Term 4 Week 7 Friday 21 November 2014
Newsletter
Sutherland Shire Christian School
It’s
beginning
to look
a lot like
Christmas…
Parenting
wrap
Year 8 girls
shared in some
Christmas spirit
in the library
yesterday during
our extended
PC time. They
made cards and
gift bags. More
fun to follow.
- Page 5
Ghostpatrol
inspired
- Page 8
Camp perfect conclusion
to Year 6’s primary years
By Mrs Rachel Dunne, Teaching Staff
The Year 6 camp at Teen Ranch was a
great success!
On Monday, Year 6 travelled to Teen
Ranch for a three-day camp.
Duke
of
Ed
- Page 9
The camp was an excellent opportunity
for the Year 6 students to build
friendships, hear God’s word proclaimed
and challenge themselves in several
adventurous outdoor activities.
Some of the students’ favourite memories
follow:
Tess Leong: My best memory of camp
was canoeing down the freshwater
river with the bush on either side then
stopping at a small beach and going for
swim.
Kalina Grabow: I loved the Giant Swing.
It is hard to pull the string that sets you
free but when you do, butterflies fly into
your tummy and you whoosh down,
down, down and then back up again!
Kyle Aylesbury: My best memory of
camp was horse riding. My horse’s
name was Yara, riding him was
amazing!
To page 2
Camp concludes
an era for Year 6
From page 1
Tyran Kepu: I enjoyed
being able to get closer to
people that might not be
your best friends.
God’s word was brought
to the students each day
through Mr Richardson,
who spoke from the book
of Jonah. Students were
encouraged to trust in God
and not to run from Him
like Jonah did.
Several students then
courageously stood before
their peers to share their
testimony, this was a great
encouragement to all!
The camp was the perfect
conclusion to Year 6’s
primary school days.
Junior School
Visual Arts Roster
Parents rostered to help
next week:
KR Renee Krstanoski
KT
Charmaine Brookes
1F
Brooke Daniel
1O
Renee Macpherson
2D
Roselyn Daniel
2F
Louise Rupenovic
3G
Jayne Doyle
3L
Kiri Pizel
4K
Sara Shortt
4W
Kylie Barber
5E
Fiona Isaacs
5M
Janette Mitchell
6B
Catherine Sawyer
6W
Louise Rupenovic
Just in time for summer
New shade netting was installed over
the Secondary Quad yesterday, after
the old net was ripped off by strong
winds earlier this year.
Junior School events to ring out 2014
Yesterday Prep and Kindergarten
presented a wonderful assembly
for us to enjoy.
your involvement in the school
community.
Thank you students
and teachers for
preparing such an
enjoyable time.
Next Thursday (27
November) at 1.45pm,
Years 3 and 4 will
present an Assembly Junior School
Mr Paul Carter
for Years 3 to 6 and
Head of Junior School
parents.
On Tuesday 2 December at
8.30am, we will be holding a
Thank You Volunteers Brunch in
the IRC.
Invitations will be forwarded to
parents who have volunteered time
in some way whether it be Visual
Arts, pencil sharpening, Home
Readers.
Please join us to celebrate
On Friday 5 December
we will conclude the year
together at our annual
Junior School P-6 Picnic.
This will be held at a
different venue this year,
at Burnum Burnam Park,
Woronora commencing at
9.30am.
A permission note will be
forwarded home next week.
Next week’s Be is “Be Thankful”.
We will be reflecting on this year’s
events and learning activities,
and be encouraged to thank God,
teachers and friends for the many
special things that
have occurred this
year in the life of our
School, classrooms
and families.
Page 2
Final ‘Let’s talk about parenting’ of
great value to those who attended
Our fourth and final evening in the
“Let’s Talk About Parenting” series
was held this week and proved
to be of great value to those who
attended.
From the
Principal
Mrs Nicola Taylor
Principal
The members of the panel spoke
clearly and with the authority of
expertise in their respective fields.
