Newsletter

In the early 1980’s a number of members at Belmont Baptist Church felt the need for a Christian education for their children. 12 students commenced schooling in the church hall. The aim of the school was to work in a three-way partnership with church, home and school to provide education in a Christian context. Numbers grew quickly and in 1992 the College moved to the present site.  Over a quarter of a century later the vision of the founding families is flourishing.

In order to ensure that the College remains future fit we are engaging in a master planning process. This process will help prioritise the next steps with our physical facilities to enhance our educational purposes. This will include anything that happens physically onsite, including classroom and learning spaces, playgrounds and sporting facilities, carparking and roads.

Student focus groups have already occurred, and staff have had the opportunity to contribute. Your input to this planning process is valuable. Thank you for your participation. We aim to complete our Master Plan by the end of this year and look forward to sharing this with our community.

Praise Points:

• Our College surroundings, it is a joy to work and learn in such beautiful surroundings
• New students and families who have joined our community
• The excitement building around the Primary School musical, Seussical Jnr
• The Master Plan process that is underway – involving staff, parents and students. How exciting to anticipate God’s provision for the future of BCC.

Please Pray for: 

• Families in our College who are experiencing challenging times – with their health, going through grief and family difficulties. Please uphold them before God’s throne of grace. 
• Our Year 12 students as they prepare for their Trial HSC Exams. It’s a big term for them. They will value your prayers. 
• Sharon and the Board as they seek God’s will and make decisions on behalf of the BCC Community.

Coins for Compassion Day

We are delighted to announce the total raised from the Coins for Compassion fundraiser on the last day of Term 2 was $9078!! What an awesome achievement! This means that not only will we be able to continue to sponsor our 5 Compassion children in Kenya and West Timor over the next year, we will also be able to make generous financial gifts to the children’s families and the projects they attend.

It was awesome to watch our students participate so enthusiastically in this fundraiser, knowing the reason they were doing it. Our heart is to see students understand the importance of mercy and compassion towards others, to live generously and show gratitude for what we have been blessed with. We are privileged to partner with Compassion Australia to achieve this.

Over the week of 30th July to 6th August, the Secondary School at Belmont Christian College participated in the Education Perfect International Mathematics Championship. The online competition involving over 1500 schools from around the world with almost 80 000 students participating saw students working through a variety of mathematical questions based on the full scope of the school Mathematics curriculum. It was an incredibly exciting week with Belmont Christian College earning some outstanding achievements among the global school community: Belmont Christian College placed 9th globally, 2nd in Australia, and 1st in NSW (out of 314 schools)

3 of our students gained the highest level of merit – Heath Brown (Year 10), Owen Irvine (Year 8) and Noah Edwards (Year 9) placing 12th, 70th and 74th in the world respectively.

As Ecclesiastes 4:9 says of working together in community, ‘Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor.’

Congratulations to all the individuals who, by working together, have gained this wonderful result for our College community!

Science and Engineering Challenge

Last Friday, a team of year 9 and 10 students made the annual journey to compete in the Science and Engineering Challenge. As usual, students competed in a number of different team based competitions, ranging from designing flat pack furniture, communicating through light signals, building earthquake proof towers and constructing a bionic hand. The students all enjoyed the opportunity to try some hands on activities and the challenges that teamwork and competition provide!

Secondary Drama

It is an exciting term for our Senior Drama students here at BCC. Term three provides many opportunities for students to not only perform, but also participate in the production of and designing for performance.

Year 10

Year 10 will be learning about Australian Drama and Political Theatre through the study and performance of Ned Manning’s play The Bridge Is Down. Students have formed a production company, of which they will be in charge of selecting, rehearsing, designing for and performing this play. (The date is to be confirmed). Through this experience, students learn about directing, producing, costume, set and lighting design. They continue to develop their skills in communication, problem solving and working with others. The Bridge Is Down is a light-hearted look at life in Australia in 1954, the year of the Royal visit. A torrential downpour forces ten women (amongst them a private school debating team, a nun, a socialite and an actress) to take shelter in a shearing shed. Caught up in the optimism (or naivety) of the period their attitudes reflect the huge changes in Australian society since then.
 Please come along and support our dedicated and passionate theatre students. The performance date will be announced soon. 

