‘Set your hearts on the kingdom first, and all these other things will be given you as well. 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
Congratulations to Woollam Constructions who have been appointed by College Council to construct the Stage 2 extension of the Discovery Centre. Work will commence on 9 August 2021 with the project to be completed by late November. The project includes two classrooms, a shared learning space and covered deck areas. It will blend seamlessly into the existing building and link with the parent pickup area. Once complete, students in Year 2, 2022 will move into the building. This will allow classrooms in the Primary Hub to be repurposed for use by secondary students.
There will be some minor disruption to the Primary car park area but the pick up and drop off zone will remain fully operational.
We had beautiful weather for both our Athletics Carnivals last week and the students’ behaviour, cooperation and level of participation was excellent. In particular, I wish to congratulate the Secondary students for their enthusiasm and participation in the new carnival format. In addition to the traditional athletics events, a number of fun and challenging novelty events were added to the program to increase participation and broaden the opportunities for students to compete, have fun and earn points for their House. The Secondary students embraced the new format with great enthusiasm and it was wonderful to see them having fun, encouraging one another and really getting into the spirit of the new events. There were also some amazing personal bests, with a number of new records being set. Thank you to Mr Graham Walker and all of the staff involved in the running of both days.
Could I remind all parents of the need to park legally and safely in and around the College at drop off and pick up times to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all our community. Please also be mindful of the neighbouring residents as they need to have clear access to their driveways. I ask for your particular attention on Wednesdays when the local residents’ bins are emptied. Please do not park in front of their bins as it makes collection difficult. Thank you for your support with this matter. As the Multi Purpose Centre project reaches completion, there will be more than 60 additional spots available onsite which will help ease congestion.
I also ask you to keep in your thoughts and prayers our Year 12 Students who are preparing for their Trial HSC Examinations which commence in Week 5. This can be a particularly challenging time for them and we ask God to be with them and support them at this significant point in their educational journey.
Mr Robert Tobias
Principal
Off the Deputy's Desk
We have had a wonderful start to the new term, enjoying our Athletics Carnivals last week and our Parent Teacher Interviews are successfully underway this week. The start of a new term is always a good time for students to plan for all the activities and events they will be involved in and need to complete throughout the term, particularly assessment tasks. An effective study plan is key to maximizing your success during examination periods.
Students, you can ensure your preparation is most effective by:
- Creating a study schedule.
- Establishing a study space in your home with plenty of light and a table.
- Ensure you have all the material you will need (books, pens, highlighters, study schedule).
- Do not try to work with distractions such as TV, loud music or social media.
- Stay productive by taking breaks (after 45 minutes studying the same subject take a 5 minute break).
As parents, you can support your child in a variety of ways:
- Provide your child with an appropriate place to study and ensure they use it.
- Make sure they have a good night sleep the night before prior to an examination.
- Make sure your son/daughter eats a balanced diet.
- Monitor their work/recreation balance.
All Stage 5 and 6 students have upcoming examination periods this term and I wish them all the very best in preparing for and undertaking these.
Mrs Lee Boyd
Acting Deputy Principal
Term 3 Week 3
Thursday 29 July
· Primary Netball Training – 7:30am to 8:30am
· Year 11 2022 Information Sessions – 9am to 1pm – Ezzy Centre
· Kindy Links Visual Art Experience – 9:30am to 11:15am Year 5 Rooms
· K-2 Athletics – 11.20am-2.20pm – Sec Oval
· International Chemistry Quiz – 3.30pm to 4.30pm
· Year 11 2022 Subject Selection Q and A – 6.00pm to 7.00pm – via Zoom
Friday 30 July
· Athletics Training – 7:30am to 8:30am – Cumbalum
· Mountain Bike Training – TBA
Term 3 Week 4
Monday 2 August
· Athletics Training – 7:30am to 8:30am – Cumbalum
· Year 9 PASS Excursion-9.15am-10.45am-Goonellabah Table Tennis Centre
Tuesday 3 August
· Primary Rugby 7’s Training-7.30am-8.30am-Saunders Oval
· Year 11 PDHPE Excursion-1.20pm-3.00pm-Jetts Gym
Thursday 5 August
· Primary Netball Training – 7:30am to 8:30am
· Primary Interschool Rugby 7’s-All day -Holy Family School
· Kindergarten Experience Day 2022
· Australian Mathematics Competition-3.30pm-4.30pm
Friday 6 August
· Athletics Training – 7:30am to 8:30am – Cumbalum
Sports Update
College Athletics Carnivals
We were blessed with two perfect days for our Primary and Secondary Athletics Carnivals last week. The carnivals were held at the Cavanbah Centre in Byron Bay. There was fantastic House spirit on display with very high levels of participation. As well as the traditional athletics events, we included several novelty events to keep the carnival fun and accessible to all our students. As always the relay events were a highlight and hotly contested. Age champions, overall winning House and record breakers will be acknowledged at upcoming assemblies. Thank you to all the school staff who worked so well as a team to make this event a success.
