Compass No. 568 April 2020

From the Principal

Always Space for Play and Humour

The first thing that I opened in my inbox this morning was an email from a good friend that had me laughing. It prompted me to think how important it is to build play and humour into our days. Whether young or old, those moments of fun reset us. Having the ability to laugh at ourselves in more challenging times is a great part of the Australian culture. Yesterday after having a great walk, I decided to entertain myself by discovering how my netball skills had deteriorated with the passing of time and absence of practice. As I recalled some of those long ago ball handling drills, the movements were not as slick as they once had been and it had me (and no doubt any of my neighbours that could see) having fun and laughing.

Those of you who joined the Prep – Year 5 assembly will have had fun as you joined the College Captains in dancing to Pop Se Ko. Our staff have also been having fun as they have produced clips to lighten people’s days. The best way for us to reset when we are tired and frustrated is to get off our screens and have some fun. Even just taking five minutes to pick up a ball, draw, create your own jazz or dance, play acting a character, share some humour or just play, can change your whole day. God created us to laugh and have fun in the awesome playground of life.

Principal's Log

Many of you may have heard or read commentary in the media earlier this week about the latest announcement from the Australian Government. Essentially the Federal Government has offered to bring forward the payment of the usual Independent Schools 2020 funding where schools agree by this Friday “to have a plan to fully re-open classrooms by 1st June” and to have “a target of having at least 50% of students attending classroom-based learning by 1st June”.

As a school we continue to focus our decisions on:

The health and wellbeing of all members of our College community, including students, staff and families.
The requirements, advice and guidelines of relevant authorities, including the state government.
The support of high-quality learning for our students and their pastoral care.
Supporting families.

We advise that Lutheran Education Queensland schools have decided not to seek the earlier payment for these same reasons and so there is no change to our expected operations at this time.

Parents will have received an email from me earlier this week to advise that the parent portal in Nav is now open. From the parent portal, you will have access to a range of resources, including learning and wellbeing information, policies and procedures, notices, a personalised College calendar and links to other key platforms and community networks. You will also have greater transparency of your child’s learning journey, with access to their timetable and due work. Parents who have not yet accessed Nav are asked to access the email from the College and “have a play over the weekend”. Gradually we will shift the notification-based content contained in this form of newsletter into Nav. A special thank you to our Community Liaison and Communications Officer Ms Steph Scarlett and ICT and Communications Assistant Mr Tim Ambrose for their professional and creative leadership of the establishment of this portal.

Middle and Senior College parents will have also received an email inviting them to book parent, student and teacher conferences next week. Teachers of Prep – Year 5 students have arranged phone conferences. Across Years 6-12 we will be trying a new web based system for these connections. The main purpose of the Middle and Senior conversations is to review the learning of Term 1 and to set goals with the student. As such, the involvement of students in the conferences is preferred where possible. We understand that this may be more challenging in this current context.

Thank you to our parents, staff and students who have provided feedback about their experiences with online learning through the survey last week. The feedback was very positive with a lot of appreciation expressed. As in our normal learning spaces, we see children engaging differently with materials at home. We will review the feedback and continue to refine student, staff and family experiences taking this into account.

There have been many highlights this week including great independent learning from our students right across Prep – Year 12, dance and drama pieces coming together, hospitality students creating their own YouTube clips and both students and staff having fun engaging in Mr Darren Hooper’s Beat the Teacher and sport challenges.

Thank you again to staff, students and parents for the great way you are all working together to provide the best possible learning experiences for our young people in this environment.

May God open our eyes to the opportunity for fun and humour in our days.

Dr Bronwyn Dolling, Principal

From the College Pastor

Forgiveness

At that point Peter got up the nerve to ask, “Master, how many times do I forgive a brother or sister who hurts me? Seven?” Jesus replied, “Seven! Hardly.
Try seventy times seven. Matthew 18:21-22 (The Message)

No limits. There seem to be no limits to the amount of change we have gone through in recent times. From the majority of students being schooled from home, to regulations about socialising in public, to the amount of money governments are putting back into the economy, there seem to be no limits to the disruption we have been through.

