Just, Thank You!
As we reach the end of what was, hopefully, the most interrupted and unique six months of schooling we will ever have to see in our lifetimes, just a final thank you—for now. Thank you, firstly, to the Prince of Peace staff. March 13, would you believe it, was the last day of ‘normality’ for everyone. Since then, staff have had to prepare, sometimes daily, for whatever the next iteration of life would look like. Teachers had to learn how to teach and maintain relationships remotely, and in many cases use software and technology differently. Other staff have had to go about their jobs in very different ways, and all supported one another through a very unsettling time—and that’s before we even take into account the family and personal lives of everyone on top of that. They’ve done a simply exceptional job under these circumstances and I can’t thank them enough.
Thank you, also, to our families and community. We know the pressure on many families with working from home, supervising school while working from home, job losses, isolation, etc has also been varying in degrees of intensity. However, while working in a forever changing and stressful time, your support of the teaching staff and the wider College staff and community has also been incredible.
Staffing
Last fortnight I mentioned some new staff to the College. As we reach the end of the Semester, we get ready to welcome some back from leave, and also, sadly, farewell some. Firstly we have three staff returning from leave, so we welcome back Richard Stevens from Long Service Leave and both Kim Bonello and Annaliese McKinnon from Maternity Leave.
That means, on a sadder note, that we farewell their counterparts—Aimee Coulston, Carly Stumer and Katrina Voss. All three have been working at Prince of Peace for around a year in contract roles, and in some prior relief capacity. Potentially we will see them around in the future in that capacity again.
Also finishing up over the Semester break will be Rod Farmer. Rod has been one of the College’s bus drivers for the past seven years, along with bus coordinator for several years in that time. We thank Rod, Aimee, Carly and Katrina for their service, dedication and contributions to both the College and our students during their time here. We wish them well in their future adventures and endeavours.
Finally—while not finishing just yet, at the end of the year we will also be farewelling Janette Meulen from the Junior Campus Library. Janette has served the students of the College for 20 years now and we will enjoy her company for the remainder of the year when she, very excitedly and joyfully, heads into semi-retirement.
Term 3
We know that the world is certainly not back to normal as yet, but I pray that for as many of you as possible, you get to spend some quality time with your kids and family over the break. We look forward to welcoming them all back to the start of Term 3 on Wednesday 15 July.
Blessings
Simon Hughes
Head of College
Welcoming Our New Defence School Mentor (DSM)
The Defence School Mentor (DSM) Program provides support to our students of Australian Defence Force (ADF) members and their families, to minimise the impact of the mobile lifestyle on Defence students’ education. The program is implemented by the Department of Defence, through the Defence Community Organisation, as a commitment to support its members and their families, providing innovative resources to facilitate a more supportive educational environment for mobile ADF families.
What does a Defence Mentor Do?
- A DSM provides assistance to students and their families. This may include: coordinating appropriate welcoming and farewelling strategies for young people of Australian Defence Force families.
- Supporting students to develop their self-confidence and resilience.
- Encouraging young people to explore options and make the most of opportunities.
- Assisting young people to manage the challenges of transitions.
- Referring students where necessary to appropriate student support services.
- Monitoring students’ day to day social and emotional well-being.
- Supporting young people at school during times of parental absence from home for service requirements.
- Facilitating student participation in cultural, sporting, academic and personal development.
Introducing our Prince of Peace DSM
Hello my name is Lyndell Burden and I am the new Defence School Mentor (DSM) here at PoP. As a spouse of a (now retired) ADF member, I understand the unique challenges that military families face. I am delighted to be assisting our Defence families’ children to develop academically and socially, to not just survive but to thrive as they receive a quality education here at PoP. It is my absolute privilege to support the families of those who sacrifice so much in the service of our country.
If you are a Defence family or have served in the past, I encourage you to make contact with me to see how I may be able to support you and your family on your journey here at Prince of Peace. I can be contacted via email lburden@princeofpeace.qld.edu.au or via phone on 3872 5700 (Junior Campus) or 3872 5600 (Senior Campus).
