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Wycliffe Christian School | (02) 4753 6422 | wycliffe.nsw.edu.au

WEEK 9TERM 2

REM

EMBER YOUR CREATOR

WYC

LIFFE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL

FROM THE PRINCIPALIn the film ‘An Education’, nominated for 3 Academy Awards including Best Picture in 2010, a smart and attractive 16 year old Jenny, bored by school and teachers who are encouraging her to pursue their boring career path, is swept off her feet by a much older suitor who promises her the world but fails (badly) to deliver. At one point, Jenny addresses her Headmistress - ‘It’s not good enough to be educating us any more Miss; you’ve got to tell us why you’re doing it!’ What an astute comment from a 16 year old!

In Wycliffe’s half-page advertisement in this week’s Blue Mountain’s Gazette, I said, among other things:

“Education is never neutral. Every school and teacher presents a view of the meaning and purpose of life in this world. The purpose of education at Wycliffe is that students might be nurtured and encouraged to develop their gifts and talents; to do really well at school; to excel. Why? In order that they might honour the Lord in all that they do and be a blessing to others.”

And that is our prayer for every one of our students.

Shalom!George Glanville

Principal

MESSAGE FROM MR PETER BREALEYSome of you may remember one of our ex students, Ella Edwards. She was part of our school basketball program and continues to play for our out of school team at Blaxland. Ella is being scouted by a number of well known American colleges including Tennessee and North Carolina. Ella is on her way to the U.S. to participate in a scouting camp for Princeton College. This is a massive opportunity for her and she has worked

extremely hard to get to this position. Could I please ask that you keep Ella in your prayers as she travels overseas to play against some very strong, fast and competitive girls, and of course for the safety of her and her family.

POSITION VACANTSCHOOL RECEPTIONISTTEMPORARY PART-TIMEExpressions of interest are invited from committed Christians for the temporary, part-time position of School Receptionist. Applicants with current Reception experience, who are competent in the use of computer technology, including use of databases, and have the ability to multi-task, are invited to apply. The holder of the position is also responsible for administering First Aid, therefore a current First Aid qualification is required.

Applicants will have a commitment to a high quality of customer service and the ability to work as part of an administration team.

Previous experience working in a School Office environment would be an advantage.

Applications should include:• A resume of experience and qualifications

(including copy of current First Aid Certificate)• A current Working with Children Clearance• The name and contact details of your Minister • The names and contact details of two (2)

professional referees

Applications should be emailed to Mrs Avril Marshall, (Office Manager and P.A. to the Principal) by Friday 30 June, 2017.

E-Mail: amarshall@wycliffe.nsw.edu.au

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UPCOMING EVENTKINDERGARTEN 2018 INFORMATION EVENING

Wycliffe Christian School invites you to their Kindergarten Information Evening on Monday 26 June, 7:30pm133 Rickard Road, Warrimoo

Nestled amidst breathtaking bushland, Wycliffe provides a wonderful setting for the start of a child’s schooling. The school has a fine heritage in Christian education. Come join the adventure!

Come and have a Kindergarten experience first hand. Hear from our gifted teachers and current Kindergarten parents about the unique opportunities and experiences of learning in Kindergarten at Wycliffe.

Nurturing faith Unwrapping truth Encouraging discernment Enabling thoughtful action

For further information please contact our

Enrolment Officer at enrol@wycliffe.nsw.edu.au

or phone on (02) 4753 6422

www.wycliffe.nsw.edu.au

ADVENTUREJOIN MONDAY

26 JUNE7:30PM

CHILD MINDING AND LIGHT SUPPER WILL BE PROVIDED. NO BOOKING REQUIRED. 7:15pm for a 7:30pm start in kindergarten rooms.

SCHOOL NEWSSECONDARY PDHPEThis semester our classes have been energetic and filled with lots of great discussions and participation.

As teachers we believe our health and ability to participate in physical activity are gifts from God, given to all people in different measures. It is our role as Christians to be good stewards of these gifts and to uncover God’s intended plan for us in the areas of Health, Physical Activity and Relationships.

Across years 7-10 Physical Education (practical) lessons the students have been working on improving their Cardiovascular Fitness and Athletics skills. Along with developing and practising their physical skills in a variety of team sports such as Soccer, Volleyball and AFL.

Aside from timetabled practical lessons and lunch-time representative sports training, the students have the opportunity to further develop their athletic fitness in several other scheduled training sessions:

• Monday lunch time - High intensity interval training with the Morgans

• Wednesday morning - Speed training.• Monday and Thursday lunch time - Rugby League

Training (*starting soon)

Depending on student interest and demand there may be other potential training opportunities to begin next semester also.

Our Personal Development and Health (theory) lessons are taught in light of the biblical truths that despite of our sin and desperate need for Christ’s redemption, each individual is a person of worth because they were created and are loved by God. We seek to remind the students that the Bible teaches us to pray about our anxieties and we can depend on God and look to Him for strength in all things.

