The Vine Newsletter

Mrs Felicity Grima - Principal

Father's Day

Thank you once again to the P&F who are organising the Father's Day stall. We also have an invitation in this edition of The Vine to the Father's Day BBQ Breakfast and Chapel afterwards. 

Parent Seminar

Next Wednesday, 31 August the College has invited guest speaker Thomas Reynolds from Independent Drug Education Australia to run a seminar for parents to help you understand the current trends of alcohol and drug use among young people, including vaping, so you know how to handle challenging situations.
The seminar is recommended for parents of Years 9-12 students, but everyone is welcome. 

Year 12

Our Year 12 cohort has finished their HSC Trial Exams. Please continue to pray for them in their last few months of schooling as they prepare for their final exams. 

But the Lord said to Samuel,

“Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him.

The Lord does not look at the things people look at.

People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7

Please pray for:
 Years 5 and 6 as they head to Camp in Week 6, and Years 3 and 4 as they enjoy their camp experiences in Week 7.
Safety and health for Year 12 in their final weeks of school.
Those College families experiencing times of hardship and stress.

Praise God for:
A wonderful CEP experience at Cru Lake Macquarie for Year 8.
The successful completion of the HSC Trials.
Our incredibly small but mighty P&F and the great work they do for the College.

Miss Adele Crane - Director of Student Wellbeing

Fixed Mindset vs Growth Mindset

This week, some of our year groups in the Secondary School reflected on the way that we approach challenges. Research has shown us that our attitude towards challenges and learning, our mindset, can strongly influence our chance of success.

According to researcher Carol Dweck, students who have a fixed mindset believe their qualities, like their intelligence, are simply fixed traits. They focus on identifying what they think they can or cannot do rather than working on developing them. They think that talent, not effort, leads to success or failure. It might be an approach such as I can never understand Science, I am just not good this subject like other students.

In contrast, Dweck describes that people with a growth mindset believe that their abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work, that talent is a starting point. They are open to opportunities that are challenging, seeing these as opportunities to stretch their abilities. They learn from setback and disappointments and understand that hard work and persistence are essential to achieving their goals.

This work has been supported by the research into brain plasticity. This is the ability of the nervous system to change its activity in response to intrinsic or extrinsic stimuli by re-organizing its functions, or connections. Brain plasticity research has shown that connections in our brains can be built and strengthened with work and effort, just like a muscle can grow and be strengthened.

 Image Source: https://www.its.vic.edu.au/blog-post/growth-mindset-vs-fixed-mindset-which-one-are-you/

In our Year Meetings, students learnt how to reframe their thinking and to move it from a fixed mindset into a growth mindset. For instance “I give up” becomes “I’ll use some of the strategies I have learnt”, and “This is too hard” becomes “This may take some time and effort”. We are helping our students to develop a growth mindset and take this approach into the different challenges they can face in life.

Miss Adele Crane
Director of Student Wellbeing

We Need Your Help!

Disability Provisions are supports that are provided to students who would otherwise not be able to demonstrate their abilities and level of understanding. These supports do not provide an advantage but create a level playing field for the students. Some students, for various reasons, require the use of a reader and/or writer. NESA does not allow anyone employed at the College, in any capacity, to be a reader or writer therefore we need help.

We are in need of readers and writers to assist students in examinations and assessments. You will need to have a current WWCC number for volunteers which can be applied for online and is free of charge. You would also need to be at least double vaccinated for COVID.

If you are interested in being involved, please contact Mrs Ling, the Head of Learning Support at the College on (02) 4736 8100 or [email protected]

Our annual Dino Day took place on Monday 15 August during Primary Assembly - and what a day it was!

Students from K to 6 created artworks with a dinosaur theme, including headbands, stop motion animation and other various art making.

Concert Band performed a piece called “Prehistoric Suite”, a programme music piece with each piece representing a dinosaur. The final piece even featured a live T-Rex that wandered through the crowds!

Many thanks to the Visual Arts Department, Concert Band, Mr David Thurlow, Mr Steve Clark, Mr Jake Nauta, and the wonderful students in primary school.

