Newsletter

If given the choice, I would always drive before taking to the air. Unfortunately, the choice is not always available, and so a fortnight ago I found myself strapped into a seat on a ridiculously small plane down to our Nation’s capital. It was a few days out from the recent federal election and I have to say, I have never seen an airport more quiet than the one which greeted me on arrival in Canberra. You could have done laps of the terminal without seeing another soul…it was eerie…Canberra without a politician in sight…very strange indeed! I share this little anecdote with you because there was a point to the trip, and that was to come alongside other educators at the annual Christian Schools National Policy Forum and Symposium. Now that sounds like a bit of a mouthful, but this annual gathering is of great significance for schools such as ours. The time in Canberra is spent learning from each other, hearing stories from other schools, meeting with politicians, singing worship songs, better understanding the laws of our land, working out how to improve in all facets of educating young people, along with planning well into the future. It is a busy yet stimulating time. I am deeply encouraged that our leadership team sees the value in attending national gatherings such as these on behalf of the College. Each time I find myself at this event, I am thankful to God for the many men and women who have gone before and paved the way for schools like ours. I am reminded that schools like BCC did not drop out of thin air. They were birthed out of a place of passion, commitment, faithfulness, prayer and a great deal of ‘grit’. Christian education in Australia is a real gift and one that we can never take for granted. As we celebrate our 40th year, may our posture be one of thankfulness and excitement, even if it means getting on a really small plane!

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 Date: 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

~ Naplan being concluded for another year

Prayer Points

~ 40th Birthday celebrations
~ Health for staff and students against COVID and flu
~ Primary Musical
~ ‘Grow Getters’ gardening group and Mrs Brown and Mrs Neale who are leading the group
~ Fine weather for Primary and Secondary Carnivals and excursions
~ HSC students’ work, life and study balance and increased wisdom
~ Upcoming Assessments and Trial Examinations
~ Surrounding schools
~ 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
~ Continued prayer for Executive and Board members as they lead the College with their Strategic Plan for Kingdom Education

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

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.

Upcoming Important Dates

Primary

02.6.22 | Newcastle Museum (Year 2)
09.6.22 | Awabakal Excursion (Year 1)
15.6.22 | Science Incursion (Year 4)
16.6.22 | Oakvale Farm (Kinder)

Secondary

03.6.22 | Chemistry Excursion (Year 12)
03.6.22 | Compassion ‘The Village’ Incursion (Years 7 & 8)
06.6.22 | CSSA State Netball Gala Day
08.6.22 | Business Studies Revision Day (Year 12)
10.6.22 | Wellbeing & Leadership Seminar (Prefects)
14.6.22 | Othello Production (Year 11 Advanced English)
14.6.22 | Year 8 into 9 Information Evening
15.6.22 | Boys Futsal Gala Day
15.6.22 | Girls Basketball Gala Day

Whole College

07.6.22 | Group College Tour
13.6.22 | Public holiday
17.6.22 | School Photo Day
05.8.22 | 40th Celebration Dinner

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.

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. 

Sentral Parent Portal

To assist you and your family on those busy mornings, the most effective way to submit your child’s absence is via our Sentral Parent Portal. Once you have logged in, please follow the steps below:

1. Select ‘Absences’ from the menu, 
2. Select ‘Notify of an Absence’, 
3. Select your child’s name, 
4. Select the absence ‘Type’ from the drop down box, 
5. Enter the ‘start and end dates’, 
6. Press ‘send’. 

If you have not yet registered for the Sentral Parent Portal OR have difficulty registering, please email our IT department sentral@bcc.nsw.edu.au and they will step you through the process. 

In addition, for your convenience, please find below the link to our Sentral Parent Portal. You may wish to add this website to your smart phone home screen OR download the Sentral App by searching ‘Sentral for Parents’ in the App Store. Further instructions can be found here.

The Sentral Parent Portal allows you to:

• Book Parent-Teacher Interviews
• Receive student Academic Reports
• View student Timetables
• View Wellbeing information
• Pay Tuition Fees
• Message teachers
• Submit student Absences
• Plus more features will be added in the future.

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:

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.

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

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 

Primary School Parent-Teacher Interviews

Primary teachers have begun the assessment and reporting process for the Semester One Academic Reports that will be available on our Parent Portal in Week 9.

Parents/Carers have the opportunity to meet with their child’s teacher to discuss their child’s Report, progress or any concerns. Parent-Teacher Interviews are an important part of the communication between the College and home so we encourage your attendance.

