Congratulations to Jennifer Sung who received a trophy and certificate for her achievement in the 2019 Australian Mathematics Olympiad Competition. Her achievement is testament to her application, effort and ability to stick with problems in order to find solutions to complex problems that require deep thinking, out of the box thinking and application of basic knowledge to real life contexts.
Year 5 Feature
Year 5 has welcomed three new students to the class this year. In the classroom we have been very busy setting learning goals, establishing classroom routines and beginning our term units of work.
There has been a real ‘buzz’ in the air as stage three has begun their PBL science unit on Roller Coaster Physics. In small learning groups the girls have defined their challenge to create a successful roller coaster model for a marble. This must include: 2 large drops, 3 hills and a loop. During the beginning weeks of term, the groups have been researching and viewing resources to discover how a roller coaster works. Part of this phase has included defining many technical terms in order to gain an understanding of the physics and different types of energy used to make a successful roller coaster. The girls are about to ‘dream big’ and design their ultimate roller coaster. Watch this space to view our roller coaster model designs at the end of term.
Year 5 & 6 had a very successful evening last Thursday for our annual Personal Development Information evening, lead by Sister Angela Pieterse. The girls were very engaged and asked many thoughtful questions throughout the session. It was wonderful to see so many girls attend with their parents and a big thank you to Sister Pieterse who presents this session in a gentle, honest and age appropriate manner.
Junior School Sports News
MRS LUCY DONALDSON
JUNIOR SCHOOL SPORTS COORDINATOR
It is hard to believe we are nearing the half term point of term. Netball and hockey sign up sheets are now on the Junior School Sports noticeboard and names need to be added to this list by the end of Week 6, or alternatively you can email me registering your daughters’ interest. These sports will begin in Term 2 and run through to the end of Term 3. Although sport is not compulsory at PLC Armidale, it is highly encouraged!
Some benefits of team sports:
- Enhances self-esteem
- Teaches respect
- Provides regular exercise
- Grows teamwork
- Teaches leadership skills
- Stronger relationships
If you are a parent who might be keen to help out with coaching or being a team manager, please email ldonaldson@plcarmidale.nsw.edu.au
There is a lot going on with sport in the Junior School, so if you are unsure of anything or require any further information please don’t hesitate to ask.
PSSA Swimming
Congratulations to the amazing PLC Junior School girls who competed at the PSSA Swimming Carnival on Thursday 20 February. The girls all had a great day swimming, cheering and having fun. It was a big week for these girls, with only a day break between the School Swimming Carnival and the PSSA Swimming Carnival.
Some of the results are as follows:
- Evie Donaldson - 1st 50m freestyle - 8 years
- Kate Loxley - 1st 50m freestyle, 50m breaststroke, 50m butterfly, 50m backstroke - 10 years and 1st individual medley - Junior (8-10years)
- Lola Ferguson - 2nd 50m backstroke - Junior (8-10years)
- Lily Donaldson - 3rd 50m backstroke - Junior (8-10years)
- Junior girls relay - Evie Donaldson, Lola Ferguson, Lily Donaldson and Kate Loxley - 1st place
IPSHA Tennis
A big congratulations to Sophie Bailey, Year 6 who competed at the IPSHA tennis trials and was successful in being selected as only 1 of 4 players to go onto play at CIS in March. Well done Sophie!
IPSHA Swimming
We wish the 11 PLC Junior School girls all the best as they travel to Sydney to compete in the IPSHA swimming carnival on Wednesday 4th March. I will be accompanying the girls and as always, I am very much looking forward to the trip and seeing our PLC girls compete.
important dates this Term
IPSHA Swimming - Wednesday 4th March
IPSHA Cross Country - Saturday 4th April
School Cross Country - Wednesday 8th April
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Sport News
MR PETER LE SURF
DIRECTOR OF SPORT
Around the grounds
The clouds cleared and the sun shone through making it a great day at the PLC Armidale Whole School Swimming Carnival last Tuesday.
There were plenty of girls competing which was fantastic to see.