Mr Nick Lane
Head of Performing Arts

For your diaries: The Year 6 Graduation Dinner and Dance will take place on Tuesday 29 November 2022 at 6pm.  The Graduation Service will be on the morning of the same day. More details will be made available closer to the date.

Effo Didier Komlan Aklikokou

Effo is almost 15 years old and lives in Togo with his parents. There are 3 children in the family. His father and mother only occasionally work. At home, Effo’s duties are to carry water, clean, do kitchen chores and run errands.

Effo loves to run, play soccer and go to Sunday School. His favourite subject is History.

Effo was been sponsored by the current Year 9 since they were in Kindergarten and is now sponsored by Cranmer.

Typical houses in the area in which Effo lives are made of cement floors, brick walls and tin roofs. The regional diet consists of maize, beans, fish and cassava. Common health problems are malaria, worms and malnutrition. If adults in Togo work, they earn the equivalent of $29 per month! Inaccessibility to safe drinking water and poor sanitation have led to high infant mortality!

Our sponsorship of Effo has made it possible for him to eat nutritious meals, see and be treated by a doctor when unwell and have an education. This also means he has the chance grow up healthy and educated, to get a job and make a difference in his community.

How blessed we are to live in our wonderful country where we have so much. We take little things for granted like turning on a tap and filling a glass with fresh, clean, thirst quenching water. Effo is required to walk several kilometres each day to get a small amount of water to last his family for the day.

Effo and his family are very grateful for the love, care and support we give them.

Mrs Sue Munce
Compassion Coordinator

As we celebrate Book Week 2022 we are happy to share the winners of the Children’s Book Council of Australia Awards. Our students have been introduced to the shortlisted books during library lessons and we congratulate the winners in all categories. 

Pictured here are displays for Book Week in our Library centres on this year’s theme, Dreaming With Eyes Open. Happy Book Week! 

Mr Leighton Corr - Deputy Principal (Secondary)

As the cold weather comes to an end, a reminder that our change to Summer Uniform will take place after Father’s Day and students should be prepared to have their summer uniforms ready for this time. The new addition of the College jacket will still be permitted on colder days if necessary.

On the topic of uniform, we are seeing a significant number of students wearing their Sports uniform on days when it is not necessary or appropriate. Please note that in the coming weeks we will be spending more time focusing on ensuring our students are in the correct uniform each day.

Our school seeks to promote a sense of belonging and community for all of our students. Our uniform helps in this and also highlights the high standards we hope to maintain in our students. A reminder to parents that our College uniform guidelines are expectations for all students to follow, including hairstyles, the wearing of jewellery and facial hair.

We appreciate your support in considering uniform and following the expectations that we provide for our students.

Mr Leighton Corr
Deputy Principal (Secondary)

To celebrate National Science Week, students from Years 8 to 11 visited classes from Year 1 to Year 4 to give them a fun science experience. Each of the primary classes had visits from two of several teams. One team investigated “Fizzes and Colours” and the other team “Water and Soap”.

Students saw how the carbon dioxide gas produced from a reaction between vinegar and baking soda can inflate a balloon.

They got to see purple cabbage juice turn different colours in different household liquids.

They even kept a record of their observations.

Through a technique called paper chromatography, the children were able to see how ink from their coloured markers could be separated into its various pigments.

When learning about water and soap, the children saw how soap could affect the number of water drops that could fit on a 5 cent coin.

They could even see how soap breaks up the surface tension of water and can make a layer of pepper move away from a drop of soap on their finger.

They had fun seeing how Glo Germ powder could make their hands glow under an ultraviolet light, and then were able to use this to see how well they could wash their hands.

Mr Stephen Matthews
Head of Science

On Monday 15 August, all of Year 7 got to watch an intriguing presentation and play by the Bell Shakespeare Company. We learned a lot about Shakespearean life and got to watch engaging adaptations of Shakespeare’s plays. The Bell Shakespeare actors took us through all the different aspects of a Shakespearean play. There was love, tragedy, history and comedy. 

