BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGEFAITHFULNESS IN SERVICE

COFFS HARBOUR

BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGECOFFS HARBOUR 2 August | 2013

| Page 1Dynamic • caring • Optimistic

Issue # 22

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view the current edition of the north coast anglican newspaper

The announcement by the state government this week that seat belts will be installed on buses on dedicated school runs, and that standing will be gradually phased out over ten years is a palpable example of the adage that ‘all that glitters is not gold’.

Only ‘Contract A’ buses - those that operate on dedicated school runs (that’s all they are used for) will get seat belts. This will affect about 1700 dedicated school bus runs. Seat belts will be phased in and standing phased out over the course of ten years.

However, the Minister stated that “Buses which run not only on school routes, but are also used as regular bus services during the day, will not be included in the program.”

Of the 1700 bus routes included in this announcement, fewer than 20 travel on the Pacific Highway, and several of these travel on the safer dual carriageway sections of the highway. Dozens of routes from Taree to Yamba are not covered.

The decision this week met with some fanfare. However, (and the pun is laboured) when the rubber hits the road, our children are only going to be partially safer as a result of the decision this week. Hundreds, if not thousands of rural students, including many of our children will be no safer as a result of this week’s announcement.

We must continue to pressure the government to treat the safety of our children equally.

I will keep you updated on the progress of further lobbying to this end.

Congratulations this week:

Lindsey Doolan (9) who is representing Australia in Polocrosse in a test series against Ireland• Ryan Marshall (9) who came 3rd in the NSW Squash championships in the second week of the recent holidays• Cameron Williams (6) and his dad, Garrick, whose film “High Tide” was a finalist in the 2013 Short Sharp Film Festival held at the • Jetty Theatre last SaturdayTess Reynolds (5), Paris Warncken (5), and Natalie Giri (4), who competed in the National Sports Aerobics championships in • Melbourne last weekend. They each made the finals in their respective divisions. Tess competed in the National Cadet division and placed 4th, Paris competed in the International Cadet division and placed 5th and Natalie competed in the National Mini division and placed 7th.Montanna Coulson (9) participated in the same championships, and is now the new Australian champion in two of her categories • – Junior Singles, as well as her Trio. She is also the current NSW championBrendan and Christa Pitman (former staff) on the safe arrival of their third daughter, Gabriella, born on 31 July in Brisbane.•

PrinciPal’s aPP of the week: Bump

Have you ever listened to someone pray and thought ‘I wish that I could learn how to pray like that’? I am always reading interesting and inspiring books and one of my favourite authors is Thomas Merton, who was an Anglo-American Catholic writer and mystic. A Trappist monk of the Abbey of Gethsemani, Kentucky, he was a poet, social activist and student of comparative religion. He was born in France on January 31, 1915, and died on December 10, 1968. I want to share with you a prayer from his works “In Thoughts in Solitude”, part two, chapter 11 consisting of fifteen lines that have become known as “the Merton Prayer”.

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going, I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust you always though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death, I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. Amen

Developing a prayer life requires discipline and a space set aside for this very purpose, a space where you will not be interrupted. The College Chapel is such a place that I retreat to for meditation and encounter God’s Spirit through prayer. There all a lot of different ways to pray and often we are so busy that we think we haven’t got the time to fit anything more into our day, but prayer life is different as the more authentic we become with prayer we may find that it refreshes our soul and comforts us in the hope of answers in what we have laid at the feet of Jesus.

Prayers come in all forms and I smiled to myself when I read about a competition in the UK where competitors were asked to rewrite the Lord’s Prayer for the mobile phone, using just 160 characters or less. It was judged by Ship of Fools by the Churches’ Broadcasting Conference. The task itself was not easy. The traditional version of the Lord’s Prayer is 372 characters long, so

from the principal

chaplain’s chat

Alan BallPrincipal

BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGEFAITHFULNESS IN SERVICE

COFFS HARBOUR

BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGECOFFS HARBOUR 2 August | 2013

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Tim Eganassistant Principal (head of secondary)

from the head of secondary

teaching and learning

This week I would like to promote the College Cambodia trip. It is a huge fundraising effort from our Year 11 cohort. The report this week has been prepared by Tessa Croxton.

Each year a group of year 11 BDC students travel to Cambodia to build houses and help out the less fortunate. This life changing experience for the students changes the life of the Cambodian people forever. Giving them a roof over their head is more than enough for them to ask for. A group of the 26 going on this trip have decided to organise a fundraiser to help raise money for the equipment needed to make the houses. The Barn Dance is an adult only event with a live award winning band ‘The Bostocks’ covering old favourites including Fleetwood Mac and The Eagles. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased on the Bishop Druitt website through Try booking and also are available at the accounts office located at the front of BDC.

