Issue Term 2, Week 10

Excellence Innovation Respect Responsibility

DECD Newsletter Date Volume 1, Issue 1

Newsletter

July 2019

Diary Dates

Term 2 2019

Monday 29th April to

Friday 5th July 2019

Term 3 2019

Monday 22nd July to

Friday 27th September 2019

School Holidays

16/7 Uniform shop open

11:00am—2:00pm

July

22/7 Term 3 commences

26/7 Girls in STEM

August

2/8 Yr 5/6 Excursion

T 08 8297 0488

F 08 8297 8430

dl.0907.info@schools.sa.edu.au

www.plymptoncollege.sa.edu.au

Term 2 As our term comes to an end, I would like to acknowledge the outstanding effort and engagement of students in their learning. We have seen significant growth in student achievement and students have enjoyed the many new initiatives on offer. The recent Chinatown and STEM excursions were very successful and we have had very pleasing feedback from the wider community about their presentation, good manners and positive attitude. Reports On reading the end of semester reports, it is clear that the majority of students have made considerable progress. Goal setting will continue in order for students to further extend their learning during the next semester. I encourage you to take the time to talk to your child about their achievements and areas for development. Teachers have provided the next steps in their learning, together with strategies. If you require further clarification, please feel free to email your child’s teacher(s) to arrange a meeting so that parents and teachers can work together to ensure that they are achieving their personal best. Canteen News As you may be aware, the Governing Council has approved the outsourcing of the Canteen and we welcome Metropolitan Canteens from next term. An introductory letter and menu information will be sent to families shortly. On behalf of staff, students and parents, I would like to thank our Canteen Manager, Mandy Greaves for her outstanding commitment to our College. She has been a valuable part of our community, through Governing Council, parent and in the Canteen for the past 14 years. Mandy was also a student here when it was Plympton High School! We have held a thank you morning tea to acknowledge her huge contributions to our families and wish her well in the future. We hope everyone have a restful break and we look forward to working with families next term. Linda Richardson Principal

Issue Term 2, Week 10

Excellence Innovation Respect Responsibility

Governing Council News Every year Governing Council form various sub committees to address different aspects of college life and operations. A list is available online via the college website under the Governing Council section. On the college website there is a brief description of each committee for your reference. One such committee is the Canteen committee. We have conducted client surveys to get feedback from students, staff and parents. This resulted in a change to the college menu. We worked hard to ensure more healthy food choices were available and we listened when you said you wanted this change. The Canteen Manager Mandy helped us to reach these goals. Earlier this year, the time had come to reassess the canteen operations. From Term 3, Metropolitan Canteens will be running the College canteen. Mandy will be finishing at the end of this term. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Mandy for her 14 years of service at Plympton International College and wish her all the best for the future. Recently we held a Bunnings BBQ at Mile End and we would like to thank them again for giving us the opportunity to fundraise. It was very successful. In the Primary school, we also held a movie night and we are now looking forward to Father’s Day. In addition, the Easter raffle, sports day bake and BBQ stalls, election day BBQ and Entertainment Book sales have all been initiatives of the Fundraising committee. We have an active fundraising team again who have put in countless hours behind the scenes to make the various events a success for our College. In no particular order, big thanks goes out to Paula Hendy, Liz Willis, Sarah Price, Roslyn Elms, Lisa Evans, Janelle Yarwood, Debbie McDonald, and me I guess, as I am on the committee as well! We have many wonderful helpers who are parents and staff and we appreciate everything they do to assist. Thank you all for your continued support. The SRC, parents, committee and Governing Council members will decide how the funds will be spent. A few things that we would like to do is inject some colour and greenery into the college with vertical gardens, additional seating and murals to depict our diverse cultures and add life and some softness to the outside of the buildings. Painting the secondary toilets is also on the agenda. During Primary Sport next term, we would like to trial an after school netball clinic. We need volunteers to coach and assist to make this a reality. If you would like to get involved, please remember you will need your DCSI clearance. This is now a free service to anyone volunteering to work with children. Another part of your clearance requirement is to have your Response to Abuse and Neglect Certificate. RAN-EC If netball is your passion, please let Sue Pretty or your child's class teacher know so that we can contact you and get things up and running as soon as possible. I would also like to thank the following businesses who have been supporting our college com-munity and buying advertising space on the fence. Plympton Dental, Ray White Real Estate Plympton, Gian Franco remedial massage, All Out Trees and Colossal Cleaning. We appreciate your support. The college now has a business register. This means that individuals or businesses can make tax-deductible donations to the college. This will be used to build and improve facilities. If you know anyone that may be interested in making a donation or buying a fence sign to promote their business, please let them know to contact the College office for more information. Samantha Malliotis

