Secondary School
Head of Secondary Update
A warm welcome back to Term 4. Suddenly the holidays are a distant memory as we near the end of our second week back at school with much accomplished. Our Year 7 & 9 OES students have already been on an excursion to Point Nepean and Urban Surf respectively, all Year 9’s were involved in Allwell and Careers testing this week in readiness for Year 10 and work experience, and we even managed to have a staff verses Year 12 student basketball match at lunchtime on Tuesday, with the staff team just winning in the end.
For our Year 12 cohort, they are days away from finishing their schooling journey at Bayside. Final classes are on Monday 16th October with a Year 12 ‘Thank You’ assembly to commence the day in which the ‘class of 2023’ addresses the whole school one last time.
Later that afternoon we will have the Year 12 final formal assembly, which is specifically for this cohort of students, their families, and teachers. The last day for Year 12 is Tuesday 17th October where students will have breakfast together, dress up in their favourite costume, and parade around the Primary and Junior Secondary areas on South campus before heading off on an excursion to Melbourne Cable Park for one last adventure together.
VCE students then turn their attention to final preparations for their end of year VCAA examination period which commences which English on Tuesday 24th October whilst our VCE VM students commence work in their chosen career path. I encourage these students to embrace their final moments together and finish well.
Just as we are winding up to say farewell to our ‘class of 2023’ we also say welcome to our three 2024 Year 7 classes as together they commence their transition period from Primary into Secondary school. The first of four transition events, our Year 7 Family Dinner and Information night, was held on Tuesday 10th October, with around 250 people attending.
Aside from sharing a very tasty meal together, cooked lovingly by members of our College board, it was lovely to see our Grade 6 students mingling with the many new students, who naturally were quite nervous attending their first official Bayside event. A reminder that the next event for our 2024 Year 7’s is the Elective Taster Day on Tuesday 14th November where students will get to experience different elective subjects offered at school.
May God bless each of these students' lives as they either commence their Secondary journey at Bayside or leave us shortly as this season comes to an end. Either way, there are exciting times ahead.
God Bless,
Mr James Kumnick
Science Week Awards
Spelling Bee Awards
Staff Vs Students Basketball
The year's final Staff vs. Students game brought us some nail-biting entertainment today at lunchtime. Staff defeated students at basketball 41-32. MVP awarded to Mr Beissmann
Year 8 Art
The Year 8 Art elective this semester has been exploring the period of Impressionism. They have also been experimenting with a range of watercolour painting techniques, and were required to complete a watercolour painting in an impressionist style. Here are a few examples of artwork they have produced.
Year 9 Leadership Week
During the final week of Term 3, the Year 9 cohort participated in Leadership Week. This event started with an incursion by Yellow Arrow on Monday, helping students to identify key areas of leadership and the skills and attributes they may already possess.
On Tuesday students ventured by train to Flinders Station and from there visited the Aquarium, The Lume, South Wharf, The Australian Sports Museum and toured the MCG. This was a big day, however students followed it by two more days in the CBD on Wednesday and Thursday visiting the State Library, The Old Melbourne Goal, China Town, ArtVo, O'Brien Icehouse and escape rooms.
Students concluded the week by putting on a carnival style event for those in Years Prep to 8.
Students set up activity stations and facilitated a fun morning of games and challenges for junior Bayside students. $659 dollars was donated through this ‘Pink Day’ to the Cancer Council and Breast Cancer network from Bayside.
All together the week sought to help students think through the types of skills that are sometimes taken for granted and overlooked. Using public transport, organising events and experiences ahead of time.
Thinking through experiences from the point of view of someone else. This was an enjoyable and eventful experience that exposed our students to the sights and sounds of the city and what it has to offer.
9/10 OES - Caving
Year 11 Chemistry Excursion
In the last week of term 3, the year 11 Chemistry class attended the Victorian Space Science Education Centre (VSSEC). They proposed 2 different scenarios about the effects of living in space on the different concentrations of essential ions in the blood.
Students were tasked with analysing these samples using two machines: a Ultra Violet Visible Spectroscopy (uses UV light) and an Atomic Absorption Spectrometer (uses flame). These are machines that are used in the industry and schools typically do not have access to these in the classroom. VSSEC put this on for students to get a taste of the processes involved in analysis and research. Students really enjoyed the day, working with their instructors.
Year 12, 2024 Varsity Jackets
Orders closing soon!
It is our custom to permit students in Year 12 to wear a Bayside Fleece Varsity Jacket during non-formal occasions in their final year.
Jackets can be purchased through the “Reform Clothing” website.
Each jacket is custom made so it is important to check the size guide prior to ordering. (see Reform Clothing’s T&Cs on their website).
Orders close midnight Friday 20 October
Teacher Contribution
Perspectives of a Secondary Maths teacher new to Bayside Christian College
What makes Bayside Christian College different from the school(s) down the road? This is my second year at Bayside and the school that God has called me to. What makes teaching maths so satisfying at Bayside, is the ability to teach from a Biblical worldview. First, what does the Bible say about knowledge and wisdom and how does it compare with a Godless teaching?
Proverbs 1:7 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.
As opposed to the world’s idea that the empirical method/science is the beginning of knowledge.
Proverbs 9:10 – The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom.
As opposed to methodological naturalism is the beginning of wisdom.
God has ordered the creation by his word, so we do not live in a chaotic world, we can do maths because God is faithful and reliable in upholding the world through orderly mathematical patterns, laws and structures that he embedded in his creation. Attributes of God is found in maths such as His infinity (like calculus and the numbers e and pi), His orderly precision and logical nature (like being represented in laws/equations in physics), His beauty (like Euler’s equation), His unity (the unifying principles and rules that make sense), His truthfulness (like 2+2=4, not whatever someone else’s opinion) and His consistency (not having the laws of physics being different in other parts of the universe).
I have also taught things in the classroom that reflect the creation/fall/redemption model, like looking at the earth’s decaying total magnetic field energy (exponential decay). God created earth’s magnetic field very good, it is now subject to decay and God will restore His creation which is the hope we have in Christ.
Mr Peter Beissmann