2022 School Captains and Prefects

Congratulations to the following students on being elected as our 2022 School Prefects:

School Captains: Alec D and Bethany W

Secondary Prefects: Ollie E, Jonathan W, Isabella C and Eden R

Primary Prefects: Benjamin G, Levi O, Hannah J and Jada L

Year 12 Graduation

Congratulations, Year 12 - class of 2021!

The Year 12 students were all smartly dressed up for the graduation dinner on Thursday 2 December at Coolangatta Estate. We had a lovely time taking photographs and celebrating all the various achievements throughout the year. We are thankful for them as they have demonstrated resilience throughout the last two years due to COVID. Please pray for them as they leave our school for their next adventure.

Thank you for your support!

Thank you, students, staff and parents/carers for all the generous donations to the Nowra Community Food Store. The secondary captains delivered all the goods on Wednesday. Thank you, Mr Hefferan for driving us.

Lincoln's ARTEXPRESS success!

Congratulations Lincoln D, recent NCS graduate. His HSC Visual Arts Body of Work The Adoration of Adolescence (2021) has been selected for display in 2022 ARTEXPRESS. This coveted and well known exhibition will be held at the Art Gallery of New South Wales and opens February. Mrs Stewart is delighted with Lincoln's achievement. 'Lincoln has a natural gift for portraiture and showcased his skills in this impressive Body of Work. To have an artwork exhibited as part of the ARTEXPRESS showcase is a huge honour. Only exemplary artworks showing technical accomplishment and conceptual strength and meaning are included. It was a wonderful experience to witness Lincoln develop his ideas and skills into a wonderful final piece.'

Lincoln prepared an artists' statement to accompany his artwork for the exhibition.

"The Adoration of Adolescence (2021), I explore the intricacies of the emotive landscape of adolescents as I borrow the dramatic romanticisation of the Italian Renaissance chiaroscuro technique. I started my major work as an interest-based project on my growing abilities in portraiture and felt it apt to convey both the positive and negative emotions of myself and the classmates around me as I was in ‘the eye of the storm’ of the HSC. I used soft pastel as a medium as it matched the ephemeral nature of emotions and carried the vibrancy to contrast the black Stonehenge paper."

Year 6 celebrate at Jamberoo!

The most anticipated event was finally here – the Year 6 end-of-year excursion to Jamberoo. There were 33 excited Year 6 students waiting eagerly to board the bus to Jamberoo on Tuesday morning. The exhilaration continued on the bus. As the bus was nearing Jamberoo, they let out an excited squeal when they saw a part of the Funnel Web ride from the road.

'The weather was perfect and we almost had the park to ourselves.

I really enjoyed The Perfect Storm even though I screamed the whole way down. It was so much fun. When we got to the Taipan, my friend laughed the whole way down at me screaming on the ride. The Rapid River was really calm and relaxing after all the terrifying and thrilling rides.' – Bridget. C

'My favourite was either The Perfect Storm or The Rock. At The Rock, I jumped off the five meter rock, the three meter rock and slid off the slide. My highlight of the day was that everyone realised halfway through the day that Mim, Tenayah and I all had the same rashy. I also enjoyed the freedom of walking around without teachers.' – Caitlyn. S

'My favourite ride was The Perfect Storm because it was such a fun ride. My second favourite ride was the Funnel Web because it was fun and a little bit scary.' – Emily. W

'I really liked The Perfect Storm because it has 2 drop offs and is fast. I also liked the Rapid River. It is a relaxing ride until you are sprayed with water.' – Grace. M

'My favourite ride was The Perfect Storm. It's really scary. I went on the Perfect Storm with Mrs Flippence and Mrs Varga. I really enjoyed the day and I wish we could all go again.' – India. M

'My group first started at The Rock. Only Grace and I went off The Rocks. It was scary at first but then it became fun. We went off the big one, the small one and then the slide. We went on all the rides but one of my favourite was The Perfect Storm. It was so cool. We went down it many times.' – Layla. M

Stage 3 surfing safaris

Late last week, on Thursday and Friday, Stage 3 students embarked on two day trips with Surfing Safaris to Narrawallee, near Ulladulla.

