Newsletter

Student Leadership Team

It is this time of year in Secondary School that we collect nominations for the Student Leadership team. This year, we are expanding our team to include students from years 7-12, not just the usual model of years 10-12. This will provide students with early opportunities for growth and mentoring for leadership, supporting our College community, helping students to realise their God given gifts in community. Leadership can be an incredibly rewarding journey, although it is bound to be one of struggle.

I’m reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 11: 28, “Come to me all you who labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light” (ESV). Often leadership can feel like a lonely journey, as if we are the only one doing the task at hand. This can lead to doubt in ourselves and the sum of our concerns, worries and responsibilities can be more than we can manage individually, although we may be part of a wider team and community. The image that Jesus provides here is one of joining a well supported team, with the ‘yoke’ being literally a girder that is carefully crafted by the craftsman to reduce the individual load of an oxen, growing the capacity of the team. Not only does this picture describe functioning teamwork, but it implies the careful and considered design process of the one guiding the team. So this team isn’t one of burden but one of ‘rest’. This is an important message that we need to keep in the forefront of our minds when in any sort of Christian leadership: we can only step into the space of leadership in light of the ‘journey’ and office that the Lord has already gifted to us. He doesn’t promise that it won’t be difficult, but rather that it will be a ‘load’ to bear. In our natural state we will inevitably (individually) struggle, and it will inevitably seem impossible. However, He’s not saying we won’t have burdens, but if we cast our burdens upon Him, He is powerful to uphold us and He will provide rest. May we all rest in our Lord today regardless of our circumstances, knowing that He is trustworthy, powerful and gentle, so that we can learn from Him as we “grow up into Christ” and His fullness, no longer ‘tossed about’ in our struggles but planted in the knowledge that He will lovingly support (Ephesians 4: 14-15, James 4: 2-3). 

Please continue praying for our young leaders as they meet with myself, Mrs Naomi Stewart (Prefect Leader) and Mr Nate Miller (Head of Wellbeing) over the following week, to discuss their thinking around leadership in our College. As we broaden the leadership model, pray that together we will continue to honour Christ in this process, supporting young leaders in their growth.

Mr Alex Cameron
Acting Head of Secondary

BCC Prayer Warriors

This year we are privileged to be able to run a monthly prayer morning. It’s a treat to pray for new families, students and staff, share some coffee and cake and enjoy great conversation. Everyone is welcome to join us on the first Monday of each month from 8:45am – 9:30am to pray alongside parents and local churches. Come for a bit, or come for the whole time. 

Please sign-in at the College Office. We meet near the Weathershed in the newly created College Garden. Simply follow the signs. 

For more information or to ask for personal prayer, please email prayerwarriors@bcc.nsw.edu.au.

Check out the prayer focus areas and upcoming dates in the image below. 

Prayer points:

1. HSC students completing their Trial Exams over the coming weeks.

2. Year 11 students who will be sitting exams towards the end of this term, before beginning Year 12.

3. HSC students as they complete their journey well at BCC – they are coming to their ‘lasts’. Pray that they find their balance, and know that God is in control, and that they are worth more than a number. Remind them that God has plans for each of their lives.

4. For staff who are themselves, and have family members who are struggling with their health.

5. For students who are struggling with their health, either physically, mentally or emotionally.

6. For recruitment of staff, either this year or for 2024.

Praise points:

1. God’s continual provision

2. God’s continual faithfulness

3. The playground for students from Beginners – Year 4 which recently opened

4. For new families to the College

Prayer for HSC Students

It’s that time of year again when we ask people to volunteer to pray for the 2023 HSC students. Our goal is for each HSC student to have at least one person from the College community committing to pray for them each day from the beginning of Term 3 until when the HSC exams finish on 3 November. We are asking people to commit to praying for two specific HSC students, the names of whom we will provide to you.

Why start specific prayer in Term 3? Well, in Term 3 the HSC gets more real for the students as they have their HSC Trials in August, Major Works (Art and D&T) are due towards the end of August, and Drama and Music performances, along with language oral exams in September. The HSC exams start on 11 October.

As part of our wider community focus, we also ask that you please pray for the HSC students at Belmont High School. It can be a challenging time for so many young people.

