Term 3 Week 9

From the Head of Campus

It has been such a joy to observe the students engaged in their learning and connected with peers in what has been a very full and busy term here at the Bellarine Campus. A glance back through previous weekly Vines is testimony to how fortunate our students and staff are in having the opportunity as a community to be enriched through both the teaching and learning program. The growth of our community thus far this year has been incredible, and I am so very appreciative of the investment by the staff at the Bellarine Campus for their dedication to ensuring a rich and exciting school experience. Likewise, our students ‘turn up’ to school, enthused and ready to learn. They seek relationship and connection with one another and their teachers, making for a vibrant learning community. We truly do have amazing young people.

As we head into the term break, I wish to thank all of the Bellarine Campus families for their ongoing support and contributions to our community. I wish all of our students, families and staff a very restful and well-deserved break. During my term of leave, the Bellarine Campus is in very good hands under the leadership of Mr Andrew Platt. Andrew is an incredible leader of our Campus and has for many years been a wonderful support to me as my Deputy Head of Campus. I know Andrew will be very well supported by his leadership team, the Bellarine staff group, and the families of the Bellarine Campus.

I wish all of the Bellarine community God’s richest blessings for the final term of 2023 and look forward to watching the Bellarine Campus continue to flourish as a wonderful place of learning.

What’s Happening at Bellarine

Week 1

Middle School will start this term as week 2 of our 10 day cycle

Monday October 2 – Student-free staff day

Monday October 2 – Rural 7 Girls commences

Tuesday October 3 – Students commence Term 4

Tuesday  October 3 – Year 9 Boys Transformation commences

Tuesday October 3 – Whole School assembly

Friday October 6 – Year 9 Boys Transformation excursion

Fair Go Mate Activity Day

To finish off their ‘Fair Go Mate’ unit, the Year 3 and 4 students had an activity day. The day involved two rotations. The first rotation involved walking to the Drysdale Salvation Army Store, where the students got to hear about the work of the Salvation Army and to buy a small gift from the shop. The second rotation involved baking biscuits for the outreach van that provides essential goods for the homeless and those in need in our local community. The biscuit bags were decorated with encouraging stickers. The students had a wonderful day of learning and fun, as they thought about providing service to others in need.

Sam Kennedy, Samantha Bett, Renee Cunningham,  Mark Jacobi, and Jessica Chakir  

Lasting Buddy Love

Our Year 5 students have been working hard to complete a picture story book based on convicts and early Australian settlement. They used what they have learned from our unit of work and reading ‘Tom Appleby, Convict Boy’ by Jackie French to help inform their story. They planned, drafted, edited and revised their work and also added images to support their story. We had the pleasure of being able to share our stories with our buddies from last year, reconnecting with our friends. It was a special time of reading and being together.

Year 7 Drama Clowning Around

Students in the Year 7 Drama elective this term have been taking part in a comedy unit where we have been learning about non-verbal communication as a performance tool. This culminated last week in them ‘clowning around’ – literally – performing their devised clowning pieces to a Year 2 audience. We had clowns in restaurants, at constructions sites and even in the operating theatre! Some performances included some audience interaction which saw one clown end up with whipped cream on their face…twice!

Next term we swap the red noses for capes, with a unit of learning through the lens of heroes and villains.

Year 7 Poetry Competition

Throughout Term 3, Year 7 students have been developing their understanding of, and skills in, poetry. Students have been researching, analysing, planning, and writing various forms of poetry throughout the term. As a culmination of our unit this week, students were invited to participate in a Year 7 Poetry Competition in the Auditorium with all Year 7 students making up the audience.  Eleven students chose to enter a poem and perform it in front of their peers and our panel of judges (thank you Mrs. Kent, Mr. Burgess, Mr. Watkins) with the following students receiving prizes:

First place – Olivia Clark

Equal second place – Hollie Smith

Equal second place – Russell Chakir

Congratulations to all students who courageously participated and shared their poems. We look forward to continuing this tradition in future years.

