No Images? Click here Dear Friend of PLC New PLC Online StoreJuggling the demands of a family can be difficult at the best of times. When you add before and after school activities, social gatherings and weekend sport, alongside part-time or full-time work, life for parents is usually hectic. At PLC, we try to ease some of the daily pressure through offering Out-of-School Care, homework help in the Library until 7.00 pm, family meals for sale at the Lighthouse Café and dedicated bus services before and after school. It is with excitement that we can now add another initiative aimed at helping busy families – the launch of the PLC Perth Online Store. Delivered in stages, the Online Store will initially offer parents the opportunity to purchase Uniform Shop items via credit card transactions. Purchasers will be advised by email when their items are ready and parents or students can collect the items during the Shop’s opening hours. A PLC Foundation donation option has also been added to the Online Store. Work is underway to extend the Online Store to allow Tuition Fees, school events and Co-Curricular activities to also be paid online via credit card transactions. Users of the School website will also notice some other subtle changes aimed at making the site easier to navigate. In the top right corner of the home page, a Quicklinks tab has been added, which provides parents with easy access to essential information. This includes term dates, past Links newsletters, home.plc, bus routes, Uniform Shop opening times and tours and exchange options for students. We sincerely hope you find these additions to the PLC website helpful. Child Protection InformationAt PLC, we have implemented policies, procedures, practices and strategies for the prevention of grooming and child abuse which have been approved by the Western Australian Department of Education. The Keeping Safe Child Protection Curriculum taught at PLC teaches children and young people to recognise abuse, tell a trusted adult, understand what appropriate and inappropriate touching is and ways of keeping themselves safe. Keeping Safe is based on two main themes which are presented through topics and activities. Such themes would include - We all have the right to be safe; and We can help ourselves to be safe by talking to people we trust. These two themes are explored through four focus areas where complexity of each area is based on the age of the students. The areas are - the right to be safe, relationships, recognising and reporting abuse and protective strategies. For more information on The Keeping Safe Child Protection Curriculum:
What support services and additional information are available to families?
- Dr Kate Hadwen, Principal Sir Bob GeldofThank you to everyone who booked tickets to listen to Sir Bob Geldof at PLC Perth on Wednesday 13 March in the Hugh Baird Recreation Centre. 800 tickets were snapped up in less than 24 hours. We understand many people missed out and have requested any families who secured tickets they won’t use to please advise Communications and Engagement so those who missed out may have a chance to attend. Sir Bob’s visit to PLC will be for 30-40 minutes in a Question and Answer format with our Senior School prefects. At his request, the event is targeted at students. Immediately after his Q&A session at PLC, Sir Bob has a speaking engagement presented by the Association of School Business Administrators of Western Australia at St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls. Prior to his keynote address at St Hilda’s, former US Navy SEAL Officer, Chandler Comerford, will share his leadership journey by providing an insight into what traits are required to succeed in the world’s toughest military training programme. Tickets for this event can be purchased here and registrations will close on 8 March 2019. Parents Welcome SundownerDate: Friday 15 February 2019 Year 12 Parents Coffee MorningDate: Tuesday 5 March Year 11 Parent FunctionDate: Thursday 7 March International Women's Day BreakfastDate: Friday 8 March PLC OCA Art ExhibitionDate: Friday 24 May - Sunday 26 May Father/Daughter DinnerDate: Thursday 22 August Year 6 LeadersLast Friday we presented all Year 6 girls with a badge signifying their leadership role in the School this year. We also presented the 20 students with specific leadership roles and badges for Semester 1. We have Head Prefects, Chapel Prefects, Service Prefects, Arts Prefects and House Leaders. The girls nominated and voted and were encouraged to vote for those they believed would be best for the roles. I understand that some students would be disappointed if they were not successful in gaining a role. However, such disappointment is a significant learning, as in life we are all faced with such disappointments. How we respond to these scenarios will dictate the success we will experience in the future. The challenge for us as parents is how we support and model an approach to disappointment, as it pains us to see our children hurt or upset, but we must guide them through these times – not withdraw, rescue or solve the problem for them. Because, as night follows day, we all know our next disappointment is just around the corner, for all of us! Parent-Teacher MeetingsParent-Teacher Meetings will be held at the Junior School during Week 5 (25 – 27 February). These ten-minute meetings are an opportunity to speak one to one with your daughter’s class teacher about her transition to her new Year level, initial assessments and work commitments. Specialist teachers will also be available if you wish to have a discussion with them. Bookings are now open. Please click here and use code gz2yf. Chinese New YearTo celebrate Chinese Lunar New Year, lots of fun activities were arranged for this special time of year, from in-class cultural activities, a lion and drums dance performance, a display of Chinese traditional music and a Chinese fashion parade, as well