If you are interested in committing to praying for two of our HSC students, please contact us via prayerwarriors@bcc.nsw.edu.au

Upcoming Important Dates

Primary

23.08.23 | Year 4 Sand-dunes excursion
30.08.23 | Fathers Day Stall
31.08.23 | Rise Up!
01.09.23 | Primary School Disco
05.09.23 | Year 6 Cooking Incursion
07.09.23 | Primary Zone OzTag

Secondary

14.08.23-23.08-23 | HSC Trial Examinations
23.08.23 | Science & Engineering Challenge State Finals
24.08.23 | HSC Showcase
24.08.23 | Secondary CSSA State Athletics Carnival
30.08.23 | Year 10 Courage to Care
04.09.23 | Mixed OzTag Gala Day

Whole College

01.09.23 | Fathers Day Coffee Cart
08.09.23 | Ronald McDonald House Charity Dinner

Save the date

05.12.23 | BCC End of Year Festival – A celebration of learning and community

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 Sentral Parent App and/or email.

To celebrate Father’s Day, why not drop your kids off at school and grab a FREE coffee from our friends at Crawford Coffee on Friday, 1 September. 

With coffee in hand, take five and hang around for a quick Father’s Day family snap with your kids, and then dust off the inner daredevil and join them on the newly completed nature playground! 

And yes, this invite to coffee and a play is extended to our Secondary School dads, because deep down, we all know you want to have a crack at the playground, and we just want to watch your teenage kids squirm a bit as dad does his thing!

Lock it in the diary. We hope to see you there.

When: Friday, 1 September

Where: Out the front of the College

Time: FREE Coffees from 7:20am onwards

No need to RSVP

If you have a child in Year 11, it is now due time to apply for provisions for HSC exams. Students who experience slow writing speed, anxiety, slow reading rate, spelling issues or very poor handwriting, plus a myriad of other barriers to their learning, can apply for provisions such as small group supervision, rest breaks, extra time or a reader/writer.  

These adjustments help students access HSC exams on the same basis as students without disability. They allow students to show the markers what they know and can do when the barriers are eliminated.

To apply for provisions, BCC submits an online application to NESA. This application tells NESA which provisions a student is requesting and includes recent evidence. Evidence may include medical reports, reading results, spelling results, writing samples and teacher comments.

It is not embarrassing to apply for provisions, more than 7000 HSC students apply each year. If you would like to discuss this further, the next step is to promptly reach out to Julie Tibbs julie.tibbs@bcc.nsw.edu.au or Nicole Walters nicole.walters@bcc.nsw.edu.au in Learning Enrichment.

We are looking for people to be employed as HSC supervisors for the College. A supervisor’s main role is ensuring all students follow NESA’s exam rules. Supervisors report to the HSC Presiding Officer and help them with other duties.

A supervisor’s duties may include:

• Checking exam rooms are properly equipped and set up
• Supervising students in exam rooms
• Collecting completed exam papers
• Packing up after exams.

Supervisors must:

• Have a valid Working with Children Check for Employment
• Work as part of a team
• Have attention to detail
• Be able to carry out duties in confidence and with discretion

Supervisors must not supervise at any school where they have a friend or close relative who is:

• Sitting the HSC, or
• They are an employee of the school.

Supervisors receive a roster from their Presiding Officer. The length and number of shifts a supervisor receives depend on the number of exams held at each school. If you are interested in this paid position please contact Vicki Pearson, presiding.officer@bcc.nsw.edu.au

Christian schools are different. It’s this difference that is the reason why you choose to send your children to Belmont Christian College. Christian schools also make a difference. According to the Cardus Education Survey, graduates of Christian schools:

● Feel better prepared to find meaning, purpose and direction in life
● Are more likely to volunteer with organisations that help the elderly and care for the environment
● Are more likely to belong to a trade union or political party

This difference isn’t an accident. The gospel shapes our lives with an eternal purpose, transforms our relationships and compels us to love our neighbours (and even our enemies). At the heart of this difference is the authentic faith of our teachers and staff. But some “experts” don’t value this difference. They want to take away the ability of schools like ours to be able to hire teachers and staff who not only believe but also live these life-changing values. In December, the Australian Law Reform Commission will be making some recommendations to the Australian Government that could have big changes to the future of our College.

www.mychristianschool.au

My Christian School is a new grassroots movement of Australians who believe in the difference Christian schools make. Belmont Christian College is a part of this movement and your help is needed to pass on this difference for future generations. Please visit the My Christian School website and sign-up to show your support. Together, we can preserve the precious difference of Christian schools.