Year 8 Medieval Day

This term, Year 8 students have been immersed in the study of Europe during the Middle Ages as part of their History curriculum. As a culmination to this, yesterday the Year 8s cohort celebrated with our annual Medieval Day.

The festivities involved students dressing as characters that represented the range of social roles within the feudal system. This allowed students to learn by connecting with what life would have been like for people during this time. In costume, they paraded the school with banners that were made to represent the values of their class, and then enjoyed some workshops themed around armoury, games, lifestyle, dress, and music.

A highlight of the day was the medieval feast under candlelight in the barn. Each class shared a pre-rehearsed dance and a roast lunch to cap off a wonderful day stepping back in time.

We would like to thank all the staff involved, as well as the parents for their support of such a rich learning experience.

Middle School Music Camp 2023

Musicians from Surf Coast, Bellarine and Highton campuses gathered this week at Anglesea to share some amazing musical moments together. Our Concert Bands, String Ensembles and Choirs from the three Middle School campuses worked on all sorts of music, including pieces for our upcoming Annual Music Evening on October 12 at Costa Hall.

Over 120 campers attended along with a mixture of 20 different staff over the three days. Mixing in rehearsals, tutorials, camp activities, trivia and disco nights the days were full. We also enjoyed a full camp choir where all campers had a big sing-a-long together.

Our favourite moments have been mostly centered around the joy we’ve had from connecting across campuses and year levels, building and developing friendships to take us into the future together.

Please enjoy some photos and short videos from our days at the CCG MS Music Camp for 2023.

All Things Footy Day

On Thursday September 7 the whole campus was involved in ‘All Things Footy Day.’ The key aspect of the day was fundraising for our “Compassion Australia” child Jojo, a young boy from East Java, Indonesia. We have supported Jojo and his family for many years and our much-needed funds have benefited both Jojo and his family as well as his community in Pandegiling. On the day, students from Prep to year 9 dressed in their footy teams’ colours in celebration of footy finals fever. A highlight for the Junior School was participating in a football clinic run by AFL Barwon. The clinics catered to students of all abilities and they learnt many of the excellent skills that football has to offer. It was great to see the smiles on the students’ faces while they were participating. Thank you to all families and students who purchased a sausage and donated a gold coin to assist Jojo and his community. We raised $1000.00 to assist this worthy cause.

How to Make a Bird

As part of our Literacy program, we have been looking at a number of ‘Rich Texts’ that help to improve vocabulary, comprehension and show the different ways authors use the text to evoke feelings and emotions. Currently we are reading the book ‘How to make a bird’ by Meg McKinlay and Matt Ottley.

As part of our work on this book, we have indeed been making birds! The children have expressed their own unique creativity to produce a plethora of sensational birdlife.

Each person wrote a list of materials as they used them, and the steps involved in making their bird. The next step in the process is the writing of their own procedural text showing how to replicate the bird that they have made.

This has been an exciting time of collaboration, creative perseverance and problem-solving.

National HPE Day 2023

The wind, rain and freezing temperature last Friday couldn’t dampen the energy levels of our Bellarine staff and students who embraced the excitement and enthusiastically participated in the 2023 National HPE Day celebrations. It is a nationwide initiative highlighting the importance of HPE in the Australian Curriculum, and its influence on the lifelong learning and development of healthy behaviours in our children.

Thanks to our Bellarine family, Damien and Rhiannon Curtis from the Fruit Shack, our Junior and Middle School students enjoyed a delicious, healthy snack of bananas, apples, mandarins, pears and carrots. It was great to see so many energetic students and staff being active at snack time with the skipping ropes, basketballs, badminton and most spectacularly – dancing together to the Nutbush!

At lunch time the students gathered in the gymnasium to cheer for our Year 8/9 Mixed Netball House Championship Grand final where Burrows House took the 2023 honours.

