"In short there are 3 things that last: faith, hope and love; and the greatest of these is love."
1 Corinthians 13:13
From The Principal
Where would we be without the Friends of EAC? A huge thank you to the President of Friends, Mrs Jodie Manning-Hayter and her team for coordinating both the Mother's Day morning tea and the Colour Run fundraiser that took place last Friday. Both events were a huge success and fantastic opportunities for our community to come together, have fun and celebrate. It is an opportune time for me to invite all our community to consider joining the Friends of EAC and helping create and support events just like these. Next Tuesday evening, 17 May at 6.30pm we will hold a Friends meeting and we are actively seeking new members to come along and join in the wonderful work of Friends. The AGM is scheduled for Tuesday 7 June and as the Constitution only allows the Executive to hold their positions for two years we are now seeking interest for the roles of President, Treasurer and Secretary. Please consider joining Friends and offering your skills to support some of the Friends' initiatives. You do not need to commit to every meeting and event, just where you can. If every parent offered to help with one event, just imagine all the incredible things Friends could achieve!
The Colour Run was thoroughly enjoyed by all the students and it was great to see them having fun, enjoying making a mess and doing something that ultimately would benefit others. Special mention to Mr Cross and the primary team for encouraging students to get involved and setting up the course. The combined efforts of the community raised more than $39,000 - this is an incredible result. The Friends committee have generously offered to donate all of the proceeds to families within the EAC community who have been affected by the floods.
Happy Mother's Day to all our mums! I hope you all had a wonderful weekend and enjoyed some quality time and special treatment from your family. A huge thank you to the Friends of EAC for coordinating a special morning tea last Friday. The turn out was great and it was lovely to see many of our mums and grand mums catching up, having a cuppa and enjoying some of the students' performances. Congratulations to Mr Cross, Mrs Baker, Mrs Kelvin and Mr Falvey who helped our Kindergarten and Year 4 students put on a special performance for those present.
Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will commence the National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) this week. All students in the relevant year groups across Australia will undertake tests in four areas which include Writing, Reading, Language Conventions and Numeracy. The tests take place via online delivery and will take place over the next 7 days.
The NAPLAN tests provide an enormous amount of data on each individual as well as their cohort. The data collected from the tests is also used to develop understandings about students learning from a regional, state and national point of view. While certainly an extremely important and valuable assessment tool, NAPLAN is but one of many assessment tools that teachers and schools use to gather feedback about student learning and development. Assessment takes on many forms and is designed to enable teachers to develop a profile of each student as a learner which includes insights into their learning styles, preferences, strengths and areas for development. The greatest understanding of a student is achieved when teachers have access to a broad range of data which is used to form a profile of the student.
Mr Robert Tobias
Principal
Off the Deputy's Desk
GREETINGS TO THE EAC COMMUNITY
It’s important to make sure that we’re talking with each other in a way that heals, not in a way that wounds.
Barack Obama
So much of our time is spent communicating with others, to have our ideas heard and to understand the ideas of others. But given the conflict around the world we see on a daily basis, it appears that perhaps our communication skills as human beings could do with a refresher course. Added to this is the re emergence for our COVID bubbles and the daily pressures we find ourselves under.
Growing up during the Troubles in Northern Ireland I was often reminded that "Whatever You Say, Say Nothing", as a means of advising children to be careful of what they say. Needless to say that advice did little to productive dialogue and lasting peace. Therefore I find it imperative that effective communication is a skill we need to develop in our students if they are to take their place as the problem solvers of the future. Some of the barriers to effective communication are:
Focusing on a personal agenda.
When we spend our listening time formulating our next response, we cannot be fully attentive to what the speaker is saying.
Information overload.
We need to focus on the relevant information, and the central points that are being conveyed.
Criticising the speaker.
Do not be distracted by critical evaluations of the speaker. Focus on what they are saying - the message - rather than the messenger.
Getting distracted by emotional noise.
