FROM THE PRINCIPAL

NWS TEN YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

This year, our Narre Warren South campus has been celebrating its tenth anniversary. These celebrations culminated last week with a special Thanksgiving Service and a Fair for the whole school community. These events provided a wonderful opportunity to thank God for his provision of our new campus, and to celebrate his goodness to us for the blessing that the campus has been to the school community.

It has been a delight to see the growth and development of the NWS campus over the last 10 years. The campus began with a vision of seeing Christian schooling extended into one of the fastest growing municipalities in Australia.

The campus began in 2012 with just 150 students from Prep to Year 7 and around 30 staff, and today we have almost 1000 students from Prep to Year 12 and over 150 staff. The development of the campus is an incredible story of God’s enablement to be able to deliver Christian schooling in the South-eastern suburbs of Melbourne.

I commend the NWS staff team, so capably led by Mr Mark Crnkovic; and the work that has been done to create such a vibrant school community and culture. Looking to the future, we anticipate the growth of the Campus to over 1300 students and the building of additional facilities to support this growth.

I give praise and thanks to God for His amazing provision; for His hand on the NWS campus and, look forward with anticipation, expectation and faith to all that God will do in the next 10 years in the life of the NWS campus.

Mr Peter Sheahan (Principal)

FROM THE DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

ALUMNI COORDINATION NEWS

I would like to take this opportunity to give some thanks and honour to Rachel D’Sa, our current Alumni Coordinator. Rachel has done an amazing job in continuing to strengthen our fledgling Alumni community, keeping you up to date with College news via Facebook and through these newsletters. She has, with Gillian Brown’s amazing support, also managed to roll out some great reunions, even in the face of Covid restrictions. I encourage you to look out for the 2023 invitations that will involve 1, 5, 10 and 20-year reunions, which will include some previous year opportunities, and get as many people on board as possible. Come and have a look at our campuses and experience first-hand, the many physical changes that are taking place!

Our Alumni team, however, is about to go through a transition. Rachel is having twins! As a result, she will be on Maternity Leave, commencing February next year, and Gillian Brown, after many years of service to the College has recently retired.

Our new Communications Coordinator, replacing Gillian, is a past graduate, Stephanie Dunstan (nee Michaels) and we will, of course, be advertising for Rachel’s replacement role. If you have an interest in this 12-month contract position, please have a look and apply here.

I am continually encouraged by the re-engagement of our graduates and look forward to realising new opportunities for connection and support. We have recently partnered with Australian Fellowship of Evangelical Students (AFES) to provide programs to better facilitate the transition to university opportunities for our graduates. We have a mentoring program at our Narre Warren South Campus involving immediate graduates of the College and are looking to support this at Wantirna South in due course. We are hopeful that the AFES partnership strengthens these connections and opportunities. Our graduates can offer much to our school community and I thank you for making the re-connection and greatly appreciate your ongoing support of WCC.

Mr Rod Ramsay (Deputy Principal)

FROM THE HEAD OF CAMPUS (WANTIRNA SOUTH)

MURMURATION

One of the most captivating spectacles of nature is the murmuration of the starling birds. Over 100,000 birds fly in synchronisation, moving in every possible direction in perfect unison. This aerial dance lasts only between five to ten minutes but it is breathtaking. The starlings fly together to communicate, to keep warm and for protection. It is

hard for predators, such as falcons, to target one bird in this giant flock. Together, they are safe and secure.

Towards the end of Term 3, we had so many different events happening across the campus. We had our One Year Alumni reunion at the Knox Club, Secondary House Drama competition, Year 6 Production celebrations and not to mention our Primary Book Week! At Waverley Christian College, we have so many different activities happening that it can sometimes feel like we are individual starling birds flying across the sky moving every which way. Yet, we are moving in synchronization as we nurture and direct each student to be all that God created them to be.

