From the Head of Campus
Wishing you all a very warm welcome back to Term 4 as we look ahead to all the opportunities this term brings including Show Day, camps, excursions, sporting events, College Music Evening, the Art Festival, Celebration Evenings and transition events. We trust that the term break was able to provide you with some opportunities for family time and that the children are ready and excited for Term 4 2022.
As staff we began our term on Monday the 3rd of October with a day of learning. The first part of our day involved learning associated with the College’s work on our Reconciliation Action Plan. The morning session was led in this area through a presentation from Shelley Ware. Shelley is the host of the webshow ‘Colour of Your Jumper’ and hosts her own Facebook show ‘Ware2Now?’ sharing everyday people’s stories. She is a member of ABC’s Outersanctum podcast, also appearing regularly on the Facebook show Broad Radio. Shelley writes a fortnightly AFL column for the Koori Mail. She is well known as part of the groundbreaking NITV-SBS football program Marngrook, espousing her perspective on females in sport, AFLM and AFLW, Aboriginal issues, childhood education and her own journey. She was named the 2019 Fujitsu General Football Woman of the Year.
Shelley is also a teacher and is passionate, about embedding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander History and culture into classrooms and the national curriculum. She consults and works closely with schools, teaching and upskilling staff and leadership, in Aboriginal History and Culture. Shelley hosts workshops in Aboriginal history, culture, and art within primary and secondary school classrooms around Australia. https://www.shelleyware.com.au/home
In the afternoon, our three combined Junior Schools at Belmont, Surf Coast and Bellarine spent time with educator Greg Clements learning more about the Principles of Reading and his work in this area. Greg has been in education for nearly 20 years, with the last five of those as a primary school principal. Greg shared his understanding and experiences with contemporary research in the neuroscience of reading and how this had impacted his own, and his schools, evidence-based approach to the teaching of reading. Greg also shared with the staff how the tools available to teachers based on the ability of brain research had positively impacted students learning not only in academic results but also in student motivation, and teacher morale and efficacy. As staff we look forward to continuing the learning from both Shelley and Greg on this first day of term to positively impact the teaching and learning for our students at Christian College.
Ann-Marree Weigl, Head of Campus
What’s on at Junior School
Week 2: Monday 10th October
Monday 10th October – Year 4 Transition 1: Year 5 Staff visit Year 4 Students (Please refer to EdSmart notification)
Monday 10th October – Year 4 Parents Meet and Greet Year 5 Staff, Chapel, 8.30am
Tuesday 11th October – Junior School Show Day (Please refer to EdSmart notification)
Thursday 13th October – Annual Music Evening
Thursday 13th October – Bush Prep B, G, M, R (Please refer to EdSmart notification)
Friday 14th October – Geelong Show, Student Free Day
Week 3: Monday 17th October
Monday 17th October – Year 4 Transition Student visit Middle School, 9:30-10:30am (Please refer to EdSmart notification)
Tuesday 18th October –Prep 2023 Welcome Transition BBQ, 5:30pm
Wednesday 19th October – Year 4 Camp (Please refer to EdSmart notification)
Thursday 20th October – Year 4 Camp
Friday 21st October – Year 4 Camp Returns
Friday 21st October – Assembly (Project Care)
Cultural Competency Training
One of the compulsory components of the development of a Reconciliation Action Plan is that staff need to take part in a cultural competency session. Christian College teachers were fortunate to have Shelley Ware, a proud Yankunytjatjara and Wirangu woman, to present to us on the first day of Term 4. Shelley is a prominent media presenter, who hosts a variety of different shows. She a passionate educator that shares what is closest to her heart such as First Nations issues, females in sport, childhood education and her own journey. She believes that it is important to empower staff to be culturally aware so they can embed First Nation culture into their classrooms.
From the beginning of her presentation, Shelley grounded the staff with a connection to people and place, both prominent features of the Indigenous way of life. She highlighted the historical reality of not just her people but also gave us a personal perspective of the impact to her own family such as her grandfather having to carry an identity card. Shelley’s message was clear that this history is Australian history so it is everyone’s history. We all need to learn from it, respect the culture of others and find the beauty. By continuing to learn about our First Nations peoples and their ways of learning and living, we are on the right path to walk the journey of reconciliation together. The second session of the day saw staff from different faculties working in mixed groups. They worked with facilitators to process the learning from the morning but also to share their thoughts about the direction the school needs to take as we begin to write our Reconciliation Action Plan. It was a wonderful day being able to hear the voices of both Shelley and our staff. Next, we will work with the students to hear their voices. On behalf of the RAP Working Party
Ange Tutty
Prep’s Growth Mindset!