No limits are also what Jesus teaches us about forgiveness too. When Peter, his friend and follower, asks him; “How many times should I forgive someone who has hurt me?” Jesus replies; “No limits”. Not seven times, not even the literal seven times seventy as Jesus specifies, no when it comes to forgiveness, there are no limits to the number of times we are to forgive.

It sounds impossible, doesn’t it? To be able to forgive someone limitless, surely no person can do that? And yes, from our perspective, I would agree that is true. The hurt that people cause us can often be so deep that it remains there simmering not far under the surface ready for us to let loose on the unsuspecting at the right or wrong time.

But as the quote goes; “to err is human, to forgive is divine”. To live a life of forgiveness is a ‘God thing’. God is the only one who can motivate, sustain and give us the strength and miraculous gift of forgiveness for us to keep on forgiving without limits our partners, children, siblings, family, friends, neighbours and workmates.

Do you sometimes become hard on yourself when you realise how challenged you are to forgive someone? Don’t lose hope. God’s forgiveness and grace for you is limitless. His mercy never ends. Centre yourself on that and you will be sustained by Jesus and his forgiveness. Drawing on God’s forgiveness is the only way we can forgive with no limits.

Pastor Tim Jarick, College Pastor

From the Head of Senior Students

Term 2

The start of Term 2 has certainly been different – perhaps the most unique start to a term that we as a community have ever experienced. However, in the face of adversity, it is amazing how we respond. Despite the limitations and constraints that have been thrust upon us, we have still managed to come up with creative and meaningful ways to connect with each other. It has been great to hear the feedback from staff, students and parents about what they have valued about online learning so far and we are continuing to learn together as we journey through this term. It is in times like this where we discover what we take for granted. In discussions with students, a recurring theme is that they are missing the connections with their classmates and teachers – something that a lot of them thought they would never hear themselves say. One student commented that they didn’t realise how much they would actually miss school and, more to the point, never thought they would ever hear themselves say that!

I would like to extend my best wishes to all students who are managing as best they can from home and encourage you all to make sure you are connecting with your class teachers, PCG teachers and Heads of House for support and assistance when needed. I have been thrilled at how well all students have engaged in their new form of learning and look forward to seeing you all when you return.

Mr Mark Hauser, Head of Senior College Students

Food for Thought

Physical Distancing Rather than Social Distancing

During these changing times, let's increase our physical distance but stay connected.

Once we distinguish between physical and social distancing, we can refocus on the power of staying socially connected while maintaining a safe physical distance. We can easily get creative in finding ways of building in social time for ourselves and for those we care about who might be feeling isolated. Learn more at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/the-refugee-experience/202003/lets-aim-physical-rather-social-distancing.

Mrs Annie Williams, College Counsellor

Library News

LibGuides

Don’t forget to check the library’s LibGuides page for resources to support your assignments.

This week, there are three new LibGuides for current novel studies.

Year 5 English: https://libguides.pacluth.qld.edu.au/percyjackson
Year 5 English: https://libguides.pacluth.qld.edu.au/nevermoor
Year 7 English: https://libguides.pacluth.qld.edu.au/home/reddog

Book Club Order Forms

This term, Scholastic Book Club order forms will be emailed home. You can order online through the parent LOOP portal if you wish.

Ms Nell Keen, Head of Library

Bookmarks

We continue this week with a focus on eBooks. You can access all these books and more online on our eBook platform at: https://plcs.wheelers.co/. Students can login with their student ID number and password.

Junior Readers

‘Matilda’ by Roald Dahl

Enjoy this classic again or maybe experience its magic for the first time. Matilda loves reading. It’s a pity her parents simply do not understand how clever or special she is. Luckily, when she starts school, her teacher Miss Honey understands her. It will take all of Matilda’s magical powers and strength to take on the horrible headmistress Miss Trunchbull and save her wonderful teacher.

Activity idea: Check out the Roald Dahl website for activities and read-a-louds: https://www.roalddahl.com/things-to-do-indoors

Middle Readers

‘Artemis Fowl’ by Eoin Colfer

Get ready for the release of the ‘Artemis Fowl’ movie by reading the book that started it all. Artemis is a millionaire, a genius and a criminal mastermind. His plan to kidnap a fairy goes terribly wrong when he underestimates how clever and dangerous this fairy is! With lots of excitement and adventure, this is fairytales and magical creatures like you’ve never seen them before.

