Years 7 - 12
A Leader is a Servant
Recently I had a conversation with a Year 12 student (who shall remain nameless) about legacy, leadership, and what they could do for Bayside in their final year, in other words - choosing to ‘look outwardly and demonstrating a servant heart’.
At one point, I gave this young person some positive feedback that I’m sure caught them a little off guard. The comment was; “In my limited time here at Bayside I have noticed that you have the capacity to be an amazing leader of people, should you choose.” I hope that even though I witnessed a slightly awkward response in that moment, this student then went away and continued to process why what they simply do day to day warranted the praise received. Will this brief exchange leave a lasting impression and lead to positive change? Well I don’t have the answer to that yet and only time will tell.
On Monday, we had our first Secondary assembly for the year. A new and permanent item during these community times together is the ‘Bayside Way’ award, given to two students from each year level each term. The purpose of this award is to acknowledge students who consistently model one or more elements of our Bayside Way; Respect, Responsibility, Maximising your Learning, and Kindness in their everyday approach to school life, in or out of the classroom. I hope that the first twelve recipients are very proud of their efforts as it definitely does not go unnoticed.
This assembly also had another new, exciting, and ongoing element to its make-up, the fact that it was entirely student led. Recent conversations with the Senior leaders (Years 11 and 12) have been similar to the brief student interaction that I previously mentioned; one of legacy, visibility, and demonstrating servant heart leadership. Based on what we witnessed this week, these leaders are off to a flying start and I can’t wait to see what the whole group can achieve with this mindset they’ve been asked to embrace.
In the gospel of Mark, Chapter 10, two of Jesus’ disciples, James and John, asked Him if they could “share in your glory” by sitting either side of Him. By being in such positions, they would have received honour from the other disciples witnessing this proposed arrangement and increased authority within the discipleship group. Rather than just agree to their request without giving it much thought, Jesus, as he so often did, seized the opportunity and turned it into a teachable moment.
From verses 38 to 45, Jesus reveals his thoughts on what type of style a leader should aspire to be and model. “Whoever wants to be a leader among you,” Jesus said, “must be your servant.” When considering a servant’s job, in its true sense, I think of a person who cares for the needs of others rather than his or her own needs. It denotes a person who serves with humbleness at the forefront of their thinking and in a subservient manner.
Upon hearing Jesus's vision of leadership, I can imagine how shocked his disciples must have been, considering the culture of the time. The thought of how a leader can also be a servant must have initially been very confusing to process and understand.
I believe that this leadership mindset continues to unsettle most people today who find themselves in such a position, including Christian leaders. Unfortunately, it is in our human nature to initially want to seek position, status and power over others rather than opportunities to humbly serve and make a difference to those around us.
Being a servant leader is still just as countercultural today as it was back in Jesus’ time. In Secondary School at Bayside, I would like to think that we can make an active commitment this year (and beyond) to try to normalise this train of thought with our students, whilst trying to also model this behaviour ourselves as teachers, leaders, and parents/carers. It is our hope that we all seek opportunities to ‘look outward’ and invest time in helping and/or serving others, regardless of the person's position or age.
Would it not be wonderful if we were all part of a wider school community that always sought to treat everyone with love, kindness and respect, where the needs of others were actively cared for and forgiveness was a strong and valued character trait modelled by each one of us? I propose, in today’s society that is awash with selfish human behaviour and inward thinking; is it wrong for us to hold on to utopia for Bayside Christian College?
God Bless,
James Kumnick, Head of Secondary
Compassion 345 Challenge
Year 11 VM students are raising money for the Compassion 345 challenge during Week 9 of this term. The challenge is designed to raise money to feed some of the 345 million people, who will not eat any food today. They’ve formed two groups and will be walking 345 minutes or reading 345 pages during Week 9.
Please support our students by putting your spare change into their collection points during the Compassion Easter Community Market, coming up on Thursday 30 March. The market is being held in G-Block from 3:15 to 4pm.
