Community News
A Big Thank You to the Plenty Valley Community for Relay 4 Life
It was wonderful to see so many facets of the Plenty Valley community come together last Friday so that our annual Relay 4 Life fundraiser for the Cancer Council could proceed, despite the rain and the change of venue away from the main oval.
There were a multitude of students, parents and staff members who offered their time, creativity and energy to make this fundraiser a possibility and to provide an opportunity for our college community to come together to achieve a most noble goal. It was most encouraging to see so many families and students rallying together to show their support for those who have wrestled or who are currently dealing with the scourge of cancer. Their goodwill highlights the amazing spirit of camaraderie and generosity of spirit that dwells among our community and the desire it has to make a positive difference in the world.
Our sincere thanks are extended to all who made last Friday’s Relay 4 Life such a success and we trust that the donation the college will make on behalf of all who contributed will make a lasting and profound difference in the lives of those most acutely impacted by cancer.
Going Overseas and College IT Access
As part of the continued improvement of security around accounts the college provides students, a virtual fence (termed Geofence) has been enabled. This only provides access to Microsoft and associated services if the access request is coming from Australia or New Zealand.
This will have no impact on the general access of any students using an Australian/NZ internet connection except if your family is planning an overseas trip and access is still desirable. If a trip is planned and access is required, please email helpdesk@pvcc.vic.edu.au noting the name of the student(s) and the dates away and temporary provisions will be enabled.
Ready to …Tech!
After passing many an Italian lesson trying to teach the new Year 7 classes how to save a document or find a file on their new fancy Surface Pro devices Mark Gabriele took matters into his own hands and designed an initiative called Ready to Tech.
Once a week for the first twenty minutes of their day, the Year 7s pile into the library and are taught basic computer skills, how to formulate an email, how to save a file, where to save it so you can find it later and password security are all on the agenda. These ‘Ready to Tech’ lessons create visual organisational pathways that make learning easier for all students.
Mark has found these newly acquired skills have greatly facilitated in class learning. For example, during groupwork the students are now able to share and work off the same file with ease. They can “Control F” (Find) their lost documents. They can engage in online Italian language games against their peers. All of which, encourages students to learn more in an engaging manner.
Plenty Valley Christian College delights in Striving for Excellence and Learning Courageously. Both of these are exemplified in this new initiative. Mark has been invited to represent Plenty Valley Christian College in a Plenary session at the VATI (Victorian Association of Teachers of Italian) this coming May. He will be speaking about how these technological advances can help pull the art of teaching languages into the twenty-first century and ultimately create a student body that loves learning languages.
Please help me to congratulate Mark on this new initiative and encourage him in this upcoming speaking opportunity.
Mother's Day Stall
Request for succulent donations
For our upcoming Mother's Day stall in Term 2 run by our wonderful Parents and Friends Group, we are seeking donations of succulent clippings and plants. Please drop them off at reception or the office from week 1 of next term.
We will be planting them on Monday 1 May from 1pm. If you are interested in joining to help with this please email: robyn.dakan@pvcc.vic.edu.au to get involved.