Newsletter

Last Friday evening I had the privilege of attending our College musical, Peter Pan. I witnessed months of hard work, come together in a glorious showcase of student talent.

I saw once shy students shine, and the more extraverted students in their absolute element. Each giving their best for the glory of God. I also saw parents who had cheered their kids on from the sidelines, bursting with pride. The audience was highly engaged, laughing and clapping along, at the appropriate times. Staff and students from all years working together, supporting, and encouraging each other. Whether they were on stage, backstage or part of the band, it was very much a team effort.

The musical highlighted for me some keys to success that can be applied by all our students.

The importance of grit and determination – Students who found the rehearsals hard at times but stuck with it.

The value of growth – Students who have learnt new skills and gained confidence through their involvement in the musical. These can now be applied to other areas of their life.

Support for each other – Staff and students championing each other to be the best they can be. Imagine this filtering through the whole College.

And the value of courage – Students seeing the fruit of their labour. When you step out in faith there can be great reward.

You don’t have to have been in the musical to apply these.

God has a purpose and a plan for each of our lives. Can I encourage you to step out in faith and trust Him. He will direct your path.

Have a safe and enjoyable break. We look forward to seeing you back at the College on Monday, 19th July.

Prayer over 2021 – a year of growth – for our community – in our personal lives, our spiritual walk, and in our expression of His love in and through our lives. And for a flourishing for our students in their endeavours…to His glory.

Praise Points

~ The Musical – it was such a wonderful celebration of creativity, diligence, joy and teamwork. We were blessed to take our grandchildren – it was so special to see their delight during the performance and then to watch them explore the stage afterward. It was such a child-like moment that we shared as a community. 

Prayer Points

~ Bill Truscott, and his family, in the days following the Memorial Service held for his daughter Sharney. We praise God for the weather on Monday. While showers were expected, Bill’s prayer request was for fine weather … and it was a beautiful, cool, blue-sky Autumn day. 

~ Staff who are unwell, and some who are experiencing significant health challenges. Please uphold our staff before God’s throne of grace.

~ Mrs Naomi Carthew faces significant surgery on 25/6. Please uphold Naomi and her precious family in your prayers.  

~ Our broader College community – for mums and dads, for brothers and sisters, for grandparents, for aunties and uncles…for the ministry of Christ’s protection, healing and provision, in ways that restore hope and reinvigorates the spirit.

~ Please continue to pray for Mark Hall as he and his family travel around Australia.

Be encouraged. As you cover our community in prayer your voice is heard in the heavenlies and our wonderful Heavenly Father has His ear attuned to our voices and He responds…in love..towards us. God bless.

Prayer Requests

In deeply challenging times such as these, we find our rest in the unchanging nature and faithfulness of our Heavenly Father.

As a Christian community we understand the significance and purpose of prayer. It is the heart-beat of our College. Together we boldly pray to our Father, through the work of His Son, in the power of the Spirit.

If you have a prayer request please complete the form here. We would love to pray for you specifically, and for your family, during this time of change.

‘We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express’ Romans 8:26b

Praying Parents

Parents are invited to join our prayer group on Mondays at 8:15am and Fridays at 2:15pm, meeting at the flag pole after signing in at the College office. For more information please contact Wendy Robinson wendy@wendyrobinson.com.au or phone 0409987939. Everyone is welcome to join in.

Coins for Compassion

As a College, we sponsor six children from Compassion. The staff sponsors Byron from Uganda, the Primary students sponsor Chepkemoi Ruth from Kenya and Petrha from West Timor and our Secondary students sponsor three additional children from West Timor.

It is our desire that all of our students learn to develop ‘compassion’ for those less fortunate than themselves. We would like to help them to genuinely understand what mercy is, and how we can all play a small part in showing love and compassion towards others.

We are endeavouring, as a College, to raise at least $3000 to pay for the sponsorship of the five children sponsored by the student body. If we raise more, we will be able to bless them and their families with more.

We will be holding a ‘Coins for Compassion’ day on the last day of Term 2, Friday, 25th June. This will be a fun day where the children will engage in several activities to help raise the money for our Compassion children. The day will be mufti. Don’t forget to bring along your coins!

