Compass No. 524 - February 2019

From the Principal

Next Step

Thinking of career decisions in terms of the next step was one of the strong messages senior parents and students heard in the presentation from Mrs Wanda Hayes, our Head of Career Development, at their respective information evenings. Seeing decisions as the next step rather than setting direction for the whole of life, brings decisions into perspective. We can apply this thinking to all areas of life. When we view our future in terms of the next step, it helps us to be proactive in shaping a better future for ourselves and others. 

God has given us the gift of time where we can only live and act in this moment. We build momentum and capacity as we reflect and then take that next purposeful step, being prepared to learn and adapt. Purposeful and learningful next steps build engagement and optimism. Trusting that God walks with us enables us to step boldly.

Principal's Log

Over the weekend, the Queensland Art Teachers Association Sunshine Coast Chapter benefitted from learning from Dr Kym Rodgers, who provided professional development in the areas of 21st Century Abstract Art Theory and an Abstract Comics practical workshop. The knowledge shared by Dr Rodgers can be used in the new senior Visual Arts syllabus and is already a part of our Year 9 elective Art course. Over the years, Dr Rodgers has been invited to present at both a national and international level and our students are privileged to be able to learn the skills of Abstract Art from an expert.

It was a delight to watch our Middle and Senior College students participate in the Independent District Swimming Carnival last week. The whole team performed well with swimmers giving their best and supporting one another. Well done to all of our students and in particular, the 14 years boys and girls team who were very strong on the day and took out the combined 6x50m relay. Junior College students also had their District Swimming Carnival last week and it was pleasing to hear of a number of excellent individual and team performances, which are detailed later in the newsletter. Thank you to the parents who attended and provided strong support to our students and to Mr Brett Kersnovske, Mr Darren Hooper and their teams for their leadership and organisation.

Head of Outdoor Education, Mr Nick Tait has met with families of Senior College students interested in participating in the New Zealand Outdoor Education experience at the end of this year. Optional outdoor education opportunities for Senior College students compliment the strong developmental outdoor education program offered across Years 3-9. Engagement with the Duke of Edinburgh and the College’s outdoor education programs provide unique opportunities for growth as an integrated part of the personal development, pastoral care and Christian Studies programs. We look forward to the unfolding of these experiences over the year.

It has been good to see our various sporting teams begin their seasons with strong support from staff, students and parents. Involvement in outside of school training and matches for netball, soccer, volleyball, touch football and rugby as well as the running club, Pacific Boardriders and our Year 4-6 SCISSA teams builds fitness, teamwork, skills and connection. We thank all parents, students and staff who are coaching and leading these teams and wish all students a strong season of growth and enjoyment.

The rehearsals for Oklahoma are well underway and students are looking forward to their production camp at Luther Heights this weekend. The camp will enable students to take their performances to the next level as well as strengthen relationships amongst the cast and crew. We wish the cast and crew well and thank Mrs Janine Delaney and her team for providing such a rich immersion experience.

Many Middle and Senior College students are engaged in assessment at this time of the term. Being purposeful and intentional in working through revision and assignments one step at a time is an important skill to learn in managing competing priorities. Planning the next steps for each area and then committing to taking those steps, builds momentum.

May God gives us wisdom to discern what our next steps should be and then the courage to take them.

Dr Bronwyn Dolling, Principal

From the College Pastor

First Communion

Pastor Tim Jarick, College Pastor

From the Director of Students

Gratitude Is An Attitude

‘Count your blessings’ is a phrase that was used quite often when I was growing up. I must confess though, I cannot recall deep diving into this task or more importantly, I don’t recall the adults in my life asking me exactly how many blessings I had counted or what they were. On reflection, I would suggest that it was a phrase that was simply put out there if, as children, we appeared ungrateful for something or someone. Reference to counting your blessings is found in a range of texts including the Bible and so it is nothing new, but perhaps something that requires reinforcing and actioning.

