School Newsletter 2 July 2021

Welcome to the latest edition of the School Newsletter! As I write my article, Perth is in the midst of another lockdown. Of particular concern is the proximity of the exposure sites to our school and the threat posed by the Delta variant. The School very much appreciates the support of our community as we respond to ever evolving Government restrictions in the interests of keeping everyone safe. If there is a silver lining to this latest lockdown, it is that we are now heading into a holiday period. This should provide authorities with sufficient time to get on top of the recent outbreak so that all schools may resume in a normal mode of operation at the start of Term 3. We will of course keep our community fully updated as this situation unfolds, and I encourage you to continue checking our School App and Facebook page for the latest updates.

On a more positive note, you should by now have received a copy of the 2020 Yearbook. Due to some staffing changes, publication was slightly delayed this year. However, I am sure you will agree that it has been worth the wait as the Yearbook beautifully captures the essence of our community, including the diverse curriculum and co-curriculum offerings of our school. Preparing the Yearbook is a labour of love, and I am grateful to all staff for their role in preparing articles and collating pictures to record the happenings of what turned out to be a most unusual year! If for any reason you have not received your copy of the Yearbook, please contact the School.

Traffic Improvement Update

I recently attended a meeting on the corner of Salerno Drive and Quinns Road with representatives from the City of Wanneroo, the Department of Main Roads, and the Police. The meeting was convened to review a proposal to widen Quinns Road and determine whether the current crossing needs to be relocated. In promising news, it has been confirmed that work on Quinns Road will be proceeding this year. The work includes dual right turns (south) onto Marmion Avenue and a larger slip lane turning left (north). This should ease traffic congestion, particularly after school. As part of the works, the crossing will be shifted six metres east (towards Marmion Avenue) and also widened to enhance student safety. In addition, the roundabout will be lowered and made smaller which will help car and pedestrian visibility in the area. These works have been tentatively scheduled for school holiday periods which should help to minimise any disruptions to parents.

I would like to take this opportunity to remind parents of the importance of following traffic signage in and around our campus. With close to 3000 students in the vicinity each day, we all have a responsibility to drive responsibly and follow all signage in the interests of keeping our children safe. This is particularly important in our car parking areas at drop off and pick up times.

Staff Update

We have a number of staffing changes for Semester 2, with the following staff taking Long Service Leave:

Mr David Borrello – Humanities and Social Sciences (Term 3)
Mrs Karlie Smith – Year 1 (Term 3, Weeks 1-5)
Mr Nathaniel Pestell – Year 4 (Term 3)
Mrs Amanda Robinson – Year 2 (Semester 2)

These staff members will be covered by Miss Ainsley McLatchie (David Borrello), Mrs Rajvi Shah (Karlie Smith), Mrs Lisa Dearle (Nathaniel Pestell) and Mrs Lucinda Meredith (Amanda Robinson). We wish our departing staff a well-deserved break and look forward to welcoming new members of staff into our PMACS community.

School Website

Our Marketing Officer, Lauren Knapp, has been busy preparing to launch our rebranded and updated School Website. All staff were recently sent a link to access a test website, which will go live in early Term 3. The primary goal for the website refresh is to provide greater functionality for our site, with less text, more relevant and up-to-date information and a greater range of photos and video. Of course, websites continually evolve, and we would welcome any feedback from families once our site is officially launched.
 
As we head towards an extended holiday break, I would again like to thank our entire community for your continued support during these unprecedented times. The upcoming holidays are an opportunity for us all to recharge and reset for second semester. Hopefully, lockdown will not extend beyond 2 July so that all our families are able to make the most of the holiday period. To our Year 12s, this is especially important as you enter your final weeks before graduation, and I encourage you to have some down time, while not losing focus on the finish line.
 
To all our community, stay safe and healthy and I look forward to welcoming you back on campus in Term 3.
 
Every Blessing.
Benjamin Lomas
PRINCIPAL

I trust this message finds you all well, despite the recent COVID sanctions that have been placed on us as a community. Not the lead up to the school holidays that most of us were hoping for, but a respite to look forward to nonetheless! I would like to take this opportunity, as we head toward the end of the term and the mid-way point of the year, to thank you from the bottom of my heart for your unwavering support.