We react emotionally to certain words, concepts and ideas, and to a myriad of other cues from speakers (appearance, non-verbal cues such as gestures, etc). We need to make a conscious effort to quiet our own emotional reactions so that we can listen properly.
EAC Mountain Biking
Mr Cleverley recently organised a great day for our EAC mountain biking students, as they travelled to Nerang, Queensland, for a training session. Thanks also has to go to the teachers Mr Raguse and Mr Hartel for giving up their day to come and ride with the group, who were also supported by a number of generous and enthusiastic parents. There were some pretty tough climbs on the day and the trails were a little washed out, with plenty of loose rocks due to earlier rain but the team handled the conditions impressively. I think most would agree that fitness wasn't where it should be for most but, given our horrendous weather and flooding catastrophe, everyone managed to make the whole ride.
The next ride will be on Friday 17 June and we are hoping to make a trip down to Woolgoolga to ride there but it will depend on the weather. If we have a lot of rain we will head back to Nerang, as it seems to handle these conditions better than our local trails.
Dia dhaoibh
Mr Francis McGuigan
Deputy Principal
Term 2 Week 4B
Monday 16 May
- Year 11 Chemistry Task 1
- Scholastic Book Fair
- NAPLAN Test
Tuesday 17 May
- Scholastic Book Fair
- NAPLAN Test
Wednesday 18 May
- Scholastic Book Fair
- CIS 16&U and Open Boys Hockey
- NAPLAN Test
Thursday 19 May
- Scholastic Book Fair
- CIS Secondary Boys Hockey
- Year 11 Music Task 1
- Year 12 Ext 1 English Task 2
- Futsal Program Years 3-6
- NAPLAN Test
Friday 20 May
- Scholastic Book Fair
- Shakespeare Carnival NEGS, Armidale
- NAPLAN Test
- NCIS Cross Country
Term 2 Week 5A
Monday 23 May
- Scholastic Book Fair
- CIS Secondary Soccer
Tuesday 24 May
- Primary boys and girls touch football training
- Purcival House Chapel 8.48am LWC
- Year 12 Biology Task 3
- CIS Secondary Soccer
- Scholastic Book Fair
Wednesday 25 May
- Scholastic Book Fair
- National Simultaneous Storytime
- Foundation Day
Thursday 26 May
- Scholastic Book Fair
- 12 Geography Field Trip
- Walker House Chapel
- National Sorry Day
- Futsal Program Years 3-6
Friday 27 May
- NSW Netball Cup, Lismore
- Year 12 PDHPE Task 2
Sports Update
CIS SECONDARY TOUCH FOOTBALL
EAC had several NCIS Touch Football representatives at the recent CIS Secondary Touch Football Tournament held in Sydney on Friday 29 April.
Unfortunately, the weather and change of venue caused the event to finish before a finals series. Accordingly, the results were based on overall points after the round robin games.
EAC had representatives in all 4 NCIS teams (U/15 Girls, Boys and Open Boys and Girls). All teams represented NCIS with distinction by playing a team focussed style of touch football played with good sportsmanship and respect to other teams and officials. The highest place finish was the Girls Open team who placed 3rd.
Congratulations to the following EAC NCIS representative players: Atzin Matuz-Jacobson, Kaelan Matuz-Jacobson, Elvis Shakespeare, Hayden Kelvin, Chloe Neilson, Katie Smith, Asha Leadingham, Sophia Howlett, Mikala Campbell and Nkosi Malaba.
