Newsletter

We’ve just passed Easter weekend, one of the most significant dates in the Christian calendar. While much attention is paid to Good Friday, and Resurrection Sunday, we often don’t think much about the silence of what some traditions term ‘Holy Saturday’. But take a minute to empathise with the followers of Jesus in that moment. Everything they’d hoped for, the long-awaited coming of the Messiah, the establishment of a new Kingdom, all the incredible things they’d seen over the last three years – all of it ended in apparent crushing defeat. I’m certain they would have felt hopeless, shattered, and scared. Whilst we know the ending to that story, the followers of Jesus had no idea that hope was just a day away.

I think Holy Saturday can speak to us today. Something I’ve noticed more and more over my years of teaching is a hopelessness creeping into the edges of younger generations. It’s all too easy to give up, to see all the dark things in the world and become convinced that we are incapable of making change, and that the world is doomed regardless of what we do. Whilst Gen Z and Gen Alpha certainly aren’t the first generations in history to experience this challenge, combining it with a perpetually scrolling social feed of negativity is compounding the effect. Even Christians can sometimes be caught up in this kind of historical nihilism, a kind of ‘bunker down and wait it out’ mentality.

We should certainly examine our culture from a critical lens, and challenge the ways in which our world perpetuates injustice, cruelty, and darkness. But in doing so, it’s tempting to become hopeless, especially in a digital and globalised world where the worst parts of humanity are splashed across our social media feeds. Confronted with so much darkness, so much chaos, so much fear, it is all too easy to become drawn into the vortex ourselves and give in to paranoia and nihilism.

But fear is not the answer. After all, God is love, and “there is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear”, as the writer says in 1 John 4. For a follower of Jesus, it’s important to remember that no matter how the world is, hope is on the way, and it’s my job to engage fully and deeply with our world in order to play my part in setting things right. No matter how dark Saturday might be, Sunday’s coming, and there’s a beauty in holding on to hope even when hope is hard to find. Perhaps, then, the silence of Saturday could instead be an inhaled breath, one held for the hope that’s just around the corner. Or maybe, just maybe, I could see that this hope is actually already here.

Formal education dates back millennia. In fact, there’s an ancient Babylonian poem about a school student that’s over four thousand years old. In it, he complains that all he does is scribe words into stone tablets for hours each day. Archaeologists have discovered another tablet into which is carved a student’s caricature of his teacher. It seems the more things change, the more they stay the same.

I recently took our teachers through a history of education philosophy. We started with the ancient philosophers who asked what the world was made of, through the Middle Ages, and into the present day. Over that time, education has been a lot of different things. Socrates taught the young to challenge established ideas, whilst in the Middle Ages the goal of education was ‘universal understanding’ – a lofty target indeed!

But what is education for today?

I suggest that education involves three essential functions; learning from the past, reflecting on the present, and hoping for the future. 

When we learn from the past, we examine the past achievements and shortcomings of civilisation. We see ourselves in the grand story of history, in what God has done in our world and how we find ourselves where we are today. When we reflect on the present, we examine the world today, humanity’s achievements in science, the arts, literature, mathematics, sports, technology and applied sciences, and so on. We learn how they work, how to work with them, and we interrogate them through the lens of faith – discerning both the good and the not-so-good. 

The final step is something I think is desperately needed in our current age; hoping for the future. Too much reflection on the present can be a challenging place to dwell without the hope that things can change, without the hope that God is doing a good work and will restore things to himself. And so we hope, and we point to a better future, and we learn our part in shaping this better future through our learning, our vocation, and our lives.

Whilst it doesn’t appear that our ancient Babylonian student necessarily saw much value in his scribing lessons, I’d argue that education’s role in helping us learn from the past, reflect on the present, and hope for the future, is fundamental to our existence. It’s about who we are, how we got here, and where all of this is going. I think, in essence, a good education encapsulates what it means to be truly human.

