12 June 2020

Newsletter Articles

Principal’s Report

Dear Parents,

Since the last enewsletter publication, the emphasis throughout the College has been on the completion of Semester One assessments. This week has seen a considerable range of practical and theory-based projects, presentations and examinations being completed – with a small number still to be submitted early next week. Although the assessment window was always going to pose restrictions, on the back of the remote learning period, the teaching team has been consistent in their feedback that the online learning undertaken at PBC has not been detrimental to the College’s overall student academic outcome. A number of Secondary students have achieved results of “excellent” for long term projects within English and Humanities. All Semester One report comments are to be forwarded to administration by the completion of Week 9 for the scheduled electronic distribution to parents in Week 10. If there have been recent changes to email addresses, could notification be made to administration.

While it's heartening to see some COVID -19 restrictions lift and a level of societal anxiety also lighten, there continues to be a number of student wellbeing issues. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of the College’s health and wellbeing professionals Kimberley Illiffe and Kathryn Harding, who have worked diligently to provide support and stability to students and their families in a climate that has been full of uncertainty and constant change. During the COVID – 19 period Kimberley has brought the Be You program to the College. Be You is a national mental health initiative for educators led by Beyond Blue. Be You has provided an extra mental health framework, which is based on promoting and protecting positive mental health within a school environment. Be You has provided Kimberley with additional evidence based online resources, tools and professional development opportunities to support the Teaching Team to grow “Australia’s most mentally healthy generation”. On Wednesday, Kimberley and I met with Judy Jasinski (Clinical Nurse and EdLinQ Co-ordinator – Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service). The meeting’s goal was to ensure that the College was linked with the Ed-LinQ service. The Ed-LinQ service will provide Kimberley with external support personal (school nurse/case managers) to liaise on mental health issues.

“During this uncertain time in our world I thought it was incredibly important to assist PBC in becoming a strong mentally healthy community. With this in mind, I set out and started networking with various organisations within our region. I did this in the hope that they would join our amazing community and help support our students and families.

This term will see Peregian Beach College welcoming the support from our new Adopt-A-Cop, Senior Constable Fisher, who will be visiting the school to conduct some age appropriate talks to our students. We also welcome a lovely Social Worker named Jo from Mind Matters and a Clinical Nurse Consultant from Ed-LinQ. Along with these three incredible new support services, Peregian Beach College is now officially a Be You School. Be You is a major Beyond Blue initiative that has been designed with a sole purpose of assisting educators on how to nurture the wellbeing of students.”

Kimberley Illiffe
(Youth Support Coordinator)

The Police presentations will take place from 9:00am on Wednesday 17th June within the Kelly Library. Years 7 – 10 students will be involved in discussions that generate greater awareness with respect to the legal consequences of inappropriate use of mobile phones and social media.

All preparations for the scheduled Sporting Academy induction sessions, Monday 15th June, (sessions 11am, 4pm, 5pm and 6pm) have been undertaken, with staff looking forward to conveying the appropriate information and welcoming our new families to the College. Other preparations for Term 3 are also well on track. The Year 8 classroom (Term 2 Staffroom) is currently being repainted, with the current Year 1 and new Year 4 (Term 2 Italian room) scheduled for repainting in the first weeks of the holidays. Miss Bell’s allocated teaching load has been increased with the additional classes requiring Italian lessons. To accommodate the required change, Ms Carpenter will be the Year 8 English teacher for the remainder of the academic year. Although the Year 8 students will miss the teaching of Miss Bell, they will be comforted by being reacquainted with Ms Carpenter who did an exceptional job within the English program in 2019. Ms Carpenter’s replacement within the Year 2 classroom on Fridays will be finalised shortly.

Last Friday, a modified 2020 Uniform Policy was emailed to all parents, with a copy of the newly implemented Uniform slip also attached. Thank you to all for ensuring that the Uniform policy guidelines were adhered to - the students all looked extremely smart this week. Can I also remind parents of the importance of adherence to guidelines with respect to the collection of students that are unwell from the College. Some of our Secondary students have been contacting parents directly, rather than following the protocol of discussing concerns with their teacher and administration then contacting parents. The established protocols ensure duty of care legislation is adhered to and there is clear record of student comings and goings within our attendance system.

As Semester 1 2020 draws to its conclusion, I would like to acknowledge your patience and partnership. There have been many moments of uncertainty, and a variety of new challenges confronted, as we navigated COVID – 19’s unprecedented times together. However, as hindsight sets in, as an educational community we have achieved positive outcomes, with our students safe and academic advancement made. I wish all a well-deserved mid-year break and look forward to welcoming in a period of anticipated prosperity in Term 3.

Warm regards,

Mr Wayne Kennedy
Principal

Under 8’s Day

The theme for Under 8’s Day this year was Play and Playfullness.

Year 2 had a fun-filled day, playing and dancing, doing a nature treasure hunt and dressing up and putting on plays for one another.

Year 1 enjoyed a Teddy Bears’ PJ party.

Under 8’s day is always an exciting day in the Prep classroom. We were very happy to follow the theme this year - we were able to dress up for the day as anything beginning with the letter P, to celebrate the importance of PLAY. The Preps painted, created with pipe cleaners, watched a movie (while eating popcorn of course) and decorated using pastels. I overheard the Prep learners throughout the day describing it as the best day ever! I feel very proud of having a class that is so socially connected and am always amazed at how intrinsically motivated they are to learn, especially through play.

Mrs Allie Broadley, Mrs Teniele Adler, & Mrs Jenny du Toit

Year 2 Science

Last week we spent some time learning about the importance of ‘soil’. We did some field work to find varying kinds of soil and we did field-sketches and jotted down our observations and findings. On Friday we will be popping up to the science laboratory to visit Mr Wright where we will put our soil samples underneath the microscope! Stay tuned for what we uncover!

Ms Alita Carpenter
K-12 Curriculum & Wellbeing Coordinator/Teacher