What’s Happening at Surf Coast?

Is 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 3 2023

Week 5

Monday 14 August                 Science Week – All Week  – All Students

Tuesday 15 August                 Discovery Learning – Prep

Friday 18 August                    BLP Clubs – Prep to Year 4

100 Days of School!

Woohoo! On Monday the August 7, the Surf Coast Preppies celebrated the long awaited 100 days of school. 

Dressed as 100-year-olds with walking sticks and pipes in hand and brooches on cardigans, the day was filled with so much fun, excitement, and laughter!

The Preppies’ morning involved making a lolly cookie, decorating a crown, counting out 100 cheerios to create a necklace, playing pass the parcel, having a dance party and many more wonderful activities.

We are so proud of our amazing Surf Coast Preps. Over the past 100 days, they have shown such incredible social, emotional, and academic growth.

Congratulations to our gorgeous 2023 Preps!

Year 1 Welcomes the Preps!

What a wonderful week welcoming the Preps into our classroom for two days this week. We were able to do lots of learning this week with our Prep friends. We read the incredible book Possum Magic and then paired up and reviewed the book by making a possum book review! The kids loved getting creative and working with someone that they might not know. We also had a visitor from our local Safe Pet Ownership group. Who taught us how to be safe around pets in our local area. The kids loved learning about animals and getting some one-on-one time with Humphry the brown lab!

Studies of the Sun and Moon

Are the moon and the sun the same size? They look almost the same in the sky… so maybe they are close in size?

Year 2s have been exploring the size of the sun, moon and earth and their distance from each other. To compare their sizes, we used a gum ball to represent the earth and a peppercorn for the moon and we placed them 30cm apart. Then we used a large beach ball to represent the sun. We found out that if the earth and the moon were placed outside our classroom, then the sun would be across the playground, out the school gate and halfway across the teachers’ carpark – 110m away! We enjoyed using trundle wheels to measure distances of 80m, 90m and 110m across the school yard.

Year 2s are learning many other important concepts in class, such as halves, quarters and eighths in Maths and the story of Moses in Christian Ed. In English we are comparing the features of fiction and non-fiction, looking closely at the elements of non-fiction books in readiness for writing our information reports about space. Term 3 is a turbo term for learning!

Shine Your Light in 4T

The students of Year 4 have been learning how to shine their light. Every student has different talents and abilities through which they can shine to show the people around them the gifts that God has given them.

One such example of some Year 4 students shining their light are those taking a leadership role in the Gardening Club this term. Last week was their first session with a very enthusiastic group of younger students who were taught how to propagate plants from cuttings. Great job boys!

The students of Year 4 continue to take on the responsibility of recycling and compost at our campus. We have begun weighing each of the tubs each week. Later in the term we will look at the data we have collected to see which classes are doing a great job of recycling and composting their classroom waste. We will also look at some ways that we can do an even better job.

In our Integrated Studies lessons this term we are learning about the water cycle. What better way to observe the water cycle than by creating an experiment by recycling some cups and bottles. Do you know how the water cycle works? If not, why not ask a Year 4 student for some expert information!

Surf Coast Convicts

The Year 5 students spent the day on Tuesday getting into character of their convict. Each student is going to write a picture story book showing the journey from England as part of the First Fleet to Australia. We have spent time in class learning about what England was like at that time and what it might have been like to live as a convict. We have looked at what Australia may have looked like and the changes that the Europeans brought with them. On Tuesday the students all had to bring in a costume to help them dress up as the convict in their picture story book. We spent part of the day down at Spring Creek, building huts, exploring and taking photos. What a fun way to bring our characters to life!

Japanese in Term 3

It has been wonderful for our Japanese studies to start off Term 3 with a visit from our sister school, Naga High from Iwade in Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. During Naga High School’s visit in Week 3, it was so valuable for our students to have the opportunity to meet and interact with the Japanese students. We hope the excitement from their visit will help to build some connections for our students and the language and culture that we learn about together each week.

In Prep in Term 3, we have begun looking at food and are practising describing it as oishii (delicious) and mazui (yucky).

Year 1s have been learning the names for various body parts and we have begun to learn to say if it is in pain. We have been enjoying some ‘Hokey Pokey’ and ‘Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes’ to help us remember.

In Year 2, we have been revisiting numbers and will begin to explore their use in time and money.

Year 3 is learning about the name of the fruits and adjectives. At the end of the term, students will be able to express what they want to buy in a Japanese fruit shop called やおやYAOYA.

Year 4 is learning about school life in Japan. It was a fantastic opportunity for students to interview the Naga students about school life in Japan. The Year 4s will conduct a presentation about their discovery about the school life in Japanese and English.

Year 5 is learning about greetings and school items in Japanese. They successfully conducted a questionnaire and greetings in Japanese to Naga students, and we had a lot of positive feedback from them.