Whilst I do not want to define this term by the recent lockdown, I do want to acknowledge you, the wonderful Peter Moyes community, for the fantastic way in which you have supported your children and their learning. I applaud you all for working in partnership with our teachers and thank you again for maintaining your good sense of humour and sanity in these difficult times!    
But as I mentioned earlier, our term was not all reflected in recent COVID mandates. A definite highlight for me this term was accompanying our Cross Country Carnival students to Mawson Park to compete in the NIPSSA Cross Country Carnival and win the A Division! To see the students participate in what is not an easy run and then push themselves even more in the last leg, was a joy to witness as they were cheered on most enthusiastically from the side lines. Our Year 5 and 6 students have also relished in opportunities to compete against local schools within the NIPSSA Winter Sports Programme.

The IPSHA Performing Arts Festival saw students so profoundly engaged from the ground up; a full day of workshop rehearsal culminating in an amazing performance of ‘Someone to you’ in the evening. Another highlight was our hosting of the IPSHA Ecumenical Service, with over 20 schools joining us in our School Chapel with a poignant drama performed by our Year 6 Leadership team and Choir singing ‘10,000 Reasons’.

We have been celebrating the fact that the Primary School Nature Playground is pretty much complete, despite being nearly 6 months behind schedule. Little did I know that when I was presenting the concept and plan to apply for funding from the P&F, that there would have been so many delays. However, our students are loving this new space and are enjoying the challenges it provides. We delight in the sense of fun and joy that we see in the faces of every student being creative, where they are playing, climbing, investigating, and inventing. This is exactly what we have wanted them to be doing!

Looking ahead, we are finally having removed the old demountable and shipping container on the East side of the Primary School Oval and doing some upgrading to the Kitchen Garden shed. We are excited too, that we are creating a new IT Technologies Space to share with the Middle School. This will be used for our Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEAM) pursuits and will incorporate a lot of the Lego Robotics, coding, and movie-making aspects of the Technologies Curriculum.

Semester One reports were available for you to peruse on Wednesday, 30 June. I will send around information about booking in for Parent/Teacher Interviews that will be held on Monday 2nd August and through that week, next term.

With immense gratitude to our school community, I thank you all for your support throughout the semester. We have welcomed several new families to our Primary School and hope that you are settling into our fold, and we look forward to continuing to learn more about you and how best we can support you. 

That is about it for now.  Enjoy the forthcoming holidays, which ‘fingers crossed’ will see fewer restrictions.  See you all in Term 3!

My best wishes,
Roderick Wood
Associate Principal - Primary School

On Friday 11 June the Year 6 Academic Extension students had a fascinating excursion to the Magistrates Court, Supreme Court and Old Court House in the heart of the city of Perth.

Following a guided tour of the imposing Supreme Court number 3, which educated the students about each of the key roles in a Supreme Court trial, we attended live sessions at the Magistrates Court.

This was a memorable, and at times intimidating experience as we walked the corridors of the Court with lawyers, defendants and police officers.  The students have been learning all about our systems of law and order and this insight into the real- life application of the principles of our laws was a valuable lesson. 

In one of the courts, prisoners from Hakea prison were attending the sessions via video link and the students were able to witness the Police Prosecutors, defence counsel and Magistrate in action dealing with many matters, including bail applications.

The excursion finished with a fun Mock Trial in the Old Court House adjacent to the Supreme Court. The students each played a part in the scripted trial of an arson office as prosecution or defence, witnesses, accused, Magistrate and Associate, reviewing the evidence presented to the Court and deciding the fate of the accused.

Primary School Charity Day 

Our Primary School Charity Day was held on Friday 18 June and we raised approximately $850 for animal rescues. The two charities selected by our students were The Dog’s Refuge in Shenton Park and SAFE WA. Both organisations provide support for animals that need a second chance in life. Our theme for the day was ‘Be Kind to others, especially animals’, and these two organisations demonstrate kindness to animals every day and thus are well deserving of our donations.

Students dressed up in animal themed clothing and participated in activities in the library at lunchtime. On behalf of the student leaders we would like to thank everyone for their donations and for taking the time to dress up and support this worthy cause.

Mrs Nicole Brown 
Dean of Students Primary School

Recycling

Unfortunately, the company that was collecting our milk bottles for recycling is no longer in operation. Additionally, our bottle top recycling company has been inundated and cannot accept any more bottle tops.

Therefore, we are no longer accepting milk bottles or bottle tops. We will now only accept bread tags, ring pulls and the Containers for Change plastic bottles to recycle. We will continue to seek out companies that are willing to accept our donations, if you are aware of any companies, please let us know.