Colin Buchanan’s hosting of the
Q&A session was relaxed but
insightful. Some takeaway gems
from the evening include:
Dr Shan Ong (Paediatrician)
The twin gifts parents must
give their children equally and
consistently, are love and limits.
Love that is unconditional and
limits that provide safety and
security.
Mr Bruce van der Graaf (Retired
Detective Inspector)
As a cybercrime specialist, Mr van
der Graaf said parents need to
be aware that the internet is not
a safe playground for children to
play in alone and unmonitored.
As a general guide, when using
social media, accept friendship
requests only from people you
know, if an offer or invitation
sounds too good to be true it
most probably is - so ignore it,
learn to use the controls to block
interaction with people you don’t
know or don’t want to have as
friends.
Mrs Karlie Carroll
(Registered Psychologist)
It is possible to build resilience
in our children in four key ways:
promote belonging (family,
friendships, other key adults),
learn to just “be” rather than
always “be doing”, rediscover
family rituals, love our children for
their differences, allow them to be
similar enough in our families, but
different enough as well.
Rev Tony Willis
(Anglican Minister and Author)
View parenting as an
apprenticeship model: a little
person is a dependent child
with no decision making
responsibilities. Gradually,
over time vary the fences
and boundaries to allow
them to become big people,
interdependent adults and fully
responsible for their decisions.
Mr James Boswell
(IT Specialist and Author)
When considering how to parent
in the cyberworld, the emphasis
should always be on the
parenting.
Be informed; teach wisdom,
discernment and discretion; model
well; protect; supervise and trust!
Thank you to those parents who
attended and those who promoted
the event in local churches and
other venues.
It was a fitting conclusion to a very
worthwhile series of evenings the
School felt privileged to host.
See page 5 for a few more highlights from the evening.
Page 3
German students recreate section of Berlin Wall as
world celebrates 25 years since the fall of the wall
Mrs Gemma McWhirter
Teaching Staff
Last week Berlin celebrated
25 years since the fall of the
Berlin Wall.
This occasion coincided with
our unit of work on The Cold
War in our elective German
classes.
Please vote for us
to win
Please vote for
Octoberfest, a film by
SSCS Year 9 students,
now a finalist in the
national German
School Film Prize
competition.
Here is the link:
http://www.goethe.de/
ins/au/lp/prj/gsf/awa/
nat/enindex.htm
German students’
films win at
Linguafest
To commemorate this, the
Year 9 class re-created
one of the paintings that
can be found on the East
Side Gallery, a section of
the Berlin Wall that has been
preserved for artworks.
“Es gilt viele Mauern
abzubauern” means “There are
many walls to tear down”.
We discussed how there are still
hostilities and conflicts in the
world that create walls between
people.
People create walls between
people and also there can be a
“wall” separating us from God.
As Christians we have a role in
tearing down these walls and
being agents of peace.
The other news for the German
classes is that the Year 8 class
took out “Best Film” at the
Linguafest Film Festival and
the Year 9 class won the “Best
Screenplay” category.
We enjoyed a great trip into the
city to watch the films at the
Dendy Cinema last Friday. Well
done SSCS German!
Page 4
Dr Shan Ong,
Paediatrician
By nature children have
much less self control
and are more prone to
addiction.
So, if a child’s brain
gets too much joy from
playing games on a
smart device, they
easily become addicted.
Some highlights from the Parenting Q&A
Mrs Karlie Carroll, Psychologist
Build resilience in your child to help
them weather what life throws at
them. Resilience is not something
that can be built in a few hours, it
takes years.
Mr James Boswell, Co-author of
Cyber Parenting, IT Specialist
Emphasis should
always be on parenting (not cyber). Show
children to:
If a child flies into rage
and tries, or threatens,
to hurt their parent when
told to switch off, red
lights about addiction
should be flashing.
• Make good choices Like any other addiction
• Use their time well (drugs/alcohol): remove
it completely.