It was fun to watch the actors perform, some students and teachers even got to play roles in parts of plays. We all laughed when jokes were cracked and fell pin-drop silent when a heated argument was going on. There were lots of clever jokes which surprised me as I believed Shakespeare mainly wrote tragedies. I personally adored the tragedies as they had the most drama. At the end of one short demonstration all the characters were dead after an intense fight!   

There was also an element of history in the incursion. We were told about how Shakespeare’s plays usually reflected his life and how he cleverly made plays subtly based on the political status at the time. They told us about the pros and cons of living back then. The points that I took away from the incursion were, back then theatre was one of the most affordable sources of entertainment, and Shakespeare greatly influenced the popularity of theatre. We had lots of interactive activities which were fun and quick. We did one where we had to guess the word that Shakespeare created and another one where we recreated the rhythm of his sonnets. The history of Shakespeare was bitter and sweet, but his plays still live on. 

At the end of the incursion, I am sure that everyone watching took away at least one thing from the plays and presentations. It was fun, informative and funny, the ingredients to make the perfect incursion... 

By Akshaj Sharma (Year 7)

The Shakespeare incursion performed by the company Bell Shakespeare was incredible. For a moment, I forgot I was watching a play, but in fact it felt like I was stepping into the world of Shakespeare, and even though it was simply a three-actor skit, I find it ever so fascinating how they seamlessly remember their lines, with no breaks in between. 

The majority of the performance explored why we learn about Shakespeare and how we still incorporate him, and his writing pieces in everyday life, from the words he created, to his poetic writing style.

I could envision any aspect of the Elizabethan era from almost the very start of the incursion. This was a wild play, full of comedy, tragedy (if you include the part where the king was poisoned and stabbed at the same time..) and laughs. 

I learned about many things of including the various ways to be killed in a Shakespearian story, and how he carefully and poetically wrote scripts in a fascinating manner. The rhythm of the poetry within his stories represents the sound of a human heartbeat!

It was honestly the peak of the day and an incredible experience. With all this chaos going on at once, it was like a start-of-the-day break from a typical lazy Monday. 

By Thalia Rao (Year 7)

Here is a glimpse of what the Year 8 students have been up to at CRU camp in Lake Macquarie earlier this week!  Thank you to Miss Adele Crane for organising the camp, and to Mrs Diane Catto, Mr Mark Latham, Ms Alix Madden, Mr Jacob Fleming, Mr Philip McIntyre, Mr Andrew Cox and Mrs Fiona Wright for accompanying the students. Praise God that one of our students became a Christian on the camp, and a few others asked for and received bibles, Q&A resources, devotional booklets and information regarding local youth groups and churches. We look forward to catching up with their adventures and sharing more photos in the next issue of The Vine.

Year 10 Food Tech students are currently completing a Food Service & Catering unit. For the practical component, students served a morning tea for staff in the Hospitality Space on Thursday 18 August. Staff were treated to savouries such as Sushi rolls, mini Spinach and Ricotta Calzones, Spring Rolls, Vegie Pasties and for those with a sweet tooth, Chocolate Mousse Crunch dessert shooters, mini Black Forest cakes, and Churro Cinnamon Tarte Soleil with chocolate dipping sauce.  To add to the ambience, live music was performed by Kaleb Irawan.  Staff enjoyed the morning tea immensely - thank you to Mrs Diane Catto and the students for spoiling us!

On Friday 12 August, 17 Year 10 students attended a Maths in Surveying excursion at Bicentennial Park in Homebush. The day involved students working in groups to learn about Surveying as a profession, use the equipment and to use their mathematical knowledge to solve a variety of problems. Problems included measuring the height of a tower, finding the exact location of a simulated bushfire and measuring the distance of objects which have been thrown (just like in the Commonwealth Games). Many professional surveyors gave their time and showed students how to use equipment such as laser scanners and theodolites. Students had a great day outside applying mathematics and working together to solve practical problems. Given the huge shortage in surveyors in Australia, the hope is that some of those attending may have been inspired to think about a career in surveying. For those interested there are work experience opportunities with a variety of surveying firms available. We look forward to next year when another group from our College can take part.

Mr Philip McIntyre
Mathematics Teacher

Year 10 students have been working together to raise money for their chosen charity Motor Neurone Disease NSW over the course of this year. MND NSW provides information, support and education for people living with motor neurone disease.