Each year we sadly find ourselves having to farewell people as they seek a different direction for their lives. This year is no different. We want to express our heartfelt appreciation to Mrs. Leoni McNeill for her dedicated 21 years of service at BCC. Leoni initially joined the College as a Primary teacher, and her passion for curriculum landed her the role of Curriculum Coordinator. Later she was appointed Head of Primary where she has had the privilege of connecting with students and parents for the last 9 years. 

I wish to thank Leoni for her commitment to both Kingdom Education and Belmont Christian College. Her contribution has been significant and will be remembered for years to come. 

Please keep Leoni in your prayers as she embarks on a new path in life. 

Additionally, I am pleased to announce that Mr Chris Stewart will serve as the Acting Head of Primary for Term 4. Congratulations Chris! Our Primary students remain in capable hands. The search for a permanent replacement is currently underway, and I will keep you updated throughout the process. 

Ms Sharon Sopher

Principal

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. Year 12 as they come to the end of their schooling at BCC 

2. Year 12 for all their end of term functions and celebrations

3. Year 12 HSC exams next term

4. Year 11 as they soon embark on Year 12

5. Mrs McNeill, as she completes her tenure at BCC at the end of this term, embarking on a new journey

6. Those families that are struggling with sickness and illnesses

Praise points:

1. New staff coming to the College next year

2. Chris Stewart as he is Acting Head of Primary for Term 4

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

15.09.23 | Beginners Reptile Park Excursion
22.09.23 | Naming of Nature Playground
10.10.23 | Beginners Parent Information Evening – 5.30 pm
10.10.23 | Kindergarten Parent Information Evening – 6.30 pm

Secondary

18.09.23 | Year 12 MUFTI Day – Dress up as what you want to be
19.09.23 | Year 12 Student Servant Auction
19.09.23 | Staff v Students Soccer Match
20.09.23 | Student Servant Day
22.09.23 | Year 9 Marine DMC excursion
21.09.23 | Year 12 Graduation
22.09.23 | Year 12 Luna Park & Last day out
13.10.23 | Year 7 & 10 Immunisations

Whole College

14.09-23-22.09.23 | Year 11 Preliminary Exams
22.09.23 | Last day of Term 3
23.09.23-08.10.23 | School Holidays
09.10.23 | First day of Term 4

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.

Come join us for our Annual Parent Information Evenings. This is an excellent opportunity to meet the 2024 Beginners and Kindergarten teachers, ask questions, and spend some time together. More information will be provided on the night regarding the Student Orientation Program throughout Term 4 2023. Please pop these dates into your calendar.

Term 4 Need-to-Know Dates & Times

Beginners

10.10.23 – 5.30 pm – Parent Information Evening – Beginners Classroom
14.11.23 – 9.30 am – Student Orientation Morning 1
17.11.23 – 9.30 am – Student Orientation Morning 2

Kindergarten

10.10.23 – 6.30 pm – Parent Information Evening – The College Library
19.10.23 – 10.30 am – Student Orientation Morning 1
30.10.23 – 10.30 am – Student Orientation Morning 2
14.11.23 – 10.30 am – Student Orientation Morning 3

Winter to Summer – A two-week ‘change-over’ period will take effect for the last two weeks of Term 3. This will be next week, Week 8 and the following week, Week 9. During this period, students may wear EITHER Summer Uniform OR Winter Uniform, not a mixture of both. Students are expected to wear full Summer uniform as of Week 1, Term 4.

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.

I’m reminded this week of 1 Corinthians 10: 23 where the Apostle Paul says to the church in Corinth, ‘You say, “I have the right to do anything.” But not everything is helpful. Again you say, “I have the right to do anything.” But not everything builds us up.‘ Such is the attitude and posture of most in society nowadays, parroting the first part of this verse, ‘I can do what I like…so long as it doesn’t hurt anyone….badly?’. Indeed, some things are a matter of opinion and don’t have much of an impact in ours or others lives when it comes to building up or down e.g. the football team you support.

