Term 4 Week 8

We are excited to present our Junior and Middle School Celebration Evenings to you next week. After lots of hard work, perseverance and celebrations of learning, we are sure you will cherish the performances of our wonderful students. From Mary and Joseph’s arrival in Jerusalem as part of the Christmas story, to House Captains in Year 9 standing alongside their team we have some exciting things to share with all of our Bellarine families.

Please see the links below:

Junior School Celebration Evening – 7pm Monday 29th November – https://tinyurl.com/bxcc8

Middle School Celebration Evening – 7pm Tuesday 30th November – https://tinyurl.com/2kk3rkrr 

On Tuesday we held an Orientation Morning where a warm welcome was extended to our new 2022 Preps into the Christian College Bellarine community. There was much excitement as they joined us for a short time, meeting their new classmates and teachers for next year. Unfortunately, due to COVID restrictions around combining current and new students we had to keep them separate from the rest of the school community, however we look forward to the start of next year when we can all join together.

Our students in Years 1 – 8 also spent the first 3 periods of the day in their 2022 Year levels becoming familiar with their classes and new Homeroom teachers.

We have lots to be excited about as we look forward to sharing new beginnings and settling back into life and learning at the Bellarine Campus in 2022.

Throughout the year, Year 2 students have enjoyed weekly devotions with Mr Kennedy which focus on countries around the world. Each week Mr Kennedy shares the geography and statistics of a country, including helping us say the names of the countries correctly! The students have practised drawing each flag and locating the country in a map of the region it’s situated in. Mr Kennedy has supported the children to think about the particular needs of each country and ways we can offer support to each country through prayer. The children’s prayers though brief, are heartfelt and thoughtful and it is so wonderful to watch the children develop confidence with praying aloud on behalf of a group.

Year 1 and 2 Art students have been studying Chris Uphues, a contemporary pop artist who loves to create fun and happy cartoon inspired characters. They have completed several projects, building upon their knowledge of artists and developing their own art practice, by working in experimental booklets and creating two and three-dimensional art works.

The final project was an amazing soft sculpture cushion that captured the hearts of their makers and anyone else who saw them.

Just another example of the wonderful talent our students have, here at the Bellarine campus.

Stunning work Year 1 and 2!

Thursday the 2^nd of December is our big House Challenge day. We will be having our last Project Care day for the year on this day. All of the students will be encouraged to dress up in their house colours and show as much house spirit as possible. It is a casual dress day, with the idea of wearing as much of their house colour as possible. They may wear their house top if they like. Please remind everyone in Years 5 to 8 that we will be having our House challenge, so they will need to be dressed appropriately for being active. Years Prep to 4 are still encouraged to dress in House Colours for their activities on this day.

Please let the students know that face paint and coloured hairspray are not to be worn. Thank you.

It will be a gold coin donation. We are also selling hot dogs for lunch, (please note, they are hot dogs, not a sausage sizzle.) Order forms have all been sent home. Please let me know if you need another one.

We will also have a gluten free option available on the day.

This money raised will be going to our sponsor child, Jojo in Indonesia. The differences we have made in his life as well as those within his community have been amazing so it is wonderful that we can continue to support him and help him continue to attend school.

Thank you for you support of our Project Care program this year.

Students were so excited to participate in the (optional) first-ever Flipgrid student challenge for Unity Day recently. The effort students put into creating their videos demonstrated true kindness and compassion from their perspective. We were then thrilled to hear that Year 7E student, Liam De’Araugo, has placed in the top 10 for the Flipgrid Unity Day Challenge. This was an extra-curricular activity but capitalised on the technical skills and cyber smart discussions picked up in Digital Technologies classes and as part of our wider school culture. As a ‘first prize’ winner he will receive, from Microsoft directly, a NEW Surface Go!!

 Stop Bullying.mp4

Throughout Term 3 the Year 8 students have taken part in various initiative activities, from crossing the lava lake to removing toxic waste to flying the parachute. These sessions took place during the Wellbeing sessions and students were mixed between homerooms. During these activities students have had the chance to develop their communication, teamwork, and problem-solving abilities. Skills that we all appreciate so much, especially as we can now work face-to-face with each other. During their studies in Self Direction the Year 8 students have been exploring job readiness and have discovered the importance of developing ‘soft’ skills which can be transferred to all aspects of life. These ‘soft’ skills are highlighted throughout all the initiative activities. Below are some student reflections of what skills they developed during these sessions.

