From Our Leaders
Dear parents and guardians,
We hope this newsletter finds you well as Playford College completes another successful Term of teaching and learning. There have been many highlights including:
- Welcoming over 70 new families into our community.
- Welcoming over 10 new teachers and support staff to our dedicated staff team.
- Well attended Parent Information Nights where teachers announced their plans and expectations for 2023.
- Strong teacher planning meetings to document engaging learning in Literacy, Maths and all subjects in Primary and each specialist subject in Secondary.
- Impressive teaching and learning.
- Rich conversations about faith and religion including the month of Ramadan.
- A fantastic Secondary Sports Day.
- The commencement of the new Secondary building which will also have male and female student toilets.
- The renovation of the Front Office and creation of new offices for staff.
- The near completion of the exterior to the Administration building.
- Successful completion of NAPLAN.
- Student initiative with raising money for earthquake victims.
- Delightful celebrations of Harmony Day.
the 2023 dux assembly for our 2022 year 12 GRADUATES
Two other highlights of Term are celebrated separately.
Iftar Dinners
The Primary and Secondary Dinners, facilitated by College staff were exceptional. As a school community we congratulate and thank the Illumination team, all staff and student leaders who decorated the hall, prepared and served the delicious food, organised impressive student contributions, mingled with parents and students, cleaned up after the dinner and together created wonderful and memorable events.
Serving 'full house' dinners for over 450 attendees on both Friday and Saturday nights was a testament to the well planned and implemented celebrations. Sunday evening was reserved for our staff, partners and special guests and the feedback was very positive from everyone. Our local member, Lee Odenwalder, Mayor Glenn Docherty and Federal Member for Mayo, Mrs Rebekha Sharkie, all delivered delightful speeches. Friend of the school and member for Light, Tony Piccolo, appreciated meeting many in our community.
The student leaders were impressive during the 3 dinners, the address by Chairman of the Board was thoughtful as he congratulated the staff and fellow Board members on their great contribution to the College and the celebration of a 'good school getting better' all the time by Mrs Makki and Mr Riemann were informative.
An insight to the wonderful student performances on both Primary and Secondary Iftar Dinners:
Congratulations to everyone involved!
Student Leaders
The College congratulates all of our student leaders for 2023.
Playford College Captains
Playford College Vice captains
Members of the Leadership Advisory Team
Primary School captains and vice captains
Secondary School custodians
Primary School custodians
Primary SRC
Secondary house captains
Many of our student leaders have been very active during Term 1 including our leadership advisory team which has both Secondary Captains and Vice Captains in the group and the custodians who have been exceptional in their service and commitment.
A leadership training day will be conducted next term and many other opportunities will be provided throughout the year to expand the various leadership roles.
As we conclude Term 1, we want to express our gratitude to our amazing and dedicated staff for the way they are shaping the lives of our students every day. Each and every one of them deserve their change of pace during the holidays to reconnect with family.
Heads of Schools
Head of Primary
Assalamualaikum dear parents,
It is hard to believe that we we are in the last week of Term 1. This Term has certainly passed very quickly. We were blessed to welcome the month of Ramadan during this term. The newly elected Captains, Vice Captains, SRCs and Custodians put together a video summarising what Ramadan means to them and the various projects they have worked on with their teachers.
The Primary team and I are looking forward to meeting all of our parents at the Parent-Teacher interviews in term 2 week 2, on Monday and Tuesday the 8th and 9th of May. We will keep you informed on more details early in Term 2 InshaAllah.
Alhamdulillah we managed to elect the Primary School Captains and Vice Captains from Year 6. I thank the teachers who helped with this process.
Primary School Captains:
Maisam Changize (near left) and Afrin Charoliya (near right).
Primary School Vice Captains:
Hassan Ikhlasi (far left) and Zainab Raza (far right).
Finally, I would like to thank all our Primary parents for their continuous support with our School and the School Community in general. I want to thank all our students, teachers, SSOs, admin and all other staff of our school.
