Newsletter

You’re Invited to our 40th Anniversary Dinner

It is very exciting that throughout 2022 we will publicly acknowledge and celebrate 40 years of BCC with a series of events. Praise God for His ongoing provision and faithfulness over so many years.

Our biggest event is a celebration dinner at Belmont 16s. I want to personally extend an invitation to you, as Parents and Carers to attend this dinner. Tickets for the BCC 40th Birthday Celebrations are now available for purchase here.

Event details:

Event: Belmont Christian College 40th Birthday Celebration Dinner

Date: Friday, 5th August

Time: 6:00pm – 10:00pm

Location: Belmont 16s

Cost: $80 per ticket

Inclusion: 3 course meal (including soft drinks). Other beverages may be purchased at the bar. 

Dress: Smart Casual

Ticket Sales Close: Friday 1st July. Click here to purchase a ticket.

Many plans and preparations are already taking place and I look forward to sharing this celebration dinner with as many of you as possible.

Kind regards,

____________________________

Sharon Sopher
Principal

Current COVID-19 Regulations

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

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

A-Z Primary and Secondary Guides

Schools are indeed busy places. If you ever have any questions about the day-to-day operations of the College, then our one-stop-shop A-Z Guides are a great place to start. Click below for your guide:

If you have any other queries, our friendly office staff are more than happy to help and direct you. 

BCC Parent Communication

Communication between your family and the College forms a crucial part of the education journey.

The Parents’ Directory on our website is an up-to-date online directory summarising all of our key communication channels and links need-to-know information between the College and families.

We encourage you to visit our Parents’ Directory and register with our communication channels to make sure you don’t miss any information. 

Contacting Staff

Staff can be contacted by phoning the College on 4922 8300 and following the extension number prompts or via email by using the email format firstname.lastname@bcc.nsw.edu.au, for example john.smith@bcc.nsw.edu.au. However, due to teaching loads teachers are best to be contacted via email.

Appointments to speak to a teacher can be made by contacting the teacher directly via email.

Primary School Contacts

• Primary Administration Assistant: Mrs Debbie Paardekooper Ext #521
• Academic and Wellbeing matters: Classroom Teacher
• Head of Primary School: Mrs Leoni McNeill
• Assistant Principal: Mr Steve Tidey

Secondary School Contacts

• Secondary Administration Assistant: Mrs Kathy Evans Ext #505
• Wellbeing matters: Stage Leader then Head of Wellbeing
• Academic matters: Subject Teachers then Subject Coordinators
• Head of Secondary/Assistant Principal: Mr Steve Tidey 

At every enrolment interview, I stress that parents and carers are at the heart of the College. We were established by families for families, and this has been the case for 40 years. We want mums and dads to think of BCC as THEIR College. We believe that God has given primary responsibility to parents to care for their children and to make decisions regarding their upbringing. The role of the College is to partner with you in that special and wonderful responsibility. 

Relationships are at the heart of an effective partnership. When the relationship breaks down, so does that sense of partnership. The most common cause of that breakdown is a misunderstanding of the basis of that relationship. When a parent commences the relationship with a belief that they are paying a fee for service rather than working together in partnership, school experience will always be unsatisfactory. Every parent has a right to expect their child to be well-taught and cared for at the College. They pay school fees that enable the school to operate, but those two elements don’t define what it means to work in partnership.

Partnership requires mutual respect. The school needs to value the contribution of parents, and be understanding and supportive of the complexity of parenting amidst all of the challenges of the twenty-first century. Equally, parents need to understand a school is a community that can’t simply bend to the demands of the loudest individual. It must strive for the benefit of all. Parents also need to understand that the school has been founded on a mission and vision statement that directs its intentions. While we understand that parents have a range of hopes for their children, those statements outline the hopes for the school. Our hope is that our students will understand God’s world and their place in it.

Even when there are diverse beliefs, backgrounds and aspirations, experience tells me that parents and schools can work effectively together when there is a shared commitment to partnership. We want your child to love coming to school, to love learning and to feel secure, supported and valued. We want parents to feel that they are part of a community where their contribution is welcomed and respected. We want to support and encourage parents in the precious job of parenting the next generation. To do these things, we must continue to build on the bedrock of partnership.

