FAITH CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

Newsletter 20th July 2015 Term 3 Week 1

“Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake

your mother's teaching. Proverbs 1:8

From the Principal

We all hope and pray that our children will listen and not forsake

our guidance and teaching. It is why we put in the time and effort

that we do. Parental support, input and guidance is especially

important today in our fast paced world with stimuli coming in at

light speed from a very wide range of directions that we never

would have believed 20 years ago.

I have found in recent years parents are finding it very tricky to “hold the line” with regards to computer

games, video, UTube, Facebook and input from children’s friends, who seem to be allowed free access to

whatever the world has to offer. I too have heard, “but Johnny is allowed to play this game,” or “watch this

movie…”

I pray the Lord gives us all wisdom and courage as parents on this, as there is a lot at stake. As parents,

who have chosen to home educate, we are taking full responsibility for this important area of “raising a child

in the ways of the Lord…” (Proverbs 22:6). We are not just entrusting a day school and church youth

group to do the job.

It is also clear that as children get older it is not just a matter of banning or setting boundaries, but helping

children to understand why some things are not okay and why we have standards in the first place. This

goes for our values, work standards and how we treat each other. Each of these three things affect

everything we do and why we do it. Families devotional studies, Bible reading that families do together and

discussions around our Christian curriculum give parents an opportunity to develop sound Christian

foundations that are based on understanding of “why”? And not just a dogma that is rebelled against once

young people have the opportunity to make their own decisions.

Yes, I took Saturday off to go flying for the first time in a year, it was awesome soaring around 3500ft for 2.5

hours. How is this topical? Well you can see the steps to launching, which is probably the most dangerous

aspect of flying a hang glider. As I had not flown for a year I was pleased that I had a very “drill Sargent”

instructor years ago and several mentor pilots who were tough on me regarding the disciplines of

launching. This meant as the steps and “do’s and don’ts” all came back to when I needed it to and the

result was a safe flight.

In 20 years of youth work and giving school behaviour management support to teachers and parents there

certainly seems to be a greater danger of not holding the line than being too soft. Many times over the

years I have been asked to help or council an older son or daughter at 16 to 19 that has gone off the rails

and I can see that when they were young they often did not have clear or high behaviour standards, work

ITEMS WITHIN THIS NEWSLETTER:

From the Principal

Important dates

Workshop Articles

Australia Zoo Excursion

Science Fair Workshops Term 3

Whiteboard Timetable

Pre-flight, check everything, follow the rules not my feelings, run and lift off – no room for error…

ethics or discipline set. I am not saying that this is always the case but there is certainly a strong pattern.

This is compounded by the fact that children are like cement . Changing the shape or form of cement is a

lot easier when it is wet or before it has set!

Be encouraged, the time we are investing into our children’s lives and the setting of standards building an

understanding of God’s ways, which are higher than mans,- does make a dramatic difference to the future

of our children’s lives.

Today I am wanting to encourage all parents to set the standard and expectations. Do not be conformed to

the images of this world (Romans 12:2) and “hold the line!”

Regards

Jason Caldwell

Faith Christian School Term Dates 2015

Important Term 3 dates to remember:

15th July QUT Workshop Year 7-10 17th July QUT Workshop Year 9-12 5th August Sunshine Coast Workshop 10th August Toowoomba Workshop 11th August Kingaroy Workshop 14th August Mackay and GC Workshop

18th August Ipswich Workshop 21st August North Brisbane Workshop 28th August Rockhampton Workshop 2nd Sept South Brisbane Workshop 4th Sept Widebay Workshop 14th Sept Toow & King Athletics Day 17th Sept Athletics Day

Senior Whiteboard Session Timetable Information Most of our senior students have been using the new School Whiteboard application for class lessons and we have found that this has been very helpful with their learning process. To allow both teachers and students to better plan their time the following schedule will be used for online support and class group interaction. Please include the appropriate times on your daily schedules to ensure that you do not miss these valuable learning opportunities. There may be additional lessons offered around exam times but teachers will organise this with the students directly.

Printable whiteboard session timetable on page 6.