Year 11

Similarly, Year 11 have formed their own production company and are preparing to perform Crazy Town by Jonathan Rand. Students have selected this script and are in charge of all facets of producing it for a one night only performance on 5th September 2019 in the College Theatrette. 

Students are in charge of 

• Set: design, function and construction
• Promotion: designing and liaising with College marketing staff
• Lighting & sound: design and organising crew
• Costume: Design, gathering, fitting and making
• Front of house: Organising event times, dates, supper, ushers, pack up etc.

Whilst students choose Drama in Year 11 to continue working on their performance skills, they graduate with many life skills that assist them in any profession. Skills such as initiation, working to a timetable, budgeting, liaising with others, communicating effectively and in a timely manner, working with others and problem solving are all developed throughout Preliminary Drama. 

Drama Scholarship

Every year a Drama student from Year 9 to 12 is awarded the Drama Scholarship for outstanding commitment to the craft (including film, television, theatre or production)

This years award recipient was Peter Hyslop from Year 10. This Scholarship is to be used to attend a holiday program of choice with a reputable education body such as NIDA, WAPPA, ATYP or AFTRS. 

Peter chose to attend a week long course in Sydney at the Australian Film Television and Radio School. 

“Over the holidays, I completed a week-long course at the Australian Film Television and Radio School (AFTRS). What an adventure! In a proper university building, there were five studios, three editing suites (not rooms, suites!) all of which were fully equipped for professional film production. What a scream! I learned so much at that course, all of which is hard to list, but the main thing I learned was that even the best technology doesn’t make the best film. It’s all about the storytelling, what you want the audience to see and why. The most fandangled gadgets and the latest software won’t get you there. It’s all about what’s in a film that makes it good”.  Peter Hyslop

Secondary Musical Auditions

It is that time again! Mrs Naomi Stewart is already in discussions with the production team about next year’s Secondary School musical. There are three musicals being considered, but right now it is time to…. AUDITION! Audition information is as follows:

WHEN:  3-5pm Tuesday 10th September (Week 7) AND/OR  3-5pm Tuesday, 24th September (Week 9)

WHERE:  Library and Theatrette

WHO:  Anyone who wants to be in the chorus is instantly in. If you would like to be considered for a lead role or ensemble role, then we ask you to audition.

WHAT:  Prepare a 1 minute monologue of your choice (can be a poem, story or monologue) and a 1 minute song of your choice. You may use a backing track or accompaniment, preferably from your own device or a CD. Singing acapella is not recommended.

HOW:  Register your interest by clicking here 

QUESTIONS:  Please email naomi.stewart@bcc.nsw.edu.au

Individual Student Achievement 

Georgie-Annah Elder
CSSA Netball selection – Congratulations to Georgie-Annah Elder of Year 8 who has been selected to represent NSW CSSA in the Under 15 Netball Team.

Fifi Booth
Champion Equestrian Show Jumper in the Making – Another one of our Year 8 students Fifi Booth has been training extremely hard with her new horse Justin. Recently gaining outstanding results in the Tamworth International, which means she’s well on her way to qualifying for 2020 Interschool State Showjumping Championships. Keep it up Fifi, oh and Justin, we can’t wait to see you compete in the future.

Primary AFL Grand Final

On the final afternoon of Term 2, we were thrilled with a nail-biting classic game in our annual BCC AFL Grand Final. 12 teams battled their way through the term, and after 6 rounds, plus quarters and semi-finals, we were left with the third placed Cuthbert Vikings taking on the Minor Premier Liddell Bulls for the cup.

After the National Anthem was sung, the teams ran through their tifo’s and onto the field. A good crowd was on hand, and we were treated with some guest commentators, who had entered our “So you think you can commentate?” competition held during the earlier finals’ rounds. Students who had displayed fair play and consistent effort throughout the competition enjoyed the spectacle from the catered indoor VIP box, overlooking the ground.

