Surf Coast Term 4 Week 4

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 4 2023

Week 5

Monday 30 October              New Students on Campus – 3.45pm – 4.15pm – New Students Only

Monday 30 October              Prep Transition – Session 1 – New Prep Students for 2024

Tuesday 31 October              Discovery and Learning – Preps – Cosy Corner

Wednesday 01 November    Year 4 Camp to Grampians – Refer to Ed Smart

Friday 03 November

Thursday 02 November        Bike Ed Week 4 – Year 5 only

Friday 03 November             BLP Clubs – All Students

Parent Survey Reminder: Generative AI, Education, Society and Future 

A reminder that all Christian College parents are invited to participate in a survey on generative artificial intelligence (AI), education, society and future to inform the College’s forward planning. 

• Take the CCG parent survey 

The parent survey is for all parents, regardless of their level of exposure to or confidence with generative AI. The survey closes this coming Monday, November 6 at 5.00pm. 

Thank you to parents who have already completed the survey. Your participation is appreciated. 

Parents who have not yet responded are encouraged to do so via the survey link above. The average response time for parents who have responded so far has been less than four minutes. We ask that you please contribute your perspective. 

Grandparents Day

Sharing the afternoon with our grandparents is always a highlight at our Surf Coast Campus and this Grandparents Day was no exception. The children were so excited, counting down the time until they would get to share an afternoon of fun and laughter with people they love dearly.

Our grandparents had the opportunity to dance and sing with their grandchildren and then they spent time in the classrooms playing games and doing craft activities.

Days like this one are such a blessing, we will look forward to the next time we get to share the day with these special people.

A Celebration of Love and Wisdom

On Monday we celebrated a very special afternoon at school with our Preps’ first ever Grandparents and Special Persons’ Day. The Preps were delighted to welcome their Nannys, Pas, Grandmas, Grandpas, Nonnos, Grandas, Nannas, Poppys and Omas, as well as some Aunties, Uncles and Special Friends into our school. We commenced the afternoon with an assembly in a positively packed multipurpose room (we’ve never seen it so full of people!) where Reggie from Prep J started a beautiful poem “What is a Grandparent” with the words: A Grandparent is a special gift, received from God above. They start out with patience and add an abundance of love”. The poem continued, being read by a student from each year level, which was delightful to watch. At the end of the assembly, the Preps joined their grandparents and special people for a boogie along to the Macarena, which was a hoot! Our visitors were then treated to scones with jam and cream and were invited into our classrooms to spend some quality time with the children. It was so lovely to see our Preps working together with their grandparents and special people to create some gorgeous flower crafts together. Our Preps would like to thank all the grandparents and special people who came along to make the afternoon such a wonderful experience for us all. We can’t wait to do it all again next year!

A Mathematics Expedition

Our Year 1 students have been working hard to master many new mathematical skills over this term. They’ve been working hard on their number skills and practising a kaleidoscope of strategies to make Maths feel like an exciting adventure. Our Year 1s are not only number wizards, they are becoming navigation experts too! They have been working on giving and receiving directions from their peers and discovering how Maths is the secret map of our world. From finding hidden treasures and guiding each other through exciting journeys, they have learned that Maths is all around us. Mathematics is not just about using numbers, but how we need to use measurements to make our super experiments, reading time to ensure we aren’t late, tallying up and comparing answers and so much more. We cannot wait to see what the rest of this term holds for our mathematics expedition.

William Buckley at our School!

In History this term, Year 2s are learning about a significant local person who has had an impact. Our significant person is William Buckley, the first European settler to live on the Surf Coast and Bellarine land and live in harmony with the Wathawurrung people. Buckley arrived in 1803 and lived with the Indigenous community until 1835, learning how to live on the land with its people.

Year 2s have been wondering about William Buckley:

What would Buckley have eaten when he first arrived?

What would he drink?

Would he have walked across our school land?

What would our school have looked like?