Mrs Nicole Brown
Dean of Students Primary School

On Tuesday June 15 2021 at 6pm, Year 9 Dance and Drama students performed their class work, on stage in the ASC, for an audience filled with family and friends.

The Dance class performed a Commercial Jazz piece choreographed by Mrs Bird and the students, and a Lyrical piece choreographed by Holly Burns – a visiting dance artist. The contrast in styles in the year 9 Program challenges the students to step out of their comfort zone and adapt their performance skills to the specific styles. The added lights and costumes gave the students a theatre performance experience and they performed brilliantly. Mrs Bird is very proud of you all.

Mrs Maria Bird                                                                                                                                                                 
Secondary School Dance

The Year 9 Drama class chose to do a self-devised piece this year called, Murder at the Dance. Set in the 1980’s among the shoulder pads, fluro and stone wash jeans. The play opens at the school dance, December 1988 where Veronica, the most popular girl in school ends up with a knife in her back. They decided to write a number of scenes in flashback to see who had it in for Veronica and in the end the right culprit was captured. The class performed an entertaining piece which showcased the variety of talent within the class with some classic 1980’s dance moves. Well done everyone.

Mrs Peta Flanigan                                                                                                                                                                
Artistic Director Snapshot                                                                                                                                                       
Youth Theatre Company

HRH Prince Phillip, Duke of Edinburgh KG, KT, AK, would have celebrated his 100th birthday earlier this month and many of those adults around the world remember him fondly for the youth awards programme that carries his name. The awards programme was founded in the United Kingdom in 1956 and has since expanded to 144 nations. The award recognises adolescents and young adults for completing a series of self-improvement tasks: fitness training, expeditions, projects, and rescue services. The award was initially for boys and was administered by John Hunt, who led the first successful ascent of Mount Everest in 1953. The first girls joined in September 1958.

Today, the Award is an internationally recognised programme, with over 8 million young people taking part since its inception. It aims to build skills, equipping young people for life and work, and playing a critical role in their development. Each programme is personalised which allows young people a structure to fulfil their passions and ambitions in a way that suits them.
 
It has three levels; bronze, silver, and gold and with assistance from adult leaders, participants select and set objectives in each of the following areas:

Volunteering – undertaking services to individuals or the community
Physical – improving in an area of sport, dance, or fitness activities
Skills – developing practical and social skills and personal interest
Expedition – planning, training for, and completing an adventurous journey
 
At Gold level, participants must do an additional Residential section, which includes staying and working away from home for five days, doing a shared activity.
 
To achieve an award, participants must work on each section for a minimum period and must be monitored and assessed by someone with knowledge of the chosen activity. Each progressive level requires more time and commitment from participants: Bronze 3-6 months; Silver 6-9 months; Gold 12-18 months.
 
If you would like more information, have a look at the website: dukeofed.com.au or contact Phil Carr, Alison Grey or Sara Priest via email or telephone via Main Reception. 

Examinations and Goal setting

Term 2 is always a busy, exciting and tiring term. Our students have demonstrated their consolidation of learning leading to validating this through their exams. It is never easy to write 2- or 3-hour examinations; however, our students in the Senior School have shown that they are more than capable of meeting the expectations of the School during these extended testing days and weeks.

After the examinations come the next challenges that the results have exposed – for some students it highlights deficits in conceptual understandings, insufficient grasp of techniques in written answers and time management. Identifying these gaps in learning and then actively working towards eliminating them should now be the focus of home study and practice for Term 3.

Year 11 and year 12 students are reminded to access the revision programs offered in the holidays for that boost in academic confidence. For year 12 students there remains but 9 weeks of secondary schooling left. The goal for every one of our Year 12 students, as is their teachers’, is to gain secondary graduation, starting with a comfortable mark in English, in particular. A manageable goal is to eliminate the gaps in learning to add that extra 3% to improving marks in each course.

All Year 12 ATAR students have now seen the date of their WACE Examinations for November. During the holidays, SCSA make available to download or view the Year 12 Information Handbook 2021 Part II. Students can find this at: https://www.scsa.wa.edu.au/publications/year-12-information.

The forthcoming holidays is the best time to digest all the important information that students need to know leading to the WACE Examinations. SCSA take as ‘understood’  that students who sit the WACE examinations have read and will abide by the rules and their responsibilities for these examinations.

