Links eNewsletter - Term 4 Week 3 Dear valued member of the PLC community, A Message From the PrincipalLast year, I spoke at an Assembly and wrote in Links about the book, The Happiest Man on Earth, which is the true story of Eddie Jaku’s life and how despite the many adversities he faced and the treatment he received from the Nazis during WWII; that he had chosen to indeed be, the Happiest Man on Earth. I was saddened to hear of his passing earlier this month, at the age of 101. Although I have never met this man, his book and his words inspired me and I do feel that the world has lost a great advocate for, and role model of, the importance of human kindness. In that book, Eddie Jaku told us that:
The good thing about this sort of wealth is that it is accessible to each and every one of us. At PLC, we encourage all members of the community to be leaders; leaders of self and of others. One area in which we can always lead, indeed excel, is in how kindly we treat each other. Being kind allows us to have the space for all members of our community; it is the ultimate form of inclusiveness. Kindness, therefore, also is the foundation of unity. We can all be united as a community if we are all committed to kindness. Meeting with our new 2022 Student Council last weekend, the importance of community in the initiatives they were presenting was obvious; their desire to continue to harness and build on the strength of our community was clear. Everyone is a winner with kindness, and it contributes to all our mental health and sense of belonging. Research has shown that spontaneous or random acts of kindness have an enormous and positive impact on all kinds of wellbeing, not just of the recipient but also for your own wellbeing. However, to be a naturally and truly kind individual, you need to tune in to the people around you and be empathetic to others consistently. It needs to become who you are, every moment of every day. One of the unique aspects of humanity is the ability to understand another person’s perspective and to imagine what they may be feeling. This perspective-taking is a starting point of kindness as it allows people to think how they might be able to support and help. It is also a starting point for a whole lot of other important things that require empathy, action, and courage such as being prepared to change systemic biases as we respond to different societal issues in the world. If indeed kindness is the greatest wealth of all, we need to continue to focus on this in our school. We focus on other things designed to achieve our school purpose, like academic endeavour, co-curricular activities, and community service. These all contribute to developing confident and capable young people. In order to be compassionate, though, we need to be hypervigilant about ensuring endemic kindness. It is so easy to dismiss ‘kindness’ as it seems so simple and basic. The sad truth is that we see examples play out in the world around us all the though that reflect that it is not as easy or as common as it should be or we would all like. Kindness is reflected in the values of PLC; in our DNA. But it must not be taken for granted; we need to tend to it, nurture it, celebrate it, allow it to drive the school forward, and ensure that it is never lost in our school culture and that we become even more consistent with and committed to it. It is a worthy aspiration. After all, in the words of Eddie Jaku, "Kindness is the greatest wealth of all." - Cate Begbie – Principal One of the joys of living in the Perth foothills is being able to overlook the lower-lying suburbs and out to the Indian Ocean during my daily early morning commute to PLC, as the morning light silhouettes all before me. Sometimes I enjoy the silence, while contemplating what challenges lie before me for the day. At other times, I put on the car radio for company, or perhaps as a diversion, as was the case last week. This particular day the radio station was highlighting the greatest hits of the ‘80s and the two they seized upon were both released in September 1988, namely the American musician Bobby McFerrin’s Don’t Worry, Be Happy; and the Swedish duo Roxette’s Listen to Your Heart. Both songs had simple, but quite profound lyrics, with the latter having become the key theme of the Australian Heart Foundation’s campaign to raise awareness of heart disease. I found myself thinking that, in essence, both the song titles reflected my own view of life and the faith that sustains me: Listen to Your Heart and Don’t Worry, Be Happy. I know that I have never been more at peace in my life since I listened to my heart as I responded to God’s call to ministry; and that in all of the vicissitudes of life, the mantra Don’t Worry, Be Happy is about as good as it gets. Nearly every pastoral conversation I have with people, regardless of age or position, revolves around a desire to be happy, to be at peace; linked with the inner promptings of following a dream, a hope, a love, an ambition. Yes, it is as simple as that. The nature of happiness is one of the great universal riddles of all time. It is not so much a matter of wondering “Am I happy?”, but rather am I actually doing what I like to do and am I doing it in such a way that it makes life better for others? In essence, that is what is at the core of the Christian faith; to be the best human being we can be, no matter what field of endeavour we are engaged in. Ultimately the rest is “mere detail”, over which, ultimately, we may have little control. The Psalmist says:
