Dear valued member of the PLC community,

A Message From the Principal

As we come to the end of Term 2, I would like to thank our community for your support that has allowed us consistency in our learning programmes for students. Our teachers worked from home while in isolation and our Ops and Admin staff ensured the school operated as normally as possible. This term posed particular challenges in our Boarding House and I particularly appreciate the efforts of our boarding and nursing staff.

To our parents who have supported clear communication between the home and school and made themselves available whenever the school called, and our Boarding House parents who found accommodation when your children were not able to be in the Boarding House, thank you for your help.

I am grateful to our students, who have managed a challenging term with resilience, grit, and a positive attitude. They have continued to demonstrate a strong willingness to engage in both learning and co-curricular opportunities, and I have consistently been impressed with their efforts to give their best personally as well as to support each other. I am incredibly proud of all that we have achieved this term.

Congratulations to Head Coach, David Milne, Director of Wellbeing and Head of Rowing, Chonny James, and the whole Rowing Shed for the momentous win last weekend at the Head of the River. 

Every day I walk around the school and I am in awe of our students, their effort and persistence as well as the way they treat each other and our staff. I think family members would be incredibly proud of their children and how they conduct themselves at school. I see a generation of young people who strive to make the world a better place.

Of course, young people make mistakes and this is how they learn, how we all learn, to build strong relationships. Young people are increasingly exposed to influences through social media and these influences are not always of a positive nature. PLC’s school values reflect our expectations in behaviours either online or face to face. We expect our community, students, parents, and staff to model inclusive and caring behaviours. We do not tolerate bullying.

Parents may have seen PLC in the Sunday Times last week, and while the article reflected a situation we managed swiftly and effectively, I thought it might be timely to provide parents with some additional information to support you in helping your child navigate social media and their use of TikTok in particular.

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg is a psychologist and specialist in the use of technology for mental health. He has suggested that social media for young people has become an extension of their real world.

“It enables young people to develop friendships and connect in ways like never before. Unlike adults, many adolescents see no difference between their online and their offline worlds. In early adolescence, social media plays an incredibly important role. It has fast become an essential tool adolescents can use to socialise and connect with their peers.”

As parents and educators, we need to assist our students in navigating carefully. We know that developmentally young people are unable to confidently predict the consequences of their actions, and we have routinely seen the negative impact of poor choices and communication online.

National Online Safety has developed an information sheet on What Parents and Carers need to know about TikTok.

School TV also has a range of resources that can also more broadly assist parents in supporting their children, including:

• Social Media and Staying Safe Online 
• Helping your daughter navigate social media
• How to talk to your teen about their online life
• Social Media and Teenagers
• SPECIAL Report: Cyberbullying
• Using Social Media Safely
• Games, Apps and Social Networking

I wish all members of the community a safe, happy, and relaxing holiday break.

Cate Begbie – Principal  

Semester 1 Wrap Up

It has been an action-packed term and I am sure that everyone is looking forward to a break and time to be with family and friends.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank every member of our community for your understanding and support as we navigated through the high numbers of students, parents, and staff becoming ill with COVID-19. It was heartening to see people stepping in to help each other in whichever way they could.

As Semester 1 draws to a close, I would also like to acknowledge and thank our outgoing Year 6 Student Leaders. What an amazing group of enthusiastic and respectful leaders they have been. I enjoyed a whole term of working with these leaders and they consistently demonstrated many of the attributes that we hope to see in our students.

Our Semester 2 Student Leaders have been elected, and I would like to congratulate these students on their success. The formal induction Assembly will be conducted on Friday 29 July.

Semester 2 2022 Junior School Leaders

Co-curricular for Term 3

Have you signed up your daughter for some fun Term 3 Co-curricular activities yet? Spaces are filling up fast, so click here to view the Junior School options for Term 3.

Co-curricular Sports Registration Link

If your daughter would like to register for a Term 3 Co-curricular sport, please click here and complete the details.  A confirmation email will be sent to parents prior to the commencement of the sessions. For a sport to proceed, a minimum of 10 students will be required.

Note: Term 2/Term 3 Saturday morning netball and minkey registrations were via a separate registration process and have been completed - no further registrations are required.

Please contact Mr Sam Maxwell, Head of Sport, at sam.maxwell@plc.wa.edu.au, or Tash Tench, HPE Teacher and Junior School Sport Co-ordinator, at tash.tench@plc.wa.edu.au, if you require further information regarding co-curricular sport at PLC.

Early Finish Tomorrow

As school will close at 1.00 pm Friday 1 July, please be reminded that the Junior School will finish at the following times.

• Kindergarten and Pre-Primary will be dismissed at 12.45 pm; and
• Years 1 to 6 will be dismissed at 1.00 pm.

If you have children in both age groups (Kindy/Pre-Primary and in Years 1- 6), the older child is welcome to join their Kindy or Pre-Primary sibling and leave a little earlier.

If your daughter/s require supervision from 1.00 pm – 3.30 pm, please fill out this form. 

Those students requiring supervision will need to bring their lunch to school. 

Buses Running at Earlier Time on Friday (Last Day of School)

For your convenience, our usual bus services with HorizonsWest will be operating at an earlier time on Friday for students who normally take the bus home after school.

The North Coogee, West Leederville, South Perth, and Subiaco Routes will all have a special PLC-only service departing PLC at 1.15 pm. 

