From the Principal's Desk

With the commencement of a new Term there are new faces to welcome. In addition to new families and five new members of staff, we also welcome back from maternity leave Mrs Wan der heyoten. And in changed roles this term, I am delighted to welcome Ms Evie Sumpter as Acting Head of Year 12 and Mr Joe Blackwell as Officer Commanding of the Cadet Unit who takes over from Major McClean. Major McClean has held the role for ten years and I thank him enormously for his outstanding work with the unit. As was seen in our School ANZAC Services on the last day of Term 1 and in the four services on ANZAC Day, together with the role provided to other services held in the lead up to 25 April, Pittwater House has a significant support and community presence on the Beaches, and our cadets bring great credit to themselves, their unit and their School. Major McClean has been central to this over the past decade.

Our new Staff include Mrs Victoria Thwaites who joins the English Department, Ms Jemma Smith to the PDHPE and Maths Departments, Mr Justin Roberts takes over from Mr Whisson in the Junior School and Mr Dean Edwards takes on P6. Ms Abbie Hughes will support us in the Science Department. I know you will join me in welcoming these new members to our community. 

Both our Facebook and Instagram pages have showcased a variety of holiday activities. Some 65 cadets enjoyed a bivouac in the first week of the break with fieldcraft activities and opportunities for leadership and initiative on display. SUO Rory and the Rank provided a busy schedule around key ANZAC services and ensured this significant time of the year was appropriately marked. Our end of term services showed the precision of the Catafalque Guard with their new sword drill on display. 

School ANZAC Service

The four services marking ANZAC Day were memorable: Manly Dam, Brookvale, Avalon and the sunset service at Collaroy Beach. Our Allegro Choir and Band, as well as the newly reconstituted Marching Band were vital to the service at Brookvale and gave support at Collaroy. No account of these services would be complete without acknowledging the tribute given by C7 student Matisse at Brookvale and SUO Rory at Collaroy. I could not be more proud of these students. And of course, none of this would be possible without the support of their teachers: Major McClean, Mr Cosentino and Mrs King who supported G10 student Tilman whose initiative ensured our Marching Band was once more on display. An account of the day would not be complete without mention of Alumni Hattie and Adelaide Channon who continue to give outstanding service with their playing of the Last Post at these services. 

Community Heroes

Another holiday activity saw a group of Year 10 students undertake the Community Heroes initiative at the War Vets. A dozen students, under the guidance of Stage 5 Coordinator Ms Brady, visited the War Vets during the holiday recess to work with a group of eager veterans; technology tips, games, quizzes and chat provided deep lessons in respect and indeed each of our HEROIC values. 

Building Works

Whilst we were off site for 2 weeks, our building works continued and anyone who has been on the Campus or at least driven by can see the progress being made. Each day we inch toward our ultimate goal and with part of the scaffolding now removed we are seeing the enormous impact this development will have for our School community. Let us hope that the weather will continue to be our friend and not cause undue delays…

In addition to all these activities, several students have continued with their success in their chosen sporting endeavour. A full account of these and additional success stories appear later in this edition of HouseNews. Our congratulations to Lexi (C9), Hannah (C12) and Eiyarna (C10) for their fine competition results in the Australian Hip Hop team who recently competed at the ICU World Championships in Florida and the IASF. Isla of (C12) continues with her success in Wheelchair Tennis and is ranked 11th in the World with further competition to be played in Brisbane in June. Zoe (C10) and Michaela (C9) have had great results in the NSW Gymnastics Championships whilst Max (G8) and Ruann (G10) competed at the Australian Junior Track and Field competition in Brisbane with some outstanding results. 

Alumna Paris Ingegneri is to be commended as she takes on the Captaincy of the Warringah Rats Women’s 1st Grade team. I was also pleased to hear that our 2022 Dux of the Grammar School, Aaron Jia, will begin his tertiary studies at Edinburgh University in August. The Class of 2023 are in the throes of decision making for 2024 placements and our Careers Counsellor, Ms Finney is providing great advice as this often-fraught process is enacted. Mrs Finney took a group of 11 students to The Women's College at the University of Sydney for an informative dinner that showcased the benefit of College life to this group of Years 11 and 12 students.