The Age Champions for this event were:
- 8 years - Evie Donaldson
- 9 years - Lola Ferguson
- 10 years - Katie Loxley
- 11 years - Katie Hynes
- 12 years (JS) - Rachel Mungall
- 12 years (SS) - Caitlin Grobler
- 13 years - Scarlett Loxley
- 14 years - Jemima McIntrye
- 15 years - Emily Thompson
- 16 years - Heidi Martin
- 17 years - Lilly McCook
- 18+years - Ruby Ticehurst
The overall winner of the Carnival was Gregory.
Our swimmers are now in preparation to head to Sydney to compete in the IPSHA (Junior School) or IGSSA (Senior School) Competition. This is held in the Olympic Pool at Homebush. We would like to wish all our swimmers the very best of luck.
Meanwhile on the Athletics track, Sienna Dellow, competing in the NSW Junior Athletics Carnival ran a PB in the U15 200m to finish 4th in NSW for this age group. A fantastic result Sienna. Well done.
Also a huge congratulations to Pip Constable who was recently selected into the NSW U15 Field Hockey side for 2020. Pip has previously been selected into the Indoor Hockey team and has now earned a place in the Field hockey side. Congratulations Pip.
Our Indoor hockey teams are all going well this season. Many are on track to make the finals series later this term. Good luck to all our players.
Our PLC Armidale Tennis Team is in full training in preparation for the Tildesley Tennis Competition held in Sydney on March 19-20. We are just hoping for a few non rainy afternoons, so we can get back on the tennis court!
For any girls wishing to get involved in Futsal (Indoor soccer) we have started training on Tuesday afternoons at PLC Armidale. We are hoping to enter teams in the New England Futsal Schools Titles that are due to be held in Armidale on 7-8 April.
Also coming up fast is the Coffs Harbour Ocean Swim. This is held on Sunday 5 April and registrations are open online for this event. We will be taking a team down to Coffs for this. If you need transport to this, you will need to get your daughter to write her name on the sign up sheet on the sports noticeboard.
While some of the summer sports are starting to think about semi finals and finals, we are starting to get ready for the busy winter season of sports.
There are many sports on offer and registrations are now open for netball and hockey. Remember that with all registrations you are able to use your active kids voucher when going online and registering.
Also if your daughter is planning on playing netball this coming season and they do not have a PLC Armidale netball dress, they will need to go to the Uniform Shop and order one. These take a few weeks to come in so it would be best to get organised early.
I look forward to seeing you on the sidelines.
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Performing Arts News
MR MATTHEW MINTER
DIRECTOR OF MUSIC
AUSTRALIAN HAYDN ENSEMBLE
PLC Armidale was very fortunate to have several workshops with the Australian Haydn Ensemble over 25-26 February, 2020. The ensemble worked with the Senior Strings and rehearsed together the First movement of the Brandenburg Concerto No. 3. PLC Senior Strings then joined the Haydn Ensemble on the stage on Thursday Evening at the Armidale Town Hall to perform the work as part of the Haydn Ensembles concert.
The Australian Haydn Ensemble also gave masterclass workshops to the Cello Ensemble and the String Quartet. The fine ensembles were both magically transformed under the guidance of the masters.
The Haydn Ensemble also ran a 1.5 hour workshop for the Year 9 and 10 Elective class. During this workshop the ensemble performed on period instruments and then took the class through the process of vocally improvising a classical style Minuet and Trio. It was a very impressive and inspirational workshop and we are extremely grateful to have been able to offer this experience to the girls.
Drama & Legal Studies News
MRS JO WYSEL & MS TESSA ROE
DRAMA & LEGAL STUDIES TEACHERS
Year 11 Drama students have kick started their Stage 6 studies along with Year 12 Legal Studies students heading to Sydney to attend valuable HSC workshops and activities to enlighten and enhance their knowledge and understanding.
Year 12 Legal Studies were up early on the Monday morning to catch a train to Parramatta to attend a Rule of Law Day out experience which involved a tour of the court complex which houses the Local, District and Drug Court. Students were given great insight to the role and operation of the complex by a long standing magistrate as well as witnessing cases in action on the day. Tuesday involved a visit to the Australian Human Rights Commission for a full overview of its function as an intermediary between civil society and government. A visit to the NSW State Parliament in the afternoon proved valuable in the girls’ understanding of the operation of this significant system of government. The proximity of NSW State Library also gave students a great opportunity to gain some useful insights to the resources available across a range of HSC subjects. Thank you to Aisha Kliendienst who joined us for the day as a former Legal Studies student. All of these experiences aim to benefit students in being able to relate and apply their classroom learning to the real world beyond the HSC.