If you have any questions about these buses please email cande@plc.wa.edu.au

Uniform Shop

For your convenience, the Uniform Form shop will be open on Monday 25 July from 8.30 am – 4.30 pm. Please click here for more information and for contact details to make a booking. 

First Day Back

Please be safe and enjoy your holiday. We all look forward to seeing you back at school on Tuesday 26 July.

Meredith Beer – Acting Head of Junior School

Early Finish Tomorrow

Please be reminded that tomorrow is the last day of school for the term and we have an early finish time of 1.00 pm.

Buses Running at Earlier Time Tomorrow (Last Day of School)

For your convenience, our usual bus services with HorizonsWest will be operating at an earlier time on Friday for students who normally take the bus home after school.

The North Coogee, West Leederville, South Perth, and Subiaco Routes will all have a special PLC-only service departing PLC at 1.15 pm. 

If you have any questions about these buses please email cande@plc.wa.edu.au

Enjoy Your Break

It has been a big term for many of our students and I hope that these holidays provide an opportunity for them to rest, relax, and come back to Term 3 refreshed and ready to go. We will begin Term 3 with a short Whole School Assembly and your daughter will require her blazer and Senior School tie. It will be wonderful to have our whole school come together again and celebrate the beginning of a new term.

IB Diploma Evaluation

Every five years, International Baccalaureate schools are required to undergo an evaluation process to maintain their standing. Our IB Diploma Programme recently completed its five-year evaluation, which comprised of a thorough and detailed analysis of where we sit in relation to the IB standards and practices and was informed by surveys undertaken by various stakeholders including parents, students, staff and members of the Senior Leadership Team. I am very pleased to announce that the IB Diploma evaluation received commendations for our rigorous and successful programme and we have maintained our standing as an IB World School. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who were involved in providing feedback on our Diploma Programme, as well as the Head of IB Diploma, Rebecca Garbenis, and IB Administrator, Carol Jones, for leading the School through the evaluation and, of course, our IB Diploma teachers.

Piercings Over the Holidays

With the holidays fast approaching, I wanted to remind our parents of our uniform policy – particularly in relation to earrings. If your daughter is planning on piercing her ears during the holidays, please make sure that any piercings are in line with the School's uniform policy. For earrings, students may choose to wear one small sleeper or small plain (not stones) round gold, silver or pearl stud in the bottom of the lobe of each ear. Sleepers should be no larger than 12mm in diameter and studs no larger than 5mm diameter. No other piercings are allowed and we ask that if your daughter has other piercings she removes them when at school. Thank you for your help in making sure our students look the part and show pride for their uniform.

Co-curricular for Term 3

Have you signed up your daughter for some fun Term 3 Co-curricular activities yet? Spaces are filling up fast, so click here to view the Senior School Co-curricular options for Term 3.

Uniform Shop

For your convenience, the Uniform Shop will be open on Monday 25 July from 8.30 am – 4.30 pm. Please click here for more information and for contact details to make a booking. 

AMC Maths Competition 2022 – Years 7 to 12

Would you like your daughter to enter the Australian Maths Competition for 2022? Here’s what you need to know:

• Online Sitting Dates: Wednesday 3 August OR Thursday 4 August (choose one that suits) 
• Time: After school 3.45 pm – 5.15 pm
• Applications Close: Friday 1 July (no late entries accepted)
• Cost: $7.50 (added to school account)

If you would like your daughter to participate, please email Ms Shelley Stewart at shelley.stewart@plc.wa.edu.au no later than Friday 1 July. Please indicate your preferred date (choose one).

Further information may be found here. 

First Day Back

Please be safe and enjoy your holiday. We all look forward to seeing you back at school on Tuesday 26 July.

Rebecca Watts – Head of Senior School

Early Finish for the Last Day of Term 2

• Date: Friday 1 July
• Time: 1.00 pm 

Year 11 Parent Coffee Morning - Save the Date

• Date: Thursday 18 August 

Year 11 Parent Evening Get Together - Save the Date

• Date: Wednesday 14 September

Boarder of the Week:

• Janice Woods (Year 7) - For continually striving to be her best, unique self and bringing joy to the boarding community.  

Room of the Week: 

• Greta Sweeny (Year 12) - For her consistently fabulous room.

Boarders’ Adventures

As our girls count down the days to the long-awaited July holidays, they have relished in sharing their upcoming adventure plans. Some are travelling overseas for the first time in years to reunite with family and friends. Others are caravanning across WA, whilst other boarders will be working on stations or simply taking the time to rest and spend time with their families. The girls have been tasked with taking pictures that represent ‘Adventure, Love and Community’ to submit to our annual Boarders' Photo Competition. We look forward to sharing the winning pictures with you.

When the girls return, the next focus for our Wellbeing Programme will be, 'Managing our physical health and wellbeing'. The scope of this theme will be varied. In younger years, there will be a stronger focus on hygiene and the healthy and informed use of technology, whilst in older years we will explore emotional resilience.

We wish all our boarders, their families, and our staff an adventurous and restful break.

Katherine Hazlewood - Deputy of Wellbeing and Pastoral Care

Parents' Ball News

We are very excited to welcome PLC parents to the Parents' Ball being held at Frasers Restaurant on Saturday 13 August 2022.

This event is now sold out, however, should you wish to be placed on the waitlist or have any further enquiries pertaining to this event, please contact the School’s Events Manager, Nicole Wilson, at nicole.wilson@plc.wa.edu.au