Leadership

Kalani Buckle Reconciliation Captain

Emma Holtham Reconciliation Captain

As Reconciliation Captains for 2023, our aim is strengthening and reinforcing relationships between Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal peoples, and non-Indigenous peoples, for the benefit of all of the PLC community. We are focused on the formation of societal outcomes that help generate a community where the country, culture, rights, and contribution of First Peoples are valued and respected. We aspire to be part of a community that celebrates strong and positive relationships between our First Peoples and the PLC community, as critical building blocks of practical social outcomes and community wellbeing. Reconciliation is an ongoing journey that reminds us that while generations of Australians have fought hard for meaningful and important change, future gains are likely to take just as much, if not more effort, in which we plan to assist the PLC community in making.

My name is Imogen Famlonga, and I am the Senior Boarder at PLC for 2023. I am a mokborring (proud) Wadawurrung person and my hometown is Broome. My community in Broome is a place where we come together with respect and trust and have built life-long relationships with each other. I aim to achieve this within the PLC community, especially in the Boarding House for all the students. As Senior Boarder, I want to further the relationships between the day students and the boarders, so we feel connected and can all share our stories. I also want my boarding sisters to feel connected with each other no matter where they come from and be proud to say they are a boarder. I am excited about my role next year, and to work with the Boarding House Prefects and other school prefects to achieve the best PLC community we can.

I am so thankful and excited to be given the role of Junior School/Senior School Prefect. From being in the Junior School, I learnt the values of PLC from a young age and the strong community the College has built. It’s a privilege to be a part of it – where each year group feels a part of the PLC family. As the JS/ SS Prefect, I aim to build on the relationships between the year groups and making the school be seen as one whole school, instead of the Junior School and Senior School. My goal is to strengthen the bonds between students across all the years and build on an environment where the older students become the mentors, giving the younger students someone, they can aspire to be. I am so delighted to be given this role and I hope I can help strengthen the PLC community. I’m very grateful to have been chosen for the role of Service Captain. I hope to ensure that after a few years of restrictions due to COVID-19, the College now reenters the community through its service engagements as seamlessly as possible. In the coming year, I would like to encourage students to learn how to get involved in the various communities surrounding our College. I hope to bring the various projects and initiatives already developed back into the fore, ensuring our past ideas are implemented successfully. I also wish to create a developing cycle of opportunities that continue for years to come. Given the concept of service has immediate associations with larger, international projects, I wish to break this down into more local activities which will be much easier to implement for our students. Getting involved and introducing service to the younger years is crucial in building up the College’s overall development in this area and success on a local level can be very motivating for others and can encourage participation in similar events. Starting small is the best way to develop our service and together we can build towards working on larger projects when possible.

Imogen Famlonga Senior Boarder Denby Shephard JS/SS Prefect

Katie Marris Service Captain

Tilly Johnston Sports Captain

Sport has always been a very important part of my life; it has provided me with ongoing opportunities to make new friends and gain new skills. I believe that sport can be very rewarding, and I hope that by encouraging students to always have a go, they will find their passion for sport and enjoy it just as much as I do! There are so many sports on offer at PLC and I hope to motivate all students to participate and have a go at the wide range of sports available. I aim to continue making sport at PLC an inclusive and positive environment for students across all year levels, as well as being a role model for all students, ensuring that everyone strives to achieve their best.

My goal as Sports Captain is to maintain and improve the spirit of Team PLC in 2023, I can’t wait to hear everyone cheering each other on by the track, pool, or field!

As Wellbeing Captain for 2023, I will uphold the PLC values and instil a sense of positivity in the lives of other students. The values of ‘community’ and ‘learning’ are integral to the College’s way of life, and in particular, the role of wellbeing in the school. A student’s wellbeing is one of the most important aspects that make up how they look at their life and so personally I hope to display that positivity is contagious. Likewise, creating a positive environment and perspective on education for students can have uplifting effects on wellbeing. In the coming year, I am excited to work with the Student Council and the Year 12 cohort to continue the fostering of a positive stigma around mental health through the implementation of new and creative initiatives.

Ava Miels Wellbeing Captain

Breaking Free in ‘23

The graduating class of 2023 announced at the Science Assembly in November that their Year 12 motto is ‘Breaking free in ‘23’. “PLC gives you so many opportunities to try new things and it is constantly pushing you outside your comfort zone, but now that we are in Year 12, we have learnt to push ourselves and so we are comfortable with being uncomfortable,” Deputy Head Prefect, Libby Hutton said. The cohort wants to express that this year is all about breaking free of personal constraints and achieving personal goals. The motto drew inspiration from this year’s production of High School Musical Jr. with the song ‘Breaking Free’.

Philosophers Triumph

In September, Sasha Forsyth (Year 8), Shantisha Shaufler (Year 11), Elise Wright (Year 9), Eleanor Kerr (Year 7), and Jin Liu (Year 10) participated in The Perth Philosothon at UWA and their efforts saw PLC win the 2022 Overall WA Champion School. This is the first time PLC has won this esteemed trophy. Eleanor also won 1st prize for Year 7, Sasha won 2nd prize for Year 8, and Elise won 3rd prize for Year 9, as well as the Tapper and Millet Medal for Most Promising Philosopher. Over four rounds, the students addressed and engaged in philosophical discussion of ethical problems with students from competing schools. They worked through the elements of the problem, raised questions, built on others’ ideas, and explored the topics which ranged from social ethics to environmental ethics and metaphysics.

Left to right: Sasha Forsyth (Year 8), Shantisha Shaufler (Year 11), Elise Wright (Year 9), and Eleanor Kerr (Year 7) absent: Jin Liu (Year 10)

Year 6 Exhibition Takes Flight

This year, the Year 6 Exhibition took a different format with an aeroplanethemed evening, where the Junior School community received a boarding pass for their flight to embark on a journey through the students’ Primary Years Programme learning. Captained by Acting Head of Junior School, Ms Meredith Beer, the evening held on Wednesday 31 August departed after all the necessary safety checks and the Year 6 teachers/flight attendants ensured all the passengers were comfortable.

The in-flight entertainment was a fabulous rendition of We Are Australian with students performing both the vocals and instrumentals before passengers landed at their first destination.

Each of the Year 6 student’s PYP Exhibition pieces within the themes of Ancient Civilisations, Technology, Ancestors, Sustainable Fashion, Inspirational People, Sport, Food and Languages, Scientific Discoveries, and Fashion Over Time, were positioned in different destinations across the Junior School. Year 6 families and friends were able to explore the students’ exhibition pieces with them articulately explaining their central idea and findings. Some examples of the spaces and pieces the students created ranged from an igloo to showcase the architecture of the Innuits in Northern Canada to the ‘Little Black Dress’ famously designed by Coco Chanel. The students also collaboratively created a life-sized family tree tracing ancestors back hundreds of years, food and culture from around the world presented in a ‘MasterChef’ class, and the sustainable fashion clothes swap which encouraged the community to think about the environment when it comes to fashion.