Junior School, Term 3 Week 4 2026

What does it mean to be proud of Pulteney?

School pride is more than wearing navy blue, participating in a club or team,  or cheering from the sidelines. These things matter, but genuine pride comes from something deeper — from knowing that you belong to a community and understanding that your actions help shape it.

For our Junior School children, pride is found in the everyday moments. It is welcoming a new friend, helping someone who is struggling, giving your best effort, caring for our spaces and celebrating the achievements of others. It is showing courage when something is difficult and kindness when nobody is watching. Being a Pulteney student means being part of something bigger than yourself. Our children inherit a proud history, but they also have a responsibility to add to it. Every choice, contribution and act of kindness helps define what it means to be a ‘Navy Blue’.

This is why school pride is not simply something we give our students. It is something they earn. We want our children to look back on their time at Pulteney and know they made a difference — that they belonged, contributed and helped make our School a better place for those who came after them.

So good luck to the children at ABODA and state basketball finals, to those preparing for the musical and dance concerts, and to those who went to MindLab last week. But remember, the result is the outcome of the process, but giving your best and helping others give their best, is true excellence and genuine Pulteney pride.

Junior School Resource Centre – Book Week Information

Term 3 promises to be a very busy and exciting ten weeks in the Junior School Resource Centres. Over the course of the term students will celebrate Book Week and enjoy a selection of special events including an author visit and other literary related performances and activities. On top of all of this, students will also complete the 2026 Premier’s Reading Challenge.

Official Book Week celebrations run across Week 7 (Monday 24 August – Friday 28 August). The theme for this year’s event is Symphony of Stories. As always, we aim to highlight the importance reading plays in the lives of children, helping them to open the doors to learning, imagination, and creativity.

Book Week Parade

This year the Book Week parade will be held on Friday 28 August in the Robert Henshall Gymnasium at 8.45am and will include Reception – Year 6 classes. Parents and friends are welcome to attend, and the parade usually takes about 30 minutes. Children are asked to dress up as a favourite book character or in a costume that reflects the theme, Symphony of Stories. We ask that the children think very carefully about their costumes, they are encouraged to be truly creative. It is not expected that costumes are hired or purchased, often the best costumes are home made.

Book Week Pop-Up Book Fair

The Book Week Pop-Up Book Fair will also be held during Book Week and take on a slightly different format this year. Unlike previous years when we have had two separate shops, we will have one larger pop-up bookstore that will operate from Friday 21 August – Wednesday 26 August. The store will be open before and after school Friday and Monday 21/9 and 24/9) in the Kurrajong undercroft and Tuesday and Wednesday (25/9 and 26/9) in Year 3-6/Science undercroft space. A great range of popular titles will be available for sale along with some fun stationery items. More information about this exciting event will be made available to the community shortly through Seesaw. If you are available and able to volunteer at either a morning (8:00am – 8:45am) or afternoon (3:15pm – 4:00pm) session, please let us know by email (see name links below).

Book Week Author Visit

This Book Week we will also welcome popular children’s author Phil Cummings and enjoy a performance by Perform Education. Perform Education will present their performance, Something Special, to ELC – 3 students on Tuesday 25 August. This performance is a live interactive, engaging and educational show featuring the 2026 CBCA shortlisted books.

Phil Cummings will join our school community on Thursday 3 September and Friday 4 September. Phil will spend his two days working with each year level from Reception to Year 6 focusing on the joy of reading and writing. He is an accomplished and award winning South Australian children’s author who has written countless books. Some of our favourite titles include Anzac Biscuits, Wilbur, It’s Bedtime, Crumbs and Footprint. Children are encouraged to bring along any Phil Cummings’s books that they would like signed during their session which will be Thursday for Year 3 – 6 and Friday for Reception – 2. Phil is a repeat visitor to Pulteney, and we look forward to his visit.

Premier’s Reading Challenge

Term 3 also marks the end of the Premier’s Reading Challenge. Reception – 2 students complete the challenge in class. Year 3 – 6 students complete the challenge independently and are required to have it finished by Friday 4 September. Twelve books in total need to be recorded on the reading record (8 books are chosen from the dedicated reading lists and four books are free choice).

Please come and see the Resource Centre staff if you have any questions or would like some guidance with book selection for the challenge. Spare reading records are available at the circulation desk in the Resource Centres. Students in year 3-6 are asked to hand completed forms to classroom teachers or to post them directly to the activity set up on Seesaw.

If you have any questions regarding the exciting events of term three, please call in and ask our friendly Resource Centre staff. We all look forward to working with you and your children throughout this busy and exciting term.

Happy reading!

Yours Sincerely,

Georgie Buenfeld
Georgie.Buenfeld@pulteney.sa.edu.au

Erin Scheurleer
Erin.Scheurleer@pulteney.sa.edu.au

Gabie Hume
Gabie.Hume@pulteney.sa.edu.au

Junior School Resource Centre Staff

Upcoming Key Dates

Jason Fay
Head of Junior School

Performing Arts

Co-Curricular Updates

A reminder to please ensure you’re logging your child’s absence for Performing Arts Co-Curricular activities via the Pulteney App. Please follow the below instructions:

• Select Co-Curricular Tile
• Select Log co-curricular absence

Instrumental Music and Drama Program

Pulteney’s Performing Arts Department offers private tuition for a range of instruments as well as voice and drama lessons.

Applications for this year opened in December 2025 and have been finalised, however students from Reception right through to Year 12 can enrol at any time across the year. If an instrument, type of lesson or teacher is already fully booked, we can place your child on a waiting list until a lesson becomes available.

For more information about our program please click here. If you’re interested in enrolling your son or daughter, please complete the online application form.

Gig@theGov

We hope you will join us for this year’s Gig@theGov event – Boogie Wonderland: 1970s Magic! We look forward to welcoming you dressed in your favourite 1970’s attire for what promises to be another fantastic evening of fun, food and music on Thursday 20 August at the Gov, Hindmarsh.

This year’s entertainment will feature the Pulteney String Orchestra, Stage Band 1, Stage Band 2, JOTT 1, JOTT 2, Small Jazz Ensemble, the Year 9, 10, 11 and 12 Music Class Bands, our senior singers, and making their performance debut, our guest rock band, The Price of Stew.

This is my favourite Performing Arts event of the year, and I hope many of you will join us for this wonderful evening of music and community. Dinner places are limited, so please make sure you purchase your tickets and reserve your table before you miss out. If you are booking a table for dinner, please ensure you also purchase a ticket. All tickets will be checked upon entrance to the venue.

Please click on the following links or scan the QR code in the poster below.

Click here to purchase TICKETS. $15.00 each.

Click here to reserve a table for DINNER.

Long Lunch Class Basket Donations

• Make a monetary donation online, allowing the organising committee to curate beautiful hampers; or
• Donate an item, with collection baskets available in all ELC and Junior School classrooms.