We are out in force each Saturday in the Manly Warringah Netball Competition. Not only are we growing the number of teams each year, but in 2023 it is fantastic to see our parents compete proudly and wear the Pittwater House uniform. Such a spirit exists, and I do enjoy their sense of team each week. My time with students, and parents, at our sporting events, currently Basketball and Netball, is always a highlight of my week.

Our first day of Term 2 ended with the launch of our HEROIC Learning Model by Mrs Mano complemented by an outstanding presentation by Dr Mark Williams on effects of habits on the brain. It was such a shame that only a few parents were a part of this event. All went away with key learnings and determination to amend their approach to the smart phone forthwith, and absolutely to ensure that their sons and daughters took heed of the vital facts shared. Whilst we have your children in our care for 8 hours each day, the other 16 hours require parental engagement with the use of technology. It is your role. And it becomes more challenging by the day…

The term ahead is an action-packed affair. Before we get too involved in all on offer, I have asked our student leaders to reflect on their first half year in office. The pieces that follow provide an insight to their foci and I acknowledge the wonderful work and their initiative in some outstanding new approaches with significant impact across our School. I commend their work to you.

I look forward to meeting with many of you across the events of this Term, where your presence will impact not only your children, but the progress and success of Pittwater House as a strong family and community School.

With every good wish as we navigate the weeks ahead. 

Prefect Body - Term 1 Reflection

Head Prefects

Term 1 was our second term as a leadership team, and allowed for us to build upon the foundations which have been previously set, and strive to leave a lasting legacy for Pittwater House. 

Term 1 was all about the HEROIC value of ‘community’ and as a leadership team, we aimed to create a sense of community among the School, students and staff. We believe that we created that sense of community through our team members and their individual roles. We ensured that community was a driving factor for our speeches at our weekly Friday assemblies and through the ‘give it a go, grow and show’ awards, we brought our school community closer together by acknowledging students strengths and achievements. 

Our leadership team participated in the annual 24 hour swimathon, ‘Head Above Water’ to raise awareness and funds for men’s mental health. With only a few weeks to get the School involved in the charity, it posed a challenge for our team, however, it allowed us to work closer as a team. The best part about this event, in our opinion, was the fact that we were able to have all members of the School get involved, leadership team or not. From staff members, to students in both the Senior and Junior schools, we loved seeing faces of the Pittwater House community down at Collaroy pool.

Early in the term, we also had our annual swimming carnivals which are a highlight of the School year, and something that everyone in the School looks forward to. It was amazing to see all the happy faces during the day, and all the incredible sporting talent within our School. To bring each house closer together, our House Captains created house badges which each member of their House wears with pride. This not only encourages students to be proud of their House, but also become a part of their House community. 

Finally, last term was filled with a lot of construction and some slight disruption to classes, however we are looking forward to the progress that is yet to come, and excited to see what the final product will look like. We encourage all students to keep their attitudes high, despite the construction, and become excited about what the future of the School looks like. 

Overall, we are both looking forward to Term 2 of 2023, and our 3rd term as a leadership team. This term is all about ‘Innovation’ and celebrating those students with innovative ideas, as well as encouraging innovation throughout the school. We look forward to working with our leadership team, and the entire school, to create an environment that thrives off innovation, as well as all the other HEROIC values. 

Deputy Head Prefects

We hope that everybody has had a great Easter break and has used it effectively to springboard into Term 2. 

Last term, we aimed to use Big Bros and CUP groups to enrich our School’s HEROIC values, specifically offering an inclusive space to enable connections across our School community. By creating connections between junior years and senior years, both programs have aimed to model approaches to both school and personal life, with the goal of improving the overall school community, and welfare of students.

In progressing our aims, we set out to unify CUP and Big Bros for the first time, trialling a session for both the Year 7s and 8s. Throughout this coming term, we will continue to build upon this concept, introducing new activities and ways to implement the concept effectively. This will be one of our primary goals this term, where we hope to use CUP and Big Bros to strengthen the connection between the Grammar and College students. 

Last term, feedback for both Big Bros and CUP groups was collected and will be used this term to help guide changes made to the programs ensuring that the Big Bros and CUP groups models are refined to achieve their aims. 

