Over the past term, our Year 5 students have embarked on an exciting journey in Design and Technology and HASS. Students created their own businesses by planning, budgeting, designing, and advertising their products to the whole school.

The hard work of our Year 5 students was celebrated on E-Day, where they showcased their creations to the whole school. The event was a big hit, with many products selling out quickly and lots of happy customers.

Congratulations to our young entrepreneurs for their outstanding efforts and achievements! Your creativity and dedication have truly shone through, making E-Day a memorable experience for all.

Prescott Playdate

We look forward to our next Playdate with Prescott celebrating Summer on October 30th.  

Dear Parents and caregivers,

During this week as I’ve been in class, I've found myself telling one of my favorite stories! It's a unique twist on the commonly known story about the frog and the scorpion.

If you don't know, one day there lived a frog, and he was so happy, kind and cheerful. He would always greet everyone within his little town with the biggest smile. One day a stranger strolled into town. A stranger he had never seen before and a stranger who looked scary. The stranger introduced himself to Mr Frog and asked for his help crossing the river to return to his desert home. Mr Frog initially declined seeing as the scorpion was a very scary looking fellow. But Mr Frog felt so guilty for turning down his offer that he returned to Mr Scorpion and shared that he would be delighted to help him across the river.

But Mr Frog asked for some assurance that he would not be harmed in the process, given all the scary stories he had heard about scorpions before. Mr Scorpion chuckled and shared that if he were to sting Mr Frog whilst he was swimming Mr Scorpion across the river, then they would both die, and thus he was not interested in stinging Mr Frog at all.

Well the moment came when Mr Frog was helping Mr Scorpion across the river, and as he was swimming he felt a sharp pain in his back. Mr Frog felt the poison fill his legs and arms as he became paralyzed. Unable to swim, he let out one final cry before drowning and asked “Why, why did you sting me Mr Scorpion, now we’re both going to die!” Mr Scorpion replied, “Because i’m a scorpion, it’s in my nature.” And they both drowned and died.

Mr Flower was just a tiny seed. And after it rained, my flower finally started to grow. First his roots and then he sprouted upward before finally bursting past the soil and into the sunlight.

Mr Flower grew up big and tall. But when he looked around, he was the only flower in his field. Occasionally other animals would pass by and Mr flower would strike up conversation with them. He was a very social flower and loved the company of others. However every now and then he’d get sad because he’d have no one to talk to if no other animals passed by, sometimes this could be days at a time. But one day a stranger came buzzing by. Mr Flower froze at the sight of this stranger, stiff as a rock. He had heard such nasty stories about what he saw flying towards him, until eventually the buzzing critter buzzed right up to Mr flower and said, “Hello Mr flower, I am Mr Bee, and I was wondering if I could have a break, and have a rest upon one of your big beautiful petals?"

Mr Flower blurted out “NO!” He had heard the stories about nasty bees and their stinger before and he wasn't going to let mr bee anywhere near him with his big stinger! So he told Mr Bee to buzz off somewhere else. With a dejected look on his face, Mr Bee buzzed on by.

Mr Flower thought about what he had said and about the look in Mr Bee's eyes. And he felt bad. He felt like he had said and done the wrong thing. Determined to make it up to Mr Bee he promised himself that next time he sees him, he would offer him a spot to rest. Sure enough, Mr Bee was buzzing by the next day. Mr Flower called out to him, “Hey Mr Bee, I'm sorry for yesterday, please feel free to come by and take a rest. Mr Bee was so glad and happy, he came and sat with Mr Flower and they talked for hours.

Mr Flower didn't understand at first, but all of the pollen seemed to be collecting on Mr Bee’s legs. And then Mr Bee flew off, and visited the other flowers out of sight and returned to buzz around Mr Flower. A few days later, Mr Flower noticed some sprouts appearing all around him. He finally had some friends growing near him that he could talk to and keep company!

Mr Flower was so excited that he called out to Mr Bee the next time he saw him and said “Look! Mr Bee! I have friends growing all around me!” Mr Bee responded “because you let me rest with you, I was able to take some of your pollen and pollinate a lot of the surrounding plants and flowers and they were able to seed in this very area, creating a field full of friends for you!”

