Term 1 | Week 11 | 10 April 2019
‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul and with all your mind… and your neighbour as yourself’ Matthew 22: 37-39
From The Principal
A reminder to all parents to complete the Towards 2030 Strategic Planning Survey and provide your valuable thoughts and ideas about ways to grow and develop our wonderful school. Please check your emails and follow the enclosed link. There is a great incentive prize of a night for two at the Ballina Ramada which includes dinner at the Cove restaurant.
Congratulations to Year 12, who received their Mid Course Reports as part of the Parent Teacher Meetings this week. The reports tell a wonderful story of the dedication, participation and achievement of the Year 12 cohort. I had the privileged opportunity to read all of the reports and I was particularly pleased with the regularity with which the teachers graded individual student efforts as Excellent. Demand for Parent Teacher bookings was also very high right across the College and I thank parents for being so involved in their children’s learning. It will be a very busy and productive night for all concerned.
It has been a very busy, high paced and jam packed term and I thank the students, staff and families for all your tremendous efforts during this time. I hope that the holiday break is relaxing and enjoyable for you all.The students in Kindergarten through to Year 12 will commence Term Two on Tuesday 30 April. Staff will be involved in a Professional Learning Day on Monday 29 April focusing on analysing student data to improve learning outcomes, program development and the Thinking Curriculum.
On April 25, the College will march and participate in both the Alstonville and Ballina Anzac Day commemorations. I encourage all our families to get involved in this really significant day in our Australian story. Students are invited to march behind the College banner and are asked to wear their full school uniform.
Finally, a huge congratulations to Year 10 student Haley Oakes who has just been crowned under 17’s Women’s’ National Mountain Bike Champion for 2019. What an outstanding achievement given that Haley is only 15 years of age. It has been an incredible term for EAC students from a sporting point of view with Year 11 student Jade Corrigan recently returning from Hong Kong after representing Australia at the Rugby Sevens tournament and Year 8 student, Austin Cross, is currently sailing for Australia in Chile. Congratulations to these three talented and dedicated sportspeople.
Over the coming week, our Christian story will recall the events of Holy Week and Jesus' journey to the cross. Rev Sally led a beautiful, reflective chapel service for the College this week that helped the students put the key parts of the story in focus. We took time to think about the sadness, loss and confusion that comes from the story of the cross, but look forward to the joy and hope of resurrection.
Many blessings for the Easter season which is to come.
Mr Robert Tobias
Principal
Deputy Principal
Parent Teacher Interviews are on Wednesday and I thought that it would be an opportune moment to provide some insights and hints for parents for how to approach the interview or conference process. Research shows that parents have a significant impact on their children’s educational achievements. In fact, parental engagement overrides all other factors that have been shown to influence a child’s achievement. It is therefore critical that teachers and parents develop effective relationships to bridge student learning between home and school.
Below are listed some ways that parents can gain greater satisfaction from the interview process. These include the following:
LISTEN AND BE OPEN MINDED
Often as parents, we wonder why certain decisions are being made in the classroom, or only consider the perspective of our child, because that’s the only one we hear. Entering the interview with an open mind, and remembering there are the needs of many children to take into consideration in the classroom can help us get to the bottom of any questions and concerns, and often put parents’ minds at ease.
DISCUSS THINGS CALMLY
Just like you are not in the classroom to see what goes on, the teacher is not in your home. There may be a situation at home or school that your child talks to you about but the teacher is unaware of. Making assumptions or being hostile won’t fix the problem. Your child’s teacher is there for the best interests of your child and (unless they’re a terrible teacher) wants to help. Explaining any issues calmly can lead to quicker problem solving and better outcomes for your child.
TALK HONESTLY
Many parents struggle with homework, assuming the expectations are set in stone. By the time you get home from work, feed the children and get them ready for their baths, there may be no time for a page of maths, a writing worksheet reading and spelling practice. Maybe your child does extra-curricular activities and is tired afterwards, or simply gets anxious about homework after being at school all day. Just tell the teacher. They can be flexible.
TAKE A LIST OF QUESTIONS
It can be so easy to get sidetracked during these meetings as there are so many things to talk about. Maybe you want to get clarification on an incident your child told you about, or you want to ask about the visual cues in the classroom. You may forget to ask when you’re rushing through all of the other aspects of the conversation. Write points down before the meeting that you can refer back to — the teacher won’t mind, they would have done the same!
