Term 1 | Friday 19 February 2021

At Thomas Hassall, the students have an excellent opportunity to investigate the claims of the Bible in a number of ways.

There are timetabled opportunities, like Christian Studies and Chapel, but there are also volunteer opportunities such as our lunchtime Christian groups. These groups aim to provide students with the opportunity to explore the truths of the Bible in more depth. They are run by Christian Teachers who choose to give up their lunchtime to teach the students more about Jesus.

We run 3 Christian lunchtime groups which all run on a Friday. These are Junior JAM (for Years 3-4 students), JAM (for Years 5-6 students) and Abide (for all of Senior School). They aim to be fun and engaging, where all students feel safe and welcome to join.

This Term for JAM in the Junior School, the students will be looking at the book of Luke. They will be exploring what it looks like to be a follower of Jesus.

Lunchtime Christian groups are one of many ways that allow students to ask key questions about Jesus and to examine what that means for themselves.

IMG_20210219_133228.jpg

IMG_20210219_133234.jpg

IMG_20210219_134054.jpg

If you have any questions regarding the Christian Groups that run in the College, please contact Rev Oliver or myself.  

All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work.
2 Timothy 3:16-17

God Bless
 

On Monday, it was a delight to welcome the High Achievers of 2020 back to College to recognize their achievements.

As we consider the concept of excellence, it is important to explore two questions- what does it mean to think about excellence and what is the purpose of excellence?

In considering what it means to think about excellence, Philippians 4:8 is instructive. The start of the verse expands the idea of excellence to include things that are true, noble, pure, lovely, and admirable. The point that Paul appears to be making is that the category of excellent things is broad. It is certainly great to focus on classically religious things like prayer but you can also see excellence in science labs, on the sporting field and in our places of employment.

Some excellence is easy to observe. It’s not hard to watch excellence in sport or the performing arts. At other times, it is not so easy to see things that are lovely and admirable. This is one of the reasons why it is so important to have occasions to celebrate academic achievement. We may not be able to read the exams written by the Year 12 students but we can acknowledge that excellence has been achieved in the HSC.

It is probably even harder to see those examples of excellence that occur in the homes of our students. We don’t see the excellent ways that older brothers and sisters care for their siblings or the excellent way that a child works hard to include a disabled family member.

So as we seek to follow Paul’s command to think about excellence, it is important to remember that not all excellence is easy to see or measure.

This brings us to the second point about excellence, what is the purpose of excellence? On our College crest you see the phrase ‘a more excellent way’. The College’s motto is drawn from 1 Cor 12:31. Paul's text to the people of Corinth reminds us that excellence has a purpose. It is to love. Our world is facing a number of challenges. The planet is under great stress and we are entering a time of political and economic change that is unprecedented. The world is going to need some outstanding people to help find the solutions we need.  At the High Achievers assembly, we celebrated a group of students who have been able to develop their capacity to make a difference. They can think. They can communicate. They can create. They can be excellent.

The challenge for these students, and for us, is to use the gifts we have been given here to live the excellent way- the loving way of service for God and His creation.

Mr Douglas Broadbent
Director of Senior School Teaching & Learning

New lives together!

Congratulations to Lelah Broadstock (Junior School Teacher) who was married in the holidays to Andrew Bye (Maintenance Assistant)

We wish them well as they begin their lives together and pray that God will richly bless them for many years to come.

The Prep children have been exploring the concept of a spoken word.

We introduced this concept by using instruments to play along to the beat within simple pieces of music.

The children then played a variety of instruments as their friends shared words and simple sentences to describe their day at College. There were lots of smiles and giggles throughout the session! The children are now investigating how a word can be spoken, read within a story or written. We have had fun clapping, stomping, swirling and doing silly voices as we count the words within sentences in big books.

Mrs Elise Hona
Early Stage 1 Assistant Coordinator - Prep Blue & Purple

Our representative boys and girls basketball teams competed in the NASSA Basketball Gala Day with great success.

Both teams were undefeated as they faced our final opposition from St Luke’s. The boys game was a great battle as both teams displayed strong skill and talent, but our boys were never in doubt as they broke through the oppositions defence time and again to lead them to their final victory. They won the day and each earned a medal to keep as a reminder of their success. 

The girls team faced a strong opposition and, although they demonstrated great composure and resilience, St Luke’s were able to find the basket more often and ultimately brought our winning streak to an end. The girls are to be commended for their outstanding attitude displayed in every game we played. They never gave up and played as a team, passing the ball and each playing a role in our wins. 

A special mention must go to to Max, Panashe, Liana and Jewlius who were selected from all the players in the event to trial for the next level of competition,  the CIS team. 

Miss Samantha Crane
Junior School Teacher- Stage 1- Class 2C