BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGEFAITHFULNESS IN SERVICE

COFFS HARBOUR

BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGECOFFS HARBOUR 2 November | 2012

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Chaplain’s Chat

Some very interesting news broke this week. Firstly, we heard that the School Bus Safety Advisory Committee called for seat belts to be mandatory on school buses in rural and regional NSW that travel on roads with speed limits of 80kph and above.

It is very heartening to see the explicit opinion of so many members not just of the BDC community, but the wider Coffs Harbour region, validated by this committee. It took some months longer to report than was expected, but the report was worth the wait. The state government is now considering its 35 recommendations.

What is disappointing is the suggestion that fitting seatbelts to buses might take 10 years.

The committee also recommended stopping children from standing on buses travelling on unsealed roads, or those where the speed limit is 80kph or more. Every day, I see buses leave our gates with our students standing in the aisles.

I commend the committee for its recommendations. It is a great step in the right direction for our children’s safety. However, communities in rural and regional NSW will need to be alert for signs of obfuscation and delays in the implementation of these safety measures. I urge you to maintain your interest in this very important matter as it evolves.

The other headline relevant to us this week was the news a $1b error means the NSW budget is actually in surplus, not deficit. I am sure there will be much lobbying of the government by unions and peak employer associations to see education funding reinstated. I will certainly write to urge our politicians to review our funding cap in the light of the state’s healthier budget.

Congratulations to Mrs Karin Lisle, who has been appointed as Assistant Principal, Head of Primary from the beginning of 2013. Mrs Lisle has been at Bishop Druitt College for most of its existence. She has held numerous leadership roles at the College – Stage 4 Coordinator; Director of Administration and Pastoral Care (Deputy Head of Primary); and most recently as Director of Pastoral Care K-12. Mrs Lisle brings a great deal of experience, enthusiasm and cultural capital to this role. I look forward to her active leadership of our Primary School in the coming years.

Grandparents Day will be held on Tuesday morning, 6 November. We have deliberately timed the day to start earlier than in previous years. This will allow our visitors to attend any Melbourne Cup events in the afternoon. Next year, Grandparents Day will be held on the Tuesday after the Melbourne Cup to avoid any possible clashes. I do hope many grandparents can attend. We have been blessed with fabulous weather of late, and the forecast for Tuesday looks good.

Our school community was saddened to hear of the passing of Mrs Kerry Chapman last Sunday morning. Kerry was an enthusiastic supporter of the College, and she contributed greatly to the success of the Village Fair in 2010. Whilst chronic ill-health meant she was unable this year to be present at as many school functions as she once had been, her enthusiasm for the College never waned. Kerry’s son, Thomas is in Year 8.

Please keep Kerry, Thomas and their family in your thoughts and prayers. A memorial service for Kerry will be held at St John’s Anglican Church, Coffs Harbour, at 11am this Saturday, 3 November.

Congratulations this week to:

Rachel Erlandsen (9), who has been selected to represent Australia in the U15/16 Girls Futsal team to tour Brazil in 2013 • Rino Lindsay (2), who won the U9 Wahoo Surf Groms competition at Coffs Harbour last weekend• Emily Parkes (11), who has been nominated as a finalist in the 2012 Australian Cyclist of the year awards, in the category of • Shimano Junior Cyclist of the YearYear 10 Drama students who performed “You, Me and Mrs Jones” as their annual class production this week• Edward Condon (11), who has been invited to be a Trombonist in the Australian Youth Orchestra Young Symphonists program in • April, 2013. This program brings together the best young players from around Australia

Principal’s App of the week: School A to Z

“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, but when the darkness sets in their true beauty is revealed only if there is light from within.” - Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

Beauty and light are two words that we do not readily associate with each other. However, I think they sit quite nicely together. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross in her quote uses the stained glass window as an example of the beauty that is revealed when light shines through it. In all our lives we to can reflect the beauty of Jesus if we allow his light to shine through us. Light is something we probably take for granted; we expect it to be waiting for us at the start of each day. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to live in darkness? God’s love in our lives is like a light to others, it can brighten the lives of those around us and bring hope to communities everywhere.

