"Set your hearts on God's kingdom first, and on God's righteousness and all other things will be given to you. So do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will take care of itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own."
Matthew 6:33-34
From The Principal
I am absolutely delighted to announce that Hamish Walker of Year 11 has been selected in the Australian Biology Olympiad Team for 2020. This is a remarkable and highly distinguished academic achievement and recognises him as one of the outstanding young biological science minds in Australia. He will now represent Australia at the International Science Olympiad later in the year.
The Australian Science Olympiads are a national enrichment program for secondary science students. The Australian Science Olympiads provide rewarding opportunities for students to extend themselves way beyond school science through challenging exams, stimulating extensions and enrichment programs and international competitions.
Hamish has spent a year undertaking exams and intensive training in preparation for the Olympiads. He has outperformed over 5,000 other students from 295 schools in the qualifying exams, and made the shortlist of 103 students invited to participate in a demanding enrichment program ahead of final selection. Only 17 students have earned a place in one of four teams representing biology, chemistry, physics and earth science as part of the 2020 Australia Science Olympiad team. This is an incredible achievement and one that recognises Hamish and his peers as some of the brightest young scientists in the world. Congratulations to Hamish for this absolutely outstanding achievement.
Weather permitting, we hope to hold the Primary and Secondary Athletics Carnivals in the first week of Term Three. We plan to hold these events at the Cavanbah Centre, Byron Bay. As restrictions ease on gatherings and community sport, we believe it will be a great way to start a new term creating a fun and positive opportunity for the students to be together and enjoy the spirit of competition. Unfortunately, at this point, Government health advice and restrictions do not allow spectators and so parents will not be invited to attend the event. We will update this situation if the health advice is revised.
The staff have been very busy writing reports in recent days to feedback to families and students about the learning that has taken place throughout the semester. To allow time for staff to formulate a full picture of students' learning, we have extended the writing deadline to as late in the term as possible. This will mean that final proofing will take place in the term break and reports will be distributed at the end of the break.
I am sure you have seen the more formal notice, but just in case the email is sitting in your inbox, I wanted to let you know that I will take Long Service Leave from 21 July to 24 August next term. Mr Darren Parks will step into the role of Acting Principal for the period of my absence. I have every confidence in Mr Parks and know that I am leaving the College in great hands. I plan to enjoy the break resting, catching up with friends and family and doing the odd job or two around the house.
Mr Robert Tobias
Principal
Off the Deputy's Desk
No good deed ever goes unnoticed.
Never has this statement been truer in the current climate where kindness towards one another has become more important than ever. A few weeks ago, our SRC students organised a crazy sock day, with donations of food items being collected for St Andrew's Anglican Parish in Lismore. Our kindness has been overwhelmingly received by the parishioners of St Andrews and this week we received a lovely letter of thanks for our efforts. For our students, the key takeaway here was that they did good and helped someone else.
We can apply these principles of doing good and helping someone else to our lives on a daily basis. As we move towards the end of semester, I would ask that our families and community all take the time to consciously reflect on the importance of being kind and doing things for others, rather than ourselves. Maybe a family kindness challenge could be a holiday task for each of our students and they could come back in July and share what they did, who they impacted on and what the person's reaction was.
During pastoral care lesson this week, Mrs Middleton has had secondary students writing letters to the aged. These letters will be delivered in the near future and I am positive that they will be very well received by residents of aged care facilities. I believe that a civil society can be judged upon how it treats its less powerful members and many aged people probably feel invisible to those around them so this is a great way of hopefully brightening someone's day. I look forward to when we can take our students back to visit nursing homes and the like once we are in safer times, but the old fashioned and almost lost art of letter writing is certainly a step in the right direction.
At present, I am reading end of semester reports and spent last weekend on Year 11. I believe that this small yet talented cohort will do some great things as they move towards Year 12 and no doubt they are looking forward to leaving their impact on the College. I really did take some pleasure out of reading some very positive comments about the students in this year level in their reports.