Year 10 Subject Selection

Year 10 students have been looking at academic choices for Year 11. The one-to-one career and pathway counselling have been conducted. In week 10 all Year 10 students participated in an ‘Explore ECU Day’ at Joondalup with another day spent consolidating their MyFutures portfolio. Visiting ECU is a great opportunity for our students to see what goes on outside the bubble of secondary schooling. By meeting the safe challenge of making their own way to the campus via public transport, or students then participated in a number of interactive activities, some led by Lecturers and current ECU students. Some of the student ambassadors are past PMACS students!

During that same week, Year 10 students and their parents attended the Subject Selection Information evening. During that evening the process for students selecting their six courses for Year 11 in 2022 was outlined. Students  have until Week 2 Term 3 to make their choices. Students have at their disposal added resources on the School Portal including the Subject Selection Information e-book and a series of short pertinent videos on all courses offered at PMACS. These augment the presentations from Heads of Department during the last few weeks of Term 2.

It is exciting to have a three-week mid-year break. My wish is for all students and their parents to enjoy the down time that this opportunity brings. Students should moderate their time with some study, reading for pleasure, healthy exercise and green time (as opposed to screen time). Term 3 requires all students to return with their energy and focus fully charged with purpose and resilience.

With my best wishes
Mrs Natalie Shaw                                                                                                                                                               
Associate Principal Senior School

On Monday 14 June, the Year 10 Children, Family and Community (CFC) class were lucky enough to welcome some special visitors to their lesson. Pia and her delightful baby Isla popped in to say hello and give the Year 10s some insight into pregnancy, birth, motherhood and midwifery. Pia isn’t just any guest speaker – she is Mr Spurry’s wife! Mr Spurry did visit in between lessons to see his wife and daughter, and all the Year 10s could see how besotted he is with her! And rightfully so – she’s such a beautiful baby.

While Pia is a new mother, she is also a qualified midwife and was working in this field prior to having Isla. The Year 10s were able to ask questions and chat with Pia about everything to do with babies from the perspective of both a mother and a midwife. They asked deep, meaningful questions and Pia was quite impressed with them… so was Mrs Lawrence!

After asking their questions, the Year 10s were shown first hand how to bathe a baby, and Isla loved being in the water. If she wasn’t already the cutest thing we had ever seen, she sure was when she was wrapped up in her bath towel!

We would like to thank Pia and Isla for coming in to visit. We are hoping to see them again towards the end of the year to see how much she has grown and changed!

Although numerous students could be highlighted for their individual performances, there are a few that should be highlighted . . .

• Samuel Holroyd (Capt.) ran to his race plan to placed 1st in the blue ribbon OPEN U19 age category in his 6th & final year with the overall fastest time of the day across 4km, qualifying to the ACC Honorary Team for 5th occasion.
  
  
• Louie Oakes (Capt.) raced tactically perfectly to place 5th in the OPEN U19 Age category, meaning he will achieve the prestigious ACC Letters Awards due to four ACC Honorary Team selections across his 6 years – congratulations!
  
  
• Travis Woolley placed 46th in the OPEN U19 age category, a critical contribution to win the coveted OPEN U19 Boys Team Shield.
  
  
• Danielle Graham placed 1st in the U14 age category with the fastest time overall across all schools over 3km, qualifying the ACC Honorary Team.
  
  
• Beth Kilgallon placed 2nd in the U14 age category with the 2nd fastest time overall across all schools over 3km, qualifying the ACC Honorary Team.
  
  
• Dermott Arthy placing 4th in the U14 age category qualifying the ACC Honorary Team.
  
  
• Kya Fisher (Capt.) placed an impressive 10th in the U15 age category with our fastest girls 4km time, qualifying the ACC Honorary Team.
  
  
• Sophie McCokindale (Capt.) placed an impressive 22nd in the OPEN U19 age category.
  
  
• Lance Griessel (Capt.) placed an impressive 8th in the U15 age category with our third fastest boys time across 4km.
  
  
• Kye Jones ran impressively strongly once again in the highly competitive U16 age category to place 18th overall.
  
  
• Philippa Holding running U16, promoted from U13, contributed to the U16 team result with an impressive 53rd position and fine time over 4km.
  
  
• Gemma Agostini running U15, promoted from U13, contributed to the U15 team total with a fine time over 4km.
  
  
• Marley McDougall ran very well to place 24th in a very large U13 boys race.
  
  
• Kaylee Williams (31st), Isabelle Curtis (35th) & Sasha Pinto-Ross (54th) ran superbly as an U13 team finishing in close succession fine times across 3km.
  