From the prinCipal

pastoral Care

Alan BallPrincipal

BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGEFAITHFULNESS IN SERVICE

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BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGECOFFS HARBOUR 2 November | 2012

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Karin LisleDirector of Pastoral Care K-12

From the head oF seCondary

December is fast approaching and the Year 11’s are again gearing up for their community service trip to Cambodia. I was lucky enough to accompany the group last year and I was amazed at how willing our young people were to help others. After building 20 houses in one village, every one of them fronted up two days later to paint an entire school – inside and out, with enamel paint watered down with petrol! I won’t mention the heat and humidity and the students all worked for hours without a break and completed the task in two days. I was overwhelmingly proud of them and the contributions they made.

The new Year 11’s will be returning to this very needy school next month. This time they will be building toilets (there is only one toilet for over 250 students!) and tiling classrooms. This school is unbelievably needy and we have decided to support them in as many ways as we can.

The first disco the primary students organised this year raised over $300 and this is being donated to the school for them to buy supplies. I am now asking students of Bishop Druitt College to donate white shirts. The uniform in this school is white shirts and blue shorts/skirts. When we were at the school the children were poorly dressed and it would certainly make a difference to them if they were all dressed cleanly. Any white shirts in any sizes (remembering the children are smaller than our children) would be gratefully accepted, so if you have some shirts that no longer fit, or if you would like to buy a shirt for a student, please send them along to the box in the Primary foyer.

The children also do not have any books in their library and they are learning English, so if you are ready to get rid of any children’s books they will also be collected and taken over by the Year 11 students. I do understand that this is the time where a lot of parents are being asked to donate for many charities and I am not expecting us to spend a lot of money on extras but any donations would certainly be appreciated.

If you would like to discuss this or any other matter please contact me: klisle@bdc.nsw.edu.au | 66515644 extension 269

Anglican Overseas Aid has a program this called ‘Gift of Light’. Their aim is to provide solar lights to some of the poorer people and communities in the world, bringing light into their world. Anglican Overseas Aid says that in Africa alone 580 million people live without electricity. As we grumble about the rising costs of electricity, imagine what it would be like with no electricity at all. If you would like to give the beautiful gift of light go to anglicanoverseasaid.org.au/gifts or phone 1800 249 880 and check out the Gifts of Life catalogue. Jesus said, ‘I am the light of the world’ (John 9:5) we to can bring God’s light in the world.

Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart. -Kahlil Gibran

Rev David MorganAssistant Chaplain

From the head oF seCondaryTrusTI spoke to Secondary students at assembly this week regarding the virtue of trust. When we belong to a community such as ours that espouses Christian values and ethos as part of our daily life, trust is an essential ingredient. We should be able to trust that we are safe in our own school environment and, indeed that our possessions are safe here too. We had an unfortunate incident during the week where some students had things removed from their bags, and I am making a strong stand on this because it rarely happens here at BDC. The fact that it rarely happens is a positive, yet our standards must remain high. If you know that people have done the wrong thing, the right and honest thing to do is to inform someone in authority as part of your obligation. We all have the right to feel safe in our school community.

GrAnDPArenTs’ DAyTraditionally Grandparents’ Day is something that our Primary students become very excited about. I would like to also extend the invitation to our Secondary Grandparents and special friends who would like to visit the College next Tuesday 6 November. You are welcome to visit your grandchildren in the Secondary classrooms at the appropriate time on this day.

seCondary sChool

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Tim EganAssistant Principal (Head of secondary)

Kellie ReinholdTeacher in Charge Monday sport

yeAr 7 2013 OrienTATiOnThis is on here at the College next Friday 9 November. I look forward to meeting families who are transitioning from Year 6 to year 7 and those who are joining BDC for the first time in 2013. You are all very welcome.

COnGrATulATiOnsTo the year 10 Drama students on their performances this week as part of their production - You, Me and Mrs Jones.

PresenTATiOn eveninGThe presentation evening for the Secondary school will be held on Tuesday 4 December, 6:30pm at C.Ex Club Coffs Harbour. This is a compulsory attendance evening for all students in Years 7-11. If there are issues with attendance for your child/children then I would request written notification via letter or email. It is important that we gather together as community to celebrate the academic, cultural and sporting successes of our students and to complete the year formally. I can be contacted at: tegan@bdc.nsw.edu.au

APP OF THe WeeKNotability powerfully integrates handwriting, PDF annotation, typing, recording and organising so you can take your notes away!

sportThis week, if your son/daughter is in Year 7, 8, or 9, they should have received a note detailing sport choices for 2013. This note contains a list of choices, costs and other relevant information. Please take the time to read and discuss theses options with your son/daughter. An electronic copy of these are available on our College website. Go to Community, then Sport and follow the link to Monday Sport Blog.

