The Vine Newsletter

Mrs Felicity Grima - Principal

BUS TRAVEL

I have spoken to a number of families of the College about the bus services available to and from the College. We have been speaking with bus companies and had initial conversations with the NSW Department of Transport last year. As you can appreciate, this process was placed on hold during Semester 2 last year.

Many families may not realise that school times are determined by the time the buses are scheduled to arrive and depart from the College and any attempt to change College start and finish times requires a change in bus services approved by the NSW Department of Transport. We have been advised that this process is likely to take at least 3 years.

Bus routes for schools are determined by the number of registered ‘School Student Transport Scheme’ (SSTS) OPAL Cards registered in a particular area. This alerts the NSW Government to the demand for services in an area. This is quite counter-intuitive as most families would not see the need to register for a card to catch a bus when a service does not exist in an area. We will be communicating with families in more detail over the coming weeks about the need for families to register for a SSTS Opal Card and providing information to ensure this process is as efficient for families as possible.

In the meantime, for students using public transport to and from the College each day, could I please remind you of the NSW Transport regulations for travel:

• School OPAL cards must be used every time a student travels on a bus or train. They must tap on and off.
• Student OPAL cards are not transferable. Each school travel pass is issued to a specific student and is printed with the eligible student's name. Fines may apply for misuse.
• Students must comply with the Student Codes of Conduct.

Behaviour on buses

• Use appropriate language not offensive or racist language
• Fighting, spitting, feet on seats, throwing things in or from the bus is not permitted
• No eating or drinking (other than water) - unless for medical reasons or the bus operator gives written permission.
• Offer seats to adults including people with a disability, elderly or expectant mothers
• Do not push or shove other people
• Do not bully or harass other passengers or the driver
• Avoid attracting the attention of the driver except in the case of emergency
• Do not play music at such volume that it may distract the bus driver or other passengers.

Safety on and near buses

• Obey reasonable directions from the driver (for example, where to sit or to remain in the bus)
• Remain in your seat - do not move around the bus unnecessarily
• If standing, remain behind the front passenger seat and always keep a secure hand hold
• Keep bags and other items clear of the aisle
• Do not allow any part of your body to protrude out of the bus at any time
• Wait for the bus in a quiet and orderly manner - including at bus interchanges
• Stand away from the roadside until the bus comes to a complete stop
• Allow other passengers to leave the bus before stepping onto the bus in a single line
• Wait until the bus stops before moving to get off the bus at your designated stop
• Cross the road where and when it's safe to do so, use crossings/traffic lights where available.

Legal considerations on buses

• Wear the seat belt properly adjusted and fastened, if one is available
• Obey the law that bans smoking on buses
• Ensure that buses are not vandalised - report any damage, graffiti and window etching, to the driver
• Do not interfere with bus property, equipment and signage
• Do not leave rubbish on the bus, or at bus stops or interchanges.

Failure to comply with the Code of Conduct may lead to:

• the withdrawal of school travel passes.
• banning students from travelling on public transport.
• police prosecution and court action.

COVID-19

COVID Symptoms
No one with COVID symptoms can attend the College, regardless of a negative COVID test. These include fever, headache, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of smell/taste, muscle/joint pains, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting, extreme tiredness, unexplained chest pain or conjunctivitis (eye infection).

If your child develops these symptoms during the day, families will be contacted and asked to take them home immediately.

If your child has a pre-existing condition with COVID-like symptoms such as asthma or hay fever, they must have a medical certificate from a Doctor confirming this and that normal preventative and management plans are in place and are being followed to minimize the symptoms.

Positive COVID Results
All families must immediately report a positive COVID result (whether on a PCR or RAHT) to the College using the following link https://forms.office.com/r/8yNj6g2eHT. This is in addition to the requirement to record the positive result through Service NSW.

Once reported, you must follow the NSW Health advice and comply with the following requirements:

• Isolate for seven days following a positive result.
• Leave isolation after seven days if there are no symptoms.
• If there are symptoms after seven days, remain in isolation until 24 hours after the symptoms have resolved. 

