"The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel which means 'God with us'."
Matthew 1:23
From the Principal
Thank you to all the parents of our Academic and Special Award recipients who joined us for our presentation ceremonies this week. The small and intimate events had their own unique character and ensured that every award recipient was honoured for their efforts and achievement. They have been a wonderful way to finish this most unusual of years. Congratulations to all award recipients who have demonstrated excellence in participation, effort, character, service, leadership and achievement throughout the year. A complete list of award recipients accompanies this newsletter.
Once again, I wish to thank the incredible staff of Emmanuel Anglican College for all their hard work, enthusiasm, inspiration and dedication throughout 2020. They are a remarkable group of people and as a community we are enormously blessed by all that they do to support students to maximise their learning opportunities and grow in all facets of their being.
I wish all our community a very happy and holy Christmas, a relaxing break and wish you all the very best for 2021. I pray that the joy, peace and hope of this Christmas season be with you and your family.
Mr Robert Tobias
Principal
Off the Deputy's Desk
Well we have reached the end of a very difficult year for many of our students and families. One thing we can have hope in, is that 2021 will be a more normal year than 2020. This is certainly my wish and I am positive that many of you are wishing the same.
Thank you to all of our families for their support throughout the year, especially during the learning from home phase which seemed so long ago now. I pray that all of you will have a wonderful Christmas and New Year and that you will enjoy quality time with your loved ones. Make the most of time spent with your family because as Ferris Bueller says "life goes so fast sometimes you need to slow down for a while".
We are looking forward to an exciting year in 2021 and I will see you all then.
Mr Darren Parks
Deputy Principal
Chaplain's Chat
O little town of Bethlehem,
how still we see you lie.
Above your deep and dreamless sleep,
the silent stars go by.
Yet in the dark street shining,
the everlasting light,
the hopes and dreams of all the years
are met in you tonight.
This was my Dad's favourite Christmas carol, and for many years, it has conjured images of a small country village, in the sleepy stillness of wintery night. In the background, just the gentle sounds of animal noises. Insert reality check here...
This time last year I had the opportunity to be in Bethlehem.
It is not still, and not many residents sleep deeply and dreamlessly. Its unfortunate location on the Palestinian side of the West Bank means that it is fully involved in the disquiet that is Israel. The Palestinian Arabs, primarily Muslims and Christians live every day in fear, in the midst of a beautiful country, wondering whether today will be the day their family home will be claimed, gunfire might accidentally take one of their children (it is always an 'accident'), whether they will have water, or electricity at all this day.
It is an uncomfortable place to visit.
Yet, hope prevails.
Like a weed in amongst the rocks, hope continues to sprout, stubbornly refusing to give way to despair.
All along the walls built to keep out, to break the spirit of people, to lay claim to land are signs of a deep strength that speaks of the courage and determination of the Palestinian Arabs, both Muslim and Christian.
But I can assure you...it is nothing like a Christmas card! But in this most unlikely place I rediscovered my sense of Christmas spirit!
I've long been bothered by the fuss of Christmas, the expense, the busyness, the noise, just the 'bigness' of it all. It did not expect to go to the Land of the Holy One, to arrive in Nazareth in time for them to light up one of the biggest Christmas trees I have ever seen! To see a Christmas parade, with carols played on bagpipes! To walk into the Synogogue Church, drenched in history...and tinsel! Such things always seemed to me like an unnecessary distraction and smacked of commercialism. So imagine my surprise to go into ancient churches, well known holy sites and see them swathed in Christmas decorations!
This is the Synagogue Church in Nazareth. It is reported to be one of the sites where Jesus preached (it's a small, very old synagogue). It has been a place of pilgrimage since the twelfth century...and you can't even see all the decorations in this place! A
After some careful listening I had my 'aha' moment.
In a world, a space where every part of your culture and belief are under attach, the simplest, smallest, maybe even silliest things become important - like Christmas trees, tinsel and Christmas songs. The decorations were about claiming space, claiming your right to celebrate, and whilst they might not be big things...every one of them was pointing to the Christian celebration of the birth of Christ. A quiet, but bright revolution of faith! For the Palestinian Arab people, this season is for more than simply those who are followers of Jesus.
At the time, it was an important learning for me, I didn’t realize just how important it would be.
This year we have faced many new, unusual, and ‘unprecedented’ events, I suspect our Christmas and New Year celebrations will be a little different too. But...we can still decorate trees, string lights around our homes, write letters to Santa, and share a meal (or many) with our family.
More importantly, we can still listen to the heart of the story of Christmas, a story of a small child, some scared first time parents and the most inopportune birthing plan ever. An event that also birthed stories of hope, dreams of peace and joy and One who would go onto to show what unconditional loving looks like.
It’s big and wonderful story – one that is well worth decorating for!