Tournament of Minds (TOM) 2023

State Finals

With both our Bellarine TOM teams winning their respective categories (The Arts and STEM) a couple of weeks ago at the Regional Finals at Deakin University, they had the honour of representing both our school and the Geelong region at the State Finals last Sunday at La Trobe University, Bundoora.

Tournament of Minds is a problem-solving program for teams of seven students from either primary or secondary years. TOM is an opportunity for students with a passion for learning and problem-solving to demonstrate their creative skills and talents.

It was an early start for all the students, parents, Mr Antony Benson (Executive Director of Teaching and Learning) and me, having to be at La Trobe University at 8:30am. It was fantastic to see the rapport and engagement that the students have developed with each other over the duration of this term. The fruits of this were evident in their critical and creative thinking, teamwork, and collaboration as they worked tirelessly on Sunday in solving and presenting solutions to TOM challenges at Latrobe University.

Year 7 Humanities: Videos for Change

The culmination of student learning as a part of the Humanities component of their ‘Words Shape Worlds’ unit this term has seen Year 7s empowered by being given the opportunity to inspire empathy, awareness and action on important social issues through creating entries for global platform Videos for Change. Taking part in this competition gives students a voice, not just in our community but potentially across the world, as well as allowing them to contribute to a safer, more sustainable and inclusive world.

Students were able to work either individually, or in small groups, and needed to follow specific criteria, knowing their video would be judged on the following:

1. Issue communicated effectively
2. Emotional impact
3. Uniqueness/creativity
4. Effective video-making techniques
5. Clear, achievable call to action

Cupcake Challenge

The Year 9 Food Studies class ended the term with the much anticipated ‘Cupcake Challenge’. The students were tasked to make their own cupcake patties, delicious cream cheese icing, learn how to mix colours and pipe their patty.  It was a very close competition with many worthy winners. Voters chose the ‘rainbow’ piped cupcake, delicately made by Hamish MacArthur and Archer Shay – congratulations!

Healthy and Connected Communities

Students from the Year 9 Australia’s Health elective subject had the exciting opportunity to sit down in the Bellarine Community Health’s board room to meet with the Healthy and Connected Communities team (HCCT). Here they learnt about the many ways in which Health Promotion occupations can contribute to increasing positive health outcomes on a community level. Students heard about the many initiatives the HCCT have been responsible for including free healthy cooking classes for youth, funding to support disadvantaged primary school students to try snorkelling and raising a greater awareness about the harms of vaping and other harmful substances. HCCT are also involved in other fantastic local programs and services such as Farm My School and Feed Me Bellarine.

Year 8/9 Mixed Netball House Championships

And the 2023 Winner is…BURROWS!!!

House Sport Competition returned to the Bellarine Campus during Term 3 for our eager Year 8 and 9 students, who were ready to battle it out and show off their talents on the netball court! Our Year 9 House Captains led each of their teams with great determination over a four-day round robin, where scores were close and flamboyant netball skills were on display! Burrows and Penman finished up with top points at the end of the matches and went head-to-head in the Grand Final. Burrows was too strong for Penman, winning comfortably in front of the electric middle school crowd. Well done to all students who were involved in the championships, whether it was playing, umpiring, coaching, or cheering! Congratulations Burrows!

Division Athletics

On Tuesday the September 5, five students from Bellarine Campus traveled to Landy Field to compete in the Division athletics.

Harvey Stefanovski in the 9–10-year-old boys finished second in the 800m with a time of 2.50:16, only just getting pipped at the finish line and second in the 1500m with a time of 5.38:01.

Ellie Cox, in the 11-year-old girls, finished fifth in the 200m sprint and seventh in the high jump, clearing 1.20m.

Layla Maddock, in the 12-year-old girls, finished tenth in the shot put with a throw of 5.71m.

Shyloh Smith, in the 12-year-old girls, finished sixth in discus with a throw of 14.50m.