Upcoming Parenting Webinars

Mental Health and Wellbeing Workshops

Vaping Webinar

Positive Choices are hosting a free one-hour webinar on e-cigarettes and vaping for school staff, parents, health professionals and youth on Wednesday, 30th June at 2pm. A recording of the webinar will be posted 24 hours after the live session.

The session will cover:
~ Current research findings on vaping among youth
~ Information about what e-cigarettes and vaping are and the effects of their use
~ Strategies for schools and parents to prevent vaping among youth.

For more information and to register click here

Stress and Wellbeing Webinar

You may know parents/caregivers of the College have exclusive access to Elevate Education’s Parent Webinar Series for Term 2, 2021.   

Elevate Education held a free parent webinar series this term to provide parents with strategies to help their children study more effectively and maximise their success.    

Their most recent webinar was on Stress and Wellbeing and took place last week. Elevate has kindly extended access for us so that parents/caregivers who missed the live event can watch it on replay. Watch the  Stress and Wellbeing webinar replay here 

Download your resources here to help you turn these skills into habits with your child. View their upcoming Term 3 schedule and register here. 

Upcoming Careers Webinars

University Admission Centre (UAC)

Did you know that parents/caregivers can sign up to receive regular updates from UAC? Sign up for UAC parent updates.

InspirationED

Peter Pan Musical

And that’s a wrap! The whole College is full of smiles this week after an incredible week of Peter Pan: A Musical Adventure. For those who were lucky enough to make it to a show, you will have seen some amazing performances. What you may not have seen is the community of love, trust & prayer that has been built over the last 6 months. As a College, it has been special to witness students from Year 7-12 form a unique bond as they’ve worked together to create something memorable. We know that the depth of this community will continue to produce beautiful things well into the future.

There are so many involved in such a production, a huge thank you goes to so many but particularly:
~ The amazing cast, crew and musician students
~ Our parents, for all the times they dropped off and picked up their children
~ Kiri Oliver, costume design and production
~ Renae Truscott, Hilary Osborn, Joan Clark, Sarah Bell, costume seamstress’
~ Kirsty Stafford and her team from Woohoo Salon, hair & makeup
~ Liz Troyer, stage props and set art
~ Chris Denzin, set art
~ Cain Sanchez, Ben Boyce, Nate Armsberry & David Cox, stage set construction
~ Rod Campbell and back stage student crew
~ Phil Melcum, Stage Manager
~ Andrew Kable & Kate Donaldson, Assisting Drama Coach
~ Jacob Neale, Music Director
~ Sophie Annesley, Vocal Director
~ Ian Brown, musician
~ Trudi Sanchez & Teresa MacPherson, photography
~ Jacob Shultz, web design, program and videography
~ David Gray, marketing
~ Vicki Quick, canteen
~ Secondary staff, helping in dressing rooms, ushering, rehearsal supervision, canteen
~ JH Productions, sound and lighting
~ Naomi Stewart, Director
~ Fiona Burgess, Co-Producer
~ Chris Stewart, Producer

A full list of credits and further information can be found in our Program.

Enjoy some photos below. More photos can be found on our Facebook and Instagram pages.

Morton Music Awards

Jordan Bell recently entered the Belmont Rotary Clubs annual music Morton Awards, a competition established to support local developing musicians. Jordy performed an excerpt of the New World Symphony by Dvorak on the Trumpet and picked up a finalist prize. Congratulations Jordy, we are proud of your achievement.

Music Tuition

Our wonderful Music Tutor team continue to offer lessons this year. Make this year the one that your child begins the enriching journey of learning to play music!

FOR MUSIC TUTOR CONTACT DETAILS, head to our website here.

Music Ensembles

If your child is interested in joining an ensemble please find further information and enrolment information below.

Primary Music Ensembles Enrolment

Secondary Music Ensembles Enrolment

Our timetable for Music ensembles are as follows, however, more information and enrolment can be found in the links below.

For information and enrolment for all our Creative Arts and Music ensembles, please follow the relevant links below.

Primary Ensembles: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CR8GlQuTLUoa0e4tMANf4_74aZGxE432/view?usp=sharing

Secondary Ensembles:  https://drive.google.com/file/d/1CIbVLND1KolMQNti4jK_viIPJpgEXTQH/view?usp=sharing  

Also find our Music Tutor contacts and our Instrument Hire Form along with some Hot tips.

