HouseNews - Pittwater House School

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From the Principal’s Desk continued Trough outlines seven character traits that he says are the key to success: Grit Curiosity Self-control Social intelligence Zest Optimism Gratitude The article continues … “the educators and scientists that Trough interviewed for his book say that character is malleable. Kids can actually develop a set of strengths over time. In order to do that, they must learn not only to accept but embrace failure… failure can be very scary until you experience it a few times, says Trough. Too often we protect our kids from making mistakes... if you are able to bounce back from failure, it gives you a certain amount of resilience and a confidence that next time you can experience a setback and recover and do better. Children who are unused to failure are actually at a disadvantage. They end up being fragile and brittle, and they’ll go out into the world and experience some kind of setback and it will often completely derail them, because they haven’t had that experience, that opportunity to learn how to fail, he says…”. As we move our thinking at Pittwater House, we will continue to work on our academics and additionally focus on the character traits. Our planning is underway to embrace this opportunity and help the students in the key areas of happiness and resilience. It is an area I focus on when interviewing new students and families. Part of this is our subscription to the work of well-known psychologist, Michael Grose. Therefore an additional element to HouseNews every fortnight will be a link to a parenting idea from Michael. I urge you strongly to use this additional service to our parents. This week, Michael shares his reflections on gratitude. It is a timely thought piece no matter what age your children. I commend the article to you. Click on the link to read article: http://www.lawley.wa.edu.au/upload/pages/parenting-resources/insights006- anattitudeofgratitude.pdf JUST ANOTHER ADVANTAGE OF PITTWATER HOUSE… The Year 11 students have of course begun their HSC studies this term. Each subject has at least one assessment item before the end of the school year toward their final result in 2013. As part of their studies, the Business Studies students and the Legal Studies students have recently experienced two marvellous excursions focused on current topics. In each instance, it was Pittwater House parents who made the excursion possible. We are indebted to Mr Craig Dunlop (Kelsey C10 and Reiley P6) and Mr Todd Alexis SC (Maddy C10) for their support. The Business Studies students visited the PharmaCare Laboratories in Mona Vale where Mr Dunlop is Operations Manager. Supported by Mr Michael Halter, the Operations Director, the students were given a presentation on the business and a guided tour of the warehouse. The Legal Studies students visited the Supreme Court of NSW to witness an Insider Trading Case. Mr Alexis not only visited the class as pre excursion preparation but he arranged for a private question and answer session with the Crown Prosecutor and Defence Barrister and the Judge, the Hon Justice McCallum. This is a unique opportunity and ensures Pittwater House students are given insights rarely possible at other Schools. If other parents have insights in their employment areas that you are prepared to share with our senior students, we would be most grateful to hear from you. Please contact me nancy.hillier@tphs.nsw.edu.au or the Head of Teaching and Learning Mr James Walmsley james.walmsley@tphs.nsw.edu.au . And whilst wandering in and out of classes last week, I happened upon the girls of J5. They were busily putting the finishing touches on their newspaper from the Golden Era of Eureka in 1854! Each student was playing a role: Editor, Manager, Reporter, Photographer (illustrator perhaps?); they were working to role and have been happily engaged in research, editing, matching and ensuring each student emailed around deadlines and task completion. At the same time they were learning very important tasks around teamwork. Earlier that day I had a visitation from 4 very impressive Kindergarten students. Their task was to interview the Principal about her job. The questions were set and Marigold was responsible for writing the answers I shared. She asked about the study I did to become a Principal so I showed the students HouseNews Issue 2012 / 21 Page 2 of 14
the books I wrote for my post-graduate degrees. And when they asked me my hobbies, they had to search my Office to find the answer! It took some time to spot the AFL Demons football… As we move into the final throes of 2012 I trust you are reflecting on the many achievements for each member of your family across the calendar year. When this is broken down across a week, it is still impressive. When you think about each day, each of us can nominate what has gone well … I trust the coming week continues positively for you all. LONG TAN AWARDS On Tuesday 27 November Warrant Officer Mark Hammond presented to the 2012 Pittwater House recipients, their Long Tan Awards. The Battle of Long Tan (August 1966) holds a special place in our national psyche for it was here that 108 Australian soldiers held out against 2500 Viet Cong, overcoming monsoonal rain, difficult terrain and a barrage of shelling. These Awards, first established in 2006 by the ADF for Leadership and Teamwork, recognise students who demonstrate leadership and teamwork within both the School and the broader local community. At the same time, they recognise those who display strong values such as doing one’s best, respect for others, tenacity, compassion and ‘mateship’; characteristics that are integral to Australian society. Congratulations to Tamsin Delaney (C10), Brittany Klein (C11), Laura Melrose (C12) and Akshai Bhandari (G11) and Fraser McTavish (G12). Dr Nancy Hillier, Principal INVITATIONS Please find the invitation to the 51 st Annual Prizegiving on Page 12 and the invitation to the Christmas Carol Service and Christmas Drinks on Page 14 General News DEADLY CRUISING… Students in Years 6, 7 and 8 in 2013 are invited to take part in the Forensic Science Camp being held at Pittwater House from Wednesday 23 to Friday 25 January. Students can enrol in either a one day program-23 January or the 3 day program. The one day program looks at a crime where the murderer is yet to face the court; the task for the day is to see if we can have the suspect convicted. So if you like thinking, arguing, problem solving, working as a team to solve a problem and analysing evidence, this may be for you. Days 2 and 3 … a locked cabin, a luxury cruise ship, a dead body and plenty of mystery… your aim is to solve the crime called “Deadly Cruising”. Analysing evidence in the science laboratories, taking fingerprints, questioning witnesses, interrogation of suspects… and more. The camp is being run for Pittwater House again by Mr Bill Toppin, a former School Principal for 17 years who now consults, teaches and runs forensic science camps in Tasmania, NSW, Singapore and Indonesia. This will be his 22 nd camp! An application form is being sent to Pittwater House students and those students joining Pittwater House in Years 6-8 in 2013. It is also available on MyHouse. We do hope you will take up the challenge and solve the crime… Bookings close on 15 January and there are no refunds or cancellations after 9 January. An early bird rate is available until 14 December 2012. Please refer any questions to Mr Richard Upton at: richard.upton@tphs.nsw.edu.au HouseNews Issue 2012 / 21 Page 3 of 14
Page 1: HouseNews What’s on in Week 8 Mon
Page 5 and 6: FROM THE CHAPLAIN Salvation Army Ch
Page 7 and 8: VACATION CARE - A YEAR IN REVIEW AS
Page 9 and 10: Term 1 2013 All Schools Triathlon -
Page 11 and 12: the most impressive batsman on show
Page 13 and 14: Pittwater House Parents Association

HouseNews - Pittwater House School

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