This semester the students have been exploring various different issues that affect young people.

• Year 7/8 - identifying and managing the challenges and risks that young people commonly experience as they transition into adolescence.

• Year 8 - how to use the road safely and the benefits of maintaining an active lifestyle.

• Year 9 - the importance of a healthy lifestyle and the impact of the decisions we make, during the units Healthy Eating and Wellbeing.

• Year 10 - stress, our reactions and management to the stressors adolescents experience as well as the

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importance of safe road use as a driver.

This semester has also seen the launch of two new and exciting Stage 5 (years 9 and 10) electives.

• The Pulse - an investigation of the structure and function of the human body and its relationship to movement and sports performance.

• Fingers, Toes and a cute button Nose (Child studies) - an introduction to the needs of a new baby and exploration of the role of play in the growth and development of children.

Meanwhile, our senior students in Years 11 and 12 this term have been challenged about

• The meaning of health, factors that influence the health Australians and the strategies used to promote health (PDHPE)

• Coaching young student athletes (SLR)• The development of different groups in our

community and the difficulties and inequities people can experience because of the groups they belong to or the roles they have (CAFS)

In a devotion recently Miss Heather Bray shared with the staff her love and passion for exercising in God’s creation.

You have probably worked out that I like to run. I also like to cycle, amongst other forms of physical activity. And why yes you could say I engage in these physical activities to reap the physiological benefits of a more efficient cardiovascular system where my body is more effective in pumping oxygen to the working muscles or I am able to run for longer, run faster or climb bigger mountains over a period of time.

You could also say that exercise has a psychological or mental health benefit whereby those endorphins are released, we can feel happy and maybe just escape the business of life for just a fraction of the day as a bit of stress release.

Socially too, there’s the benefits of developing friendships and deepening friendships through sharing a common interest in a particular sport or physical activity, not to mention the fights over who is shouting for coffee after a ride or a run! Whilst yes these are all good reasons to exercise, and the majority of the general population would agree these are all great benefits. There is often one aspect of our health that is overlooked and this is

closely linked with the underlying reason as to why I run or ride.

I exercise so I can see God’s creation. It is an opportunity for me to marvel in His creation. As I’m gasping for breath or manoeuvring my way through a single track in the bush, I can be thankful for what God has placed around me. It allows me to see just how big God really is, to see His grandeur and that all things are made by Him and for Him. E. E Cummings summarises my thoughts as I venture out into nature and enjoy His creation with this quote:

“I thank You God for this amazing day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees and a blue tree dream of sky; and for everything which is natural, which is infinite, which is yes”

Mrs Ruth Van Leerdam Head of Department (PDHPE)

LIBRARY NEWSKATE DICAMILLO

Kate was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, raised in Clermont, Florida, and currently live in Minneapolis, Minnesota. She writes for both children and adults and likes to think of herself as a storyteller. She learnt at College that the

duty of the writer is to pay attention, to see the world.

Because of Winn-Dixie is a book populated with stray dogs and strange musicians, lonely children and lonelier adults. They are all the kind of people that, too often, get lost in the mainstream rush of life.

Kate says, “Spending time with them was a revelation for me. What I discovered is that each time you look at the world and the people in it closely, imaginatively, the effort changes you. The world, under the microscope of your attention, opens up like a beautiful, strange flower and gives itself back to you in ways you could never imagine. What stories are hiding behind the faces of the people who you walk past everyday? What love? What hopes? What despair? I think of it this way: my characters sing songs and I stop to listen to them.”

SPORT NEWSCongratulations to Joshua

Stufkens who represented our School and NSW CSSA at the

Combined independent Schools Touch Football Championships and to Olivia Greenaway who

represented Wycliffe and NSW CSSA at the Combined Independent Schools Cross Country Championships at

Eastern Creek in the 12 Years Girls event.

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SCHOOL NOTICESHONG KONG EXCHANGE VISIT BILLETS REQUIREDTowards the end of Term 1 and into the April vacation break, the Year 11 Cultural Exchange trip to Hong Kong and China took place.

Over the three weeks, students enjoyed a wonderful cultural and service experience through:

• Cross Roads Foundation: Social justice mission situated in Hong Kong,

• Visits to our sister schools; China Holiness College and Living Spirit College, and

• A 4-day tour across the border into China with our Hong Kong Sister Schools.

The real highlight of the tour was the opportunity to share relationship with people from another culture, especially during our visits to Living Spirit College and China Holiness College (both located in Hong Kong). Our schools have shared a growing partnership over the past decade. The schools and staff proved wonderful and devoted hosts making our students and staff feel very welcome and cared for. Wycliffe will be hosting a return visit by Living Spirit and China Holiness Colleges from Saturday 5th – Monday 14th August. We are hoping our school can prove equally good hosts, especially through billeting our visitors with school families. Billets are required for boys and girls from Hong Kong ranging in ages from 13 to 17 years. We do prefer to have the students hosted in pairs where possible.

