In line with Pimpala Primary School's Sun Smart Policy, broad brimmed hats must be worn throughout the school year, except for Winter months, 1st June to 31^st August. 

Students will require hats at school from Tuesday, 1st September. Any student without a broad brimmed hat are able to purchase one through the Uniform Shop either online through Qkr or in person at a cost of $15.00.

Please note: caps are not suitable as a school hat and any students without correct adequate protection will be directed to play under the COLA.

We have two new Social Work students who commenced this term and will be working with us until the end of the year.  Pei and Quyen would like to introduce themselves.

Hello, I am Pei, a student social worker from Flinders University. I am originally from Taiwan and this is my 3rd year in Australia! I am glad to have my placement here at Pimpala and cannot wait to meet many of you in this school community.

I plan to have positive influence during my time at Pimpala and promote people’s well-being in future practice.

Please feel free to share your stories with me and/or even Australian and SA cultures (I just moved to Adelaide at the beginning of this year and did not have many opportunities to explore this beautiful place due to lockdown)!

Hello my name is Quyen.  This is my final semester as a Master of Social Work student. I am from Vietnam, located in Southeast Asia. I decided to study a Master of Social Work at Flinders University since I found the Social Work Profession a meaningful profession. I recognised that I am interested in working and communicating with children and young people. One of my goals is to make a positive difference in the lives of others, particularly, children and young people through linking them with available opportunities and sharing the knowledge I have gained. I am open to new learning and interact easily with people from diverse cultures.  Please come and say hello to me. 

Pimpala students are welcome to come and have brekky at Breakfast Club!

Come along and join Quyen and Pei, our Social Work students, in the kitchen for breakfast. The kitchen is open from 8:30am to 8:45am, Monday to Friday on regular school days.

There are a number of food options including weetbix, canned fruit, fresh fruit, toast and yoghurt.  Feel free to come and have breakfast as a great way to start the day.

Planning has commenced for 2021 and we are looking at class configurations so need accurate numbers for each year level to plan the best possible scenarios.  Consequently, we would like to know if you are planning to leave the school but also need to know if there are other families looking to enrol in our school.  

We are also checking to ensure we have all students and their siblings listed correctly.  If you have had a child recently, or if you are not sure whether you have lodged an enrolment form for any siblings, please check with the Administration Office.  We don’t want to miss anyone! Please ring the Administration Office as soon as possible with any updated information regarding enrolment or sibling details.

Transition dates for Reception students commencing in 2021 are:

Wednesday, 4th November, 2020      9:00am - 10:40am

Wednesday, 11th November, 2020    9:00am - 11:30am

Wednesday, 18th November, 2020    9:00am - 11:30am

If you are considering enrolling your child for 2021 we urge you to ring the Administration Office of the school on 8326 0900.  We can also book you in for an upcoming Principal tour if required.  

We have planned a Principal Tour on:

There is a School Closure Day on Friday, 11th September, 2020.  POSHC will not be available for care on that day and there will not be any staff members on site.

Sports Day will be held on Friday 18th September.  This is a change of date to that previously advertised to allow the Year 6/7 students, who are currently undertaking SAPSASA events, to be able to attend Sports Day.  Unfortunately, these events clashed.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions in relation to physical distancing we are unable to have any adult spectators on site for the day's events. We understand that this is a disappointment for many families but are determined to make it a great event.  We are keen for the students to have fun and the program of events will be planned to encompass the whole day.  Students are encouraged to wear their team's colours and look forward to a fun and exciting event.  Our student Events Assistants will be on board to take plenty of photos and capture the moments as they occur and we will share these in future newsletters.

A special lunch will be held for students on Sports Day and more information is available in this newsletter.

Given the restrictions on schools with COVID-19, the Colour Fun Run will not take place on Sports Day. It will be moved to Term 4 this year or to 2021, COVID-19 restrictions permitting.

We thank you for your understanding.

We will be offering a Special Lunch on Sports Day, Friday, 18th September for just $6.00.  The lunch will include a choice of a chocolate donut, coral cake slice or gluten free chocolate muffin for recess with a BBQ Sausage hotdog at lunch time.

You can pay via the Qkr! app and complete the lunch order form online.  O you can pay at the Finance Window, Monday to Friday from 8:30am - 9:15am.  The order form must accompany the cash payment for ordering purposes.  Phone payments are also accepted from 9:15am to 3:00pm.

Orders must be completed by 9am on Thursday, 10th September. No late orders will be accepted and no refunds.

How long have you been at Pimpala PS and what is your role at the school?