Year 11 Drama students ventured to the Seymour Centre on Monday to see both the matinee and the evening programs of Onstage - the nominated exemplary performances of the HSC for 2019. Attending both shows allowed students to gain insight into what is required in the Group Performance and Individual Performance for their HSC in 2021. In Lewisham on Tuesday, we took part in a practical workshop at the Arts Unit with a Director, teacher and HSC Marker from NESA. In the afternoon we collaborated with Drama students at St Andrew’s Cathedral in their Theatresports workshop afternoon with David Callum, a TheatreSports master in Australia. A quick journey on the light rail took us to Belvoir St Theatre where we saw a play by Peter Goldsworthy and directed by Darren Yap. We had the pleasure of having past student Aisha Kliendienst accompany us on our excursion as well as catching up with Isla Biffin in Sydney who is currently performing with the Australian Opera. We certainly made our Sydney Drama excursion worthwhile. These experiences are so valuable to our students to give insight, inspiration, motivation and encouragement as they take on their HSC journey next year.
The girls are to be commended for their excellent participation and representation of PLC Armidale for this excursion. We look forward to offering this learning opportunity to future students studying these courses.
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Boarding News
MS KAREN HUTTON
HOUSE MOTHER
After two long weeks in isolation, it was wonderful to welcome the Pathway’s girls back into the larger boarding and school community. It was only fitting that we marked the occasion with a wonderful dinner in the dining room, followed by games and of course ‘Just Dance’. It truly was a celebration and a timely reminder that although from different parts of the globe, we are a boarding family.
The excitement of this evening continued throughout the week as all girls in the boarding house participated in and out of the pool at our college swimming carnival. Everyone was in fine voice, especially the girls of Gregory! The girls returned to the boarding house exhausted but in great spirits and are to be congratulated on their enthusiasm and efforts.
Another busy week ahead is expected as we participate in ‘The Community Open Day’ here at school then host prospective Year 6 students in the boarding house this coming Friday evening. Soon after, the Boarder’s weekend will be upon us. Please don’t forget to add any weekend leave plans into Boardingware so that we know when your daughter/s will be leaving and returning for the weekend. After a huge first half term, all girls are looking forward to this weekend with anticipation!
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Pathways News
MR CHRIS SPENCER
DIRECTOR OF PATHWAYS
A new start of the journey for the Pathways’ students.
The Pathways’ girls’ quarantine period was concluded on Friday 14th and Mrs Miller arranged a “Mask Burning” ceremony, complete with a few chemical concoctions of their own to add some colour to the event! Year 10 girls formed lines to usher the international students through to the burning ceremony and cut the bands from the paper masks to add a sense of occasion. At the end, all the girls cheered to mark the end of the isolation.
While the year started with a very trying time for our students, it has ironically provided a fantastic opportunity for the breaking down of barriers in our community. The very visible isolation protocol has acted as a catalyst for our domestic and international students to work at coming closer together, especially as they recognise their shared human experience of trials and challenges.
Sophie Luo, Jessica Liu and Carrie Wang overcame their nerves at speaking publicly and presented their experiences of the previous weeks to the entire school. They even invited Mrs Taylor and Mr Dorrian to try on some paper masks for the duration of their presentation – and all of them reported how sweaty and uncomfortable an experience it was. One of the Pathways’ students made a very helpful comparison; she invited the Australian girls to consider how they had felt during the bushfires of the last few months. She asked the girls if any had been a bit worried about how the fires were spreading, and whether their families might be affected. She then commented that, like a bushfire, the outbreak of COVID 19 has spread sufficiently to cause some anxiety for students far from home. Many of our rural girls in particular were clearly very moved by this analogy and were able to empathise with the discomfort and worry of the Pathways’ students.
