Issue 15I 23 October 2017

Mrs Naomi Wilkins Principal

We have had a great start to Term 4. Firstly, our staff were involved in a professional learning day in which they focussed on curriculum development and effective literacy and numeracy teaching strategies. Since the students have returned we have enjoyed the P-2 Tabloid Carnival and the Public Speaking Finals. Senior School students are preparing for their end of year examinations which will focus on assessing their understanding of the skills and knowledge they have been developing in each of their subjects.

It has been good to see students engaged and active in their learning as staff encourage them to be: courageous in challenging situations, curious to learn more deeply, pursuing excellence in everything they do, collaborating with their peers and developing compassion and empathy for those within their community. Plans are well underway for 2018 when the College starts a new stage in its development - our first Year 11 program. Year 10 students have selected their subjects and in addition to our current staff we have successfully recruited experienced teachers to take them through to the HSC. Since my last announcements two more staffing appointments have been finalised: Mrs Rebecca Clisdell – Senior School Sports

Coordinator Mr Brendan Langley – PDHPE teacher from

Figtree High School There are two opportunities this term for parents to further hear about developments and progress at the College: Parents and Friends Association meeting on Tuesday 24 October at 7pm, and Principal’s Morning Tea on Thursday 9 November at 8.45am. Both events will be held in the Junior School Library.

Thank you for spending the time to keep up to date with activities and events at the College as you peruse this edition of The Life newsletter.

“I desire to do your will, my God; your law is within my heart.” Psalm 40:8

Week 3 Tuesday 24 October:

MISA: OPAC vs JT

P&F Meeting - 7pm (Junior Library) Wednesday 25 October:

Band Practice Thursday 26 October:

Band Practice

Concert Band

Prospective Year 7 2018/2019 Discovery Day Week 4 Tuesday 31 October:

MISA: OPAC vs WAC Wednesday 1 November:

Band Practice Thursday 2 November:

Band Practice

Concert Band

Week 3 Tuesday 24 October:

P&F Meeting - 7pm (Junior Library)

Years 3 - 6: Lunchtime Tennis Competition Wednesday 25 October:

IPSSO: OPAC vs WAC (at home)

Years 3 - 6: Lunchtime Tennis Competition Thursday 26 October:

Years 3 - 6: Lunchtime Tennis Competition

Concert Band Friday 27 October:

Year 6 Bake Sale

Grandparents Day - Oran Park Town Centre (select students)

Years 3 - 6: Lunchtime Tennis Competition

House Meetings Week 4 Monday 30 October:

Years 3 - 6: Lunchtime Tennis Competition

Year 1: Swimming Program

Year 1 and 2: NRL (non-contact) Clinic

CSSA Tennis Gala Day (select students) Wednesday 1 November:

Band Practice

IPSSO: OPAC vs BAC (at BAC)

Years 3 - 6: Lunchtime Tennis Competition Thursday 2 November:

Junior School: House Sport Fun Day

Years 3 - 6: Lunchtime Tennis Competition

Kindy: Hockey Clinic

Concert Band Rehearsals Friday 3 November:

P-6 Chapel (KW Item)

Welcome back to Term 4 from all the Junior School staff and as always, an extra special welcome to the new families that joined us at the beginning of this term. There was one change in our teaching staff over the last week, with Miss Pritchett leaving at the end of Week One and returning Mrs Cavanagh! Congratulations to Mr and Mrs Cavanagh on their recent marriage and we pray God’s blessing on the years ahead.

There have been plenty of holiday stories told over the last fortnight. I’m not sure about you, but my family and I had an ‘at home’ holiday this term break. With the beautiful spring weather, we enjoyed slower, quieter days and plenty of time together. The rest was appreciated as we have our busiest term ahead! With lots of upcoming College community events, please make sure you keep abreast of these through the College Calendar and Newsletters.

Over Term 4, teachers will begin the process of planning for next year. As we continue to grow as a College, we will be adding a number of new staff and classes to accommodate this. In 2018 we will add a combined stage class in Stage One (Year 1 and 2) and another Year 6 class. When putting classes together for the coming year teachers spend much time and care in creating the best learning environment for the individual child as well as the cohort as a whole. If you have any concerns regarding the learning environment for your child please feel free to contact myself or your child’s teacher.

In Term 3 newsletters, Mrs Wilkins spoke about each of our core values; courage, curiosity, collaboration, craftsmanship and compassion. Over this term in the Junior School, you will notice a focus on these College values. We spend time, both in and out of class teaching these, and this term we are recognising student achievement in all five values, through College merit awards. Each week we will highlight one particular value to focus on. For the last week, we have been looking at

Courage. As we learnt from Basil at Chapel, courage is not being fearless. Often times it is moving forward with a decision even though we may be nervous or afraid. It is persisting in the face of difficulty and can mean resilience and determination in the face of failure. I loved Basil’s message; Courage is a trait that can be grown and developed. In each of our students, it is our desire to see them grow in courage, to give them the opportunities to develop this in their characters and to recognise this within each of them.