Issue Term 2, Week 10

Excellence Innovation Respect Responsibility

Wellbeing Family Connections Headspace was established in 2006 and is funded by the Commonwealth Government. headspace helps young people aged 12 to 25 years and their families who are going through a tough time to obtain free health advice, support and information. headspace is a great support to Plympton International College and works with teachers to provide students with resources and information when required. Raising sensitive issues with your child and working to resolve problems that arise along the way can be challenging. It can also be hard as a parent or carer to know the difference between normal behaviour such as moodiness, irritability and withdrawal to an emerging mental health problem. headspace’s website has a section called ‘For Friends and Family’ https://headspace.org.au/friends-and-family/life-issues/ designed to support you. It covers life issues, health and wellbeing, mental health, alcohol and drugs as well as work and study. A reminder too that the College is also here to support you so please contact us if needed. SRC VoiceIt Project Plympton International College has the honour of been chosen as a spotlight college to trial the new student voice resource, VoiceIt. The resource supports students to become wellbeing ambassadors and lead projects and activities at the college. A focus group from the middle college SRC has been chosen and in the coming months they will get the opportunity to explore, imagine, connect, plan, do, share and reflect on wellbeing data and topics. The Wellbeing focus group recently met and explored the Wellbeing and Engagement Data collected earlier in the year. They were able to identify key areas in which they would like to focus on to improve wellbeing across the college. The next step for this group is to connect with community supports and then to begin planning their project. The college has a strong belief in student voice and is looking forward to sharing their journey with the college community as their project develops. Cheryl Peat Wellbeing Leader Secondary

Chinese Bilingual News Our Year 7 and 8 students went on an excursion to Chinatown. The purpose of this excursion was to provide students with authentic language and cultural experiences. Tasks were designed to provide students with the opportunity to practice their language skills through speaking, identifying Chinese characters and completing a collaborative activity. Our students had an enjoyable time. Some students had the opportunity to interview local business owners and try some dishes using chopsticks. Su Jen Cheong Chinese Bilingual Coordinator

Issue Term 2, Week 10

Excellence Innovation Respect Responsibility

Drama News This semester in Drama the Yr 9 class performed ‘0z’ and the Yr 10 students performed ‘Bad Actors do Bad Auditions’. Both productions received positive feedback from the audiences and showed how well our students work together as a team. Well done to everyone involved. Ocea Bradley Drama Teacher

Music News Congratulations to Ayeeshah Abdul Karim (Yr 7) who has received a solo for this year’s Primary School Music Festival. She worked very hard to prepare for her audition and was up against students from over 250 schools. We look forward to preparing for our concert on the 14

th

September. Well done Ayeeshah! Natali Pine Music Teacher

Sport News OLLYROO After school soccer - Yr 3-6 participants in the OLLYROO soccer program were very excited to have received their gift packs of a pair of shin guards, drink bottle and a soccer ball. Sue Pretty Primary PE Teacher

International Student News We farewelled 8 SACE Vietnamese students in Term 2. We had a fun night with all International secondary students at Marion Bowling. We will welcome more international students Term 3 for both long term and short term stays. We will also welcome the students from the Aihao Study Tour from China in August. I would like to express my gratitude to our college community for your constant support of our International students. Nina Toopchi International Program Manager