Have a wonderful holiday, Eid Mubarak and may Allah accept our deeds and actions.
Head of Secondary
We have come to the end of the longest Term in the school calendar. It has been a Term filled with celebrations of faith, inclusion, leadership and outstanding academic outcomes. We have celebrated our past students and we embrace the outcomes of all our current Secondary School students.
As the holidays approach, students, teachers and all staff look forward to days with a different pace; a chance to recharge and relax and prepare for the upcoming Term. I am sure the same applies to the whole family.
This year Term 2 will have a different rhythm in the Secondary School, with the introduction of Year 7-9 exams for English, Maths, Science and HaSS. This means that all of our students will be sitting exams towards the end of the semester. Full details on the timing of these will be forthcoming early in Term 2.
Reports will be emailed to parents/caregivers early next week and I encourage you to go through the feedback from your child’s teacher with your child, so that you both understand how they can continue to improve throughout the year. We appreciate your support, as together we encourage students to all give their best to their studies.
I wish every family a great Term 1 break. I also wish everyone a very joyful Eid al Fitr. May Allah open the doors of happiness and prosperity for you and all your family, Eid Mubarak!
Faith in our college
With the Name of Allah, the Infinitely Merciful, the Extremely Merciful,
Dear Parents and Caregivers
Salam Alaykom,
The blessed month of Ramadan is flourishing and the team at Playford College not only continues to provide spiritual and holistic nurturing for our students but is also fortunate to share this sacred time with our community, by hosting our Iftar dinners.
The holy month of Ramadan provides us with the opportunity to reconnect with Allah (s.w.t.) and to rethink our priorities. Fasting is one of the acts of worship that many Muslims engage with during this holy month. Fasting is not only about abstaining from food and water, but a time to reconnect with our true Selves and purpose.
This year we had our annual Iftar dinners at the Celebration Hall where we were blessed by the presence of over 1000 guests over the 3 nights. The program involved dinner consisting of mandi, biryani, kibbe, chicken curry and much more! Guests saw the performances of our students performing Allah made everything, Ramadan moon, Surah Rahman and a recitation for our living Imam, Imam Mahdi. Our school leadership team also updated our guests on the different aspects of the school, from teaching and learning to the different projects that are running throughout the school. We closed every evening with a game of Kahoot which allowed the night to end with laughter and fun thanks to our Kahoot hosts.
We were pleased to come together as a community to reflect and connect with our Nurturer, God Almighty, in hope that we may reflect this connection in our daily lives.
We are praying everyone continues to have a blessed month, especially with the holy nights of Destiny.
With blessings,
Playford College Annual Iftar Dinners 2023
Year Level Updates
FC
In Reading lessons, FC students read the book 'It's not easy being a Bunny!' As a class, they discussed their favourite part of the story before learning how to draw a bunny and write responses on the book.
FR
In Math, FR students have been learning about 'more or less' when counting. Students used number charts and blocks to determine whether one number was more or less than another.
Students have also been learning various shapes. As a fun, hands-on activity, students have been creating monsters out of the different shapes they have learnt about!
Year 1 classes
Elizabeth Fire Station Excursion
In Week 9, Year 1 students visited the Elizabeth Fire Station as part of their health and science learning. The students enjoyed their excursion and learnt how to stay safe in fires and the role of firefighters.
Students learnt how a fire truck’s lights and sound help them respond to fires. The excursion also linked with their health unit on being safe in unsafe situations. Students learnt key strategies to keep us safe in a fire, including knowing the emergency number (000), stop, drop, cover and roll and never going into a home until emergency services arrive.
Math
In Math, Year 1 students are learning about creating and continuing an object pattern. Students explored different ways to create patterns and used natural materials for their two-way and three-way patterns.
2H
2H students worked with their buddies, made new friends and got to share their own experiences of what it is like being a year 2 in their classroom. The room was buzzing with positive conversations.
2r
2R students had a busy week in Arabic in Week 10. After going through letters 'seen and sheen' (س & ش) and their short and long vowel sounds, students reviewed all letters, their shapes and sounds. They did this through segmenting words with Lego blocks and playing “doggy doggy where’s your bone?”!
