In this issue

Secondary PCC@Home

As we embark on another round of PCC@Home, our Secondary classes are off to a great start! Our teachers have worked very quickly to bolster their subject Sites, and will be maintaining continuity of learning through the Sites, Google Classroom and, for some, live lessons later in the week through Google Meet. Our students are well equipped to embrace this, having used the same platforms through our previous PCC@Home as well as using these tools in their face to face classes. If, however, your child has any concerns, they are encouraged to contact their subject teacher or a Coordinator for help.

We realise there are a variety of home circumstances, both for students and their families as well as for teachers, and therefore we will all embrace flexibility and do the best we can. When we return on site and are all together again, teachers will reevaluate individual and class progress and adjust as needed to move forward.

Our wonderful student aides in the Learning Enrichment department continue to provide excellent support to their students, and I thank them for the adjustment they make from in person to support to moving this online so very well. Our RTC staff are also available to the Parklands community to offer support during this week, and afterwards.

Year 12

Mrs Wallis (Senior College Coordinator) and I are very mindful of our Year 12 students and their specific challenges and fears through this unique year, and especially again now. We have been in contact with the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA), who have offered their support and assurance. Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) applications have opened and information has been shared with our Year 12 students, for those interested in further study. Mrs Wallis and I are running optional small group Meets during quarantine with Year 12 students who would like to discuss the process with us.

On a personal note, I’d like to express my gratitude for the support and encouragement offered by parents and students during this time. It meant so much to me, and to all of our executive team, to have our community rally around us. Thank you. If we can be of any support during this time, please make contact and let us know.

Free Dental Care

FREE DENTAL CARE

Volleyball Emerging Talent

VA Emerging Talent Flyer – QLD 2020-21 Trials Flyer

Term 3 is well and truly underway!

Student have been busy learning and engaging with their teachers and their subjects.

In English, students are reading the novel Holes by Louis Sachar and discussing the issues of fate, destiny and luck, cruelty verse kindness, justice, power, poverty and education, man verse nature and confidence and the development of one through their choices. In Geography, the live-ability of places are being assessed due to a criteria of student developed environmental, economic and social factors. And in Music, students are revising foundation music concepts, learning about the elements of music and practicing playing piano with two hands.

Indeed, term three is a busy term.

Getting organised

Year 7’s at Parklands are blessed to have a school diary that they use for organisation, planning and timetabling out their school commitments. Diaries help students keep their thought organised, set and achieve their goals, relieve stress and boost their memory. A diary is an essential tool for both long-term and short-term goal planning and personal development.

At Parklands Year 7 students receive take home homework for English and Mathematics, and take home assignments for English, Mathematics, Science and History in Semester 1 and Geography in Semester 2.

All students should be using their diary to track and organise their homework for English and Mathematics and for setting time aside to work on their assignments.

They can also use their diaries for planning extension work, when they need to bring something in to class and for writing down their assessment due dates.

The diaries are also an excellent communication tool between home and school. Parents can use the diaries to communicate uniform to RTC or to open a dialogue with a teacher regarding homework and assignments questions.

I encourage all parents to use the diary when their child arrives home as a connection point for asking the questions, ‘How was your day today?’, ‘Do you have any homework?’ or ‘What assignments are we working on this afternoon?’

In conclusion, for Year 7 students, homework and the planning of homework using a paper diary is extremely useful for learning and practising the skills of time management, organisation, discipline with keeping to set dead Guidelines and preparing them for work life post school.

If you have any queries, you may contact us via the College office on 3380 4200 or via email at: abraun@parklands.qld.edu.au

Mrs. Alanah Braun
Year 7 Coordinator

PCC@HOME during Quarantine

We would like to extend our thanks to all of our Parklands families for your patience, cooperation and encouragement during this last week. We each have personally appreciated the messages of support and the rallying of our community as we navigate this challenging situation. Now, even with the uncertainty of the second round of scheduled testing, we move into another season of PCC@Home, a season that will hopefully last just this week (Monday 3 to Friday 7 August inclusive). Our Education team have prioritised flexibility into our approach, as we appreciate the various circumstances that students, families and teachers are facing. Some may be able and wanting to fully engage with a comprehensive learning program, while others will be navigating personal pressures, technology restrictions, testing and other logistical and emotional challenges.