If a person continues to have symptoms due to another medical condition, they can leave isolation with a medical certificate/clearance from a Doctor. A copy of the clearance should be provided to the College on the day the student returns.

The College will continue to notify families if there is a confirmed positive case that a student may have come in contact with during their time at the College.

Close / Household Contacts Attending School
The isolation requirements for close / household contacts have been eased. Students and staff who are close contacts and have no symptoms can continue to attend school if they follow the guidelines agreed with NSW Health, including:

They must notify the College if they intend to return under this provision using the following link: https://forms.office.com/r/8yNj6g2eHT 

• They must conduct a daily RAHT and return a negative result each morning before attending school for five school days.
• If in Secondary, they must wear a mask indoors except when exercising or eating. Primary students are strongly encouraged to wear a mask indoors.
• No student or staff member identified as a close contact will be permitted to attend camps.

Any visitor to the College who is a close contact must advise the College that they are a close contact before they come on campus. These visitors should conduct a daily RAHT and return a negative result before attending. They must also wear a mask indoors at all times.

Students do not need to follow the close contact guidelines in the following circumstances:

• if they have had confirmed COVID-19 in the last 12 weeks;
• if they have not been in contact with the person who tested positive for COVID-19 while they were infectious. People are generally infectious from either 48 hours before they have symptoms, or, if they do not have symptoms, from 48 hours before they test positive. They may have had no contact because they were away from home (e.g. on a school camp) or were effectively isolated from them (e.g. they live in a granny flat or another separate area of the house).

Students returning from overseas
All students returning from overseas can attend school as soon as they produce a negative PCR or RAHT.

RAHT Kits
The College has received additional RAHT kits and they will be distributed next week. These kits are for symptomatic testing or daily testing as part of the close contact requirements.

Masks
Other than the requirements for masks to be worn by close contacts, masks are no longer mandatory. At the College, we strongly encourage staff and students to wear them to minimise the risk of transmission.

Reducing the risk of illness this winter
All students, staff and their families should follow NSW Health’s advice to reduce the risk of not only COVID but also other illnesses that may affect schools this winter, such as the flu, including:

• stay home if unwell;
• keep up to date with vaccinations – including the flu vaccines;
• get tested immediately for COVID-19 if you become symptomatic and isolate yourself until you receive a negative result;
• practice good hand hygiene by regularly washing with soap and water;
• take a RAHT before visiting vulnerable loved ones or attending large gatherings and events.

If your child has had the following symptoms that are not related to COVID, the following exclusion periods generally apply:

• Fever - In general, return to school when your child is well. If you have seen a doctor, discuss this with them as exclusion periods will vary depending on your child’s illness.
• Vomiting/Diarrhea - children should be excluded from attending school for 48 hours after the resolution of symptoms.

If you have any questions or are unsure, please contact Miss Nat via College reception on 02 4736 8100 or [email protected]

We understand these requirements can be challenging and frustrating. We appreciate the way our community have worked together to ensure we provide a safe teaching and learning environment.

Mrs Felicity Grima

Principal

Thank you to our generous sponsors for their support of the upcoming College production:

Box Hop Moving Box Hire https://boxhop.com.au/

Devine Scapes Landscaping Renovations http://www.devinescapes.com.au/

Jaymak Equipment Hygiene Services https://jaymak.com/

Mindflare Mental Health Services https://mindflare.com.au/

It’s less than a month until Opening Night for our College Production. Seats are selling fast so book your tickets now to secure great seats https://www.trybooking.com/BYDMY

Performances are on:

17 June at 7pm
18 June at 7pm
24 June at 7pm
25 June at 1:30pm and 7pm

The Lord your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.”

Zephaniah 3:17 NIV

Please pray for: 
Those families in the College community experiencing times of hardship and stress.
Year 10 CEP in Week 5, ROCK Camp at the end of May, Book Parade next week
and the College Production - make sure you get your tickets!
Students to show kindness and care in the playground.

Praise God for:
Stunning weather and wonderful fun at the Primary and Secondary Athletics Carnivals.
A successful Year 9 CEP camping in tents, hiking and canoeing at Kangaroo Valley.
The perseverance and courage of so many of our students.