I have worked at Pimpala for 4 years. I started off working in the Finance Office and the Library as a support. I now work as the Finance Officer fulltime.

Did you always want to be a teacher/work with children? If not, what did you want to be?

I wanted to work in a job that helped other people, so working in a school I get to help students, families and work colleagues.

If you could change or fix anything on the earth, what would it be and why?

I would like to change people’s judgement of others, which stops them from being themselves.

What is your speciality in the kitchen?

A Sunday Pork Roast with all the trimmings, the pork crackle is my girls' favourite part.

Where is your dream holiday destination & what would you like to do there?

My dream holiday would be to Canada to visit the Niagara Falls and a train through the Rocky Mountains during the winter snow.

If you hosted a dinner party, what 3 famous people would you invite & why?

I would invite:

1.  Brett Burton Australian Football Player for the Adelaide Crows 1999 - 2010;

2.  Courtney Jines, American actress who starred in the movie Spy Kids 3-D Game Over and

3.  Rory McIIroy Irish golfer who won the US Open 2011, British Open 2014 and PGA Championship 2012,

because they we were all born on the same day as my birthday, 4th May. A birthday celebration dinner.

If you could have one superpower, what would it be & why?

The superpower I would choose would be to teleport onto an island, surrounded by water with my favourite people.

What do you enjoy about living in Adelaide?

I like living in Adelaide because it has the best beaches.

Do you know of a song that describes your life?

Happy by Pharrell Williams  

Staying the Course in COVID times   

COVID-19 continues to test us in ways that were unimaginable at the start of 2020. It’s becoming the defining event of this generation and a reference point for decades to come. We’ve had depression kids, war kids and now we have COVID-19 kids.

The impact of COVID-19 is felt differently across the country. Currently, Victoria is in Stage 4 lockdown while other states are on high alert. Not every student is working from home, but most students are COVID conscious, knowing that they’re only a corona cough or virus-filled hug away from remote learning.

Encouraging kids to stay the course when they’ve been denied access to the classroom, peers and community activities is now a common parenting challenge. Denial is generally tolerable in the short term, but the novelty of changed circumstances soon wears off. The following strategies will assist both parents and kids to stay the COVID long course:

Accept difficult emotions
‘There’s nothing so bad that we can’t talk about, but there are behaviours that we won’t accept’ is a mantra that serves families well. It’s okay for children to feel frustrated, annoyed, angry or upset about their change of circumstances due to the pandemic but that doesn’t give them permission to behave disrespectfully, miss school requirements or fail to assist at home. It helps if parents validate how their children feel, then encourage them to focus on fulfilling school and family expectations.

Encourage acceptance
Some children and young people will protest the COVID induced changes that have been imposed upon them. In some respects, it may be admirable for children to push for a better deal, but the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic means that the individual needs to bend toward the greater community good. This is simply a case of accepting and making the best of the situation at hand.

Take it one day and week at a time
On family bush walks my young children would rarely complain when the tracks were windy. The complaint levels rose when paths were long and straight as the finish line seemed such a long way off. In a similar vein during our current times it’s smart to keep kids focused on getting through each day and week rather than look too far ahead. Six weeks of Stage 4 may seem intolerable, so it’s better to focus on getting through each day and week.

Be the hope person
Help children and young people understand that they will get through difficult times. “This too shall pass” is perhaps the most apt meme for our times. If your hope bucket is emptying out, seek out positive friends and relatives who can top it up. Our own resilience needs nurturing if we are to last the distance.

The internal parenting manual that guides us probably doesn’t include chapters dealing with remote learning, lack of peer interaction and kids’ disappointment. Most of us are treading new parenting ground so it’s best to be open to change, accepting of difficulties and forgiving of inevitable parenting stumbles.

Michael Grose

Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s an award-winning speaker and the author of 12 books for parents including Spoonfed Generation, and the bestselling Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change It . Michael is a former teacher with 15 years experience, and has 30 years experience in parenting education. He also holds a Master of Educational Studies from Monash University specialising in parenting education.

YOUR VOICE MATTERS is a questionnaire campaign, designed to hear from young people, their families and community that live, work, play and learn in the City of Onkaparinga. Your say will contribute to future planning for the City of Onkaparinga.

Onkaparinga Youth provide programs and activities for young people aged 8-30 years with a focus on recreation, arts, music and leadership/capacity building. Questionnaires and a box to lodge it once completed is located in the Administration Office.

More information can be found in the Frequently Asked Questions and on the Onkaparinga Youth website.

onkaparingacity/yoursay