PCC@HOME Approach

Our goal is to minimise interruption to learning as much as possible, share the Parklands care that is core to who we are, and provide a sense of stability during quarantine. We absolutely do not want this week (in spite of the new testing requirement) to be any more stressful for families than it already is, so please be flexible and have your children engage with PCC@Home to the degree that is comfortable for your circumstances. All going well, we will return to face to face learning on Monday, 10th August, when we will work with students to regroup and make adjustments as needed as we move forward. If you anticipate that your child can’t engage at all with learning from home, please let us know. Teachers will give direction for their year level/subject, which may vary from person to person as we are also mindful of the stress and challenges that teachers are personally facing. They have had very little time to prepare for online learning and therefore will be doing the best they can within their own personal constraints.

Primary Approach

We understand that there has been no preparation for this event and the circumstances involving our previous PCC@Home learning allowed for significant preparation of learning resources. Our aim for this quarantine period is to provide learning experiences in our core literacy and numeracy focuses, whilst making learning relevant and accessible to the real world. Whilst being conscious of the unprecedented circumstances, we aim to provide continuity of learning through our modified learning program and Google Sites platform. Our teachers have prepared their year level Google Sites, so you can access your child’s learning in the same way via PCC@Home as you did in Term 2. We are aware that our primary students may not have access to learning resources and devices, and may have siblings they share devices with, so be realistic and flexible with expectations of their learning journey. If you have any questions or concerns about the learning, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher directly.

Listening Skills

Not sure what it’s like at home but teachers and the RTC are experiencing many students just not listening to and following instructions. This behaviour is evident when lining up, in the classroom for lessons, out on the ovals or while students are running around playing! Staff are making a concerted effort to get the students to “Stop, Look, Listen and DO”

We aren’t exactly sure why this ‘non listening behaviour’ is becoming more evident but research from UQ and Harvard University have offered up a few suggestions – due to modern electronic gadgets “common communication skills” are being used less (children don’t know of or get to practise the social skills to listen, hold a conversation and follow instructions).

Children are so busy and pre occupied in this ‘instant society’ that they appear / are rushed to move onto the next experience so thereby don’t listen to or fully comprehend instructions.

In class this is what good listening has been encouraged to ‘look and sound’ like:

We are asking that parents assist us by getting their children to practice these listening skills at home and to be reminded of them daily before coming to school. Thanking you in anticipation for your support in this regard.

Kind words & friendly actions!

This semester we will again get the students to focus on using kind words to each other or saying NOTHING bad at all as well as trying to have friendly actions to one another in the Primary School! We will again be reminding students about ways to treat each other so as not to ‘bully’ because bullying is a terrible behaviour that affects many children in all schools. It breaks a child’s natural right to feel safe and secure and can affect a child’s performance, their peer relations and his or her self-esteem!

Communication

Can I please take this time to remind you of important information about Primary School communication procedures?

Class Teachers ask that IF you have a concern or question about class work, assignments, class process or procedure, class behaviour, calendar events etc, that you please contact them directly. They are your first port of call.

If you require information about any of the following areas, please contact the specific staff member concerned directly:

Specialist lessons (HPE – Mr. Lewis, Music – Mrs. Patane, Art – Mrs. Bazley, Library – Mrs. Kerr or
Student Services – Mrs. Oxley, Mrs. Sampson or Mrs. Swinn
RTC – Mr.Crawford, Miss Robinson or
LE – Mrs. Jo Anderson

If you don’t get resolve or wish to discuss the matter further after having spoken to a teacher or specialist, would you kindly then contact myself, Grant Jakins through Student Services?

Thank you for speaking to the correct person so as to assist you best with your question or concern.

Dear Parklands Family,

In the midst of a season full of questions, one of the most common questions that I am asked is, “…so, how’s your first year going as a Principal”? When Queensland first went through isolation, people asked this question as a sign of sympathy, with a pat on the back and a wink of the eye.  Now when people ask me this, they do so with a tone of disbelief and wonder.  I must admit, over the past few days I have also gone about the tasks at hand with a little disbelief and wonder.  Honestly, it’s been a wild ride, and I have had to learn a lot in a very short time.  I am surrounded by a great and professional team who I would be lost without, and our College Board have been a source of wisdom, affirmation and great encouragement.

I have been particularly encouraged by the support from our parents and students.  Parents have asked numerous important questions, myself included, and so have our children.  Our team has done our very best to field questions and glean answers from Public Health.  Public Health themselves have struggled from time to time to articulate the best course of action, yet together we have been able to keep our school community safe so far, and maybe even kept Queensland a little safer in the process.

As we have navigated the past week, I have talked, emailed and messaged many people.  I have listened to distressed parents, and I have empathised with their concerns.  There are also a lot of angry and emotive people out there, full of fear and blame.  In the early days of the school’s closure, we had to close our phone lines and shut-down our Facebook pages and block out the anger and accusation. While my contact with the media has been pleasant and professional, there was a great deal of speculation published across the news, social media and even local forums. At times I looked on in wonder, and simply shook my head as mass media fed the masses.

