Preshil Weekly – Term 4 Week 9

Somatic Skills Workshop
As part of the Early Commencement program for Year 10s, this week, Shannon from Collective Being facilitated a Soma Skills workshop where students were guided to understand self-regulation, stress relief and sleep support through helpful psychoeducation about the nervous system. The workshop provided a brief overview of how stress impacts the body, gentle body based practices that can help move through stress, and a handout with practices to use at school or home.

Students discussed and practiced embodied ways they could activate and deactivate their nervous system during experiences of acute stress such as examinations and assessment deadlines, as well as how to transition into sleep when this feels challenging. They all shared a strategy they felt they could access and implement in these moments as a reflection at the end of the session

Great Book Swap
We’re so pleased to share that Arlington students have submitted their funds raised across 2 events (a book swap and a book sale) to support the Indigenous Literacy Foundations Book Supply program. These donations gift over 76 culturally relevant books to children and families in remote communities.

Year 7 and 8 Science Exhibition
Last week, our Year 7 and Year 8 students showcased their hard work and creativity in the highly anticipated Science Exhibition. The event was a celebration of a whole term’s dedication to designing and conducting experiments. From innovative hypotheses to impressive presentations, the students demonstrated their scientific inquiry skills and amazed attendees with their findings.

Thank you to all who came to support and encourage our budding scientists, it was truly inspiring to see their enthusiasm for learning and discovery!

The Peppercorns Annual Play
A long standing Arlington tradition, the Play, is a gift from our Biggies to the children of Arlington. With their young audience in mind, they create their play for the delight of our community. This year the Peppercorn children devised and performed their play “in-the-round”, with the sets arranged around the perimeter of the Kevin Borland Hall, and the children in the middle.

At our Whole School Meeting today, we talked about how that might be for the audience, in that sometimes we would find ourselves at the front, and at other times at the back of the audience. But we all agreed that moving during the play would disturb the players.

MoneyTime Kids
This week our Peppercorns participated in MoneyTime Kids financial literacy curriculum program. All children were enrolled, and completed modules ranging from earning, saving, spending, borrowing, banking and budgets.

Our children were such keen learners that they came 3rd overall, and performed well above average in knowledge gain.

Sunroom Walkathon
Last Friday, the Sunroomers walked their compassionate hearts out in support of the Asylum Seeker Resource Centre. The children were unyielding in their endeavour, walking for the full two hours and notching up individual distances anywhere between 5 and 10 kilometres. Above is a video of Maya speaking on the event.

Preshil’s Festive Light Show – Year 11 IB Group 4 Project
The Year 11 IB students took part in the Group 4 Project titled “Preshil’s Festive Light Show” this week. The project entailed students working across the science disciplines (Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Environmental Science) to solve a problem through scientific method design. The theme this year was “Rube Goldberg Machines”. The catch… their machine had to include clearly represented subject-specific concepts from each of the sciences.

The consequence of such a challenge resulted in; Divergent plates that resulted in objects falling through the cracks in the Earth. Titrations that filled cups that acted as weights. Enzymes reacting to make gases that blow up balloons. Spring-loaded scissors that cut strings. Movement of matter through food chains that triggered dominoes. Volcanoes erupting.

The point of all of this? Like all good Rube Goldberg Machines, we made the simple task of turning on fairy lights into a complex process of steps that incorporated science concepts. 

Community Project – Year 8 Middle Years Program
This semester, our Year 8 students undertook the MYP Community Project. This project requires students to collaborate in small groups and to use their knowledge of Service Learning to support an external Community Service. 

These projects provide experiential learning for our students with the outcomes of academic and skill building. The projects undertaken this semester were: the Peace Cafe (where we raised over $2000 in support of Asylum Seeker Resource Centre), Food 4 Food (in support of Support Médecins Sans Frontières) and Supporting Refugees across the Globe. We’d like to thank Sushi Bros who generously supplied by the sushi for the Peace Cafe.

Students celebrated their achievements today in writing their final reflections and receiving their certificates. The teaching team involved in the Community Projects are very proud of the student’s achievements, and the growth that we have seen in all of them as global citizens is truly amazing. Congratulations Year 8 students!

Lost Property
Lost property items for Arlington will be available outside the Hall on Monday December 9 and Tuesday December 10 for collection.

Any lost property that is left after then will be donated to the Salvation Army.

Preshil Careers Hub
Discover everything you need to make a successful transition through high school and into the ‘real world’. Sign up to receive our Pathways & Careers Newsletters, access the latest guides on life and money management, work experience opportunities, and parent resources. You can also connect with the Careers and Pathways Team for personalised support. Click the link below for more information on Preshil’s Careers Hub.