Mr Darren Parks
Deputy Principal
Term 3 Week 1
Monday 20 July
Student Free Day - Staff Professional Learning Day
Tuesday 21 July
Primary Inter-house Athletics Carnival - Cavanbah Centre, Byron Bay - All day
Wednesday 22 July
Secondary Inter-house Athletics Carnival - Cavanbah Centre, Byron Bay - All day
Friday 24 July
Kindergarten 100 Days of School Service - Discovery Centre
Secondary Sport - Years 7-10
Term 3 Week 2
Monday 27 July
K-12 Parent Teacher Interviews - 3.30pm-8.30pm - Primary - in classrooms, Secondary in library, Ezzy Centre and ST block classrooms
Year 10 Immunisations - 9.30-10.50am - Ezzy Centre
Tuesday 28 July
Whole College Assembly - 9.00am - Undercover Area
7-12 Parent Teacher Interviews - 3.30-6.30pm
Friday 31 July
College Photo Day - Years 2-12 - Library - 9.00am-3.00pm
Secondary Sport - Years 7-10
Sports Update
EAC Sports Carnival News
It has been a challenging time for community and school sport but fortunately restrictions are easing and play is resuming. Regular weekly sport has been taking place since students returned to school. I am pleased to be able to share with the school community that next term we will be holding our Athletics Carnivals, Cross Country Carnival, Inter-house Gala Days and Tennis Championships.
At this stage, parents and other spectators will not be able to attend the carnivals. Further details about these events will be sent to parents closer to the time of the event.
Mr Graham Walker
Sport and Coaching Administrator
| Primary Athletics Carnival Years 3 - 6 | Tuesday 21 July | Cavanbah Centre, Byron Bay |
| Secondary Athletics Carnival | Wednesday 22 July | Cavanbah Centre, Byron Bay |
| Cross Country Carnival | Friday 4 September | EAC |
| Primary Tennis Championships | Thursday 17 September | Ballina Courts |
| Secondary Tennis Championships | Friday 18 September | Ballina Courts |
| Secondary Inter-house Sports Day | Friday 25 September | EAC |
| Primary Inter-house Sports Day | Date to be confirmed | EAC |
Weekly Sport & Football Tournament News
To begin with, I would like to congratulate all of the students (and some parents) who participated in the daily fitness and sport challenges that were set on Seesaw during the online learning period.
With the return to normal school in Week 6 this term, the Primary school students have been back into the groove of their weekly sport lesson. To encourage fun and fitness, the sport program this term has focused on a mixture of fitness, games and for the older year groups, athletics practice in preparation for the upcoming EAC Athletics carnival in Term 3.
Plans have also been made to complete the Primary football (soccer) inter-house tournament in week 10 of this term. The carnival was interrupted due to COVID19 and the students and teachers are very much looking forward to completing the tournament to enable us to determine this year's Primary football inter-house winning house!
The sports team wishes all families a healthy and happy term 2 school holidays.
Mr Randall Evans
Sport Coach & Duke of Edinburgh Leader
Vacation Care will operate from 8.00am to 4.30pm each day during the term break. Please contact elc@eac.nsw.edu.au for bookings.
Secondary News
During Pastoral Care lessons, Year 11 and 12 students have focused on "5 Ways to Wellbeing". "5 Ways to Wellbeing" are five effective ways to improve your psychological and emotional health and is based on international research. A healthy mind is just as important as a healthy body for your overall wellbeing. Like physical fitness, you can strengthen your psychological health in lots of small day to day ways. This will help you live a happier and longer life as well as help you cope with stress.
The 5 Ways are:
Connect - develop close relationships and socialising with friends and family are important to good health and wellbeing. Broadening your social networks and range of relationships with others in the wider community is also important.
Be Active - being active is important to keep your mind and body working. Being active can increase your good moods, keep you at a healthier weight, increase your muscle mass, increases brain cells, improve your looks and prevent or delay the onset of many illnesses.
Keep Learning - we often think about learning as being something important for children and young adults. Research shows it's just as important for people of all ages and life stages to keep learning for happiness, health and wellbeing.
Be Aware - taking time to stop and be aware of your surroundings and the moment you are in, paying attention to your thoughts and feelings. Doing this can positively change the way you feel about life and how you approach life's challenges.