Many students have given their resources and time to create and sell lolly bags, chips and drinks at High School Musical, and made more lolly bags and sold hotdogs and drinks at the Primary Disco. 

Last Thursday 18 August, Year 10 held a Cake Stall for Years 3-12 during Recess and Lunch.  MNDNSW merchandise - bucket hats, soft cute puppies, pens, torches and stress balls - were also sold.  In total, the students raised a whopping $1855.30 on the day!

It has been fabulous to work with the Year 10 students, and we thank the College community for their support.

Mrs Fiona Wright
Director of Student Development

On Friday 19 August, Year 11 Visual Arts students engaged in a Visual Arts, Ceramics incursion with artist Timm O'Regan. Students were led through the concepts and strategies for building an abstract, textural sculpture, exploring a range of ceramic artmaking techniques. The workshop complements a series of artworks that students are creating in response to the theme Surface Beauty.

Mr Steven Lewis
Head of Visual Arts

Thank you to all the students and staff who participated in the Secondary School's annual drive on Friday 19 August to raise funds for our Secondary Compassion children.  It was a great reminder of the distinctive desire to love our neighbour in practical ways that are evident in our community.

Each Mentor Group and House competed to make the longest coin snake and raise the most money for an individual Mentor Group and as a House total. Students participated enthusiastically and employed various strategies, for this excellent cause which was also an opportunity to win House points. 

The results for our Compassion fundraiser are in! 

A massive congratulations to Ryle 5 for winning both the total amount raised and length of snake. Never have I seen so many 5-cent pieces!

Honourable mentions to Latimer 1 and Ridley 2and Ridley 3 for raising over $100!

The House points tally for the day sits at:

Well done Ryle!

In total, we raised over $1350 and made a snake a ¼km in length! This will make a tangible difference in the lives of many.

Mr David Janzen
Secondary Compassion Coordinator

If you're out and about at the Penrith Show this weekend, be sure to swing by the Art Exhibition to see the entries from our very talented and creative students. Here's a sneak peek.

The Penrith Anglican College 2022 HSC Visual Arts Exhibition will take place on Friday 2 September 2022, featuring the HSC Visual Arts Body of Work.  The exhibition will take place in B Block from 4pm - 6pm, with official welcome and light refreshments at 5pm.  All are welcome and we look forward to welcoming you on the day.

Mr Steven Lewis
Head of Visual Arts

Congratulations to all our athletes who attended the NASSA Athletics Carnival on 12 August. The rain looked to threaten the day but held off for a great day of competing.

There were many great results over the course of the day which contributed to Penrith Anglican College coming second overall.

Thank you to Miss Kathryn Willick, Mr Joe Rodgers and Mrs Kathryn Nott for their help on the day.

Congratulations to the following Primary students for their stellar efforts:

Harper Egglestone - 9yrs Girls Age Champion 

Owen Morris - 10yrs Boys Age Champion 

Alexander Godwin - 10yrs Boys Runner-Up 

Caleb Ritchie - 11yrs Boys Age Champion 

Well Done to Nathaniel Grima, Harper Egglestone, Owen Morris, Jacob Raphael, Alana Jackson, Caleb Ritchie, Alexander Godwin, Jaxson Willmington, Adelaide Grima, Caelan Green, Lincoln Stratford, Rugbertha Williams, Estelle Ferro and Alice Braga who will compete at the CIS Athletics Carnival on Tuesday 20 September. 

Mr Chris Hall
Primary Sports Coordinator

On 13 August 2022, Torah Kelly (Year 5) represented PAC at an Interschool Equestrian Competition. The competition saw students from across NSW compete in multiple classes and across several disciplines. Torah and her horse, Hank, placed in all of their classes and have now qualified for the NSW Interschool Equestrian Championships that will be held in 2023.  Congratulations Torah on such an amazing achievement - we know you love this sport and have worked hard over the years and we are very proud of you.

Congratulations to our College Vice-Captain, Year 11 student Isabella Degei, who has won another netball accolade, this time Penrith Valley Sports Foundation Senior Sports Star Award. Details of Isabella's sporting achievements are featured on page 62 of the Western Weekender 19 August 2022. 