Mr Randall Evans
NCIS Open Boys Touch Football Coach
Bill Turner Cup
On Monday 2 May, the Under 15s soccer players gathered on a bus ready to go to Mullumbimby to compete in the Bill Turner Cup. Just as the bus driver went to pull out, Mr Davy ran up and stopped the bus to explain that the opposing boys team had requested a postponement. Sadly, all of the boys had to go back to class but we girls were able to continue on. We arrived at Mullumbimby over an hour early, since the boys' game wasn't on, so we took advantage of the available field and the extra time and got stuck into some serious training with our Supercoach Wendy Britton. When Richmond Christian College arrived we knew we were in for a challenge but after all of our morning training sessions, we were ready for it. Seven goals were scored in all by Georgie Field, Manu Harding, Sarah Jacob, Katie Smith, Anna Wiggins, and Lily Awad who scored 2 of the seven. Our backline and our keeper, Amelia Polidano, did an amazing job defending our goal not letting a single ball in. Jed Saunderson volunteered to be our referee and he did an amazing job, particularly without any linespeople and he was always fair. So, 7 nil up and we are now into the next round of the Bill Turner Cup.
Dr Justine Jacob
Science and Mathematics Teacher
CIS swimming
Sport, Coaching & Duke of Edinburgh Assistant
EAC Volleyball Program
Music Notes
Secondary News
Secondary SRC Training
On Monday 9 May, the Secondary SRC students met to learn about the importance of leadership within the College. They spent time brainstorming areas of focus for the year and started to plan their first fundraising event of the year. The students were able to agree on a number of areas they would like to discuss to contribute to the College and were able to share some great ideas.
The SRC will meet every Monday to continue the work to promote student voice at the College.
Online Behaviour and Sexting
On Wednesday 11 May, the Police Liaison Officer Senior Constable Brooke Papasidero came and spoke with students in Year 9 and Year 10 about safe online behaviour. One of the areas discussed was sending nudes and sexting.
Sexting or sending nudes can put you at risk of image-based abuse, which is the sharing of intimate images without your consent. It can also put you at risk of sexual extortion, a type of blackmail when someone threatens to share intimate images of you unless you give in to their demands.
Research shows that nearly 1 in 3 young people aged 14 to 17 in Australia had some experience of sending, sharing or being asked to share nudes.
Police sometimes need to become involved in sexting cases where taking or sharing sexual images of someone under 18 may be treated as the production and/or distribution of child sexual abuse material, also known as ‘child pornography’.
Creating, possessing or sharing nude images of people under 18 may be a crime, even if it’s a nude selfie. Be mindful that possessing intimate images of someone who is under the age of 18, even if it is for the purpose of collecting evidence, may be an offence.
If someone has posted sexual or naked photos or videos of you online without your permission, this is called image based abuse and it is never ok. It needs to be reported to the Office of eSafety and also can be reported to the police.
Mrs Amanda Middleton
Director of Secondary
Primary Update
All the fun of the Colour Run (and a cup of tea for Mum)
Last Friday was a bumper day in the Primary School. Our day started with Kindergarten and Year 4A performing at the annual Mother's Day Friends High Tea. The crowd were treated to musical and dramatic performances from our students. Mr Falvey’s 4A class then went on to host the fortnightly assembly which featured a reprise of their Mother's Day performance and a special performance by Archie Cook celebrating International Tuba Day. Despite these two great warm up events, all eyes were firmly set on the upcoming Colour Run.
The Colour Run was a magical event where the beaming smiles on the faces of the kids will I’m sure outlast the colour stains on their skin following the race (it was hard to scrub off right?). A group of eager parents, Year 6 House Leaders and select Year 12 students assisted Mr Pearson and Mr Pryor with the obstacle course on the courts (which adopted the nickname The Colour Cage). Eager groups of kids ran the gauntlet and came up as very colourful characters. Most importantly, the Colour Run brought in $40,000 for our families affected by the recent flooding.
Carnival Book Fair
17-26 May 2022
The EAC Joan Pickup Library is hosting a Carnival Book Fair. Each class will be invited to preview and purchase books in their Library lessons. The preview sessions are an ideal opportunity for children to share and discuss the books with their teachers and peers. Last year’s library monitors will be on hand to assist students to create their wish lists.
The selection of books at the Book Fair will include a wide range of quality books from the best Australian and overseas authors & illustrators.
All books are discounted.