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9

Mrs Katherine Kendon Deputy Principal - Head of Junior School

Bricks 4 Kids will not be continuing this Term.

We look forward to a new program in 2018

In the class with Prep Blue

Prep Blue are excited to be back in the classroom for term 4! This term we are talking about sustainability and how we can care for our world that God created. We have started reading books about how to sustain the environment and have learnt about worm farms, vegetable gardens as well as windmills and solar panels. We have been collecting recycled materials that we are going to use as part of art and craft this term.

Mrs Blake and Miss McKittrick

In the Class with Prep Red

Prep had so much fun at the Tabloid Carnival on Monday 18 October. The students were involved in parachute games, running races, tug of war, target games, ball game and much more.

Mrs Maloney and Miss McKittrick

In the class with Year 1

As part of our science unit on communication year 1 have been looking at the different ways we communicate. As part of this unit we wrote a letter to someone within the school, addressed the letter, posted and processed the letters. Finally our very own OPAC postmen and postwomen delivered these letters all over the school.

Mr Plunkett, Mrs Worthington and Mrs Grant

Years 3 - 6 ‘Fast four’ Tennis

Competition

Weeks 3 and 4

Please see Mr Hudson for more

information

Junior School Public Speaking

Tuesday night, 23 students from Kindergarten to Year 6 participated in the Junior School Public Speaking Competition. The students were supported by teachers, family and friends and there was a great camaraderie amongst the competitors. Each student spoke with confidence and their hard work that began last term and culminated in the Final evening was certainly worth it. Congratulations to the overall winner, Tatiana Banjas (Year 6) who really had the audience wondering whether it would be better to be a kid or an adult. Mrs Wilkins, Mrs McLaren and Mr Coleby had a difficult task as adjudicators but were pleased to present the following awards:

Overall Winner: Tatijana Banjas Year 6

Runners up: Domenic Pace Year 5

Lachlan Manton Year 3

Gemma Watson Year 2

Highly Commended:

Vaanya Narania Year 1 Jahzara Filo Year 2

Loukas Taxiropoulos Year 3 Cooper Southwell Year 5

Maggi Sheehan Year 6 Raif Haack Year 4

Samuel Hillard Year 2 Dante Jaafar Year 5

Finalists:

Alyssa Manivong Kindergarten

Harry Hillard Kindergarten

Lydia Buttigieg Kindergarten

Aleksa Stojanovic Kindergarten

Michael Batten Year 1

Jacob Morley Year 1

Eliza Faddy Year 1

Michael Beeraz Year 3

Cooper Brown Year 4

Charlise Palmer Year 4

Sabrina Gaibisso Year 5

Congratulations to all students for their wonderful speeches and all their hard work in preparation for the night.

Mrs Cathy Grant Junior School Coordinator

AMAZING ME

Oran Park Anglican College will be holding the

AMAZING ME education seminar to support our

College community.

Date: Wednesday, 15 November 2017

Time: 6.30pm

Who: Year 5 and 6 students and

parents

Where Upper B Block Cost $15 per family

(partly subsided by the College)

Payment: Trybooking - https://

www.trybooking.com/SMFV

The seminar aims to provide information to

children in the important area of personal

development. Whilst not compulsory, it is highly

recommended that all parents consider taking this

opportunity even if your child is nervous or

embarrassed, or would prefer not to attend.

A warm welcome back for Term 4 to our students, staff and parents. Over the holiday break a number of members from the College community participated in the Western Sydney Marathon, raising funds for the Love Mercy Foundation. As a team we have raised over $1000 so far!

We have started the term strongly and with final examinations only a couple of weeks away we are taking a particular focus in our Pastoral Care time on developing study skills. Year 9 and 10 have had a follow-up session with Elevate Education, focussing on time management, mind mapping and note taking. Year 7 and 8 have been using follow up resources from our Elevate session earlier in the year, developing study timetables and effective study habits. We also watched an excellent video on the top 13 study tips. It is well worth watching with your child and you can find the link here.

One of the most effective ideas is that of spaced practise. Doing 15 minutes per day on a particular task is far more effective than trying to do a 2-hour session in one hit. Encouraging your children to do regular, short, focused bursts of study is one positive method to deepen their knowledge, understanding and skills.

Importantly we need to remind our students that the main function of summative assessments and examinations is for teachers to evaluate the impact of their teaching on a student’s learning. As educators, we are constantly asking ourselves the question “are the students learning what I have been teaching?” Examinations are just one of the many ways we can make an assessment of a child’s progress and the effectiveness of our pedagogy.

With summer uniform now in place for the Senior School, I would ask all parents to continue to support the College uniform code and ensure your child is compliant on every level. In particular, the appropriate hat must be worn to and from College, at recess and lunch, every day of the week. Sports hats are only to be worn to and from College on sports days. If your child has lost their hat, it will need to be replaced, and students are not to wear any jewellery other than girls who may wear one pair of earrings, either a small stud or sleeper.

