Surf Coast Term 2 Week 6

National Reconciliation Week

Next week, Christian College joins with the rest of Australia in celebrating National Reconciliation Week. This important time of the year marks a number of significant events that have played a role in healing the relationship between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians. May 27 commemorates the anniversary of the 1967 referendum, which successfully enabled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be counted in the Australian population for the first time. And on June 3 1992, a High Court ruling recognised that a group of Torres Strait Islanders, led by Eddie Mabo, held ownership rights to Mer Island, thus ending the centuries old British 'terra nullius' edict over the lands of Australia.

A number of activities have been arranged throughout the week on all campuses, with each day’s morning homerooms being the place where students will learn something different about the importance of reconciliation. A First Nations picture story book will be read, a song sung by our Junior School Belmont choir will be shared via video link and an Aboriginal mindfulness activity experienced.

There will also be a ‘Wear It Yellow’ fundraiser on some campuses on the Friday, where students are encouraged to wear a splash of yellow with their school uniform, an opportunity to raise awareness and funds for Children’s Ground organisation.

Christian College is committed to reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. In 2022, a working group was formed to undertake the important task of developing a Reconciliation Action Plan. After 12 months of work, our ‘RAP’ was submitted to Reconciliation Australia and has since been endorsed and published on their website. I would invite you now to watch a short video (approx. 3.5 minutes) that explains what a RAP is, who's on the team and what actions Christian College is undertaking to fulfil our commitment to reconciliation.

RAP launch video

Fostering Respectful Relationships

You are no doubt aware of recent media reports detailing incidents at a number of Victorian secondary schools involving deeply disturbing sexist behaviour towards female students. Such incidents are of grave concern, particularly in consideration to the rates of family violence and violence against women occurring in the community.

We wanted to take this opportunity to reassure you that Christian College has zero tolerance for discriminatory, intimidatory and prejudiced behaviour in all forms. In accordance with our College values and philosophy, we expect all students to act with integrity, respect and compassion toward others.

Within our teaching and learning program, Christian College provides students with the opportunity to learn about gendered roles and expectations, gender stereotypes and gender equality in supporting the development of healthy relationships with others. We are committed to the whole-school implementation of the Victorian Government’s Respectful Relationships program which supports schools in teaching children how to build healthy relationships, resilience and confidence.

We also recognise that fostering positive attitudes, behaviours, and a sense of equality among students is most effectively achieved when these values are consistently modelled and demonstrated throughout our school community.

We have a collective responsibility to be part of the sustained change needed and we are committed to fostering a school culture of empathy, understanding, respect and equality. It is important that schools work in partnership with families to take a proactive and preventative approach when it comes to addressing any concerns in our own community.

Together, we can create an environment where our young people feel safe, supported and are given every opportunity to flourish.

What’s Happening at Surf Coast?

This an up to date list of planned activities at Surf Coast 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 2 2024

WEEK 7

Sunday 26 May                         National Sorry Day

Monday 27 May                        National Reconciliation Week – Whole Campus

Monday 27 May                        Discovery Learning/Bush – Prep

Wednesday 29 May                 Year 1 visit to Spring Creek Period 3 – Year 1

Wednesday 29 May                 Year 2 Excursion – Geelong Surrounds – EdSmart has been sent

Thursday 30 May                     Winter Sports – Years 5 & 6

Thursday 30 May                     Lunchtime Concert – Music Students

Friday 31 May                            Cross Country – All Students – EdSmart has been sent

From The Chaplain: Introducing…Torquay Christian Fellowship

What a blessing it has been to be at Surf Coast this week! I’ve been so lucky to be able to spend time doing so many amazing things, from basketball club, to assembly, to our staff service, and everything in between. I hope you have an opportunity this weekend to get to do some amazing things too.

This week on Introducing… I’ll be sharing a little bit about Torquay Christian Fellowship, or TCF, another one of our great churches  in Torquay.

As always, if you have any questions about Introducing…, or any of the churches, please don’t hesitate to contact me by email, by phone, or contact the churches directly.