DON’T STRESS ABOUT FITTING EVERYTHING IN
These interviews are more about your child’s academic progress and any pressing issues, and sometimes it’s not possible to cover other things in the allotted time. If this happens, simply schedule another meeting with your child’s teacher to discuss any other concerns or anything they can help with — that’s what they’re there for.
I hope that all of our students take the time to rest, refresh and recharge over the holiday break. Most importantly with Easter around the corner it is a great time to reflect on the power of the Christian message and the hope that the resurrection of Jesus gives each of us.
Have a wonderful Easter and thank you all for your support over the first term of the 2019 academic year. We really have much to be thankful for and our students can be proud of their achievements. Likewise, I thank all of our staff for their commitment to developing our students in a holistic manner throughout the first term of the year.
Mr Darren Parks
Deputy Principal
Term 2 Week 1
Monday 29 April
Staff Professional Development Day
Tuesday 30 April
Term 2 commences –K-12
Whole College Assembly-9.00am-Undercover Area
Wednesday 1 May
NSW CIS Secondary Swimming
Thursday 2 May
NSW CIS Secondary Swimming
Friday 3 May
School Photo Catch up Day-ELC Class Photos plus Special Group Photos, Individual and Sibling catch up photos
HICES Debating at Clarence Valley Anglican School, Grafton
Secondary Sport
Saturday 4 May
Relay For Life-Alstonville Showgrounds
Friends of EAC Bunnings BBQ
Term 2 Week 2
Monday 6 May
NCIS Secondary Football at The Armidale School. Our team will stay at New England Girls’ School
Tuesday 7 May
NCIS Football at The Armidale School.
Whole College Chapel –St Mary’s Anglican Church-9.00am
Friends’ Meeting
Wednesday 8 May
HSC Group Drama Day
Year 11 Careers Expo at GSAC
Thursday 9 May
Year 7 Information Evening- Ezzy Centre-6.00-8.00pm
Friday 10 May
Friends’ Mothers’ Day Morning Tea-Ezzy Centre
Saturday 11 May
Concert Band performance at St Bart’s Alstonville Mother’s Day Fair-11.00am-12.15pm
Chaplains Chat
Oh. What a week.
I wonder what these next couple of weeks will hold for you all.
I wonder how much chocolate they will hold! I wonder what it means in your home to be getting ready for Easter.
These days Easter is a much quieter and calmer affair in our home. Firstly – we have no children left living at home to get hyped up, and secondly, I am not involved in parish based ministry, so I don’t have the many, many services that the week before and the weekend of Easter holds.
There is a part of me that misses that (a very small part). I only miss it because I was forced to spend so much time thinking and praying and re-membering, that is, putting back together the story that we know as the Easter Story.
But Easter is so much more than the day of bunnies, Easter Egg hunts and family gatherings. It is so much more even than the beautiful worship that can be found on that day.
The bigness of Easter actually started on Ash Wednesday, has continued through the season of Lent, and with this coming weekend, it begins to really build.
This coming Sunday is the day we call Palm Sunday and it’s the day that we start to sense that this story could get quite messy….and that Jesus is not going to be the kind of King the people were hoping for.
We don’t leap from Sunday to Good Friday…. there is so much more that happens in between….
On the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of Holy Week (the week that leads up to Good Friday…)
we can read stories of Jesus teaching, talking and showing what the kingdom is like, and what kind of king Jesus will be.
These stories are found in Johns gospel:
Monday – John 12: 1- 11
Tuesday - John 12: 20 – 36
Wednesday – John 13: 21 – 32
You will notice they jump around a little, but all work together to point to the unusual nature of this man Jesus, and the giant task that is ahead.
Then we move to the Thursday – we call it Maundy Thursday. You can feel the tension build as Jesus shares a meal with his followers, he says and does so many strange things. It’s a painful time, as those gathered share the Passover – a time of remembering God’s grace and rescue, but it moves all too quickly to the point of betrayal. Betrayal by Judas, and all too soon, desertion of Jesus closest companions. I still cannot read the story of Jesus praying in the Gethsemane without a stab of pain…and sometimes a sense of guilt.
(Here’s another clip…its quirky, but tells the story! https://youtu.be/SigoALSS1R8 )
Then of course…. Good Friday. A confusing day of passion and pain. For all involved.