Students will make sport choices online next week. This can be done at school or at home. Year 9 will be able to do this from Monday and Year 7 and year 8 will be able to do this from Wednesday. All choices need to be in by the end of week 6 so sports can be finalised.

If there are any areas of concern please feel free to contact me.

Graeme NaftelAssistant Principal (Head of Primary)

From the head oF primary

GrAnDPArenTs’ DAyNext Tuesday 6 November is Grandparents’ Day. For the last two years, this annual event has clashed with the Coffs Cup. During Term 4 last year, a group of people (yours truly included) sat down and set dates for 2012. We made sure that we missed the Coffs Cup, but not one of the six of us picked up on the fact that our new date clashed with another horse race until the date had already been published. I apologise for this poor scheduling. To allow some guests to still attend Melbourne Cup events, this year’s Grandparents’ Day will begin with an assembly in the Green Room starting at 9.15am. Guests will then be invited to the classrooms, before sharing a morning tea with the children on the Music Lawn, which is scheduled to conclude at 11.30am. Picnic baskets can be ordered via the College website or guests are most welcome to bring their own. Please RSVP by midday Monday 5 November under the Events tab on our website.

uniFOrMMy boys are growing out of their clothes. The buttons on their shorts have broken and my oldest son has a hole in the toe of his school shoe. With only 4½ weeks to go until the end of the year, I am most reluctant to buy new shoes that he will outgrow by the start of next year. I am sure many other families are experiencing these difficulties as well and it would be unreasonable to insist that parents buy their children expensive new items of uniform so late in the year. If, however, your child does not have the correct uniform, please write a note to your child’s teacher explaining the situation. No child will be reprimanded for being out of uniform if parents advise the school of the situation. If students must wear alternate items of clothing, please make them as close to a match as possible. Black sand shoes are not school uniform, but they look a lot better than bright orange joggers.

leGACyChildren can purchase a red Legacy wristband for $2 from outside the canteen from Monday 5 November. Children who purchase a wristband are permitted to wear it until the end of term. No other wristbands are to be worn with school uniform.

primary sChool

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Class oF the week - elC

ExpositionI strongly believe that everyone should have a turn on the school’s iPads.

I believe that if some classes do not get a turn on the iPads it wouldn’t be fair. Other classes with the iPads would get them AND the computers, while the ones without the iPads only get the computers.

I am positive that younger children need them to learn because there are more things than just English and Maths. People should also know how to use technology. There is technology they need to use for things like office, university and at home. Technology is something everyone should learn.

I am positive that you will agree that everyone should have a turn at the school’s iPads.

Dhrti Redyam (ELC2)

Charlotte McHeyzer (ELC1) James Campbell (ELCK)

Monica Buoch (ELC1)Imaginative Creatures (Pencil and Chalk)

Nel Jacups (ELC2)Imaginative Creatures (Pencil and Chalk)

Harrison Colyer (ELC2)

Grandparents day – tuesday 6 november

ensembles eveninGs – tuesday 13 november and wednesday 14 november

We are looking forward to good weather for our Grandparents Day on Tuesday morning 6 November. Our morning assembly will feature two ensembles; Year 2 Choir and Primary Performance Band. During morning-tea, on the music lawn, a range of musicians will entertain us from our Primary School.

Thank you to our Friends of Music who gathered for our meeting on Thursday afternoon to discuss the arrangements for the Ensembles Concerts. Our discussions also included the major music faculty goal for the short term, which is the purchase of two Timpani Drums and a Bass Drum for our College Orchestra and our various school Bands. Our monetary target is $10,000. We need parent helpers to assist with the barbeque prior to our Ensembles concert each evening. If you are able to assist us in any way, could you please e-mail Louise Ray lray@bdc.nsw.edu.au or contact Mrs Egan at school on (02) 6651 5644 ext. 218. We very much welcome your support.

There will be a raffle running throughout the Ensembles’ Evenings, which will be drawn on the Wednesday night. Tickets for the evening concert will be available on the night. Major prizes include: A magnificent handmade children’s chair (personally engraved), 1 term of free guitar lessons with Mr. Santo Cimino and a musically decorated cake along with other wonderful prizes.