as students wearing something red. 2019 is the Year of the Pig. We wish you a healthy and prosperous year ahead. - Richard Wright, Head of Junior School JUNIOR SCHOOL EVENTSYear 6 Outdoor Education Programme Dates: Tuesday 19 – Friday 22 February Chapel - Years 2 to 6 Date: Wednesday 20 February Junior School Assembly Date: Friday 22 February Parent Teacher Meetings Dates: Monday 25 – Wednesday 27 February Inter-House Swimming Carnival (Years 1 – 6) Date: Tuesday 26 February Mid-Term Break Dates: 1 March – 4 March Reducing Screen TimeIn the past few months, my personal goal has been to reduce my screen time because I realised just how much of my life I was wasting! Coincidentally, I came across an article in the New Zealand Herald that reported on the serious impact of excessive screen time on mental health. Researchers at San Diego State University and the University of Georgia analysed data from over 40,000 participants and found that adolescents spending more than seven hours a day on screens were twice as likely to be diagnosed with anxiety or depression than those who spend just one. Professor Twenge, who led this research, says that even moderate use of four hours (which still seems excessive to me) is also associated with lower psychological wellbeing. Professor Twenge, who led this research, says that even moderate use of four hours (which still seems excessive to me) is also associated with lower psychological wellbeing. Other negative impacts of screen time are that young people are less curious or interested in learning new things, experience sleeplessness and a lack of social skill development through lack of face-to-face contact. Other negative impacts of screen time are that young people are less curious or interested in learning new things, experience sleeplessness and a lack of social skill development through lack of face-to-face contact. Aside from setting limits on screen time, an eye-opening tactic is to activate ‘screen time’ on your device. This can be found in ‘settings’. Here you can set ‘downtime’ which makes it possible to schedule time away from the screen and makes available only phone calls and apps you choose to enable. You can also set time limits for certain apps. ‘Screen time’ analyses your screen time as well and makes comparisons between previous usage. Being aware is the first step! And it just might help us all to consider this Estonian proverb – Wasting time is robbing oneself. Year 9 Support Your Daughter EveningYear 9 SYDE offered parents an insight into the changes occurring in the 14 year-old brains and how this may affect their decision making ability and their emotional responses. Parents found this interesting and the strategies offered by Daleen Engelbrecht and Chonny James were well received and timely. We appreciate our parents attending these evenings as they allow us to give you a window into the specific needs of your daughter at the beginning of her new year. The recording of the evening will be uploaded to the school Gallery for parents who were unable to attend. Year 12 BallThank you to all the wonderful PLC Parents, student volunteers and staff for their incredible work in ensuring the Year 12 Ball was such a huge success. A special thank you to the very generous support of two businesses owned by PLC families, Pedersen Events and OMG productions, who transformed the Gym into a beautiful event space to fit with the “celebration” theme. - Sharon Anderson, Head of Senior School Boarding House NewsThis edition is all about the School Ball and Boorna Waanginy. Click the button below for more photos and news. From the Registrar2020 ScholarshipsWe are pleased to announce that Scholarship applications for 2020 are now invited. PLC offers a range of Scholarships and full details along with how to apply can be found on our website. Please read the criteria and requirements carefully. 2019 Student Residential Address and Other Information CollectionPLC, along with all Australian Schools, has been asked by the Australian Government Department of Education and Training to provide a statement of addresses, in accordance with the Australian Education Regulation 2013. Please ensure that we have your daughter’s correct residential address as well as her parent/guardians names and addresses. Please click here for the FAQ’s. Girls Programming NetworkThere is an exciting opportunity available for girls in Years 7 - 12 who are interested in coding. ECU Perth Girls’ Programming Network host free workshops introducing students to a range of coding activities using Python programming language. These workshops are led by local women studying or working in the IT industry, academia and government. So whether you’re a coding guru or just a beginner, come along to one of the workshops and give programming a go! Find out more here. SENIOR SCHOOL EVENTSPrincipal's Assembly (Sharon Anderson's farewell) Date: Friday 15 February Army Museum Sunset Concert Date: Sunday 24 February Mid-Term Break Date: Friday 1 March - Monday 4 March PLC Parents School Fee DrawCongratulations to Ricky and Stacey Ford, parents of Pippa (Year 10), who are the lucky winners of the Term 1 PLC Parents School Fees Draw! They will have $6,897 credited to their school fees account. Net proceeds will be used for the purchase of food waste composting machines to reduce our environmental footprint. Thank you to all who participated. Please do not hesitate to contact Sandra Otranto on 9424 6414 or alternatively by email on Sandra.otranto@plc.wa.edu.au to discuss your account further. Parent Events Coming UpParents Welcome Sundowner Date: Friday 15 February 2019 Year 12 Parents Coffee Morning Date: Tuesday 5 March Year 11 Parent Function Date: Thursday 7 March Father/Daughter Dinner Date: Thursday 22 August PLC Parents MeetingsPLC Parents meetings take place every term and all parents and carers are invited to attend. Please see dates below. Term 1
Term 2
Term 3
Term 4
|