Beginners to Year 6 Parent-Teacher Interviews will be held face-to-face at the College on Thursday, 30th June between 3.15pm and 8.30pm. Beginners will hold an additional session on Monday, 27th June between 3.15pm and 8.00pm. To book please log in to the Parent Portal and select Parent-Teacher Interviews from the menu. Bookings will open on 10th June and close on 24th June. 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.

Group College Tour – 7th June

Our Annual Group College Tour, which is being held on Tuesday, 7th June from 9am is now fully booked. If you know of any families that may wish to join our College community, we encourage you to extend an invitation to them to visit our website to find out more about our upcoming tours.

Athletics Carnivals

It is with sadness and frustration that once again our Primary and Secondary Athletics Carnivals have been postponed due to poor weather.

At this stage we do not have a second backup date due to venues being fully booked. Once we know a date or an alternate plan we will inform students and families.

NSW CSSA Cross Country

Primary School

Our team of Cross Country runners travelled to Horsley Park in Western Sydney last Friday for the NSW CSSA Cross Country. Our squad was decimated by injury and illness going into the day with just 22 of our 32 strong team able to compete.

Our preparations have been strongly hampered with only one opportunity to have our weekly Run Club all year!

Whilst the skies were blue and rain was gone, the course itself very quickly became a very tricky one to navigate, with the trail turning to mud and becoming very slippery. Some students were seen finishing races carrying their shoes that had come off midrace, trapped in the very boggy mud. Every student came back in need of a wash for themselves, their clothes and their shoes!

Two Primary students have qualified for the upcoming NSW CIS Cross Country. Zirk Lombard finished 6th in the 10yr Boys and Logan Cowling is the first reserve in the 12yr Boys after a sprint finish saw him finishing in 11th place.

Congratulations team!

Secondary school

Friday saw fine sunny skies, for a change as a small Secondary team headed off to CSSA State X Country at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre. Arriving during the middle of Primary races the team was greeted with very muddy little counterparts, who where eager to share their tips and tricks to avoid the soggy trodden ground.

All students competed admirably fortunately returning with all their shoes intact, but sporting a different colour to when they started.

Congratulations to Luke Hall and Owen Irvine both finishing 7th in their respective age groups. They will now move on to represent CSSA NSW at the CIS X Country Carnival.

Congratulations also to the Under 15 Boys Aidan Rae, James Chesterfield, Reef Sattler and Micah Troyer who finished 3rd in their Under 15 Boys Team Category. 

THACCCSA Zone Soccer

Sixty Secondary students made the road trip to Tamworth THACCCSA Zone Soccer Gala Day competing in Under 15 Boys and Girls and Senior Girls and Boys teams.

The Under 15s Girls team played well and showed improvement throughout the Gala Day. They had tricky circumstances to face as most other schools were heavily filled with Year 9 students whilst our team was made up of Year 7 and 8 students. The limited training that they had leading up to the day due to all the rain also made things harder, however they worked well together and by the end of the day were able to snatch a 2-0 win. It was fantastic to hear the girls supporting each other whilst they were waiting to be subbed on and encouraging each other out on the pitch.

The Senior Girls team lost their first game 4-1, then went on to draw their second game 1-1. Coming second in their pool they made it to semi finals where they won 2-1! After progressing to the grand finals they sadly lost 3-0.

The Under 15s Boys team played with a lot of heart but not much luck. The boys held their own all day but rued some missed chances when it counted. A late equaliser, two missed penalties and a controversial no-goal all contributed to a final record of one win, two draws and three narrow losses for the day in Division 1.

The Senior Boys were a pleasure to watch. The intensity, talent and comradery were of a high level. The team competed against some quality teams and scored some great team goals. Most noteworthy was Jay Troyer scoring a hat-trick moving from fullback to forward for one of the games. In the end the team results were 2 wins, 2 draws and 2 losses. These results meant the team narrowly missed out on progressing to the next level.

It is such a big day with an early start and late return but plenty of fun, a great experience and new connections were made. Well done teams.

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.   

You’re Invited to our 40th Anniversary Dinner

Please note that there is no set seating on the night. Simply come along and join a table of 10 with friends and family.

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

Primary Musical – Ali Baba and the Bongo Bandits

Rehearsals for this year’s Primary Production, Ali Baba, are underway and the buzz and excitement is in the air.

Please make a note that Primary will be performing at the Warners Bay Theatre at the following dates and times:

Wednesday, 31st August 2022
Evening 7pm

Thursday, 1st September 2022
Matinee 11am (Understudies Show)
Evening 7pm

Musical Publication

Our String/Violin tutor, Dr David Banney, has completed a publication that has just been released by Fennica Gerhmann in Finland. This is the viola version of the extraordinary Kreutzerini – a set of 42 finger exercises for young violinists by Géza Szilvay. It is available through the Fennica Gerhmann website, and will soon be available from Colourstrings Australia. Congratulations David! Click here for further information.