There are other things still lawful, but really do have an impact for building or bringing down e.g. words of encouragement or negativity we say to each other, but even this can be a delicate area to tread. Our students aren’t much different in their default attitudes to many things, often assuming ‘most things are okay’, but without much thought or evidence to back it. In fact, this statement is downright incorrect in many situations. In life most people really don’t have the right ‘to do anything I like’. An example of this is the general student attitude to online behaviour, sharing and distributing of images and videos and or comments made to others. What many students don’t realise is that all too quickly, their conduct can escalate and can become illegal.  This should never be considered as okay, and there are no excuses for bad behaviour.

Many parents and children seem genuinely unaware of the seriousness of this issue. It is important to exercise discretion and wisdom when sharing or sending media of this nature.  Why not take a look at the Office of the eSafety commissioner as a family this week, to come up to speed with the apps that are out there, and what is reportable conduct. You might be surprised to learn that much of what our teens may be doing or viewing is in fact illegal or at best, not building up themselves or others. Find out more at: https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-issues

BCC families are invited to participate in the Christian Schools Australia Christian School Community Profile Survey.

The survey is being conducted amongst all families with children enrolled in participating Christian schools across Australia. It is designed to assist schools in gaining an understanding of parent’s:

– choice of school, 

– satisfaction with their children’s learning, 

– engagement in the school community and;

– general background. 

BCC will use the survey results to help gain a better understanding of our community and to inform and direct future school planning and improvement strategies.

Please be assured that your responses are completely confidential.

– The survey will be conducted online and should take no more than 15-20 minutes to complete

– The survey will be open up until Friday, 22 September 2023.

Please check your Sentral Parent App to access the survey link.

Any questions, please contact david.gray@bcc.nsw.edu.au 

Year 12 Graduation Assembly

The Year 12 Class of 2023 Graduation Assembly will be held at 9.25am on Thursday, 21 September in the College Multi Purpose Building.

Parents and family members are invited to attend, however numbers of visitors will be limited due to seating arrangements in the Multi Purpose Building. Please RSVP on the link sent through the Sentral Parent App.

Please arrive 10-15 minutes prior to the event to sign in and be seated ready to start on time.

We are excited to be able to host this occasion and look forward to welcoming parents/carers on the day.

We are desperately in need of volunteer supervision for the HSC Exams. If you know someone who you think would be interested and can read and write to a suitable standard, would you please pass on their phone number for us to contact them. 

We still have the following need for volunteers:

• 11th Oct: 9:30-12:30 (3 readers)
• 11th Oct: 9:30-2:00 (1 reader/writer)
• 12th Oct: 9:00-12:30 (3 readers)
• 17th Oct: 1:30-4:30 (1 reader/writer)
• 25th Oct: 1:30-5:00 (2 readers)
• 27th Oct: 1:30-4:00 (1 reader)

Let us know if your interested by contacting Nicole:
nicole.walters@bcc.nsw.edu.au

The hall was a hive of compassion and generosity for our inaugural Ronald McDonald House Charity Dinner in Week 7. Students hosted the evening with grace, piano melodies filled the air, and laughter echoed as we came together for a purpose. The night featured a silent auction that sparked excitement and a couple of fierce bidding wars. Guests tested their skills with engaging games, and we all shared in an impressive meal, made by the students. The highlight of the evening was our communal effort in raising $11,347.00 towards Ronald McDonald House Charities. A heartfelt thank you goes out to Mrs Walters and her staff, as well as our huge team of student volunteers who made such a wonderful evening possible.

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.

A Theatrical Triumph: Year 11 Drama Major Works

Year 11 put on a remarkable evening as our Drama students showcased their Major Works performance, titled “The Bible in 45minutes.” In a feat of storytelling prowess, they eloquently conveyed the entire biblical narrative, from Genesis to Revelation, delivering a fusion of profound messages and genuine humour.

The quality of their performances and the overall production was nothing short of impressive. Each student demonstrated a remarkable level of dedication and talent, weaving together a captivating tapestry of character portrayal and storytelling. They did an outstanding job, particularly at the evening performance before family and friends.

