Newsletter

Primary School Leaders

Meet our 2022 Primary Leadership team. From left to right Joshua Dalgety, Jordan Bell, Ruby Henderson and Holly Blowes. Student leadership is integral to our College. It will be a great privilege to induct our 2022 Student Leaders at our Year 6 Graduation Ceremony next Wednesday.

Secondary School Leaders

Meet our College Captains and Vice Captains for 2021, from left to right Taylah Cowling, Rebecca Wigney, Cooper Ashbourne and Archie Wilkinson. It will be a great privilege to induct our 2022 Student Leaders at our Year 12 Graduation Ceremony next Wednesday also.

Our Student Leaders are integral to us as a Christian community. In response to our Lord Jesus’ example, student leadership at the College is all about service of others, humility and a willingness to do the hard yards, even when times are tough. We look forward to watching these young leaders help shape the direction of our College this coming year.

The final newsletter for the year! Where did the time go? In lockdown I hear you say.

Like many things this past year, we have had to re-imagine how students learn and how we celebrate learning here at the College. Sadly and as you know, we were unable to enjoy our final Presentation Night at the Civic Theatre this year. I look forward to introducing you to our re-imagined Learning Celebrations next year. Stay tuned! I have been so encouraged by our students, your children, and the manner in which they have responded to these unprecedented times. They truly are a credit to you, and I am both honoured and humbled to lead our staff in developing these young people to ‘grow up into Christ’. 

Next week on our website there will be a list of students who received awards throughout 2021. Can I encourage you to spend some time on our Awards page, along with listening to and enjoying the work of our talented musicians and artists from the College. They may be young, but the way in which they have used their God given gifts for the benefit of our BCC community is simply extraordinary. 

I must make a special mention of this year’s musical: Peter Pan. What a fantastic example and model of what can be achieved when students and staff, with a common goal, come together as one. As College Principal, I am so proud of what the cast and crew achieved and I thank you for what you brought to our wider BCC community. 

Throughout this year, I encouraged staff to consider the following scripture from Psalm 20:

“But we will trust in the name of the Lord our God.” Psalm 20:7

BCC is turning 40 in 2022. We are going to celebrate the ‘name of the Lord our God’ and all that He has done for this College. In the lead up to next year, I was privileged to spend time with our College pioneers, those who trusted in the Lord to birth this College, and I very much look forward to sharing their amazing stories and reflections with you, as we collectively celebrate 40 years of BCC. 

In closing, let me wish you all a very Happy Christmas and New year. I pray that it is a time of refreshment, spiritual renewal and physical rest. The true joy of Christmas is the love of Christ, shared with family and friends. May you find His peace, love and joy in the coming New Year.” 

I look forward to seeing you throughout 2022 as we continue to trust in the name of the Lord our God. 

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.

Prayer Points

~ Finish Term 4 well, to run the race with perseverance
~ New staff, students and families for 2022
~ The next step and season for Year 12 students who have just finished their HSC
~ Safety and protection over the Christmas holidays 
~ A blessed Christmas

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

Prayer Warriors

Parents are invited to join our prayer group on Mondays at 8:15am and Fridays at 2:15pm. We meet at the College flag pole after signing in at the College office. However, due to current COVID-19 restrictions our meetings will be held via Zoom. For more information please contact Wendy Robinson wendy@wendyrobinson.com.au or phone 0409987939. Everyone is welcome to join in.

Current COVID-19 Regulations

As you know, COVID-19 continues to have an impact on our society, and so, maintaining the health and wellbeing of our students, staff and College community continues to be a priority for us all.

Our website will be kept up-to-date with the current COVID-19 regulations. Parents and caregivers will continue to receive all official communication via Skoolbag and email as well.

CONDA Award Nominations

We are thrilled to announce our nominations at the City of Newcastle Drama Association Awards for this year’s Secondary Production of Peter Pan. Peter Pan was nominated for the following categories:

1. Excellence by a Performer 18 & Under in a Musical – Peter Hyslop
2. Excellence by a Music or Vocal Director – Jacob Neale and Sophie Annesley
3. Best Ensemble – 18 & Under
4. Best Production by a Youth Theatre Company or School

Wow, what an achievement! What an honour! This really is a testament to the amazing dedication of our students, staff and production team.

At the beginning of this year, our vision was to provide students with a fun fueled performance opportunity to help nurture a strong sense of community and connection after a difficult year of the pandemic in 2020. Our nominations reflect the success of this production, where every student played an important part in our show. Thank you to Mrs Naomi Stewart who fostered this amazing culture as well as directed such a fun show.

We congratulate the VERY talented Peter Hyslop for his hilarious portrayal of Captain James Hook. Peter, we think you deserve to win this!

And also to Mr Jacob Neale and Sophie Annesley, we had so many comments from our audience who thought that the music was a backing track, only to then realise the live band was playing under the stage. Our show sounded amazing!
Thank God that we were able to see our production through prior to this year’s lockdown.

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.

OSHC provided by Camp Australia

Belmont Christian College are pleased to offer a Before and After School Care Program on site through Camp Australia. The service is available from 7.00am to 8.40am and 2.50pm to 6.00pm each school day.

Register, book and manage your before and after school care bookings at www.campaustralia.com.au or call the Customer Service Team on 1300 105 343. Further information is also available on our website https://bcc.nsw.edu.au/oshc/

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.

On-Site Trading

Alinta Uniform Shop has returned to on-site trading, normal shop hours of:

Tuesday 1pm – 3:30pm
Wednesday 1pm – 3:30pm
Thursday 8am – 11am

For refunds, exchanges, uniform purchases, and uniform fittings, please be advised that they will be available only to fully vaccinated parents/caregivers who are attending the uniform shop in person. Please bring your vaccination certificate and wear a mask.

