"But since you excel in everything - in faith, in speech, in knowledge, in complete earnestness and in the love we have kindled in you - see that you also excel in this grace of giving."
Corinthians 8:7
From The Principal
With planning well underway for the 2022 school year, sadly, I need to announce that a number of staff have submitted their resignations and will head in a new direction next year. Mrs Debbie Wilson, Ms Stevie Turpeinen, Mrs Felicity Regan and Mr Tom Papworth have all resigned their positions and will conclude their time at the College at the end of the year.
After a teaching career that spans more than 40 years, 18 of which have been teaching Kindergarten to Year 3 at EAC, Mrs Debbie Wilson has announced her retirement. Debbie has demonstrated an outstanding ability to support and shape young learners, ensuring they have a solid foundation in the literacy, numeracy, problem solving and relationship building skills necessary for successful lifelong learning. Debbie has always had a particular soft spot for those that try but struggle and has invested much time in supporting those students in establishing the skills base they needed for future success. Her energy and fun loving demeanour will be greatly missed.
Ms Stevie Turpeinen will marry in January and along with her partner, she plans to spend 2022 travelling prior to finding somewhere to settle down. Stevie is a fine young educator and we hope that after her travels she will return to the region and hopefully to the EAC staff.
Mrs Felicity Regan has also caught the travelling bug and plans to spend next year travelling around Australia in a caravan. Felicity has endured a tough time over the last 12 months with her health and after more than 8 years at EAC, has decided it is time to fulfil a lifelong geography teacher's dream to see the landscapes and features of Australia that she has spent all her career teaching about.
Finally, it is with mixed emotions, I announce that Mr Tom Papworth has been appointed Head of Education at the Biala School for Specialised Education. Tom's compassion and support for those students who need additional help with their learning has been wonderful. His insights, humour and compassion will be greatly missed. While sad he is leaving EAC, I am delighted for Tom and the community of Biala as he transitions to his new role.
The College has commenced the process to fill these positions and I am sure we will be able to secure appropriately skilled and committed educators to join our fantastic community.
Mr Robert Tobias
Principal
Off the Deputy's Desk
In her Year 5 Primary class this week, Mrs Marshall had her students immersed in a writing program called Book Creator. As they busily researched a myriad of different plants, examining how each adapted to their environments, the students used original artwork to complement their writing and create an electronic reference book to present their work. The results clearly highlighted the teaching and learning to be found in the EAC Discovery Centre.
The Secondary were busy with examinations for the Year 9 and 10 students, as well as the continuing Year 12 timetabled revision lessons. Having had so many disruptions to teaching and learning this year, it was great to observe a return to a regular routine. These examinations will give students and families a valuable insight into what subjects to best pursue in their senior studies, as well as which to address with the support of their teachers.
Finally, if like me you have a much loved four legged friend in your life, please do not take them to the main gate when you are doing drop off in the morning or pick up after school. Not all students feel comfortable around animals and not all dogs are calm around each other. Thank you for your cooperation.
Dia dhaoibh
Mr Francis McGuigan
Deputy Principal
Term 4 Week 4
Monday 25 October
- Year 12 timetabled revision lessons
Tuesday 26 October
- Year 10 Music Assessment P1 & P2 CLJ
- Year 12 timetabled revision lessons
- HSC timetabled revision ends
Wednesday 27 October
- Secondary Chapel – online
- Primary Netball Inter House Carnival (Yr 3 P1/2 Yr 4 P3/4)
- Year 11 Parent/Teacher Interviews
Thursday 28 October
- Primary Netball Inter House Carnival (Yr 5 9:08-12:08, Yr 6 12:08-3pm)
- Year 9 Elective History Incursion HOJ
Friday 29 October
- Primary Chapel 6C - online
- FLL Training BEJ, SPJ, FOJ
- Year 7 and 8 block/assessments completed
Term 4 Week 5
Wednesday 3 November
- Brockington Chapel – online
Thursday 4 November
- Smith Chapel – online
Friday 5 November
- Primary Assembly – KB online
- FLL Training BEJ, SPJ, FOJ
Chaplain's Chat
**Anglicare Christmas Hamper Appeal**
I read on Facebook that there are 9 Mondays until Christmas...and if it was on Facebook, it must be true!