Mrs Burden will be working 9am till 4pm on-site on Wednesdays and Thursdays, and will be sharing her time between both the Junior and Senior Campuses as she supports our Defence families across our College.
Rest now…
“Come to me all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28
Holidays are upon us once again, and I, for one, am very grateful that they are. As you know, I adore the students and staff, families and community members of PoP with my whole heart. Yet I am tired, and longing for rest. Our teachers have dedicated themselves to educating your children throughout unusual times, and they are tired. Our students have worked this Semester at school, then at home, then back at school, and they too are tired.
The simplicity of Jesus’ promise is both striking and refreshing. Unique to anyone else in human history, Jesus simply offers himself as the universal solution to all that burdens us.
You see, the key word in this Gospel passage is ‘me.’ Come to ME! While sleep is fantastic for our body and mind, and reading a book is a great way to relax, the key here is ‘Come to me!’—we are invited to the feet of Jesus, to sit with him, to talk with him, to rest in him.
These holidays, I pray that your rest involves time with the One who knows all things, restores all things and loves you deeply. Before we fill our days with playdates, events and outings, let’s first spend time with God. Come to Him and rest these holidays.
Welcome Back!
We are delighted to welcome Mrs Annie McKinnon back following a period of maternity leave. Beautiful Marley is growing up so fast, and I know there will be many gorgeous photos to share upon her return. Mrs McKinnon will be returning to Year 1 to teach in a part time capacity with Mrs Crawford who will be reducing her days for the remainder of this year. Mrs Crawford will be teaching Monday to Wednesday with Mrs McKinnon teaching Thursday and Friday in 1C.
Campus Worship Returns… in part 🙂
One of the highlights of each week is our time of worship in the Chapel. We have missed these times together terribly. As restrictions have begun to lift, the larger school gatherings we were keen to look at were our times of worship.
I am delighted to say that Worship will be returning, beginning Week 1, Term 3 for staff and students only. At this time we are unable to include parents in our Worship times as we continue to operate within our social distancing restrictions, however, we are thrilled that we will be gathering again in small year-level groups.
The following Chapel groups will begin in Week 1 Term 3:
- Prep Chapel – in the Prep classrooms
- Year 1-2 Chapel
- Year 3-4 Chapel
- Year 5-6 Chapel
We look forward to welcoming parents back into Chapel with us in the future, and appreciate your understanding at this time.
New Playground Development
We are absolutely delighted to announce that beginning August 2020, the Junior Campus will begin a new Playground development up in the grass amphitheatre space behind the Senior Playground. We are incredibly excited to be working with Andrew Brenchley from Everything Outside. Andrew’s company is renowned for building unique playground areas for schools with a focus on making outside spaces, beautiful places.
When discussing our brief with Andrew and his team, we have asked them to create an adventure playground that incorporates nature play. To get a sense of this company’s incredible work, please visit their website everythingoutside.com.au; an outline of the elements of our playground design can also be seen in more detail in this PDF. We look forward to watching the progress of this exciting new addition to our beautiful campus.
Katrina Valencia
Head of Junior Campus
Year 11 Leadership
Over the last few weeks we have been finalising decision making for the leadership positions for 2020/2021. We are pleased to announce the following appointments:
College Captains: Gabrielle Waverley-Smith and Samuel Short
Laver Captains: Erin Jewell and Piper Griffin
Fraser Captains: Georgia Pfeffer and Holly Tanner
Jackson Captains: Esther Gulley and Alexander Hegner
Bradman Captains: Evie Nocher and Mattias Forbes-Schutz
We look forward to acknowledging our new leadership team and affirming our outgoing captains early next term.
As part of our Year 11 Religion and Ethics program, students engaged in an afternoon of team-building exercises. We were blessed to welcome Lindsay, Maddie and Sarah to support our young people in improving their communication and teamwork skills. Students were challenged to examine their willingness to contribute to the greater good.
