The Way Weekly Recap I Friday 20 November 2020

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From the Principal
Principal Ross Whelan

COVID-19 remains a concern following the lockdown in South Australia. 

We continue to take the necessary precautions here at the College in line with NSW regulations. It will be interesting to see how COVID restrictions are managed in 2021. 

It was pleasing therefore to be able to hold a very successful Graduation Event last week for students and families.  Over 700 people were in attendance in an outdoor event on the top oval.  We were blessed with an evening of no rain despite a storm being predicted earlier in the day. The event was televised live on THACTV with a large audience watching. Thank you to all those who have given us positive feedback and many thanks to the organising team.  On Tuesday the Year 12’s attended their Formal in the city which was a great evening of celebrations and reflection. We wish these students well as they await their HSC results and look forward to their new opportunities ahead. 

One of the 20th Anniversary projects is to lay down a Time Capsule, filled with memories of the College from the first 20 years and with contributions from the current students and staff.  We intend to open the capsule in 20 years’ time. Today we broke ground with four Year 1 students in preparation to bury the capsule in the next few weeks.  We will compile some footage of the event and activities leading up to and including the day the Time Capsule is laid down. 

Orientation events have been held across the College recently.  It has been great to see new students coming to visit the College in anticipation for next year.  Webinars for the Parent Information Sessions have been held, and we have appreciated everyone adapting so well to the new processes. 

Academic Reports are nearing completion and will be ready for issue in the next week or so.  The end of year Celebration evenings will this year be held online and more details will be sent to you. 

Thanks again for your support of the College in such a different year. 

‘For He, Jesus is our peace’ – Ephesians 2:14

Mr Ross Whelan
Principal
From the Deputy Principal - Senior School Development
Roger Young

In our 20th Year Celebration there has not been a lot of opportunity to come together and encourage one another apart from what we could achieve via our online services.

Last Thursday night, we were finally able to come together as a community to raise a cheer for the ‘Class of 2020’. With the HSC behind us and our students gathering with families, albeit limited in number, there was a relaxed feeling of accomplishment and deep satisfaction.

It was a beautiful night and the occasion was wonderfully presented and appropriately acknowledged with wonderful words of encouragement and great wisdom shared with our graduating students. At this time, we need to pause and thank our God for His obvious hand of blessing upon our community. God never promises that we won’t have trials or tribulation, however, He does promise to ‘never leave us or forsake us’; I believe we have certainly experienced His provision and goodness at a very difficult time. This was very evident last night; this is the clarity we need to take with us as we speed towards the end of the year.

We need to maintain that 20/20 Vision that keeps us focused on the road ahead while we keep our eyes on Jesus – the author and perfecter of our faith.

Let’s spend time to pause and give thanks for what we have, cry out to God if we need His strength and support each other through difficulty with a generosity and forbearance enabled by God’s grace. It is a great time to be alive!

Mr Roger Young
Deputy Principal - Senior School Student Development
From the Deputy Principal & Head of Junior School
Sandy Wheeler

Welcome to Barbara the Companion Dog!

As I’ve mentioned in The Way previously and I’m sure you’ve heard from your children - we are trialling a Companion Dog at College which started on Monday. 

Please welcome ‘Barbara the Companion Dog’ who will be joining us each Monday throughout the rest of the term. 

  

The teachers have prepared their classes for Barbara’s visits including safe hygiene and interactions. Companion dogs contribute many positive outcomes for schools.

We trust Barbara’s presence will uplift the College community by adding joy and positivity while also supporting students in the classroom. It has been a big year and I am pleased to be welcoming this brilliant initiative in the Junior School as we look for creative ways to add more connection and happiness in a world where navigating restrictions seem to be a part of daily life.

Your feedback is welcomed and we hope many children share happy memories of Barbara around the dinner table!

Mrs Sandy Wheeler
Deputy Principal & Head of Junior School
Always Was. Always Will Be.

NAIDOC Week is a week-long event where we celebrate the culture, history and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. 

It started back in 1938 as a protest to raise awareness about the treatment of Aboriginal people. It is a week-long celebration of the First Nations people and their cultures. It is a special time for Aboriginal culture to be celebrated, respected and acknowledged.

This year’s theme is Always Was, Always Will Be. It recognises that the First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years. The theme also acknowledges this nation’s story didn’t begin when the Europeans colonised the continent.

During last week 5T continued to bridge the gap in their knowledge. I asked them to open their minds to listen, read, learn and stand to make a change.

“I used to think that the Aboriginal people had a lot of food, but now I know that they fought for their life” – Lily. H

“I used to think that the Aboriginal people were bad and attacked the British, but now I know that the Aboriginal people were only protecting their land and that they didn’t start the war” – Evangelina.P

“I never knew that the British covered up some things that happened to not get a bad reputation” – Ayden.T

Miss Courtney Garard
Junior School Teacher - Year 5

*First Nations people refers to both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
*NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee.

 

Orientations

We welcomed our new students who will commence with us in 2021 this week! 