Entertainment Book Available Now

Entertainment Memberships are now 100% digital. Saying goodbye to the iconic Book wasn’t easy but the new Entertainment Memberships start anytime and are valid for 12 months from activation. Packed with thousands of substantial savings to delight and inspire, an Entertainment Membership is your pass to exclusive offers and quality experiences, activities and benefits. The digital membership is easy to download to start using instantly. New offers are added weekly for ongoing value all year round.

Benefits of the App include:

• User-friendly: Instantly search and redeem offers or check out the Near Me tab to find offers, wherever you are.
• Memberships start anytime: Flexible start date, Memberships are valid for 12 months from when you activate (16 months if you take advantage of the Early Bird offer now).
• New offers automatically added: As soon as a new offer is available, you get access to it. No more waiting for the next print run!
• Multiple devices: You can still share your Membership with your family. Encourage your partner and kids to download the App so they can access valuable savings when out.
• Convenient: The App means that as long as you have your phone, you have your Membership too (no more lugging around the book).
• Easy gifting: We’ve made it simpler than ever to gift an Entertainment Membership – simply purchase from your chosen fundraiser and the gift Membership will be delivered instantly to your inbox.

Social Media

Insight into the heart and soul of College life across all grades is best engaged with via our Facebook and Instagram social media feeds. We encourage you to join both groups and stay up to date with the latest from BCC.

The BCC Website

The College website continues to grow and evolve as a fantastic resource for parents and students. Make sure you take a look at our Community Hub. Why not share the weblink with friends and family and give them a look inside the BCC Community. 

BCC also communicates home to parents and caregivers via the Skoolbag App. Skoolbag provides an easy and convenient means of communication of essential information including the College Newsletters, notices and alerts which are communicated directly to parents and caregivers through the Skoolbag Mobile App on your iPhone, iPad or Android device. We encourage parents to download the Skoolbag App and check-in to the App on a regular basis for any announcements to keep you informed.

Tuition Fees Calculator

To assist with family budgeting we have a fee calculator available on our College website https://bcc.nsw.edu.au/fees/ 

2022 Term Dates

The 2022 term dates are available on our website https://bcc.nsw.edu.au/term-dates/

College Tours

Do you have friends and family who cannot make it onsite to check out the College on a personal face-to-face tour? Maybe you know of folk who are considering a relocation to the Hunter region? Why not encourage them to join our College Registrar, Ms Teena Knott, on a Virtual College Tour. For more details and to book a face-to-face or virtual tour, click here

Parents’ Directory

We understand that communication between your family and the College forms a crucial part of the education journey. Our website hosts a Parents’ Directory. The Parents’ Directory is an up-to-date online directory summarising key communication channels and links. This includes a recently launched live link of key dates on our College Calendar! Click here to view the page and keep informed https://bcc.nsw.edu.au/parents/

Futsal

On Wednesday, 9th June Secondary boys from the College participated in the annual futsal competition at Maitland. The boys played well with high energy and great intensity. They displayed great teamwork and admirable sportsmanship. Congratulations goes to both teams for making the grand finals. Well done lads!

CIS Cross Country

Congratulations to Louella Scharfe and Owen Irvine who recently competed in the NSW CIS Cross Country Carnival at Eastern Creek Raceway. This was the 4th carnival in the progression for these 2 athletes. It was a cold, wet, miserable day for them to compete in, but both gave their best in the awful conditions and finished with very good results. Louella came in 35th from 116 runners in the 8/9yr Girls race. Owen finished 39th from a field of 72 in the 17yr Boys event. Well done to both students for their achievements. 

Secondary Basketball

Girls basketball gala day was held on Wednesday Week 8 at Broadmeadow Basketball Stadium. Representing BCC was an open girls team and two Junior Girls teams.

The Junior Girls had mixed results throughout the day with some last minute defeats and excellent wins. Both teams were in the playoffs for 3rd and 4th position, only narrowly missing out on the win and finishing 4th respectively. The girls improved with every game and learnt a lot about playing Basketball at this level.

The Senior Girls went into the day with a very young team, with all players being in year 10. This didn’t worry the girls with some very strong performances throughout the round games, going through undefeated and racking up some big scores in the process. The team made it to the Grand Final but were down to only 6 players and this proved to be detrimental to final result. After a gallant effort the girls went down by only 1 point to a team who had a full bench of players to choose from.