The first half was very defensive with just 3 behinds being kicked; neither team willing to give an inch. The second half was a lot more open with teams ready to use their space and put points on the board. The teams both had periods of time where they led the game until late drama saw Vikings player, Jesse Hart, with a free kick in range of goal, with his team down 16-17 and just seconds remaining. With nerves of steel, Hart put his kick straight down the middle to give the Vikings a 22-17 win and continue the dominance of Cuthbert teams, who have now had one of their teams win the past 4 Grand Finals.

Both the Vikings and the Bulls will represent the College against the Grand Final teams from Hunter and Wyong Christian Schools, in the AFL Champions League.

Basketball Gala Day 

On our second day back this term, a busload of Secondary School boys attended the annual Basketball Gala Day, held at the Broadmeadow Basketball Staudium. We fielded two Junior teams and one Senior and all played many games that ran for 20 minutes. The ‘A’ Junior team were fortunate to win enough games to make the Semi-final, where they were soundly defeated by Hunter Christian School, whose team possessed a 13 yr old who could dunk! The ‘B’ team was less successful, with most being first timers on the competitive court. Lessons were learnt and they will be better next year. Our Senior boys also made the Semis, only to be outclassed by a very strong Green Point Christian College. Special mention to Nick Benn (Yr 12) who pulled off the dunk of the year and also to newcomer Lachlan Kendall, who dominated once his shooting radar kicked in. Overall, a wonderful day’s balling for our boys, and we acquitted ourselves very well on and off the court. 

Our Secondary School girls competed at Maitland Basketball Stadium. They demonstrated fantastic teamwork and played with plenty of skill and determination. Our Open Girls won 2 and lost 2 of their round-robin matches. Both of our Under 15 girls team’s played each other in the semi-finals and did so with great sportsmanship. The winning team went onto play Maitland Christian School in the Grand Final and came away as worthy victors, winning 34-18. They will now go on and play at the CSSA Secondary State carnival later in the year. The winning team included; Rozlyn Kloos, Sophia Hart, Emma Cashion, Alyssa Chesterfield, Lucy Marschall, Aislyn Mills and Jayne Fairweather. A huge congratulations girls!

Thanks to our coaches on the day Mr Urane, Mr Hendriks and Mrs Blowes.

THACCCSA Zone Primary Athletics Carnival 

A perfect day greeted our team of 55 students at Glendale on Monday, although long distance runners perhaps would have preferred it to be a little cooler.

Plenty of personal best results, with students running faster, throwing further and jumping bigger than they ever have before in their life. Belmont Christian College finished in second place; an outstanding result once again, beating many schools who have larger student populations than us. Our younger athletes led the way on the day, which is an exciting prospect for future years. Big congratulations to Kari Croxford, who was named 8yrs Girls Age Champion, Appin Paterson 9yrs Boys Runner Up and Flynn Morris 10yrs Boys third place overall for the carnival. 9 students have qualified for NSW CSSA Athletics next Friday. Kari Croxford, Phoebe Duffy-Smith, Steele Ellemans, Amos Maddison, William McHugh, Flynn Morris, Appin Paterson, Hamish Rae and Victoria Robinson will all compete for a place at the NSW CIS Carnival.

Well done to our team of 55 for your fantastic efforts!

Primary Mascot Challenge

Last term Kindergarten, Stage 1 and Stage 2 participated in the Cricket Australia Mascot Challenge. Whilst there was no sandpaper to be seen, classes were issued with a set of foam cricket balls to work on their throwing and catching skills each day for just a few minutes in between class activities. The challenge happened over a 4 week period. This culminated in a visit from Cricket NSW and Sydney 6er’s mascot “Sid”, where students honed their skills in a 30 minute session with the cricket development officers on the final Thursday of Term 2.

Any current students requiring a full fit out of new uniforms for 2020 and all new students enrolled for 2020 are required to book a Uniform Shop fitting. Fittings will be held during the Term 3 October school holidays. In addition to this, the shop will have extended opening times on Tuesday afternoons during these holidays. During this appointment you will be able to purchase or lay-by uniforms. Bookings are essential. To make bookings please text 0403 587 385 with your:

• Full Student name and full Parent/Caregiver name
• Email address
• Preferred day

Regular Uniform Shop Hours
Tuesdays   1 – 3.30pm
Thursdays   8 – 11am