Leadership
Unity and Maturity
A motto is a short sentence or phrase chosen that encapsulates the beliefs or ideals of an individual, family, or institution. The College motto sits amongst a number of high-level mission and vision statements that articulate what the College believes and stands for.
The College motto is most often stated under the Logo and can be found in many places including the student uniform. It is by far the most published of the College’s ideals.
Do you know what the motto of the College is?
I have been surprised at just how many people cannot answer this question confidently, if at all. If you are unsure, it turns out that the motto is “Unity and Maturity in Christ”.
This year, we have chosen to focus on the motto and very intentionally explore what this phrase means, and how it should impact the way we think and act at the College. The motto is not simply something to spruce up the logo, but rather it is a constant reminder of who we are to be as a community. It is a call to action, a statement of being.
Let us take a moment to break the motto down and ponder it as we step into the year…
“Unity and Maturity in Christ”
Firstly, our motto calls us, and challenges us, to strive for unity and maturity. Please stop and ponder the weight of this for a moment. This call is not a small thing. In fact, I would postulate that as a community in excess of 1000 individuals being unified and mature is a very difficult task indeed. Nigh on impossible even! How can we possibly achieve this lofty goal when we are constantly approaching any given topic or situation from 1000 different directions? With 1000 different experiences, perceptions, and often (let us be honest) incomplete information.
The answer to this question is simply, that we cannot. The good news is that the motto is not asking us the do the impossible. Because the motto when quoted as “Unity and Maturity” is incomplete. The College motto is “Unity and Maturity in Christ” and those two words at the end make a world of difference. The College motto calls us to unity and maturity in Jesus Christ, and the exciting news is, that in Christ, it is absolutely possible to achieve unity and maturity.
The motto challenges us to know and grow in our relationship with Christ, knowing full well that as we step deeper into this relationship we are transformed. That no matter what the issue, the topic, the concern or the challenge, if we approach any and all circumstances in the recognition that we are first and foremost followers of Christ nothing is insurmountable.
Our motto does not call us to create a place where we never disagree or have a problem, but rather it calls us to approach every moment and every situation in a posture of unity and maturity that only comes from accepting Christ as our Lord and Saviour. Our motto calls us to engage in the messiness of the world differently, and it is this difference that makes Bayside a fantastic place to live and learn.
Blessings,
Andrew Manning, Principal
Message from the Deputy
Welcome to 2023! It is wonderful to welcome several new families to the College, and of course, to have our continuing families with us.
We are excited for a new year and to see the students settling into their new classes and routines. Welcome also to our new staff:
Administration: Sharon Powers (Business Manager), Cindy Reed (Registrar) and Elijah Kruiskamp (Science Lab Assistant)
Teaching: James Kumnick (Head of Secondary) Takura Macharaga (Maths), Kerry Davies (Science) and Tim Clark (Design Technology and Maths).
Learning Support: Lynne Renshaw, Ros Hoeksema, Lauren VanRooyen, Miriam Cole-Sinclair, Saloni Ottern, Kasia Currie and Cathy Song.
We also have a number of College procedures for parents and visitors. In order to ensure awareness of these, please familiarise yourself with the following information:
Carpark Expectations
Please be reminded the carparks are a shared space, and are often crowded in the afternoons at pick-up time. Be patient- it is only 15-20 minutes of busyness each day. In order to ease congestion and keep traffic moving, please adhere to the following:
- Follow the arrows, park only in the marked bays with the vehicle’s nose facing in, or collect passengers from the drop off zone.
- When you enter the south campus gate, ONLY go straight ahead. Please do not turn right.
- Students may only be collected from in front of B-Block, A-Block or N Block. No students are permitted to wait on the pedestrian islands. These areas are checked regularly and students will be sent back to the correct waiting zones.
- To come to the South Campus drop off zone, please join the queue through the staff car park turn-around area. Please do not exit against the arrows. Other vehicles are waiting to enter.
- Move as far forward as possible to allow more vehicles to collect their passengers behind you. Vehicles should not be left unattended in the drop-off zones.
- Please do not pull in front of other vehicles in the drop-off zone. It will only take a few minutes in the queue.
- Only use the crossings to cross the carpark. Model correct procedures to your children.
- If you have children on both North and South campuses, please ask the Year 10-12s to be collected from South. Please do not cross between campuses during the morning or afternoon peak periods.
- Please be reminded that there are no staff on duty until 8:35 am. We request that you avoid dropping your children off before this time.
Please also note that the grassed area to the left of the entrance to South campus is council land and should not be used for parking. If council officers attend, parking in this area may be subject to fines.
There is also no safe crossing to access this area and we request that you do not park there. We are continually mindful of student safety as our main priority during morning drop-off and afternoon collection. We appreciate your support and patience, particularly during the busy afternoon time.
Proactive Partnerships
If you need to contact your child/ren's teacher for any reason, please use their email to arrange an appropriate meeting (use: firstname.lastname@baysidecc.vic.edu.au).
Just before homeroom each morning, most teachers are getting organised for the day, so please allow them to do this in order to have the best preparation for classes, and make another time.
If you have any concerns, or just want to speak with a teacher, please refer to the classroom teacher in Primary, or the subject teacher in Secondary as the first contact. The coordinators and Heads of School may be contacted as communicated from the particular sub-schools.
School Management Systems
Sentral is the system used to monitor student attendance and reports. CANVAS is used to monitor student learning and assessment requirements and due dates. Parents have access to both of these systems. Please contact bccsentral.comms@baysidecc.vic.edu.au if you do not have your parent details set up.