On the last Saturday of the holidays a group of staff attended Professional Development in Ballarat for the day. One of the presentations was about the impact of having a Growth Mindset on student achievement.
There was quite a lot of data presented that demonstrated the importance of ingraining a growth mindset into the teaching and learning landscape. Children who believe they can grow, achieve and improve do so. Children who believe they are not good at something and will never be good at it stay there.
‘A growth mindset is not simply telling students that they can achieve any goal they have set for themselves; it involves creating an environment where students can develop this belief and providing them with the necessary resources and skills to achieve their learning goals.’ Carol Dweck
Helping children to develop a growth mindset is not just about telling them they can be anything and do anything. It is about showing children the resources available to them, helping to make a plan of action, sharing who can support their practise and take them to the next point in their learning.
Throughout the year we have been working on this idea with the Prep children. This truly is a lifelong skill they can take forward with them.
What does it mean to have a Growth Mindset?
When you say I can’t do it yet but I will try. Celeste
It means when something pops up in your brain and you might have an answer to something. If the answer doesn’t pop into your brain you can try to solve it. Buster
It means you keep trying and trying again and again and you can get good at it every time you keep practising. Tayla
In your brain you get more things and they make you know more things and do more things like new words and painting and reading and colouring. Zahil
What do you need to do to improve in your learning?
You can practise with the teacher. Isla
You don’t give up you keep trying and ask a teacher. Ethan
Listening helps and getting help by the teachers and then trying your best. Frankie
I read lots and the other kids in the class can help me. Xander
I can ask someone for help and sound out tricky words and use my counting. Hamish
What happens when you make a mistake?
When you make a mistake you just try again or ask for help. Eadie
You can colour or write it again and you tell yourself it’s ok to do it again. Rocky
We can ask for help and we can try again. Mikayla
We just say it’s ok, put a line through your mistake and then keep going in front of your mistake. Willow
I try again, it is ok. Joshua
If it is on the whiteboard I just rub it away and do another one. If I do a word in pencil and it has to stay I just do a cross and do the rest. I just think it is ok I can just do it again. Lola
Julie Shutie
Story Telling in Year 2!
Year 2 students have returned to school keen to continue with their narrative writing this term. Motivated by the possibility of publishing their work, many students have already planned, drafted, edited, and conferenced a piece of writing, and some have had their work typed in readiness for illustrating.
There is so much to learn when developing skills for narrative writing! Our Year 2 students have explored the concepts of ‘problems’ or ‘complications’, ‘solutions’ or ‘resolutions’, and the need for a ‘sizzling start’. They have received explicit instruction about the correct way to punctuate dialogue and they have been encouraged to use adjectives to describe settings, and conjunctions to make their sentences more sophisticated.
After conferencing with the children and realising that the word ‘said’ was being used far too often, our students brainstormed better options, and were then challenged to go back to their writing to include some of these new vocabulary words.
These and other skills will continue to be built upon and consolidated in the years to follow, as staff endeavour to provide consistency in learning goals. Whilst the Year 2 teachers are pleased with the progress we are witnessing first-hand, we know that we are only building upon the wonderful work that has already taken place in Foundation and Year 1. It certainly is a team effort.
Anne Spence
Year 3s on the Move!
At the beginning of a new term, it is always exciting to hear about the adventures that happened during the holidays. We love sharing our exploits and about new experiences and places we have been.
Something that we have enjoyed is using the AIATSIS map to discover where we have travelled. This map represents the language, social or nation groups of Aboriginal Australians. Some of us travelled within Waddawurrung country to places like Geelong, bike riding the You Yangs in Lara and to visit family in Point Lonsdale. Others travelled further afield to Naarm (Melbourne) to Wurundjeri Country and other places within Victoria including Wadi Wadi Country, Djab Wurrung Country and Boonwurrung Country. Some lucky families adventured into other states visiting Yugambah Country in Queensland and Tarndanya (Adelaide) on Kaurna Country.
Students enjoy learning about the rich and diverse histories and cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Our students are developing a deeper understanding that each language group represents traditional boundaries and that each time they visit Country they are a guest and that they need to respect the land and traditional owners of the land.
On Tuesday morning student representatives of the Christian College Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) team, Isaac Boseley (Yr 11) and Mia Bailey (Yr 9), visited Junior school to talk about their involvement in developing and RAP which will represent our commitment to ongoing Reconciliation in our community. It was heartening to hear our students share their understanding of the significance of Reconciliation. They are looking forward to being a part of ongoing healing and learning as this process continues.