BCC Prayer Warriors

Prayer and a daily reliance on the goodness of God is at the heart of our College. To this end, our Prayer Warriors team gathers on the last Monday of each month from 8:45am – 9:30am to share, pray and connect with other parents. With restrictions now eased, please join us onsite as we commit the College and our community to God in prayer.

Term 2 Prayer Warrior Dates:
Monday 30th May
Monday 27th June

Please sign-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. We look forward to growing our Prayer Warriors group throughout the year. 

Praise Points

~ Successful Secondary School Camps at the end of last term
~ Answers to prayers for community members with their health
~ Preparations for our 40th Birthday celebrations and the support of the 40th Birthday dinner so far
~ New students to the College this year, and those who have already committed to the College for next year

Prayer Points

~ The Primary School Musical and its preparation
~ Students who are struggling for a variety of reasons – mental health, physical health, changing family situations
~ Protection from COVID and its interruption to school and family life
~ Protection over the Athletics Carnivals for both Primary and Secondary School
~ College Executive as they lead the College in accordance with the Strategic Plan and a Christian worldview
~ Staff as they lead by example to further Kingdom education and make a difference in the lives of young people
~ Our students to know a real sense of belonging, are led to believing in Jesus as the Life-Giver and are becoming all He has purposed for them
~ Our leaders – State and Federal leaders, the College Board, Principal & Executive

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

Upcoming Important Dates

Primary

10.5.22 | NAPLAN starts (Years 3 & 5)
16.5.22 | Athletics Carnival
19.5.22 | Hunter Valley Zoo (Year 2)
31.5.22 | Soccer & Netball Metro Cup
02.6.22 | Newcastle Museum (Year 2)

Secondary

10.5.22 | NAPLAN starts (Years 7 & 9)
18.5.22 | Athletics Carnival
19.5.22 | Careers Expo (Years 10-12)
20.5.22 | Football Gala Day
25.5.22 | Parent-Teacher Interviews (Years 11-12)
26.5.22 | Build ME a Future Day
31.5.22 | Stage 6/HSC Subject Selection Information Evening
03.6.22 | Chemistry Excursion (Year 12)

Whole College

27.5.22 | CSSA Cross Country

Our College Calendar is available on our website where you can be kept up-to-date with events throughout the year. Closer to the event parents and carers will receive communication via the Skoolbag App and/or email.

Athletics Carnivals

We have had a venue and date change for our upcoming Athletics Carnivals. Just for 2022, the carnivals will now be held at Baxter Field in Mark Point, as Hunter Sports Centre has been undergoing resurfacing and the continual rain we’ve had has caused some big delays for them with this job.

Our Primary Carnival is now on Monday, 16th May and Secondary Carnival is Wednesday, 18th May.

The Carnivals will start at 8:30am, at Marks Point, with students finding their teacher to have their name marked off the class roll.

Students are required to make their own way to and from the venue. However, there will be a College bus available to transport students to and from the College. IF YOUR CHILD REQUIRES THE COLLEGE BUS, THEY MUST WRITE THEIR NAME ON THE BUS LIST AT THE COLLEGE OFFICE. THIS BUS WILL LEAVE AT 8:30AM and will return in time for the afternoon school buses. Please note that these students will likely miss the first and last events.

There will be a canteen on the day. We hope to have a price list available before the day.

Students should bring the following:
– Hat
– Water Bottle
– Sunscreen
– Jacket / Rain protection
– Packed recess and lunch

Please refer to Primary and Secondary specific further information that has been emailed home.

2022 Lake Macquarie Awards

Congratulations to Belmont Christian College’s own Victoria Robinson who has won the 2022 Sports Star with Disability, announced at the Lake Macquarie Awards last Saturday night. Victoria won the award based on her recent achievements and performances in swimming. On receiving her award, Victoria (who admitted to being unprepared for a speech) spoke with confidence to a sold out auditorium at Belmont 16 Footers, which included Olympians, Members of Parliament, Members of Council, Media personalities, as well as other award nominees across 13 categories. The awards celebrated achievement in areas such as Sport, the Arts, Community Leaders, Volunteers and the Ambassador of the Year for our region.

Victoria has also just returned from the Australian Swimming Championships, where she once again set a number of Personal Best times and continues to improve towards her goal of representing the country.
Congratulations to Colby Robins, who was also in attendance at the awards dinner, after being named as a finalist for the Young Sports Star Award for 2022. 