For all major announcements regarding College Life, student reports & absences, calendar access, newsletters, excursion permissions, fee payments and much more, the College uses the Sentral Parent App. If you have not already, please download the Sentral Parent App by searching ‘Sentral for Parents’ in the App Store on your smartphone and ensure that notifications are enabled within the App. Set up instructions can be found here. If you have any trouble registering, please email the College on sentral@bcc.nsw.edu.au and our friendly IT department will support you through the process.

Zone Champions!

Last Tuesday, our Primary Athletics team competed in the Hunter Zone Carnival and successfully defended their title, winning the Championship trophy for the second consecutive year.

Our team dominated the day, finishing a massive 127 points ahead of 2nd place!

We had 7 students place in the top 3 of their Age Championship, with Mya Terbeeke claiming Gold in the 12yr Girls – an age group where we amazingly swept all 3 medals with Charlotte Campbell and Kari Croxford winning Silver and Bronze. This is a very rare occurrence! 

Laith Stewart, Miriam Meier, and Ashton Millett all took Silver and Josiah Bell with Bronze in their respective age groups.

Our Senior Girls relay team (Charlotte Campbell, Mya Terbeeke, Kari Croxford, Indi T) also broke the zone record that they had set last year, taking nearly a full second off their 2022 time.

24 Belmont students have qualified for the NSW CSSA Carnival in September.

Congratulations to all our 45 athletes that competed at Zone!

CSSA Netball

On Thursday, 3 August BCC went to Sydney to represent our school at the CSSA Netball. We had a Junior and Senior team attend and give their all! 

Our Senior girls went undefeated all day, even playing a nail biting Quarter Final, but sadly lost their Semi Final by 3! The girls did so well and showed amazing sportsmanship, making it a joy to take them away!

Our Junior girls also went undefeated all day, they narrowly won their Quarter Final and easily won their Semi Final! The girls went into the grand final with a positive attitude, at half time it was 4 all! Miss Baartz was on the edge of her seat the whole game trying not to scream! As the final bell rang the girls were up 8-7, but we still had 30 seconds of injury time! Our BCC girls went for another shot and missed, only for the ball to end up in the other team’s hands. With seconds to spare the other team made their way to their end but sadly dropped the ball. Then to Miss Baartz’s joy, as she felt as though she was going to have a heart attack, the hooter sounded and our Junior team won their Grand Final! 

All girls who competed on this day should be extremely proud of themselves as they showed grace, resilience and a wonderful can-do attitude!

Boys Junior Soccer

The Junior boys’ soccer team embarked on an exciting journey to Sydney on Thursday, 27 July 2023 to participate in the much-anticipated annual State Soccer Gala Day. Demonstrating remarkable skill and teamwork, the team showed exceptional performance throughout their pool games, which led them to a well-deserved spot in the Semi Finals. 

HSC Showcase

We are working diligently alongside our students in anticipation of HSC Showcase 2023, which will take place on Thursday, 24 August, from 5:00pm to 8:30pm. The event will be held in the College Library and the Hall, with exhibitions from 5:00pm and Performances from 6:00pm. The students have been putting together some amazing pieces for an evening that promises to be filled with artistic brilliance and exceptional talent.

The HSC Showcase will feature an extraordinary exhibition and performance of HSC Major Works across a diverse range of disciplines, including Drama, Design and Technology, Music, Software Design, Industrial Technology, and Visual Arts. This event serves as a platform for our graduating students to showcase their creativity, dedication, and hard work throughout their HSC journey.

You may have noticed construction fencing placed at the front of our campus where The Nature Playground construction is now complete! Students are already enjoying the playground and the teachers don’t think its too bad either!

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

Packing a Low Waste Lunch

Great Mates After School Program

With the last round being an incredible success, we are now opening enrolments for the following round of ‘Great Mates’, which will be running from 27 July – 14 September!

