Playford College nEWSLETTER Issue 3 - March 2023

NAPLAN does not recognise or celebrate the student who:

• Shows kindness to peers.
• Does chores at home to help the family.
• Is a top soccer, volleyball, basketball or other sports player.
• Always shows good sportsmanship.
• Is punctual to school and lessons.
• Greets adults and peers in a pleasant manner.
• Is honest, humble and caring.
• Is devoted to Allah and practises Islam with conviction.
• Shows leadership, persistence and dedication at school and in the community.
• Is a wonderful, complex and unique creation of Allah.

Nevertheless, NAPLAN is important to a school because it helps us look closely at our students' results and how we can improve our teaching and learning program. Although such a short event in the life of a student every 2 years, it is useful for teachers. As a school, we collect different data in English and Maths on a regular basis which is discussed in teacher teams and faculties with colleagues and leaders.

We ask parents to encourage their children regarding NAPLAN without adding too much stress because many students are already feeling anxious. Please pray for calm feelings and alert minds during the week but also take this opportunity to remind your children of their strengths, uniqueness and positive characteristics.

Kind Regards,

Chris Riemann and Racha Hammoud Makki

Heads of School

Head of Primary

Our Primary School is continuing to prosper especially on working to achieve our goals. Some of our students' goals were to be kind, be a good student, be respectful and quiet in the prayer hall, and many more excellent qualities and skills to develop.

Last week, the Playford College Student Representative Council (SRC) was selected by teachers and Head of Primary. These students completed an expression of interest form with leadership related questions. I was very impressed reading the responses on why they wanted to be in a responsible position and help the school and others. I want to thank all the teachers and parents who supported the children with this process.

Playford College would like to congratulate our Primary School SRCs and their teachers:

Our teachers, SSOs and every staff member are working very hard with the Primary students in all areas of teaching and learning. There are reading sessions in the Library from 8:20am to 8:40am with some of our students, thanks to our SSOs for their excellent work in helping and supporting these students. As NAPLAN starts this week, I wish the staff and the students all the best.

Finally, the Primary School teachers will continue talking to students about healthy eating and we would love for our parents to be part of this process. It will be a huge help if our parents pack healthy food for their children. The environmental team 'Saving Our Planet', consisting of 4 students from Year 6; Afrin, Ausnat, Tuba and Ban, have started talking to all Primary classes about the importance of putting rubbish in the designated bins. Please support our children in school and at home in educating them about healthy eating and disposing of rubbish in the correct bins. We want us all as part of the Playford College community to educate, encourage and guide our children about these excellent habits that is encouraged by our Prophet Muhammad (SAW).

Take care and stay safe and healthy.

Assalamualaikum and Khuda Hafiz

Head of Secondary

The last two weeks have been very busy in the Secondary School as we passed the halfway mark of the term. NAPLAN practice, Sports Day and summative tasks for senior students are just some of the challenges and events that have happened.

Week 5 was dominated firstly by NAPLAN practice for the Years 7 and 9s. This practice is set up to iron out the inevitable IT issues of having all students logging into the system across the state at once. As expected, there were glitches, but our students and staff coped admirably and patiently before having another go after recess as planned. It was an excellent experience for them and a reminder to ensure that their laptops are charged each night. We have the formal NAPLAN this week, so it is essential that students remember that they need to charge their laptops.

Week 5 culminated in our Secondary Sports Day.; a wonderful event managed by Mr Ben Evans. The students really got into the mood of the day; we had perfect weather and everyone appeared to have fun. Students competed in a range of both traditional and fun events with the highlight for the staff being the staff-student tug of war event. House spirit was strong with students going around cleaning up to earn extra house points. Congratulations to all Houses. They all showed excellent sportsmanship all day!

Over the past two weeks we were blessed to have Sister Sadaf, a teacher and a scholar with excellent knowledge of Islamic studies and traditions, work with our students. She worked with our Illumination team to share her wisdom with the students in classes across the year levels.

The middle of the term comes with the pressure of summative tasks for our senior students. These tasks contribute to the grades that get submitted to SACE. Many of the students are excelling and reaping the rewards of their hard work. Others have received a reminder that they need to work a bit harder, but we have every faith that they can do so, InshAllah. We remind students to utilise their teachers; ask questions, seek feedback, submit drafts for improvement. Together, our Senior students in Years 10-12 will continue to achieve the excellent results that we expect at Playford College.

As we enter Week 7 of the term, we wish the Years 7 and 9 students every success for the upcoming NAPLAN and pray for all of our students that they use their gifts and best efforts to achieve their full potential.

SPORTS DAY

On Friday 3rd of March, students in years 7-12 enjoyed their Secondary Sports Day. The day was filled with enthusiasm, competition, challenge and most importantly team spirit. Playford College would like to thank Ben Evans, Munno Para Athletics and supporting staff for organising an eventful day.

Congratulations to the overall winners, Asiya House, and a big thank you to the students who made the day such a success!

1J

1J students are learning about sentence structure and formation in Literacy. Students have engaged in group activities and games to develop their learning of capital letters, full stops and finger spaces. Students further used their critical thinking to identify whether a sentence makes sense.

In Health, students from 2S have been looking at the importance of exercise for our hearts. They created a 'Heart Walk' for other staff and students to do some physical activity as they walk past their classroom.

3D

Computer skills are an essential life skill. This term in 3D, students are learning to touch type. This is where students learn to type without looking at their hands on the keyboard. Therefore, memorise where the different keys can be found on a keyboard.

Week 6 has been an exciting week as Year 3s are preparing for NAPLAN. Students are having a go at practice tests to expose them to the test format, how questions are worded, therefore allow them to become comfortable with NAPLAN before the real day!