Mr Graham Walker
Sport and Coaching Administrator
Primary Carnival
Secondary Carnival
NRCC Touch Football
Towards the end of last term, EAC competed in the Northern Rivers Combined Colleges (NRCC) Touch Football Gala Day. The NRCC sporting group is a mixture of Catholic and Anglican Colleges in the Northern Rivers region. EAC were represented by 4 teams at the tournament, a boys U/14 and U/16 team and a girls U/14 and U/16 team who have been training for the past month for the event. All teams enjoyed the experience of playing against a wide variety of schools from the Northern Rivers. Congratulations to all students representing EAC on the day as they played with passion for their school and great sportsmanship. The most successful team on the day was the U/16 boys team who finished 3rd overall in their U/16 boys competition.
A special thanks to the coaches Al Kirchen, Meagan Kelvin, Chris Lake and Randall Evans for their time and effort preparing the teams for the tournament.
Secondary News
NAIDOC 2021: Heal Country
During the holidays I was able to attend the opening NAIDOC week event help by the Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative in Geelong. The theme for 2021, Heal Country talks of the important connection and protection of lands, waters, sacred sites and cultural heritage to the Indigenous people of Australia.
Country is more than a place and inherent to our identity. The Country that we speak about like a person, sustaining our lives in every aspect - spiritually, physically, emotionally, socially, and culturally.
NAIDOC 2021 invites the nation to embrace First Nations’ cultural knowledge and understanding of Country as part of Australia's national heritage and equally respect the culture and values of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders as they do the cultures and values of all Australians.
During this week there are a number of NAIDOC week events occurring in the Secondary school. These events have been designed by the Year 12 students and help us to recognise the importance of recognition and connection to the Indigenous communities of the area. NAIDOC week will end with a whole school Chapel recognising and reflecting on the importance of healing and the importance of equality within society.
Mrs Amanda Middleton
Director of Secondary
Queensland Youth Lions Camp Kanga
In the second week of the recent term holidays, I was lucky enough to be selected by the Ballina Lions Club and the school to attend the Queensland’s Youth Lions Camp Kanga, located near Proserpine. This camp was open to 27 teens from all over Queensland and the Northern Rivers. During this camp, we completed a wide variety of activities ranging from tubing on the Peter Faust Dam, Bredl’s Wild Farm, the camp's world famous obstacle course, a day trip to Bowen where the local Lions Club showed us the inspirational work that they do for their community, whether it being welcoming parties for newborns in the community or raising enormous amounts of money for charities; we also did ocean rafting and snorkelling on the Whitsundays and had a formal dinner where campers hosted esteemed members of the Lions Clubs. These activities were aimed to create and foster leadership and an understanding among youth from country to coast. At this camp, I met some fantastic people. There were seven school captains, eight regional Lion Youth of the Year winners and four Gold Duke of Edinburgh participants. This camp was a fantastic privilege and an eye opening experience to see all of the fantastic work Lions Clubs perform in their local communities. I want to acknowledge how grateful I am for going to this camp, as the memories that I gained on this camp I will cherish for a lifetime.
By William Lane
Year 11 Student
Grok Learning Web.Comp Challenge
During Term 2 the Year 9 and Year 10 Information and Software Technology students participated in a 4-week HTML/CSS Web.Comp Challenge run by Grok Learning. There were over 4500 students around the State that competed. Web.Comp (Beginners) covers everything necessary to get started building real websites. Students covered good web design techniques, so their sites are both easy to use and beautiful to look at.
Congratulations to the following students:
Perfect Scores – Chiron Moon, Christian Weingarth, Conrad Bahadur, Jake Nay, Joshua Paton, Tye Keane, Alexander Keir, Christopher Flavel, Elvis Stankievich, Noah Dyer, Tom Sainsbury
High Distinction - Eliška Gidding, Johan van Kempen, Luca Bancks, Luka Wagner, Oscar Parker, Timothy Hill, William Benson, Hugh de Gruchy, Will Houghton-Olive
Merit – Jonah Morris, Stella Brandon
Participation – Lukyn Patrick
Big congratulations to all the students who participated.
Mrs Julie Beavis
Secondary Teacher - Mathematics and Computing
Year 8.1 STEM - Interactive Game Design Challenge
In the last few weeks of Term 2, students were working collaboratively in groups of two and three to produce an Interactive Game using CoSpace EDU. Students entered into the Design Phase of game making. Once their ideas were sorted, they commenced coding their scene in the Production Phase. Upon completing, students were allocated time to play each other’s games and provide the creators with feedback in the Evaluation Phase. These three phases will assist the students through any task they may encounter during their life.
Some students were lucky enough to test run their games using the College Virtual Reality (VR) Headsets. We encounter a few technical issues which was great for the students to work through.