For expressions of interest in hosting a student visitor please email Mrs Tracey Brady at:tbrady@wycliffe.nsw.edu.au

FLANNOFEST 2017Flannofest gives high school Drama students the opportunity to explore different theatrical styles, and work with industry professionals including writers, directors, actors and technicians, as together they create an original performance 8-12 minutes in length.

Year 11 Drama are working on their coming production, The Tower; a collaboration with eight local high schools. The production will be held at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre. See below for ticket details.

CHANGES TO BOOK CLUB PAYMENTSFor those parents who pay for their child’s Book Club purchases online, the system has changed. The new payment system is called LOOP. Here are the details.

That’s it! There’s no need to return paper orderforms or payment receipt details to your school.

Head to scholastic.com.au/LOOP or

Follow these easy steps!

LOOPLOOP is the Scholastic Book Club

Linked Online Ordering & Payment platform.

1 Simply grab your child’s Book Club catalogue and either SIGN-IN or REGISTERyour account.

3 Click on ORDER and enter the item number from the Book Club catalogue.

Looking for MORE product information? Additional content such as videos and downloads are available for select titles. Select your issue and enter the item number to view information on titles and some great resources, such as videos and reviews.

4 All orders are linked directly to the school for submission to Scholastic. Books will stillbe delivered to your child’s classroom if you order by the close date.

It’s easy to order and pay online for your child’s Book Club order using your credit card. If your school is not yet in the LOOP,

speak with your school’s Book Club Organiser.

2 Add your child’s fi rst name and last initial (so the school knows who the book is for),then select your SCHOOL and your CHILD’S CLASS. Note: You can order for multiple children at once if they attend the same school.

COMMUNITY NOTICES    

                                                                           FEELING  CREATIVE                                                                                                                                                                          (STEAM)PUNK?        

Fantasy,  technology,  the  past  and  the  future  collide  in  a    2-­‐day  writing  workshop  for  senior  creative  arts  students,  at  Penrith  Regional  Gallery  &  The  Lewers  Bequest.  

 Led  by  award  winning  writer  James  Roy,  be  inspired  by  the  Gallery’s  winter  exhibition  

Richard  Goodwin  –  Navigator.  This  exhibition  includes  Goodwin’s  sculptures,  models,  maquettes  and  drawings  which  are  'visions  of  the  future  and  the  past,  the porous  and  parasitic,    

habitable  and  uninhabitable  space,  machines  and   human  form'.  NB  The  Exhibition  contains  adult  themes,  concepts  and  images    

 Whether  you  bring  your  own  arts  practice  into  your  response,    

or  begin  to  embark  on  your  own  graphic  novel,  get  ready  to  stretch  your    (steampunked)  sensibilities  and  re-­‐imagine  a  brand  new  world!  

   About  James  Author,  poet,  musician,  artist  and  movie  buff  James  Roy  is  a  recent  recipient  of  a  2017  Premiers  Award  for  1000  Hills,  (2017  Ethel  Turner  Prize  for  Young  People’s  Literature)  and  he  was  one  of  the  first  if  not  the  first  writer  of  YA  steampunk  in  Australia.  His  novels  include  Ichabod  Hart  and  the  Lighthouse  Mystery  —  shortlisted  for  the  Courier-­‐Mail’s  Book  of  the  Year.      

     

 WHEN                10am  -­‐3pm            Thursday  6  and  Friday  7  July          (Both  days  must  be  attended)      

AGE                            16  years  +      

COST                        $90      

WHERE                      Penrith  Regional  Gallery  &                The  Lewers  Bequest,                  86  River  Rd.  Emu  Plains      

TO  BOOK            www.westwords.com.au              02  8821  9178  for  more  details      

About  Richard  Award  winning    architect,  artist,  author  and  Professor  of  Sculpture  at  NSW  Art  and  Design,  Goodwin’s  practice  has  long  concerned  architecture  and  technology,  habitable  and  inhabitable  space,  machines  and  the  human  form.  Goodwin  describes  his  gallery  practice  as  the  permeable  edge  that  exists  between  public  and  private  space  and  scale  of  the  city.    

   

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SCHOOL HOLIDAY TENNIS COACHING CLINICFor children ages 5 – 16 (beginners to advanced). Fully supervised. Racquets are also available for hire. Lunch provided on the day, along with prizes!

Springwood World of Tennis, Spring Street, Springwood

When: Mon 10th to Fri 14th July 2017 (9 - 3pm)

For more information, or to book, please ring 4751 5383 OR 0416 083 472