Well done to all the girls who represented BCC to the highest standard, and to Mrs Blowes for her assistance and excellent coaching skills on the day.  

If you have any queries about the College uniform, make sure you visit our dedicated Uniform page on the College website. Alternatively, get in touch with our uniform partner, Alinta Apparel.

Sign in at the Uniform Shop

You are now able to sign in at the Uniform Shop. Using your mobile phone you are able to scan a QR code for quick sign in. We appreciate your cooperation in keeping inline with Covid-19 Government regulations.

NEW Uniform Shop Hours

Holiday Opening Hours

The Uniform Shop will be open for an additional day during the Term 2 holiday period on Tuesday, 13th July from 2-4pm.

School Photo Day

School photographs are scheduled to be taken on Tuesday, 27th July 2021 for Primary, Secondary and Beginners #1 Students and on Thursday, 5th August 2021 for Beginners #2 Students.

K – 6 boys are requested to wear long sleeved shirts. K – 12 girls are requested to wear navy opaque stockings, not socks. Yr 11 and 12 must wear their shirts and blazers. Please ensure K – 12 boys wear ties and K – 6 girls wear their bows. Hair needs to be off the face, tied back or up. Plain surgical studs or sleepers and one watch only.

An envelope has been distributed to students. It is our preference that ordering be completed online to reduce administration and potential security issues related to the return of cash and envelopes. If ordering online is not possible, order envelopes and cash can be returned to the photographer on photo day.

Orders can be placed securely online at www.advancedlife.com.au using our school’s unique 9 digit advanced order code: P5L NEY LXP. Portrait and group package orders are due on photo day. Should you wish to purchase a sibling photograph online, the order must be placed no later than 26th July. Sibling photographs will only be taken if an order has been placed.

Should you have any queries concerning school photographs or online ordering, please email to enquiries@advancedlife.com.au.

ORDER NOW, go to: www.advancedlife.com.au and enter the code: P5L NEY LXP

Staffing Update

Each year, we find ourselves in the position of not only welcoming incoming staff but also having to farewell staff. It is with sadness that we farewell Mrs Rappeneker after 31.5 years of faithful service at the College. She commenced as a Primary Teacher, after which she was the Head of Middle School and now, she is the much loved Head of Student Services and Wellbeing. Mrs Rapp as she is affectionately known, has gone above and beyond without question or complaint in service of hundreds of children for the sake of their learning. I would like to publicly thank Mrs Rappeneker for her significant contribution to Kingdom Education and pray that God will continue to bless the work of her hands.

Mrs Bethany Clothier joined the Student Services department 2.5 years ago and has now completed training as a Mathematics teacher. Bethany is pursuing work in her chosen field and we find ourselves saying goodbye to Bethany at the end of the term. I suspect we will continue to see her at the College as a casual teacher in the interim. We thank Bethany for her contribution in assisting students with their learning and wish Bethany well in her career change.

We also farewell Mrs Farnworth, our fabulous Kindy Aide at the end of the term. Mrs Farnworth has been a welcome addition to our team and the kids have absolutely loved her bubbly nature and enthusiasm. We wish her God’s best as she moves back to New Zealand.

All positions will hopefully be filled by the start of the new term.

Ms Sharon Sopher
Principal

Years 7 – 10 Academic Reports and Parent-Teacher Interviews

Years 7 – 10 teachers have completed the Semester One assessment and reporting cycle, and for the first time, reports are being delivered via our Parent Portal this week.

Parents will have the opportunity to attend Parent-Teacher Interviews during Term 3, Week 2. We encourage you to make time to speak to teachers about your child’s progress and ask questions about how you can enable them to continue to do their very best. Communication between the College and home is vital as we work in partnership to support your child.

Parent-Teacher Interviews will be held face-to-face at the College on Tuesday, 27th July. Interview times will be between 3.30pm and 8.30pm. To book please log in to the Parent Portal, select Parent-Teacher Interviews from the menu. Bookings open Wednesday, 14th July and close 3.30pm Friday, 23rd July. If you cannot attend the allocated interview day, please contact your child’s teachers directly to make alternative arrangements.

If you have not received your Parent Portal registration invitation email from the College or have trouble registering please email our IT Department sentral@bcc.nsw.edu.au.