NEWS

St Andrews a Standout in the East

The Age newspaper has awarded St Andrews Christian College the 'Best School in the East' for 2021. This award is a part of The Age's annual Victorian 'Schools that Excel' feature.

Winning schools are determined by analysing 10 years of historical data to ascertain each school's level of sustained improvement. The top performing school in each of the four regions: North, South, East and West is awarded the 'Best School' for their particular region.

St Andrews Christian College is delighted to receive this award but more importantly it is recognition of the hard work and commitment of our teachers, students and our community at large over many years. Well done everyone!

Primary Christmas Event

Follow the Star – Carols and Family Event

We are so excited to announce our Primary Christmas Event, to be held on Friday 26th November, 2021. More details to come soon, but for now… SAVE THE DATE!

College Café Open for Business!

We are excited to have had our new College Café – Taste ‘N See - commence operating from Monday 2nd August and hope that it will return once again as lockdown ends and on-site learning resumes.

Taste ‘N See opens for service from 8:00am daily during the school week. In the initial stages there will be limited access to who can purchase from Taste ‘N See. Currently only the groups listed below within our College community are able to purchase from Taste ‘N See.

In addition to serving hot drinks the menu will include a rotation of:

• Muffins & Banana Bread
• Biscuits & Slices
• Toasties
• Yogurt Cups
• Soups

Please note that Taste ‘N See operates on a non-cash basis.

We are currently working on an opportunity for Year 10 students to be involved in a service program through Taste ‘N See. In addition, we are looking at the possibility for parents to ‘work off’ Parent Participation hours by assisting at Taste ‘N See. We look forward to Taste ‘N See becoming a great addition to the College facilities.

Darren Waterworth

Business Manager

May 2021 Colouring Competition Winner

It’s my pleasure to announce Junru Teng as the winner of the May 2021 Colouring Competition!

Junru submitted an incredible entry, full of bright colours and life. It was amazing how she really embraced the materials and created a beautiful artwork. Congratulations Junru! The colouring competition’s prize will be awaiting collection from the office reception when we return to face-to-face learning at the College.

I would also like to congratulate the countless, talented students who participated on their stunning entries, and encourage them to participate in the upcoming August 2021 Colouring Competition!

Congratulations Barton - you just received 100 House Points!

Please print off the AUGUST COLOURING PAGE which is attached here to enter our next competition and return it to Mrs Heading's pigeon hole at Reception by the end of August.

Sophia Tran

St Andrews Christian College 2021 Visual Art Captain

Parent/Staff Prayer Evenings via ZOOM

St Andrews weekly Zoom Prayer Meetings are held on Tuesday evenings from 8:00pm – 8:30pm. The next one will be on Tuesday 17th August. All are invited to this time of prayer. We are greatly blessed at St Andrews to have the opportunity to gather together for prayer. 

It is always a real blessing and encouragement to remind ourselves of the goodness of our Lord in our own lives and in the life of the College. If you cannot make the prayer time, please put aside time to pray for St Andrews Christian College.

Any further queries can be directed to Suzy Song at the School Office. 

Suzy Song

The St Andrews Prayer Group

Enrolments for 2022

We have commenced our planning for 2022 and confirming places for new students to start in Term 1, 2022. Unless we have been advised, we are assuming that all current students will be returning to the College in 2022.

If a student is not returning to the College, in line with the enrolment policy, one term’s notice in writing is required. If the notice is not received on time, one term’s tuition fees in lieu of notice will be charged. This requirement is clearly noted in the Enrolment Agreement Form which all parents/guardians signed when their child(ren) was enrolled.

To assist our planning please advise the College by Friday 17th September 2021 if a student is not returning to the College in 2022. The notice should be addressed to the College Registrar and can be sent via email to registrar@standrews.vic.edu.au. It will be helpful to receive this notice as soon as possible as it will allow us to offer any vacant places to students on our waiting lists.