Issue Term 2, Week 10

Excellence Innovation Respect Responsibility

Code Club/STEM Our Yr 4-6 Primary lunchtime Code Club has been launched and our students are very excited. We will be learning to code through Scratch and will then move onto using robotics. We thank our volunteer Jo Marshall (recently retired innovative teacher). Together with this, we now have increased our resources in the area of Digital Technologies and STEM. We have Beebots, Makey Makeys, Little Bits, Edison robots and Spheros, which will be used to develop our students in the area of robotics and digital technologies. Alongside this, we have purchased multiple resources to enable our students to undertake essential hands-on design

projects, which will equip them with skills to problem, solve and create solutions. These are essential skills for our students to thrive in the future. Tara Hendry Director of Primary Secondary STEM News Students at Flinders University are undertaking Physics activities through the Girls in STEM Enrichment Academy. They are investigating the physics of light and sound followed by how we utilise solar energy to power vehicles. This week some of our students went to the Women in STEM three day intensive workshop at Flinders University in the Tonsley precinct. The opening address was by Professor Maria Parapilly and Chief Operating Officer at BEACH Energy. Andrew Charlton STEM Coordinator

Fundraising Our Bunnings BBQ was a huge success again this year thanks to the planning and preparation of the Fundraising committee and the parents, friends and teachers at Plympton International College. Special thanks to Belinda Reynolds, Darren and Coco Greenwood, Sarah Price, Paula Hendy, Sam Malliotis, Liz Willis, Lisa Evans, Simon Tsiaparis, Sue and John Morrison, Janelle and Dior Yarwood, Tara Hendry, Linda Richardson, Roslyn Elms and Caitlin Nicolle for volunteering their time on the day. We raised $1950 to go towards environmental improvements for the college and had lots of fun doing it too! Fundraising Committee

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Excellence Innovation Respect Responsibility

Student Voices Flinders University Excursion On Friday June 14 the Year 7 and 8 students had the opportunity to visit Flinders University. Flinders University is set on a pristine piece of land on Kaurna land, nestled in the Adelaide foothills; it is a state-of-the-art centre of academic excellence. It is a world-class infrastructure and excellent facilities are a testament to its fine heritage. The excursion was a great learning experience for students to explore the multiple career options available post high school. Students had the chance to attend many interactive workshops, all of which covered various careers, specifically in the fields of Drama, Animal Conservation and Paleontology. The Drama Workshop session was fun, spontaneous, creative and engaging. The marine biology department’s, ‘Saving Nemo Project’ was an eye opener as it created an awareness of the endangered marine species the Clown Fish and its food, habitat, and behaviour. The Paleontology lecture explained what paleontology is, identified animals by their teeth and skulls, described the factors driving animals to extinction and explained the story behind the already extinct Tasmanian Thylacine

commonly known as the Tasmanian Tiger. Finally, a question and answer session allowed students from our college to ask questions to university students relating to courses and possible career options. The excursion without a doubt was a great success and both extremely interesting and informative. Trisha Marie Joseph Year 8 Student Science News Chemical Reactions with Acids to produce Hydrogen Gas. The Year 10A Science students conducted an experiment to test acid reactions depending on their strength and concentration. The aim was to observe the comparison between the reactions of a strong acid, hydrochloric acid and a weak ethanoic acid. Part A involved a universal indicator solution, 0.1 M sodium hydroxide. When mixing the acids with a 0.1 M concentration with a few drops of universal indicator solution, it made the solution turn red. We put the sodium hydroxide drop by drop until the solution was neutralised and turned into an almost clear liquid. Each number of drops were recorded. Part B included magnesium ribbons that were placed inside separate tubes of the two acids with more concentration (1 M). The tubes had corks on them, and the magnesium was then mixed with the acids, producing hydrogen gas. When opened for a while, a match was lit and placed just inside the entrance of the tube that created a “POP” and put out the match. Samantha Duldulao, Mahum Tanauli and Adam Wilkins Students Science 10A

Issue Term 2, Week 10

Excellence Innovation Respect Responsibility

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