Mr Hall makes his Mark at the Australian Ironman Championships

For the uninitiated, a triathlon seems like a lot of hard work: A long swim, followed by a bike ride and a run to top it all off. But when you get to the Ironman level the sheer magnitude of these efforts should not be underestimated. Starting with a 3.8km open water swim, followed by a massive 180km bike leg and finishing off with the small matter of a marathon. These events are not for the faint of heart.

Enter Mr Hall. 

Having completed eight such events previously, (mostly in his 20s) he decided that once his son Luke started to train more seriously for Triathlon that he needed to set the bar once again. After Covid cancellation in 2020 and 2021, the 2022 Ironman in Port Macquarie was the time and place that Mr Hall would make his return to the most gruelling event imaginable.

His training, planning and nutrition were all meticulous, using all his teaching, Sport Science and event experience to give himself the best possible preparation with hundreds of hours riding, running and swimming, often in the mornings before school, ensuring that he had the best possible shot at it.

So it came to race day, Sunday the 1st of May.

Starting with the swim leg, he was in the water early at 7:11am, swimming fast he covered the first 2.6km in just 31 minutes, although the last section was against the current so the swim leg was completed in 1:06.16. Most of the rest of us would be exhausted just thinking about swimming that far, but not Mr Hall. Within 5 minutes he was on his bike, ready for two return trips to Laurieton.

The bike leg is one of Mr Hall’s strengths and this leg went perfectly to plan. He powered up the hills and flew along the flats. The conditions were good with the occasional shower not dampening his spirits (and probably cooling him down) 180km is a very long way, but he continued to eat up the miles and was soon heading for the last transition. It took nearly an entire school day, but after 5:35.43 the bike leg was complete. Now a great transition and on to the dreaded 42.2km run leg.

Four laps of a return trip around the breakwall and then out to Settlement Point. While the run leg is fairly flat, having already exerted so much effort in the seven hours previous makes it an absolute nightmare. While most would give up having expended all energy, Mr Hall powered on, knowing his training and determination would give him the strength to continue.

Lap after lap, kilometre after kilometre, step after step, the finishing line inched closer. Starting off at around 5:30/km pace, as time went on he slowed slightly, but as the sun started to set on a massive day and just about running on empty an exhausted Mr Hall could finally see the finish line. With one last burst of adrenaline he powered over the finish line to the cheers of family and friends who have been with him on this whole journey. An announcer called out to each finisher “You ARE an IRONMAN” which is a description as apt as any on such an occasion.

Mr Hall completed the race in 11 hours, 5 minutes and 15 seconds, placing 247th out of 1069 competitors (37th out of 138 in his age category). This is a personal best for him on this course.

We would like to congratulate him on such a mammoth achievement and are grateful that such a dedicated and inspiring individual works with our budding sports stars of the future here at BCC.

BCC Sport Website

For all Belmont Christian College event information, announcements, 2022 sports dates and results throughout the year visit: http://www.tinyurl.com/bccsport.   

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).

~ 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.

The following activities and services are offered by external providers which may be beneficial to your family. These services focus on strengthening student’s wellbeing or academic capacity. While these are not explicitly from a Christian worldview, they do provide insights based on human wisdom and evidence based research. However, personal discretion will be required in whether these services align with your own beliefs. These are NOT fully endorsed by the College but are made available for families to make their own judgement and decision. 

Body Confident Children and Teens Webinar

Anzac Day March

What a privilege it was this ANZAC Day morning to join together with the local Belmont community to honour and pay tribute to the men and women who have, and continue to, serve us in the armed forces. The young men, women, boys and girls from BCC represented our College admirably, as the large gathering marched, prayed, sung, reflected and honoured those who had served our country in times of war.

As a Christian community, on this day and in the shadow of Easter, we are deeply reminded of Jesus’ words when He says: “Greater love has no one than this; to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” John 15:13. Lest we forget.

Group College Tour – 7th June

If you know of any families that may wish to join our College community, we encourage you to extend an invitation to them to come along to our Annual Group College Tour, which is being held on Tuesday, 7th June from 9am. All the details and to book a place can be found here. 

Secondary Drama Improvisation Competition

On the first day of Term we held an all day Improvisation Competition for our Secondary Drama students. Ten students have been selected to represent our College at an all schools competition in the Central Coast in Week 3. 

