While Pittwater House is proud of its academic programmes and pupils’ achievements we recognise the importance of providing a broad, well-balanced education.
We believe that children should be given opportunities to be successful beyond the academic timetable. to this end the School offers a number of extra-curricular activities as well as many activities in the co-curricular programme.
Children are encouraged to participate in as many activities as they are able without overwhelming themselves.
Art Club targets children who have an interest and enthusiasm for art. These classes are only available to primary students and focus on planning, implementing and developing projects rather than weekly exercises. Children are encouraged to experiment with materials and subject matter while developing an appreciation and understanding of art.
Chess and Board Games Club provides an opportunity for pupils to learn the basic principles of a variety of games from their peers with additional input from the teaching staff. Chess is a wonderful opportunity for children to develop their thinking and strategy skills on a regular basis and leads to interaction between pupils of varying ages...
The School's choral programme prepares pupils for public performance but also has a profoundly positive effect on the way students learn by developing their listening skills.
The Junior Choir, made up of students from Forms 3 and 4, performs a variety of styles, with an emphasis on fun while reinforcing ensemble work.
The Chamber Choir is offered by audition to pupils in Forms 5 and 6. They perform on many school occasions, giving pupils that love to sing an opportunity to extend their skills and be introduced to a more challenging repertoire. Numbers for this choir are limited.
Debating receives much support in the Junior School and all pupils in the Primary grades are given the opportunity to participate. In Forms 3 and 4 this takes place within the classroom. An inter-class competition of friendly debates is held over two terms for Forms 5 and 6 pupils. The emphasis is very much on giving pupils the knowledge and skills to debate by themselves, without having to rely on parents. We have lunchtime discussions to increase knowledge about topics. The pupils, working with their coaches, prepare their own debates.
A similar format is also followed in the Inter-School Competition, the Schools Debating Network (SDN) which takes place on Friday evenings in Term III. The best debaters from the Prep and Junior College are chosen for the two teams in this competition.
Drama is aimed at children in Kindergarten to Form 2 and is primarily a fun activity aimed at developing performance and audience skills. Everyone is encouraged to join in, improvise and act out simple sequences.
The Junior School Band complements the Instrumental Programme by providing an opportunity for instrumentalists to perform in an ensemble. This allows an instrumental pupil to gain other elements of musical knowledge not included in an individual lesson. The more advanced members assist the less experienced by their playing confidence.
The Junior School Band is for students that have recently started their solo instruments and is open to all students. New members are very welcome at any time even if individual lessons are taught outside the School music programme.
This ensemble is made up of string players from the Junior School. It is a training ensemble and gives the opportunity for string players to experience the joy of group music-making.
Pupils in Forms 5 and 6 are eligible to take part in the Australian Primary Schools Maths Olympiad. Selected pupils in Forms 5 and 6 take part in the weekly enrichment sessions to enhance their mathematical thinking and problem solving skills. The Olympiad is a competition which aims to encourage children to call upon their higher order thinking skills and problem solving strategies to gain answers to the questions posed. It consists of five competition papers set throughout the year each consisting of five problems to solve in a given amount of time.
Music plays a vital and integral part in the life of pupils at Pittwater House Junior Schools. It is valued for its academic contribution and for the personal development and aesthetic value it brings to the School. The School music calendar provides many avenues for pupils to perform and listen.
Students in various ensembles are also encouraged to take part in performing visits to local organisations and institutions as well as the number of concerts and showcasing functions that are held at Pittwater House.
Private tuition on almost all musical instruments is available during school hours. Both Suzuki and traditional methods are taught. Performance opportunities for these pupils take place during the year.
The Junior School plays the majority of its Inter-School Sport in the local PISA Competition on Fridays from 11.30am until 1.00pm. The advantage of this local Peninsular Schools competition is that all teams play their matches at either Lionel Watts or Nolan Reserves. The other schools who participate in the PISA Competition are St Luke’s John Colet, Oxford Falls, Northern Beaches Christian School and Covenant Christian School. Pittwater House pupils are therefore able to join their local clubs on Saturdays to play their chosen sports.
The following sports will be played in the PISA Competition in 2010:
Over the past two years three of our PISA teams have won the Premiership in their competitions.
Training for all of our PISA teams takes place on the School Oval (James Mooney Oval) on Wednesday mornings from 7.45am to 8.20am.
The Preparatory School also plays Rugby Union and cricket against Mosman Prep School on an annual basis. They also play Rugby against other School teams in the Warringah Knock-out Competition whenever possible
The School participates in HICES Carnivals each year in swimming, cross country, athletics and netball. The HICES events serve as our School's pathway for any talented boy or girl from our teams to compete at a higher level, eg. representative teams, Combined Independent School teams or NSWPSSA State Championship teams. In all other sports we can nominate any talented athlete to attend the Combined Independent School (CIS) Trials that are used to select teams to participate in State and National Championships.
At Pittwater House, physical education is considered a vital part of the development of an active, well-balanced child. The visit to Manly Beach for Surf Education is an important component of the physical education programme.
Each year in Term IV the pupils from Forms 2 to 6 pack their swimmers and spend half a day at Dee Why or Manly Beach. The pupils are divided into pre-established ability groups. They are also assigned a qualified Life Guard. All pupils learn about the importance of water safety and learn a variety of skills including how to wade, dolphin dive, how to paddle with a surf board and importantly how to recognise, avoid and, if necessary, swim safely out of a rip. The pupils spend time both in and out of the water. Each group is accompanied into the water by at least one Life Guard so that water safety requirements are met. At the end of the session it is evident that not only have the pupils had fun, but that they have acquired vital skills.
After our Swimming, Athletics and Cross Country Carnivals have been completed, we select our Inter-School Teams. These Pittwater House School teams then take part in the annual HICES Carnivals, which serve as both a day of friendly competition with a number of other schools for our top boys and girls and as a pathway to the next level, the CIS Carnival. If successful at the CIS level, our competitors are then selected as a member of the CIS team which then takes part in the PSSA State Championships.
The PSSA State Championships for Swimming and Athletics are held at Olympic Park in the Aquatic Centre and Athletics Stadium. Cross Country State Championships are held at the Eastern Creek Raceway.
Over the past three years our school has seen over twenty of our top sporting boys and girls go on to represent CIS teams in State and National teams. We are very proud of this number of elite young sportspersons who have come from our relatively small school and go on to higher honours.
Our Internal Athletics Carnival is held at the NSW Institute of Sport, Narrabeen and our Swimming Carnival is held in our 25 metre eight lane Olympic Short Course Pool which is situated on the school campus.
Pittwater House Tennis has two rebound-ace courts and two full-time qualified TCA coaches. Our aim is to develop progressive skills for beginners, intermediate and advanced students. We strive to encourage an interest in this great social sport with the following programmes:
The Robotics programme is an extra curricular programme that develops pupils' critical and logical thinking skills. Pupils create a robot's behavioural characteristics using an icon based programming language on a computer before uploading these programs to the actual robot for testing. At the lowest level, pupils programme their robots to carry out clearly defined tasks. At the most complicated levels pupils use their higher order thinking skills to produce robots that will react autonomously to their surroundings based on environmental input from touch, temperature and light sensors.