What is true is that our annual Anglicare Christmas Hamper Appeal starts on Monday.
Each Primary classroom and Secondary PC room will have a box or basket for students to place their donations in.
We have been encouraged to send in pantry basics (remembering they will need to be long life!), toiletries, special Christmas items (please no chocolate!), as well as small gift items such as books, colouring books and stationery items. You may send in items of clothing, but we are unable to accept any second hand items.
The Emergency Relief team at Anglicare believe this will be one of the toughest Christmas seasons we have faced for some years. We have also been asked to remember the parents, and teenage boys.
The appeal finishes on Monday 29th November.
Thank you in advance for helping our wider community to have a wonderful Christmas.
Peace.
Rev Sal
Sports Update
Primary Sport Update
Sport lessons are back in Term 4 and students have been enjoying getting outside for some fun physical activity.
The Year 3 to Year 6 students have been practicing their netball skills in preparation for their Inter House Netball Tournament in Week 4.
The Stage 1 students from Kindy to Year 2 have been enjoying their Motor Skills Activities and Games and we were able to catch some of the action on the camera.
Mr Randall Evans
Sport Coach/Duke of Edinburgh Leader
Secondary News
Why is Mindfulness important?
In today's fast paced world, family life can at times be experienced as overwhelming, busy and stressful. Many families struggle on a daily basis with the sense that there is always too much to do and never enough time to do it.
The good news is that integrating mindfulness into everyday family life can have profound benefits, both for individuals and families. If parents and caregivers model mindfulness, this will support the wellbeing of the whole family.
Mindfulness is about learning to pay attention to what is happening in the present moment with more openness and curiosity and less judgement. Mindfulness helps us to be better focused on the here and now and stop spending so much time thinking about the past or worrying about the future. Mindfulness has been found to help in developing important life skills and includes a range of benefits including reducing stress, better quality sleep and improved relationships.
Meditation is one of two ways to cultivate mindfulness. The goal of meditation is to get rid of negative thoughts or emotions and bring our attention back to one focus point such as breath, body, sounds or something else in the environment. The goal is to change our relationship with our thoughts and emotions instead of getting tangled up with them.
Although this sounds good in theory, it can be very daunting to start this process. By starting small with simple mindfulness activities, it allows time to refocus and evaluate what is important. There are many apps around that support mindful activities. There is no 'one size fits all' formula for how families can be mindful. The Medibank Family Program Toolkit which is available on the Smiling Mind website provides a range of activities to support families in incorporating mindfulness into daily home life.
Why not challenge your family to embark on the mindfulness journey this week?
Creating Connections at EAC
A culture where students feel connected and included within the school environment has been a key focus of the House structure throughout the year. Looking for ways to foster and maintain positive, caring and respectful relationships and connections has been supported this term through a range of games which students can play during PC time. The students have enjoyed going out and connecting and developing relationships with staff and students.
Mrs Amanda Middleton
Director of Secondary
Year 7 STEM
Year 7 STEM students have been challenged to apply project based learning skills to an Engineering Design Process focusing on the construction of a scaled Tiny House. Students have learnt that mathematics, science, technology and digital technologies skills and knowledge they learn at school must be combined to solve problems and investigate phenomena. In this unit students have investigated the earth's resources and how they apply to housing. They have developed both digital and paper plans for their tiny house before creating a physical model.
Through this unit they will develop an appreciation for the processes involved and the materials needed to construct our homes.
Mrs Julie Beavis
Mathematics and Computing Teacher
Primary Update
Primary Swimming Intensive
In some positive news this week, we have been able to secure private use of the Alstonville Pool once again for our upcoming swimming intensive lessons. These lessons provide a valuable learning experience for our students and often result in increased interests and attendance at Water Polo clubs and private swimming lessons. Further details will be emailed home in the coming weeks, so keep an eye out for an email from the College regarding swimming lessons in Weeks 7 and 8.