As we come to the end of this year together, my prayer, my wish for us all...
Peace
Rev Sally Miller
This Christmas
I wish for you
light
to crumple up the darkness
This Christmas
I wish for you
love
to pull us closer to one another
This Christmas
I wish for you
peace
the same the angels sang
This Christmas
I wish for you
starlight
to follow on your way home
This Christmas
I wish for you
promise
to keep hope alive for you
This Christmas
I wish for you
God
newly born and in the flesh
This Christmas
I wish for you
Jesus Christ
born this night
light of the world
Roddy Hamilton
EAC 2020 Christmas Chapel and Concert
This term, our incredibly talented and amazing students have been working on this Christmas project for you. We hope this brings joy and happiness to you and your family this Christmas.
Sports Update
Tobias Marquardt Cup
On Friday last week EAC played Lindisfarne in the second round of the Tobias Marquardt Cup. The games were played on the Tweed with matches of Rugby 7s, Touch and Netball.
The Rugby 7s boys played very well, with one draw and one win in two very hard fought games. The Touch girls had a much improved performance from the first round games and had one draw and one narrow loss. Our Netball girls went down in both their games against a very strong Lindisfarne team but should be proud of their performance, being a very young team.
Congratulations to Lindisfarne, who are the winners of the Tobias Marquardt Cup for 2020. Thank you to all our staff who have helped with coaching this term, Mr Pryor, Mr Parks, Mrs Miller, Mrs Campbell, Mr Jukes, Mr Evans and Miss Coghill. A special thank you to Rugby coach Scott Jenkins for all his work coaching the team.
Mr Graham Walker
Sport and Coaching Administrator
Primary Inter House Basketball Tournament
On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday last week, our Year 3 to 6 students played in the Primary Inter House Basketball Tournament, our 4th and final tournament of the year.
This event was the culmination of a 5 week Primary basketball program, in which students are introduced to the basics of basketball and the rules. The tournament was played as a round robin event, with modified basketball rules to maximise student participation and fun.
I would like to congratulate the students who played the tournament, as they played with great house spirit, sportsmanship and respect for referees and fellow students.
The winning house of the tournament will be announced at the next Primary Assembly.
A special mention to our wonderful umpires from the EAC girls and boys representative basketball teams and the Year 6 Sport House Captains, Ms Coghill and the amazing Primary teachers who helped during the tournament.
On behalf of the Sports Team, we wish each and every primary student and their families a very Merry Christmas and a Safe, Joyful and Healthy festive season.
Mr Randall Evans
Sport Coach & Duke of Edinburgh Leader
Secondary News
As the school year comes to an end students have a range of emotions regarding school holidays. Some are excited about sleeping in and relaxing with friends, whilst others find the change in routine a challenge.
The holiday period also is a time where students can fall into bad habits and undo some of the positive gains they have made during the school year. It is easy to stay up late, sleep in of a morning, spend too much time on screens and devices and occasionally making some poor choices with this new found freedom.
There are a number of ways you can support your child’s mental health and wellbeing in these term holidays:
Stay connected
Social relationships are important to any young person’s general wellbeing. Having a variety of friendship groups both in and out of school will provide a diverse social support network essential for developing appropriate relationships. Encourage your child to keep in contact with friends and the broader family over the holidays. Be aware if your child is isolating themself or does not feel up to going out. While social media is great for connecting to a wide range of people it is not the be all and end all and should not take the place of face to face communications.
Stay in a routine
Getting a good night’s sleep not only help teenagers to feel energised, focused and motivated but is also essential for neurological growth and development. Adolescence is a time when a number of changes to the “body clock” impact on sleeping patterns and young people are more likely to feel tired later than their parents and sleep in later as a result. Developing a sleeping routine can help. Encourage your child to wake up around the same time each day, get out of bed when they wake up, and go to bed around the same time each night.
Staying up late in the holidays and sleeping in the following day will make it that much harder to snap out of this routine when school begins in 2021. Avoiding caffeine after lunchtime, having a quiet, dark and uncluttered bedroom and shutting down electronic devices before bed can also help them to get a good night’s sleep.
Stay physically active
Physical activity elevates heart rate, oxygenates the brain and increases the release of endorphins which have positive effects on health and wellbeing both in the short and long term. Often teenagers fall out of the routine of exercising regularly without the structures of school sports and training. Even small activities, like walking the dog, can help relieve stress and frustration, provide a good distraction from worrying thoughts, improve concentration and improve mood. Exercising as a family will not only benefit your health but also creates a fantastic way to reconnect and strengthen the bond between parents and their child. Make time to go to the beach take a hike or kick a ball together. You may be surprised by what your sons will discuss or disclose when they are relaxed, energized and having fun.