I know this to be true. My prayer is that it may be true for you also. May God be with you all. - Rev Nalin Perera – Chaplain Years 5 & 6 JIGSSA Athletics CarnivalIt was wonderful to see our Years 5 and 6 students compete in athletics events and team games at the JIGSSA Athletics Carnival on Wednesday. With the seemingly never say die winter conditions interrupting the day, the students remained positive and gave their best effort in every event. Year 6 ExhibitionWhat a wonderful celebration of learning we experienced with the Year 6 Exhibition on Tuesday. The students so eloquently described not only the Exhibition process but also the significant advantages and benefits of the PYP. The way they described their broadening skills, agency in decision making and therefore ownership of their learning, and the high-level thinking skill, synthesis, of their learning into a statement piece. Such wonderful preparation for the independent learning required in life! My thanks to all the staff involved, particularly Mrs Garland, who guided, directed, and assisted with the statement piece, and our amazing Year 6 teachers, Miss Hodges, Mrs Perera and Miss Sawle. 2022 Physical Education and SportIt is my immense pleasure to announce we have appointed a Junior School Physical Education and Sport Co-ordinator to start in 2022. Ms Natasha Tench comes from a very large Primary School, Mount View Primary School, in Victoria and has wonderful experience in the PYP, physical education and sport. In her present role, Ms Tench has also co-ordinated school and district carnivals. Ms Tench has worked in school and university settings and the Australian Sports Commission. She has some very interesting ideas for developing confidence and leadership through sport, and we look forward to her joining us in 2022. 2022 ClassesAs the students are enjoying the Term 4 events and activities, our planning for 2022 has been in full swing. I am pleased to confirm that we have responded to the incredible demand for Year 6 in 2022 by creating a third class. Other classes are becoming very close to full, and we will respond to the excellent demand for places in the Junior School, as required. - Richard Wright – Head of Junior School JIGSSA Athletics Carnival – Year 4
Chapel – Years 3 to 6 – Hosted by Year 5
Junior School Assembly – Hosted by Year 1
PLC Parents AGM
Free Dress Day - Comfy Clothes Day
Community Carols
Leadership OpportunitiesLast weekend our Student Council embarked on their Prefect Retreat and have come away with lots of initiatives and ideas to make 2022 a special year for all students. Although, this leadership experience was limited to a group of our student leaders, it is important to remember that there are many different leadership opportunities available to students across Years 7 to 12. We have recently had a group of our Year 7 students participate in the ‘Your Move’ programme and we look forward to them leading an initiative next year to help the school move to a goal of net-zero carbon emission by focusing on more environmentally friendly ways to travel to school. Our students in Years 11 and 12 have been offered the opportunity to attend the TEDx Countdown conference in Perth, with one of the guest speakers being our own PLC graduate of 2020, Bella Poll. Read more here. This term, we will have an opportunity for our Gorna Liyarn students and those involved with the Reconciliation Action Plan to attend the 2021 Australian Reconciliation virtual conference, as well as a group our Year 12 Economics students who will be attending the Bankwest Curtin Economics Centre launch. There are many opportunities on offer and I encourage your daughter to consider opportunities to extend her leadership skills further. Support Your Daughter EveningsLast night, we had our Year 11 Support Your Daughter Evening. Many thanks to the parents and students who attended. While it wasn't possible to include Dr Jane Genovese's section who works with our students from Years 7 to 12 to help them develop their study skills, we were permitted to record the other sections and this is available here. Year 11 students also all have received handouts from their student session with Dr Genovese and I encourage you to sit with her and look over these resources to guide her study. On Monday, we will have the Year 12 Support Your Daughter Evening. This will start at 6.30 pm in the Hazel Day Drama Centre and will finish at approximately 7.30 pm. If parents and guardians are unable to attend they will be able to access the recording of the event. Year 11 (Year 12 in 2022) Dad's Drinks
