28 June 2023

Newsletter Articles

College Council Report

Term 2 has been an exciting time for Council.

Council recently was involved in the consultation process for the new Financial and Resource Management for Schools Policy and Manual (FARMS), The manual and policy will form part of the resources under the Department of Education (DOE) School Resource and Governance Framework

FARMS will provide School Representative Bodies (SRB) in NT Government schools with consistent and accessible guidance on the requirements for accountable, transparent, and targeted resource management. Basically, the FARMS manual is all about who is responsible for what, by outlining School Council, Principal and School Employee responsibilities.

Palmerston College in collaboration with the College Council, recently volunteered to assist DOE to produce a series of information short videos for SRBs, which would be used to inform and help support School Council members (existing members or new members) in understand their roles better, individually and as a council.

A film crew attended our May Council meeting and a couple of members were involved in a short interview. In time the videos will be hosted on the department’s website and will also be promoted through its Facebook page.

Just a reminder of our remaining Council scheduled meeting dates.

We still have 4 parent member vacancies on school council, If you are interested in knowing more about school council or would like to become a member in 2023, please contact us at secretary.pccouncil@education.nt.gov.au or attend at our next meeting.

All members must hold or be eligible to hold a Working with Children Clearance (Ochre Card).

Kind regards
Nikki Elliott
Chairperson

Stage 1 Food and Hospitality

Year 10 - Stage 1 Food and Hospitality created a morning tea for ANZAC service at the 10-12 Campus. This was undertaken as a group task and included a fruit platter, three tasty slices, a lemon slice, a jelly slice and a choc cherry slice, along with ANZAC biscuits that also addressed a dairy free option, the savoury sausage rolls, bite sized and easy to eat were devoured along with the slices and fruit, by all present. The display was that of sheer elegance but what delighted the class even more were the empty platters. This showed how much their morning tea was enjoyed by dignitaries, guests, parents and student representatives.

Year 8 Humanities

Information to accompany photo’s:

As part of their study of the Medieval World, students in 8E put their understanding of Viking weaponry into practice by completing a STEM Shield task. Students were to use their creativity and STEM skills to create a Viking shield. It had to be life size (or as close as possible!), decorated in an appropriate historical manner, and display their understanding of the period. Well done to 8E on their engagement with their learning, their creativity, and their teamwork as they made their shields! They were spectacular! - Miss Wilson

Elders

By Miss Wilson

‘The Elders in Schools program runs in partnership between The Smith Family and Palmerston College. Elders in School is a strength-based program that uses community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture as a tool to support student learning and engagement at school. It brings community members together with the school so that students and teachers have the opportunity to utilise the expertise of Elders to enrich learning, and to build support, trust, understanding and respect in the school community.’ (The Smith Family)

This term the Girls Elders program has been very creative at Palmerston College! Our Term 2 students have recently been engaging in many activities recognising Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week. They have learnt Dreaming stories, created beautiful pots to hold their native plants gathered on a walk through the school – it was amazing to see what even our school environment can provide through nature. We finished this term with a big cook-up and a huge thank you to our wonderful Elders we have been fortunate to have with us this year!

We are now getting ready to start planning for Term 3 and are looking forward to having a new group of girls ready to delve into the program! Students interested in both the boys and girls programs can get notes from the front office, Clontarf, STARS, from Mr Ferreras or Miss Wilson.

Athletics Carnival

The Athletics Carnival, hosted on Friday 16 June 2023 at the 10-12 Campus, was a complete success with Mr. Whinnett saying, “I felt very humbled to have the school community rally together from early in the morning until the afternoon in support of the students and each other.”

Points were earned by all students who competed in events which varied from javelin, relay, high jump, low jump, sprints, tug of war, shotput, and discus.

The 1:00pm update had the scores at:

To finish the day, the Student Leadership team organised a Colour Fun Run for students and teachers to enjoy.

Showcase

This year’s Showcase was a huge hit! With the drama acts being themed on Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream, we celebrated the artistic talent of students from Years 7 to 12.

Thank you to all who were involved, and of course to the wonderful Arts team who organised the event; Ms. Sarah Taylor, Ms. Rani Richter, Ms. Tessa Devenyns, Ms. Sylvia Mavros and Mr. Josh Van Voskuilen.