This production not only exemplified artistic achievement but also provided our students with a valuable opportunity to explore intricate narratives and multiple characters, enriching their creative and acting abilities.

We extend our sincere gratitude to the volunteer helpers who worked diligently behind the scenes, contributing significantly to the success of this production. Also a huge shout out to Mrs Naomi Stewart for pulling this show together. Our students are blessed to have such a dedicated Drama teacher to give them these authentic experiences. Thank you, Naomi.

Congratulations to our Year 11 Drama students for delivering a remarkable evening of storytelling and entertainment.

NSW CSSA Athletics

Belmont Christian College and the Hunter Zone were represented by 21 of our students at the Christian Schools State Athletics Carnival in Blacktown last week.

Many of our students performed better than ever, and came away with personal best results.

After breaking the Zone record at the start of the term, our Senior Girls Relay team (Mya Terbeeke, Kari Croxford, Charlotte Campbell and Indi T) were outstanding as they went on to break the NSW CSSA Record, by 0.2 seconds, in a time of 57.00. That record has been in place for 11 years, the year after those girls were born!

A special mention to Mya Terbeeke who had an outstanding carnival, winning the 12yr Long Jump, finishing 2nd in the 100m and High Jump, and 5th in the 800m and 1500m, on top of her run in the relay team. These results were enough to give Mya the overall 12yr Girls Age Champion award! Congratulations Mya!

10 students have qualified for the NSW CIS Carnival, which will be held next week at Homebush.

Lachlan Altstadt (1st in Long Jump and 3rd in 1500m), Kari Croxford (1st in 200m, 2nd in Long Jump), Zirk Lombard (2nd in Discus) and Mya Terbeeke will all compete in individual events, whilst our Senior Girls Relay team will be joined by the Junior Boys Relay team (Ashton Millett, Harrison Hofman, Bexley Paterson, Ari Bevan) who finished 2nd at CSSA.

National Aerobics

Belmont Christian College was represented at the National Aerobics Championships on the Gold Coast last weekend.

Our 4 teams gave their all after training twice a week for most of the year.

The Thunderbolts (Yr 3/4) finished 7th, The Galaxy Girls (Prep – Yr 1) finished in 8th place and the Fireflies (Yr 3-6) came 10th.

Well done to our teams for your hard work through the year, and to the parents and families for your commitment to the girls!

Senior Boys go one better in 2023

The Senior Boys Basketball team made up of Heber Masseque, Cody Hill, Bailey Leahy, Cruz Whyte, James Chesterfield, Kynon Holmes, Micah Troyer and Luther Lawrence travelled again to Penrith to compete in CSSA Stage Championships. 

After losing our first game to Coffs Harbour by 3 points, we rallied to win the next two, including a come-from-behind two-point win against a very strong Inaburra. 

That put us in the Major Semi-Final, where we were outclassed by Tyndale – a school that employs its own Basketball coach! In every match, we demonstrated the gritty never-say-die attitude we are now known for and deserved to go as far as we did. Well done to the lads, they were excellent representatives of our College – Now onto 2024, where the plan is to go two better and win the whole thing!

Primary Oztag

Our Senior and Junior Oztag teams participated in the annual Zone Oztag Gala Day on Thursday, 7 September 2023. This event, which has seen success for our teams in the past, proved no different this time. Both the Senior Boys, Girls, and Junior teams successfully advanced from their pool games to the Preliminary Finals. Unfortunately, the Senior Boys team faced a formidable opponent in Green Point and bowed out. However, the Senior Girls and Junior Mixed teams earned a chance to compete in the Grand Final. The Senior Girls played a thrilling match against Green Point, which went into extra time and resulted in us going down in a hard-fought game. The Mixed Junior team played a sensational match, winning their grand final 3-1. Champions!

All teams represented the College with outstanding sportsmanship. 

Our lost and found has grown a large collection of unclaimed reading and sun glasses. If you recognise any of these as you or your child’s missing glasses please come and claim them from the College Office.

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. 

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.

Atune Health Centres Wellness Wednesday – ADHD

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