Reception Commencement Service

Year 9 – Community Projects

For your Wellbeing

EXTRA-CURRICULAR

Welcome Back to Extra-Curricular

RECEPTION COMMENCEMENT SERVICE

The 2020 Reception Commencement Service was a little different this year.

Unfortunately, we were not able to hold our formal ‘welcome to Pedare service’ with the whole College, parents, grandparents and guests together. Instead of our newest members being led into the Chapel by their Year 12 buddies, they were cheered and clapped from the sidelines as they walked down the aisle before being presented with their bibles from Head of Junior School, Mr Randall Pearce.

The whole event was filmed over several days and came together in a livestream shared with the Pedare Community on Friday 22 May.

Although it was not the same as when the whole school gathers to celebrate such a momentous occasion, it was still a fabulous way of showing We are One, We are Pedare.

YEAR 9 – COMMUNITY PROJECTS

Year 9 student Adele Jansen has chosen to raise awareness for male postpartum depression for her IB MYP Community Project.

Adele’s original plan of having a seminar was cancelled due to COVID-19, so instead, she has decided to write an article about the topic to be published in the College newsletter The Vine.

Please click here to read the article and in doing so, you are helping benefit her action and quality of service.

Once you have finished reading, Adele would greatly appreciate it if you could fill out the feedback survey by clicking here to help her to analyse her action and written reflection.

For his IB MYP Community Project, Year 9 student Samuel Gallamore, contacted Ananda Aged Care to offer support to their Residents during this difficult time.

Samuel created some fun puzzle sheets to help entertain them and to let them know they are not alone and that there a people who care and are thinking about them. The Residents enjoyed the challenges of the activity sheets and loved receiving them from a younger member of the community.

An Ananda spokesperson said that this was a selfless and kind act and his gesture encompasses their ethos of Compassion, Comfort and Care so well.

FOR YOUR WELLBEING

There is no doubt that we are all relishing the positive outlook of South Australia and what this means for each one of us in our daily lives. We are healthier, we are able to socialise with family and friends, and many of our activities and outlets are becoming a reality again.

Whilst we are enjoying the lifting of restrictions, it is also presenting us with some challenges. We have lost some of the freedom we were experiencing with more time in each day and are finding ourselves having to the juggle the act of balancing our commitments.

Prioritising our time is important for individuals and for families, and it is essential if we are to lead a balanced lifestyle. Finding ways to keep on top of the things that we need to do, whilst keeping some necessary quiet time in each day, makes life much more manageable and helps us to have a healthy wellbeing.

Please click here for an article from Reachout who presents 10 simple tips that we can apply to our lives to help get things done each day.

We hope you enjoy the article and find some practical suggestions that you can apply to your own life and keep a healthy balance of your time each day.

The Pastoral Team

NEWS

Extra-Curricular Sports feature articles and results below:

WELCOME BACK TO EXTRA-CURRICULAR

Welcome Back to Extra-Curricular!

A welcome return to Extra-Curricular Sport training in Week 4 with the commencement of SPiN Netball squad, Basketball and Soccer training sessions. Modified training programs are being implemented for the remainder of Term 2 with specific focus on fitness and individual skills ensuring that we abide by the guidelines set by State government and sporting associations.

There has been a real buzz during sessions and in the yard from students who are keen to finally get back to playing the sports they love and can now see light at the end of the tunnel. Bring on the reduction of restrictions coming in early June and the eventual return to fixtures in Term 3.

EXTRA-CURRICULAR RESULTS

DUE TO COVID-19 THERE ARE NO EXTRA-CURRICULAR RESULTS AT THIS STAGE

Tea Tree Gully Anglican

Due to the current situation with COVID-19, the Tea Tree Gully Anglican Church is no longer able to meet together in their traditional Sunday format. As such, Sunday gatherings have been suspended but are currently meeting online using Zoom and YouTube  Service times are 8:30am, 10:00am and 6:00pm.

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.

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