In a similar way, the expression of gratitude has been encouraged as a way of counting your blessings in more recent times. Kumar & Epley (2018), determined from their study that expressing gratitude actually improved the wellbeing of the expressers and the recipients. The expression of gratitude came in the form of a gratitude letter to another person. Martin Seligman, in his book Flourish (2012), refers to two ways of expressing gratitude. The first is writing a letter of gratitude to an individual and delivering it to them. The second is to make a list of three things that went well that day and why. It is the latter that I challenge all of the Pacific community to do over the coming weeks and months. I encourage you and your young ones to work through the awkwardness, such that in time expressing gratitude becomes an attitude.

  • Kumar, A. & Epley, N. (2018). Undervaluing Gratitude: Expressers Misunderstand the Consequences of Showing Appreciation. Psychological Science, 29(9), 1423-1435.
  • Seligman, M. (2012). Flourish. Random House Australia.
Middle College Leaders

Earlier this term at Assembly, we installed the new Year 6 and 9 Leaders for 2019. At Pacific, leadership gives students the opportunity to grow their communication and interpersonal skills and is very much a service model that aims to influence and direct people to work together to achieve the goals of a team.

Congratulations to our Year 6 Leaders:

  • Bula House
    Captains – Brianna Walsh and Angus Friend.
    Vice-Captains – Ivy Davies and Jackson Wallis.
  • Mumba House
    Captains – Leila Osbourne and Riley Bowering.
    Vice-Captains – Amelia Holmes and Dylan Casement.
  • Wira House
    Captains – Alex Schlotterbach and Louis Martin.
    Vice-Captains – Jada Baker and River Boyall.

Congratulations to our Year 9 Leaders:

  • Bula House – Aliza Walsh, Samantha Hutton, Liam Russell and Sam Williams.
  • Mumba House – Amber Taylor, Ella Hansen, Cody Proeger and Noah Smith.
  • Wira House – Holly Williams, Margaux Malouf, Charles Box and Will Block.

Mr Ben Ryan, Director of Students

Important Notices

Immunisation Program

Ozcare is providing free vaccinations conducted by an authorised team of Registered Nurses for all Year 7 and Year 10 students as part of Queensland Health’s annual School Immunisation Program. All Year 7 and Year 10 students are being offered free vaccinations as recommended on the National Immunisation Program to protect against vaccine preventable diseases.

Year 7 students will be offered human papillomavirus (HPV) and diphtheria-tetanus-pertussis (whooping cough) vaccination. Year 10 students will be offered meningococcal ACWY vaccination.

A consent pack has been sent home. Please read the information booklet carefully, sign the consent card and return to the school nurse as soon as possible.

For more information about diseases, vaccines or the School Immunisation Program, visit www.health.qld.gov.au/clinical-practice/guidelines-procedures/diseases-infection/immunisation/default.asp or call 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84).

Please note these vaccinations are being held Thursday 28th March 2019 and not Thursday 28th February as listed in the school calendar.

Mrs Maree Hooper and Mrs Sharon Middleton, School Nurses

International Women's Day Breakfast

Pacific Lutheran College invites our community to celebrate International Women's Day at our annual breakfast next Friday 8th March. Bring the entire family to enjoy student performances and delicious food prepared by the Pacific Hospitality students.

This year's International Women's Day theme is #BalanceforBetter. "Balance drives a better working world." Let's all help create a better balance! Full event details are included in the flyer below.

Food for Thought

National Eating Disorder Awareness Week

This week is National Eating Disorders Awareness Week – an excellent reason to focus on how important a healthy body image is for both mental and physical health.

Learn more at: https://childmind.org/article/when-to-worry-about-an-eating-disorder/.

Mrs Annie Williams, College Counsellor

Friends of Pacific

Connecting College and Community

Save the Date!

The PLC Golf Day will be held on Sunday 9th June at the Pelican Waters Golf Club! Stay tuned for more information.

The Trivia Night will also be held this year on Saturday 17th August in the Pacific gym! More information on this event will follow later in the year, however please mark the date in your calendars.

Next Meeting

Our next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 20th March at 6.30pm in the College library. All are welcome to attend.