I am still asked by our kids, why GOOD Friday? And I agree, can we really call it good? It was a day where an innocent man was put to death because he caused people to feel threatened. Jesus’ teaching threatened the comfortable status quo of the high priests and holy people, his following threatened the Roman’s sense of power. I suspect that still today, some of Jesus’ teaching about radical hospitality, humility, generosity still threatens our sense of security in all we have.
At the same time, it is a good Friday, for it was the end, making way for the beginning. It was then and is now the end of the need to carry our guilt and shame like a bag of rocks on our back, and the beginning of new life, with a clear heart and mind. It was the end of the continual wandering, and the beginning of the home coming for the people of God.
The Good News of God’s love and forgiveness is still pertinent and real today – with an extra addition, that we too, like those who were present at the first journey to the cross – we need to make that journey to the place where we can finally say ‘enough, I cannot do this any longer. Help me.’
It is already done. Forgiveness is waiting. Always.
Today we leave it, with the body of Jesus sadly yet lovingly laid in a tomb.
And we wait.
We wait knowing the joy will soon resound.
A joy that comes from having sat in the sadness of the cross, the heaviness of trying to do all and be all…. A joy that comes when we allow our hearts to be opened like the tomb…. but that’s a story for another day – for after the holidays.
So for now. We wait.
Peace
Sal
Early Learning Centre News
Over the past few weeks the children and educators at the ELC have experienced some wonderful learning opportunities. Mrs Docherty and Ms Natasha attended two days of professional development titled, 'The Nature of Listening'. This was a symposium whereby not only educators but professionals who work alongside young children and families came together to share the importance for young children to connect with and be in nature. Angela Hanscom - occupational therapist, author and founder of Timber-nook, informed us about some current research regarding young children and sensory issues.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=
This was a fabulous few days and now we begin to share with our colleagues, children and families.
Our Whales room children have begun to experience the Kindy links program whereby small transitions into the college enable a sense of confidence and competence to develop. A mini cross-country, teddy bears picnic and an Easter craft session have occurred and overall the excitement in meeting 'big buddies' and being a part of the college community has been a delight to observe.
We also have a Parent Information Evening happening on Tuesday the 7th May, from 6.30 pm to 7.30 pm. We would appreciate it if our current and future ELC families attended this in order to enable those important connections between families and educators, affording quality outcomes for every child. See attached flyer for more information.
To finish up, our learning framework, 'Belonging, Being, Becoming - The Early Years Learning Framework' is a relational curriculum. This means that all learning happens in relationship - with environment, ourselves, one another, family and community. The ELC is a fine example of educators developing nurturing relationships with young children. The images chosen are evidence of this as we often hear names being called from over the fence - our 2018 ELC children, now in Kindy, choosing to say hello, share stories and perhaps needing some reassurance of our belief in their competence and confidence. We also witness siblings hugging and laughing through the fence, making everyone feel loved and happy!
Early Learning Centre Coordinator
Primary News
Easter Craft with Kindergarten and pre-kindy
As huge raindrops pitter pattered on the roof last Tuesday morning, the Year 5 and 6 students gathered in the Innovation Centre ready to create Easter craft with the kindergarten and pre-kindy students. Excitement filled the Innovation centre as the Year 6 students collected their buddies and found a spot to sit and weave their crafty magic. The Year 5's sounded very excited to meet their temporary pre-kindy buddies. For the craft the teachers handed everyone a sheet of paper filled with pictures of Easter eggs for the buddies to colour in, we were also given a paper plate to decorate. The objective was to make an Easter wreath. Scissors snipped away as we cut out a hole in the middle of the paper plate and the Kindergartens had to write their names on the bottom of it. The Kindy and Prekindy then had to colour in the Easter eggs with the help of their year six buddies. The year five and sixes cut out the pictures of the colourful eggs and stuck them onto the outside of the paper plate. The Kindergartens loved the finished product and everyone had a lovely time together. Sadly this will be our last Kindy buddy session for the term but hopefully we will do it all again next term.
By Zali
Sports Update
Zali Wallace Selected in the NSW CIS Primary Football (Soccer) Team
NCIS Surfing Championships
Cross Country Championships
There many outstanding performances on the day, congratulations to the following students who placed in the top three in their age groups. Students finishing in the top 5 have been selected in the College Representative team to compete at the NCIS Championships at the same venue on May 17.
NCIS Girls and Boys Netball Carnival
On Wednesday 3 April the EAC primary girls and boys netball teams travelled to Tweed Heads for the NCIS Primary School Netball Carnival.