Check out the movie trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fl2r3Fwxz_o.

Read this already? Try the new series ‘The Fowl Twins’.

Senior Readers

‘The Rest of the Story’ by Sarah Dessen

‘The Rest of the Story’ is a great blend of summer romance with deeper themes around family, memories and loss. Emma Saylor has only a few memories of her mother. When her plans to stay at a friend’s place while her father honeymoons with his new (really nice) wife, Emma volunteers to go and stay with her mother’s family at North Lake. While she visited as a small child, Emma has no recollection of the lake or her maternal family. Her arrival at her grandmother’s house and family-run motel is bumpy. But it isn’t long before she is swept up into the big, loud extended family, volunteering at the motel and sharing stories of the past with the intriguing Roo.

Ms Madison Dearnaley, Teacher Librarian

Cultural News

Music Department

ANZAC Day is a very significant day for a number of reasons. For trumpet players, it is always a nerve-wracking day, as invitations and requests to play The Last Post and the Rouse begin flowing in. For those unfamiliar with the mechanics of the trumpet, or more traditionally, the bugle, these two pieces are some of the most challenging a trumpeter will encounter! They are both played with open valves, meaning that each note is controlled by the lips – no small challenge! If this wasn’t tricky enough, it’s one of the most closely listened to solos there is.

This year, the Pacific Music Department could not have been prouder as we heard reports of our trumpet students proudly playing The Last Post in driveway services around the Coast. For Year 9 student, Dion Owen and his mother, this involved preparing a letterbox drop to invite neighbours to come together (observing social distancing) for the service and then preparing breakfast and ANZAC biscuits for after.

Year 10 student, Lachlan Eden is no stranger to playing at ANZAC Day services and proudly took part in a driveway service this year. Miss Lowth, our Brass teacher, also proudly took part in this event. Well done!

Online Music lessons are proving to be a big success and it is wonderful to see our instrumentalists continuing to grow their skills. All instrumental lessons are available online and most tutors still have some vacancies for those wishing to begin lessons. To receive an enrolment form or further details, please email Mrs Helen Williams: helenw@pacluth.qld.edu.au.

Although ensembles are currently not rehearsing, all groups have been set up in Teams with copies of sheet music and links to rehearsal recordings of current pieces. Please check that your student is accessing this music and practising regularly. Happy music making!

The Music Department

From the Head of Career Development

Senior College Career Planning

Year 10-12 students now have access to our new Career Planning program via online learning modules on Nav. The program activities and resources are being progressively loaded, so that all Senior College students can be working on their future plans while they are working from home. Appointments are also available for students to discuss their career plans and get their questions answered. These appointments will be via Zoom, so parents can also join the meeting, from wherever they are. To make an appointment, please email Mrs Ann Barwick (abarwick@pacluth.qld.edu.au) with your preferred meeting times.

Virtual University Tours

Given the current restrictions on movement, many universities are offering virtual tours and direct access for students to ask questions. So, if you are interested in finding out more about a university, head to their website and see what online tools they are offering to help you explore. As an example, click here to see what ACU are doing.

Headstart Applications Closing Soon

Year 11 students can still apply for the Headstart program at USC for Semester 2 this year. The application closing date has been extended to 8th May. If you are thinking of applying for Headstart, it would be a good idea to make an appointment with Mrs Wanda Hayes to discuss how the program works.

Mrs Wanda Hayes, Head of Career Development

Uniform Shop

Online Ordering

Flexischool uniform orders are still open for students at school: www.flexischools.com.au.

Orders placed online can be collected after morning tea from the Wellbeing Centre (for Year 6-12) and the P-5 Students class pigeon holes on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.

An email will be sent to the contact on the Flexischool order and the student (Year 6-12) advising when the order is ready for collection.

Winter sports tracksuits and formal jumpers are now all in stock.

Mrs Peta King, Uniform Shop Convenor