As things begin to quieten down, and we get on with the business of keeping safe and healthy, I reflect on my journey over what personally felt like a very intense time. Early in my career, my mentor and friend Ps David Baskerville taught me a simple, yet powerful truth that can be found in the Proverbs (Old Testament). Proverbs 15 states;

A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger (NIV).

Over the course of my career as an educator, and as a husband and father, I have found the wisdom of this proverbs to be a truth that has served me well.  A kind word, and a soft response cuts through the heat of emotion, and drives away uncertainty and hostility leaving space for people to come together.  This is a season for people to come together, and for harsh words to be forgotten.  Anger, fear and blame will not serve our community well when the important task before us is to heal and restore.

Right now, I call on our community to forget harsh words and leave behind anger, even though a little anger might be justifiable right now.  Instead, let’s move toward restoration and coming back together as an extended family on 10^th August, God willing. Let our children remember this season as a time of unity and solidarity.  Together, we can get through the rest of quarantine and see each other once again in our classrooms, playgrounds, sports fields and art rooms next week. Life will be different as we embrace a new normal.  However, our lives past this point, and indeed post pandemic will be a new chance to embrace that which we have come to appreciate during isolation…each other.

Gary Cully

School Days only

School Bus Passes for Westside Bus Company and Park Ridge Transit

Students who have a bus pass for travel will be required to obtain a new pass for the 2020 school year. If you are changing schools in 2020 (this includes moving to grade 7) or address you will need to contact our reception on (07) 3802 1233 and we will advise you of how to update your details. To avoid delays in receiving your pass we kindly request that you contact us prior to the end of the school year.

If you have no changes to your details, you will receive your new bus pass in the mail in early January.

Please note that there are limited reception facilities available at our Redbank depot and you should call before attending the depot as we maybe able to assist over the phone.

Bus Routes for Parklands

Please find attached all of the Bus routes, that have been made available to Parklands families.

Bus Queensland now offer 3 pick ups in the afternoon outside Prep with various routes.

• Departing 3:22pm
• Departing 3:31pm
• Departing 3:45pm

As this is a service offered by Bus Queensland (not PCC) please direct all further enquires to Bus Queensland on 3802 1233 or email customers@busqld.com.au

PRT Changes to School Bus Routes (effective 29-01-2019)

6013

6055

6113 (1)

6142

6155

School Transport Assistance Scheme

The Queensland Government offers financial assistance to parents of both state and non-state school students travelling to and from school daily by private arrangement. This is known as STAS (School Transport Assistance Scheme).

Please phone the Gold Coast office on 5630 8857 to clarify your eligibility. Alternatively you can visit their website http://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/schooltransport

Parklands Outside School Hours Care is situated within the school grounds of Parklands Christian College in the Prep Building Area.  The service operates for before school, after school and vacation care.  Before and after school care offers a nutritious breakfast/afternoon tea and children are able to engage in a variety of activities based on their interests.

During the school term the service operates from 6:30-8:30am and 3:00-6:00pm (with office staff available from 2pm), and vacation care from 6:30am-6:00pm.  Parklands OSHC have qualified educators and encourage parents and families to pop into the service to discuss any care needs, suggestions or ideas or alternatively via phone 3297 0577 or email: parklandsbookings@bigpond.com.

We currently have limited spots available for before and after school care and advise families that a current 2020 enrolment is required to accept all bookings including emergency care bookings.

We look forward to assisting with all your care needs.

School Fees

Are deducted from your bank account on the 17th unless received by the 10th of each month.

Please ensure funds are in your account one (1) business day before the 17th of the month.

Our Bank Account details are as follows:

BSB: 034115
Account Number: 169944

Please use your surname and initials as reference e.g. ‘J&C Smith’

Term Direct Debit Deduction Dates

• 17th February
• 17th April
• 17th July
• 17th September

Note: Direct Debits that reject from your account due to insufficient funds will incur a $10.00 fee and loss of discount. An additional late fee of $20 will apply to invoices outstanding at the end of the month.

Discounts Available

• Monthly 2%
• Term 5%
• Annual 8%

Term Dates 2020

Tuckshop in need of volunteers

There is an opportunity for parents to contribute to the life of the school by volunteering their time in the tuckshop.

The tuckshop has been growing since moving to the new facility and with growth in sales we would really love your help!

Please contact our Tuckshop Convenor, Marie Rushin, on 0422 637 370 or email tuckshop@parklands.qld.edu.au

Tuckshop Menu 2020