I look forward to a positive and productive term.

“For nothing is impossible with God” Luke 1:37

Mr Michael Newton Deputy Principal - Head of Senior School

HICES Speechcraft Communicators Forum

On Wednesday 11 October I was very blessed to spend the day with 12 of our student leaders and debaters at the HICES Speechcraft Communicators Forum excursion held at Macarthur Anglican School.

The excursion was led by NIDA drama tutors and we had very well-known actors, directors, voice coaches and presenters take us through a journey of gaining confidence, preparing for speeches and interacting with our audience. We learnt a range of valuable public speaking, leadership and life skills that will help foster a sense of purpose and calmness in our leaders and debaters when they have the privilege of addressing a group of people.

Throughout the day we explored the benefit of physical warm ups, vocal exercises, play building and teamwork to help calm nerves, practise interacting with an audience and ensure we always focus on the most important things when working alongside or presenting to others.

We got a huge amount of practical experience on the day and found the workshops helpful, enlightening and most importantly, personally challenging. The students jumped out of their comfort zone and had a go at all the activities. It was a very successful forum and the stu-dents involved have provided very positive feed-back on the value of this event.

I’m looking forward to seeing our leaders and debaters put into practice the skills they have gained and I thank them for their fabulous work at the Communicators Forum.

Mrs McLaren English/Drama Teacher and Debating Coach

Summer IPSSO Training is well on the way for the last part of the IPSSO Summer season with our teams progressing well. This term we have been trialling the use of external coaches to help our students further develop in these team sports.

Last Wednesday we played St Peters Anglican Primary School. There were improvements in our Cricket and Senior Football teams - including a great goal in the Senior Football game by Maddison Palmer and a wonderful six by Dylan Morrison in the Cricket. Senior Basketball had a win and Junior Basketball had a narrow loss. There was also a win for Junior Oz Tag. Well done to all students.

Tiger Shield

Well done to our Girls Football teams in Years 3-6 for their efforts in the Tiger Shield last Saturday. It was so wonderful to see how much the girls played for and helped each other, with our junior team just missing out on the semi finals on goal difference. A big thank you to the Camden Tigers Football Club for organis-ing the day as well as our parents and Mrs Hills and Mrs Lindsay for giving up this Saturday to support the day.

College Sport

Years 3-6 have been completing a Cricket clinic and will start their Volleyball clinic next week. Kindergarten have begun their Basketball clinic and Year 1 are going Swimming this term. Year 2 will be commencing their Zumba program in the coming weeks.

After College Sport

This week saw the introduction of a Hockey Program for Kindergarten (run by Mr Carstens) and a Rugby League program (non-contact) for Years 1 and 2 run by the NRL. There are still spaces available in both programs.

K-2 Tabloid Carnival

Last Monday K-2 had so much fun at their Tabloid Carnival playing fun parachute games, running, playing Cricket as well as catching and throwing activities. A big thank you to Harrison from Educational Sports Carnivals for running such a great day.

Special Note

A special congratulations to Callum McMenemy for his achievements in the national championships. His Oz Tag team finished third overall. Well done Callum!

Mr Chapman Junior School Sport Coordinator

Stage 1

Sports

Collage

MISA Secondary Sport

This term started with a huge bang for our MISA Teams. The teams competing this term in MISA are: 7 Boys Cricket, 8/9 Boys Cricket, 7-9 Boys Oz Tag, 7-9 Girls Oz Tag, 7 Boys Basketball, 7 Girls Basketball and 10/11 Boys Volleyball. It was a tough Round 1 against Broughton Anglican College, yet, we had a ripper of a round! The 7 Boys Cricket team were victorious, the 7-9 Boys Oz Tag came away with a draw and the 7 Girls Basketball team were narrowly defeated by only 2 baskets! Well done to all students representing the College through the MISA competition!

All Schools Athletics

Congratulations to Lauren Tisdale who competed at the All Schools Athletics on the weekend. Lauren has started pole vaulting. This was one of her first big competitions, where she came 3rd in NSW. Well done Lauren. We also wish you well in competing at National Artistic Gymnastic s Championships later this month!

Australian Interschool’s Equestrian Championships

Congratulations to Ella Finn, who represented the College at the Australian Interschool’s Equestrian Championships during the holidays. Ella and her pony, Ceaser went to Toowoomba to compete as a part of the NSW Equestrian team. Ella placed in all her classes, as well as placing 4th overall in the championships.

In addition to this, Ella competed in the National Vaulting championships where she placed 2nd Individual and 2nd overall.

Well done Ella!

Dates for the Diary:

Sports Dinner – 8 November

League Tag Gala Day (Years 7/8) – 9 November

Fishers Ghost Fun Run – 12 November

Mrs Clisdell Senior School Sports Coordinator