Mrs Jenny Lee, FoP Chairperson

Library News

Library Monitors

Congratulations to our successful applicants for the position of library monitor: Emily Studiman, Kirrily Petfield, Hannah Meekan, Kelsey Doyle, Ivy Davies, Frank Martin and Lachlan Ridley. These students will attend a welcome morning tea next Thursday 7th March to discuss their duties and set up a roster. Badges will also be bestowed at assembly next week.

Celebrity Readers

Last week we celebrated Norman Bridwell’s birthday with a tribute to Clifford the Big Red Dog. Thank you to Mr Steven Healy for being a super Celebrity Reader last Friday and introducing Clifford to so many new young readers.

This week in the library we are having great fun with the theme of Love Your Pet! Most excitingly we have a very special ‘mystery’ Celebrity Reader coming to take story time on Friday. Our special guest will also judge our virtual Pet Parade. Students are encouraged to come and join in the furry, feathery festivities!

Ms Sue Warren, Teacher Librarian

From the Head of Learning Enrichment

Explorama

Kids College Queensland, in conjunction with the University of Queensland, is proud to present Explorama, an exciting program that offers a variety of inspiring, exciting and challenging courses for students in Years 1-7.

Explorama provides students with the opportunity to work with like-minded students and spend a day delving and immersing themselves in a chosen areas of interest and explore their potential.

Typically, students who attend Explorama have a love of learning and are highly curious and inquisitive young people who enjoy challenges and exploring their passions and interests. These students may be:

  • Identified Gifted and Talented students.
  • Members of Gifted and Talented/ Extension/Enrichment Programs.
  • Students with specific talents and strong abilities in certain areas.
  • Students who would benefit from an enrichment-based program.
  • Students who have a special interest in any of the course topics and can work at a high standard.

Registration close on 22nd March. For further information, please contact Mrs Jo Belchamber at jbelchamber@pacluth.qld.edu.au or 5436 7367.

Mrs Jo Belchamber, Head of Learning Enrichment

Junior College

You Can Do It - The Key To Success

One of our roles as teachers is to help students develop personal qualities that will assist them to be successful and happy. Success is not about being the best, but doing the best you can in school, work and other areas of life. Students who are successful and happy have learned from parents, teachers and friends different ways of thinking, feeling and behaving, which they use through their journey in life. 

In the Junior College, the You Can Do It program, which includes social and emotional skills, forms part of our Pastoral Care framework. The combined skills of Organisation, Persistence, Confidence, Getting Along and Resilience form the You Can Do It Key to Success. Learning and practising these skills will help students work towards creating a successful and happy life. At the Junior College assembly this week, Mrs Sarah Atkinson introduced the characters from the You Can Do It program: Oscar Organisation, Pete Persistence, Connie Confidence, Gabby Get Along and Ricky Resilience. These characters are introduced to students in their early years and are revisited throughout the program. The social and emotional skills have also been aligned with the weekly threads developed by Pastor Tim, which we share with students during devotion as well.

Mrs Sarah Atkinson, Year 3 Teacher

Secondary College

Afterschool Mathematics Tutoring

Afterschool Mathematics Tutoring is held in L14 every Monday from 3.30pm to 4.30pm. All students from Years 6-12 are welcome. Please bring homework or other study.

Mr Adam Doyle, Head of Mathematics

Hospitality

Next week for Shrove Tuesday, the Hospitality Department will host a pancake stall during morning tea time. Students in Year 6-12 are encouraged to attend. Pancakes will be $1 each and the stall will be held outside Coral Café.

Mrs Colleen Beattie, Head of Hospitality

Junior Sport (P-6)

District Swimming Carnival

Well done to all Pacific students who participated in the annual Independent Swimming Carnival last week in what were very windy conditions! Student participation was high and there was great spirit was on display throughout the carnival.

It was pleasing to see a number of excellent individual and team performances. Congratulations to the following teams and students who placed in the top three of each of their events.