Come along to support the fellow students and a have good night! See y’all there in your best-dressed western outfit. If you cannot make it on the night but would like to make a donation of any amount you are welcome to do so by following this link:http://www.tabitha.org.au/cms/bishop-druitt-dec-2013

This week a team of teachers and the Secondary Leadership Team have commenced a series of classroom walkthroughs. The purpose of this ongoing exercise is to collect data from students regarding their perceptions of their own learning. The teacher who enters the class asks two very simple questions to a few individual students, while the lesson is in progress. They ask - What are you learning today? and Why are you learning that? The information is then feed immediately back to the teacher.

whittling it down to 160 characters meant cutting the prayer by more than half but without losing anything important. I have shared the very clever winning entry below and I warn you that for those of us, who are from a different generation it may take a little while to make any sense out of it. I am happy to note that I did eventually decipher it’s meaning and I have included that version as well.

dad@hvn, Dad at heaven, ur spshl. You are special We want wot u want We want what you want & urth 2b like hvn. And earth to be like heaven giv us food Give us food & 4giv r sins And forgive our sins like we 4giv uvaz. Like we forgive others Don’t test us! Don’t test us Save us Save us Bcos we kno ur boss, Because we know you’re boss Ur tuf & ur cool 4 eva! Ok? You’re tough and you’re cool forever! OK?

I don’t know about you but I sure feel like I am being left behind with some of the meaning of text words. Thank goodness I work in a school with many IT savvy students and staff to assist me LOL!

Throughout our journey may we grow and reap the good harvest as we too discover Jesus together.

Date claimer: Would you like to come to afternoon tea with a small group of College parents who meet once a term for Coffee, Cake, Chat in Community? We will meet at The Yacht Club on Saturday 3 August at 2.30 p.m. If you are new to BDC perhaps you would like phone me on 0400463422 to find out more details.

secondary school

Rev Marion Tanfieldchaplain

BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGEFAITHFULNESS IN SERVICE

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BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGECOFFS HARBOUR 2 August | 2013

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from the head of primary

whitehouse institute of design

visual art

I was once again reminded of the importance of family this week when my daughter, Christa gave birth to another daughter. We all get caught up in the busyness of life and work and time just rushes by and before we know it, our kids are grownup and making their own way in the world. It is so important to help our kids develop independent skills to get there on their own. I believe that if we have done our job well as parents we will be happy for them to leave and be confident to face the world and all it’s challenges without having to hold mum or dads hand.

In the world of today where everyone is critical of the way parents do things, it is sometimes difficult to make decisions with our children. Every day parents are faced with criticism, threats and uncalled for advice. It is amazing sometimes that parents are game to let their children out of their sight for a second with all the bad news and scary stories told through the media. But children are more resilient than we are led to believe. It is great that we want to give our children a good start in life but we need to let them go and learn from their mistakes.

Last week it was time for the Whitehouse Institute of Design to visit again and inspire our Textiles and Design students from Years 9 to 11. Maddy Blyth ran the workshops and taught the students how to draw and render fashion figures from scratch. All students made an amazing improvement in their work during the two days. Maddy had the very difficult job of choosing the best student to win a week’s tuition in Fashion Illustration at the Whitehouse Institute in Sydney. She also picked two students who deserved special commendation for their design skills. Congratulations to all students for their perseverance, commitment and excellent behaviour.highly commended: Meg Koster (yr 9) and Melissa Harper (yr 10)scholarship winner: Bronte Simpson (yr 10)

This week the Year 7 ceramics unit was completed. Part of the unit involves the students creating a ‘Holden Car’ inspired by the artist Margaret Dodd. The ceramic vessels with designs by Keith Haring will be on exhibition soon.

seen Ya’s on show2013 has seen another group of Year 12 students create some amazing artworks. The purpose of the show is to allow others to experience the works in progress and support the students in their journey, with completion of the HSC just around the corner. The Visual Arts staff would like to share the following images from the night and congratulate them all on some inspiring work.

primary school

Often as teachers we have a certain perception of what our students understand, this is particularly relevant when we ask why we study different topics. This data will be used as simply one way to inform best practice in the classroom. This might also be a good way of starting conversations about school at home. Why not use those questions when your children come home!

secondary leadership team

Deahne Rushforth textiles teacher

Deahne Rushforth textiles teacher

BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGEFAITHFULNESS IN SERVICE

COFFS HARBOUR

BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGECOFFS HARBOUR 2 August | 2013

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Issue # 22

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hsc music recital

seen ya’s on show

Congratulations to the HSC Music students who performed so well at Thursday night’s Recital. You gave a terrific performance in front of an appreciative audience. Keep practicing during the HSC Trials to keep in good form.