Miss Adele Crane - Director of Student Wellbeing

Year 9 Challenge – Explore – Prepare (CEP) 2022

It was with great delight that Year 9 students and a group of teachers were able to head to Kangaroo Valley on Wednesday for their annual adventure. Our CEP program is a wonderful opportunity for students to spend time together out of the classroom and in a different environment. It gives students the chance to be challenged in different ways, to explore a wonderful part of God’s creation and to prepare for things ahead by learning new skills and more about each other.

Students were asked at the start of these three days to consider two concepts: respect and curiosity. They started by listening to an Acknowledgement of Country for the Wodi Wodi people, respecting the cultural heritage of the area and the history of the local indigenous peoples. Respect is such an important value for our students to learn. Learning to respect all in our community from the peers students share their tents with, to the canoeing instructor and to the residents of Kangaroo Valley so that respect is shown in each conversation and action.

Being in a different environment brings about new experiences where you can learn new skills and to marvel how creation crafts magnificent vistas. From learning the affect of different strokes whilst in a canoe, to watching wombats scratch an itch and listening to other Year 9 students sing and share thoughts about life who you haven’t really spoken with before. Mr McCallum spoke to students from Romans 12 about being transformed and thinking through what the impact God can have on our lives.  

The time out of the classroom is truly a unique and special time. The lessons our students take in are not necessarily from the academic curriculum, but they are such important life lessons that help students to grow and shape their strength of character, something that is of great value to our College.

Miss Adele Crane
Director of Student Wellbeing

Kindergarten have been reading and illustrating characters from stories.  They have illustrated a scene from the “Mr Gumpy’s Outing” story book by John Burningham. Going by the students' artwork, we think the book characters have had quite an adventure, don't you?

Ellen Young, Finley Gange, Callan Kobus, Noah Peikos, Dylan Carroll and Zoe Lamplough are the HICES Debating Team for 2022. The HICES Debating Competition sees students from a range of independent schools meet together via Zoom to debate on a range of topics. So far this season, the team has won 2 debates and lost 2. The team have developed a wide range of debating skills and are excited to see how the rest of the season will go!

‘HICES Debating is a new opportunity that you get to explore. You get to be fun and creative. You get to have a great time with other people from across a range of schools. I am really enjoying it.’Finley Gange (Year 6 Student)

‘HICES Debating is fun because you get to argue and debate your points. And it's just fun in general!’  Callan Kobus (Year 6 Student)

Fredgine Constant

Fredgine is 17 years old and lives in Haiti with her parents. There are four other children in the family. Her father works occasionally as a farmer. At home, Fredgine helps by carrying water, gathering firewood, cleaning and washing clothes.

Fredgine likes to play Jacks, play games with friends, go to church and Vacation Bible School. Fredgine was sponsored by the Class of 2020 from the time they were in Kindergarten and is now sponsored by Ryle. She has remained as a sponsor child of ours because of her need and her age.

Eighty percent of the population of Haiti live in abject poverty!

In 2010, an horrendous earthquake occurred and approximately 250,000 were killed. Nearly one million people are still homeless!

Common health issues are typhoid fever and eye problems. Most adults are unemployed. If they work, they earn $33 per month!

Our sponsorship enables Fredgine to health & hygiene education, medical checkups, and academic support. Her dream is to rise above her circumstances and become all God has created her to be!

Mrs Sue Munce
Primary Compassion Coordinator

Book Parade 2020

Book Parade Is Almost Here!
Let your imaginations loose and have your craft supplies at the ready! Book Parade is fast approaching so get busy putting the finishing touches to your costumes! We are excited to see what masterpieces our College families will create to celebrate the joy of reading.

Book Parade is being held on Wednesday 25 May from 8.45am and promises to delight and entertain the entire College as the parade wends its way through the campus. Parents are welcome to watch the parade which commences in the Primary assembly area.

Why Read?
Why do we relentlessly promote reading and enthusiastically urge our students to borrow each library lesson? Here are just a few reasons we believe in the power of reading to transform, teach and empower.

