Junior School Term 3 Week 2

From the Chaplain  

It has been so wonderful hearing of all the fun adventures, precious family memories and exciting things learnt over the winter holiday break from so many different students. Many students shared their favourite holiday memories as being simple moments at home – pancake breakfasts, movie nights on the couch and games played together with family and friends. The weather may be chilly, but the big smiles and joyful stories have filled our hallways with so much warmth. 

As always, the weeks ahead are filled with a wide range of events, celebrations and programs and I am reminded each day by the students’ curiosity and inquisitive outlook, that there is wonder to be found in every moment. 

As a whole College community, just as we looked at God’s Promises in Term 2, this term’s focus is on Proverbs in the Bible. Proverbs 1:3 says this book “will teach you how to be wise and self-controlled…what is honest and fair and right.” 

We are looking forward to exploring this book together, discussing the wisdom that can be found within its pages and hearing different perspectives and insights from students and staff. 

As always, please know you are most welcome to reach out via phone on 5241 1565 or by popping into my office for a chat (Junior School Foyer) should you have any wonderings or if we can offer your student/s and family support. Hoping your Term 3 is wonderful – it is such a joy to have you as part of the Junior School community. 

What’s on at Junior School

This an up to date list of planned activities at Junior Campus that you can use for planning purposes.  Please be aware that these dates are set early in the term and occasionally items may need to be cancelled or dates/times altered.  This itinerary is altered each week to reflect any changes – please check this list of events EVERY WEEK carefully when you read the weekly VINE newsletter.

Term 3, Week 3  

Monday July 29 – Olympic Opening Ceremony, 9am, front roundabout 

Wednesday July 31 – Prep Back Creek Farm Excursion 

Friday August 2 – Assembly, 1G Class Item, 9am 

Seasons for Growth Program 

Change and loss are issues that affect all of us at some stage in our lives. At Christian College we recognise that when changes occur in families through death, separation, divorce or other significant changes and losses, young people may benefit from learning how to navigate grief and manage these changes effectively. 

To continue to support the students holistically, we will be offering an education program called ‘Seasons for Growth.’ 

This evidence-based program is facilitated in small groups and highlights the importance of social support and the need to practise new skills to cope effectively with change and loss. This program has a sound curriculum structure and relies on a wide range of age-appropriate strategies including writing, discussion, sharing stories and music. Please know that Season’s for Growth is not a counselling program and participation in this program is voluntary. 

Seasons for Growth runs for 8 weeks, and each weekly session is approximately 30-40 minutes in length. These sessions will run during class time. Each student is given a journal to record their experience and learning during the program. 

Seasons for Growth will commence later this term and conclude mid-way through Term 4. If you think your son or daughter would benefit from ‘Seasons for Growth’, we encourage you to discuss this with your child/children and inform us of your interest by accepting the EdSmart that you received during Week 1 of Term 3. 

Please note that the Seasons for Growth program is recommended to be participated in 12+ months after a significant change or loss. If a significant change has occurred within the last 12 months, feel welcome to make contact on 5241 1565 or via email at d.braun@ccg.vic.edu.au to discuss if Seasons for Growth is suitable currently or different support programs be beneficial for the current need.  

We are pleased to offer this important program and hope it will be a valuable aspect of Junior School. 

For Further information about Season for Growth, you can visit Children and Young People’s Program | MacKillop Seasons.  

Parent Prayer Group Invitation 

It was so special to meet with a group of parents late last term and pray together in our first Parent Prayer meeting. We would like to continue offering a time and space for parents and carers to gather with our Campus Chaplain Darcee Braun and intentionally pray for the families, staff and general happenings of Junior School and the wider College. 
 
Jesus spoke a lot about prayer, both in our own time and with one another and it is our hope that this time together would be filled with the hope, peace, faith and love that inviting Jesus into our everyday lives offers. 
 