Week 7 Term 4, Monday 15 November to Friday 19 November
Swimming for Years K to 2 plus Year 6
Week 8 Term 4, Monday 22 November to Friday 29 November
Swimming for Years 3, 4 and 5
Last week, Year 5B presented the fortnightly Primary Assembly. As the Assembly is now in an online format only, the Year 5B students took to their virtual news desks and, with their green screen technology skills, transported us from EAC to the world. The Innovation Centre has been a buzz over the past couple of weeks while the students prepared for the Assembly in the green screen space, alongside the First Lego League teams who are working at the robotics tables in preparation for their upcoming competition.
A new drink bottle refill station has been installed on the decking facing the playground and, especially as the warmer weather sets in, the students have enjoyed the readily available chilled water.
Mr Wayne Cross
Director of Primary
One Foot Forward
REV GREG EZZY WALKS 80KM THIS MONTH, TO SUPPORT AUSTRALIANS LIVING WITH MENTAL ILLNESS.
Hi EAC Family
Did you know that 1 in 5 people experience symptoms of mental illness each year? In fact, every day in Australia, 8 people will die from suicide.
Mental illness can be debilitating and can have a devastating impact on not only those living with it, but those around them.
This month, representing EAC, I'll be putting one foot forward and walking 80km to make a difference to the lives of people touched by mental illness and suicide.
The money I raise will fund support services for people who need them most, as well as life changing research into the prevention and treatment of mental illness.
Support EAC's challenge and help change the lives of people living with mental illness! And remember, Black Dog is there for all of us, anytime.
Simply click here to make a donation through our page.
Thank you so much for your support.
Rev Greg Ezzy
EAC Staff Chaplain
Canteen
Please note there is NO canteen counter service during Term 4. Please order online or manually using paper bags.
Fresh for Kids
Eat Fresh & Win campaign is on again. The campaign promotes ‘Fresh’ fruit & vegetables and offers students the opportunity to win prizes.
Each student is rewarded for making a fresh fruit or vegetable choice. Students will receive a token card to fill out and will receive a stamp for their card for each fresh fruit or vegetable choice they make (1 per day max). It MUST be fresh not fruit sticks, dried fruit etc. The campaign will run for three (3) weeks starting Monday 18 October until Friday 5 November.
Class teachers will collect the token cards and send them to the canteen for verification and then minor prizes will be issued (while stocks last). Token cards will then be forwarded to Sydney Markets to participate in the major draw.
Canteen Menu 2021
The Canteen menu complies with the NSW Healthy School canteen strategy. Further items will be added as the year progresses.
Please note that items change in price from time to time.
Online Canteen Ordering
We are excited to be able to offer online Canteen ordering via the 'School Stream' app. 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.
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.
Christine Hall - Canteen Supervisor
contact: chall@eac.nsw.edu.au
Live Life Well @ School
Breakfast Basics
When it comes to breakfast, some children love it while others struggle to eat before they start their day.
One in five Australian children regularly skip breakfast. This can make them tired, restless and irritable. Children who skip breakfast are also more likely to be disruptive at home and school.
Eating breakfast improves memory, concentration and brain function. Something is always better than nothing. Breakfast fuels bodies ready for the day physically and mentally. Here are some helpful ideas you can try with your family.
Easy ideas for kids that skip breakfast:
- Glass of milk
- Homemade breakfast muffin
- Homemade breakfast bar
- Raisin toast
Non cereal ideas:
- Savoury or sweet pancakes, pikelets or scones: they can be frozen ready to grab and go each morning.
- Smoothies are perfect: any fruit mixed with milk and yoghurt will work. You can even try adding some cauliflower or zucchini if you are game!
- Toasted wholegrain muffins: top with avocado, egg, beans, cheese and tomato or just peanut butter.
- Toasties: never overlook a toasty for breakfast. Use your favourite fillings - you can even try banana!
- Eggs in a muffin tin! Add any veggies you have and eat these breakfast muffins or brekkie boats hot or cold. Pre make and keep ready to eat on school mornings.
Get your child involved!
Children are more likely to eat something that they have helped prepare. Overnight oats are a great idea because your child can help make them the night before. Soak some oats in milk, add sultanas, grated or chopped fruit (fresh or dried), nuts or seeds and yoghurt. Then store in the fridge and eat over the next couple of days.
Community News