Our ‘Great Mates’ program has focused on important topics all around masculinity, perseverance, emotional regulation, as well as several other key topics. Each week the boys have consistently turned up to The Place: Community Centre and contributed to these crucial conversations. With evidence supporting the importance of our program through surveys and personal anecdotes from the boys who participated as well as the parents – being apart of the Great Mates program will be incredibly beneficial for any young boys you may know between the ages of 12-16.

Apprenticeship Support Australia Advice for Parents

An Australian Apprenticeship (commonly known as an apprenticeship or traineeship) combines paid on-the-job training with formal study resulting in a nationally-recognised qualification.

There are more than 500 occupations across Australia that offer apprenticeships and traineeships, ranging from Certificate II to Advanced Diploma levels, including traditional trades, as well as a number of emerging occupations in most sectors of business and industry.

The Australian Government even provides funding to eligible Australian Apprentices aimed to assist with the costs incurred whist they are undertaking training!

To find out which career may suit your child head to our free careers advice portal Skillsroad.com.au – Australian number 1 destination for career advice!

myfuture Webinars

These free webinars are a great way to learn about myfuture and other current topics from expert presenters. Register now: https://myfuture.edu.au/assist-others/webinars

Powering the future: Exploring expanding career opportunities in the Clean Energy Sector, Thursday, 24 August 2023 1:00pm (AEST)

As Australia transitions from fossil fuel to clean energy, careers in the energy sector are evolving and expanding. In this panel discussion hosted by Dr Anita Talberg, Workforce Development Manager at the Clean Energy Council, we will hear first-hand from several professionals from diverse backgrounds who are thriving in the clean energy industry.

The role of emotion in career education (for parents and carers) Tuesday 29, August, 1:00 PM (AEST)

Emotions, both positive and negative, are not only a result of educational and work experiences, but also play a vital role in learning and personal development. In education and employment, emotions can either stimulate or constrain thought processes, reflection, and proactive behaviours. Based on the Insights paper ‘How emotions influence motivation and behaviour in career development learning’, this webinar, presented by Dr Michael Healy, will help you understand how different emotions might affect your child’s career development in different ways. He will provide advice on how you can recognise and respond to different career-related emotions that your child might be experiencing.

Coping with emotional challenges in career development – R U OK? Day 2023, Thursday, September 14 1:00pm (AEST)

Young people face uncertain employment pathways in their futures, and often feel enormous pressure to make the “right” career decisions to ensure success. Many typical career development tasks and situations can trigger or worsen stress and mental ill-health. In this webinar, the teams from the Student Wellbeing Hub and the myfuture career information service will join in a discussion about how career development influences, and is influenced by, wellbeing and emotional resilience. Coinciding with R U OK? Day 2023, they will share practical tips and resources for educators and parents to help young people cope with the emotional challenges that are so central to career development learning.

Register now: https://myfuture.edu.au/assist-others/webinars

Sydney Careers & Employment Expo

Sydney’s New Careers & Employment Event will open on September 8 & 9, 2023, at the Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park. The Expo will showcase over 100 organisations and employers with career opportunities for all ages.  Entry’s Free.

The event is for school students, parents, teachers, graduates, job seekers, people looking for courses and workers seeking new opportunities.

The Expo is packed with Free advice, you can…

• Talk with over 100 Training Organisations & Employers
• Gain Free Career Advice
• Discover Jobs of the Future
• Talk with Leading Organisations about Training & Apprenticeships
• Experience the Free Career Seminars
• Learn how to write a Winning Resume

 If you are looking for a job, career change, courses or you are a school student looking for a career path, you can’t afford to miss the Expo.

Friday, September 8 2023 – 9am to 3pm
Saturday, September 9 2023 – 9am to 4pm

Hordern Pavilion, Moore Park

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.

Uniform Shop Price Updates

The uniform shop will see a price rise from 4 September so get in quick and purchase or lay-by at current prices.

For a limited time only, we are offering epic discounts on our popular Multi City Membership

• Save $20 on 12 month Multi City Memberships.
• Save $50 on 24 month Multi City Memberships

Whether you’re looking to save on the finer things in life or simply access the sweetest deals across Australia and New Zealand, unlock around 8000 offers with a Multi City Membership to The Entertainment App!

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.

~ 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.