"So always treat others as you would like them to treat you."
Matthew 7:12
From The Principal
I am so pleased to inform you that after much planning and preparation, construction of the Multi Purpose Centre will begin in the coming days. Bennett Construction have been engaged to construct this incredible facility and the building site fences will be erected this week. The complex nature of the flood plan site has presented a number of engineering challenges but after much discussion, planning and expert advice, we now have a construction model and plan that will ensure delivery of a first class facility that will serve our community for many, many decades to come. It will take approximately 12 months to complete the project and we look forward to blessing and opening the centre on Foundation Day in 2021.
In recent weeks, students from Year 2 through to Year 11 have been engaged in the process of electing the Student Representative Council. I congratulate the students who have been identified by their peers as having the skills and talents that mark them as a leader. I am sure they will make a wonderful contribution to EAC in the coming year. I also want to thank and congratulate all those students who were generous and courageous enough to nominate for election this year. A willingness to be involved, to lend a hand and to give of your time are all signs of a person with great character. To those students who did nominate and were unsuccessful, I say thank you and also encourage them to continue to look for ways to support the College. Whether wearing a badge or not, everyone has the opportunity to be a role model for others and to give something back to the College and our community. The Student Representative Council will be inducted as part of the Foundation Day Service on 12 March 2020.
Primary School Student Representative Council
| Class | SRC Captain |
| 2A | Oliver Carroll-Burgess |
| 2B | William Davis |
| 3A | Sofia Foukkare |
| 3B | Annie Docherty |
| 4A | Lara Neaves |
| 4B | Abigail Grier |
| 5A | Stella Payne |
| 5B | Elizabeth Cook |
| 5C | Philo Rylands |
| 6A | Lucas Bazzana |
| 6B | Aoife Kingston |
Secondary School Student Representative Council
| Year 7 | Finn Allen |
| Year 7 | Sascha Connolly |
| Year 8 | Ash Daniel-Williams |
| Year 8 | Ella Graham |
| Year 9 | Raquel Van Merwyk |
| Year 10 | Paloma Vazquez |
| Year 10 | Ryan Kernaghan |
| Year 11 | Scarlett Donovan |
| Year 11 | Ethan Jorgensen |
SRC President - Lara Truman
Friends AGM
Next Tuesday evening 10th March, the Annual General Meeting for the Friends of EAC will take place at 6.30 in the Joan Pickup Library.
The Friends of EAC is such an awesome organsiation and provides wonderful opportunities for all our community, through both friend raising and fund raising. Please consider giving some time to supporting the work of Friends in 2020. You can support Friends in many way such as:
- Joining the committee
- Volunteering as a class parent
- Offering to help at one (or more!) of the functions or events in the year
- Attending Friends organised events
Mr Robert Tobias
Principal
Off the Deputy's Desk
I was really pleased to see our Year 10 students so engaged in the Mental Health First Aid program, which commenced last week at EAC. The presenter complemented them on their interest and involvement and willingness to interact proactively with him. It is always wonderful to hear feedback like this about our students. Similarly, our Year 7 students did well with their immunisations last Monday. There were some nervous moments but overall they were very cooperative throughout the process.
We are now heading towards the half way point of first term and it is a great time for students to review their start to the year. Being a reflective learner is a vital component of the Habits of Mind. The process of reflection is metacognitive in nature, where students think about their thinking. I encourage each of our students to reflect upon their start to the year and to find strategies that they could use to improve their academic work or organisation. Students should feel free to speak to their teachers if they need assistance with strategising ways that they can improve academically.
In this week’s Sunday Mail, I read a fascinating article regarding the seemingly harmless video sharing app Tik Tok. The usage of this app is not recommended by Susan Mclean, cyber safety expert and former Victorian police officer. Tik Tok is a video sharing platform that has a darker undertone of bullying and predatory behaviour. ESafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant, is so concerned about the misuse of this app because many parents do not know what their child is posting and who is seeing the seemingly harmless videos. Bullying is also a concern of cyber safety experts who say that Tik Tok has become the go-to platform for mean girls.