• Be content and
not conform to the A family will have to
bear the rages, but will
restlessness of
then have their child
consumerism
back.
• Be sure of their
Pre-exisiting conditions
own, family and
such as ADHD raise the
spiritual identity
risk of addiction.
• Promote belonging: to a friendship • Put others before
group, a family and another adult
self
outside the family group.
• Show respect and
• Have some “mooch time”: have
compassion
time where child is not doing very
• Have control and
much ... just be in the family unit.
humility
• Rediscover family rituals: things
Rev Tony Willis, Co-author of Let’s Talk About Parenting
your child will remember with
• Consistency in parenting is not
and they are free to own
fondness in years. This feeds into
treating each child the same, but
their decision making and full
their sense of belonging.
treating them for who they are.
responsibility.
• Teaching resilience is in the
• Remember the importance
• Consider where it’s appropriate
little things you do, and listening
of boundaries and how these
for natural consequences to
about how they talk about their
change as a child grows older
teach the lesson and where to
achievements and failures and
up to where the gate is open
step in to prevent accidents.
observing their ability to bounce
back. This is how you can identify Mr Bruce van der Graaf, Cybercrime Specialist
and address issues.
• Be aware of “boiler room”,
• Tips against cyber bullying:
If parents continuously max out
their response about events in their
child’s lives, they break down their
resilience.
“Nigerian 419” and romance
scams on the internet.
• “Carding”, in which people hack
internet sites and steal people’s
credit card details to sell to
Dwelling on the past is a sure recipe
others, is currently one of the
for depression, or on the future for
biggest cybercrimes.
anxiety.
Understand your children as
individuals, how they feel loved,
what drives them and adapt your
parenting accordingly.
• Be your child’s friend on
social media
• Do not accept a friend
request from someone they
don’t know
• Teach your child to ignore
bullies
• Use settings
to block online
bullies
Page 5
Thorns and thistles that stunt our growth
The RBC Our Daily Bread devotional
notes for today (21 November) are
based on Jesus’ Parable of the
Sower in Matthew 13.
ChaPlain talk
Rev Bruce Christian
Chaplain
The notes mention a Jewish cafe
owner who offered half-price
refreshments for all customers who
turned off their mobile phones and
other electronic devices. His aim was
to encourage people to engage in
face-to-face live conversation instead
of being distracted by these things.
Jesus likens the third kind of soil in
the parable to people who give the
outward appearance of wanting to
live in obedience to God’s Word, but
who in reality allow the things of this
world to so “interrupt” their devotion to
God that he is eventually “choked out”
of their lives altogether.
I’m not sure that we give serious
enough thought to how applicable
this is to us all in our cultural setting
today. We have many “cares and
pleasures” that occupy our time,
interest and energy on a daily basis things that are not necessarily “bad”
or “wrong”, but that rob us of time for
“conversation” with our Maker and
Redeemer.
Setting time aside
How much time do we set aside,
without the possibility of interruption, to
let him speak to us through the reading
of his Word? How much time do we
devote to talking to him in prayer?
It was very challenging at the parenting
seminar on Wednesday night, hearing
the various speakers sharing with us
their insights about the issues children
face today, especially with regard to
the use (and abuse) of social media.
It seems that in the whole matter of
distractions that can “choke out” the
things that make for a healthy and
balanced lifestyle, modern electronic
devices are up there with the most
damaging and harmful.
Like the “cares and pleasures”
in Jesus’ parable, they are not
intrinsically bad; but they do have the
potential to stunt our spiritual growth
in the absence of careful discernment
and discipline.
Key messages
One of the key messages that came
across to me was the importance of
good modelling. All the instruction and
admonition in the world is rendered
ineffective if our children observe our
lives and lifestyles being dominated by
technology.
Do we take time to “smell the roses”
with them, to have uninterrupted,
technology-free family time and
conversations? Are we careful about
how much money we spend on the
latest gadgetry, and do we discipline
ourselves to be content with something
that works and serves our purposes
even if it has been superseded?
