Pastoral Academic Care (PAC) 

Pastoral Academic Care (PAC) Focus - Health’s Big Five

Well Being Element - Health + Strengths

Character Strength - Perseverance

Parent Wellbeing:  

To enjoy a healthy state of wellbeing you need to have optimism and hope for the future which relies on goals, which guide your actions, pathways that are ways to achieve your goals and motivation, which activates your pathways. We all need to be hopeful for something good every day.  Think about how you are developing each of these optimism and hope components. 

Acknowledgement: Snyder

Note from the editor

We are trialling a new system where the Leaders of Learning for Year 7, Year 9 and Year 11 Pastoral Academic Care write a report for this newsletter. Leaders of Learning for Year 8, Year 9 and Year 11 Pastoral Academic Care will be in the next newsletter.  

Caroline Chapman (Newsletter Editor)

Year 7

Mrs Kath Czinner

Year 7 have settled into our college and have been busy establishing routines. I have been very impressed with their positivity and eagerness to try new things. In such a short time they have had the task of getting to know their teachers and peers, following the timetable and being organised for a five period day. As well as this they have participated in year assemblies, whole school assemblies, the school Dux and Passing of the Cross ceremony, the Year 7 Mass and the twilight swimming carnival to name a few. There has been a lot to learn and a lot of excitement as the students encounter the first of many events. I expect our students are exhausted this week and will appreciate the non-school day on Friday. 

On Monday 7th February we hosted the information evening via zoom. We were able to introduce staff and share the PAC goals and Academic goals for the year. It was a great opportunity to outline the college expectations and routines. Next time I hope we are able to meet in person. Please continue to stay in touch regarding your child's education. If you need to correspond with your teachers please contact the PAC teachers. 

Our PAC team consists of:

7PAC  1 Miss Clysdale, Miss Wooster and Mrs Mergen

7PAC  2 Mr McCann and Miss Suann

7PAC  3 Mrs Healey and Mrs Osborne

7PAC  4 Mr  Wooster/ Mrs Gurr

The student devices are set up now. Regular reminders about the care of the device and sensible use are advised. Parents are asked to read and sign the IT/ Device policy that is in the school diary and sign the agreement. Students are linked to Compass and Google classrooms. If students are absent from school they are able to access the work that the teachers have set for all lessons.

The Google classroom for PAC is set up for each class. Here you will find important messages and information regarding Year 7. This week we looked at Purposeful Living and we set goals for the term and sub-goals that can be attained on a weekly basis. 

Students can access their PAC class Google classroom using the following codes: 

7PAC1:   g3xlcdt    

7PAC2:   5pds2md        

7PAC3:   4idada5   

7PAC4:   yacvfp3

Initial literacy and numeracy screening was completed this week. The data collected from the ‘Best Start’ tests will inform the teachers of how best to support the students. Levelled literacy groups will be formed and students will be given support in a small group setting to work on building their literacy skills.

The SRC nominations were called for this week. I encourage students to be involved, to have the courage to nominate and to take a positive risk. Indeed this would be a great way to contribute to the life of the school and to develop leadership skills.

Our theme ‘Strive to Thrive’ and ‘From little things big things grow’ has been discussed and woven into many of our PAC activities.  Continue to do the little things well and strive to be the best version of yourself.

Mrs Kath Czinner and the Year 7 PAC Team

Year 9

Mr Mark Fulloon

Year 9 have continued to work well into the next few weeks of Term 1 and have settled into their new year of learning. I have again been impressed to see the number of commendations being awarded to students for their academic work and community service to the school community. 

Year 9 hopefully are ready for this week’s twilight swimming carnival this Thursday, it is a great way for them to display school spirit and house pride, earning house points and striving for their best in their chosen events. I hope it is a good experience for all our students who are competing and I wish them well. I also hope they enjoy their pupil free day on the Friday after the carnival, a much-deserved break for them to recharge ready to take on the rest of a busy term 1.

Mark Fulloon (on behalf of the entire Year 9 PAC team).

Year 11

Amanda Bell and Frank Patricks

It has been a busy start to 2022 for our Year 11’s with a change in routine and structure at school. Students have been settling in well to their selected courses and it is lovely to see and hear the enthusiasm and enjoyment they are getting from these new subjects. 

We would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our families for joining us for the Year 11 Information night which happened via Zoom. We discussed the procedures and requirements regarding Stage 6 assessment and we encourage any families who still have questions to get into contact with the College. 

We also spoke about the theme that has been chosen for Year 11 this year which has taken inspiration from Muhammed Ali and his acclaimed words, sometimes referred to as the world’s shortest poem, “Me;We”. This theme expresses a sense of community and togetherness and we hope, will encourage our students to always think about what they can give back to our community and the part they play at the College. 

As Pastoral classes, students worked on this idea during our latest PAC period, where they completed the VIA character strength survey to find out their top strength. Students then recorded this on their own piece of honeycomb, noting how they can use their strength to make the Year 11 community better. Whilst still a work in progress, these pieces of honeycomb are starting to come together in PAC classes, showing that we are stronger together. 

We greatly look forward to finishing this activity with students and putting plans into place to ensure that everyone has the opportunity to use their strengths across the year.