Apps such as Tik Tok can be great fun, but parents need to be mindful of tweens and teens using their phones and Tik Tokking in private spaces like bedrooms and bathrooms. Parents should do the research and be informed and alert regarding the potential for most of the social media apps to be used in a negative manner.
Parents are reminded that mobile phones are not to be used by students whilst on the College premises and that while the College policy presently doesn’t ban phones, we do rely on students behaving appropriately and not abusing the trust that is currently placed in them. It would be a great time for parents to have a conversation with their children regarding the positive use of technology in their lives.
Reminders
Allergy Aware College
EAC is an allergy aware College. We have a large number of students who are anaphylactic to nuts. Please be allergy aware by packing lunches for your students that do not contain nuts or nut related products. Your support with this stance is appreciated and it will assist us to maintain a safe environment for all students.
Year 9 Camp Medical Forms and Final Payment
Please return medical forms for the venue ASAP to the College. Also, if you were paying in instalments, the final payment is due this Friday 6 March.
Alstonville Bus
Ballina Bus Lines has put on an extra bus that runs to Main Street, Alstonville directly from EAC. Please note that this bus leaves at 3.14 pm sharp.
Foundation Day
Foundation Day is next Thursday, 12 March. Secondary students will be running the Mini Fair for the Primary students in Periods 5 and 6. A note will be sent to parents with further details about the day.
Year 7 Mental Health First Aid
Year 7 parents are reminded to decline permission to this activity if they do not want their child to be involved. The details are on Parent Lounge.
Friends’ Primary Disco
This is coming up on 17 March and Friends are hoping for a huge turnout of Primary students and parents, for what should be a great evening.
Mr Darren Parks
Deputy Principal
Term 1 Week 6
Monday 2 March
Swimming Squad Training: 6.45am-8.15am - Alstonville Pool
Tuesday 3 March
Primary Football Training: 7.30am-8.30am - Oval
Primary Chapel: 9.00am - Discovery Centre
Year 10 Mental Health First Aid Course: Week 2 - Periods 1,3,5
Ballina Lions Youth of the Year: 6.30pm - Ballina RSL
Wednesday 4 March
Swimming Squad Training: 6.45am-8.15am - Alstonville Pool
Thursday 5 March
NCIS Swimming Championships: 7.10am-3.45pm - Alstonville Pool
Friday 6 March
Secondary Sport
Term 1 Week 7
Monday 9 March
Cross Country Training: 7.30am-8.30am - Oval
East Ballina Lions Youth of the Year: 7.00pm-8.30pm - BCHS
Tuesday 10 March
Year 10 Mental Health First Aid: Session 2 - Periods 1, 3, 5
NCIS Primary Football: Coffs Harbour - 5.15am-6.30pm
Primary Assembly: 5A - 9.00am - Discovery Centre
Year 11 Biology Field Trip
Friends AGM and Meeting - 7.00pm
Wednesday 11 March
Teddy Bears’ Picnic: Period 2 - PUCA
Lennox Head Lions Youth of the Year: 6.30pm-8.30pm - St John the Baptist Anglican Church
Thursday 12 March
Whole College Chapel: Induction of SRC Members - 9.00am - St Mary’s Anglican Church
Foundation Day Secondary Interhouse Activities: Periods 3 and 4 - Ovals, courts and library
Foundation Day Mini Fair: Periods 5 and 6 - UCA
Friday 13 March
Cross Country Training: 7.30am-8.30am - Oval
HICES Debating: 2.00pm-6.15pm - vs CVAS at CVAS
Secondary Sport: Periods 5 and 6
Chaplain's Chat
Lenten Living
Lent has begun - we are one week into this time. In the Anglican readings for this week, we heard the story of Jesus in the wilderness (Matthew 4:1-11).