Term Start Date Finish Date Weeks

Term 1 29th January 2nd April 10

Term 2 20th April 26th June 10

Term 3 13th July 18th September 10

Term 4 Year 12 Year 11

5th October 4th December 20th November 27th November

9

Gold Coast Workshop Term 2 2015 GOLD COAST WORKSHOP by Alex Perilla Once we arrived and caught up with our friends, four exciting activities were awaiting us for the day. The first was Mr Caldwell's English class. We each planned a story around a guitar, of all things, as well as learnt how to avoid the use of boring sentences. It was soon time to move onto Mr Matthews IT class where we discovered the interesting workings of Photo Story, an incredibly useful program that allows us to make an animated slideshow with photos. We were also given the opportunity to freely play with Photo Story to practise what we learned. Our next stage was the class with Mrs Faint where we made a plaster of Paris mould of our finger. The hardest part was standing outside for twenty minutes waiting for the plaster to dry. Once it had, we filled it with a mixture of maple syrup and gelatine which quickly dried in the sun. We then broke the mould to reveal a new and utterly disgusting, fake appendage. As awesome as all these activities were, by far my favourite event was the "Isotopic Monsters”. We mixed cornflour and water, placed the concoction on gladwrap over a speaker, and played different frequencies. We all loved watching the paste writhe and squirm like a living creature.

Sadly though, the day was soon over. After a brief goodbye we return home, where we look forward to the next Gold Coast workshop.

Wide Bay Workshop term 2 2015

Wide Bay families enjoyed a time of fun, fellowship, finger creations and team building at the Childers workshop last term. They first created finger moulds from plaster of paris and waited patiently, avoiding the urge to remove it before it was completely set. Then a special gelatine mixture was poured into their finger moulds and then later the outer plaster was smashed open to reveal the fake finger with nail and finger joint indentations and features of their own finger. In the afternoon, they worked in teams to design and create a free standing bridge to span over a 60cm gap whilst being strong enough to hold a heavy load. Specifications and instructions were given allowing them the freedom and guidance to create a design of their choosing but with limited supplies and in a short time period. It was encouraging to see the students working together and making sure that everyone in their team was included in the design and construction process. They all enjoyed the testing of the bridges, as it was a suspense filled moment testing the strength of each bridge. Great work to all students’ involved.

Wide Bay Workshop bridge challenge.

Wide Bay Workshop finger creations.

Faith Christian School is off to Australia Zoo for an exciting excursion

– everyone welcome!

When: Friday 24th July Cost: Adults @ $59 (up to 5 free children under 14 years) Student: $47 Time and meeting place to be confirmed Note: Pay on the day at the front gates

Taken from website: It's as wild as birthdays get! You're invited to

Bindi's Birthday Luau at Australia Zoo. And guess what!? On Bindi

(and Roberts) birthday all kids* get in free! So come and say Aloha

to Bindi!

Our very own wildlife warrior, Bindi Irwin, will be celebrating her

17th Birthday at Australia Zoo on July 24 (Robert’s birthday is on

the 1st December) and to celebrate, we'll be turning the zoo into an

island playground adventure! So grab your swimmers and a pair of boardies and join us for the ultimate

wildlife island adventure.

Gates open early at 8.00am because we've got more FREE entertainment and action than you can poke a

stick at.

For more info: http://www.australiazoo.com.au/visit-us/calendar/364-bindis-birthday-luau

If you want to go but missed the RSVP date Please do so today. admin@faithcsde.com

Science Fair Workshops Term 3 2015

We are going to be holding our Science Fair in week five, six, and seven (depending on your area group) of Term 3. That is about 5 weeks away. This is not a Science Fair competition. This is a fun project that the whole family can enjoy and do something that they do not normally get to do.

This year we will be giving prizes to all participants! There will even be a few extra special prizes given to students who create projects demonstrating exceptional effort. While we do not want to turn this into a competition we do want to reward students for the great efforts they put into their projects. Everyone should be a winner who participates, but we want to also acknowledge students who go above and beyond expectations. If you do not have a project, please still plan on attending. This is

a great opportunity to see projects that other students have done. You may pick up great ideas for you to use in the future! There will still be some normal workshop activities planned at the science fair day for your students to enjoy even if they do not have a project to show. We do encourage everyone to have a go, but if you cannot, please still plan on attending this wonderful workshop. Each family can work on their Science Fair project together as a group. There are parts of every Science project that can be done by every grade level. Just expect each student to do the best they can and you will be amazed at what they can do and what they will pick up from working with their older siblings.

Faith CSDE Senior Subjects - Whiteboard Session Times are outlined on the next page…

Please print this for your reference.