When visiting the Uniform Shop, please make your way to the Student Reception to sign in first. 

All web and phone orders will be available for pick up from the Student Reception.

Orders through Munch Monitor

The Munch Monitor platform has been experiencing issues due to the sheer volume of orders being placed, particularly towards the end of the week. 

Please place orders on Munch Monitor the night before instead of the morning of, to be sure that the order will submit successfully.

Thank you for your cooperation.

How to Register with our Online Ordering System

Register with MunchMonitor

If you require further assistance call Munch Monitor on 1300 796 190 or email at help@munchmonitor.com. Our canteen staff are also happy to help and can contacted on 4922 8300 Ext #220 and canteen@bcc.nsw.edu.au.

Each year NSW Health works in partnership with schools to offer the vaccines recommended by the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) for adolescents as part of the school vaccination program. Immunisations were held at the College at the beginning of the Year for Years 7 and 10. The following vaccines are part of the program:
Year 7 – 1 dose Diphteria, Tetanus, Pertussis; 2 doses 6 months apart Human Papillomavirus (HPV)
Year 10 – 1 dose Meningococcal 
 
Due to Covid-19 the vaccination program has been postponed for the remainder of our 2021 visits. However teams will be returning in 2022 for the routine School Vaccination Program where vaccinations can be caught up.

ALL students in Year 7 (2021) and Year 10 (2021) who missed vaccinations will be offered catch up vaccination opportunities at the 2022 clinics. Students are required to have a consent form signed in 2021 to be eligible for catch up vaccination in 2022. These students DO NOT need to be directed to their GP to receive missed vaccine doses.

ANY students in Year 8 (2021) and Year 11 (2021) who has missed vaccines will need to attend their local GP to receive missed doses.

Further information and consent forms for students in Year 7 and 10 in 2022 will be distributed in Term 1, 2022.

Farewell

At the end of each year, we find ourselves having to farewell valuable members of our community. To that end, I would like to take the opportunity to both thank and farewell:

Mr Jacob Neale – 1 year
Miss Monique Micallef  – 1 year
Mrs Sarah Bell – 2 years
Mrs Bethany Clothier – 3 years
Mrs Susan McCloskey – 11 years
Mrs Alison Calderwood – 12.5 years
Mrs Louise Bonsor – 13 years
Mrs Virginia Robinson – 20 years
Mrs Michelle Hadson – 21 years

We wish them well as they pursue a new direction and path and pray that God will continue to bless the work of their hands.

Our goal at Belmont Christian College is to develop and nurture relationships with students, teachers and parents, always with a God-centred focus. Without authentic relationships, individuals simply don’t thrive in any setting. As Christians, our relationship with Jesus and how this is demonstrated to each other is paramount, particularly with our students always watching the authority figures around them. Our students’ wellbeing, growth and enrichment are in the hands of not only their parents but, of significant importance, all staff and teachers they encounter daily. Of course, it is always encouraging to be reminded that at Belmont Christian College, we desire that children grow in their knowledge and relationship with God. 

James 1:17 tells us that every gift is from God. We all have different talents and God-given gifts, but they are all important and can be used for God’s kingdom. We are called to support and nurture children to grow in each of their gifts academically, socially, emotionally and physically in accordance with God’s will. 

This week’s Primary School Musical 2022, ‘Ali Baba and the Bongo Bandits’ was a perfect example of the outplaying of God’s gifts and abilities in our students. They upheld the spirit of what it means to work interdependently, and they honoured each other through the creative process. What a fantastic privilege to serve Christ as He continues to guide us in encouraging, supporting and loving our children. The show certainly lived up to its name by presenting a treasure-trove of fun, laughter and personal growth. Many, many thanks and congratulations to everyone involved!

Please enjoy the following reflective quotes from some of our students about the musical:

“I used not to be able to dance in front of people, but now I am more confident.” – Year 4 Student

“I would definitely recommend this musical to other schools because not only is it funny, it is really enjoyable to watch because you don’t know what is going to happen next.” – Year 5 Student

“In my opinion, the thing that makes a musical fun is that it does not matter if you have forgotten a line, they will just simply tell you, and there is no criticism of anyone. Yes, every school should do a musical because you learn to encourage, persevere and help each other.”  – Year 5 Student

The high school I went to as a teen was a generally positive experience… with a few standout negatives. For example, I distinctly remember one of my Science teachers making a student stand in the bin for half a lesson because he was ‘garbage’. That moment stuck with me, not just because of the visual, but because of the impact on that young person’s life – being told in no uncertain terms that he was terrible at a subject, and terrible as a person.

I don’t remember his name, but I hope he’s doing okay.

As an educator, my role with students is to provide the exact opposite environment – one of high growth expectations, coupled with high safety and support. It’s also a broader cultural marker that we strive for as a College:

We believe that every student can learn given the right circumstances, encouragement and expectation.

Every single student at BCC can learn. Everyone can grow. Some have strengths in particular areas, some have challenges, but no matter the starting point, growth is possible – even for the most difficult of tasks. It’s that environment of high expectations we aim to create. 

But it’s not just about the expectations, it’s about the support to get there. We can visualise the different effects of support and expectations like this:

This graph is adapted from some excellent research on motivation which concluded that people are at their best when there are strong expectations to meet, but also a supportive environment that helps us get there. An environment that believes in us, but also challenges us to get better. An environment that knows we can grow, and provides safety in the process.

As a parent, this is something I try to provide my own children, and something we as a staff work towards for each of yours. We’re not always perfect – we’re learning too – but I truly believe that every single student at BCC can grow as we move forward together, every day.