One of the ways people have handled this reading in the past has been to suggest that Jesus offers for us a way to handle temptation...OK...but I'm not sure I am ever going to be offered the whole world as mine to rule, or asked to turn a stone into bread...
Yes, it is true to say that every day we are faced with decisions, whether to place ourselves at the centre of our lives, or whether to live in loving service and compassionate companionship with others. In that sense, we may find some resonance with this story of Jesus' wilderness experience.
But, what if there is something else happening here?
What if Jesus is not rejecting simply power, but the sense of the supernatural or divine?
What if this passage of Scripture is here to remind us that God calls us to follow just as we are? Human, flawed, vulnerable.
At other times in the scripture, Jesus does not hesitate to show God to the world through miracles. Yet in this pivotal moment in time, Jesus chose absolute humanity.
Jesus chose to be as one of us.
It is sad that so often our response to life is to feel that we are not enough.
As we watch the news, the sickness, suffering and heartache of our world, it is all too easy to feel utterly helpless, to wonder what we could ever do to make a difference. Cue the voice in our heads that likes to remind us that we are not good enough, competent enough, and successful enough.
..."The tempter came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread."
If you were good enough, you'd fix this...
I'd love to be able to fix the world's problems - but I can't. That gap between what I wish I could do and what I an do - that is my wilderness, my place of temptation. A temptation to despair, and to doubt. A temptation to turn my back because it all feels too hard.
Lent offers us a time to face this and to get real about it – we are not called to be the saviours of the world! Not one of us is a super hero!
We are, however, called to be ourselves, in the world and in this way begin to feed the hungry, love those who believe themselves unlovable, to find compassion for the hurting – those near to us and far away.
In Lent, we practice these behaviours, we try them out, and we develop new habits for living. Living into God’s abundance, living out God’s abundance for those who still cannot see.
Lent is not a time for self-loathing and shame, it is our preparation for everyday life – I wonder what habits you might practice this Lent?
Peace.
Rev. Sal
Sports Update
NSW CIS / All Schools Triathlon
Congratulations to Finnigan Robinson (Year 7) and Poppy Robinson (Year 9) who competed in the NSW All Schools Triathlon last week. The competition was held in Sydney at the International Regatta Centre. Competing for the first time at this level, both Finnigan and Poppy did a great job representing EAC at the event. Finnigan finished 22nd overall out of 143 competitors and Poppy finished 26th overall out of 85 competitors. Well done Finn and Poppy, we are very proud of your efforts.
Mr Graham Walker
Sport and Coaching Administrator
Primary News
Common Sense Media
In this era where everything is on demand, gone are the joys of actually having to wait for anything. Waiting 15 minutes for a taxi was once acceptable, but now when an Uber is more than 5 minutes away, we groan. I remember as a child eagerly awaiting for Friday nights at 7pm when a new Mr. Bean episode would be shown on the ABC (a whole week!), or the joy of buying a new album and listening to every word and following the lyrics sheet provided in the cassette, the CD or in the gatefold if we go back a few more years. The Spotify and Netflix generation don’t have such dilemmas. When it comes to entertainment it is all there, all of the time. We listen to the hit song and move on to the other billion choices of songs, or we binge the whole series of a tv show in a week, or with the recent wet weather, a weekend.
Over the summer break, my daughters stumbled across the 1980’s sitcom Full House. I’m sure you remember the sitcom, where the three bumbling dads, do their best to bring up three girls (well four actually as Michelle was the Olsen twins- a fact that blew my girls mind). It took me nine years to watch Full House, but I’m sure my girls will be done with it soon and ready for their next marathon. It has been nostalgic to have it on in the house, though there is the occasional episode that requires parental guidance and follow up discussions with such issues as eating disorders and relationship problems.
