Leadership News
Exploring Identity
The word Identity has been popping up over the past week. In an enrolment interview, a prospective parent said that they liked that the College was 'confident in its identity'. Similarly, this week I had the pleasure of spending time with the College Prayer Team, who shared that the Lord has been prompting the team to pray for our identity as a College. I have also had several conversations about the potential impacts on the identity of the College if it were unable to employ Christian staff.
These conversations have caused me to ponder this question of identity.
Knowing and understanding one's identity is important. Alis Aquilae - our Strategic Plan, states our hope that our graduates will change the world because “they are confident in their identity in Christ, aware of their gifts and talents and prepared to meet the challenges of applying the gospel in an ever-changing world."
The disturbing truth is we live in a moment in time where people (particularly our youth) are encouraged to create, explore and act out their own identity. Pastor Mark Sayers, in his book “The Vertical Self” argues that culture no longer provides us with a foundation upon which to build an identity. That we have lost the art of forging character, and thus we find ourselves adrift, lost in a sea of insecurity — we do not know who we are. We have given up on finding our true selves, so instead of being ourselves, we play the game of creating and acting out self constructed identities.
Mark Sayers goes on to affirm that this process of seeking our true identity in truth, finds its foundation in God’s love for us. Marks says that “We all crave to find our true identities. Each one of us, at a profoundly deep level, no matter what we believe, is being drawn, cajoled, and beckoned by God to our true selves, to find ourselves as God sees us: redeemed and perfect.”
It is to this end, that at Bayside, we have set a great and lofty aspiration for our graduates. That they will change to the world because they are confident in their identity in Christ, aware of their gifts and talents and prepared to meet the challenges of applying the gospel in an ever-changing world.
Identity is also a challenge to the big people in our community. I wonder how confident you are in your identity in Christ, how aware are you of your gifts and talents? How prepared are you to meet the challenges of living and applying the gospel in an ever-changing world?
To be confident in our identity in Christ, I think is fundamental to enable us to find unity and maturity in Christ. It is no small task, but a task we must undertake to ensure that the College is properly nurturing and preparing students to meet the challenges in an ever-changing world.
If you would to read Marks's book it can be found here: The Vertical Self: How Biblical Faith Can Help Us Discover Who We Are in An Age of Self Obsession by Mark Sayers
Blessings,
Andrew Manning, Principal
Deputy's Update
How lovely it is now that we are settling into the routines of 2023. Classes are in full swing and already students are engaged in learning both in and out of the classroom.
We are very excited to welcome new families to the College and hope you are able to join us for our New Parents Dinner next Thursday 2 March. You will be able to meet some of the Leadership Team and support staff whilst enjoying a dinner that you didn't have to cook!
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 IT Support if you do not have your parent details set up.
School Photo Dates
Monday 27 March - Early Learning Centre
Tuesday 28 March - Years 7-12
Wednesday 29 March - Primary & Siblings
Thursday 30 March - Early Learning Centre
Friday 31 March - Early Learning Centre
More information will be sent to families soon.
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.
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.
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
AI in Schools - Chat GPT and its implications for education
ChatGPT, a powerful artificial intelligence language model, has the potential to revolutionise the way students learn and teachers teach. With its ability to generate human-like responses to a wide range of questions and prompts, ChatGPT can help students to learn more efficiently and effectively, and can also help teachers to deliver more personalised instruction.
One potential application of ChatGPT in education is in the creation of a variety of text types, which can be written in voices of younger students. By generating high-quality text quickly and efficiently, ChatGPT can help schools and students to produce informative written pieces that are both informative and engaging. With ChatGPT's help, schools can create exemplars, worksheets and other resources that are personalised to their audience and tailored to their specific needs.
ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence language model that can generate human-like responses to a wide range of questions and prompts. Essentially, it's a computer program that can "understand" human language and produce responses that are similar to those of a human being. ChatGPT has many potential applications, including improving customer service, assisting with research and development, and providing personalised recommendations to users.
For parents, ChatGPT can be a valuable tool for helping their children with homework or research projects. By inputting a question or topic, parents can receive a response that can help their child better understand the material. This can be especially helpful for complex topics that may be difficult to explain in simple terms.
Another potential use for ChatGPT is in providing personalised learning experiences for children. By analysing student data and adapting to individual learning styles and needs, AI-powered learning platforms can provide customised content and feedback to help each student reach their full potential. This can help students to learn more efficiently and effectively, and can also help parents to identify areas where their child may need additional support. Overall, ChatGPT has the potential to be a powerful tool for parents looking to support their child's education and learning.
Overall, the potential applications of ChatGPT in schools are vast.. As AI technology continues to advance, it will be interesting to see how schools and educators use tools like ChatGPT to improve the learning experience for students and teachers alike. With ChatGPT's help, schools can stay informed, engage their audience, and provide personalised learning experiences that help students to succeed.
* Disclaimer - This article was entirely generated using Chat GPT.
The use of AI and its impact on authentication of student learning and assessment is a rapidly evolving area. At Bayside Christian College, we are exploring both the threats and opportunities that advances in this AI provides, whilst also updating existing practices and policies.
Mr 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
Parent Webinar: School Sucks on Monday 27 February 8pm
Do you remember ever feeling like school was pointless? What was it that you swore you would never need to know “in real life”?While many children are content with learning for learning’s sake, there will be some who complain that school is pointless because they just want to be a tennis player, actress, hairdresser, or tractor driver. Or they’ll be upset because they’re learning things that they’ll never have to know at any point in the remainder of their lives… like surds! (What even is a surd anyway?)
For these kids, it can be beneficial to work with them to identify their purpose in going to school. Their purpose doesn’t have to align with what you think the ideal purpose is for going to school, but if they have a reason for getting to school, they’re more likely to find other things they also enjoy once they’re there. Need more support to help YOU help your child when it comes to making their school experience less of a misery? Join me for a webinar about how to make school suck a little less.
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.