This coming school holiday, for the first time, PAC is hosting a day CRU camp! Called CRU Rush, it will run from 26 – 30 September and cater to a range of students from Kindy to Year 6. Kids from within our school and kids from outside our school are welcome to sign up and attend. 

Mr David Janzen
College Chaplain

Our Parents and Friends committee will be running our Father’s Day stall in Week 6.

Tuesday 30 August

• Pre-K 4 and 5-Days
• Years 5 and 6

Thursday 1 September

• Pre-K 2 Days
• Kindergarten and Years 1-4

All gifts will be $8 and pre-ordering and payment of gifts can be done through the Flexischools App.

Cash will be accepted on the day.

Gift donations are welcome and can be delivered to the front office.

This important fundraiser will be held on 13 September 2022 to raise funds for new sporting and athletics equipment which will be a great benefit to all students. 

The support of the College community is always an important factor in ensuring events are successful – both in terms of our fundraising efforts and as an exciting and rewarding day for the students that participate. 

The Parents and Friends Association values your participation and support and is dedicated to ensuring that your support is properly acknowledged and makes the best use of your limited and valuable time and resources. 

The Colour Run is the major fundraiser that the P&F will undertake in 2022. The P&F delivers very real benefits to the students in our school. A previous example of this is the shelter at the bus bay that provides protection for the students from the weather. 

The P&F are looking for sponsors for the following: 

• 7 x Colour Station Sponsors ($250 each colour)
• 4 x Glasses Sponsors ($150 each)
• 4 x Zooper Dooper Sponsors ($100 each)

Any sponsorship offers will be greatly appreciated. Full details regarding Sponsorship Benefits will be provided on request. 

We thank you in anticipation and look forward to the opportunity of working with you. If you would like to provide sponsorship, please contact Sunny Hunt 0422 222 915 or email [email protected]. 

Mrs Sunny Hunt
P&F President

The latest version of our Community Business Directory is now available for download.

The Community Business Directory acts as a link for business and families to support each other.  This initiative has been created by the Parents & Friends Association for businesses of Penrith Anglican College families rather than a general advertising site to assist our College Community during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Each business in the Directory has a direct link with a College family.

Please note, the Parents & Friends Association, Penrith Anglican College and their staff will not be liable for any interactions or transactions that occur between any parties connected through this P&F Initiative. The Parents & Friends Association has not vetted the information, products or offerings provided by these businesses. 

We will continue to update this document and post a link to the updated version on the website and the College App.  If you would like your business to participate in the Community Business Directory, please fill out the form via this link. There is no cost involved.

We are excited to be able to support our College families in this way, and hope you find this Directory helpful.

Latimer House Charity Day is approaching! It will be a fun-filled day celebrated through food, mufti and games, with the ultimate goal of caring for others in need. As part of the event, the College will be running a clothing drive for Take Love and donating all monney raised to SHIFT. The fundraising event will be held on Wednesday 7 September. 

What’s Happening? 

Clothing Drive: On September 5, 6, and 7, students can bring in bags of good quality used clothes. There will be collection points near the primary assembly area and the ramp between Pre-K and Kindergarten rooms.    

Sausage Sizzle: Students can pre-order a sausage sizzle and drink for the day. This needs to be done through Flexischoolsno later than Monday 5 September. Pre-K to Year 6 orders will be delivered to classrooms and Years 7 - 12 orders will be collected from outside B Block at lunch. 

Mufti: Students are to come in their best 1970’s – 2000’s outfit with a splash of red. 

Games: On the day, Students in Years 3 – 12 will be able to participate in a variety of carnival-style games and a lolly guessing competition. There will be about 6 different activities to participate in, each of which will cost 1 token ($1 each, purchased through Flexischools).

There will be a maximum purchase of 3 tickets per person. 

Important Note: There will be no cash on the day so please make sure that you order all the food and tokens through Flexischoolsno later than Monday 5 September.  

If you have any questions, please contact Mr David Thurlow, Head of House - Latimer, at the College on 4736 8100 or at [email protected]