Library at the College promotes reading through programs such as Premier’s Reading Challenge and KOALA as well as by engaging with students in library classes and spaces to encourage a love of books from an early age. Our visiting authors are a great source of enthusiasm and we love to celebrate Book Parade, National Simultaneous Storytime and the Book Fair with our amazing College community.

If you’d like to browse the library catalogue, you can do so at this link via the usual student username and password.

Mr Mark Pullen
Head of Library Services

Mr Leighton Corr - Deputy Principal (Secondary)

Secondary Athletics Carnival

Earlier this week we enjoyed a wonderful day at the Secondary Athletics Carnival. The sun was out and our students were keen to participate with some outstanding performances happening on the day. As is often the case, the relays were the highlight with Latimer proving to be very strong in the area and probably now being the favourites to take out the overall carnival. It was also a wonderful opportunity to see our House Captains step up as leaders with their organisation and involvement on the day.

For our Year 12 cohort this was their final carnival. We speak often here at school about how some of the things we will remember most from High School is moments like the carnivals, dressing up with friends, winning a race or getting to do something with all of our friends. I know that on Tuesday many of our Year 12 students added a memory to the long list I am sure they have of their time at PAC. It was a great day. My thanks to Mrs Houison for her organisation and running of the day.

Student Diaries

In the Secondary School we have noticed an increased prevalence in recent times of students forgetting that they have things due, needed to finish off work, not being sure of what their homework is and other basic organisational things. The College provides all students with a College Diary at the start of the year and will be seeking to use these more frequently in the future. We will work with students and staff on how this might look and work most effectively, but it is important that we help teach our students how to be organised and manage a diary. For many of our students they will have 6 different subjects a day and could have homework issued in each of these. A helpful way to stay on top of all of these requests and tasks is to write them down and we will be strongly encouraging students to engage in using their diary more in the future.

Cold and Flu Symptoms

May I continue to remind people of the need to be diligent with managing cold and flu symptoms as the weather starts to become cooler. Students should be testing if they have any symptoms and informing the College if they happen to test positive for Covid. Close contacts can be at school, providing they test each morning and are willing to wear a mask indoors.

Mr Leighton Corr
Deputy Principal (Secondary)

Year 8 English – From Page to Stage

This Term 2 unit of work focuses on the power of storytelling through the close study of one of these plays:

• Boy Overboard by Patricia Cornelius
• Refugee Boy by Benjamin Zephaniah
• Stories in the Dark by Deborah Oswald

Emphasis is placed on the relational learning domain as the thematic concerns of the texts raise many questions about dispossession, suffering, war and loss. The Bible encourages Christians to love one another like God loves us: “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother” - 1 John 4:19-5:4.

Texts can help students make sense of their experiences and shape their view of the world. This unit allows for many interesting, challenging and mature discussions. As Christians we should seek to show compassion and love to those who are less fortunate: “Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God” - Hebrews 13:16. In particular, drama texts serve to narrate events, to entertain, to satisfy creative urges, to move readers emotionally and to explore the human condition.

The focus dispositions for many of the lessons include imagining, persisting, reviewing and empathising. In addition to these theory lessons, students engage in practical lessons with the focus on collaboration. These lessons seek to highlight the importance of gesture, voice, spatial awareness, facial expressions and the other elements of drama to communicate ideas. Here are some images of Year 8 students partaking in these lessons.

Miss Lauren Kenny
Head of English

Mathspace is an Online Maths Program subscribed by PAC for all Year 10 Students.

Mathspace hosted its first Parents & Carers Information Evening webinar on Wednesday 4 May 2022. The focus of the webinar was on how parents/carers can use Mathspace to support their children as they learn numeracy & mathematics. It was very popular, we had over 1000 people register to attend from Mathspace schools across Australia.

The webinar went for 30 minutes and included some great questions from parents. Erin Byrne from Mathspace demonstrated to everyone how Mathspace works and gave parents & carers of students tips on what they could do, to encourage their children to complete their Mathspace work.

The link to the recording is https://mathspace-1.wistia.com/medias/zb3t1243p8

The recording will be especially useful for parents who are asking maths teachers what else their children can be doing as maths practice, in addition to what's being assigned to them as homework already.