DocuDrama
On Tuesday, our Year 11 and 12 students took part in the RACQ Docudrama. The morning has two parts; Part one ‘the mock car crash’, simulates the death of a passenger and the arrest of a male driver for a series of offences. Part two involves a debriefing session focusing on the choices that students make around the “Fatal Five” road safety issues—drink/drug driving, fatigue, failing to wear a seatbelt, speeding and distraction from passengers/mobile phones. Students were given statistics and gained knowledge about the impact of these road safety issues, and were very responsive to the messages delivered. Thank you to the RACQ team for delivering such a worthwhile program aiming to help keep our young people safe.
Missing Laptop
We are seeking the safe return of a missing laptop in a pink case. If you could check to see if it was mistakenly placed in someone else’s bag and may have ended up at the wrong home. If you have any information please speak to Senior Campus Reception.
Celebrate the End of Term
To celebrate the end of what was certainly a very unusual term, we will hold a half-day tabloid carnival this Friday 26 June. Students should come in their house shirts. We will have normal lessons 1- 3 followed by lunch, then activities for the rest of the afternoon. We will finish with a short worship in the Pavilion.
Thank You and Blessings for the Holidays
Thank you to our students and parents for their efforts this term; and to our staff who deserve a well-earned break after a very long and unusual semester. We are so lucky to have such a dedicated team who have risen to the challenges that have been recently thrust on the College.
Reports will be emailed to parents during the holiday break. We wish everyone a restful and safe break. Blessings.
Michelle Nisbet
Head of Senior Campus
Care Bags
Recently the Senior Campus held a House Dress Day to raise funds for “Care Bags”. It was a well-supported day with students all dressing up in house colours. The Middle School held a war cry house competition, as well as a best-dressed catwalk. The house with the most participants was Fraser and the overall House Spirit was awarded to Bradman, who had the best war cry on the day.
The best -dressed winners for each house were:
Fraser: Asher Waverley-Smith and Ella Bunn
Laver: Brodie Pawson and Katrina Paul
Bradman: Jett Cargill and Isla Rogers
Jackson: Cooper Brett and Fay Logan
Thank you to those families who have helped with our Care Bags. We have had donations of all requested items and at this stage have enough donations for 30 Care Bags, which will be filled and ready for delivery to the charity by 15 July. Thank you for helping Prince of Peace College support an important initiative to help children in need.
God bless
Linda Perrett
Acting Deputy Head of Campus
Junior Campus Sport
Return to Interschool Sport
2020 has been a very disrupted year for interschool sport. Term 3 will hopefully see a return to some events. One of these may be the Northern District Athletics Carnival, which is tentatively set down for Week 6; Thursday 20 and Friday 21 August (it was originally set down for Week 2, but has been postponed). The Inter-Lutheran Athletics Carnival may also go ahead in Week 7. Unfortunately, PoP was unable to hold our own school carnival this year. To prepare our competitors, practice and trials are being held in weekly PE lessons and during Friday activity times. These will continue for the first few weeks after the holidays, and the team will be selected by Week 4. I encourage all of our athletes to do some training over the holiday break.
Jump Rope for Heart Update
As announced in an earlier edition, all Prep-Year 6 students will be participating in Jump Rope For Heart for eight weeks, from Weeks 2-9 next term. ‘Jump-off Day’ will be 11 September. You can sign up your child for fundraising at: https://www.jumprope.org.au/parents
Once their fundraising page has been created, students can begin to log their skipping and start as soon as they wish—students don’t have to wait for the start of the eight-week school program. Videos of skipping skills can be found at the Jump Rope for Heart YouTube Channel.
Junior Campus Music News
Classroom Music
These last few weeks, Prep students have been enjoying playing percussion instruments and learning to write rhythms using ‘ta’ and ‘ti-ti’. I love the smiles and the enthusiasm of these children.
Year 3 have been studying the “Carnival of the Animals” by Saint-Saens, learning how the composer used different instruments to show the characteristics of each animal.
Year 6 have begun a unit on Ukulele. Check out the YouTube channel “Ukulaliens”. The song “Riptide” is hugely popular.
Some Year 4 and Year 6 music folders are still missing; if you have misplaced the original one when taken home at the end of last term, any document wallet will suffice.