Event

Name

Result

10 Years Mixed Medley Relay

Thomas Wegener, Rachel Monroe, Emily Lengenberg and Sonny Austin

3rd

9 Years Mixed Medley Relay

Arjuna Suseno, Sienna Baker, Jaz Edmondstone and Fletcher Friend

3rd

12 Girls 50m Freestyle

Indah Suseno

2nd

10 Girls 50m Freestyle

Emily Lengenberg

3rd

9 Girls 50m Freestyle

Jaz Edmondstone

1st

12 Girls 50m Breaststroke

Indah Suseno

3rd

9 Girls 50m Breaststroke

Jaz Edmondstone

1st

10 Boys 50m Backstroke

Thomas Wegener

3rd

10 Girls 50m Backstroke

Emily Lengenberg

1st

9 Girls 50m Backstroke

Jaz Edmondstone

2nd

12 Girls 50m Butterfly

Indah Suseno

3rd

10 Girls 50m Butterfly

Emily Lengenberg

1st

9 Boys 50m Butterfly

Hamish Carroll

3rd

9 Girls 50m Butterfly

Jaz Edmondstone

1st

At the end of the carnival, a champion from each age group was announced based on the individual placings throughout the day. Congratulations to the following students who placed in the top three for their age group:

  • Jaz Edmondstone, Under 9 Girls – Age Champion
  • Emily Lengenberg, Under 10 Girls – 2nd place
  • Indah Suseno, Under 12 Girls – 3rd place

Based on the results from this carnival, the following students have been selected to represent the Independent District at the 10-12 Years Regional Swimming Carnival next week. Well done to these students and good luck!

  • Thomas Wegener
  • Indah Suseno
  • Emily Legenberg
Lutheran Swimming Carnival

With the District Swimming Carnival behind us, we look forward to the upcoming Lutheran Swimming Carnival on Tuesday 12th March. This year the Carnival will be held at the Redcliffe Memorial Pool. Further information will be sent out to parents this week via CareMonkey.

Please note there is only two swimmers per age group for backstroke, breaststroke and butterfly. This will mean that our third swimmer from the district carnival will not swim at this carnival. Freestyle races still contain four swimmers per age group, per school.

Mr Darren Hooper, Head of Junior Sport

Secondary Sport (7-12)

Monday Night Netball

The Monday Night Netball season has commenced for 2019. After holding trials and two team training sessions, all teams and coaches were very excited to play their first game on Monday night. It was great to see the support of friends and family as they cheered on our students and it was a very good start to the season!

Team Result MVP
Senior Grey Loss Yasmin Richters
Senior White Win Alyssa Rabnott
Intermediate Pink Loss Evelyn Way
Junior Yellow Win Amedy Buchanan
Junior Blue Win Roze Stockwell
Junior Green Win Sophia Smith
Junior Purple  Loss Meleika Clarke

 

SCISSA Results - Wednesday 27th February
Team Opposition Score Result MVP
Jnr Boys B Volleyball GCC 0-2 Loss Ashton Clues
Jnr Girls Volleyball SAAC 1-2 Loss Ainslie Colton
Int Girls A Volleyball SCGS 0-2 Loss Cosette Winter
Int Girls B Volleyball GSLC 0-2 Loss Georgie Jones
Int Boys A Volleyball SUN 0-2 Loss Alex Jose
Open Girls Soccer SAAC 1-6 Loss Phoebe O'Sullivan
Open Boys Soccer SAAC 2-1 Win Lachlan Aldous


Mr Brett Kersnovske, Head of Sport

 

Club Sport

Pacific FC

Let the Games Begin – Saturday 9th March

The draw for the U6-U10 Carnival and U11+ grading games will be available shortly. A link to the draw will be on both the Pacific FC Team App and the SCCSA website.

Home Game Rosters

The PLC home game dates (note: not the individual draws) have been released by SCCSA. At this stage, it looks like we will have the U6 and U7 Rooball Carnival at PLC on Saturday 9th March. When the draw is confirmed by SCCSA, we will need four parents from each U6 and U7 team to help on the canteen. A roster will be sent to families. All roster information is available on the Pacific FC Team App.

Additional Canteen and Field Set-Up/Pack-Up Help

If any other parents or players from our U11+ teams can help at the carnival, even for one hour, please email us or let your team manager know. We will be running a Rooball ribbon table as well so will need some extra help from players. Please email your availability to PacificFC@pacluth.qld.edu.au.