Mrs Nimmi Martin
Head of Mathematics

Can you help supply some of the following resourcing needs for our creative department?

If you can collect the following items and bring them to the Visual Arts staff room it would be most appreciated:

• Newspapers
• Magazines
• Tin cans (that have a ring lid removed with no sharp edges, label removed)
• Clean large sheets of corrugated Cardboard
• Toilet rolls / cardboard cylinders / paper roll
•  Metal forks and dessert and soup spoons

If you are able to volunteer for a couple of hours to assist in sorting art materials, preparing resources and helping to reorganise the art department please contact the Head of Visual Arts, Mr. Lewis  - [email protected]

Your support and assistance would be most appreciated.

$100 of free art supplies for your child: Have you used your NSW Creative Kids Vouchers?

Help your child develop their creativity and have some time away from a screen. If you have not already claimed your NSW Creative kids voucher you may not be aware that you can purchase art materials for your child. There are lots of sites that provide online ordering and deliver to your home.

More information: https://www.service.nsw.gov.au/transaction/apply-creative-kids-voucher

Here are a few suppliers:

• Life of Colour – https://www.lifeofcolourproducts.com/
• A little Spirit - https://alittlespirit.com.au/
• Anchors Aweigh - https://anchorsaweighartstudio.com
• Spicers Creative Kids - https://www.spicerscreativekids.com.au/blog 

I hope this is a little opportunity for your child to develop their skills and experiences.

Mr. Steven Lewis
Head of Visual Arts

Year 9 da Vinci Decathlon Team

Congratulations to the following Year 9 students for outstanding results at the Regional da Vinci Decathlon on Friday 6 May:  Nate Ciantar Pirrone, Rishelle George, Elizabeth Godwin, Thomas Jones, Arni Mankotia, Edison Noakes, Jessy Schoebel, Samuel Stoneham.  The Year 9 Team placed 1st in Engineering, 2nd in Creative Producers, 2nd in Mathematics,  3rd in Code Breaking, 2nd Place Overall!

Well done to Year 10 students for their massive effort in representing the College:  Mehar Aulakh, Timothy Batcheldor, Elissa Ferguson, Toby Gange, Louise Hammond, Ava Kobus, Vanshika Rathore, Isabella Stewart.

Thank you to Mrs Kathryn Clarke, Secondary Gifted & Talented Coordinator for organising the day, and Mr Timothy Pigot for supervising the students.

The students have since had the chance to reflect on their experiences at the da Vinci Decathlon and share their thoughts.

On Thursday 5 May, 16 students from Year 7 and 8 arrived at The Illawarra Grammar School after a two-hour drive from Penrith Anglican College. The view as the sun rose over Wollongong was spectacular. We competed in ten disciplines across the day. In the first session we competed in English, Science, Ideation, and Creative Producers. We worked well as a team and had fun. In the second session we had Mathematics, Cartography, Art and Poetry, and Engineering. We earned ourselves 1st place in Cartography (thanks to Abinav), and 2nd in Engineering. In session three we had Code Breaking and Legacy. We all agreed that this was the hardest of them all. We had a great time working together and getting to know one another better. When we arrived back at school, we were all exhausted but satisfied with what we achieved over the day. Overall, we had a fun day while doing hard work.  The team consisted of Aditi A, Joyce H, Annika N, Anokshihaa K, Elliot W, Akshaj S, Jaskaranveer S, and Abinav M.  - Annika Noakes (Year 7 Student)

