Senior School – Term 1 Week 3

From the Deputy Head of Campus

Senior School Prefect Investiture Service

This morning’s Senior School Prefect Investiture Service was an important occasion for our campus and College as we formally acknowledged the 2024 College and House Prefects. It was wonderful to welcome parents and friends to join our students and staff in witnessing our new Prefects receive their badge and trimmed blazer as symbols of their appointment as formal leaders. It was also an opportunity to announce our College Captains, Brianna Bolger and Jett Milburn. Guest speaker Pastor Andrew Drummond from Kardinia Church gave an inspiring address, with a message for all of us to be a leader by living a life worth following, and a challenge to lead in a way that makes things better for others.

We look forward to a wonderful year ahead with our newly appointed prefects.

College Prefects

Brianna Bolger

Molly Daly

Charlotte England

Angus Fuller

Gabrielle Hayward

Jett Milburn

Zoe Morgan

Daniel Scott

Remember to Look

What a wonderful week for our Senior School community with our House Athletics sports held on Wednesday and Prefect Investiture Service this morning.

As students and teachers settled into their new classes over the first three weeks of term, I have really enjoyed visiting different classrooms and observing firsthand the teaching and learning taking place. Returning to school after the summer holidays can take some adjustment, so it has been great to see engaged learners, collaboration between peers, focused independent study, creative endeavours and more.

At the commencement service on the first day of term, I encouraged our students to ‘Remember to Look’ during their learning this year. Sometimes, when we have opportunities made available to us, we don’t always remember to look right at them, and take them on. It can be easy to sail on past, distracted or looking the other way. At the start of any year, lots of students would describe themselves as wanting to do their best during the year, intending to be a bit more organised and wanting to improve their learning. CCG teachers offer every opportunity for a student to find assistance to grow in these areas. My encouragement to the students is remember to look at those opportunities:

Remember to look at the teacher when they are explaining a concept or giving instructions.

Remember to look at a peer who is offering an opinion or asking a question.

Remember to look when their teacher provides them with feedback.

Remember to look when being given advice about revision and preparation for an assessment.

As our students continue to engage in class and start reaching the time of term when they begin to tackle some more formal assessments, I wish them every success in their endeavours.

What’s Happening at Senior School

Tuesday February 27 – Presentation Ball Information Night 6:00pm online

Wednesday February 28 – Music Instrumental Evening

Thursday February 29 – House Swimming

Monday March 4 – CCG Surfing Championships

Monday March 11 – Labour Day Holiday

Tuesday March 19 – Student Learning Conferences All Day online

Thursday March 28 – Term 1 Concludes 2:30 pm

Penman takes out the 2024 House Athletics Carnival!

It was great to see our Senior School coming together to compete for the 2024 Athletics title.

The day was full of highlights and records as Guy Williams in Year 10 smashed the Christian College record for Triple Jump and Long Jump, Year 10 student Jasmine King broke the High Jump record and Year 12 student Angus Fuller also broke the Triple Jump record.

Our fastest on campus race was hotly contested, however, Year 12 Will Cavanagh narrowly won the boys’ event. In our female event, Year 10 student Jasmine King blitzed the field to take out the title, which was particularly impressive given she was up against a lot of older students. Congratulations to both students.

Last year’s winner, Burrows house, managed to take out the Tug of War challenge, however could not defend its overall Athletics title, finishing second to Penman, which took out the 2024 title. Congratulations to Penman house!

Thanks to all parents and the College community for coming out to support the event and contribute to making it such a wonderful day.  We look forward to seeing you at the Swimming Sports event on 28 February at Kardinia Aquatic Centre.

The day’s summary as follows:

Science is Sizzling!

The year has started with a bang in our senior Science classes. Our curriculum across all year levels has been designed to ignite curiosity, foster critical thinking and provide students with the opportunity to engage with advanced concepts, hands-on experiments and real-world applications that bridge the gap between theory and practice.

Whether it’s unravelling the mysteries of the universe in Physics, dissecting the intricacies of living organisms in Biology, decoding the building block of matter in Chemistry, exploring the human mind and behaviour in Psychology or delving into the interactions between humans and the environment in Environmental Science, our Senior Science courses offer a diverse range of experiences that cater to the interests and passions of every student.

Girls in STEM

An exciting opportunity for interested Year 10 students!

Applications are being sought from current Year 10 students who would like to participate in an exciting ‘Girls in STEM’ event. This empowering gathering is designed to ignite a passion for science, technology, engineering, and mathematics and pave the way for a future filled with endless possibilities.

At this one-of-a-kind event, young women will discover the boundless opportunities awaiting them in the world of STEM. They will engage in hands-on workshops, interactive experiments, and inspiring talks delivered by accomplished female professionals who have excelled in their respective STEM fields. From robotics and coding to biology and physics, participants will explore a range of captivating disciplines, gaining valuable insights into the wonders of science and its real-world applications.

Facilitating a Child Safe Culture

Christian College is committed to providing an environment in which our students are safe, happy and empowered. The College regards its child protection responsibilities with the utmost importance, ensuring compliance with all relevant child protection laws and regulations to embed and facilitate a child safe culture.