Choirs
I will be on Long Service Leave for the first half of Term 3; all choirs will commence in Week 6 (week beginning 17 August).
Should you have any questions about the instrumental, choral or classroom music program on the Junior Campus, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Sherree Cudney
Junior Campus Music
Senior Campus Music News
Greetings from the end of a most strange Semester. By now we can feel the relief that we have in fact made it to the end, ticked all of the boxes, done all of the early morning drop offs, nursed all of the assignment-headaches and celebrated all of the successes.
Even as this goes to print we are celebrating two of the most unusual concert performances I have ever been involved in. I have called the first our ISO Concert in honour of the fact that most of the music presented in this concert spent at least the better part of it’s rehearsal period in isolation during FLEX@POP. The initiative and imagination of our tutors and students during this period was extremely impressive and I commend them for their industry and discipline. Unfortunately our ISO video concert has been temporarily held up, we have made all of the recordings and are in the process of editing the video; I look forward to presenting it a little later in the year.
In the near future you should also get a notification of our 10000 Reasons project which was a part of an LEQ initiative. 134 Prince of Peace students from the Senior Campus recorded a video of themselves singing this song. These voices will be added to those of students at Lutheran schools across the state in a huge Lutheran Virtual Choir. I was deeply moved by the willingness of the students to record, and by their amazing voices. This will be a STUNNING experience. Look out for it.
As I have said, I remain hopeful that in Semester 2 we will find ways to share music here on campus. I am still working on a vision of our courtyard filled with tables, fairy lights and wonderful music from our own talented and hard-working PoP people.
Stay tuned…
Linda Brady
Senior Campus Curriculum Leader of Music and Coordinator of Extra-Curricular Music
Stationery Aid
Stationery Aid is a volunteer-based, not for profit initiative that collects, sorts, cleans, renews and repacks excess and used stationery items that are in good working condition, to prevent them from going to landfill. School stationery packs and kits are then donated and distributed to school communities locally and eventually abroad.
There is a blue Stationery Aid recycling bin now located at both the Junior and Senior Campus. If you have stationery items in your household that are no longer required, please send them along to school or drop them into the blue wheelie bin provided at each Campus office.
Grandparents Day Cancelled
Grandparents Day is always a highlight of the year, which is why it is sad to have to announce that we have cancelled 2020 Grandparents Day. Due to COVID-19 restrictions and the fact that we need to do everything to keep our community safe—particularly our beloved Grandparents—we feel it is safer to cancel this event. We look forward to seeing our Grandparents visit again in Term 3, 2021.
Uniform Shop News
Shop Hours: Thursday 25 June will be the last campus shop day this term—the campus Uniform Shop will reopen in Term 3, Thursday 8.00am 16 July. The shop will continue to remain open for reduced hours: 8.00am to 10.00am Tuesdays and Thursdays during Term 3. Please be aware that school needs can be purchased during the Term break at The School Locker Northlakes, open 8.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday and Saturdays 9.00am to 3.00pm. Orders can be placed by email through the College website using the link on the Uniform Shop Page, or at anytime from The School Locker Website. Home delivery is available or collection from Northlakes store 4-6 Burke Crescent, Northlakes.
No-sew Hemming Tape: We have black and white 20mm wide iron-on hemming tape available to do no-sew repairs on dress, skirt and pant hems for $4.90.
Raincoats: Wet weather is no problem for students with a raincoat on hand. We have clear PVC raincoats with draw-cord hood and two protected pockets, which are a great standby to have in your child’s school bag. We have size 6 to size 16, they come flat packed in a case and are only $19.95.
Senior Campus: Protect your investments against wet weather—use silicone water proofing spray $9.95 on white sport shoes, Senior blazers, formal hats (top only as it can irritate skin), ties, and aprons, as well as handbags, purses and duffle bags. Many applications in the one can—great value!
Food Technology Students: Now available—Navy full front aprons with adjustable neck, and front pocket, available for $15.00
Second Hand: If you wish to buy or sell second hand uniforms, please visit our very active PoP Second Hand Uniform Buy & Sell Facebook group