FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Alumni

Re: Threat to Christian Schooling and the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) Survey

You may be aware that the Commonwealth Attorney-General has asked the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) to undertake an Inquiry into Religious Educational Institutions and Anti-Discrimination Laws.

At present, our College has clear exemptions to allow us to teach and maintain our character as a Christian school, including in relation to our beliefs around gender and appropriate sexual behaviour. Activists have very actively sought to undermine these exemptions since 2018 through a campaign of misinformation and exaggerated and unverified claims. This is the background against which this Inquiry is taking place.

As part of the Inquiry, the ALRC has also established a confidential survey for members of the public to share their views and experiences on some key questions relevant to the Inquiry. We are asking for your assistance by completing this survey. The survey must be completed by 24 February. My apologies for the short notice. Please click here to access the Survey. If you have any doubts as to the need to complete the Survey, please see below for a recent article by John Steenhof, Principal Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Alliance.

“Many Christian schools in Australia are in dire trouble, from the very source – the Australian government – whose job it is to secure legislative protection for them. In mid-2021, the Albanese government directed the Australian Law Reform Commission to provide advice on how to remove protections in federal laws that allow Christian schools to operate according to their faith without fear of discrimination claims. The impetus for such changes is the incessant campaigning of anti-religious activists reciting ‘gay kids should not be expelled or disadvantaged in religious schools’ even though no example of a single mistreated vulnerable child could be found.

The ALRC has recently released a Consultation Paper which will make hostile activists think all their Christmases have come at once. It contains proposals that, if implemented, would rob many Christian schools of their very purpose, and inevitably lead to closures. It is unclear if the government has counted the cost of absorbing unmanageable numbers of students into public sector schooling in every state and territory if they are legislated out of existence.

One of the strangest paradoxes of Christian schooling is that it is supported by strong and sustained demand among average Australians (many of them non-Christian) but also attracts stringent hostility from cultural voices promoting a narrow anti-Christian agenda. Everything is about to change, for the worse. The long-established freedoms which have allowed Christian schools to flourish and contribute so positively to Australian education over the years, are on the chopping block.”

To continue reading John Steenhof’s article, follow this link.

The Chair of the College Council, David Burr writes:

“Over recent years, opponents of faith-based schooling have ramped up their activism aimed at making it difficult, if not impossible for religious schools to continue to serve the interests and wishes of their students and families. The College Council monitors these developments closely, and is particularly concerned by the recommendations of the Consultation Paper recently published by the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) aimed at removing exemptions currently available under federal law to faith-based schools to discriminate in their employment practices by selecting staff who share the school’s religious values. The implementation of these recommendations would spell the end of Christian education as we know it. In short, Christian schools would eventually lose the ability to remain Christian schools, and would eventually operate in much the same way as any other non-government school. The College Council is working closely with the Principal to oppose the adoption of these recommendations. Council is determined to do everything it can to enable the College to continue to provide an authentic Christian environment for students and staff, and encourages all members of the College community to join in this endeavour by, for example, writing to your Federal parliamentarians to express your opposition to the ALRC recommendations and completing the online ALRC Survey.“

In response to these matters, Christian Schools Australia has launched a campaign to mobilize member schools across Australia to make contact with their Federal members of parliament to address their concerns about the likely outcomes of the ALRC Inquiry. Accordingly, the College leadership will be seeking to make representations to the candidates for the Aston byelection (WS campus) and the Federal Member for Holt (NWS campus).

Above all, can I urge you to keep this matter in your prayers, asking God to bring to nothing the schemes of those who are opposed to the Christian School movement.

Every blessing

Mr. Peter Sheahan (Principal)

FROM THE HEAD OF CAMPUS (WANTIRNA SOUTH)

Those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength

The book of Isaiah is one that outlines God’s judgment and salvation toward the people of Judah.

Judah or the ‘Southern Kingdom’ as it was frequently known by, had turned away from God and worshipped other gods. They had forgotten who they were and how they came to be in the promised land. Due to their unfaithfulness, God allowed the great empire of Babylon to conquer them and move them into a strange land. For decades they were worn down as they had been put under hardship. The people of Judah became weak and dejected. Then the Lord said to them in Isaiah chapter 40, “Do you not know, have you not heard … the Lord does not grow tired … but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary; they will walk and not be faint.”

After sixty years of captivity, the nation of Judah was freed, and the people returned to their homeland to rebuild the temple. The prophecy of Isaiah gave the people hope in their suffering and motivated them to move through their troubled circumstances.

Hope is a powerful motivator, and it encourages us to not only look forward to the future but continue along the path we are travelling. As we start 2023, our staff and students are continuing strong and have much to hope for. We are hoping for rich learning moments in the lives of our students, for the safety of each child and for a wonderful year of fun and learning. We look forward to seeing new opportunities for students and new friendships that may emerge. Hope can be found in every aspect of our lives, but ultimately, all hope is found in our God. He not only directs each student’s path but has given them an eternal hope through Jesus Christ. The greatest of all hopes!

Building Update: North Wing Completed

In 2020, the construction of the North Wing started, and it wasn’t until last year, Friday 14 October 2022, that we were able to officially move in! The Year 5 and 6 students were thrilled to explore their new surroundings and enjoy the 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 and staff can remain close to other students across Primary.

As well as the students, Reception 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 in new surroundings. The new office spaces on the top floor of the North Wing were also opened for occupation.