From students:

The goal of these groups was to improve our leadership and teamwork skills. We did multiple activities all designed to see how we respond to different tasks. It was also a way to get us to connect with different students that we maybe haven’t worked with a lot. I really enjoyed having the opportunity to show my leadership skills. And I enjoyed do something different during Wellbeing once a week.

Amelia Hopper 

I enjoyed working with people to develop our leadership and problem-solving skills, this will help us as we move into Year 9 to work together as a team. My favourite activity was the parachute, where we worked together to keep the ball inside the parachute. These skills will be helpful when working with new people for our jobs in the future.

Aidan Foard 

The year 7s complete their semester elective next week. In the final assessment, students determine the values and beliefs as the creators of Media works and how they perceive themselves as an individual within society. They develop a folio of ideas, starting with a storyboard, of how these works would be received by audiences within their community. Through brainstorming possible events or everyday occurrences, they create a documentary or short film about something impacting them or their community. They decide on the structure and sequence of their documentary and organise any necessary permissions to film their footage. In the example below students developed a Media Art piece for a design brief provided to them by their local student café coffee shop that had a goal of promoting good hygiene practices. The video will be used in the café as a QR code display linking to the video, promoting good hygiene amongst staff and students.

 washingHands.mp4

Student Reflection:

When I first picked out Media Arts as my elective, I didn’t have any expectations, but I was captivated by how enjoyable and interesting the subject was. To be able to design, produce, distribute, and interact with a range of print, screen-based artworks was thrilling but tricky. One of the challenges that I had faced while taking this subject was the design process, because you must express and communicate through the media artwork using creative language. Yet even though this was a challenge, I thoroughly enjoyed my time because it encouraged me to contemplate other views and perspectives. This increased my problem-solving skills. Furthermore, I loved how we got to communicate with others and had an opportunity to create films and documentaries and reflect on ours and other peoples. Therefore, after taking Media Arts I can say with confidence that I loved taking the subject and that I encourage further people to take it. – Olivia Stoltman 7S

In the Year 7 Drama elective this term we have been developing our knowledge and skills of the melodrama genre, specifically through a focus on heroes, sidekicks and villains.

Earlier this week, students were able to perform their devised pieces in front of an audience for the first time this semester. We had created villains including ‘Red Bull’ and ‘The Opposite’, heroes undercover as regular school students and sidekicks wishing they’d never replied to that Gumtree advert that now sees them massaging the ego of their muscle-flexing boss.

The Year 8s, meantime, were able to perform their adaptations of picture story books to the Year 2s last week. Using vocal and physical conventions including tableau (freeze frame), narration, chorus and distortion, students worked to take well-known stories like ‘Pig the Pug’ and ‘The Gruffalo’ from page to stage.

It has been an absolute pleasure working with these students this semester – they should all take a well-deserved bow.

A group of Year 9 students participating in the Transformation Program organised a ‘Thanks Giving’ lunch for their peers. Their focus was on coming together as young women and adopting an attitude of gratitude for all things; in particular our bodies.

Our body is our dedicated loyal servant which carries us through life, and has an innate intelligence that gives us life. Very few people stop to think about this intelligence. The expression of it, this invisible energy, is what we call health.

Caitlin expressed “I’m so grateful for the 70 to 100 trillion cells in my body”.

The girls expressed that all too often we criticise and judge our bodies and urged the girls to consider the amazing things our bodies do for us automatically.

The girls have been focusing on the statement by body image experts Lindsay and Lexie Kite:

“Positive body image isn’t believing your body looks good; it is knowing your body is good, regardless of how it looks”.

The girls did an amazing job, creating a positive, joyful atmosphere for the group. It was a very positive event and we all left feeling uplifted. Well done girls!

In this busy time of the year, there will be moments when you feel as though you are driving along a rough road surrounded by high hedges…blocking your view and making you feel that there is no exit or end in sight.

Don’t despair.

Just slow down…breathe…and be confident in knowing that you are improving your driving skills.

Remember…no road lasts forever 😉😊