Parent Conferences
Our Primary Parent/Teacher conferences and Secondary Parent/Student/Teacher Conferences will take place on Tuesday 7 March and Wednesday 8 March. This is a wonderful opportunity to catch up and share our partnership to discuss the progress and plans for best supporting your children's education, both from school and from home.
Information will be sent out in the next few weeks, regarding how to use our online booking system, PTO, to make a time to meet with your children's teachers.
Tuesday 7 March will be a regular school day with on-campus (in person) appointments from 3:40pm to 7pm. Buses will run as normal on this day. Wednesday 8 March appointments will be online through Zoom from 9am to 7pm. This will be a student-free day. Camp Australia will provide care for those already registered with the program.
Once again, it is a blessing to have you with us at Bayside this year as we partner together in Christian education. May 2023 be a wonderful year for you all.
Toni Steinbergs, Deputy Principal
School Fees and Funds
A reminder to families who are paying their school fees on a termly basis that the second payment date is coming up on Friday 24 February. Please contact the finance manager (finance@baysidecc.vic.edu.au) if you have any questions or concerns regarding your payment.
Due dates for payment of fees are as follows:
- Term instalments Friday 24 February (Term 2)
- Friday 12 May (Term 3)
- Friday 11 August (Term 4)
- Half-year instalment #2: Friday 12 May
- Monthly Instalments: 9th of the month (or next available business day)
Please deposit by the due date to ensure you receive your discount.
Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (For holders of a valid Centrelink Card):
The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides payments for eligible students to attend activities like:
- school camps or trips
- swimming and school-organised sport programs
- outdoor education programs
- excursions and incursions.
If you hold a valid Centrelink Concession or Veteran Card, you may be eligible. Please note that the card must be in the parent's name. Cards in the child's name are not eligible.
Applications for 2023 are now open and will close on 23 June 2023. Please bring completed form and card to the College office or email a copy of both to the Finance Manager.
See the CSEF website to check your eligibility.
Please contact Finance Manager Helen Spink if you have any questions via email helen.spink@baysidecc.vic.edu.au
Head of Teaching and Learning
I stumbled across an article during the holidays entitled “Being taught by the same teacher twice – the impact on achievement and behaviour”published in the Teacher Magazine. I’ve always been a firm believer that smaller schools know their students better, have stronger relationships and are therefore able to teach their students better. This thinking however, has always been somewhat of a hunch and I’ve never really been able to articulate why I believed this to be the case.
At Bayside, we have a composite class model and small teacher teams in our primary school. This leads to better ongoing handover and transitions from one year to the next, and allows the option for a teacher to teach a particular child in consecutive years if it is beneficial to do so. In secondary school, it’s even more common for children to have the same teachers from one year to the next across many of their subjects.
This article based on significant research observational, survey and data analysis, was able to articulate more clearly the exact benefits that a smaller school with repeated teachers offers.
The research report underpinning the article states ‘…that repeat teachers increase students’ test scores across all grade levels. We also find that these repeat interactions decrease disciplinary infractions for students across grade levels and improve attendance in high school by reducing truancy,’ ‘…student-teacher relationships also evolve over time as teachers get to know their students better and are able to more effectively tailor their instruction to students’ individual learning needs. Similarly, students adapt to a teacher’s classroom management and teaching style over time.’
The findings and discussion of the Second Time's the Charm? How Sustained Relationships from Repeat Student-Teacher Matches Build Academic and Behavioral Skills report can be in the article link below:
Joel Williamson, Head of Teaching and Learning
Happy Families Resource
As you know, our school is subscribed to Parenting Ideas, which is now owned and run by one of Australia’s leading parenting experts, Dr Justin Coulson. As such, the membership is now called Happy Families School Membership and there have been some exciting changes to the platform. Please take the time to read the information below so you can keep enjoying these helpful parenting resources.
We’ll keep sending out the Insight articles with our school newsletter and you’ll now also have access to the Insights library of 300+ past articles via our school’s unique URL.
Individuals will no longer need their own login and password. We recommend bookmarking this link. You should only need to put the password in once and the site will remember you. The password is: happybcc
Insight Article: Starting the Year Right
Welcome to 2023. The holidays are over. School is back. And routines are recommencing. For many families this means:
- extra stress (some kids don’t feel excited about heading to kindy/prep/ reception or school),
- extra costs (let’s face it, uniforms, shoes, and the rest of it all)
- extra challenges (ADHD, dyslexia, other needs, friendship issues, learning difficulties).
Of course, it’s not all bad news. Some families are delighted. Holidays create stress because of babysitting challenges, costs for entertainment, and more. And fortunately, there are tens of thousands of our kids that actually enjoy school and are glad to be back. As it happens – so are we!
Parenting Ideas has been providing helpful parenting advice to parents in early learning centres, primary schools, and high schools around Australia, New Zealand, and the world for over two decades! This year it’s no different.
Parent Webinar: Getting into the Learning Zone with James Anderson on Monday 27 March at 8pm AEDT
Each term, you’ll have access to a LIVE parent webinar. With webinars now being run live, this means participants can ask Dr Justin (or the guest speaker) questions in real time. Just like for Insights, you’ll be able to access the webinars via our school’s unique URL and password (no more coupons!). The recording will be available for 12 months.
How does your child approach challenges? Do they often take the easiest option? Do they sometimes give up when learning starts to get tough? Do they dislike the struggle that comes with learning something challenging?
Our relationship with challenge is one of the key elements of Learnership – the skill of learning. In this insightful and powerful session, James Anderson will show you how you can help your child develop a strong positive relationship with challenge. He’ll show you the practical strategies you can use at home and in school to put your child on path towards embracing challenges and becoming a skilful learner. He’ll show you how to get your child into their Learning Zone.
*Please note that the link will only work if you are already signed into your school’s page.