  
• Joey Oosterhoff placed 3rd in the OPEN Inclusive category, our first ever Inclusive finisher, having been looking forward to the carnival & a very regular attendee at the morning training sessions.

Mr B Streeter
Director of Inter-School Sport
ACC Cross Country Coach

The aim from the outset was to remain in the highly competitive ‘B’ Division this year with what was a very strong ACC Swimming Squad! Our students performed to the best of their abilities, many of whom attained Personal Best’s following the course of Term One training. Our School's swimmers were superb throughout the day and their improvement and ambition were clearly evident. The ACC Swimming Squad students did themselves, their School and their coaches proud today! 

The team spirit and cohesiveness was clearly evident to see amongst the students which made it a highly pleasurable day to be a part of as ever. Congratulations to our outgoing Year 12 Seniors who have represented the School with vigour, enthusiasm and pride over their years at Peter Moyes ACS including our outgoing Senior Captains Ellie Lyons and Jay Solly. 

There were a number of exceptional individual performances across the age groups; however, Charlotte Ericksen & Thomas Prowton should be especially noted as they have now both qualified to the ACC Honorary All Stars Team for four years, meaning they receive the coveted and prestigious ACC LETTERS Award for Swimming.

Below are the results for:

Overall 'B' Division Swimming Carnival Scores

Our ACC Squad values of ’Dedication, Hard work, & Ambition’ were demonstrated amongst all students and although a number of students could be highlighted for their performances, individual students of note were . . .

Logan Grant (U13 Boys) – 2nd Overall
Amelia Hinton (U14 Girls) – 4th Overall
Matthew McClean Prowton (U15 Boys) – 2nd Overall
Dana Harrison (Junior Capt. U15 Girls) – Champion Girl
Thomas Prowton (U16 Boys) – Champion Boy
Sophia Tarman (U16 Girls) – Champion Girl
Charlotte Ericksen (U17 Girls) – Champion Girl
Jay Solly (Senior Capt. OPEN Boys) – 3rd Overall
Ellie Lyons (Senior Capt. OPEN Girls) – 3rd Overall
 
Thank you to Mr. M. Fussell for his continuing and ongoing commitment to training the ACC Swimming Team without whom the success of the Squad would not be possible. It was also invaluable to have the training expertise of our past ACC Swimming Alumni Captains Keith Solly & Ella Packer who returned to assist along with Miss A Yukich.

Mr B Streeter
Director of Inter-School Sport
ACC Swimming Coach

Due to the short term and our fantastic School Production last term, the decision was made to have Semester One Honours Award Assembly and combine both our Term One and Term Two Awards. It is always a lovely way to end the term celebrating student success and we were treated to a rendition of a piano duet from Bobby Yang and Joscelyn Melendez, which they performed at the ASC Piano Competition. We also presented ‘Peer Support Leader’ badges to our Year 11 students who had completed the Peer Support Australia training and worked with our Year 7 students so admirably earlier in the year.

Receiving a special award was Hannah Klonowski for her placement in the top four of ‘Be The Difference’. This was a nationwide competition for female students to present a short speech about issues facing women in their careers. Hannah’s speech was on ‘Imposter Syndrome’, and she was invited to a special breakfast at ‘Crown’ on International Women’s Day earlier in the year. 

The Honours Awards are presented to a male and female student in both Middle and Senior School and is a prestigious award given to students who demonstrate the School Values and have particularly achieved their personal best. 

The School Values Award is presented to either a male or a female student in each year level, each term, by their Head of Year. It will be awarded to a student who consistently demonstrates one or more of the School Values – Faith, Excellence, Compassion, Respect, Responsibility and Courage.

Colours and Honours Awards are badges presented to students who have made an outstanding contribution to the School in one of four areas – Academic, Culture, Sport and Service. Honours are awards, which may be presented to students in recognition of an outstanding effort and/or achievement over an extended period.

Service Colours were presented to: Anthony Walker, Jorja Colotti, Hudson Durell, Daniel Mann, Jack Colbourne, Ellie Lyons, Taleisa Kuipers and Bella Peut

Cultural Honours were presented to: Atida Gohwa, Amy MacDonald, Jacob Miles, Casey Garces, Zach Garces, Brody Graham and Hannah Klonowski, Taleisa Kuipers and Mia Nicholson

Cultural Colours were presented to: Gemma Agostini, Caitlin Bird, Connor Futter, Bailey Hickling, Ella Marcon, Bonnie Murphy and Jorji Parker

Congratulations to all our Term One & Two Award winners. 