3M

3M have been working with Mrs Collins to improve their writing in preparation for NAPLAN. Students had fun writing stories about their teachers being magical creatures and sharing the stories with Foundation students.

Students have also been practising their mental addition skills and made posters to help remember the key ways to add numbers together.

Year 5 classes

Last week, the Year 5 students enjoyed an excursion to the Art Gallery of South Australia. Students were given a tour around the gallery and learnt more about the frames, artworks and structures. Students then indulged in an art workshop!

6A

Students let their curiosity guide them through science activities in 6A. They investigated different ways to make the light bulb light and make a switch for a circuit using basic materials.

Food and Hospitality

The Food and Hospitality students learnt that food needs to look good in order to taste good. They learnt about the techniques, brainstormed in pairs on what to plate, then used modelling clay to practise the techniques before conducting the actual cooking.

Stage 1 Psychology

The Year 11 Psychology class is learning about the application of cognitive psychology in a forensics setting, through eyewitness. Students completed an activity around sketching a fair and unbiased line-up.

The question started with the prompt (left picture) and students discussed as a class whether the line-up was fair. Then, from the given description, they constructed their perception of a 'fair-line up', hence the sketches on the right.

FAITH IN THE COLLEGE

With the Name of Allah, the Infinitely Merciful, the Extremely Merciful,

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Salam Alaykom,

I would like to begin by congratulating the community on the birth of Imam Mahdi (a). This holy day is a reminder for our community that we are constantly journeying towards God and we have guides that He sent our way to help us in the journey.

My update for this fortnight, in light of the birth of our Imam, hopes to introduce our community to our new initiative for secondary school known as “The Custodians”. By definition, a custodian is someone who has the responsibility for taking care and protecting something. At Playford College, the Custodians will be nurturing the College in various areas. Becoming a Custodian also means that the students will earn the privilege of being part of a group that will be honoured at Playford College.

Those wishing to become a Custodian will enter a probation period where they will have to display a high character as well as a diligent work ethic where they will be given additional tasks and projects for them to plan and implement with the guidance and wisdom taken from the Holy Qur’an and the Hadith. These projects will revolve around developing the College in physical and spiritual capacities. Some of these projects include looking after and improving the prayer hall, taking care of the environment, and decorating the College during faith celebrations and commemorations, etc.

To become a Custodian, students will have to sign the Custodian agreement form which can be found in the Prophet Muhammad building. The forms must be returned by this Wednesday so that we can work on forming the Custodians for the remainder of 1444H to 1445H.

Primary students are continuing their faith journey by reflecting on different goals that they have created considering their studies and reflections on social Islam and the Journey to Simurgh program.

Islamic School Association of Australia (ISAA) Leadership Retreat

During week 5, members from Playford College went to the Inaugural Executive leadership Retreat in Melbourne, Victoria.

This section of the newsletter summarises some of the key points of the executive retreat for our community to gain a greater understanding of the collegiality that Playford College is working at on a national level:

• The Islamic Schools Association of Australia (ISAA) hosted the Inaugural Executive Leadership Retreat in an intense two days of workshops, keynote speakers, networking and collaboration on March 3rd and 4th at Al Siraat College in Melbourne.
• The retreat was attended by principals and executive leadership teams from over 20 Islamic schools across Australia.
• The program began with an opening recitation of the Qur'an followed by a welcome speech by Mr Abdullah Khan, ISAA President and the Executive Principal of Australian Islamic Colleges in Perth.
• Mr Khan stated that, "The ISAA Executive Leadership Retreat was developed so member and non-member schools could join together and come up with new and innovative ideas, share ideas for improving the Islamic schooling sector in Australia, for strategic planning and to build capacity in terms of leadership."
• Mr Fazeel Arain, Co-founder and Principal at Al Siraat College, gave a welcome speech for guests, many who flew in that morning, stating, “It's a humbling experience to have you all here. This retreat was once just a thought in someone's mind. Allah SWT has given the human being two very powerful faculties; one is the power to think and the other is the power to act. It's our thoughts that allow our actions to happen. This is a forum of thought leadership and unlocking our schools’ potentials to work more closely with each other.”

The first keynote speaker was Professor Jim Watterston, Dean and Enterprise Professor of Education Systems at University of Melbourne who gave a very insightful speech on the proactive reforms necessary in preparation for School Education in 2030 and beyond.

Professor Watterston challenged the executive leaders to consider, "If we're going to solve education issues within your schools and within Australia then we need to think about how do we change the paradigm? How do we change what is embedded in Australian education?"

During the Table Talk sessions, facilitated by Mr Don Walkley, Manager of People & Culture at Al Siraat College, executive leaders had an opportunity to discuss what is currently on the agenda for their schools. This session uncovered a range of opportunities for collaboration.

Day two feaured a panel discussion with Mr Osama Akkad, College Co-Captain Al Siraat College, Ms Rahat Arain, Co-Founder & Director Curriculum Learning & Innovation ASC, and Ms Aynur Simsirel, Principal Consultant at Independent Schools Victoria. Mr Abdullah Khan asked provoking questions from the panel on leadership in Islamic schools. Topics including post-COVID staff recruitment and retention strategies, leadership essentials for Islamic school leaders, and current projects were also discussed.

To conclude, the retreat allowed members of Playford College to collaborate and rethink approaches to education in ways to improve how we nurture our students as they journey to God.

With blessings,

Community Hub

The Community Hub was blessed by the presence of sister Sadaf Mirza, who is an Islamic scholar currently visiting Adelaide. She delivered two lectures on 'motherhood in Islam', which the mums truly enjoyed. The Hub is very thankful to sister Sadaf for her contribution in the lives of our parents.