Prescott Primary Northern eNewsletter

Kickstart for Kids Breakfast

On Monday, all the classes at PPN shared a healthy breakfast to celebrate our Kickstart for Kids service project. We had a wonderful time together and the food was yummy! Thank you so much to all the volunteers who helped us on the day and all the amazing PPN families for their generous donations. We will be continuing to take donations until Friday, 5th April.

North Wing Project Update

Year 5 Camp Highlights

Below are some of the children's favourite parts of Year 5 Camp!

Everything was fun but the best part was the giant swing. It was super fun when you suddenly dropped and then keep swinging really high. I won the screaming contest on the giant swing.

Peggy-Lee

My favourite part of camp was the giant swing. It was cool because everyone got involved either pulling the rope or swinging. Going upside down is really scary!

Seth

The tower challenge was my favourite part of camp because I had lots of ideas and we used quite a few techniques to build the tower.

Matthew

The tower challenge was fun. I loved how it was based on teamwork and problem solving. I liked how we all worked together as a team.

Allaire

Does our past and the mistakes that we made, define who we are in the present?

This question has been on my mind for a little while now, regarding choices that I have made when I was growing up. In my time, I have made so many mistakes- too many to count! Mistakes that have caused others pain, anguish and even sadness. On the other hand, I have made mistakes that have encouraged laughter, often at my expense. I think back to when we were introducing SEQTA, a learning management program here at PPN. When one of the Admin would make a mistake on SEQTA that Mr Koczwara would have to fix (which happened often), we would have to wear a glove on our head. This bought great joy to Miss Bernoth as it was often Mr Borresen and myself that would learn the hard way!

When we are young, mistakes that we make can seem monumental in size. When we grow up and reflect on these mistakes, we often see how we learn from them. I think back to one mistake that I made when water skiing with my family one weekend. Being younger and energetic, I loved to wakeboard and learning new tricks was sometimes a painful experience. There was a boat full of people, watching me try to learn a new trick which involved spinning in the air, passing the rope behind me and hopefully landing up the right way. My dad wanted to make it as easy as he could for me, so we decided to create a 'double up' wake, where the boat would loop around on itself and create a wave (wake) double the size as normal. I was very keen to try this and didn't really think through the consequences. I was all ready to hit the massive wake and what happened next was quite a shock. I launched the highest I have ever launched in my life. Silly enough, I didn't think to pull out of the trick, so I started to spin. I was so high, the rope pulled me off my normal axis and I landed on my chest and face from about 10ft up in the air. The next thing I knew, the boat was next to me and I was on my back in the water feeling VERY sick. I was knocked unconscious for a few seconds and ended up being concussed for quite some time. I learned a very important lesson that day, not to show off in front of my friends when I wasn't properly prepared.

You may be asking why I'm telling the story. From that moment, I was apprehensive when it came to trying new things. I was comfortable with what I knew, and I felt safe in that. I never did try that trick again, as I associated the trick with pain.

Now, I am a lot older, I have made countless more mistakes, but I am always learning from them. Do my past mistakes define who I am to today? Yes- because had I not learned that lesson, I wouldn't be the person I am today. Do my mistakes affect my present? 1000% yes! Do I still make mistakes in SEQTA? Not as often, but yes I still do. Do I let them affect me negatively? No. It's so easy to get down on ourselves when we make mistakes. We look back, think of all the 'what if I did this/that different' and this can bog us down.

We have a great opportunity to learn from our mistakes, and be a better person to those around us in the present. I challenge you to be a good example, in your classroom, workspace and in general everyday life!

Have a great second last week of school! Holidays are just around the corner.

Jason Davis

Deputy Principal

Have you ever been scared to do something, stood up for something that was right, attempted something that looked difficult or let go of the familiar and tried something new? That is courage in action. Courage is something everybody wants, an attribute of good character that makes us feel worthy of respect.

Last week, I had the privilege of being part of our Year 5 camp and watching our students exhibit huge amounts of courage as they leapt off high platforms and swung on South Australia’s highest swing. Many students were scared, there were tears of fear, most thought they wouldn’t be able to do it or were worried what others would think. But when their feet touched the ground, they would look up with the biggest smile and sense of achievement, knowing they had found the courage and conquered!

Courage is one of the most important things you can develop as a young person. It helps you to become a better person, a better student and a better citizen in our world. History is rich with tales of bravery and self-sacrifice for the greater good. You just have to look at the Bible; David battling Goliath, Daniel in the den facing the lions, Joshua defeating Jericho and Esther going unannounced before King Xerxes.

When we experience challenges or difficult times in our lives where we feel we can’t succeed, remember God’s promise from the Bible that we will never face anything that we can’t overcome with Gods help. Joshua 1:9 promises.

Last week, we talked about “Self-Control" and this week we honoured several students from all the classes in our school for demonstrating this value.

Anureet, Yug, Lucas, Grithik, Aesha, Freya, Aarav, Riley, Eloise, Reana, Jaiveersingh, Diya, Vansh, Ekampreet, Jasmine, Harmeen, Vincent (absent), Darren (absent).