Every purchase from the Book Fair earns FREE books and resources for the Library.
You, your family and friends are most welcome to come and enjoy the Book Fair before or after school and help your children select their books.
The Library opens at 8.15am and closes at 4.15pm.
Peer Support
Session 1 (Friday 13 May)
We are commencing our Peer Support lessons this week. The whole school participates in Peer Support for 30 minutes each week. Two Peer leaders facilitate a small group of 8-10 younger students, who work together through a number of structured activities. Each teacher will supervise 2-3 groups in their classroom. This year, we are working on a module called Living Positively, helping us explore the concept of optimism. The module runs for 8 sessions. Our first session enables the children to get to know everyone in the group, agreeing on how they will work well together and interact cooperatively with others. They will also begin to think about what it means to be optimistic. We encourage you to talk to your children about Peer Support every week, as it will help to reinforce the concepts learned in each session.
Mr Wayne Cross
Director of Primary
Friends of EAC
Mother's Day
It was so lovely to see so many mums, carers and grandmothers at the “Mother's Day” morning tea last Friday. They were treated to a delicious high tea provided by the Year 11 hospitality students and entertained by the kindy and year 4 classes. The raffle basket of special treats and two nights' accommodation at Tallaringa Views (donated by Elizabeth Dwyer) was won by a lucky grandmother and raised $400 for flood victims.
Colour Run
The colour run last Friday was a huge success, it was so lovely to see so many smiling faces and coloured shirts. More than $39,000 was raised - an amazing effort! All proceeds will go to the EAC families directly affected by the floods.
If you have not already ordered your prizes, go to www.schoolfundraising.com.
If you wish to donate, donations can still be accepted, via the fundraising page.
Friends Meeting
Our next Friends meeting will be held next Tuesday 17 May, at 6:30pm in the Ezzy Centre. Everyone is welcome.
We will be holding our AGM on 7 June, 2022 at 6:30pm in the Ezzy Centre, if you would like to be part of the Friends Committee or nominate for an executive position please complete the nomination form.
Friends-AGM-Office-Bearers-Nomination-Form-2022
Friends meetings are a great way to learn about school events, general information, school activities, fundraising opportunities and to make new friends. We aim to foster a cooperative, supportive and connected community by creating events where parents and families of our school can come together to have fun fundraising and friend raising.
All Friends Office Bearer positions will be declared vacant at our AGM on Tuesday 7 June, 2022.
Nominations are sought for the following positions:
- President
- Vice President
- Treasurer
- Secretary
- Committee Member (10 required)
For further information please see the nomination form above or contact friends@eac.nsw.edu.au
Mrs Jodie Manning-Hayter
President, Friends of EAC
Canteen
Term 2 Canteen Menu
Please note Dino Nuggets are no longer available. Why not try Chicken Gujons instead?
Can you help?
Help is required in the EAC Canteen 9am - 12pm Monday to Friday. Please email Christine at chall@eac.nsw.edu.au if you are able to help.
Online Canteen Ordering
Online Canteen ordering is available via the 'School Stream' app. View and select from the canteen menu by clicking on Canteen. This will bring up the canteen order form where you will be able to enter the child's details and select desired items from the dropdown lists under the relevant headings and pay. You will be prompted to tick which break you require your selection for.
All online orders must be completed and submitted prior to 8.45am on the day they are required, to enable Canteen staff enough time to prepare and distribute orders.
Manual Canteen Ordering
If you are unable to use the 'School Stream' App please place the money in a paper bag of sufficient size to fit all of the items. If you are ordering a drink with your child’s lunch, please provide two (2) bags. Please write the information on the LOWER half of the bag. If money is short we will substitute items to the value received.
REMEMBER, if ordering at both breaks, you must have a separate bag for each break. Any change required will be placed in the bag for return with the child’s order. All orders must be received at the canteen before 9.15am.
Christine Hall - Canteen Supervisor
contact: chall@eac.nsw.edu.au