How did the Wathawurrung people catch their food?

Year 2s visited our Spring Creek reserve and recorded some of the possible foods William Buckley may have tried to eat. Can you eat gum leaves? Are those flowers edible? After thinking about the food available, students tried their hand at building a shelter for the night.

We look forward to learning more about William Buckley and the Wathawurrung people.

Friction, Gravity and Magnetism

The students of Year 4 have spent several weeks researching and experimenting with friction, gravity and magnetism. As this unit of study comes to an end we were able to spend some time with one of our middle school Science teachers, Ms Blackburn.

We tested friction by making CD hovercrafts and car ramps. We tested the effect of mass and surface area on objects falling from a height. We also tested gravity by making small rockets powered by effervescent tablets. There were many screams of joy as the rockets shot high into the air!

Student of the Week in Japanese!!

Year 4 Hudson Thanas

In term 4 Japanese, we are learning about the one of the Kanji characters, and how it’s made from the pictures.

Hudson has created the most impressive images to associate with the Kanji character in shapes. Hudson is also passionate about creating online games with Kahoot.

He voluntarily  to the Japanese room at lunchtime, to create the Kahoot using expressions and words in Japanese.

His Year 4 classmates were able to enjoy the Kahoot in class and learn in fun way.

Arigatou gozaimasu Hudson!
Suzuki Senai

World Teachers Day

In classrooms across Australia today, a dedicated, passionate and well-trained group of people, around 450,000 in fact, went about their work, teaching and guiding our nation’s four million young learners. These incredible humans perhaps chose their profession for a multitude of reasons, but I suspect one of the primary motivations was a love of learning and discovery that they wish to pass on to the next generation of young people.

Today, Friday, October 27th, is World Teachers Day. It’s an opportunity to celebrate the contributions and achievements of our teachers, and the positive impact they have on the education, character development and future pathways of young lives.

Christian College Geelong is blessed to have an amazing group of teachers – from Kinder all the way through to Year 12. As you immerse yourself in this week’s Vine, can I encourage you to do two things. Firstly, as you read each article, give thanks for the teacher or teachers who wrote it. If the article is written by a student, give thanks for the teacher behind the story. And secondly, be encouraged to branch out beyond the campus your young person attends, and take in the incredible depth and breadth of learning experiences and opportunities for students across all our campuses. Articles made possible because of the wonderful work of our teachers. Articles that celebrate the learning that takes place daily, led by our teachers, in the hundred or so classrooms across our College. And articles that bear witness to the rich, diverse experiences that students gain outside the classroom – the camps, the excursions, the incursions, the music events, sports activities and so on – all thanks to the teachers who plan, organise and supervise them.

I’m so grateful the teachers we have at Christian College.

So, hats off to our teachers.

The Importance of CPR Training and AEDs

You may have read a media report recently where CPR was administered to a cyclist in Highton, following a cardiac arrest. The incident took place just outside the Middle School Highton campus. 

The first person on the scene was Associate Professor at Deakin University – and Senior School parent – Lara Fuller, who had just dropped her son off at school and was driving on Thornhill Road when she saw the cyclist fall from his bike. Whilst Lara administered CPR, a Middle School maintenance team member quickly accessed one of the campus’ strategically placed AEDs – automated external defibrillators – and brought it to the scene. According to Lara, the AED played a vital role in saving the man’s life.

The incident was a timely reminder of the importance for schools and other community organisations to be prepared in the event of a life-threatening emergency. It is a requirement of our school’s registration that all staff undergo Basic First Aid training every three years, with CPR refresher courses required annually. And each of our campuses are fitted out with one or more defibrillators (AEDs) depending on the size of the campus, as per government requirements. For the one located in the Sports and Aquatic Centre at Highton campus, it proved to be a lifesaver. 

Ambulance Victoria is currently running a month-long awareness campaign, called “Shocktober”, which highlights the importance of learning CPR and how to use an AED. They have included this story on their website, which you can read here. 