Anna Daley
Prep PE
In the last week of Term 3 our Prep students participated in the Healthy Heroes program run by the Geelong Football Club. We were excited to have Geelong AFLW superstars Kate Darby and Maddi McMahon visit the Junior Campus and teach our Preppies about keeping fit and healthy.
The Preps enjoyed participating in lots of fun games involving movement, charades, and classifying different types of foods. It was great to see the Preps encouraging their team mates during the games, just like real AFL players!
The Preps also learnt how many serves of fruit, veggies and glasses of water to aim for each day (2 fruits, 5 veggies, and 7 glasses of water for any curious parents). The Preps also learnt some breathing and mindfulness activities they could do to unwind at the end of a busy day.
Kate and Maddi were fantastic teachers, and we are grateful they could visit us and share their expertise about keeping fit and healthy!
Claire Tucker
Hoop Time Finals
On Wednesday the 5th of October, 13 students from Junior School and Bellarine travelled on a bus to Eagle Stadium in Werribee.
The selected children from the Eagles and Cats teams had progressed to the Future Stars Regional Hoop Time finals. The competition was tough and aggressive. Both teams put up a huge fight with excellent defensive skills and all members of both teams showed great sportsmanship both on and off the court.
Eagles Player, Jackson Bayley – ‘I was really proud that I got the opportunity to represent the school playing basketball. I also really enjoyed playing in a team with other people that I wouldn’t usually socialise with at school. At the end of the day, I was really tired and the next day my legs were really quite sore.’
Cats Player, Indie MacFadyen – ‘I had lots of fun playing basketball and got to have a day out of the classroom playing a sport that I love with my friends.’
Cats Player, Rahi Shah – ‘It was really exciting to have an opportunity to compete with teams that we didn’t know some of the other teams were a little bit rough to play against, but we had lots of fun.’
Thank you for Mark Foran and Olivia Cameron for coming along to coach the teams.
Liza Lambert
Run Club is Back!
As the mornings become a little warmer, please come along and join the fun of Run Club. All children from Prep – Year 4 are encouraged to come along and have a trot. We begin the session with light stretches, some plyometric moves and then we move into continuous running. All the children are encouraged to continuously move around the course for approximately 15 minutes. Many of the children count their laps and calculate their distance at the end of the session.
Run Club begins at 8:15 in the Year 3 and 4 courtyard every Friday morning.
Liza Lambert
Chess Club
CCG Riders Excel in National Championships
Three riders from the Christian College Equestrian team qualified earlier this year to represent Victoria at the 2022 Marcus Oldham Australian Interschool Championships in Sydney. This event sees over 500 of Australia’s best riders, aged 5-18 years old, battle it out in their chosen disciplines.
CCG team captain, Jorja Kirsopp-Cole (Year 12) and her horse Rhatigan, completed three rounds of 110cm show jumping and finished 4th overall.
Liberty Armitage (Year 11) and her horse Galactic Storm competed in the combined training which comprises of both dressage and show jumping. Liberty finished reserve champion overall.
Erin Bowers (Year 7) and Argyl Star Quality competed in the secondary show horse section and, as the youngest competitor out there against students up to 18 years old, still managed to be awarded 5th place overall.
All three girls represented themselves, Christian College and Victoria so well. To be able to compete at such a high level takes dedication, persistence and sacrifice over a long period of time, and for all of them to be awarded top 6 in Australia is a credit to them and their parents who help them to get to this level.
Christian College is very proud of you all!
Term 4 2022 COVID-19 Update Procedures and Protocols
Introduction
Christian College is committed to maintaining the health and wellbeing of our staff, students and College community.
The following revisions to the COVID-19 procedures and protocols align with the Victorian Government’s announcement of the end of the Pandemic Declaration and associated Pandemic Orders. The following settings, based on advice from the Department of Health and the Department of Education for Victorian schools now apply.
If you require greater detail, please access additional information via the DHHS or Victorian State Government Education and Training websites or speak with your campus leadership team.
COVIDSafe Measures for Schools
- No student, staff member, parent, or visitor, should come on to College sites if they are unwell or have any Flu-like symptoms.
- Practise good hand hygiene, utilising the sanitisers supplied
- Utilising outdoor spaces and increasing cross-ventilation indoors where possible
- It is recommended that a person who is symptomatic, displaying cold or Flu like symptoms should undergo a COVID-19 Rapid Antigen or PCR Test.
- Staff and students who wish to wear a face mask will be supported to do so, the College will continue to make face masks available for staff, students and visitors.
Rapid Antigen Testing
Free RATs will be made available for use by all students and staff through Term 4. It is recommended that RATs are used by students and staff when symptomatic.