Player Gifts

Each returning Pacific FC player will receive a FREE named Nike ball at training this week. We strongly encourage players to bring the ball to training each week and of course practice at home when possible.

  • Yellow - size 3 (U6-U8)
  • Pink - size 4 (U9-U13)
  • Orange - size 5 (U14) 

Mr Matt Gigney, Pacific FC President

PLC Netball Club

This year marks a major milestone for the Club. At the 2017 Annual General Meeting, the membership charged the Committee with the development of a sustainable netball club that catered for girls of all ages and all abilities. To achieve this goal, the PLC Netball Club aimed to field teams in all age groups and all divisions. I am very excited to share that this mission has been accomplished!

On Saturday the Club held its trials day. From a pool of 89 girls, 10 teams were selected – four open teams and six junior teams (U12 and below). The skills and endeavour displayed by the girls was outstanding. Their performance has convinced the Club that it should enter a team in the open Division 1 competition. This is the first time PLC Netball Club has been able to do so and means that the Club is represented in ages groups from Division 1 to U8 within the Caloundra District Netball Association. A special thank you to the selection panel, the parents for the support shown to the girls and the players who impressed us with their skills.

Naturally with every trial day, there are highs and lows as the teams are announced. With 90 available positions and 89 girls trialling, the selection panel had an extremely difficult task. The maturity and understanding of the selection process and the acceptance of the ‘umpires’ decision was a real credit to the girls.

Team training commenced this week in preparation for the start of the season on 16th March. If we continue as we have started, 2019 will be an enjoyable and successful year for the Club.

Mr Trevor Colton, President PLC Netball

St Mark’s Lutheran Church

Service Notices

Pastor Ray, St Mark’s Lutheran Church

 

Uniform Shop

Opening Hours and Online Ordering

The Uniform Shop is open from 8.00am to 9.30am every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Orders can be placed online via www.flexischools.com.au and will be delivered to your child the following day.

Mrs Peta King, Uniform Shop Convenor

General Notices

LLL Banking

Pacific provides opportunities for children and parents to operate savings accounts with the Lutheran Laypeople’s League (LLL). The LLL is a non-profit financial institution established in 1921. All LLL Deposit Accounts are ‘at call’ accounts and there are no fees or charges. All LLL deposit accounts have an attractive rate of interest with no ‘Bonus’ rate hurdles to jump.  The LLL pays a $5 gift to the first savings account opened for the child.  Deposits can be made through the College’s Business Office each Tuesday before school. To find out more, visit the Business Office.

Pacific Fitness Hub

Parents have enjoyed the opportunity to participate in Pacific Fitness Hub’s classes! The classes are a great way to keep fit and make new friends.

  • Training: We will be offering a mix of various types of training, tailored to each individual, including high intensity, weights, cardio, core training, yoga/ flexibility.
  • Transformation: Mason will track your progress and achievement of your goals.  Functional fitness assessment, body composition measurement and goal related fitness assessment will be recorded at commencement and on completion.
  • Goals: Improve strength, increasing lean muscle, increasing endurance, mobility, flexibility, reducing body fat percentage, improving sleep, concentration and mood and increasing energy levels, nutrition changes.

For enquiries and registration please contact Mason on 0433 421 969 or email: kawanaforestfitness@gmail.com.

Upcoming Dates

March
2-3 Oklahoma Production Camp - Luther Heights
4 Year 4-6 SCISSA Training (3.15-4.15pm)
5 Shrove Tuesday
6 Ash Wednesday
8 International Women's Day Breakfast (7am)
11 Year 4-6 SCISSA Training (3.15-4.15pm)
12 Primary Lutheran Swimming Carnival
14 Year 4-6 SCISSA Trial Game
15 Pacific As A Peace Place
16 Music Scholarship Test
18 Year 4-6 SCISSA Training (3.15-4.15pm)
19 Friends of Pacific (6.30pm)
21 Year 4-6 SCISSA Trial Game
23 Academic Scholarship Test
25 Year 4-6 SCISSA Training (3.15-4.15pm)
26-28 Prep - Year 5 Conferences
27-29 Year 12 Hospitality RACV Work Experience