Well done again, to the HSC Music students. Your commitment and energy is commendable. The Seen Ya’s on Show was a very successful event. Good luck with your Trial HSC examinations over the next two weeks.

musical notes

Oliver Caesar (2W)

grade of the week - year 2In 2W we have been talking about descriptive writing and how to interest a reader. Here is a great Narrative written by Jay Crismale.

On a dark and stormy night there lived Tom. He owned a haunted house, with a graveyard and a spooky forest with zombies. And he had to live in it all by himself!

On a bright day Tom went for a walk until he ran into a beanstalk that was 200 feet high. For no reason he climbed up the beanstalk where an enormous castle blocked his way. He was too scared to climb down so Tom went inside the mysterious castle. Out of nowhere, Tom spotted teeth as sharp as knives. He hoped it wasn’t a red demon but he went inside the mysterious room of misery and despair anyway.

Suddenly a demon came in the room with his sword. The demon saw Tom but luckily Tom had his sword too, and the fight was on! Tom’s sword snapped and the only weapon he had left was a bow and arrow. But Tom’s arrow snapped too so Tom defeated the demon with words. Tom escaped and celebrated.

He got so much money from the people and government, because he defeated the demon, that Tom bought a new house and lived happily ever after.

The platypus is a mammal and a monotreme.

The platypus has thick, coat, of oily, brown and waterproof fur a duck like bill, webbed feet, a strong tail for steering and a poison spur for protection. Platypus are about 50 cm long and are about the size of a pet cat.

Platypus live along the banks of rivers, and freshwater lakes. They live in burrows along the east Coast of Australia including Tasmania.

Platypus eat worms, shrimps and small freshwater crayfish. Platypus eat insect larvae, insects, fish eggs, water plants tadpoles and snails.

The platypus swims in the water. Their strong webbed feet pull them through the water. They use their tail for steering. A platypus’s eyes ears and nose shut when the platypus is under water.

Females lay up to 3 eggs. Six months later they’ll have learned to look after themselves.

Eleanor Bond 2D

Allow them to be a little bit more independent each year. Let them carry their own bag to the classroom, do up their own shoelaces. By the time they are in high school they should be packing their own lunches, getting the bus to and from school every day. I cannot believe the number of cars arriving at parent pickup every afternoon when students should be independently getting their own way home. It is those little things that we continually do for our kids that stifle their independence and make them reliant on us. Do we intend for them to live with us forever? Can they cope with life when they eventually do leave home, or do they have unhappy lives because they can’t stand up for themselves and be confident to make their own decisions?

It is so hard being a parent but it is part of our job to not only love our children but help them develop into adults that will make this world a better place. I hope you have a lovely weekend, I am off to Brisbane to see my newest granddaughter. Please don’t forget Grandparents Day on August 15.

the weeks aheaD:

August 8 Primary Assembly K-6 Branson Centre 2.30pm - 3pmAugust 14 NCIS Athletics Carnival Years 3-12 BCU Stadium All dayAugust 15 Grandparents Day K-6 Branson Centre 9am - 11 amAugust 16 Jump Rope for Heart K-6 Oval 1.30pm - 3pm

Karin Lisleassistant Principal (head of Primary)

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BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGECOFFS HARBOUR 2 August | 2013

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Jim Webbersports administrator k-12

tryBooking payments

dragon Boats

sailing

upcoming events:

BasketBall

I am still waiting for some payments for Girls CIS Football in Week 1 and Boys Rugby for the MNC Cup and the St. Joseph’s game in Port Macquarie in Week 2. Could I please ask those concerned to organise any outstanding activity payments as soon as possible via Try Booking on the college website.

Coffs Harbour Dragon Boat Club is holding a Regatta on Sunday 15 September at Mylestom. Any students interested in forming a team need to see Mr Webber for an information sheet. Entries will close Friday August 16.

Any secondary students who may be interested in doing sailing as a sport for Term 4 must lodge their interest with Mr Webber. The cost for the term would be $140, which is very good value for this type of sport. There is a very good sporting “pathway” for students participating, with the All Schools Sailing Championships in April, 2014. The program offered by CHYC would be tailored towards this event.