Reporting and Managing Positive Results
If staff or students receive a positive test result at any time, it is recommended the result be reported to the Department of Health via the COVID-19 Positive Rapid Antigen Test Self-Reporting Form at https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/report or via the telephone hotline on 1800 675 398.
Parents/Guardians must report a positive COVID-19 test result of a student directly to the student office at the relevant campus. Staff must notify their relevant College leader.
The College community will no longer be notified of a positive COVID-19 case associated with the school.
It is recommended that any student or staff member who tests positive to COVID-19 isolates for a minimum of 5 days and not attend school until their symptoms have resolved. Students who isolate as a result of a positive COVID-19 test will continue to be supported in the same way as students with an extended absence due to illness or injury, with learning materials provided to support their continued learning.
Face Masks in Schools
Current advice from the Victorian government on the wearing of face masks is available here: https://www.coronavirus.vic.gov.au/face-masks: It states:
“Face masks can stop or slow viruses spreading in the air when you talk, cough, sneeze and laugh. Face masks lower your chance of catching and spreading an airborne virus. That’s why wearing a high-quality and well-fitted face mask can help protect you and those around you from COVID-19.”
- Staff and students who wish to wear a face mask will be supported to do so, the College will continue to make face masks available for staff, students and visitors.
- It is recommended that masks should be worn by a person who has COVID-19 for 10 days after a positive test when they need to leave home.
- It is recommended that that masks should be worn by a person who is a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 when leaving home.
- Whilst traveling on Christian College buses, it is recommended students wear a face mask due to physical distancing not being possible.
Student Wellbeing and Digital Safeguarding: A Reminder to Parents
A reminder to parents that we will be implementing some new strategies this term to better support students and families in the digital space, particularly on College laptops, both at school and at home. Specific information about these changes was shared as part of our Wellbeing Evenings last term.
Parents who were unable to attend either of these two evenings can review a summary of key information and are also encouraged to view a recording of the evening. The summary and recording were made available via a document emailed to all parents in the final week of Term 3 by College Principal, Glen McKeeman.
All parents are encouraged to ensure they are informed and aware of these new strategies so that they can be prepared and supportive as they are implemented. Parents also still can ask questions and provide feedback via the online form link provided in the above document.
New Qustodio Parent App – Coming Soon
We know that many parents are awaiting more information on getting started with the Qustodio parent app, which we planned to provide to parents this week.
We want to ensure the experience for parents of getting started and beginning to use this tool is as pleasant and straight-forward as possible. We are delaying just a little to ensure we are truly ready. Stay tuned for more details very soon.
Christian College Canteen Manager – we are Hiring!
We seek the services of a Canteen Manager from 2023 to oversee the day-to-day operations of the school canteens at Junior School – Belmont, Middle School – Highton and Senior School – Waurn Ponds, including the supervision and rosters for relevant staff and volunteers. The role is full-time and ongoing, and also involves some catering for special events.
If you have a passion for food quality and customer sevice, a warm and friend personality, if you love working as part of a great team, have exceptional organisation and communication skills and are able to manage challenging circumstances in a calm, professional and compassionate manner – this could the job for you!
Full details, including a Position Description and how to apply can be found in the Employment section of our website.
For Families Relocating or Withdrawing Students
A reminder that if your family is relocating and/or you are planning to withdraw your child from Christian College, a full term’s notice, in writing, is required. Please contact your student’s Campus.
Jonathan Ryan, Operations Manager
Canteen not Open on Last day of Term
Please note that on the last day of Term 4, Friday December 9, the canteen will not be open.
Thank you to all volunteers for your fantastic help during the course of this term, and throughout 2022.
Recycling Uniform Items
As part of the transition to our new College wardrobe it was important that we consider the environmental impact of clothing items no longer required. Whilst it is still possible for students to wear items from the traditional uniform, when items are no longer able to be worn, they can be recycled.
Any such items can be dropped off and placed in recycling bins at each campus. We are working with our wardrobe manufacturer to ensure that these can be recycled as part of the introduction of our new wardrobe over the next 18 months.
Golf Tournament
The Foundation Golf Tournament is set for Thursday, 27 October 2022. Join us at 13th Beach Golf Links from 8:00am for a shotgun start. Tickets are $190 each ($150 for members) or $750 for a group of four. RSVPs close on Thursday, 6 October 2022 at 5:00pm.
Funds raised from this event will be allocated to our Foundation Scholarship Fund, supporting current students who are in need of financial assistance.
Book online at: The Foundation Golf Tournament
A MYTERN Thought for This Week
What habit can you adopt or change today that will positively add to your journey?
Travelling down the same roads every day may not lead you to your desired destination 😊
Discover more about MYTERN here.