Ms Alison Grey
Dean of Students Secondary School

Peter Moyes Week

We will be celebrating Peter Moyes week when we return to school after the holidays. For each day of the week there will be a particular focus on one of our School’s values. 

On Friday, students will participate in a House Olympiad, with the focus being on building House Spirit. All Secondary, Middle and Primary School students are encouraged to wear their Sports Uniform and House shirts. 

For those students in Pre-Primary, Year 1 and 2, that have not yet been able to purchase a House shirt, please feel free to wear a t-shirt in the same colour as your House for this special day only. Remember to keep an eye on our social media posts during the week to find out all about the great activities taking place.

On Wednesday June 2 2021 Peter Moyes Anglican Community School hosted the 9th ASC Piano Competition.  A record 214 registrations from eleven of the fourteen ASC Schools entered including 27 digital entries from Cathedral College Wangaratta VIC and six from Georgiana Molloy in Busselton WA. The competition had seven categories, named from the core values of the Anglican Schools Commission, adjudicated by three specialist adjudicators with a Novice section giving 38 students the opportunity to participate.

The event comprised 11 morning heats and 6 digital heats judged earlier with the winners going through to the final at 12:30pm. Congratulations to the 22 Peter Moyes Students that participated, especially Roi Allardyce who placed 3rd in the Faith Category (Australian Music Examination Board Preliminary and Grade 1), Joscelyn Melendez and Bobby Yang who placed 2nd in the Respect Duet Category and Joscelyn Melendez who placed 3rd in the Excellence Category (AMEB Grade 6 and above).  The overall winner of the 9th ASC Piano Competition, who will also play in the ASC Combined Concert at the Perth Concert Hall on 3rd September 2021 was Jordan Scott from Swan Valley Anglican Community School. All participants receive a Participation Certificate which also includes their adjudicator's comments, as well as a statement of placings in any categories. Winner's trophies and gift vouchers have also been sent.
 
Recognition is given to Joscelyn and Bobby who have competed in all nine of the ASC Piano Competitions.

It is always great to hear thanks and positive feedback back from the schools, especially those who may have travelled from distant places. Thank you too to the many ASC student pianists and their teachers, our PMACS student helpers and staff, especially the Allen Shaw Centre team, the Grounds and Canteen staff, ASC guests, our MC Eleanor McNamara, and our Administrative staff. A particular thanks to Bronwyn Booth who did so very much to ensure that this event was a success.

Mr Justin Tonti
Teacher in Charge of Secondary Music

 

On Friday 18 June Secondary School Celebrated Stress Down Day, an initiative created by Lifeline to encourage people to have fun and reduce their stress levels.

Tutors chose an activity they wanted to run for students in their year group. Students then selected the activity they felt would most help them unwind and ‘de-stress’. Activities ranged from physical activities like basketball, dodgeball, and soccer, to mindful activities like colouring, friendship bracelet making, and relaxing activities like cartoons & popcorn and Wii bowling.

This year we also had some special visitors. Mamos Alpacas bought in Chino and Chewy, two young alpacas who visited our students in Years 9-12. We also had a visit for our younger students from LJ the Therapy dog from Mater Dei College. Studies have shown that interacting with animals helps to decrease levels of cortisol, a stress-related hormone. Our visitors seemed to help everyone automatically feel calm.

Mrs Emily Kerins
Secondary School Counsellor

The last two weeks has seen students go head-to-head in the strategic game of chess. In a round robin format competitors battled to outplay their opponents each lunch time. Congratulations to Annabella Brett who played in a quiet and thoughtful manner accruing more win points than all other players.

With so much interest in the competition a new Chess Club has been formed. The Rev. Paul Howells will visit the Library on Thursdays at lunchtime to help with game strategy and tips in the hope a School Chess Team can be formed that will compete against other Schools. A sign-up sheet is available at the Library Desk for interested students of all skill levels. 

Over the weekend of June 5 and 6 2021 Grace Griffiths from Year 8.2 competed in the WA Invitational Taekwondo Championships. Grace won first place in the under 15 Female Black Belt division winning 28 to 7.

Congratulations Grace on this fantastic achievement.

One of our Year 12 ATAR Dance students Asha Lague has been extremely busy this past month. On Saturday 22 May she performed at The Crown for the Path of Hope Ball with over 500 guests in attendance. The theme of the evening was Breakfast at Tiffany's. 

On Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 June, Asha participated in the ‘Dance Life Unite’ competition as part of troupes, duos and as a soloist, with these amazing results:

Troupe
Open Lyrical                          1st place
Open Jazz                             1st place
Open Contemporary              1st Place

17 years and over
Tap Solo                               1st place
Contemporary Solo               1st place
Lyrical Solo                           4th place

Duo
Contemporary                       4th place

Fantastic work Asha. We are very proud of your achievements.

Mrs Maria Bird
Secondary School Dance

A big congratulations to one of our Year 7 students, Blake Thompson, who recently competed in the Australian Little League Baseball Championships in Lismore NSW over the last two weeks. Blake and his Wanneroo Giants team mates achieved success and finished with a Bronze Medal for the tournament, after beating Adelaide Marlins 2-1 in the medal playoff game. 

Blake and his team had a fantastic campaign series after nearly 6 months of training and preparation. Many of the Little League games were shown live and have been uploaded on YouTube at Baseball.com.au. Whilst not this year due to COVID, normally the winning gold medal team are sent to the USA to represent Australia in the International Little League World Series, one which Blake and his team mates are determined to achieve this next year. 

Great job Blake!

After being selected for the Under 12 State Rugby team, Kyron Arthy attended a one week training camp at Ern Halliday to experience representative football. He said that it was extremely enjoyable and helped the team to bond.

Year 3 students, Neve Arthy and Charly Willers, performed a violin duo at the recent AUSTA WA String Festival.

World-renowned cellist and adjudicator, Michael Goldschlager, praised Neve and Charly for giving an 'outstanding performance'. They received medals and a gold award.

Congratulations to both girls on their hard work and polished performance!

A reminder that all parents at the School have the opportunity to register for ParentTV. 

Please go to www.parenttv.com/membership and enter the school code ‘moyes’.
From here you will be able to set up an account.

So… you have created an account and not sure where to start?

Parent Topics – short videos for parents

Child Topics – short videos for parents and children on some of those difficult topics that you might need help with answering

Activities – a range of fun activities for young children

Courses – series of videos for parents on particular topics

Experts – videos for parents arranged by expert

Blogs – weekly blogs on a range of parenting topics

Ask an Expert – your opportunity to ask your question directly to the experts

Search – type in a topic and all posts relating to it will appear

On Tuesday 15 June Paul Dillon held a parent seminar through Connect Learn Engage as well as speaking with PMACS Year 10 -12 cohorts. Paul Dillon is the Director and founder of DARTA, and he is passionate about ensuring that the community has access to accurate and up-to-date alcohol and other drug information. Paul aims to provide education and training expertise as well as high quality research assistance on a wide range of alcohol and other drug issues. Paul only spoke to the Year 12 students via Zoom last year, so he did have to play a bit of catch up this year! He has a great rapport with students and states that he is not telling them what to do, but the best way to reduce risk is to have as much information and the plan ahead. Our students are entering the most dangerous time of their life, so it is imperative that they know the risks and be prepared. The situations Paul talks about are not the norm, but they are real, and they do happen.

Alcohol

Paul spoke to students about some of the myths and facts of alcohol, particularly surrounding ‘sobering up’ a drunk person 

1. Feeding a drunk person bread – myth, it does not ‘soak up the alcohol’, rather can cause vomiting 

2. Cold showers – myth, cold, wet, drunk people fall over, dangerous in glass showers 

3. Encouraging them to be sick – myth, it will not sober them up

4. Forcing them to drink lots of water – myth, take small sips and listen to their own body for signs of rehydration

The only thing that sobers a person up is time.

To work out how drunk a person is and how dangerous the situations is, you need to see they can support themselves and hold their head up. If their head does not come up, then their airway will be compromised, they need to be in the recovery position, and you need to get them some help.

Always eat a fist full of food before they go out and make sure their first drink is water. It’s ‘Water Time!’ photos – sent to Paul. Designate a person who will ensure water is consumed! Some young people had a shrine to Paul at a house party as a water station.

Three sentences to remember:

1. If someone passes out after drinking or taking a drug,

2. You can look after a sleepy drunk, but not an unconscious drunk

3. Unconscious + alcohol = ambulance

Three questions to ask before you put them in bed:

1. Can they walk?

2. Can they talk?

3. Can they answer a question?  

If they can, put them to bed, in the recovery position, a folded pillow behind them to stop them rolling over, and watch them for 10 mins. Check for alcohol poisoning - cold, clammy skin, ‘blue’ lips, breathing is irregular or vomiting without their eyes open.