Mr Ken Berry, VCE VM Coordinator
Secondary Swimming Carnival
Year 7 Maths Pathways
When Year 7 students start Secondary School they are introduced to the Maths Pathways Program. So far in Term 1, students have been learning how this runs and what this looks like in the classroom. Maths Pathway is a Learning and Teaching Model that supports individualised learning for each student.
One key component of our maths program is Rich Learning. Rich lessons are a chance for the whole class to work together on broader problem solving and multi-topic problems. Another exercise we use throughout our lesson are energisers. Energisers are short, open-ended, mathematical problems that get students thinking mathematically before diving into more complex work. The pictures below show students working on energisers and Rich Learning in the last few weeks.
Ms Paris Farr, Secondary Teacher
Year 9 Health and Wellbeing
As part of their first unit in Health and Well-Being (HWB), Year 9 students are participating in a unit focussed on basic first aid skills. This includes core concepts such as following the process DRSABCD, method to correct CPR and other skills such as putting someone in recovery position, asthma treatment plans and administering an Epi-Pen.
A core aspect of HWB as a whole is to equip students with practical skills and understanding of relevant challenges they may face in real life. As part of this, students have spent a significant amount of class time practising CPR on the CPR dummies in provided scenarios (pictured) and placing people in the correct recovery position.
Mr Josh Goschnick, Secondary Teacher
Year 9 Science
Year 9/10 OES: White Water Rafting
Year 11 PE
Unit 1 PE focuses heavily on the anatomy (structure) and physiology (function) of the human body, particularly in relation to performance within a competitive physical activity setting. Year 11 students have just begun Area of Study (AOS) 2, which relates to the cardiorespiratory system. An early focus of this AOS is the structure of the heart. To develop their understanding of this concept and help students visualise what this looks like in real life, they undertook a heart dissection. During this process they identified key structures in a hands-on way.
Mr Josh Goschnick, Secondary Teacher
Year 11 Media
Our Year 11 Media class has been working on developing the cover art for fictitious interest publications to demonstrate our understanding of various magazine conventions. After we first brainstormed our ideas, we combined our DSLR photography and lighting skills with Photoshop to add in the Masthead, and cover-lines. Which magazine is of most interest to you? -
Mr Joel Kong, Secondary Teacher
Year 11 Legal Studies
Since the start of this year, our class has grown from 13 to 17 students, and newcomers are catching up quickly. We have been learning about the foundations of our legal system, including how laws are made through parliament and the courts, the key principles of criminal and civil law and the importance of laws in contributing to social cohesion.
In examining the concept of justice, we consider the principles of fairness, access and equality. We are currently studying more closely the area of criminal law, including the indictable offences of murder and culpable driving.
Students are beginning to work on their criminal law folio, researching recent criminal cases and the issues they raise. Students are encouraged to bring current cases to class for discussion.
Year 12 Legal Studies
Our class of 4 is taking its legal knowledge to another level in examining more closely our Victorian criminal justice system, and the degree to which it achieves the principles of justice (access, equality and equality).
Students are required to not only apply their knowledge to cases and scenarios, but also to think critically about the extent to which our criminal justice system is effective and how it can be improved.
Legal Studies Excursion
After 3 years of not being able to visit the courts in person, both legal classes finally have the opportunity to go on an excursion to the Melbourne Magistrates’ Court and VCAT on 5 April. This will be a valuable experience that will bring to life what we are learning in the classroom. We will also be engaging with the County Court’s online program on our return to school in Term 2. Our aim is to also return to the Supreme Court later this year.
Mrs Sonja Campbell, Secondary Teacher
Chess Club
Secondary Chess Club has been running on Monday lunch times this term and has been well received by students. Students from Year 7 through 12 have participated in some highly contested, well natured games. We look forward to continuing to build momentum in this space as we progress towards the SIS chess competition that will be held on Thursday, Week 9 in Term 3.
Mr Josh Goschnick, Secondary Teacher