Mr Flower was shocked, “Even after i was so mean to you, you still chose to help pollinate this area, just so that I could have friends. Why did you choose to be kind to me even though I was so mean?” Mr Bee responded, “Because I'm a Bee, it’s in my nature.”

All of us, just like Mr Bee and Mr Scorpion, have stingers and ways in which we could potentially hurt people. I’m pleased to report that when asked if they'd rather be like Mr Bee or Mr Scorpion, all of the students chose to be like Mr Bee, and choose to have a kind nature, instead of a harmful one.

God Bless.

Making Family Life Fun

For many of us, fun stopped becoming spontaneous and automatic around the time that we decided we had to be responsible adults. But if we want our families to be happier, we need to find ways to make family life FUN!

Here are 5 ways to make fun a habit:

1. Smile more

Imagine a child whose every interaction with their parent is met with a look of serious concentration or contemplation—they are not angry or annoyed, simply preoccupied. Now, imagine that when that same child looks at their parent, they receive warm smiles and gentle, approving eye contact. Which would have the most positive influence on the child’s wellbeing?

Smiles improve relationships, and they seem to make life more fun. Let your face know you feel great. Smile!

2. Learn new things together

Most children are naturally inquisitive and deeply curious. They love to learn new things. Learning is both fun and potentially profound when we do it together. We can have fun helping our children explore a topic they are interested in; we can plant a garden, learn new sports, and do crafts.

Exploration, learning, and curiosity are fun and make families happy. It simply requires that we are willing to be creative, explore ideas, and respond to our children’s questions with enthusiasm and interest.

3. Just add treats

I don’t know of any family activity that can’t be enhanced with treats. If you are having a family meeting or a working bee in the garden, include popcorn, ice cream, brownies, or, if you don’t do processed sugars, a big bowl of strawberries or freshly chopped watermelon.

This approach is best used randomly and for fun, rather than as a bribe. Treats are fun! But they should be offered unconditionally and to everyone, rather than only on conditions being met and only to those who meet the conditions. Otherwise, it stops being fun for everyone.

4. Celebrate—whatever!

Our lives are full of reasons to celebrate, from a child’s small success to a big achievement. Celebrate in varied ways: a hug, high-five, ice cream, movie outing, special date, or a family dinner. For best results, make celebrations spontaneous and unexpected, not used as bribes.

We don’t need to make our children’s minor experiences into front-page news, but we can have fun when they do well. Do something more than nod ‘well done’ while chopping carrots for dinner. Pause. Get into the moment. Respond actively and constructively. Celebrate!

5. Five minutes of fun

If your children are demanding your attention, give it to them. We can all afford 5 minutes to become engrossed in some fun with our children. This can be unstructured play, like rolling around on the floor or dancing to a favourite tune, or it can be structured play, like a game of UNO or charades.

These micro-moments of positive engagement show that we are involved and available to our children. They teach our children that they are worthy, and they promote a sense of family cohesion and togetherness. They give us moments to be grateful for, to reflect upon, and to savour.

So today, find something to smile about. Drop your agenda and have some fun. Find something new to learn about or explore with your children. Cook treats, buy treats, or just eat treats. And find something—anything—to celebrate. Then, do it again, maybe a little differently, tomorrow.

Pupil Free Day

Mrs Jennifer Ongalo starting in Term 4

As we announced earlier this term, Mrs Jennifer Ongalo will be starting at PPN as Principal next term. Mrs Ongalo will begin full-time with us from the beginning of Week 3, Term 4. There are a number of PPN events happening before then that Jennifer has expressed an interest in attending in order to start connecting with staff, students and community.

We are looking forward to Jennifer joining us then.

Casual Day

Class Placement Considerations

We are currently working on class placements for 2025. There are many factors that go into making decisions about class placements and we use a program to try to balance the many competing demands. We are unable to guarantee requests will be granted, but if there is some extenuating circumstance you would like considered for your child, please email principal@ppn.sa.edu.au before the end of this term.

Position Vacant

Daily Health Check