Our 2021 Year 7 students had a fun day getting to learn more about Senior School on Thursday. Students had the opportunity to build connections with their future classmates and their teachers. Utilising their Orientation Passport, they also toured the Senior School, had a chance to ask questions and also participated in a range of fun activities!

Yesterday we also hosted three parent webinar sessions for parents. These were a great opportunity for parents to hear from our key leadership and also ask any questions they may have. 

Today, we welcomed back our 2021 Kindergarten students who had their first orientation with us last Friday. It was a great second session for students to experience what College will be like for them next year. 

Junior School Coding Day

Last week, every student from Kindy to Year 6 participated in a grade-based Coding Day.

Students completed different activities throughout the day, which gave students an understanding of what coding is and helped to develop their computational thinking skills.

While working in small teams, students were introduced to binary code, created coding sequences to control robots and move objects on a computer screen, and developed their problem solving skills. Everyone had a different ‘favourite’ activity, although some popular highlights were the Bee-Bots, Spheros, Code-a-pillars, Scratch and getting to ‘code’ our friends through an outside maze. Not only did our students have fun, but they learned new skills and developed their capacity to persevere and work through problems, particularly if the first attempt wasn’t successful.

Some student reflections on Coding Day:

“I liked all of it!” – Georgia, Kindy

"The code-a-pillars were best. We had to put the bits of the caterpillar together to make it go. The bits have arrows on them to tell them which way to go." – Aryan, Year 1

“I liked the Bee-Bots. I liked that they did what you told them!” – Cierra, Year 2

“Both Scratch and the Spheros were my favourite. I had to keep working at the code over and over again.” – Tyler, Year 5

"We learned how to experiment with different types of code." – Annabel, Year 6

Miss Claire Donaldson
Year 5 Team Leader

Farm Visit

We had some very special visitors at College this week and our Kindergarten students loved it!

To enhance their learning in Science, where they are investigating different animals and the products they produce, students met a range of farm animals. They heard educational talks and also had the opportunity to feed them. 

Junior Concert Band

As you may have seen from recent articles, our Junior Concert Band commenced learning how to march during the COVID band restriction time.

Now, we have decided to combine these skills with their instrument playing, and the students are preparing a marching routine for the upcoming Junior Celebration event. This will be a historic moment for the College, being the first marching band performance! The students and teachers are excited, and we look forward to the next few rehearsals before the big performance in a few weeks’ time.

Mr Byron Mark
Director of Ensembles

Year 2 Celebrates NAIDOC Week

In 2R last week we were immersed in many different activities to celebrate NAIDOC week. 

Students enjoyed learning about Aboriginal culture as we read Dreamtime stories, listened to music and engaged in different art activities. 

We have learned more about the original inhabitants of the Liverpool area, being the Darug and Tharawal Aboriginal people. 

It was wonderful to celebrate NAIDOC together.

Mrs Christine Ross
Junior School Teacher - Stage 2 - Year 3R

 

 

Student Leadership Training Day

Proverbs 24:27 says “Prepare your work outside; get everything ready for yourself in the field, and after that build your house.”

Preparing us was distinctly what the Leadership training day intended to do. On Wednesday 11 November, a group of 34 newly commissioned Year 12 students had the privilege of engaging in a Leadership Training Day, which would ultimately establish a foundation for a strong, cooperative leadership team for 2021. A day filled with fun, teambuilding and bonding, a day that taught us, encouraged us and motivated us, in an overall effort to excite and prepare the Student Leadership Team for the year ahead.

Mr McCormack and his session on ‘The Heart of Leadership & Modelling the Way’, commenced our day of training. This allowed the team to understand what leadership truly means and to identify our key values as a team.  However, the main message Mr McCormack sent to the team was the importance and methodology behind building credibility and trust, which if achieved, he claims will allow for a ‘flow of influence’. During this session, the team was able to define a leader as “an individual, not with the power of authority, but with the power of influence”. Contrary to beliefs that leadership starts with superiority and authority, after an inspiring presentation from our very own Director of Student Wellbeing, Mr McCormack, the team was able to recognise ‘leadership’ as starting with a willingness to influence.  

Following this, the next session that the leadership team would engage in would be a seminar targeted at knowing our strengths and passions, growing a vision of what is possible and learning how to communicate this vision to the community. The session in ‘Knowing our Strengths & Inspiring a Vision’, presented remarkably by Strengths Coach, Katie Schrack.  This session prompted each leader within the team to not only identify their own top 5 strengths, with the assistance of Mrs Schrack, but to also identify our top strengths as a team.  Additionally teaching us how we could utilise these skills to ultimately strengthen the team and make it the best the school has seen thus far. The willingness of Mrs Schrack to share her expertise and educate us on her passion turned out to be extremely beneficial towards the team, both as individuals and as a group of young, determined students.

In the final session of the day, ‘Encourage the Heart & Building Community’, we were given the opportunity to meet with the other students and teachers involved in our Portfolio of Leadership. Through this, we were able to identify possibilities and challenges concerning our Portfolio, determine strategies to call, enable and equip others to act, as well as establish methods to which we can effectively encourage the heart, influence and shape the community, in and out of the College. There are currently a myriad of exciting ideas and endeavours in the works as of now, with each Portfolio meeting regularly to determine objectives and outcomes that work in the best interest of the College and effective and sufficient strategies to achieve such goals.