Girls Talk

The Engineers Australia Newcastle Division would like to invite any female students interested in STEM to attend a free online event: Girls Talk on Thursday, 2nd June from 4.30pm – 5:30pm.

Come along to Girls Talk where you’ll hear from eminent local female engineers. They’ll share stories and experiences on projects they’ve worked on, give snapshots of their daily engineering life, and explain what inspired their career in engineering. There will be a panel consisting of representatives from the University of Newcastle and TAFE NSW. Make sure you bring along any burning questions you may have on your potential future in Engineering!

This FREE event is open to all female students from Years 7-12, parents and teachers are also welcome to attend. To register, please visit here (https://cvent.me/bn9azE), or scan the QR code below.

Discover Engineering

The Engineers Australia Newcastle Division would like to invite high school students interested in a career in Engineering to attend a free online event Discover Engineering on Thursday, 23rd June from 4.30pm – 5:30pm.

Join in our Discover Engineering forum session to gain insight into the different pathways to a career in Engineering. You will be hearing from all different members of the engineering team (Professional, Associates and Technologists) about how they have reached where they are today. There will also be a panel consisting of representatives from 3 different universities as well as TAFE NSW, so bring along any burning questions you may have about engineering courses and enrolment.

This FREE event is open to all students from years 7-12, parents and teachers are also welcome to attend. To register, please visit here (https://cvent.me/XDEmkr) , or scan the QR code below.

Coins for Compassion Day

We are excited to be holding another Coins for Compassion day on the last day of Term 2. The day will be similar to those in the past with the Primary School having a class competition for the longest line of coins and the Secondary School holding a Fair with CONNECT groups running stalls. The day is mufti and is a great way to end the term. 

This year we have a new goal for our fundraising. We are endeavoring, as a College, to raise $9400 to pay for the establishment of a brand new Compassion project in the Philippines. The centre will be located in Pitogo, Philippines and will support 100 Compassion children and their families. The average income in this area is A$40 per month, mainly based around agriculture which is dependent on seasons and weather. Many children leave school early to work in daily labour, and remain trapped in the cycle of poverty. So the fundraising will be a great blessing to the many children and their families who will benefit from the new project, but will also be a blessing to our students as they learn what it means to give to bless others.

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. 

Traumatic events, the Media and your Child

Safer Online Gaming Webinars

Curriculum Reform: Teacher Expert Networks (TENs)

At the beginning of 2021, I began working as a member of the Hunter TENs with the task of assisting Curriculum Reform. This was due to the Curriculum Review that was released in June 2020. In response to the Review, the NSW government has tasked NESA to develop a new NSW Curriculum that aims to streamline and strengthen what is taught in NSW schools. The Review recommended the involvement of key stakeholders, especially teachers, in all implementation phases of the new curriculum. To this end, a Teacher Expert Network (TENs) model has been developed. Teachers from all sectors (Government and non-Government) and years of schooling were nominated to participate in the professional learning network. In collaboration with NESA, TENs teachers are involved in giving valuable feedback on the link between curriculum and teaching practice and advice on support materials needed by teachers.

Recently I had the privilege of attending a three-day conference including TENs from across the state. We were encouraged to hear from speakers who are experts in their field. Professor Amanda Datnow spoke on expectations within networking groups and teamwork and collaborative engagement strategies. Also, a discussion panel, including Professor Catherine Attard and Eddie Woo, explored attitudes to and challenges within Mathematics in Primary and Secondary classrooms. The conference was highly engaging and provided time and space for teachers to share their experiences and knowledge.

I look forward to my continued involvement in the Hunter TENs and the introduction of the new K-2 English and Mathematics Curriculum mandatory in NSW schools from the beginning of 2023, followed by the continued roll-out of the K-10 Curriculum throughout 2024. 

Leisa McDonald
Primary Teacher

School Photo Day

School photographs are scheduled to be taken by ‘advancedlife’ School Photography on:

Friday, 17th June 2022 for Primary, Secondary and Beginners #1 students and
Monday, 20th June 2022 for Beginners #2 students.

We will also be taking sibling photos on Friday, 17th June and any families with a Beginners #2 child on Monday, 20th June.

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 can be collected from the College Office and the order envelope with 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 Thursday 16th June. Sibling photographs will only be taken if an order has been placed.

Should you have any queries concerning school photographs or online ordering, please contact www.advancedlife.com.au/contact

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

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/