Cannabis

WA has the toughest cannabis laws in the country and possession of cannabis is illegal. Young people are now less likely to use cannabis than their parent’s generation due to the decline of cigarette smoking. Major concern regarding cannabis is that it is like a key that unlocks pre-existing mental health conditions (these conditions can lay dormant for a person’s life) primarily schizophrenia or bi-polar disorder. If there is a family history of mental illness – never use cannabis! There are three warning signs for you to be worried about a friend:

1. If they are still paranoid the next day

2. If they smoke cannabis everyday

3. If their response to why they smoke is ‘it’s the only time I feel normal’ 

Seek help if you are concerned about them!

Vaping

Paul explained the dangers, which are still largely unknown, of Vaping. In addition to the extraordinarily high levels of tobacco in each ‘pod’, there are other dangers including cheaply made batteries and heating elements. They use flavoured oil and heat them up to 350 degrees Celsius. They are mainly made is a region of China - the chances of explosion and burning are high. Recently, 69 people died, and 2,500 were hospitalised with seemingly ‘mystery deaths’ of respiratory issues. Essentially, they had vaped a contaminated batch, and poisoned themselves to death.

Vaping is on the rise and the consequences are still unknown. Paul has further information in his blogs.

Driving

For Year 12 students Paul also talked about the dangers of being a P plater. Males are most likely to lose their P plates for speeding, whereas for girls it is drink driving, as they do not wait long enough after driving and still blow positive the next day. Paul asked the students if they knew how long they should wait? Everyone is different due to biological factors, so Paul could only let them know a guide, but males should go to bed and wait 12 hours, females should wait 16 hours. If it is a big night, wait 24 hours for both genders.

Paul also talked about random breath and/or drug testing and why young people will be more likely to get pulled over. These include driving a red car, or an expensive car, a customised car, or a Holden Commodore. Also, if they have dreadlocks, or are driving with a hoodie on. Police will also pull young people over if their P plates are not ‘clear and visible’ (must be able to be seen from 30 metres and see all four corners). Paul’s recommendation is to get one that fits onto your registration plate. 

Paul suggested students do two things to do after the presentation:

- Follow Paul on Instagram – he posts advice every Saturday at 8pm

- Download the Emergency + App. This is a great app with features, including how to CPR. It also has three words linked to GPS coordinates. All you need to do is read them to the operator. What3words. 

Paul Dillon spoke to the Year 10 – 12 students last week about the dangers of vaping, while advertisements like the one on the left are seen online and on social media platforms including TikTok. While it is illegal to sell e-cigarettes to under 18s, it is obvious that these products are readily available to our young people online. All they need to do is click on the ‘Yes, I am 18’ and they are allowed into websites to make purchases. 

The key difference for young people is that the e-cigarettes sold legally to adults do not contain nicotine, each JUUL pod, the world’s most popular vaping product, contains the equivalent nicotine concentration of a packet of tobacco cigarettes. 

While the School maintains a zero-tolerance policy towards buying, selling, swapping, sharing, giving, or using vaping products, it is important to ensure our young people are aware that, not only are there potential health risks, but they are also contributing to the enormous wealth, power and influence of the international tobacco lobby.

Marlboro have invested $13bn in JUUL, produced with flavours that include watermelon, mango, and peach, clearly the manufacturers of these products are targeting adolescents, knowing that this is the period in the human lifecycle of greatest experimentation and propensity to addiction. Meanwhile, in 2019, the CEO of cigarette company Philip Morris, Andre Calantzopolous, earned an annual income of over $US16mn. In recent years young people have avoided smoking tobacco cigarettes, so these companies are turning to vaping, to addict young people to their dangerous and potentially deadly products. 

‘Puff Bars’ are a significant competitor for JUUL and market a flavour called ‘OMG’, a blend of Orange, Mango and Guava. Puff Bar is a compact and disposable vape device. They also contain high levels of nicotine and are made with flavours including strawberry, café latte, banana ice, watermelon, and tangerine, whilst denying their desire to attract and addict a young adolescent market. 

‘The Vaping Fix’ is a podcast following the story of James Monsees and Adam Bowen, two Stanford University graduate students, who have an idea that they believe could save millions of lives and rid the world of smoking. The goal is personal: they are both smokers. But even good intentions can have unintended consequences. If you are interested, it can be listened to here: https://wondery.com/shows/the-vaping-fix/

Paul Dillon also has information for parents and young people on his website: http://darta.net.au/