Year 11 (Year 12 in 2022) Mum's Drinks
PLC Parents AGM
Matilda Jr. The Musical
Community Carols
Speech Night
Boarder of the Week:
Rooms of the Week:
Summer is BackLast weekend, our girls enjoyed multiple swims in the pool – even a night swim. The Boarding House was eerily quiet the same evening as the girls were exhausted from pool activities. The Year 10s completed their leg of Quay2Quay and for some of our younger years, they had their first experience catching the train to Perth City for some shopping at Forrest Chase Mall, guided by senior students and staff. The Year 7s also created an impromptu runway show with impressive and eclectic outfits, we do love the girls to enjoy some innocent fun. - Katherine Hazlewood – Deputy of Wellbeing and Pastoral Care Matilda Jr. The MusicalMore tickets have just been released for each showing of the highly anticipated Matilda Jr. The Musical! Inspired by Roald Dahl, Matilda Jr is the musical masterpiece from Presbyterian Ladies' College that revels in the anarchy of childhood, the power of imagination and the inspiring story of a girl who dares to change her destiny.
PLC Community CarolsPLC is pleased to announce the inaugural Community Carols event where every member of the PLC community is invited by Principal, Cate Begbie to come and sing along on Sunday 21 November to your favourite Christmas carols. This magical, family-friendly evening will run from 5.00 pm - 6.30 pm and allow the PLC community to gather to celebrate Christmas. Bring a picnic blanket and picnic, or pre-purchase a delicious hamper!
kirk@scotchRev Gary van Heerden (former PLC chaplain) will be facilitating a fortnightly chapel service called kirk@scotch in the Scotch College Chapel for the wider community. The first kirk@scotch will be on Saturday 6 November at 5.00 pm. kirk@scotch will use the format of services at the Taize Community in France and will include liturgy, readings, reflection, meditation and contemplative prayer, interspersed with chants. A team of Scotch and PLC students will lead the chants. The service recognises the yearning in many for an engaged spirituality that can embrace life’s burdens and beautiful moments; which grapples with God’s purpose for us. Recognising that many families struggle with time constraints, these services will be 30-minutes and will take place on the first and third Saturdays of each month during term, from 5.00 pm to 5.30 pm. If you have any questions, please contact Rev Gary van Heerden. PLC Parents School Fee DrawCongratulations to Andrew and Gloria Carnie who are the lucky winners of the Term 4 PLC Parents School Fees Draw. They will have $7,248 credited to their school fees account. Net proceeds will be used for the purchase of Headphones and Photography/Film Studio Motorised Backdrop and a Cargo Cart for a students’ initiative to collect outdated food for charities. Thank you to all who participated. Open Garden Day SuccessThank you so much to all who made this year's Open Garden Day such a success! From community who came to support the day, the garden owners who kindly opened their garden to the public after months of preparation of getting their gardens ready, to the market stallholders, the vendors and service providers, to the entertainment, special guests, the PLC staff and of course the countless volunteers who year after year, go above and beyond – thank you all! Click the button below for some of the photos from the wonderful day that was 2021 Open Garden Day! Primo Poems Get PublishedCongratulations to the following students who have had their poems accepted for publication in this year's edition of Primo Lux. Year 12
Year 11
Year 7
Primo Lux is a professionally published anthology of student poetry that gives students the opportunity to have their work published and their voices heard by a wide audience. Primo Lux is the only anthology in WA which is solely for students’ work and students from across the state send poetry to be considered for publication. The standard of poetry is exceptional, and it is a great honour to be accepted. This is an outstanding achievement. Hockey StarAmelia (Year 8) made the WA U13s State Hockey team for 2021. Sadly, the National competition which was to be in Tasmania (initially in the September school holidays, then postponed to November) has now been cancelled due to COVID-19. Congratulations Amelia. |