Term 3 Choral Concerts – Joyous Voices, Smiling Faces!

We know that singing in a choir is good for the mind and soul, for both singers and audience…… this was so evident on Tuesday evening! Term 3 sees all the CCG Choirs featuring in concerts across the College campuses. 

The College Choral Program features seven choirs providing opportunity for 300 students from years Prep to 12 to rehearse, perform and belong! On Tuesday evening this week the Surf Coast, Highton Middle School, Junior School Belmont and Senior Campus Choirs sang with gusto! 

The choirs, and featured VCE Vocal Ensemble, presented a range of beautiful repertoire for family and friends in two concert programs hosted at the Senior Campuses RW Gibson Centre for Music Performance. 

Congratulations to the College Choir directors of these campuses; Kate Notini, Laura Hollingsworth and Carla Dunlop, along with accompanists and vocal tutors for their fine work in preparing the vocal items. Thank you to the family and friends who attended and supported the choir students in getting to their rehearsals and performances throughout the year.

We look forward to the Bellarine Campus Choirs and Small Ensembles Performance Evening, to be held at the Bellarine Campus on Monday August 21.

Prepaid Tuition Fee Discount

The College is offering a 4 per cent discount to families who elect to prepay their 2024 tuition fees in full by September 8, 2023. Taking up this offer means you will receive a 4 percent discount on the 2024 tuition fees less sibling discount.

For further details please refer to the email sent to you earlier this week.

Please contact the fees team via [email protected] or (03) 5241 1899 if you have any queries - our team will happily explain the details and arrange a quotation for you.

LEAD Parent Survey - Now Closing September 1

Each year, Christian College participates in the LEAD School Effectiveness Surveys conducted by Independent Schools Victoria (ISV). These surveys provide valuable insights into a school’s performance from the perspectives of students, staff and parents and are therefore an essential school improvement tool.

LEAD – Listen, Evaluate, Act, Deliver – succinctly describes the way in which this process enables our College community to grow and flourish through consultation with our valued stakeholders.

You will have received an email from ‘ISV Research Programs [email protected]’ inviting you to participate in the ISV LEAD Parent Survey. It includes a unique survey link that can only be used once and therefore cannot be shared or forwarded to others. Thank you to all parents who have completed the Parent Satisfaction Survey - we have received more than 300 responses to date. ISV has extended the deadline for survey responses - closing date is September 1. We invite any parents who have not yet participated to contribute your feedback via this year's survey. You are an integral part of our school community and your voice matters.

East Timor Trivia Night

Preparations are underway for our annual Trivia Night which raises much needed funds for the work we do in Viqueque, East Timor.

Money raised this year will help pay for a new roof for Uma Maun Alin – Friendship House – where some amazing staff and volunteers run kindergarten classes for local little ones and English classes for older children and teens.

Part of the night is a Silent Auction and we are asking CCG families for any donations.

Some donations made already, thanks to the hard work of some of our prefects, include: a signed Cats guernsey, personal training sessions, café vouchers, Geelong Lawn tennis memberships, tennis racquet and re-stringing voucher, a vet clinic voucher... and so much more!

If you are in a position to be able to donate something to this incredibly worthwhile cause please contact:

Surfcoast Campus: Claire Deretic

Junior School: Carla Dunlop

Highton Campus: Graham Barton

Bellarine Campus: Samantha Bett

Senior School: Lee Stringer

Scholarship Applications are Now Open!

Each year Christian College offers Academic Excellence Scholarships for entry at Year 5, 7 and 10 levels. Applications are now open for this year’s scholarships, which apply to entry in 2025, at three campuses – Middle School-Highton, Bellarine Campus and Surf Coast Campus.

Year 10 entry applies to Senior School-Waurn Ponds only.

To find out more, and to apply, visit our website and look for the homepage hotlink, or click here.

Scholarship applications are open to students who do not currently attend Christian College, as well as those who are currently enrolled here. Scholarship examinations will be held at Christian College on Saturday October 7. Closing date for applications is Thursday, September 28.

Foundation Golf Day 2023

Following the success of last year’s inaugural event, we are delighted to announce the Christian College Foundation Golf Day tournament for 2023.

Save the date: Thursday November 9.

We are seeking prizes for this event – if you own a local business and are interested in creating partnership opportunities with Christian College, please contact Fiona Provan on 0400 477 467, or email [email protected]

A MYTERN Thought for This Week

It’s easy to rush through a cup of tea or coffee and forget to stop and appreciate the moment. 

Take time out now to simply appreciate being able to breathe in fresh air. Take a long slow breath and feel it rejuvenate every cell. 

Make that your intention and watch your body smile from the inside 👍❤️

Discover more about MYTERN here