Our Da Vinci experience was truly spectacular. Liam, Krishav, Jack, Rachel, Matthew, Chris, myself and our Team Captain Andrea arrived at school nice and early at 6 am, with most people still wishing that they were back home sleeping (including me). Then began the long journey to The Illawarra Grammar School, which was mostly spent arguing about food items and lollies.  Once we reached TIGS, we were immediately put to work; working together to solve Science and English problems and producing new ideas on how to make Australia a more diverse nation. Then, after a quick break, we continued the day, with Andrea and Krishav creating a magnificent tree and poem, and the rest of the team rotating around Engineering, Cartography and Mathematics-related tasks. Our team also created a dramatic skit in under 8 minutes, flexing their creative muscles.  After another break for lunch, we tackled the final tasks for the day, Legacy and Code Breaking. Legacy requires you to use general knowledge skills to order and solve problems, while Code Breaking uses WWII style codes and riddles, and uses real-life scenarios like escaping from bunkers to enhance the World War effect.  Then it was time for the big finale. After a lot of waiting, we finally received our results! Our team came 1st in Legacy, 2nd in Mathematics and 3rd in Code Breaking, so we were very proud of ourselves. It was the power of working together that helped us to achieve these brilliant results! Special thanks to Mr McIntyre for taking the teams, and waking up so early in the morning, just so that we could compete in this competition! And thanks to everyone on the Year 8 team for making it on the day. We sure had a lot of fun!  - Aryan Patial (Year 8 Student)

On Friday 6 May, our school sent a team of eight students to participate in the da Vinci Decathlon. Our team’s task was to work collaboratively and creatively on a series of papers across the ten disciplines. On the day our team enjoyed every aspect of these papers as they were challenging and allowed us to think outside the box. The Year 9 team did extremely well on the day placing 2nd overall. We also placed 1st in Engineering, 2nd in Creative Producers, 2nd in Mathematics and 3rd in Code Breaking. Overall, the day was a fun and exciting experience for all members of the Year 9 team.  - Elizabeth Godwin (Year 9 Student)

On Friday 6 May, a group of Year 10 students headed out to The Illawarra Grammar School to compete in the Regional da Vinci Decathlon. It was a fun academic experience that I know I will treasure as it was our last da Vinci Decathlon ever. We participated in many different subjects, including English, Mathematics and Science as well as some other more creative subjects such as Art and Poetry and Creative Producers. Unfortunately, we didn’t place in anything, but we had such a great time that we didn’t really mind. I personally had so much fun performing our Creative Producers piece and I think we all felt that rush of adrenaline when there’s 20 seconds left on the clock and you still have a whole page of questions left to answer! For anyone thinking about applying for an upcoming da Vinci Decathlon, I highly recommend!  - Isabella Stewart (Year 10 Student) 

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.

Dylan Carroll, Caitlin Bean, Bridie Hutcheson and Alana Jackson attended the NASSA Netball Gala Day on Friday 6 May. The girls did a wonderful job representing PAC in the NASSA team. The team played spectacularly throughout the day, only losing one game and drawing another. It was an amazing achievement to be selected for the NASSA team and they should be very proud of their efforts. Well done ladies!

We were blessed with warm and sunny weather for the Primary Athletics Carnival that took place on Thursday 19 May at Blair's Oval, St Mary's.  It was lovely to see students turning up ready to support their Houses, giving it their best shot, and having a good time.  Results from the Carnival will be announced in the next edition of The Vine.

After a false start due to torrential rain, a rescheduled date, and additional runs to allow students to participate and earn valuable House points, the results are in… and the 2022 Secondary Cross Country is sure to be one event that will go down in PAC’s history!

Our additional runs led to a result never before seen – joint Age Champions in the 15s boys event! Morgan Leita and Samuel Stoneham (Year 9) both ran a time of 19:33 on the 4km course on different days – congratulations to both of you. A full list of Age Champions and Runners-Up will follow in upcoming editions of The Vine.

But the “never before seen” doesn’t stop with joint Age Champions… congratulations to our joint Champion Houses for 2022 – Latimer and Ryle both finished the Carnival on a total of 696 points! And between 3rd and 4th, just ONE point – Cranmer finished on 652 points, and Ridley, just one participation point behind on 651 points! 

Mrs Amanda Houison
Director of Sport

It was a stunning autumn day when the Secondary Athletics Carnival was held on Tuesday 17 May.  The fields were a bit wet and muddy but it did not deter the students from displaying their House support with vibrant dress-ups and lots of cheering. The Carnival isn’t finished yet as Javelin hasn’t yet been run.  Results will be announced when they become available.