2s
In Science, students in 2S are looking at natural resources and sustainability. In particular, they have investigated water. Students learnt that water is renewable but takes thousands of years to replenish. Students also learnt that water can be polluted easily and we must take care of it. Through trying out a few different filtration techniques of 'polluted water', students can reveal that, interestingly, a wad of tissues worked best!
3d
In Science, 3D students built and tested their insulators. Students were challenged to see whose insulator could keep an ice cube frozen for as long as possible. Congratulations to Zamil and Abubakar (pictured alongside) for winning the challenge with a time of 3 hours 20 minutes.
Term 1 Assembly Award Recipients
In HASS, 3D has been learning about the Indigenous Māori people of our neighbouring country, New Zealand. This week, students focused on Koru patterns which were created by the Māori people to symbolise new beginnings.
3m
It has been a great term for 3M, who have enjoyed the many wonderful things they did together. Students are finishing up the term with their last basketball session, sharing what they have learnt about the special places around Australia and using their persuasive writing skills to convince each other (and parents) that 7 year olds should have a mobile phone.
Year 4 classes
In Week 7, the Year 4 students travelled to the Marine Discovery Centre at Henley Beach. As this term's Science focus is around life cycles and how living things depend on each other to survive, students were able to explore this firsthand through the different activities across the day. The activities included a walk on Henley Beach, examining the different sea life which could be found on the sand, a presentation about the effects of rubbish on the environment and the marine wildlife. Students also learnt about the different species in the aquarium and listened to an engaging Aboriginal presentation around cultural items.
year 5 classes
In Geography, the Year 5 students are conducting research and showcasing presentations on countries in Europe and North America.
year 6 classes
As this is our final newsletter for Term 1, the Year 6 teachers have been reflecting on the 11 weeks of rich learning. The Year 6 cohort had the opportunity to show their leadership skills by competing and selecting the Illumination leaders and School Captains and Vice Captains this term. The benefit of this was to get them invested in improving school culture and team building.
In Health lessons, students focused on providing opportunities for students to lead in the classroom; from leading the discussion of science projects to book review discussions.
Parliament House Excursion
This week, the Year 6 students went to the Parliament House as part of their HASS learning. Students have been exploring State and Federal Government and through the excursion, they had the pleasure of exploring the Parliament House from our local MP, Lee Odenwalder. Below are some of the insightful student reflections!
"Walking into the green room, Mr Lee Odenwalder showed us the bloodline that was there. In the olden days, arguments got heated between people in Parliament and most people had swords, so the bloodline was use to stop people hurting each other whilst they debated laws. This was just one of the many things that we learnt today by visiting Parliament House."
- Hassan Ikhlasi 6F
“Look, the flooring looks like a red carpet show!” said one student on Wednesday the 12th of April, as the year 6 went to the Parliament House. We were in my favourite part of our tour, the Legistlative Council Chamber. Everything was red. The seats were red, the tables were red and the carpet was red, covered with beautiful designs of South Australia’s floral emblem, the Sturt Desert Pea. Our fact-filled guide was Lee Odenwalder. He showed us some statues of past Premiers, including Sir Thomas Playford, who our school was named after. We had a really good time at Parliament House and can’t wait to go back and debate later in the year!"
- Tuba Sunasara 6F
"I loved the red Legislative Chamber because I personally like the colour red. Did you know that the oldest book in the library collection is a copy of the Holy Bible from the 1600s?"
- Kubra Mohammadi & Fatima Almuqbel 6A
"I thought the House of Parliament was really cool, especially the Legislative Council and the House of Assembly because of the fanciness. The red and green colours were so fancy. I also liked the Old Chamber because it has been around since 1843."
- Masooma Noori 6A
Playford College's Amazing Week!
end of term assemblies
This week, the Junior (F-2), Upper Primary (3-6) and Secondary School students had sensational end of Term 1 assemblies, with many awards achieved!
secondary school
Stage 2 Chemistry
As part of their learning on Organic Chemistry, the Stage 2 Chemistry students tested the presence of an Aldehyde using Tollens Reagent, also known as a silver-mirror test.