Congratulations to the following students who were selected: 
Year 10 – Charlie Haig, Joel Edwards, Lily Mole, Jorja Simolin, Isla Clout 
Year 11 – Owen Irvine, Emma Cashion, Jack O’Toole, Ben Blackler 

The last three days of Term 1 saw Years 7 to 11 embark on their annual camps.

Year 7 spent an action packed three days at Crusaders Galston. Despite the rain, students had a great time trying their hands at indoor rock climbing and high ropes, archery and team initiative activities. At night there were plenty of fun and exciting games. Christian Discovery saw students take part in a worship time followed by talks from Crusader leaders and small group discussions. Students enjoyed awesome food (and lots of it), a little bit of sleep (for some!) and lots of laughs throughout the camp. 

On the morning of departure Year 8 were slightly optimistic about the weather holding out, as we were able to meet at the front of the College without any rain! However, as we made our way down to Galston, the ominous signs were there: we were in for a wet camp.

Despite the wet weather and alternative camp activities, students enjoyed themselves thoroughly. The amazing indoor facilities at Crusaders Galston provided for excellent activities: high ropes, abseiling, tower climb and rock climbing. The undercover laser tag game was also extremely popular, as well as the night time cook-out. 

One of the highlights of the camp was the amazing Chistian Discovery sessions where students gathered and spent time studying the Bible in small groups. Many students made a commitment to follow Jesus and others recommitted to being followers of Jesus. We thank the Lord for his protection over students and staff. 

Students from Year 9 attended the Urban Challenge, an “Amazing Race” style clue chase around the beautiful city of Sydney. In the pouring rain teams made their way around the city looking for clues to help find their next location. Negotiating best deals for lunch, visiting the Powerhouse and Maritime Museums and finishing up with Pizza & Bowling, were just some of the amazing adventures to be had. The students were also encouraged to be more mindful around plastic use and recycling at the Pittwater Eco Adventures. Here they learnt about a local business who monitors Manly Beach for plastic waste and also a company that uses this waste to make new products. Despite the weather the students seemed to enjoy the city experience overall.

Year 10 camp this year was held in the Sydney CBD, with some adventures also around Manly. Unfortunately with the frequent torrential rain in Sydney over the few days of camp, some activities on camp had to be cancelled, yet Year 10 were still able to enjoy the waterpark at Manly, a photo hunt through the CBD, bowling, laser tag, as well as devotions focused on the gospel in the real world. Year 10 are to be commended for their amazing positive attitude in dealing with these setbacks.

With the HSC looming in the near future, the Year 11 camp was the last chance for students to get away from the classroom and focus on deepening their relationships with each other. The focus of the camp was on teamwork and being willing to accept new challenges. On the first day, The Raw Challenge at Doyalson was a huge hit with students. Working together to overcome obstacles and challenges, students pushed themselves past their physical limits. It was lovely to hear students cheer each other on – no person was left behind! On the second day, students heard from Glen Gerreyn from the Institute of Hope. He encouraged students to pursue the next couple of years with purpose and how to harness motivation and drive for challenges. Students made personal commitments and felt re-energised from his talk. Through the many activities (bowling, camp games, volleyball, bushwalks and devotions from our chaplain) positive relationships were reinforced and strengthened. We have a terrific Year 11 cohort and it was a privilege to spend time with them. Thank you, Year 11!   

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/

Common Grounds Community Garden Now Open

We are pleased that our Common Grounds Community Garden will be opening again to our students and volunteers on Monday, 16th May. Our ‘Grow Getters’ group, headed up by Mrs Sophie Neale (Primary) and Mrs Jessica Brown (Secondary) will meet during the first half of lunch from 1:10pm every Monday of term.

Should you wish to allow your child to participate in work on the gardens in times such as but not limited to class time, recess and/or lunch please complete this eform Permission note.

Volunteers are also welcome to join us once they have completed the 2022 Volunteers Booklet, which includes supplying a current volunteer WWCC clearance. Volunteers who have completed the 2022 booklet should sign in at the College Office and follow the signs to the garden.

For further information please contact our Gardens Project Coordinator, Mr Alex Cameron on alex.cameron@bcc.nsw.edu.au.

We are looking forward to planting our winter crop and spending time growing together!