As a parent, the amount of new entertainment, websites, games, books and music available to our kids can be overwhelming. It is virtually impossible to pre-watch or reread everything that our children take interest in. A way to help navigate this world is through the website Common Sense Media. This website provides age-based media reviews for families and makes recommendations for the appropriateness of a broad range of entertainment and technologies available to our kids. More recently, best of lists have been set up to recommend media for categories such as learning and character development. I hope that it helps you next time you need to decide on which film to watch at the movies, series to start on Netflix or video game to buy for your child’s next birthday.
Mr Wayne Cross
Director of Primary
Primary Assembly - 6B Presentation
6B presented at our Primary assembly last week. They shared some of the learning experiences they have had this year. They have been studying England in the 1700s where they investigated the effect of the Industrial Revolution on living and working conditions in London and how the English loss of the American War of Independence led to the decision to establish a convict colony in Australia.
Year 6 presented a few brief, yet entertaining and educational skits, outlining the living and working conditions which lead to the transportation, on the First Fleet, of 35 children under the age of 12.
Lennox then read and extract of one child's diary of his experience being a convict on the First Fleet. Some students displayed examples of the art of being done in class depicting the sail ships of the exploration times.
There are quite a few songs telling the story of being sent to Botany Bay. Mr Christensen and 6A then accompanied 6B to sing "Ten Thousand Miles Away". The enthusiasm displayed by Year 6 during this song was an indication of how they are enjoying studying this period in both HSIE and Literacy.
Mrs Kate Sculley
Primary Teacher - Year 6
Secondary Update
What is mental health and mental illness?
Last week, Year 10 students participated in their first session of Teen Mental Health First Aid. Young people will often turn to each other when stressed or upset and try to help each other. This course teaches students to not take on problems alone, but to get an adult involved to provide support.
Being mentally healthy is about being able to work and/or study to your full potential, cope with day to day life stresses, be involved in your community and live your life in a free and satisfying way. A person who has good mental health has good emotional and social well being and the capacity to cope with change and challenges.
The mental health continuum and 7 tips for a healthy headspace can be used to help determine early signs that you or someone else might be having a tough time. Early warning signs can include:
- not enjoying, or not wanting to be involved in things that you would normally enjoy
- changes in appetite or sleeping patterns
- being easily irritated or having problems with friends and family for no reason
- finding that you aren’t performing at school like you used to
- being involved in risky behaviour that you would usually avoid, like taking drugs, having unprotected sex or drinking too much alcohol, or depending on substances to feel ‘normal’
- feeling sad or down or crying for no apparent reason
- having trouble concentrating or remembering things
- having negative, distressing, bizarre or unusual thoughts
- feeling unusually stressed or worried
- feeling like things have changed or aren’t quite right
If students feel like support from family and friends isn’t enough, seek professional help from your GP or contact eheadspace. Mental Health professionals provide specialized support in managing a range of concerns.
Mrs Amanda Middleton
Director, Secondary School
Year 8 - Food Technology
Our Year 8 students have been busy planting basil seeds to grow for cooking later in the term. This is part of the new curriculum for food technology to have more of an agricultural focus.
Ms Julianne Crichton
Secondary Teacher - Food Technology
Year 11 Geography Excursion - Byron Bay Region
On Friday 28th February, Year 11 Geography ventured out of the school to complete fieldwork in Byron Bay.
We began our little excursion by stopping at a secluded lookout on the side of the highway, taking in the gorgeous view of Byron and surrounding areas. After discussing and noting down the land use, we each picked a spot and sat down to sketch the landscape, enjoying the perfect weather and cool breeze. A few minutes later and with our field sketches under our arms, we loaded back into the car and set off for the next location on our little tour de Byron.
The second site visited was a well-hidden tourist site, Belongil - Cumbebin Wetlands. We engaged in a number of events, including donating a third of our total blood volume to the general mosquito population in the area. Beyond that, we measured the turbidity of the water, PH level, as well as examining and investigating potential solutions to increase the sustainability and preservation of the site.