Just like physical environments, online environments need to be considered when implementing the child safe standards and assessing the risks of child abuse or harm. Whilst the eSafety Commissioner has information about popular and emerging online technologies and ways to manage online risks, I wanted to take this opportunity to notify you of two upcoming events that may be of interest to you:

• Tuesday 20 February - BATForce is partnering with Geelong Regional Libraries and Geelong Connected Communities to deliver a community-based Digital Tattoo workshop, a family approach to supporting young people online. This session aims to explore how families/communities can create safe and supportive environments for their young people to explore technology, build healthy relationships and increase protective factors as they grow. Places are limited, so please attached flyer for more information and to register.
• Wednesday 20 March - Christian College Geelong will be hosting a Digital Wellbeing and Cybersafety parent forum. Our aim is to provide parents/guardians the opportunity to discuss openly any concerns, to ask questions and seek support. We will also provide information on the school’s commitment to digital wellbeing and cybersafety as well as providing resources to support you in this journey. More information on this evening and how to register is coming soon!

ENVISAGE – a Helpful Support Service

We would like to bring to the attention of all parents/guardians and families a program that exists as a possible support for families in the Geelong region called ENVISAGE.

ENVISAGE is a program co-created by Australian and Canadian researchers, clinicians, and parents of children with developmental concerns and disabilities. Their mission is to “empower caregivers to feel confident and competent to navigate the experience of parenting a child or children with developmental concerns by embracing contemporary strengths-based ideas about health, wellbeing, and development”.

We have included this link to the ENVISAGE website should you wish to discover further information as to whether this service could be of benefit to your child and your family.

Prepared for Digital Learning in 2024

Over these first weeks of Term 1, it has been a pleasure to work alongside our IT team and support teachers and students in rolling out new student devices with Year 10s, Year 7s and Year 4s across the College.

As we have supported students in the signing in and setup of their device, alongside guidance in its care, maintenance and use as a learning tool, I’ve enjoyed some wonderful conversations with students about smart, safe and responsible uses of technology.

This week, parents and students across the College have been asked to accept their annual digital learning and device agreements, which is a requirement for students’ continued access to the device program, College network and internet and digital technologies at school.

This is a great opportunity and prompt for conversations with your child at home about safe, ethical, and respectful uses of technology more generally. While these agreements focus especially on a school and learning context, many of the expectations, and the guidance contained in the documentation, is equally relevant to contexts outside of school and represents positive digital engagement and good digital citizenship.

The partnership between school and home – teachers and parents – in supporting our young people in developing strong, positive habits and attitudes towards technology is promoted in the Digital Learning and 1:1 Device Program Parent Information Events that we provide at this time each year on our Junior School campuses. It was pleasing to see the positive turnout from parents at the Junior School-Belmont event this past Wednesday evening, and similar events will occur at Bellarine and Surf Coast campuses on Tuesday and Wednesday next week respectively. These events are intended to provide support particularly to our Year 4 parents, where in many cases their child’s new College laptop may be their first personal digital device.

Camps, Sports and Excursion Fund

Financial Assistance for Eligible Parents

School camps provide children with inspiring experiences in the great outdoors, excursions encourage a deeper understanding of how the world works and sports teach teamwork, discipline and leadership. All are part of a healthy curriculum.

Every Victorian child should have access to the world of learning opportunities that exist beyond the classroom. The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) helps ensure that no student will miss out on the opportunity to join their classmates for important, educational and fun activities. Support from CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips, camps and sporting activities and forms part of the State Government’s commitment to breaking the link between a student’s background and their outcomes.

If you hold a valid means-tested concession card (HCC) or are a temporary foster parent, you may be eligible for CSEF. A special consideration category also exists for asylum seeker and refugee families. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.

The annual CSEF amount per student is: • $150 for primary school students • $250 for secondary school students

How to Apply

Application Forms are available online through the Parent Portal (Go to ‘Student Information’ > ‘Important Forms for Parents’) these forms can be downloaded, completed then uploaded according to the instructions. Hard copy forms are also available from reception at each campus or by emailing enquire@ccg.vic.edu.au

More Information

For the CSEF application closing dates and more information about the fund please visit this webpage

CSEF_Application_Form_2024

Find Yourself at our Open Day!

On March 5, all five Christian College campuses and two kindergartens are holding Open Days. Our Open Days provide the opportunity for parents and others interested in enrolling their children at Christian College to have a firsthand look at our College campuses, speak with campus leaders, participate in student-led tours of the facilities, visit classrooms in real time and have their questions answered.

We would encourage everyone in our Christian College community to spread the word and tell anyone you might know who is considering schooling options for their children about our Open Day and the opportunity to come and visit one or more campuses and/or our kinders, with no tour booking required.

Details are on our website – follow the hotlink on our homepage or click Homepage > Join > Open Days.

Opening times for March 5 are as follows:

Junior School-Belmont and Williams House Kindergarten – 9:15 – 10:45am

Bellarine Campus – 9:30 – 11:00am

Surf Coast Campus and Butterfield House Kindergarten – 11:30am – 1:00pm

Middle School-Highton – 10:30am – 12:00 noon

Senior School – 11:30am – 1:00pm

We would love to see as many interested families as possible finding themselves at our Open Day!

Foundation Gathering Hope Appeal Luncheon

The Foundation Gathering Hope Appeal Luncheon is back on and has been scheduled for Friday, 24 May 2024.

You are invited to join us for lunch at the stunning Provenance Wines in Fyansford.

This is a fundraising event for the Foundation and an opportunity to hear about the success and progress of the College.

Our guest speaker is Jossy Chacko, Founder and President of Empart, a global ministry that exists to ignite holistic community transformation among needy communities.

Giving leadership to a team of over 13,000 people and offices in nine countries, Jossy travels around the world inspiring and challenging leaders to capture a larger God-size vision and not to waste gifts and opportunities. He is also the author of Madness! and Dare to Partner.

Don't miss out on this incredible opportunity to come together. 

Secure your seat and book online today! 

https://ccgfoundation.org.au/gh

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!