Both of our Primary girls and boys netball teams were relatively inexperienced, particularly the boys team as 2019 is the first year that NCIS has introduced a boys only netball tournament. To the players/students credit they have trained consistently over the past 4 weeks and under the tutelage of our specialist netball coach (Liz Shaw) and staff each team has been developing their netball knowledge, skills and positional game play. Assisting with this has also been a specific netball focus over this term by our sports coaching and PE staff.
The excitement was building on the bus journey to Tweed Heads as the players were keen to test themselves against the other NCIS school netball teams.
Unfortunately the weather on the day was not as enthusiastic as the players and it proceeded to drizzle and pour with rain (stopping play at times) for the first 2 games of the competition. The weather did finally clear after lunch making the afternoon games and finals better playing conditions.
After clear wins to both teams in the first round it highlighted positive signs that the players skill training and game play sessions would hold them in good stead for the rest of the carnival. Both teams continued to play well and demonstrate great team work leading to them winning all of their pool games. The boys easily defeated all opposition and made it straight into the grand final.
As expected the semi-final games for the girls competition were more difficult with the EAC team coming up against a Lindisfarne school team who also played together on Saturdays in the local Tweed Heads Netball Association competition. Unfortunately the Lindisfarne school team had too much skill and player combinations and our girls team lost their semi final, but as they came top of their pool they placed a well deserved 3rd overall in the tournament.
The boys grand final game was against Lindisfarne who they had beaten in round one. The Lindisfarne team had learnt from that game and were keen to improve. The first quarter was a close encounter with both teams scoring a few goals. However during the 2nd quarter our boys settled into their rhythm of play and had a 10 goal lead going into half time. In the 3rd and 4th quarter our boys team played outstanding both in defense and attack and raced away to easily win the NCIS boys 2019 Grand Final and in doing so have booked their place in history as the first NCIS boys team to win the inaugural Primary Boys Netball tournament and a huge congratulations to the boys team on their historic win!
I would also like to thank our maintenance staff for their assistance in preparing the gear we required for the carnival, Graham Walker for all his background preparation, Liz Shaw for her excellent specialist netball coaching and Kate Sculley for her assistant coaching and team management role. Special thanks to all parents for ensuring their daughter/son came to the early morning training sessions and carnival day drop off and pick -up. A further thank you to the players/students for their excellent behaviour, sportsmanship and respect to the umpires and staff throughout the day. The coaching team look forward to seeing the students learn from this experience and to next years tournament.
Mr Randall Evans
Sport and Coaching Assistant
Bill Turner Trophy Under 15 Girls Soccer
Mr Graham Walker
Sports and Coaching Administrator
To book your child into our Vacation Care program, email elc@eac.nsw.edu.au or phone Nicole on 6681 5054.
Spaces are limited!
Canteen
EAC Canteen opens at 8.30am and operates 4 days a week: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday, with special lunches on Tuesdays, canteen is open on Tuesdays for general sales at LUNCH only.
Canteen opens at 8.30am and the Menu is available here:
Term 2 Special Lunch Dates
Sushi: 7 & 21 May, 4 & 18 June
Noodle Box : 14 & 28 May, 11 & 25 June
Subway: 2 July
PRIMARY LUNCH ORDERS
Please place the money in a paper bag of sufficient size to fit all of the lunch items. If you are ordering a drink with your child’s lunch please provide two (2) bags. Please remind your child to place their lunch/recess bag in the class tub NOT directly to the canteen.
PLEASE DO NOT STAPLE / TAPE BAGS CLOSED, FOLDED IN 4 APPEARS TO WORK WELL
BAG 1: Name, Class, Teacher, Lunch Order (John Smith, 5A, Mr Falvey, 1 Junior Pie)
BAG 2: Name, Class, Drink/Cold Order (John Smith, 5A, Mr Falvey, 1 Orange Juice)
Any change required will be placed in the bag for return with the child’s lunch order.
The EAC Canteen runs with 1 paid member and a team of volunteers, for this to continue we need the support of parents, grandparents etc. to help out. Please check which dates you are able to help and contact Christine Hall chall@eac.nsw.edu.au. I will contact you within 24 hours to confirm your times.
DATES WHERE HELP IS REQUIRED
May: 2, 6, 13, 15AM, 16, 20, 23, 24, 27, 30
June: 3, 13, 14PM, 17, 19AM, 20, 24,, 26,
July:.1
Christine Hall
Canteen Supervisor
0414 811 668
chall@eac.nsw.edu.au
Community News