After completing the samples and testing following the Wetlands visit, we made our way to a section of Cape Byron known as "The Pass", a popular beach for people to spend the day soaking up the sun, surf and life, but we were there to view the impact of all of that foot traffic. The Pass is part of the Cape Byron Conservation Area, an area of 98.5 hectares of protected land once populated by the native Arakwal tribe of the Bundjalung Nation. We ate morning tea under the shady palms a short distance from the beach, and afterwards set out on a short walk into an area known as Palm Valley, one of the few remnants of natural rainforest scattered among protected bushland. The area in general was impressive and left us all with a feeling of satisfaction on how the park was maintained, however we concluded that more attention should be made to the significance of the culture of the local aboriginal tribes that still inhabit the land around Cape Byron.
Next, we visited Cape Byron Lighthouse which overlooks the marine reserve and Cape Byron township, this tourist attraction receives 2.1 million people per year. With limited car parking and long walks up to the lighthouse, this excessive tourism is one of the issues impacting the environment, that we observed.
The last site visited was Arakwal National Park. This National Park is an important part of Aboriginal heritage and a habitat for a multitude of migratory birds and animals. Co-managed by National Parks and Wildlife Service and its traditional owners, Arakwal contains 3km of beach, bordered by sand dunes and rich coastal heath. At this location, Year 11 investigated land use - both currently and traditional - along with our overarching topic of human impacts on ecosystems.
The impact of tourism on the biophysical environment was evident throughout the day. Now to investigate a range of management strategies to preserve the remaining remnants of the natural environment.
Article written by all members of the Year 11 Geography class
STEM Update
Last week Mr Tobias tested a virtual reality headset the College is looking to purchase for our STEM class!
Friends Update
FRIENDS OF EAC AGM - CALL FOR NOMINATIONS
All Friends Office Bearer positions will be declared vacant at our AGM on Tuesday 10th March 2020.
Nominations are sought for the following positions:
- President
- Vice President
- Treasurer
- Secretary
- Committee Member (10 required)
For further information please see the attached nomination form or contact friends@eac.nsw.edu.au.
Canteen
EAC Canteen opens at 8.30am and operates 4 days a week: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday & Friday, with special lunches on Tuesdays, canteen is open on Tuesdays for general sales at LUNCH only.
Or via the EAC website, go to Publications, then Forms & Documents, then scroll down to Canteen.
Special lunch order dates:
Sushi - 17 March
Noodle Box - 10 & 24 March
Subway - 7 April
Noodle Box – Tuesday 10 March
Noodle Box will be available from the canteen next Tuesday 10 March. If you would like to order Noodle Box for your child’s lunch next Tuesday, please complete the order form then attach your order to a paper bag with your payment enclosed. This should then be put in the canteen basket on Monday morning, 9 March.
Order forms are available at the canteen or online.
Primary lunch orders:
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 child’s lunch please provide two (2) bags. Please remind your child to place their lunch/recess bag in the class tub NOT directly to the canteen.
PLEASE DO NOT STAPLE / TAPE BAGS CLOSED, FOLDED IN 4 WORKS WELL
BAG 1: Name, Class, Teacher, Lunch Order (John Smith, 5A, Mr Falvey, 1 Junior Pie)
BAG 2: Name, Class, Drink/Cold Order (John Smith, 5A, Mr Falvey, 1 Orange Juice)
Any change will be placed in the bag for return with the child’s lunch order.
Can you help in the Canteen?
The EAC Canteen runs with one paid member and a team of volunteers. For this to continue, we need the support of parents, grandparents etc to help out. If you are able to help in the canteen on the below dates, please email Christine Hall at chall@eac.nsw.edu.au.
Dates where help is required:
March: 9th, 16th, 18th(pm), 19th(am), 23rd, 26th
April: 2nd, 3rd(pm), 6th
Christine Hall
Canteen Supervisor
0414 811 668
Community News