Does the time we spend on social
media keep us from spending time in
God’s Word and in prayer?
If we are keen to see our lives, and
the lives of our children, bearing
fruit “thirty, sixty and a hundred fold”
we need to take seriously Jesus’
warnings about the third kind of soil,
and be prepared to keep each other
accountable, because our gardens
might already have become overrun
with thorns and thistles without our
noticing it!
Page 6
For Prayer and Praise
“Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the
LORD forever.” - Psalm 23:6 (ESV)
• Praise God for his amazing love that he lavishes upon his children.
• Praise God for the eternal home we can look forward to dwelling in because of our Lord Jesus
Christ.
• Praise God for the many parents who volunteer to help around our School.
• Praise God for the positive role models so many of the older students set for the younger students.
Year 6 students raising funds for leukemia
If you are near Sutherland Hospital this
weekend you may like to stop by at the home
baked cake stall being run by some of our year
6 girls on Saturday morning.
Morgan Tsang with her friends Amy Crean,
Danielle Croucher, Sara Campion, Isabella
Mavlian, Rose McAdams and Isabelle Sawyer
tell us that all money raised will be donated to
the Leukemia Foundation of Australia.
Great work girls we hope you have a fantastic
morning.
Uniform fittings for 2015:
Year 11, Year 7 and Kinder
It’s time to organise uniform fittings for 2015 for
Year 11, Year 7 and Kinder students.
Fittings will take place during November.
We are here to assist 2015 Year 11 students with fittings
who wish to come in during recess/lunch breaks when
the shop is open on Tuesday and Thursday. Payment
or a deposit is required at the time of fitting.
Book a Fitting Appointment
Mrs Michelle King
Phone: 9532 1065
(Leave a message if there is no answer.
Your call will be returned the next trading day.)
Email: sutherland@ranier.com.au
Normal Trading Days (During School Terms)
Tuesday & Thursday: 8am to 2pm
Payment
Cash / Eftpos / Visa / Mastercard (1.5% credit card surcharge applies)
Last chance in 2014
Please come and join other parents for a
short prayer time in the IRC after the Junior
School morning assembly, next Friday 28
November. We start around 9am.
Morning tea is provided, and children are
very welcome. You can leave when you
need to.
Working Bee for Tsang to Zywietz
The next school working bee will be held on
Saturday 29 November starting at 8.30am and
finishing at approximately 4pm.
This will the final working bee for 2014 so
if you haven’t been able to make it on your
scheduled working bee day and would like to
come on Saturday 29, please join us.
Don’t forget to sign in when your
arrive and sign out when you
leave. Morning tea provided.
Page 7
Y12 Visual Arts students turn themselves into Pop Art
Miss Susie Yock, Teaching Staff
Last Friday, Year 12 2015
Visual Arts had the opportunity
to see the latest Pop Art
exhibition at the Art Gallery of
NSW.
In Term 3, the (then Year 11)
students had learnt about
Pop Art as a Modern 20th
Century Art Movement, so this
opportunity meant students
were able to see famous
artworks, such as Marilyn
Monroe by Andy Warhol
and Look Mickey by Roy
Lichtenstein.
Throughout the exhibition there
were a few interactive elements
such as a Pop Art Twister, and
a chance to be Marilyn Monroe
in Warhol’s artwork as a photo
opportunity.
Students then also viewed other
exhibitions in the Art Gallery,
seeing Contemporary Asian Art
and Modern Black-and-White
photography.
Despite the hot temperatures,
students were able to keep
cool in the gallery and enjoyed
seeing all the different artworks
on show.
Please be praying for Year 12
Visual Arts as they have started
their HSC Body of Work.
Year 8 inspired by Ghostpatrol to produce ‘self portraits’
This term, Year 8 Visual Arts students have
drawn a watercolour illustration in the style of
Melbourne artist, Ghostpatrol.