So, for this week, Introducing…Torquay Christian Fellowship

Torquay Christian Fellowship’s focus, as a church community, is to create spaces for people to connect with God and with each other. A Fellowship is defined as “a friendly association, especially with people who share one’s interests.” As a Christian Fellowship, our shared interest is in following the way of Jesus, which is: to love God, and love our neighbour as ourselves. In an increasingly individualistic culture, we aim to be a point of difference, to be a community focused on connecting with and caring for one another.

We have a Sunday Worship Service at 10am at 2 Pimelea Way, Torquay, and all are welcome to our family friendly service with kids participating in worship and communion each week.

Prep Christian Ed Learning

This week in Prep, our students’ hearts and minds are continuing to open to learning, growing, and discovering the beauty of faith. Here’s a glimpse into what they’ve been up to:

Our little learners have been captivated by the timeless stories from the Bible. The Preppies have been learning that the promises God makes are not wishes, they are unbreakable commitments.

They have embraced the practice of writing in their prayer journals. With crayons and pencils, they express gratitude, and thankfulness. In these journals, they discover that prayer isn’t just about asking; it’s about relationship. God listens, cares, and responds, even to the smallest voices. Our students have amazed us with their kind and thoughtful prayers. They pray for classmates who feel lonely, for families facing hardships, and for the world beyond our classroom walls.

In their childlike wisdom, our Preps exemplify Christ’s teachings—they put others before themselves. When sharing their prayers aloud, they encourage their peers, embodying love—the very essence of God’s character.

Year 1

This week, Year 1 students enjoyed playing new maths games, concentrating on the jump strategy and skip counting to enhance their numerical skills. These activities helped them grasp essential math concepts in a fun and engaging way. Students also had time to continue their lessons on chickens, culminating in a heartfelt farewell as the chickens departed for their new homes with families. This provided a valuable learning experience about animal care and life cycles and blending practical knowledge with emotional growth. Overall, it was a week filled with hands-on learning and memorable moments. We are looking forward to next week for our Spring Creek Visit on Wednesday.

Being Thankful

Year 2s have been considering the things we are thankful for in our lives: our amazing families, beautiful parents, wonderful friends, the fun things we get to do and all the blessings we receive. Gratitude is a small thing that can benefit us in a big way. Thinking about everything we have to be grateful for – friends, family, our clothes, food and fun times – helps to put everything into perspective.

The scriptures remind us, ‘Always give thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.’ Ephesians 5:20. It’s good to stop and be thankful.

Year 2s have also presented their oral presentations to the class. They wrote cue cards, practised their speeches with a friend, and then bravely shared their talks with the class. They focused on clear speech, loud volume, interesting expression, brave body language and eye contact with their audience. Well done, Year 2s!

Julius Caesar for Consul!

The Year 3 students have been learning about the accomplishments of Julius Caesar and his contributions to Ancient Rome. Many of the students were impressed with Julius Caesar’s empathy for the poor as well as with his courageous conquests around the Mediterranean Sea, expanding the Roman Empire with each new victory. The Year 3 students have enjoyed creating campaign posters to encourage voters to elect Julius Caesar as Consul of the Assembly and this week they presented their posters during an oral presentation. To add a further touch of interest to their speeches, each student also spoke about something they enjoyed learning in our Ancient Rome unit. It has been a wonderful week of sharing thoughts, knowledge and insights together.

Japanese Ninjya House

This term, Year 3s are leaning about the Japanese numbers and Ninjya house.

We have learned the history and facts about Ninjya then students are creating wonderful Ninjya houses in groups.

Students are also learning about teamwork and showing kindness to each other.

Oliver Mills and James Melis are making trick door called どんでん返しdondengaeshi, which is very difficult to make. Good effort!

Caitlin Dando and Ace Newling are making beautiful garden of Ninjya house. Also they are cleaning masters. Well done!

Mid-Term and Year 5s are Working Hard! 

The Year 5s have really hit their strides as we head through the middle of Term 2. We have so many things on the go at the moment.

The students have just finished presenting their oral presentations on a significant Indigenous Australian. They have been working on the techniques used in writing a persuasive essay. The aim of this task, while learning about significant Indigenous Australians, was to also to persuade me to include their chosen person into our 5T Indigenous Hall of Fame. It was fabulous to see the students gaining confidence to get up and present in front of their classmates, but it was especially great to listen to how passionate they were about their person after doing the research needed.