Thirty Year 5 students headed out on the Thursday, for a terrific day of beach and water activities. Playing around the rockpools, building sandcastles, playing ball games and generally having fun with school mates was fabulous fun. As well as the land activities, our two groups were each taught some surfing guidelines, then had a lesson in the waves. The vast majority of students managed to grab what swell there was and catch a few waves. Mrs Smith was persuaded to try surfing for the first time. She managed to stand up and catch a wave. Woo, hoo!

On Friday, it was the turn of our Year 6 students to head down south for a sensational time of surfing and sand play. Both Mrs Flippence and Mr McLennan took part in the surfing lessons, to great aplomb! Although the day was overcast, the surf conditions were near perfect and much success was enjoyed by all.

I had fun watching people surf. I especially loved playing with my friends. - Ella C

I liked the surf day because we had lots of fun. My highlights were: catching waves, playing handball on the beach, looking for and catching crabs, surfing for the first time and getting bumped in the head with my board! - Levi

We played in a rock pool after we went surfing and I found a really cool shell. It was blue and white. - Brylee

A highlight for me was being able to stand up on my surfboard and surf all the way to the sand. - Madeline

I had an amazing day and I was extremely tired! - Breanna.

Surfing is really fun and the coaches were making funny jokes all day. I loved surfing with my friends. I really hope that I can do it again next year. - Sophie. H

Year 8's Treetop Adventure

On Wednesday 8 December, Year 8 visited Treetops Adventure Nowra. The students overcame obstacles to complete the aerial challenges on the seven tree rope and cliff-edge courses. We had a great day of fun and collaboration with the Year 8 cohort!

Year 7 spaghetti bridges

The Year 7 Technology class has been learning about strong bridge construction this term. They finished off by building bridges from spaghetti then loading them up with weights to see whose bridge held the most.

The best bridge with the highest strength to weight ratio was small, but well built to hold the most water - created by Rubymay P, Chloe C and Isabella M. Congratulations to Laurie L and Ronin M who built the bridge that held the most weight.

Farewell and Thanks to Olivia Corish!!

It is with sadness that NCS farewells our talented peripatetic voice teacher Olivia Corish.

We thank Olivia for her time and dedication, and are blessed by the way she has cared for her students. We wish Olivia all the best as she takes up an opportunity for classroom music teaching next year, and share her excitement as she embarks on this new adventure.

Please follow the link below to register for peripatetic lessons in 2022

https://forms.gle/7i9LaBPRueY9eT377

La Bûche de Noël

Once again, it was time for Year 8 French classes to create their Bûche de Noël.

The Bûche de Noël is a famous French Christmas tradition. This French dessert is part of the famous French Christmas feast. It’s made of sponge cake and covered in chocolate or buttercream. The Bûche de Noël is shaped into a roll and is made to look like bark to represent the tradition of burning the yule log. The tradition used to be the burning of the yule log which was burning a massive log but not letting it completely burn. Now it is a delicious dessert found in every French house and eaten every year around Christmas time. Annie M

What does it represent? Bûche de Noël represents the yule log. The yule log is something that families would burn starting on Christmas eve. This symbolises the new year and brings good-luck to the family. Maddie C

The Bûche de Noël cake is a French Christmas tradition that dates back to the 19th century. The cake represents the yule log that families would burn starting on Christmas Eve. it is one of the oldest French Christmas traditions. It dates back to Celtic times before Christmas in France was celebrated. Danica, Rylie and Sophie

Seniors finish the year walking on water!

Years 10, 11 and 12 had a fabulous end-of-year celebration activity at Kings Point, along with Mr West, Mrs Rebel, Mrs Thompson and Mr Clarke.