If there are siblings of current students wanting to enrol at the College, it is important that parents submit an Application for Admission two years prior to the planned year of entry. This allows the College to provide a priority place for siblings of current students. Siblings are not guaranteed a place if the Application for Admission is late. Late applicants will be placed onto the waiting list.

Please do not hesitate to speak with the Registrar, Mrs Suzy Song (8847 8309) if you have any concerns regarding this information or if you need clarification in any way.

Darren Waterworth

Business Manager 

Change of Term 2 & 3 Dates for 2022

Term 2, 2022 will finish on Thursday 23rd June. Friday 24th June will be a Curriculum Day for staff. Term 3 will commence on Thursday 14th July, 2022 and not Monday 18th July as previously advertised. Staff will start back at school from Monday 11th July and will be undertaking various Professional Development programs.

• Term 1 - Monday 31st January* – Friday 8th April  
  *Preps begin 2022 - Tuesday 1st February, 2022
• Term 2 - Wednesday 27th April – Thursday 23rd June
• Term 3 - Thursday 14th July – Friday 16th Sept
• Term 4 - Monday 3rd Oct – Tuesday 6th December

Catriona Wansbrough

Principal

School Crossing – Tyner Road

The Knox Council has asked that we communicate to the College Community requesting that vehicles do not  in any way obstruct the school crossing in Tyner Road. It has been observed that vehicles have been obstructing the crossing, and on occasions vehicles have stopped in the middle of the crossing. Your cooperation and understanding would be appreciated. Please note that Council parking officers regularly attend the area and will issue penalty notices if vehicles violate traffic rules.

Darren Waterworth

Business Manager 

Outside School Hours Care Newsletter

Parenting Ideas

For access to great ideas and articles to help you in your parenting journey, explore the Parenting Ideas website. Click here

Two of the latest articles which may be of interest are included below:

Parenting Ideas are also hosting a series of Webinars with highly credentialed parenting experts during 2021. These webinars can be attended free of charge (regular value $39) by using a Webinar Voucher which will be made available via the College Newsletter in the weeks leading up to the event. Mark your diaries for the next events as follows:

September 8th 8:00 pm – Taming digital distractions.

November 10th 8:00 pm – Using birth order knowledge for a parenting edge.

Michael Swanborough

Head of Learning and Teaching

*NEW DATE *: Monday 4th October 2021

CyberSafety - Parent Information Night

Due to the current lockdown, we have postponed this Parent Information Night to Monday 4th October at 7:30pm.

We have invited Susan McLean, author of “Sexts, Texts and Selfies” and an expert on Cyber Safety to speak at our College. Susan is Australia’s foremost expert in the area of cyber safety and was a member of Victoria Police for 27 years. Widely known as the ‘cyber cop’ she was the first Victoria Police Officer appointed to a position involving cyber safety and young people.

Please keep the NEW DATE free!

Catriona Wansbrough

Principal

Independent Schools Victoria (ISV) - The Parents Website

The Parents Website run by ISV serves as a gauge that measures the ebb and flow of the COVID-19 pandemic. When schools are forced into remote learning, and parents have to work from home, traffic to the website surges.

The site, which provides an expertly-selected range of news, features and resources for parents on raising and educating children, clearly fills a need. This is especially the case at a time when parents are under extraordinary pressure. It offers them news they can use as they support their children who are facing particular pressures of their own.

Items on the site specifically related to the impact of COVID include an article with advice for parents on supporting their children when they’re learning from home; another has practical tips on dealing with the family struggles in stay-at-home lives. 

A popular resource, created last year and updated since, is an extensive list of fun and educational activities for kids at home, drawing on resources from around the world.

The Parents Website maintains a broad focus, well beyond the pandemic. Recent topics include a discussion on the expectations of manhood placed on boys and their fathers, and academic research on the impact of screen time on the mental health of children.

This is a free resource, open to everyone, which provides practical reassurance in a tough time. 

Michelle Green

Chief Executive