Wise words with...

Welcome Back

'And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching..' Hebrews 10:25

Welcome back to all of our NCS families as we enter the final term of 2022. I trust that all students and staff have had opportunities to rest and refresh with your families and friends during the recent holiday period. I also extend an especially warm welcome to the new families who have joined our NCS community for the very first time. We have nine new students who are commencing this term. I trust that they will all soon feel very much ‘at home’. I was also delighted to see so many smiling faces and to witness the friendly conversations as I had the opportunity to meet and greet families in the carpark area on Tuesday of this week.

I am pleased to report that we have got off to a very smooth start that now sees us at the completion of Week 1 of what is a nine week final term. As always, this first week has been a very busy one that has seen all students quickly settling back into a productive work routine. Please be especially aware of our Years 11 & 12 HSC students as they have now begun their final examinations. This is a very demanding time for them and I would encourage you to uphold these students in your prayers. The final HSC examination involving our students will conclude on Friday 4 November.

Term 4 will contain many very significant events that will be of direct relevance to our NCS community. I cannot mention all of them here but you will be able to read more information about many of them, both in this edition of NCS Bytes and on our NCS Facebook page. 

As you would be aware, we had originally planned to hold our Twilight Family Picnic in March of this year. However, due to inclement weather, we were unable to do so and made the decision that we would relocate it to Friday 28 October when Daylight Savings would allow us sufficient time to enjoy gathering outside as a school community. We have been carefully monitoring the weather forecast over the past few weeks and, unfortunately, the likelihood of further significant rainfall has reluctantly led us to the decision that we will now cancel this event for this year. 

Nevertheless, as a school community, there will still be ample opportunities for us to gather together on numerous occasions for a variety of reasons. As I am writing this article on Friday, two such examples have occurred where parents and carers were welcome to attend. These were our Secondary and Primary Assemblies. The Primary Assembly focused on the gifts and talents of our Kindergarten children and I have no doubt that this event was especially enjoyed by the many parents, carers and extended family members who were present. Another special event that always draws an appreciative crowd is the Year 6 Graduation Assembly that will be held on 6 December. 

Another very significant event will occur during our final week of school on the evening of Tuesday 6 December and I would encourage you to mark this date in your diary straight away as it is an evening that you simply cannot afford to miss. Of course, I am referring to our whole-school Thanksgiving Evening. The program for this evening is designed, as the name suggests, to provide our entire NCS community with the opportunity to give thanks to our God for His amazing blessings on our school during this past year. Sadly, we have been unable to physically meet together to celebrate this event for the past two years due to the impacts of the COVID pandemic. And, one further piece of exciting news that is ‘hot off the press’ is that this year’s Thanksgiving Evening will be held off-site, utilising the wonderful facilities of the Shoalhaven Entertainment Centre. I trust that you are already very keen to bring your family along to this special event and it will be our intention to provide more specific details in relation to booking arrangements and other matters in the very near future. 

On this occasion, my focus verses come from the book of Hebrews and it is one that I have referred to in the past. The full context of these verses is that they present a clear reminder for all Christians that we are not to live separate lives but instead to meet together so that we can encourage one another in our faith journeys. However, as a Christian school community, I believe that it also provides a relevant encouragement for all of us. 

We all come from individual families and these can be found in various shapes and sizes. However, we all belong to the bigger ‘family’ that is known as Nowra Christian School. We have chosen to send our children to this school. We have entered into a partnership between Home and School and we have all agreed to uphold the three key school values of ‘care, community’ and ‘character’. Given that one of these three values is ‘community’, I trust that every one of us has a genuine desire to get to know all of the members of our NCS ‘community’ more fully. I can think of no better way to strengthen this process than by committing to attend some of our forthcoming school assemblies and our Thanksgiving Evening. I know that you will not be disappointed!