We were ably looked after by the Walking on Water activity crew. Students took turns on stand-up paddle boards, both single and giant, as well as kayaking. The weather turned glorious for us for most of the time in answered prayer. Students were enthusiastic and were a great representation of the values of our school.

It was special to be able to share the event for a final enjoyable goodbye to our finishing Year 12s. Have a restful, blessed break seniors and teachers.

Years 7 - 9 enjoy last day at Jamberoo!

After a year of cancelled excursions, and a month of dicey weather, it was so exciting for all of Years 7 to 9 to attend Jamberoo. The weather forecast was for a lot of rain, but instead the sun shone from the minute we got there. It continued to shine throughout the day as students enjoyed rides, snacks and time with each other. The rain came only as we were packing up to come home. As always, the students were a delight to take on this excursion. Teachers and students alike relaxed and thoroughly enjoyed the day, whether it was screaming on The Perfect Storm or sitting for chips and coffees. It was a pleasure to see the smiles on faces!

Maths Enrichment

A small group of students in Year 7 have been taking part in a Maths enrichment project. They were given a design brief in which they had to use symmetry and asymmetry in balance to create a design in architecture, logos or quilts.

This required them to research the concepts, past designers and designs and then create their own design. The culmination of the project was a morning tea with a local graphic designer, Amy Wagner who shared some of her designs and gave each of the students feedback about their designs.

It was a lovely time of sharing their work and morning tea together. As a teacher, it was very encouraging to see students using valuable higher level thinking skills in a creative way. We were all very thankful to Amy Wagner for giving up her time to share her design industry insights.

Fast fashion: the killer or the saviour?

Year 5/6S came across the term 'fast fashion' during our remote learning period. The issue of 'fast fashion' tied in well with our Science units: sustainably managing the environment to source food and fibre and properties of materials. We learnt that polyester is one of the least sustainable fibres and is harmful to the environment.

You may ask ‘What is fast fashion?’ In a nutshell 'fast fashion' is cheap, poorly-made clothing made in bulk (BTN Episode 24, 2021).

Here are some statistics, which shocked us concerning 'fast fashion':

each Australian buys an average of 27kg of new clothing and other textiles every year.
85% of our old and unwanted clothes end up in landfill
they are produced in developing countries and the average wage of the workers is 20c/hr
the majority of 'fast fashion' clothes are made out of polyester which takes 200 years to break down

To be part of the solution to the ever-growing 'fast fashion' trend, some of our Year 5/6S students made ‘no-sew bags’ from an unwanted t-shirt. It was rather tricky but a few managed to make them.

If you would like to try it and be part of the solution too, here is the link:

https://www.scatteredthoughtsofacraftymom.com/how-to-make-tote-bag-from-t-shirt-no-sewing/

As part of our writing unit, students wrote a discussion on the topic of 'fast fashion'. After you have finished reading one of our writings, where do you stand on the issue of 'fast fashion'?

Thank you lunch with the 2021 Captains and Prefect

Mr Bray and I enjoyed a lovely lunch on Wednesday with our 2021 Captains and Prefects. It was a good time to reflect together on how they have grown this year and to share some of their favourite memories. They have initiated the 'Stay and Pray' after the Monday morning assembly and the fundraising for the Voice of the Martyrs. We thank them for their services this year, especially when they had to lead during such a challenging year. They did this with grace and love for their fellow students. Thank you for your time and leadership this year! We pray that God will continue to bless all of you.

Mrs Meek

Head of Secondary

Primary ICAS English and Mathematics Competition

Congratulations to all students who entered these competitions. This year, we saw NCS students achieve some very strong results. A number of distinctions, credits and merits were achieved. These competitions test children against a large group of students who show aptitude in these subjects across Australia and South-East Asia. Special congratulations to Gabrielle P, Ethan V, Tyler Mc and Jethro S for achieving in the top 10% and receiving a distinction! Ethan, Tyler and Jethro all top-scored and received the Principal's Award for 2021.

Prayer Points