NORTH WING COMPLETED

In 2020, the construction of the North Wing started. It wasn’t until last week, Friday 14 October 2022, that we were able to officially move in! The Year 5 and 6 students were thrilled to explore their surroundings and enjoy their new learning spaces. Each classroom is fitted with collaborative furniture, storage spaces and breakout rooms. The classrooms have an open corridor with individualised lockers, wet areas for multiple learning opportunities and seating for students to congregate. The first floor has a ramp connected to the Primary West Wing, so students can remain closer to other students across Primary.

As well as the students, the General Office has moved across to the ground floor of the North Wing. It is now able to host parents, enrolment inquiries and other College administrative needs. At the same time, the ‘old’ General Office will be converted into a Student Services building. This refurbishment has begun and will be completed by the start of 2023. It will host our Student Wellbeing Hub, Student Attendance, Lost Property, First Aid services and our College Uniform Shop.

The new office spaces on the top floor of the North Wing were also opened for occupation.

Mr David Lepileo (Head of Campus, WS)

FROM THE HEAD OF CAMPUS (NARRE WARREN SOUTH)

10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS

The 10th-14th October was a full week of celebration as we reflected on our ten years of operation at the Narre Warren South Campus. We celebrated God’s goodness and provision over our College over these last 10 years with all students, staff (past and present), parents, visitors, alumni and invited guests.

Our first celebration event was our Primary Chapel on Thursday morning, where students enjoyed performances from our Junior Choir, some special memories shared by Mr Crnkovic, and a puppet show from ‘The Cruppets’ featuring Morrie the Monster, who delighted the students with lots of entertaining dialogue in a very funny and awesome performance. The service also featured a pre-recorded special greeting from Mr Jones, our former Librarian, together with his special puppet friend, Ivan. What a fabulous start to a very special day!

Our Special 10 Year Anniversary Celebration Service followed on Thursday afternoon and featured the sharing of stories and memories from the first 10 years by Mr Crnkovic, Mr Sheahan, Mrs Wong, Mr Burr and Mrs Langerak, along with photo slideshows, video segments and singing and musical performances from our Secondary Jazz Band and Max Harmony singers.

Students and visitors were presented with special commemorative chocolate as they left the service and commemorative badges were given to all staff and students to mark 10 years of operation at NWS. In the foyer, a visual display of photos told the history of the College going right back to how we began, with other photos showing the new buildings and facilities, to looking ahead to the future new buildings still to come, including the Junior Secondary Wing.

On Friday morning, all staff enjoyed a delicious morning tea and a special 10th Anniversary birthday cake. My heartfelt thanks to our parent volunteers who kindly and enthusiastically offered their precious time in helping set up the morning tea and managed the Parents’ Association stall at the Fair. We greatly appreciate and value your service to the College.

The culmination of the week's activities was the 10 Year Anniversary Twilight Fair on Friday evening. Despite the heavy rain leading up to the Fair, we were thrilled that the event was a resounding success, supported by the attendance of so many parents and students from across all year levels. It was wonderful to have many of our alumni students join us too.

Our VCE Art and Design Expo in the MPC provided visitors with a wonderful space to explore and appreciate the incredible artistic talents of our students. We all had an enjoyable time with so many fantastic and fun-filled activities, including the very popular dunk tank, as well as the opportunity to enjoy a delicious meal from the many international food vendors. This was the kind of celebration that was much needed for our community after last year’s lockdown and helped to create new and lasting memories. Thank you to all parents and families who came to support this important event in the life of the College.

All in all, our 10 Year Anniversary celebration was a demonstration of the goodness of God and His incredible provision and blessing over our NWS campus this past decade. So many wonderful stories and memories.

My heartfelt thanks to all who have been part of this journey, whether long or short, who have contributed to helping the College become what it is today. May God continue to bless our College over the next 10 years and beyond!

Mr Mark Crnkovic (Head of Campus, NWS)

Waverley Connect

Issue 9 · 14 Nov 2022

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