Students will have, by now, received an information letter explaining the arrangements for the evening, uniform requirements and the Friends of Music fund raising Barbeque. Please contact me if you have any questions relating to either evening. A link to the information Ensembles’ Evenings 2012 letter is on the College Website.

musiCal notes

Dale CondonHead of Music K-12

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Jim Webbersports Administrator K-12

surFinG - surF Groms

surF liFesavinG

primary sports awards

primary sports awards

2013 primary swimminG Carnival

Surf Groms is a fabulous concept which is being run all over the state, teaching Primary children surf safety and surf board riding skills. Rino Lindsay competed in the local Wahoo Surf Groms competition at Coffs Harbour last weekend and won the U9’s division. Congratulations Rino.

Last weekend saw the opening event of the local junior surf lifesaving carnivals take place at the Jetty. The weather took us straight back to winter with cold winds and big swells, even inside the Jetty. There were many BDC students competing for a variety of clubs from Woolgoolga to Sawtell on the day, with many of our students doing very well for the first carnival of the season. A few standouts were Sean O’Reilly, who won the 13 Year Boys’ Swim and Ironman and finished second in the board and sprint. Izzy Lovelock won the 13 Years Girls’ sprint and, along with her sister Zoe, finished first and second in the 13 Years Girls’ flags. Well done to everyone who competed in such difficult conditions.

Parents please note that the annual Primary Sports awards assembly will be held at Bishop Druitt College on 15 November at 2:30pm.

6 November - Douglas Shield Cricket - BDC vs TAS at Leisure Park8 November - NCIS Basketball Championships at Grafton9-11 November - Boys U16 Australasian Futsal Champion of Champions - QLD

A note was emailed home this week asking parents to discuss with their children the events in which they would like to participate at next year’s carnival. For those students entering Year 2 next year, this only applies to children involved in squad training and who will be turning 8 years old in 2013. All other children will participate in the Junior Primary fun carnival. Please also be advised that there is still room for changes early next year. All classes will go through the carnival program during the first two weeks of term and additions and withdrawals can be made at this time. No changes, however, are possible on the day of the carnival.

ColleGe sport

important dates and events

parents and Friends

ColleGe Community

6 nov Grandparents’ Day - Event page9 nov Year 7 (2013) Orientation Day13 nov Ensembles Evening 1 - 5:30pm, BDC Theatre - Event Page14 nov Ensembles Evening 2 - 5:30pm, BDC Theatre - Event Page15-16 nov Northern NSW Philosothon - Information

nexT MeeTinG – AGM MOnDAy 19 nOveMber, 6.30PMThe Annual General Meeting has been postponed until November 19 at 6.30pm. P&F members are invited to nominate and vote on Executive Positions for 2013. Everyone is welcome for the meeting following with College information and discussion with other parents. Refreshments provided.

DyslexiAAll interested parents or persons who would like to know more about Dyslexia and how we can help BDC become more dyslexia friendly, are invited to come to the next P&F meeting or contact Sue Robertson directly on sue-mal@bigpond.com.au or 0414343027.

P&F COOKbOOKFor just $25 you can share hundreds of yummy homemade recipes contributed by the BDC community. They are available either through the Accounts office or send in the following order form to the Front Office. P&F Cookbook order form.

uPCOMinG evenTsCommunity Carols - 27 November - Mark it in your diary now!

BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGEFAITHFULNESS IN SERVICE

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BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGECOFFS HARBOUR 2 November | 2012

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BISHOP DRUITT COLLEGEFAITHFULNESS IN SERVICE

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Grandparents' DayTuesday 6 November

9:15am - 11:30am

INVITATION

Commencing with a welcome assembly, we invite you to spend some time with students in their classrooms then enjoy a picnic morning tea on the music lawn with light entertainment. BYO picnic or we can provide one for you.

Should there be wet weather on the day, you will be invited to join students in their classrooms with morning tea indoors.

Please RSVP to this invitation by midday on Monday 5 November via the BDC website: www.bdc.nsw.edu.au/events

CAnTeen vOlunTeers neeDeDIf you have a spare hour or more, especially between 10.30am and 12pm (recess service) or 1pm and 2pm (lunch service) the Canteen Manager, Ben Pike would be greatly appreciative. If you can offer a hand please fill in the form located on the BDC website and return to the College or for further enquiries please email Ben on bpike@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: Monday 19 november, 6.30pm, senior Common room, 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.