During Term 3, this will continue to take place on a Tuesday morning from 9:00am – 9:30am onsite at Junior School every three weeks of term. 
 
Our Parent Prayer meetings for Term 3 will take place on: 
 
Tuesday August 6 (Week 4) 
Tuesday August 27 (Week 7) 
Tuesday September 17 (Week 10) 
 
Everyone is welcome – should you have any questions, please feel free to send me an email or give Junior School reception a call on 5241 1565. Would love to see you there. 

It’s Full Steam Ahead for our Year 2s! 

The beginning of Term 3 has been business as usual for our Year 2 students who are trying hard to bring their best selves to their learning. The study of multisyllable words with open syllables has been the order of the day in our daily spelling lessons. Research highlights the importance of constantly revising taught concepts to allow the students to consolidate their learning, so each day we focus on reviewing past spelling rules and patterns. If you have never heard of The Rabbit Pattern, Silent Final E Rule 3, or you don’t know when you use ‘a’ instead of ‘ar’, you might just want to head on over to a Year 2 classroom for a mini lesson. 

In English, our Fairy Tale unit began last week with a study of the cautionary tale ‘The Fisherman and his Wife’, by the Brothers Grimm, and has continued with ‘The Emperor’s New Clothes’. Sections of each story have been used as fluency passages that the children read to a partner each day. With each subsequent 60-second read, the children try to improve the number of words they can read in the set time. The children are also beginning to write their own fairy tales. This provides the opportunity to incorporate important skills that the children have been learning during the literacy block, such as using conjunctions to write compound sentences. 

Year 3 Biological Scientists! 

Over the past couple of weeks as part of our Interdisciplinary Learning Biological Sciences unit, we have been looking at living and non-living things. We have also learned about scientists called taxonomists; they are the scientists that classify animals. They sort them into categories by comparing them, exploring their biological similarities and differences. We have also talked about the different diets of some of these animals and how some big animals are herbivores whilst some small animals are carnivores. 

We did some class and individual activities this week where we became taxonomists and sorted animals into groups, such as vertebrates and invertebrates. Then we went one step further classifying them as Fish, Reptiles, Amphibians, Mammals and Birds. 

The students have learned a lot of interesting facts about Australian animals and were surprised to learn that Bottlenose Dolphins are in fact mammals that nurse their calves for 18-24 months. 

Coding in Digital Technologies

‘Coding’ is the language of computers and technology, and this term Year 1-Year 4 will be spending dedicated class time discovering how to use coding to inspire analytical and computational thinking as well as creativity and imagination. 
 
Year 1 classes have started the term with ‘Ozobot Colour Coding’ robots. These little bots follow lines drawn on paper and when they ‘roll-over’ colour codes, they are programmed to perform specific tasks or movements. Year 2 classes are discovering how to use computer programs to create blockly codes or algorithms, which are then uploaded to these bots, doing away with pen and paper. 
 
Year 3 classes have made a wonderful start with the ‘MIT Scratch’ program, allowing them to independently work through blockly coding modules, building their understanding and confidence within the coding language and landscape. 
 
Year 4 classes are super excited with their Scratch Coding Project this term, coding and creating a two-player computer game to play and interact with their Prep buddies at our Gaming Expo later in the term. 
 
Digital learning opens up a whole new world this term!!  

Fun With an Olympics Theme

As part of our Olympic celebration at Junior School, the Year 4 House leaders will be organising and conducting some Olympic themed activities at lunch times over the next two weeks. The focus is on participating, having fun and earning house points.

Activities are as follows:

Monday 29 July – Football

Tuesday 30 July – Hurdles

Wednesday 31 July – Javelin

Thursday 1 August – Hockey

Monday 5 August – Discus

Tuesday 6 August – Equestrian

Wednesday 7 August – Tennis

Thursday 8 August – Relay

Qustodio Parent App

Supervise and Support Your Children on Digital Devices

This week we have communicated with all families who have a child who enrolled with us as a new student in 2024. These parents have received an email invitation and guide to activate their Qustodio parent account as part of our school program. For families who have been with us through Semester 1 this was a follow-up invitation.