Aside from Big Bros and Cup Groups, as Deputy Head Prefects we have successfully helped to organise charity events such as the Head Above Water sausage sizzle and intend on continuing our involvement in charity events and all aspects of our School community in the coming terms.

We wish everyone the best of luck for this term! 

Student Representative Council (SRC)

The SRC has been re-elected for 2023 with representatives chosen from across Form classes in each year. With this fresh start, the SRC has shown commitment and diligence, showing up each week to share the ideas of their peers and generate their own ideas and solutions to benefit our School community. Specifically, this term has seen: the formation of a Peer Study Support group (Recommended by a Year 12 student), allowing senior students to assist younger students with their homework; And the designing of a Street Library (Suggested by a Year 9 student), where students may share novels and even textbooks between years. These initiatives will be put in place early next term, which we hope will spark a wave of even more new ideas from the student body for the council to implement. 

House Captains

What a great start to the year for Butterworth, Orrock and Morgan! After finishing 2022 with the College Performing Arts performance, we House Captains were so excited to keep up the House spirit going into the new year - and the spirit shown in Term 1 certainly didn’t let us down. Due to Covid, we haven’t had a chance to meet up as individual House groups for quite some time, so we were really glad we could meet up to welcome the new Year 7s into their Houses. Everyone participated in a ‘House Welcoming’ ceremony where each member recited their House oaths, learnt some chants and earned their newly introduced House badges. We were so grateful to work alongside Dr Hillier to introduce the Houses badges, as a way of recognising what House each member of our community is in. 

In Week 4, we had our annual Swimming Carnival, where the students displayed great amounts of House spirit, and put their time learning chants into practice. Congratulations to everyone who participated and earned points for their House and a big congratulations to each House for winning a carnival! 

Senior Grammar Carnival 

Orrock - 419 

Morgan - 383 

Butterworth - 359 

Senior College Carnival 

Morgan - 689 

Orrock - 466 

Butterworth - 353 

Combined Junior School Carnival 

Butterworth - 1040 

Morgan - 1015 

Orrock - 1015 

This term we have two major upcoming events: our annual Athletics Carnival on the 5th of June, and House charity events where each House will run a charity day in support of different charities running all throughout the term. We can’t tell you much about it now, but we can give a little hint on what to expect: 'Movie Night, Sausage Sizzle, and 'The Great House Bake Off'.

We can’t wait for another great term! 

General Prefects

Term 1 was a great success from the whole school community, with everyone presenting their personal best and achieving fantastic things. In terms of sport, many members of the school community took part in individual sporting endeavours with amazing results being achieved. This also transferred to the school sporting teams which competed throughout the term with the formation of many new teams and team members which have all produced amazing results. This term also had both the College and Grammar swimming carnivals, at which all students were able to showcase their abilities, with many records broken and outstanding efforts put in. Thank you to everyone that participated and generated lasting memories. Term 1 was fantastic but let's make Term 2 even better.

With breakneck speed, our first term has disappeared. As General Prefect tasked with the Wellbeing Portfolio (which I’ve nicknamed Wellbeing Warriors), I am excited to employ my portfolio for the benefit our Pittwater House Community. In Term 4 last year, Senior School students were surveyed on what they believed wellbeing is, and how best to balance academic, and personal wellbeing. Based on these responses, I created numerous education promotion posters. These posters displayed catchy slogans and affirmative messages. My favourite poster read “You’re Capable, You’re Strong, You’re Kind, You have got this! You’re Mental Health Matters, Your Wellbeing Matters, You Matter!”. These posters decorated all corners of school providing positive messages, and reminders on how to prioritise wellbeing. I gained so much heartfelt feedback from the posters, with many students and teachers approaching me with gratitude. I spent Term 1 further developing my Wellbeing Warriors program with the input of Head of Counselling Mrs Williams, and Head of College Mrs Thomas. Now onto Term 2, in which I prioritised applying these ideals into my own program. I am very excited to launch the program starting Week 1 of this term! To give you a sneak peak, the first goal for the term is to revise the goals we each set at the beginning of the year to start us all off on the right foot.