To quote Lara: “I really encourage people to do CPR training because it’s actually not hard and it’s such an important skill.”

Get Some Unique Christmas Cards and Support Williams House

This year Williams House is selling packets of Christmas cards designed by our own little artists!

We are selling our Angel/Shepherd cards for $5 for a pkt of 6 and our Nativity cards are $7 for a pkt of 10. Each packet contains either 6 or 10 different designs.

If you would like to support the kinder and share our creations with the community this Christmas, the cards are available at all CCG campus receptions and of course at Williams House. Payment can be made with cash or card.

We also take over-the-phone orders with direct deposit. Phone 5241 3556

All money raised will go towards making some new additions to our outdoor yards!

We hope you love these gorgeous creations and enjoy sharing them with your family and the community this Christmas!

With thanks from all the children and the team at WH!

We’re Hiring – Canteen Assistants

Are you looking for a fun and fulfilling casual job within a vibrant school environment? Join our team as a School Canteen Assistant and make a positive impact on the daily lives of our students.

We are currently in search of enthusiastic canteen assistants to join our team at our Middle School-Highton canteen.

Applicants are required to hold a valid Working With Children Check. Previous experience working in a canteen setting or Level 1 Food Safety Certificate would be advantageous but not essential. Responsibilities will encompass a range of tasks, including food preparation, customer service, cleaning, and stock control.

Shifts are available throughout Monday to Friday, aligned with the school calendar which constitutes 38 weeks per year. Hours are generally 9-2pm.

For a Position Description and how to apply, visit this page on our website.

Qustodio Parent App Resources

Supervise and Support Your Children on School and Personal Digital Devices

A reminder to parents that the Qustodio Parent App is available to all parents to help them supervise and support their children with their online and digital interactions at home, on both school laptops and on personal devices.

In addition to information available on the College’s Online Safety Hub, parents also have access to some helpful ‘bite-size learning’ video tutorials to help them navigate and user the Qustodio Parent App as part of our school program. There are lots of short videos to help parents get the most out of the app and use it confidently.

• Browse all the Qustodio bite-sized learning video tutorials

Some recent additions to these tutorial videos for parents include:

• • How to view your child’s online activity through the parent app
  • How to configure and use the Qustodio daily time limit feature (for personal devices)
  • How to configure and use the Qustodio restricted times features (for personal devices)

I hope that these resources empower parents to continue to supervise and support their young people at home and engage in supportive and positive dialogue about digital wellbeing.

Jam for Refugees

Tomorrow, Saturday October 28, at St Paul’s Church in Latrobe Tce Geelong, two Christian College ensembles are part of the lineup at Jam for Refugees, a fundraiser to support the work of Geelong’s Combined Refugee Action Group. It’s a full day of diverse music featuring our’s and other school ensembles, various choirs and performers, and sharing by local people who are active in refugee advocacy in Geelong and the region. It runs from 11am to 9pm – entry is by donation – come when you can, leave when you must…enjoy some great music, thought-provoking messages and support an important local cause. 

College Production 2024 – Update

As published in The Vine at the end of Term 3, the College will be staging Rodgers & Hammerstein’s Cinderella (Broadway Version) at the Geelong Arts Centre from May 2 – 4, 2004.

Audition Registration

All students from Years 5 – 11 (in 2023) across the College will receive an email early next week, with information and a link to an online registration form. Auditions will commence across the College on designated days from Sunday October 22. To register for an audition, students must complete the online form on/by Friday October 13.

There will be an information session held at each campus for students to have an opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the show. These will be held at:

Highton MS Campus Chapel                   Monday October 9 12.40

Senior Campus Music Department         Tuesday October 10 1.20pm

Bellarine Campus Auditorium                Tuesday October 10 at Lunchtime

Surf Coast Campus – Ms Notini will visit the Year 5 classroom next week.

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 f.provan@ccg.vic.edu.au