These stylised illustrations were personalised,
with students drawing themselves involved in a
playful activity, such as soccer or riding a bike.
The works are on display in the Secondary
School Quad.
The Visual Arts Department is also
creating a book containing the four
Visual Arts classes illustrations which
will be kept in the Secondary Library.
Page 8
Duke of Ed
highly
recommended
for ‘anyone who
wants an epic
journey’
By Aaron Griffiths, Year 9
The Duke of Ed program was a great way to step
out of a plain boring lifestyle and step into one of
serving and adventure.
orienteering skills like finding significant points
on the track, and interpreting the direction and
obstacles along the way.
While doing Duke of Ed we had to partake in
three activities meeting the criteria of a Skill, a
Sport or recreational activity and Volunteer work.
This opened the way to become more active,
social and skilled in different areas of life.
The hike was a brilliant way to get to know
people, allowing for friendships to flourish and
others to be created.
The experience has helped open the way for
new and exciting experiences to arise and new
friendships to emerge.
The hike was challenging but everyone pushed
on. The hardest part of the trek (on the second
day) provided a great challenge to finish on and
demonstrate our endurance.
The big goal for this year was completing the
adventurous journey: to prepare, we had a
practice hike and a couple of meetings.
The Duke of Ed program is a brilliant way to
strengthen friendships, get to know people and
to develop your personal skills, strength and
personality.
The meetings were full of informative and helpful
tips about how to pack, what to pack, different
I would recommend the Duke of Ed program to
anyone who wants an epic journey.
Page 9
Floristry Open Day
Festival of Design
Pearsons School of Floristry Open Day
Saturday 29 November 2014, 1pm to
3.30pm, 50 Oxford Street, Darlinghurst.
Bookings Essential. RSVP online at
pearsonsschool.com.au. For more
information phone 9550 7755.
University of Technology’s Festival of
Design is happening during November.
Diploma in Languages
University of Technology has a new
Diploma in Languages which is
available to all UTS students from
Women in Defence Info
2015. Students choose from six
Mrs Robyn Buchanan Women in Defence Information Session languages to study concurrently with
Careers Advisor
their degree.
Level 4, 9 George Street, Parramatta,
6pm Wednesday 3 December. To
Study Overseas
attend the information session email
Universities Australia is the national
cptnsw@dfr.com.au or call 13 19 01.
peak body representing the Australian
UTS ATAR Live Q&A
university sector. Universities Australia
is leading a campaign to encourage
University of Technology ATAR Live
Australian students to study overseas
Q&A Facebook 18 December 2014.
on behalf of the Australian Government.
ATAR release date is a heady mix of
excitement and stress for students.
The campaign has three main aims:
UTS Future Students Team will be
• Strengthen the understanding of the
offering support with a Live Q&A from
benefits of overseas study;
11am to 4pm on the day of ATAR
release.
• Inform students of the opportunities
to study in Asia; and
Careers
UTS Info Day
University of Technology Info Day at
the City Campus on 6 January gives
students a chance to speak with
current students, academics and staff
before close of main-round preferences
for 2015.
• Build awareness of the support
available for an international
education experience.
Visit their website www.world-class.
com.au to find out more.