In Term 1, I worked closely with Mrs Mano to create the HEROIC Habits program. This focused on promoting the Core Values of our School in assembly, and introducing them to the new students. Each week, Year 10 students were tasked with presenting a different value in a style that gave students ways to implement these in their daily lives, and prompted reflection on how they had used these in the previous week. Specifically as it was the start of the year, it was great for some of the older students to educate the younger years on effective habits that work for them, to help set up systems that they can continue throughout the year. Our Core Values are so important in helping students to set healthy goals, and by enacting the ideas presented to them, I hope it made it easier to harness a growth mindset. Next term, I plan to find new ways to engage students with their academics as we round off the first semester.

In Term 1, the charity which we fundraised for was Head Above Water, with the perfect team and school community coming together to support mental health. This was accomplished through a team which swam at the Head Above Water charity completing 450 laps within the 24-hour swimathon. Moreover, the Prefect Team alongside Deputy Head Prefect, Kael, fundraised over $2,500 through a sausage sizzle. Last term we accomplished a lot as a community through being able to give back to the wider community. This term myself and the House Captains have come together to form an exciting all term event which will hopefully ensure we can support as many charities we can as a community. So, buckle in and get excited for the term ahead and the amazing opportunity which will be presented to be able to give back through being a part of this outstanding Pittwater House community.

Term 1 started the year off positively with the School's new students and prefect team actively participating in activities such as the Swimming Carnival and CUP/Big Bros groups. Personally, Term 1 came with its struggles being the longest term and jam-packed with exams however, I felt that our community, especially in Year 12, was stronger than ever. Whilst our individual studies took up most of our time, we were still creative and innovative with new ideas for the leadership team to build on student involvement and connections. I am looking forward to soaring and flying into Term 2 with “High School Musical” underway with the Performing Arts students breaking free onto the stage. These students have been consistently putting in time and effort towards creating the best show for everyone to enjoy. I can’t wait to see this performance and congratulate them on the hard work that is being done. Well done to everyone this term and let's keep up the hard work moving on to Term 2.  

This year I believe began with a bang for us in the leadership group. Term 1 pushed our leadership team into full swing, getting us started with our first real charity event, the sausage sizzle, which was incredibly successful. Throughout the term, I was also responsible for presenting the fan-favourite ‘Give It A Grow’ award, however, I was wanting to do more extravagant and unique things when presenting it but was unable to do so, so keep your eyes peeled for that later on this term. We’ve also been pretty busy in the sustainability club, growing many healthy and delicious foods, and I wish to try and grow our team there this term, and the sustainability club as a whole to help better the school, and remove litter from our school grounds. 

Hopefully, this term as I said before, I can expand the Sustainability Club as a whole, improve the presentation of Give It A Grow, and provide some form of education or way to sustainably remove litter and wastefulness from our school grounds. Can’t wait to see you again this term.

Term 1 was 10 weeks full of new opportunities in both old and new fields. As per usual, we had our annual Grammar and College swimming carnivals, events unfamiliar to some, and a bit more familiar to others, but regardless of whether this was your first or twelfth swimming carnival, new experiences arose. My swimming carnival this year was different, as I was allowed to participate in the under 18’s races, as opposed to the under 17’s. Of course, this meant I had a greater challenge ahead of me, but it was worth it to race alongside my friends. Another challenge arose in my third Head Above Water, as I was not only in a bigger group of leaders and other year groups, but I was no longer swimming at 5am, but 8am. This meant the current was much stronger, and the laps became more strenuous. In fact, my number of laps completed was divided by three because of this obstacle, but it was, nonetheless, an enjoyable experience, and an opportunity for growth. Finally, a new opportunity came to me when I moved out of the Cadets Q Store and co-led a platoon for the first time. No longer was I simply rearranging equipment and serving customers, I was now ordering and teaching recruits, something I’d only done once before for the CPL’s course back in Year 9. Term 1 was an enjoyable, albeit different, time in my schooling experience, and one that allowed me personal growth. Of course, I’m just one person out of a smorgasbord of students at our School. So, I ask you, what adversities did you face in Term 1, and what were your favourite moments of those 10 weeks?