As parents we are always thinking about the best strategies for providing for the future aren’t we?  Schooling choices are numerous in this age and as a large Prep to Year 12 Anglican College we do have a point of difference for students and families.  Thanks on your behalf to our Open Day organising team. 

2019 is the 20^th year of our College and we intend to celebrate this great achievement.  In that time we have established a strong foundation for the future.  There are lots of positive memories and next year will be an opportunity to reflect on the achievements and plan for the future. We will want to hold some colourful events and perhaps embark on a 20^th year project.  No doubt there will be lots to do involving food and flavours of our growing South West. 

As the Oval and Gymnasium opening becomes closer to reality we are also thinking about engaging with the wider sporting community for after hours use of these special facilities.  In the interests of greater skill development and structured sports events we already engage high level coaching.  These 2 state of the art facilities will allow us to bring greater opportunities to our students.

The new Kindergarten Centre on the Southern Cross boundary will be constructed in the second half of the year and will provide 5 classrooms with break out spaces and a concentration of location for our Early Learning programs. It’s an exciting project.

Hope to see you all soon for the Movie Under the Stars evening – Friday 23 March is not far away!

“For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin.” Hebrews 4:15

Best regards,

Students are working hard to learn the songs and dances for what is shaping up to be a very exciting and entertaining musical. So far, the full cast has put four songs together and our Year 5 and 6 group have started practising with the Senior School cast. The Musical Orchestra has been finalised and are rehearsing diligently. Details on the Orchestra Rehearsal Schedule is to come. Students are being measured up for costumes - don't forget to bring a suit bag with you to the next rehearsal!

We would like to thank parents and students for their flexibility in minor changes to the rehearsal schedule, and a big thank you to all the staff who are giving up their time to tirelessly help out with rehearsals, choreography, props and costumes!

A Note for the Junior Chorus:

Rehearsals are going great! Just letting you know that we will continue with the rehearsals for this Saturday 17 March and also Saturday 24 March. As the 24th March is an extra date, it is understandable if your child is unable to make this date as well. The Tuesday rehearsal time will be helpful for this. If you can make it - please come along!

17th March: 1 - 5pm.
24th March: 12:30pm to 4pm.

Please enter via Gate 3 and park/drop off at the back of the auditorium (near P block/crossing.)
If you are unavailable on any of the dates please email [email protected]

Tickets are being released very soon, so watch this space!

Ms Marina Hanna
on behalf of the Leader of the Pack Team 
 

As the second event in the House Cup calendar year, the Spelling Bee Challenge pits Stage 4, 5, and 6 minds from each House against each other in a classic battle of the brains. To celebrate the day, students may wear their House Shirt/PE Shorts on the day, however, if students do not have a House Shirt, they must come in full school uniform. House shirts can be purchased at anytime from Liverpool Lowes, and we're hoping to see lots of House spirit on the day, so make sure you grab one if you haven't already!

Mr Matthew Driscoll
House Patron

It was late 2017 when I clicked on an advertisement for a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) camp on my solitaire game. Unknowingly, I signed up for one of the best experiences in my life. The camp was held by the University Of Wollongong and we stayed on the Innovation Campus, living like university students for three days.

I was in a group of 3 other people as well as our group leader. Our group consisted of coffee junkie Jenna, Hamilton fanatic Helen, animal lover Molly, group leader and pun extraordinaire Melody and I. Together we were called ourselves the ‘dysfunctional family’. During the camp we had a competition with all of the different teams to try and win the most points possible (spoiler alert: unfortunately we didn't win). The first day of the camp itself was more of an introduction to the program while the second day was when the fun began. The first thing we got to see was a presentation about the Bionic Bra and how it works. Next we walked through the university to see the drones and map our favourite locations using the GPS tracking system. The locations ranged from beaches to bedrooms with cats (that one was mine). Downstairs we viewed, made and tested our own artificial muscles using different materials. We then met the Physics Club, who were kind enough to make ice cream for us. After lunch we met with Transport NSW who told us about their Scholarship Program and about their connected and automatic cars. These cars also tested your fatigue and your focus. This was one of my favourite parts of the camp. After being hyped up on ice cream and fuelling Jenna’s coffee addiction we went to Illawarra Coal to participate in four different activities. The first one was a mining simulator made for training using the Xbox. The second activity used alternate reality software to show us the different machines and things that happen inside of a mine. The best activity was the third activity. We got to put on helmets and head down into a training mine.

We went on a tour through the mine and had to act out the safety precautions, which were quite scary. We sat inside some of the machines and looked at the equipment. The last activity was, you guessed it, another lecture. We were told all about engineering and about the process of making mining safer. The next day we had to wake up extremely early to visit Bluescope Steelworks. We walked through the steelworks and saw the steel making process from the start to the finish. After that we had lunch and learnt all about iAccelerate, a program for entrepreneurs to meet and create new things with the help of the program. We learnt about 3D printing, designed and then printed our own cat related products that we designed as entrepreneurs. After a hard day at work as entrepreneurs we took a relaxing stroll to the Illawarra Flame House where we found out about the sustainability of the house and participated in some activities to help design houses for living forever.

On our last day of the camp, we had a lecture about coding. I was extremely excited, as coding is definitely one of my passions. After the lecture we all did an hour of code. I was in the advanced course and made artwork using a coding software called Processing. I did fairly well and got a prize from Google for it. We had morning tea only to be greeted with breaking news! There was a crime at the university and we had to solve it, and with that, started Crypto Cluedo. We walked all around the university finding clues and doing maths to figure out who the murderer was. Our last activity was based all around Virtual Reality (VR) and Alternate Reality (AR). We got to use the VR headset and were shown all the different uses and applications for VR and AR in our everyday lives.

The experience was one I’ll never forget and I have walked away with a strong passion for STEM. I would highly recommend this program for any Senior School girls who are interested.

Melanie Eggins
Year 10 Student

Tatiana Mendez sang a beautiful version of a Beyonce song, Caleb Cruz performed an impressive piece on piano called “Gabriel’s Oboe” and Liam Penklis and Lachlan Shead performed as a duet, the jazz standard called ‘Blue Bossa’. Justin Vidic also had a fun percussion jam with Mr Mark.

Thank you everyone, and well done to all those student performers this week.

Byron Mark
Ensembles Manager

This day saw students in Year 8 competing against students in Year 12. It was a tough competition that saw first place win by only one game. Thomas Hassall students excelled in both the Boys and Girls draws. Congratulations to Kiara Rojas, Saniya Tambe, Ana Djokic and Emilia Michalak for coming 3^rd and Anuj Singh, Sebastian Saliba, Stevan Babic and Jonathon Bui for coming 5^th. Thank you to Valentina Rikaloski and Adrian Tomas for being umpires and Mr Paull for being coach.