Flexi Learning

Fun in Flexi as usual! Rebecca, the school-based constable, joined us to talk about her experience as a policewoman here in the Northern Territory. She allowed us to try on some of her gear and shared her experiences working in schools. Thanks, Bec, for joining us!

As always, we’ve been cooking up a storm. Students have the opportunity to cook at least once a week. Mainly making main course meals like curries and pasta dishes, occasionally students can make a dessert of their choosing. We made “chef’s kiss” worthy pancakes, which we then slathered in chocolate sauce, jam and butter.

Stars

Stars at Palmerston College has been making the most of the cool dry season weather this term with camps to Jabiru, Litchfield, Dundee and Katherine.

Our Year 9 and Year 11 cohorts enjoyed a dip at Edith Falls and Bitter Springs, Year 12 students tried their luck fishing at Dundee whilst our Year 10 students spent a few days in Kakadu. Closer to home, our Year 8 students spent a night at Tumbling Water’s where they spent a few hours fishing at Barramundi Adventures.

Attendance has been the focus this term, with this group of Year 9 students being the highest attending cohort of Year 9 students since Stars began in 2021.

Our focus for next term will be transitioning our Year 9 students across to Year 10 whilst also connecting with primary schools in the Palmerston area to meet the upcoming Year 7s of 2024.

Clontarf

10-12 Campus

Clontarf Bush Run XXV

A handful of fellas recently competed in the Clontarf Bush Run from Lee Point all the way to the Darwin Surf Club. They all gave it a red-hot crack and showed plenty of Clontarf Spirit. Well done to Michael Cleary who came 2nd in a hotly contested race between a range of Clontarf Academies, Supporters and Foundation Partners!

Tri Touch Morning Training

On Tuesday morning we hosted our Driver Primary & PC 7-9 younger brothers in a Morning Training of Tri Touch. Tri Touch has been developed by NRL & Australian great, Mark Gasnier and is the touch version of Rugby Union. The session was full of smiles, laughter and Kadek’s pancakes. What a great way to start a Tuesday.

Year 7-9 Kununurra Camp

Student Achievements

Combined Palmerston College ANZAC Honour Guard

By Cadet Coordinator Anita Newman OAM

The Palmerston College combined campus Honour Guard was once again a great success. 10-12 Campus cadets undertook the role of Catafalque Party whilst a combined group were the ANZAC Honour Guard. The cadets and teaching staff give up their recesses and lunches for 2 weeks to present themselves in a professional manner. They certainly did the College proud, undertaking both ceremonies at the 7-9 and the 10-12 campus, standing for a combined 1 ½ hours on the morning of the 24th April 2023.

A big thank you to –

Honour Guard

Commander - Leyarna Westlake

Bryce Melville
Declan Haytr
Sianna Doney
Allaine Palos
Erin Jensen

Catafalque Party

Commander - Ella Hite

Serenity Kaiwahia Ponga
Bryan Valdervama
Kynan Lo
Elijah Cross
Ryan McCormick

Aleah G

Miss Aleah, a year 9 student, travelled interstate to compete in national titles for judo! While in Gold Coast with her team, she successfully earner herself bronze at the event. Congratulations Aleah!

Community Notices

Recruitment for Meningococcal B Study

Our school will be involved in B Part of It NT, a study of the meningococcal B vaccine. All young people living in the Northern Territory aged 14-19 years can take part. The licenced vaccine is safe and proven to protect against meningococcal B disease, a rare but severe disease.

Meningococcal B vaccine (Bexsero®) is recommended in Australia for infants and young people. It is the same vaccine funded for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies in the Northern Territory. The Meningococcal B vaccine is not usually free for adolescents and young adults.

If you child joined the study in previous years, you don’t need to sign another consent for them this year. If your contact details have changed, please contact the study coordinator so we can update our details.

Please read the information contained in the online information sheet and consent form https://is.gd/BPartofitNT . If you want your child to join the study, please fill in the student’s details and sign the online consent form.

To access the vaccine for your child, you will need to book an appointment and attend a clinic at Darwin, or Palmerston. A study nurse will contact you to book an appointment if you have filled out the online consent form.

If you want to find out more information about the study please contact the study co-ordinator at: [ meningococcalb.study@nt.gov.au or 0476599247] You can also ask for a hard copy of the information and consent form if you prefer to fill it out on paper.

For more information see: