Term 2 | The Way Newsletter | Friday 9 May 2025

As we begin this new term, I am reminded of the deep pride we share in our students —not unlike the pride many parents feel, especially at this time of year, as we pause to celebrate Mother’s Day. It is a moment to honour the nurturing, encouragement and tireless support that mothers and mother-figures provide every day. At College, we see that same spirit reflected in the perseverance, growth and determination of our students as they take on challenges, strive to improve, and support one another.

This term, there is much to celebrate already. Over the recent break and into the start of term, students participated in a range of enriching experiences that speak to the heart of our educational values. Our music and dance students travelled to Queensland, proudly representing our community through performance, collaboration and creative expression. Another group of students explored the vibrant culture of Japan—immersing themselves in language practice and broadening their global perspectives. In each of these tours, our students displayed exemplary behaviour, maturity and resilience, showing that learning beyond the classroom builds not just skills, but character.

The diversity of opportunities we offer—from cultural immersion to creative performance — is intentional. These experiences shape well-rounded, confident individuals who know how to contribute, reflect, and grow. We are immensely proud of each student who participated, and equally grateful to the staff and families who made these journeys possible.

Closer to home, our youngest learners in Kindergarten to Year 2 delighted us all with a joyful Creative Arts showcase centred around the theme of “The Toy Box” and its hidden treasures. Their energy, storytelling and imagination were on full display as each class brought to life the wonders of play and discovery. It was a beautiful reminder of the talent and enthusiasm that bubbles up from the earliest years of schooling.

A heartfelt thank you also goes to the dedicated volunteers who generously gave their time to support our Mother’s Day stalls. Your kindness helped create a special experience for our students and families—reminding us that it takes a community to raise, nurture and celebrate children.

As you enjoy the stories and snapshots in this edition of the newsletter, we invite you to join us in acknowledging the many individuals — students, staff, and supporters —whose contributions make our College a place of inspiration and achievement. We are proud of them all.

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up."
— Galatians 6:9

Happy Mother’s Day, and welcome to another term of learning, growth, and shared pride.

Please see Sports Update articles for all important sporting dates.  

Our Mother’s Day Stall was once again a great success, filled with joy, excitement, and plenty of thoughtful moments. Seeing the care students took in choosing the ‘perfect’ gift—picking it up, changing their mind, then finally settling on just the right one was a highlight. We know these gifts will be treasured just as much as the thought that went into them.

A very big thank you to our volunteers from the Parent Community Network. From selecting and ordering the gifts, to setting up, helping students choose, selling and packing down—it’s all thanks to your time and care. We’re so grateful for your support in making this special tradition happen. 

It is that time of the year where students are preparing for the mid-year exams. When we speak to students, we often find that they are very stressed about their parents’ responses to their academic results.

It is normal for parents to want to motivate their children to do well. It is also useful for students to have some level of stress to motivate them to prepare for the exams. However, we want to avoid high levels of stress, because it can reduce their academic performance.

What can parents do to support their children with their exam preparation?

In Junior School, often students won’t even know they are doing an assessment and the word exams is not used. Consequently, they can be very stressed when they encounter exams in Year 7 for the first time. It is useful for parents to acknowledged this and reassure them that learning how to study and preparing for the exams, are new skills that you will support them to develop. Consequently, the focus will not be on academic outcomes only, but more so on their executive skills. The focus will be on their:

• Organisation
• Time Management
• Problem solving
• Discipline
• Study Skills

The idea is that you will support them to learn how to study.  Establish what they know about how to study and what they need to learn.

Their responses can guide you on how best to support them. Attached are some links that can support you as you guide them on this journey.

You can click on any of the links if you wish to help them to:

Develop Healthy Study Habits

Understand HSC Exam Stress

Understand the Exam Jitters

If you have any additional questions, feel free to contact me at [email protected]

Mrs Jacoline Petersen
Director of Student Counselling

The Auditorium foyer currently has a display of K-2 artworks, as part of the Creative Arts Night showcase, with the theme of ‘The Toy Box’.

A collection of Teddies visited the Art room and sat very still while Year 1 students observed and drew them. A select number of these unique drawings were faithfully upscaled and students collaborated to create their brown fur coats. Year 1 students have been learning how to use the primary colours of red, yellow and blue to create tertiary colours. The range of browns they mixed with acrylic paints were torn and glued to make collage artworks.

Year 2 wove the picnic rugs for the Teddy Bears’ Picnic. Students learnt about complementary colours, which are opposite on the colour wheel. They noted the vivid effect created when using complementary colours as the warp and weft for their paper weaving. To complete the picnic, Year 2 students drew tea sets from observation and added colour and pattern with Posca markers and pencil.

We were inspired by music and verse as we listened to Henry Hall’s somewhat creepy 1932 recording of ‘The Teddy Bears’ Picnic’:

If you go down to the woods today, you better not go alone.
It’s lovely down in the woods today, but it’s safer to stay at home.
For every bear that ever there was
Will gather there for certain because
Today’s the day the Teddy Bears have their picnic.

The Kindergarten students’ paintings are an exploration of colour, shape, mark-making and printing, with each class focusing on a toy that matched their song performances. We hope you get the chance to visit the display to see the vibrant toy trains, cars, dinosaurs, teddies and jack-in-the-boxes that our youngest artists have created.

Mrs Ann McDermott
Junior School Specialist Teacher (Visual Arts)

We are excitedly anticipating a visit from Takayama Junior High School, our sister school, who will be visiting the College - 1 – 5 August 2025. Hosting students will provide your family with an amazing intercultural experience. We have always had such positive feedback from families who have hosted and it is a vital part of our Japanese language program within the College community. The Japanese students are here to experience Australian Culture and our style of family life to improve their spoken English. 

• Students attend school on weekdays and enjoy
• Family life with you on the weekend
• Japanese language is not necessary.
• Students just fit in with your family routines – eat your food
• They need their own bed but can share a room, they I'll need to be in pairs or in three's.

Families are paid $55 per night ($110 to host 2 students)

If you are interested in hosting students, please click on this link and fill out the online form.

Thank you for considering this wonderful opportunity.

Please see below some experiences from our College families after hosting Japanese students.

Here are a few reflections from host families: 

We didn't really know what to expect when we answered the school's urgent request to host two Japanese exchange students. A short phone call from some Staff gave us some guidance of how we should prepare, "Just your usual weekend routine and a space for them to sleep. Would you mind taking three boys?" Our house has plenty of space and so it was not a great stretch to accommodate 3 boys as they wanted to stay together if it was possible! We gladly welcomed them home on the Friday afternoon with a quick walk around our local area followed by a gathering of items from the supermarket. They picked homemade hamburgers for dinner. We traded snacks after dinner sampling some super sour gumballs and cheese rice sticks. 

Saturday was a road trip along the south coast taking in the Seacliff Bridge, Shellharbour and into the Minnamurra Rainforest National Park where we encountered Lyre Birds. Berry Donut van was a necessary stop, not just for coffee but the iconic doughy treats. The overnight destination was Sussex Inlet as we knew we could get the boys up close to some Kangaroos. Night two dinner was a classic barbeque followed by toasting marshmellows over the fire pit.

On the Sunday we had access to a boat, sunny weather but an unwelcomed chilly breeze. We persisted and treated the 3 boys to fishing. Luck was not with us and no bites were had. Since the boys indicated they lived inland in Japan being by the ocean was an experience. Some ancient shell fossils were located in the rocks by the beach. We saw another mob of kangaroos before leaving Sussex and heading to Bendeela in Kangaroo Valley where we knew there would be wombats grazing at sunset. It was dark by the time we climbed the steep road out of the valley and returned home. Monday was the boys chance to see more wildlife at Sydney Zoo before their last night staying with us. This opportunity saw another fire pit and more marshmellows where the boys revealed they were training in Kendo. 

The experience of hosting three teenage boys with very minimal English was excellent! Google translate allowed instruction and explanation to bridge the language gap. The boys were extremely polite and grateful for our hospitality. I believe they will always look back on their experience to Australia as a great one. 

The Chipperfield Family

We had a great pleasure hosting Moa and Juri (Japanese students from Takayama Junior High School) from 4/8 to 8/8. We loved having the girls over. We became tourists in our own city visiting Luna Park, Opera House and taking the Ferry under the Harbour Bridge. We also did a day driving trip to Bombo Beach and Kiama Blow Hole. We relied on Google translate to communicate and had lots of laughs (things lost in translation ). We experienced Taiwanese Hotpot and Korean BBQ as a family as well. Overall an amazing experience. As first time hosters, we loved learning the Japanese culture and practised our Japanese with them. We look forward to doing it again next year. 

The Thornley Family

Hosting 3 students from Takayama, Japan was a real highlight for our family earlier this month. Sena, Yukari and Yuna were delightful and we thoroughly enjoyed introducing them to Sydney. The girls (aged 14 and 15) were keen to experience family life in Australia, to taste our cuisine, to improve their English and to see some tourist sights. Before they arrived, we were provided with a profile for each student that helped us to get to know them. The girls had been learning English at school, and were keen to practise their skills. Although our family do not speak Japanese, communication was not a problem. Sometimes we used google translate to help, but mostly the girls were excellent at communication. We visited the Blue Mountains and Cronulla Beach and the girls were also keen to go shopping. We made Origami together and played Uno. The girls came to church with us on Sunday and we met with friends on Saturday night who were also hosting Japanese students. The girls were very polite and wrote us beautiful messages of thanks before they left. We are very grateful for the opportunity to host the girls, and look forward to opportunities in the future to host other Japanese students.

The Ford Family

Our family recently hosted two Japanese students from Takayama High School, Japan. These boys were immediately warm and smiling as we met in the College quad and their eyes lit up as I handed them each their first Australian Tim Tam. Yuri and Yota were their names, two young teens that were kind, respectful and excited to experience our country.  We bonded over the simple things, ten pin bowling, burritos, Mario Kart and games of Uno. We made it a rule to call the colours in Japanese during the game.  We showed them our unique Australian animals at Featherdale Farm and their favourite was the koalas. They ‘wowed’ at the expanse of the Jamison valley, the three sisters and the scenic railway and they shopped for iconic Australian food such as Tim Tams, Byron Bay cookies, Smith chips and Australian honey. 

We also put on a good Aussie bbq complete with a fire pit and sparklers with another family that were also hosting students so they could share their experience together. The boys spoke what English they could and we thanked them in Japanese for their efforts.

It was a joy to share our home and show them the sights and in return share their joy and wonder at all things Australian. The morning they were to leave they gave us a hand written note in English expressing their gratitude for their time with us and left us with four beautiful origami cranes. We felt truly blessed to be a part the homestay program. 

The Hobbins Family