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.

While parents of new students to the College have received an email invitation to activate their Qustodio parent account, 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.

In addition, these short video guides may be helpful:

• Creating a Qustodio parent account to connect to a child’s school account

• How to invite an additional parent/carer to join your Qustodio family account

• How parents can get help with Qustodio

• Getting started with your Qustodio parent account

I hope that parents will value and benefit from this tool available through our school program, and to regularly explore our Online Safety Hub for support articles and resources intended especially for parents.

Scholarship Applications Now Open!

Scholarship applications for Year 5, 7 and 10 entry to Christian College in 2026 are now open. You can access all the information you need, and apply, by visiting our website. There is a hotlink at the top of our homepage that takes you there, or just click here.

The scholarship testing date is Saturday October 12 and all applications must be received no later than close of business on Thursday October 3.

Save the Date – East Timor Trivia Night

The annual East Timor Trivia Night is always a great night of fun that supports Christian College’s work in Viqueque, and 2024’s event is on Friday August 9. This year the venue is the Sport and Aquatic Centre at the Middle School-Highton. It’s $10 per head, with each table seating 10 people. Get your friends and families involved, put together as many people as you can and don’t miss it! Call the Senior School Campus on 5241 1577 to book.

Seeking Support for Work Placements

Students studying the VCE Vocational Major (VM) are timetabled to work with an employer related to their VET course all day on Fridays. This is called Structured Workplace Learning (SWL). There are some prefilled forms to sign and there is a minimal cost of $5.00 a day to the employer. We are seeking workplace opportunities in the Plumbing, Building and Electrical trades. If you or someone you know are willing to help these students, to get a start in their chosen careers please contact myself k.fearnsides@ccg.vic.edu.au or Mary Higgins m.higgins@ccg.vic.edu.au  at Senior Campus. Thank you in anticipation of some support.

Seeking Christian College Company Members

Christian College Geelong is seeking expressions of interest from any parent or guardian interested in becoming a new Company Member.

Company Members play an important part in the governance structure and protection of the College. A number of positions on the Christian College Board are filled by company members, depending on the skillset required when vacancies arise, and it is the company members who have the responsibility of voting to pass any amendments to the Christian College constitution. Company members may also be eligible to sit on various committees involved in the governance of the College.

Whilst participating as a company member is not overly onerous, it needs to be pointed out that the position is voluntary and not remunerated in any way. Also, please understand an expression of interest does not guarantee automatic membership of the company.

If you have a heart for the College, and feel you would have the time to dedicate and an interest in this role, please contact the Company Secretary, Bernard Nicholls at b.nicholls@ccg.vic.edu.au. All expressions of interest must be submitted by COB Friday, August 2.

National Collection of Data on Students With a Disability

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). With data collected on the first Friday in August (August 5 this year), the NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability.

These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD Guidelines.

Please see the attached NCCD Fact Sheet for more information.

NCCD Parent Fact Sheet

Golf Tournament 

Join the Christian College Foundation for an exciting four-person Ambrose Golf Day, including a $30,000 hole in one prize on Thursday, 24th of October at 13th Beach Golf Links, Barwon Heads.

Set on the stunning Bellarine Peninsula, the day provides an opportunity to enjoy the award-winning creek course, known for its undulating couch fairways, deep bunkers and interesting swales and hollows.

You will be treated to a scrumptious breakfast on arrival and an opportunity to participate in several fun activities including the longest drive, nearest to the pin etc.

There is plenty of prizes up for grabs, including a cash prize of $30,000. Score a Hole in One on the 12th Hole and you can win. *

You will also be treated to a delicious buffet lunch and learn more about the incredible work of the foundation. Every dollar raised will be dollar matched!