North Coast Regional Futsal Championships – Port Macquarie Indoor Stadium- 14 Girls and 15 Boys: Monday August 12- 16 Girls and 19 Boys: Tuesday August 13

NCIS Athletics BCU Stadium – Wednesday 14 August, BCU Stadium

NCIS Netball and Tennis Gala Day – Wednesday 28 August, Grafton

This week’s matches are grading games. These types of games will probably go on for 2-3 weeks. The draws are located in the “Latest News” section of the Coffs Harbour Basketball Website, at the top left of the page.

AMENDED - Friday grading - 2.8.13.pdf Saturday grading 3.8.13.pdf

Any Year 7/8 boys who are interested in playing basketball on Friday nights please see Mr Webber or Mr Markham for registration forms.

college sport

Dale Condonhead of Music k-12

Brass soireeThe Music Department is planning a Brass Soiree on the evening of Tuesday 6 August. The Soiree will commence at 4.00pm, expected to conclude at by 5:00pm. This is a great dress rehearsal for the students who have upcoming AMEB exams and to showcase the students’ progress this year.

important dates and events

college community

4-10 aug6 aug

12-13 aug14 aug15 aug

16 aug

Year 9 CampBrass SoireeYear 10 Subject Information EveningNNSW Futsal ChampionshipsNCIS Athletics Carnival - BCU StadiumGrandparents’ Day - More info...Year 10 Parent-Teacher-Student NightP&F Trivia Night - More info...

BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGEFAITHFULNESS IN SERVICE

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BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGECOFFS HARBOUR 2 August | 2013

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parents and friendsDYslexia suPPort/interest GrouP Next get together is 10.30am Monday 5 August at the Rainforest Café. Come along for cup of coffee and a chat. Anyone with an interest in Dyslexia is welcome. Any queries please contact Susan Robertson on 0414 343 027 or sue-mal@bigpond.com.

BDc trivia anD auction niGhtDust off your electric guitars, your tinsel wig and your blue suede shoes for a night of rock star trivia at Bishop Druitt College. Join us in the Branson Centre, the vast new school hall and multipurpose centre for a night of fun and brainy challenges.

The Rock Star Trivia Night starts at 7pm on Friday 16 August. Come dressed as a rock or pop star for a chance to win a best dressed prize. Tickets are $15 each and you can organise a table of 8 people or email parentsandfriends@bdc.nsw.edu.au to join another table.

Please note: This is an 18+ only event as alcohol will be available for purchase on the night. Lic Licence Number: LIQL550021389

To purchase tickets, please visit the College website

If you are interested in helping out on the night (bar, door, scoring etc) or donating a prize or item to auction, please email parentsandfriends@bdc.nsw.edu.au with details.

callinG for exPressions of interest!Want to be involved in your child’s schooling? The P&F currently have an email group that is often used to inform parents of upcoming P&F/College events, news, volunteer requests etc. You do not have to be a P&F member to be included, so if you want to help out every once in a while or just want to hear about upcoming events or information please email parentsandfriends@bdc.nsw.edu.au.

contact usFor more information, to view our Constitution or read our latest meeting minutes, click on “Our Community” then “Parents and Friends” on the College Website. We look forward to your support.President: Allan Williams 0408 332 082 akwillo@live.com.auP & F email: parentsandfriends@bdc.nsw.edu.au

next Meeting: 19 august 2013, 2pm - refreshments provided

The Bishop Druitt College Parents and Friends Association is an organisation that supports the aims and objectives of the College. It does so through the promotion of fundraising, fellowship, friendship and fun.

BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGEFAITHFULNESS IN SERVICE

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BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGECOFFS HARBOUR 2 August | 2013

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SAVE A LIFEHave your say

Take part in a short online survey to help Council shape the swimming pool barrier inspection program for all pools located on private premises.

Drowning is a leading cause of accidental death in very young children who lack the cognitive and water skills to deal with danger.

With over 4000 backyard swimming pools in Coffs Harbour’s local government area, swimming pool safety is a vital issue that affects the whole community.

Survey closes 16 August 2013 www.chcc.nsw.gov.au/poolsafety

UNIFORM SHOP Trading Hours

As from Tuesday 6 August 2013, the Uniform Shop will be opening as below:

Trading Hours During School Term: The Uniform Shop is open Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 8:15am to 1:00pm (then 1.30 to 2.00pm for

Secondary students only)

This way the shop will be open before school, recess and lunch times

Please remember that payment at the time of purchase is necessary. Payment can be by cash, cheque or Eftpos. If parents cannot make it to the shop, feel free to place an order via email at uniformshop@bdc.nsw.edu.au

If you email an order, please leave a contact number so we can call you for payment over the phone.

THE UNIFORM SHOP IS LOCATED ON THE LOWER LEVEL OF THE SCHOOL OF MUSIC