Eat well
A healthy well balanced diet doesn’t only reduce the risk of physical health problems, like heart disease and diabetes, but it can also help with sleeping patterns, energy levels, mood, and general health and wellbeing. Good dietary choices include avoiding junk foods which are often high in fat, salt and sugar and opting for a well. balanced diet with fresh vegies, fruit, lean proteins,whole grains and plenty of water will ensure your child has all of the nutrients to fuel those growing beds. Perhaps the best part is they will stay full for longer.
Minimise risk
Nothing turns teenagers off more quickly than “helicopter parenting” or spying, being nosy, overly protective or suspicious. Adolescents is a time where each individual will form their own identity and strive for independence on their journey towards adulthood. Unfortunately the prefrontal cortex in the brain which controls emotional regulation, planning and decision making doesn’t fully mature until around age 25. This can often lead to teenagers doing some really silly things, where the answer to the age old question “didn’t you think?” can quite honestly and genuinely be “No!”. At this time conflict in the home may seem unavoidable as the needs wants and priorities of our sons differ from the expectations or rules of their parents. So how do we strike the right balance between concern and care without being too controlling?
The following website provides some useful tips on keeping teens safe:
https://raisingchildren.net.au/articles/risktaking_teenagers.html
Have a happy safe and enjoyable holiday break and we will see you all back and ready to go in 2021.
Mrs Amanda Middleton
Director of Secondary
Year 10 Transition Week
Year 10 shone this week during their Transition Week. They truly and finally demonstrated they are ready to move into the final years of their schooling, they are ready to lead and mentor and they are able to help build a positive school community.
Their teachers enjoyed the time spent with them all, including the in depth analysis of Ms Campbell's and Mr Jukes’ leadership styles and getting to know a little too much about you all.
Thank you for a great week!
Primary Update
Primary Assembly
We hope you enjoy the final Primary Assembly Video for 2020, with a special rendition of the National Anthem, loads of gold, silver and bronze award winners, sporting awards and a tribute to our Year 6 students as they conclude their final year of Primary School.
Year 6 Celebration
On the 3rd of December 2020, all of Year 6 gathered to celebrate the graduation of Primary school.
The night started at 6pm at the Chapel at St Mary’s and we were escorted by our Primary College Captains, Eva and George to the front seats of the Chapel. The Primary Captains addressed the year and Mr Tobias joined in. Next we had the awards for College achievements and half way through we had an interval and Lennox performed his award winning song he wrote for Harmony Day called Picture a World in Harmony. Then the teachers presented the special awards. Although not everyone got one, we all tried our best so that was an award in itself.
After that we were addressed by Mr C, who gave a snapshot of the year and Mrs Sculley, who presented one of her wonderful poems for us. The House Captains all presented and the House Cup for 2020 was awarded to Brockington.
After being excused to leave, we took some photos and left to go to school. We got changed and met at the Ezzy Centre where the night would start. With fancy decorations and waiters, the room was presented as if it were a fancy restaurant on a waterfront edge and we had the feeling of being welcomed. Stands with our pictures of us in Kindergarten and Year 6 made us smile and laugh. The glass window had rainbow tassels hanging from them and on each table there was a clear vase with a plant in it and with fairy lights inside. The table had a beautiful cloth over it and there was a lolly bag for every student. There was a selfie station and the night was an absolute ball.
On the menu was nachos. We would walk up to the serving stand and ask what you wanted on it and they would serve it for you and juice was served to us if we wanted some.
We had a trivia night instead of a disco because of Covid-19 restrictions, which was really fun. We worked in the team that we were seated in at our tables and we answered questions and added up the point scores. After every trivia game we would have a bonus round. The first one was Heads or Tails where the whole group had to decide whether the coin was going to land on heads or tails. 
The second bonus round was a paper plane throwing contest. One person from each table went up to the front to construct their paper aeroplane. Georgina went first and managed to fly her paper aeroplane into a vase! "+2 points for that!" Mr C chanted over all of the commotion. The next bonus round was a bubble gum chewing competition to see who could blow the biggest bubble out of all of the groups. After 3 minutes Katie managed to blow the biggest bubble out of all of the groups.
The final bonus challenge was trying to whistle with half a cube of weetbix in your mouth. It was funny trying to watch people attempting to complete this task as it was almost impossible to do.
The night finished off with with a few laughs and giggles and at 9:15pm, when the last few questions were completed, we went and found our parents and left with a great feeling of togetherness and happiness. Even though the night was gone, our smiles did not fade. It was happy knowing that we were able to still go to this event, even if it meant that singing and dancing to loud songs were off the list. It will be something that we will remember forever.
Written by Olivia De Marco and Julianna Addenbrooke
Peer Support Update
In this week’s final session of the Peer Support module, Moving Forward, children reflected on what they had learnt over the past seven weeks. The students made a cube to remind them to draw on their strengths, achievements and people who supported them when faced with challenging situations. These protective factors promoted confidence and motivated students to approach new situations where they could then apply the Pause, Plan and Proceed model.