Help Others - doing something for a friend or stranger can improve your wellbeing. It creates connections and can be incredibly rewarding.
Each student reflected on each of the five areas and examined what they are currently doing, what they want to change and do more of and what steps can be taken to get started in each area. This process was beneficial as they returned to school and are managing the workload of their senior studies and their wellbeing.
More resources and information can be found in the "5 Ways to Wellbeing" website.
Mrs Amanda Middleton
Director Secondary School
Music Notes
Recommencement of the Concert Band Program
I am delighted to confirm that the Concert Band Program will resume from the beginning of Term 3. All rehearsals and face-to-face tuition will recommence at their usual scheduled times:
- Secondary Concert Band - Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 8.00am
- Primary Concert Band (Years 5 & 6) - Wednesday morning from 8.00am
- Year 6 Band - Wednesday Period 5
- Year 5 Band - Wednesday Period 4
- Year 4 Band - Thursday Period 3
- Year 3 Development Band - Wednesday Period 3
Tuition times
Students will be notified at the end of Term Two regarding their tuition times for the beginning of next term.
Performances
We will be providing every band student with an opportunity to perform in both Term Three and Term Four. The nature of these performances and whether an audience can attend will be determined at a later stage, in accordance with the government health advice that applies at the time.
Maintaining a Healthy Learning Environment
The band teaching team and students will adopt the appropriate practices into their daily routines to ensure that a healthy learning environment is promoted and maintained. This will be done in accordance with the latest government health advice. Please refer to the recent letter emailed to Band families for further information.
We wish to thank all of our band students and their families for your ongoing support during these challenging times. We are excited about recommencing rehearsals and continuing to develop our young musicians and we look forward to being able to present some amazing performances for our families during the second half of the year.
Mr Adam Holmes
Concert Band Leader
Song Writing Success!
Year 6 student Lennox Broadley was awarded first prize in the Primary School section of this year's Harmony Day Song Writing Competition. This is a statewide competition where students were required to submit an original personal composition based on the theme "Picture a World in Harmony". Entries were judged on originality, imagery used, expression of the theme and suitable use of lyrics to the tune. Lennox's song, aptly titled "Picture a World in Harmony", was chosen above many other high-quality works. Lennox is a highly accomplished musician for his age and displays a natural understanding of song writing techniques. Congratulations on your achievement Lennox.
Mr Adam Holmes
Concert Band Leader
College Photo Days
The College Photo Days will be held on Friday 31 July and Monday 3 August and will involve all students from the Early Learning Centre through to Year 12. Each student will have a class photo taken along with an individual. Sibling photos will also be taken for those families who are interested.
Students must wear their formal uniform on both days. This means that blazers must be worn for students in Years 11 and 12. Uniform and grooming requirements are outlined in the College Planner. If students have sport or PDHPE on this day they should bring their sports uniform and get changed (this will apply to all Secondary students in Years 7-10 who still have sport in Periods 5 and 6 that day).
Please note that there will be no photo envelopes sent home this year and the College will not be handling photo money for payments. Parents can pay online by going to the school photographer website and using the code X6072EL42E.
Please refer to the email sent home to all EAC families for further information and how to book photo packages.
Mr Darren Parks
Deputy Principal
Canteen
Purchases from the canteen can only be made by pre-ordering.All orders must be received at the canteen before 9.30am.The canteen will operate Monday to Friday.NO counter service will be provided.
The revised menu is below for your information and is also available on the College website.
All orders must be received at the canteen before 9.30am.
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 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 RECESS, you must have a separate recess bag.
RECESS: Name, Teacher, PC Class, Recess Order
John Smith, Mr Falvey, 3A
Recess
Cheesymite Scroll
Pack Sultanas, Small
LUNCH BAG 1: Name, Teacher, PC Class, Lunch Order
John Smith, Mr Falvey, 3A,
Lunch
1 Snack Pie
LUNCH BAG 2: Name, Teacher, PC Class, Drink Order
John Smith, Mr Falvey, 3A,
Lunch
1 Orange Juice
Any change required will be placed in the bag for return with the lunch order.
Christine Hall
Canteen Coodinator
Community News