We are also in the middle of our ‘Food Truck’ project in Maths. The students have all planned and designed a food truck of their own choice. Coming up with a business plan, a name and a logo and designing the floor plan for the truck. We will begin construction of the trucks next week. This unit has been built around our topic of area and perimeter. The real life learning that is taking place across the project has been so exciting to watch. Photos of our finished products will follow very soon.

We have just started our new task – as a class we will be developing our own sustainable community. We have looked at what it takes to have a community thrive and be successful. It was exciting to listen to my class discussing how to build this community with a focus on being sustainable long into the future. We have some incredible thinkers. I am looking forward to sharing this with you more as we work through it.

Year 5 and 6 Health and PE Update

Our Year 5 and 6 students have enjoyed the opportunity this term to conduct some fitness testing. Each year, students from Years 5-9 can participate in fitness testing and track their progress as they move through Middle School.

Being involved in this testing aims to encourage students to be more conscious of their physical activity and to develop and maintain lifelong routines. It also allows for opportunities to learn more about physical fitness and what different fitness components are measured. All results are to be compared individually, not with others. It provides a great chance for students to set future goals to improve some or all the components.

Fitness tests conducted include:

Our main focus on for the rest of the term for PE is netball for the Year 5s and basketball for the Year 6s. Students will get the opportunity to continue developing their skills, playing mini-games, understanding and applying the rules and playing cooperatively. Both Health units are progressing well, with Year 5s focusing on a personal identity unit titled, ‘This is Me’ and the Year 6s on Personal Growth and Development.

With three more rounds of the Winter interschool competition left to go, our Year 5 and 6 students will be getting lots of sports opportunities.

National Simultaneous Storytime 2024

On Wednesday Prep to Year 4 students came together to celebrate National Simultaneous Storytime (NSS) in the library by reading this year’s selected book ‘Bowerbird Blues’ by Aura Parker. NSS aims to engage young readers by having libraries, schools and other institutions across the country read the same book at the same time, with over 2 million children participating.

Before reading this year’s beautiful story, we discovered some fascinating facts about bowerbirds. These incredible birds are known for their unique behaviour of collecting blue items to decorate their bower and attract mates. To bring this to life, a lunchtime scavenger hunt was organised for students interested in becoming a blue-hunting bowerbird, scavenging clues around the playground to solve a bird-themed joke.

Surf Coast Students Supporting our Friends in East Timor

On Monday 20 May our campus came together to support our friends in East Timor. It was so exciting to see our students dressed in the colours of the East Timorese flag.

Our College has such a special relationship with Viqueque, for a number of years now we have supported schools and kindergartens,  helping build new rooms, helping with educational programs and supporting teachers and communities. This week we have raise some money to help furnish a school in remote Raitahu. This school has been fortunate in acquiring some funds to build new classrooms. We are now helping them buy some chairs and tables for the rooms. This is an expensive outlay, so it is so exciting to see how our whole Christian College community helping. As a campus we have been able to raise over $800 to send over.

Reminder:  Generative AI Parent Webinar

A reminder to parents and members of our community that we will be offering an online parent webinar, delivered via Microsoft Teams, next Wednesday. It has been wonderful to see such strong parent interest via RSVP responses and questions submitted so far.

There is still time to register for this event. Further details about the event are listed below.

Event: Generative AI and School Parent Webinar
Format: Microsoft Teams online webinar
Date: Wednesday, June 12, 2024
Time: 6.30pm – 7.15pm

Topics likely to be explored in the webinar include:

• What is generative AI?
• What are the benefits, risks, and limitations of these tools?
• What is the College’s response to generative AI?
• What AI tools do students have access to at school?
• What are the College’s rules and guidelines for use of generative AI?
• How can I support my child with navigating this space ethically and safely?

Interested parents are encouraged to register for the event via the form link below, to help with planning. Parents can also indicate what information they feel would be most relevant to them as they complete this form.

Register for the parent webinar

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!