On behalf of the Student Leadership Team, we are extremely grateful for the time and effort put in by each teacher involved in the planning and operating of our Leadership Training day, including our College Principal, Mr Whelan, along with Mr & Mrs Schrack, Mrs Howard and Mr McCormack.

The following are just some of the responses to the day from a group of our student leaders for 2021.

“I found it helped us determine our strengths and weaknesses which overall helped us connect as a team” – Ayaka Stratti

“It was a good way to explore the versatile talents and opportunities within the  Student Leadership Team” – Risha Singh

“It was a great way to connect and establish a foundation for the team” – Alana Mansour

“We were able to identify our strengths which could really benefit us moving forward into 2021” – Damien Trimboli

“From the training day, the main lesson I learnt was that, whatever you put in is what you get out” – Tristan Moledo

“It was good and helpful day and I think if we apply everything we learnt  in our endeavours, it will turn out beneficial for the team and the College in the long run” – Eric Long

Marie Stambe
Year 12 Student Leader

Year 12 Graduation Pre Entertainment

Year 12 Graduation Pre-Entertainment

Prior to the official commencement of the Year 12 Graduation Event, many of our Senior musicians performed live music as guests were arriving.

It was great to hear a variety of different musical styles being performed from our students; ranging from vocal duets, acoustic acts, saxophone quartet and a jazz trio. The music helped create a nice atmosphere for the beginning of the event, and was a great opportunity for students to perform on a professional production stage.  Joshua C, Sofia T, Natasha B, Gabriel C, Jessica A, Taleah V, Mouna S, Keona H, Tahlia K, Annaliese L, Aya S, Sacha G, Tinashe M, Petar L, Charles K, Tom S and Pierson F all took to the stage.

Well done to all these students, who helped celebrate and welcome the graduating class of 2020.  

Mr Byron Mark
Director of Ensembles

Year 10 Work Experience Day

On the morning of Tuesday 10 November our Year 10 cohort were treated to an excellent taste of work experience that introduced them to how to become work ready. 

Renowned presenter Nikki Heald from Corps Training gave the keynote address looking at how to prepare for the work place and how to control aspects like social media to maximize our chances of getting work.  

After this, small groups were formed to discuss actual work place challenge scenarios and many moral and practical questions were considered and solved.  It was good to see Year 10 students realise that issues are not always black and white and that careful consideration needs to be given to workmates, rules and the importance of preserving future relationships. 

All students were challenged to consider the importance of clear communication and cultivating honest reliable commitment to learn how to be a good worker. Soft skills of productive relationships and ability to listen well and persevere through learning phases were clarified.

After this, students broke up into seven electives that considered the nature of work in the areas of: Engineering and science, Hospitality, Carpentry and Trades, Business, Entertainment, Law and Health. A combination of outside presenters from ACBC in Liverpool and the University of Wollongong as well as our own staff ran creative workshops that covered some crucial skills.

Students have a workbook in which to record their reflections and if they are conscientious about this, they will be awarded a certificate of attainment for work readiness training after their PC teachers have checked their commitment to putting all these lessons into perspective.

So, although Covid restrictions have disrupted our usual work experience programs, our students have had some experience and will have some documentation to use in future interview situations. 

Mr Jim Ward
Careers Advisor

Welcome to a new Baby Boy

Congratulations to Andrew Richards (Junior School Teacher) and his wife Brooke who welcomed their first child, a baby boy, Jackson Luke on Wednesday.  He weighed 3.95kg and is 52cm long. 

Praise God for his safe arrival.  Mum, Dad and bub are all doing well and adjusting to this new chapter! 

'Praise God from whom all blessings flow'

Wellbeing Checklist

Wellbeing_Secondary_2x1.jpg

Wellbeing Checklist
Wellbeing Checklist

During this time of the COVID-19 Pandemic, many of us have experienced a variety of emotions ranging from fear to anxiety.

All of these are considered to be normal and natural responses to any challenging situation that can often result in our minds telling us all kinds of scary stories. This can be especially true for teenagers and senior students for whom ‘what if’ stories will often predict the worst.

Adolescents are considered to be more at risk of anxiety and depression disorders which may affect their mood, thinking and behaviour. Although this is completely understandable given the current situation, any unusual behaviour that lasts for more than 2-3 weeks, may be a cause for concern. Adult carers need to remain vigilant for any signs of distress, even though your adolescent may not have any prior history of mental illness. Early intervention, diagnosis and treatment have never been more important.

If you do have any concerns relating to your teenager’s mental health, you may wish to consider using the assessment tool provided by Beyond Blue. The checklist aims to measure how your teen has been feeling over the past four weeks. After completion, the results can be printed for your records, or alternatively, provided to your medical practitioner.

Click here to access the Beyond Blue Assessment Tool. If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact your school for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is a link to the special report.

Mrs Jacoline Petersen
Director of Student Counselling