These Year 8 STEM students are to be congratulated for their high level of innovation and commitment to the task. You can view their interactive games by clicking on the links below. Who knows, our students might have created the next Among Us game…
Group 1 – Lillian Whitby – https://edu.cospaces.io/XWA-WFU
Group 2 – Edie Wadsworth, Franceska Payne and Angus Hatherly - https://edu.cospaces.io/SYH-QYG
Group 3 – Pedro Murray and Liam Boyce – https://edu.cospaces.io/LVQ-SGT
Group 4 – Finn Allen and Sebastian Deo – https://edu.cospaces.io/PPL-NVA
Mrs Julie Beavis
Secondary Teacher - Mathematics and Computing
Primary Update
Calling all Dr Seuss Books
Dr Seuss books provide a perfect training in verbal competence through their tongue twisting rhymes and made up animals. Younger readers learn to put words and concepts together because each imaginary creature is accompanied in the books by a picture.
Kindergarten and Year One students love to read Dr Seuss books and are keen to build up their classroom library of these fun filled books.
If you have any Dr Seuss books that you are happy to part with, then Kindergarten and Year One would be happy for your donation.
Please send any donated Dr Seuss books with your child to Mrs Cahill's classroom.
The Mysterious White Signs
You may have noticed the mysterious white signs in the playground this week. I wonder if you can guess what they represent? Finley and Ondy weren't too sure at Second Break on Monday.
Events
Next Thursday 29 July, our Year 9 PASS students will lead the K-2 Mini Athletics Carnival here at school. As per the current restrictions, this will be a student only event, but lots of photos will be sent home via SeeSaw. Please send your child to school in their sports uniform on this day. Also a reminder that the 100 Days of Kindy Chapel service this Thursday is also student only. To make up for this, the Year 6 Buddies will be in attendance to support the Kindergarten students.
NAIDOC Week
This week, we marked NAIDOC week here at EAC. Year 6A started the week off strong with their NAIDOC themed assembly featuring Welcome to Country read by Jaylani, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island music and dancing and informative facts about prominent Indigenous Australians such as Archie Roach, Cathy Freeman and Eddie Mabo. Throughout the week, First Break was dedicated to activities that celebrate Indigenous culture. Talk to your child about their involvement in the week's activities and encourage them to attend before the week is out.
Choir
It was wonderful to welcome back Choir for Years 3 and 4 last week (albeit in a Covid safe manner). Mrs Crozier and myself are preparing the choirs to perform at the opening of The Lindsay Walker Centre later in the year with a few high energy songs. Students in Year 5 and 6 are invited to join the elective Stage 3 Choir and information regarding this choir was sent home last week. If you're interested in the importance of music in school, Music Education Australia are advocates for quality music education and would be very happy with the emphasis placed on music here at EAC.
Music is Good
An education inclusive of music maximises student opportunity.
Music maximises student engagement and provides opportunities for a child's personal development. It makes a contribution to a child's individual development that no other subject can match. Young people who engage with music are more likely to be "better citizens". Music helps underperforming students to improve. Incorporating music into other subjects, including key learning areas, helps kids to learn.
Music improves confidence, self-expression and fosters creativity.
Music is a powerful tool in enhancing health and wellbeing. Creating and performing music can improve a young person's sense of self-worth and promote positive self-confidence. Creating, learning and performing music is rewarding for children in many ways. It helps them to express themselves and allows an opportunity for them to feel valued. Music facilitates and nurtures emotional growth by teaching students about responsibility, expression and assessment.
Music promotes teamwork and collaboration.
Making music with other people helps to establish a culture of tolerance and acceptance. Creating and experiencing music as a group leads young people to understand and value diversity. It promotes sharing, listening and encourages social growth by asking students to work together. Children learn to respect the opinions and ideas of others through making music collaboratively and have the chance to celebrate the things that make people different.
Music develops neural pathways and enhances brain function.
Music stimulates incomparable development of a child’s brain and leads to improved concentration and memory abilities. Physical changes to the brain and cognitive improvements through music are measurable in many ways. Most notably, MRI shows that musical tasks can activate all 4 lobes of the brain, as well as parts of the cerebellum. Music, quite literally, gets the whole brain working.
Music is good for Australia's social, cultural and economic growth.
Skills learned through music are valued and needed in everyday life. Music celebrates and facilitates diversity and accessibility – encouraging people to work together and experience new things with others. Music underpins Australia’s creative sectors and supports the development of other industries. Those who actively engage with music develop skills that are valued by Australian businesses.
Save the Date - Book Week 20 August
Our annual Book Week celebration is coming up on Friday 20 August. Students are invited to come to school dressed as their favourite book character on this day.
The national theme for this year's Book Week is "Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds".
Further information regarding the event will be communicated in the next few weeks.
Mr Wayne Cross
Director of Primary
Mountain Biking Madness
Canteen
There are some yummy additions to the Canteen Menu this term with a few price changes as well.
Canteen Menu 2021
The Canteen menu complies with the NSW Healthy School canteen strategy. Further items will be added as the year progresses and the Winter Menu will be available in terms two and three. Please note that items change in price from time to time.
Emergency Lunch
At times, for various reasons, students may require an emergency meal (basic sandwich), this will be provided with a canteen note sent home requesting payment, please send in the money to the Canteen ASAP.
Online Canteen Ordering
We are excited to be able to offer online Canteen ordering via the 'School Stream' app. Once the app is installed you will be able to 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