Mr Paul Christensen and Mrs Kate Sculley
Year 6 Excursion
On Friday 27 and Monday 30 November, Year 6 had an excursion to Ballina and surrounding areas for our camp, as unfortunately we could not go to Fraser Island.
On Friday we started off by getting to school at nine o’clock and caught a bus to Ballina Tenpin Bowling. Once we arrived, we had to get into groups and headed to the bowling alleys. We had two games of bowling and we all had a lot of fun competing against each other and enjoying the competition we had with our friends. One of the highlights of bowling was when Ethan Grier managed to bowl into the lane next to his (which happened to be Mr C, Mrs Sculley and Mr Cross’ lane) and somehow scored a strike for Mr C! It was such a great start to our two day excursion!
After our awesome time at bowling we all headed to the Ballina food court near the cinemas. We were allowed a choice of sushi, Subway, Thai or Hungry Jacks for our food and we all had finished eating in record time before we hopped on the bus and headed to Byron Bay Circus Arts.
When we arrived at Byron Bay Circus Arts we were split into six groups and headed towards our activities. One of these was the silks. A silk is a strip of material/silk (from which the name was formed) suspended from the ceiling in which you can perform tricks on. Another activity was the obstacle course. On this obstacle course you had to do many different activities in the quickest amount of time. We did some other activities as well but one of the highlights of them was the trapeze. A lot of people faced their fear of heights on the trapeze including Mr Cross in his leap of faith over the mat underneath. Circus Arts was another great part of the experience!
Then on Monday we had to get to school a little earlier than usual because we got on a bus at 8:30am. We went to Lake Ainsworth Sport and Recreation Centre where we were put into two groups, the Sharks and Turtles. The Sharks group went to Lake Ainsworth and did Kayaking for an hour and the Turtles group went to archery where they learnt to how to properly use a bow and arrow as well as George explaining that he was Robin Hood.
Then the turtles that had archery went and did kayaking with the wind almost blowing them right out of the boat and the sharks did paddle boarding.
After that the two groups joined back and had lunch, it was chicken and gravy on bread rolls. When we finished, we had to sit on the park benches and the Turtles group did stand up paddle boarding where their instructor, Will, was giving Charlotte and Summah tasks to complete, the first one was to do a forwards roll to standing up on the board and let’s just say Charlotte got soaked during that. She completed it by rolling off and quickly jumping back on and standing up but at least we earned ourselves a name from Will the instructor, ‘the talented ratbags’. Then there was Cooper diving into the smelly reeds to save the younger kids from a different school to get their kayak unstuck. Meanwhile the Sharks group did archery and there were errant arrows flying everywhere, including Jayden and Alex who shot their arrow right across the road.
After all of these great activities, and a few soaked pair of shoes, we jumped up onto the bus after drying off and headed back to school. It was a great few days for us all and some great memories that we could take with us from our Year 6 experience.
By Maggie Herbert, Summer Barnden, Indiana Martin, Annie Peart and Summah Orford
Early Learning Centre News
We have arrived! After such a bizarre year of constant change and adaptability, it seems it is the routines and rituals that become the markers of time. Our ELC 'graduates' received their certificates, gifts and learning journals, along with cheers and yee-haas from peers and Educators. We have also embarked on a week of playful adventures as a way of celebrating the end of the year and the arrival of Christmas and Summer celebrations.
The ELC wishes each of you a wonderful and safe Summer break with loved ones. May your New Year be full of grace and gratitudes.
Mrs Natasha Livock
Early Learning Centre Coordinator
To make a booking please email enrolments@eac.nsw.edu.au.
Zone Champion - Physical Culture
Year 3 student Lilla Ryan recently became the 8 year Zone Champion in her zone Physical Culture (Physie) dance competition. Lilla attends Physie classes twice per week and spent Term 2 attending her lessons via zoom. Lilla and her Alstonville Plateau Club mates were excited to compete, considering the difficulties throughout 2020. Many restrictions were put on the competition including no audience.
Lilla competed alongside 24 other 8 year old girls and performed in a heat, semi-final and final. 5 places were awarded and Lilla was awarded Zone Champion for her first time. She also performed in a team with 7 other club mates and were awarded second prize.
Lilla is now eligible to compete at a State Competition at the Sydney Sports Centre.
Canteen
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year
With the term and year drawing to a close, I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year. I would like to thank all the volunteers who made it possible for the canteen to provide the thousands of lunches in 2020, and hope to see you all back in 2021.
May you all have a safe and relaxing break and I look forward to seeing you in 2021.
Christine Hall
Canteen Coordinator