Student Services Building

With the relocation of Reception to the North Wing, the College redeveloped the ‘old’ General Office into a Student Services building. The Student Services building will house a number of services specific to the needs and requirements of students, including:

Student Attendance
Lost Property
Uniform Shop
Sick Bay (3 Rooms)
Student Wellbeing Breakout spaces and Counselling rooms
Staff Offices

South Wing Project

We are very excited to be starting another building project! The Secondary Building has now been demolished and the ground works for the new foundations will begin in the next few weeks. The new building will house a VCE Study Centre, Careers, Staff offices, study areas, a connection to the Library, an outside deck amongst the trees, open classrooms for end of year examinations and a new Primary STEM classroom. We are hoping for an early 2024 completion, and I look forward to updating you on our building progress.

Mr. David Lepileo (Head of Campus, WS)

FROM THE HEAD OF CAMPUS (NARRE WARREN SOUTH)

It has been such a wonderful blessing to welcome back all our staff and students to the start of the 2023 school year. Those of you who were students back in the early years of the Narre Warren South Campus will be amazed to hear that we have grown to over 1014 enrolments this year. I commend our staff and students for their remarkable efforts in last year’s VCE results. Among our students, 28% of students achieved ATAR scores over 90 and 57% achieved an ATAR score over 80. I am pleased to report that we received a fantastic variety of Tertiary Offers for our VCE students last year.

SPARC

Many of our Alumni will be familiar with our unique SPARC program, an amazing class of diverse learners who range from Years 7-12 and are participating in a supported simultaneous education program in a mainstream educational setting.

SPARC stands for Supported Program of Applied Readiness for Community and our SPARC students participate in lots of incredible, practical, skill-based classes like Financial Literacy, Food Studies, Art, Social Skills, Community Service, Shopping and Café Management. In addition to their regular individualised supported programs for Literacy, Numeracy and Integrated Studies. The SPARC Café has been well received by our staff, building community across all staff when they come to the Café at lunchtime, once per week. Our SPARC students have learned a range of hospitality skills as a result of their experiences in running a café, including customer service, food preparation, barista skills, money handling and budgeting. The Café initiative has been a huge success and a great credit to everyone involved.

Staff Departures and New Staff Appointments

At the end of last year, we said a sad farewell to Mr Munyard, who accepted a position of Deputy Principal at Maranatha Christian School, beginning in 2023. Whilst this was a great loss to the College, it was encouraging to see Mr Munyard’s considerable talents and leadership ability see him appointed to such an important and significant leadership position in another Christian School and we congratulate him on his appointment.

Mr Munyard provided our NWS Campus with 9 years of outstanding leadership, joining in 2014, in a dual role as our first Head of Secondary and Head of Teaching and Learning. He has played a significant role in developing and growing our Campus, including growing our first cohort of Year 12’s in 2017. Many of our alumni students have been impacted in positive ways by their interactions with Mr Munyard over their years at the College.

We also said farewell to Mr Andrew Hindle, who served the College across both campuses for 17 years. Mr Hindle has been appointed as the Director of the Senior Learning Centre at Crest Education. Mr Hindle was originally employed at our WS campus and in 2016 transferred to our Narre Warren South Campus, where he served as the Head of Teaching and Learning in Secondary. Mr Hindle will be fondly remembered by all students for his helpful and supportive nature and willingness to serve the College so diligently.

We appointed Mrs Shirley Patterson as our new Head of Secondary. Mrs Patterson is a passionate disciple and servant of Jesus with twenty years of senior leadership experience in Christian Schools, including Head of Secondary, Head of Senior School, VCE, VCAL and VET Coordinator. Previously she was Head of Learning, Innovation and Discipleship at Bayside Christian College, Langwarrin South.

Mr Aaron Woolnough, who was the Head of the Science, has been appointed as our new Deputy Head of Secondary and Mr Adam Dearness, who was the Head of OHPE, has replaced Mr Hindle as the Head of Teaching and Learning for NWS Secondary.

BUILDING PROGRAM

In relation to our ongoing building program, excavating has commenced on site for the new Junior Secondary Building. This brand-new facility will include eight General Classrooms, two Music rooms, one LEAPS Room, one SPARC Room, four Staffrooms, two Office Spaces, two Meeting Rooms and a Staff Lunch/Social Room. We anticipate this project will take all year and that we can commence classes in the new Junior Secondary building at the beginning of Term 1, 2024. If you have recently driven past the College along Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road, you will see the continuing roadworks on our new main entrance and signalised intersection. We look forward to the completion of this project and anticipate the opening of the new Main Entrance, compete with traffic lights at the end of Term 1.

ALUMIN REUNION (CLASS OF 2018)

If you are part of the 2018 Alumni group, please save the following date as we are hosting a reunion at “The Hill” Berwick on 11th, May (Thursday). We would look forward to catching up with you all and hope to see you there!

OTHER SCHOOL UPDATES

You may be interested to hear that at the Secondary Swimming Carnival, Wycliffe took 1st place in the Swimming Trophy and in the House Spirit trophy.

An exciting event coming up this year is our Secondary Production of “The Sound Of Music”. Rehearsals are well underway, and there will be amazing performances from the two talented casts. I hope to see many of our Alumni come along, in Term 3.

On 2nd May, we are having an Open morning and we are excited to showcase the College and share in all the new developments at the College in the future. Alumni students are welcome!

COLLEGE VALUE: LOVE

I pray that our Alumni are all doing well and experiencing God’s favour in their studies, work and whatever avenues life has taken you since leaving WCC. We will continue to pray for each one of you and in closing, I would like to share an encouraging word for you on the College value of “Love”, which is our 2023 focus:

“And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:18-19)

May God bless you all as you continue life’s journey.

Mr. Mark Crnkovic (Head of Campus, NWS)

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