Art
Students from Years 7-10 participated in visual art activities through the lens of the holy month of Ramadan. By engaging in these creative art activities, students learnt more about the cultural and religious significance of the month of Ramadan but also fostered their creativity, artistic skills and understanding of Islamic traditions. The mosaic lanterns were the table centre pieces at the Iftar dinners.
Stage 1 Physics
This week, the Stage 1 Physics class went on an excursion to The University of South Australia (Mawson Lakes Campus). Students determined sound speech using Radar waves and also investigated the Doppler shift with moving objects. Students' behaviour was excellent and the University experience was informative and relevant to their topic on waves.
Food and Hospitality
Students conducted their second assessment on plating principles. They presented a baked cheesecake with a garnish of their own choice and design!
the community hub
The playgroup has been loving working with the Flinders University Speech Pathology students, as it is a very informative and one-on-one play session. The speech pathologist also visits the Community Hub every fortnight, on Wednesdays. Join the Community Hub for this playgroup to help develop your child's language and speech abilities.
counsellor's corner
How parents can remain motivated
As a parent, it is hard to stay motivated while there are a lot of tasks and matters concerning family, home, work, self, extended family, friends and the community. Therefore, sometimes parents may feel overwhelmed thinking about everything or just feel like they lack enthusiasm at that moment.
Here are some suggestions to spark your self-motivation:
- Live in Gratitude: Remember that being a parent is one of the greatest gifts from Allah. Practising daily gratitude by keeping track of your blessings and expressing thankfulness will help in many different ways.
- Remember Self-Care: It starts with you as parents. It is hard to show a happy and excited face when you have no energy and motivation. We may have heard about this saying "You can't pour from an empty cup". This is true! Parents should find energy-boosting interests, know that taking care of themselves is not selfish, rather it is essential and allows energetic and aware parenting.
- Have Breaks: Find ways to have child-free times, a time just for yourself or with your partner without children, even for a short time each day, and talk about your own needs as a parent. This space can be when you get up early or stay up late in the evening to have a snack or could be small moments like watching the sunrise. Whatever you can do to make space for yourself is important and will help boost your self-esteem and self-motivation.
- Remember that you are Raising your Children for the Sake of Allah: Most parents work very hard to raise their children to become productive adults in society. Remember, this is a long journey and children will go through many different stages and phases. There will be times that you feel very tired, and feel that nothing is going the way you thought or planned. In those moments, remember that you are not alone, and that as parents, you are there to guide not control. Furthermore, we as parents need to let our children know that we are always there for them. Don’t forget your intention for raising them as for the sake of Allah. Allah knows and acknowledges every effort we make as parents even if the outcomes are not what we want or expect.
- Find ways to Enjoy your Parenting Journey: We need to believe that each stage of each children’s life has challenges and exciting times. We need to enjoy each stage with children and remember that time goes very fast. In challenging times, take time to reflect, stay positive, take care of yourself, and create new memories for yourself and your family.
- Find Parenting Mentors: Think about people around you who raised their children and demonstrate the qualities you want for your children and ask them for tips that you can integrate into your parenting. Seek parenting workshops which are available in many community centres. It is a good opportunity to share your challenges, hear different perspectives and tips from parents and it is a great opportunity to feel accompanied by other parents on a similar journey.
We run a parenting workshop every Thursday at our Community Hub at Playford College.
With blessings,
After school pick up
Parents/caregivers are responsible for collecting or otherwise making appropriate arrangements for their child to depart the Playford College grounds at 3:25pm daily. Parents that collect their children need to do so at dismissal or latest, at 3:45pm. If lateness does occur, it is important that parents inform the Front Office.
Term Dates
14/04/2023 – End of Term 1
02/05/2023 - Start of Term 2
24 Durrington Road Elizabeth SA 5108
Phone: (08) 8252 3044
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