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Our biggest Twilight Picnic ever!

After not being able to hold a Twilight Picnic last year and then having to postpone our picnic this year due to weather, it was extra special to have so many families come together at our biggest ever Twilight Family Picnic last Friday evening.

We were blessed with amazing weather and more than 450 people attended. It was a wonderful opportunity to gather as a community, meet new people and catch up with other school families who we hadn't seen in a while. The Gelato and jumping castle were a big hit, as was the lawn games and old-fashioned picnic races. We all enjoyed the lovely BBQ rolls and sausage sandwiches while some families chose to bring their own dinner. Many also took advantage of The Bearded Brewer's coffees.

The luscious green grass of the back oval provided ample space for us all to spread out and for the older students to play some ball games.

A huge thank you to all the staff and parents/carers who helped make it such a wonderful evening; it would not have happened without you!

Year 6 enjoy a taste of Secondary

Last Friday, Year 6 students had the opportunity to experience life in high school at the Year 7 'Taste 'n' See' Experience Day. Our current Year 6 students, along with 13 students from other schools, experienced Year 7 classes for part of the day. The students really enjoyed making pizzas with Mrs Rogers, making lava lamps and watching an 'explosive' science experiment with Mr Terlich and art with Mrs Stewart. The Experience Day culminated in a yummy sausage sizzle with students and their parents.

Year 7 Students of the Week

We have kicked off Year 7 2023 with some wonderful efforts from many of our year group. Our first student of the week was Ashton J who demonstrates our school values of community, care and character on a daily basis. Our second student of the week was Chelsea M. She consistently strives for her best in all areas and is also a fantastic member of the school community. Our focus for stage 4 is the core value of community so it's wonderful to have students who provide an example to follow. 

7R - Digging up the past

As part of their unit in History on Investigating the Ancient Past, 7R have been learning about what an archaeologist does. We had fun grabbing some tools and undertaking our own dig, uncovering some treasures such as a Roman coin, an interesting skeleton and fragments of a possible ancient cup. 

Students completed an archaeologist's report on their findings. There are definitely some budding historians in 7R. 

Encore!!

Last Monday, the senior music students journeyed up to the Sydney Opera House to watch the HSC Encore event. This event is to showcase some of last year's top HSC music performances and compositions. It was a special treat for many of our students who had never ventured into the main concert hall of the Opera House. There was also a special buzz in the audience with many schools in attendance. 

Before any performance had begun, there was a mix of spontaneous 'mexican waves', 'Slow Claps' 'YMCA's' and 'We Will Rock You's'. It was awesome to be a part of the energy and witness such enthusiasm amongst this year's NSW HSC students. All the performances were amazing and were very well received by the audience. There are too many highlights to name them all but special mentions from our students go to the rock drum solo, the double bass quartet, the lute piece and the performance on the marimba.

After a long day on the train, we were all happy to get home and speak about what we learned from the other performances.

Teachers being taught

On Tuesday afternoon, our NCS Teachers were taught by our very own principal Mr. Jolliffe. For some it was a joy and for others it was a chore to focus their mind on Mathematics. However, the main topic was not Mathematics but Explicit Teaching. If you are interested to know what the teachers learned this week. Just ask them. 

Stars of Kindergarten

In our Kindergarten classes we have been learning all about the beautiful precious people that make our community wonderful. In the past two weeks, we have seen some amazing art, great creativity and lovely presenting by our kindergarten students during their 'Star of the Week' project presentations. 

Thank you mums, dads and carers for your help in preparing these.

Kindergarten Visiting 4B & 5P

This week Kindergarten visited 4B and 5P. The older students made their youngest peers feel so welcome as they visited their classes. Amazing pictures were created as young and old combined. It was a truly magical moment while teachers watched the collaboration and creativity transpire.

Leadership, Fellowship and Fun

Last Friday, 28 students from Years 6-10 spent the whole day together learning about leadership from a Christian perspective as part of our new Christian Leadership Program.

During the morning sessions, we were blessed to have Matt Barlett from Youthworks speak to us about what it means to lead like Jesus. Matt helped us to think about the type of leaders we wanted to be and set practical and achievable goals for leading and serving within our school.

At lunchtime we were joined by many of the students’ mentors who shared a delicious BBQ lunch with us. It was a joyous occasion as the students enjoyed sharing a meal and conversation with their mentors. A big thank you to Mrs Varga for organising the food and for Mr Tasker and Mr Hustwit for cooking the BBQ. 

The afternoon session was a time for developing communication, collaboration and leadership skills as we participated in a number of different team-building exercises.

Thank you to all the students who have volunteered to be part of the program. It is so encouraging to see young people actively taking steps to be the salt and light in our school community.

“If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”                                                                                                                                                  1 Peter 4:11

10G and Year 3 Get Together

Last Wednesday, Year 3 came to visit 10G under the trees in the high school area. It was a beautiful thing to see the excitement of the younger students and the gentleness of the older students. 

They gathered in small groups and talked about questions like 'What things in life have given you joy?' and 'When you are having a hard time, what helps you get through it?' The answers are going to help with a project 10G is doing.

Here's the aim - we are working on making a gift for Year 3. In our spare moments in 10G AM, we are reading all of Philippians to identify phrases and sentences that are on-theme, encouraging and memorable. The plan is to collectively design and create a colouring-in book that helps both 10G and Year 3 remember parts of Philippians and understand its message.

It's going to take us a while, but sometime in the middle of the year we hope to visit Year 3 with some meaningful and personal presents.