Lachlan Mavromihalis in the 12-year-old boys finished fith in the discus throwing 22.80m.

Harvey has now qualified for the regional championships which will be held in Keilor on October 17. We wish him all the best and will follow his progress with interest.

Congratulations to all students for their efforts on the day!

Year 9 End of Term Celebration

On Wednesday, our Year 9s had a special pizza lunch to mark the end of their academic journey at the Bellarine Campus, and what a fantastic day it was! With the excitement of starting their rural and transformation programs looming on the horizon, this was a chance for them to come together and cherish the moments they’ve spent as a cohort on their learning journey here at the Bellarine Campus. Our students showcased their talents as they performed their homeroom formal dances for each other, and the sunny weather created the perfect backdrop for our celebration. With music, laughter, and a fantastic vibe, it was truly a day to remember as we bid farewell to this chapter and eagerly anticipate the next adventure in their educational journey.

Board Games and Jigsaw Puzzles

Do you have jigsaws or board games you no longer use? The library is looking for donations of jigsaw puzzles (must be 300 pieces or less) and board games in excellent condition for students’ use.  Can these please be left at the School Office with a note for the library. Thank you very much.

Grandparents/Special Friends Donated Books

We are very thankful and grateful for Grandparents/Special Friends who purchased and donated a book to our library.  We are busily processing and covering all these books.  The library staff plan to have these books ready for borrowing early Term 4. 

Qustodio Parents App

Supervise and Support Your Children on Digital Devices this Holiday Break

As we enter the holiday break, your young people may have the opportunity to engage and interact online more than they would during the school term. It can be challenging at times for parents to feel confident and empowered to help their children to be safe and responsible in their online activities, and to have balance between on-screen and off-screen activities.

A reminder to parents that the Qustodio Parent App is available to all our parents to help them supervise and support their children with their online and digital interactions at home, on the school device and on personal devices.

Parents of new students to the College this term have recently received an email invitation to activate their Qustodio parent account, but any parents in our community who have not yet done so can activate their account at any time if they wish. This help document will guide you in getting started.

College Production 2024 – Update

As published in The Vine at the end of Term 3, the College will be staging Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Broadway Version) at the Geelong Arts Centre from May 2 – 4, 2004.

Audition Registration

All students from Years 5 – 11 (in 2023) across the College will receive an email early next week, with information and a link to an online registration form. Auditions will commence across the College on designated days from Sunday October 22. To register for an audition, students must complete the online form on/by Friday October 13.

There will be an information session held at each campus for students to have an opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the show. These will be held at:

Highton MS Campus Chapel                   Monday October 9 12.40

Senior Campus Music Department         Tuesday October 10 1.20pm

Bellarine Campus Auditorium                Tuesday October 10 at Lunchtime

Surf Coast Campus – Ms Notini will visit the Year 5 classroom next week.

Scholarship Applications are Now Open!

Each year Christian College offers Academic Excellence Scholarships for entry at Year 5, 7 and 10 levels. Applications are now open for this year’s scholarships, which apply to entry in 2025, at three campuses – Middle School-Highton, Bellarine Campus and Surf Coast Campus.

Year 10 entry applies to Senior School-Waurn Ponds only.

To find out more, and to apply, visit our website and look for the homepage hotlink, or click here.

Scholarship applications are open to students who do not currently attend Christian College, as well as those who are currently enrolled here. Scholarship examinations will be held at Christian College on Saturday October 7. Closing date for applications is Thursday, September 28.

Foundation Golf Day 2023

Following the success of last year’s inaugural event, we are delighted to announce the Christian College Foundation Golf Day tournament for 2023.

Save the date: Thursday November 9.

We are seeking prizes for this event – if you own a local business and are interested in creating partnership opportunities with Christian College, please contact Fiona Provan on 0400 477 467, or email f.provan@ccg.vic.edu.au