Haya, Milli, Angad, Jayden, Charlie, Harriette, Seanna, Michelle, Henry, Maya, Bryce, Jimmy, Riva, Mia, Lachlan, Campbell, Ryan (absent), Eva (absent)

Bread Tags for Wheelchairs

Children in Cars

When dropping off or collecting children from the school, please do not leave other children/sleeping babies in your vehicle unattended.

Back Gate Area Changes

Due to the building project at the back of the school, we will need to remove this yellow barrier at the back gate (see picture). We will place safety cones there and we are asking that when you are entering and exiting the school through the back gate, that you take care around this area. Sometimes the gates to the right of the picture will be blocked and you will need to access the back gate through this area. Thank you for noting this.

Uniform Policy for Earrings

Just a reminder that the uniform policy for wearing earrings is 3-4mm round plain gold or silver stud in the lower lobe, 1 stud per ear (Standard Lobe, Female only).

Animals on Campus

Parents are reminded that any pets are not permitted on campus at all, unless permission has been given from Admin. We thank you for helping us with this.

Entertainment Books Available Now

Casual Day Fundraiser

April Is Autism Awareness Month

Uniform Shop

No Parking Zones

State Champion Swimming Team

Last Thursday, Nicholas Lindsay, Zander Lillehagen and Blake Lillehagen represented our school in the State Championship SAPSASA Swimming Competition. Nicholas came 4th in butterfly, 6th in backstroke and 12th in freestyle. Overall he competed in five swims and one relay. The Lillehagen boys represented the district in the freestyle relay and displayed a fantastic effort for their stroke. The team spirit and comradery of these three boys have done our school proud.

Little Athletics State Individual Championships

On the 23rd and 24th March, 5 students from PPN were chosen to represent their athletic club (Enfield & TTG) to compete in the Little Athletics State Individual Championships. This is the pinnacle event for the top track and field athletes in the state, with very strict qualification standards. All 5 students did well and we are very proud of them. Here are their events and achievements.
(1) Dillon Hong (Year 3) - qualified for 5 events (Under 9 Boys - 60m Hurdles, 70m, 100m, 200m, LongJump) and made it into 3 finals
(2) Ashton Hong (Year 5) - qualified for 4 events (Under 11 Boys - 100m, 200m, LongJump, HighJump), made it into all 4 finals and finished 2nd in the 100m sprint finals
(3) Tanveer Dunduli (Year 5) - qualified for 5 events (Under 10 Girls - 70m, 100m, 200m, 400m, 1100walk) - came 4th in the 1100walk
(4) Alanna Robson (Year 5) - qualified for 2 events (Under 11 Girls - 200m, 400m) and made it into the 400m finals
(5) Seth Robson (Year 5) - qualified for 1 event (Under 11 Boys - 400m)

Well done to you all! We are excited to hear how you continue to use your talents and grow from new opportunities.

Basketball

WILDCATS WELCOME NEW TALENT

Last week Prescott’s Wildcats, Under-12 basketball team welcomed Simon (transferring from the Radioactive Cheeseballs), and were instantly bolstered by his speed, maturity, skill and athleticism (before he fouled out early).

With Jonah relegated to the sideline, Zukiah really stepped up his game, top scoring for the Wildcats and attracting some unsportsmanlike attention from SFX’s number 28…

Half time scores were tied (although the Wildcats lead the foul-count 8:3 in the first half and 10:4 in the second - a fair indicator of effort).

Scout, growing in skill and confidence, made some deft intercepts halting SFX’s transitions and got in great position at both ends. He also contributed 4 Wildcats points.

Tanner added a classy steal of his own, and raced away for a couple of fast breaks, while Kaitlyn, benefitting from some extra big-brother coaching, continued to score and win key-way possessions.

Sade played with courage, and earnt a great jump-ball. Gem held strong on defence, forcing a couple of SFX errors and overcame some double and triple teams, managing to deliver the ball into Wildcats hands.

With a 3 point Wildcats lead and only minutes remaining, SFX ramped up their intensity and edged ahead by one, before intentionally fouling and stifling play, to see out the final minutes for their win.

Overall, a valiant Wildcat effort worthy of praise.

Thanks to Mrs Koczwara for scoring and transporting kids and to Mr Lomax (sports reporter extraordinaire) for last week’s stellar game review.

Coach Hatchard

CHEESEBALLS TACKLE TOP TEAM

A mash-up Radioactive Cheeseball team gave the league-leading Bullets a run-for-their-money, down a few key players (due to Year-5 camp), but back-filled by Wildcat players, Kaitlyn, Scout and Zukiah along with new gun-recruit, Alex.

Alex, not phased playing against much older and bigger kids, blocked Bullet shots, stole the ball, won rebounds and managed 4 points on debut.

While Cheeseball regulars, Nate, Farid and Gawar all chipped in to keep the half time margin to a manageable 5 (Gawar shooting at 100% from the foul line for the first half, and top scoring for the Cheeseballs with 10 for the game).

When on court, Kaitlyn adopted an increasingly defensive strategy, doing her utmost to own the small-‘D’, and was assisted in the paint by Gawar, stuffing some Bullet shots and yoinking rebounds.

An alternating zone / scrambling Bullet defence kept the Cheeseballs on their toes, who were also hampered by a flawed coaching strategy.

Late in the game the Cheeseballs clawed back to be within 3, but lost momentum and went down by 8 at the finish.

A “still-learning”, Coach Hatchard