Page 10
Congratulations to the following
children who received
MeritAwards
Awards this week
Merit
KR
Hollie Wiseman
Caleb Seaton
for always presenting neat, well-illustrated pages of work
for making excellent progress this semester
KT
Jacob Mavlian
Chelsea Hogg
for listening to and applying advice in the classroom
for a confident and excellent performance at the Kindergarten Assembly
1F
Caleb Stone
Neve Walker
for demonstrating respectful manners in class
for displaying conscientious effort to do her best work in class
1O
Joshua Kalie
Joel Knight
for constructing an excellent 3D shape
for working hard in spelling every week
2D
Isabelle Saville
Makai Wagstaff
for excellent memorisation of The Lord’s Prayer
for excellent memorisation of The Lord’s Prayer
2F
Keira Olsen
Summer Wright
for diligently practising her tables
for displaying perseverance in Literacy lessons
3G
Benjamin Coffey
Isaac Abela
for an excellent speech about Ancient Egyptian art
for presenting an excellent speech about the Nile River
3L
Hamilton Magrath
Noah Anderson
for outstanding preparation and interesting delivery of talks to the class
for using his own initiative to help others in the classroom
4K
Tahlia Munro
Bradley Nadin
for a great improvement in her reading fluency and accuracy
for a great improvement in her reading fluency and accuracy
4W
Annalise Nadin
Bethany McKay
for enthusiastic participation in class activities
for enthusiastic participation in class activities
5E
Rylie Macarthur
Hannah Alverson
for an outstanding poem on Pluto
for her brilliant poem on a trumpet
5M
Kate Coffey
Matthew Leach
for excellent presentation in her Biblical Studies workbook
for consistent application in HSIE this semester
6B
Harry Carroll
Alex Periam
for excellent participation on the Year 6 Camp
for challenging himself and trying new things on camp
Katie Peach
for challenging herself on the giant swing at the Year 6 Camp
for being an admirable team leader during the challenge course at the
Year 6 Camp
6W
Lara Knight
Bronze Awards
Elisa Abela (2D)
Luke Clapham (2D)
Mikaela Munro (2D)
Joshua Nichols (2D)
Zane Crawley (2D)
Callen Heffernan (2D)
Benjamin Ward (2F)
Brianna Uncle (2F)
Ewan Kendon (2F)
India Brough (3G)
Ruby Macpherson (3G)
Isaac Abela (3G)
Bailey Holmes (3G)
Zac Young (3L)
Brody Silvera (5M)
Iris Ng (5M)
Jacqueline Freer (5M)
Page 11
Thank you to our Volunteers!
You are personally invited to join us for morning tea so that we can express our
“thanks” for all your valuable assistance throughout the year.
When:
Time:
Where:
Tuesday 2nd December 2014
8.30am – 9.30am
In the IRC
To assist us with catering please RSVP to the School Office by phone or email
smurray@sscs.nsw.edu.au by Friday 28th November.
We do hope that you are able to come.
P to 12
What’s on
…… from SSCS Staff
Prep to Year 6
Secondary
Mon 24 Nov
Year 10 PEPSE Training Workshop
Tue 25 Nov
• Year 10 PEPSE Training Workshop
• Year 11 PDHPE Fluid Mechanics/
Paddleboarding Exc
• Year 11 Choices of Life Seminar
Wed 26 Nov
• Year 10 PEPSE Training Workshop
• Year 10 All My Own Work Workshop
• Work Experience Career Info Sessions in class
Recital Evening - Strings @ 5.30pm
SSCS Board Meeting @ 6.30pm
Thu 27 Nov
• Prep 2 Water Fun Day
• Junior School Assembly @ 1.45pm
Duke of Ed Hike - Silver Qualifier
Fri 28 Nov
• Kinder Excursion to SeaLife Aquarium
Darling Harbour
• Year 4 French Day
• Prep 2 Class Party then Concert in
TLC at 1pm
• Duke of Ed Hike - Silver Qualifier
• Year 12 Drama to Belvoir to view HSC
Texts
SSCS Prayer Group Meeting in IRC @ 9am
Sat 29 Nov
Duke of Ed Hike - Silver Qualifier
Working Bee for families Tsang to Zywietz
Tue 2 Nov
Year 6 Celebration Evening @ 6pm
Volunteers Thank You Morning Tea @ 9am in IRC
Wed 3 Nov
Thu 4 Nov
All School Assembly @ 11.10am
Awards Assembly Secondary School @
8.20am
Fri 5 Nov
Last Day Term 4 2014 (for students)
Tue 27 Jan ’15
First Day Term 1 2015 (for students)
Page 12