Leadership News

Principal's Piece

'Therefore, put on the full armour of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. 

Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. 

In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. - Ephesians 6: 10-18

Personal Armour

If you have been around the College long enough, you may know that I find this picture particularly challenging. If you have not seen it before; this picture displays data collected from damaged planes in WW2 to help decide how to better armour them and protect the crew. The red dots are bullet holes mapped from planes that returned from their missions.

Looking at the data, it is easy to see why they planned to better armour the tips of the wings, the tail and the middle of the fuselage. The interesting thing is, that armouring these areas is not the best idea and will not better protect the crew. However, this data only maps the damage on the planes that made it back to base and not those which crashed. Those that crashed had arguably been hit in other areas, most likely the engines and/or cockpit. 

All areas of the plane need to be armoured. The same is true of students. As we seek to nurture and prepare students we need to allow students to experience the world and yes, accept that from time to time they will take a few hits. The key is to ensure students are properly armoured in the critical areas of their lives. 

At Bayside, in partnership with parents, we strive to prepare students (armour them) to go out into the world. We do not want to create a bubble-wrapped experience where students do not face challenges. But rather provide an environment where, as they grow and develop, they begin to learn who they are, what they believe and how to effectively engage with the world around them. 

We seek to educate students academically, socially, physically, spiritually and culturally. We want to help students learn to ask the right questions, challenge assumptions and strive to understand the worldviews embedded in the messages that they hear and see every day. 

We hope to enable students to confidently and effectively engage in the communities to which they belong, and be agents of encouragement, growth, support and change.

We also hope students learn that change can be a long journey, and learn that where they have the most influence for change is within themselves. We must all armour ourselves correctly and strive to use this armour effectively and wisely. 

My hope is, that together (parents and teachers), we will educate generations of young men and women who are able to think differently, bravely and boldly (but humbly) and choose not to conform to the unhelpful and, at times, toxic ways of the world that do not lead to truth and life.  Instead, may we strive to live a life, where we thrive and are protected by the full armour of God.

Andrew Manning, Principal

From the Deputy's Desk

My Christian School

Last Wednesday, many of our staff, students and parents attended the"Faith in Our Future" Community Forum in support of Christian Schooling. My Christian School is a growing a movement of people who want to play our part in ensuring future generations benefit from the faith of Christian teachers and staff.

Here are 5 actions you can take to maintain the momentum:

1. If you didn't get a chance to fill out a postcard to the Prime Minister or you want to encourage others to do so, here's a link to send this message via their website.
2. Encourage your friends and family to join the 11,000 My Christian School supporters by subscribing here. They will keep you informed and help you know how you can pray.
3. Follow My Christian School on Facebook and Instagram. They are sharing regular updates that you can share with others.
4. Sharing stories about the value of faith is central to the campaign. Share your story here.
5. If you're passionate and want to be equipped to help others get informed and involved, email the team at contact@mychristianschool.au.

The more we get involved to promote the value of Christian Schooling, the stronger we can make our future, and the future of our children.

Student Free Day

Next Friday 7 June is a curriculum day for all students from P-12. Teachers will be involved in marking and report writing across the day.

Traffic Management

Please ensure you exit the College gates with utmost care, particularly in the afternoons when it is most congested. There has been one accident this year and a number of near misses. We encourage you to put safety as a priority and as much as you can, please turn left to exit either campus to avoid crossing the traffic.

Mrs Toni Steinbergs, Deputy Principal

Student Health Reminder

If your child is unwell, please do not send them to school. Please be mindful that Covid-19, Influenza and Gastroenteritis are prevelant in the wider community. If your child shows symptoms of illness at school, the parent/carer on the student's file will be contacted to collect them. 

VCE Supervisors Wanted

The College is seeking expressions of interest for anyone interested in being a VCE exam supervisor this year. This would involve assisting the supervision of students in the GAT (18th June), and the end of year examinations for Unit 4 in November. Exam supervisors must meet the following criteria in order to be considered.

• You cannot be employed at Bayside Christian College in any capacity. 
• You must have a current Working With Childrens Check (or a current VIT registration).  
• You must not be related to any student required to sit the GAT or a VCE Unit 3 and 4 study.
• You cannot be involved in teaching or tutoring any students completing the GAT or a VCE Unit 3 and 4 study.
• You must be available to work on Tuesday June 18th, and during the VCE Unit 4 Exams in November.

Expressions of interest can be sent to chay.williamson@baysidecc.vic.edu.au

Chaplaincy Update

It has been a huge few weeks in the faith life of the school. We have had VETA Morphus Retreat number 2, The Young Christian Thinkers Symposium and started another Prayer Group for students. We have also been working hard on empowering students to take ownership of our Whole School Assemblies which we have revamped and renamed to Whole School Worship Services. 

Veta Morphus is a national Christian leadership program for senior secondary students. It is designed for students who wish to explore and develop in the Christian faith in a practical, hands-on way. It is a year-long course that enables year 11 and 12 students to grow in their Christian life and gain credit for their year 12 at the same time. Veta Morphus students connect with a group of God-focused friends, explore their faith with adult mentors, ask the hard questions, put their faith into practice and discover who they truly are in Christ… and do it all as a core part of their senior school pathway. 

This term, we have focussing a lot on community, And in part with this we had retreat number 2 which as in the city completely focussed on community outreach. We completed an activity on the Saturday and in this activity groups were asked to do something bigger than ourselves and go out into the CBD and do something for the community. Our group decided to print off Bible verses and tape them to water bottles and then proceeded to hand them out and talk to people about them. I am so proud of this group for doing this and being extremely brave. 

Something else we have been working on is prayer and Bible study groups. We have officially started two groups a Year 7-9 Group and Year 10-12. We are extremely excited by this and cant wait to see what God does through the students running these groups and then through the school.

Mr Josh Hill, Chaplain

Happy Families

Our school is subscribed to the Happy Families School Membership. Owned and run by Dr Justin Coulson, one of Australia’s leading parenting experts, the membership offers a wealth of parenting education and resources.

We will regularly share resources available through our membership with you, including Insight Articles and Webinars. 

You can also access your resources at any time using the below URL (unique to our school) and the password is: happybcc

B2Me: Community Business Directory

Have you discovered the Bayside Christian College B2Me profile? Its purpose is to assist in connecting trusted service providers with the College community in a way that builds valuable relationships. Consider it our very own Yellow Pages or Google!

It takes minutes to create a profile to view and support the many local services offered by members of our community. If you have a business you would like to list, please feel free to add your business profile to our group.

https://b2me.com.au/members/bayside-christian-college