Issue 3I 10 March 2017

Mrs Naomi Wilkins

Principal

One of my favourite past times is planning holidays. I love reading reviews and finding bargains as I dream about different places I would love to visit and explore. Holidays can give us a chance to escape and relax and even just planning a holiday lifts my spirits. Our lives are busy as we juggle all the demands of work and family, it is often rest which gets neglected. The pattern that God gives us in the bible is to have a day of rest each week. I don’t think this means we stay in bed all day! Although not having to keep to a schedule and being able to spend quality time with family and friends in a relaxing or fun activity sounds like a good recipe for reviving our worn out minds and bodies. As Christians we might also use this time to draw closer to God and spend time meeting together at church.

Quality family and relaxation time is important in maintaining a healthy lifestyle. As families with school-age children you also have the added opportunity for family holidays at regular intervals throughout the year. These could be getting away to different destinations or having a stay-cation at home. However you spend your holidays they are an important time to relax the schedule of appointments and assignments and allow families time to reconnect and have different experiences.

The inflexibility of having school-age children is that vacation periods are set by the College based on a four term program to accommodate government prescribed curriculum delivery hours. When students are absent during term time this causes a disruption to their learning and may result in them not meeting the requirements of a course. In the senior years (Years 9-12) this can affect their qualification for the Record of School Achievement (ROSA) and Higher School Certificate (HSC).

Any planned term time absences require the approval from the school’s principal. Parents wishing to take holidays during term time should do so after considering the effect the absence will have on their child’s learning and apply in writing documenting the purpose of the leave and how the disruption will be minimised. Overseas family events are often hard to plan for during the holidays and can provide children with a rich and rare opportunity to engage with their cultural heritage. However, where possible the timing for holidays should be kept within the College’s vacation periods. I hope you do have the opportunity to plan a holiday for your family this year and that it is a wonderful time of refreshment.

There is such a vibrancy in our College learning community and I encourage you to read more about it in this week’s edition of ‘The Life’.

“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work.” Genesis 2:2

Week 7 Tuesday 13 March: MISA: OPAC vs MAG Wednesday 15 March: College Band Practice Thursday 16 March: College Band Practice Week 8 Tuesday 21 March: MISA: OPAC vs MAS Wednesday 22 March: College Band Practice Thursday 23 March: College Band Practice Concert Band Rehearsals

Week 7 Monday 13 March: Year 2 Swimming Lesson Wednesday 15 March: IPSSO: BYE Friday 17 March: No Assembly Week 8 Monday 20 March: Year 2 Swimming Lesson Tuesday 21 March: Harmony Day Wednesday 22 March: IPSSO: OPAC vs BAC Thursday 23 March: Prep 2 Days Grandparents Morning Tea Concert Band Rehearsals Friday 24 March: Prep 3 Days Grandparents Morning Tea K-6 Grandparents Morning Tea P-6 Assembly (5R Item)

Parent Pick-Up Reminder

Dear Parents and Guardians, Police have come to the College Office this week to warn parents that the police will be issuing fines to cars who have stopped on the road in the line for the pickup bay. The line must stop inside the College carpark, please keep driving around the block or park your car if the bay is already full. The new carpark is open to staff and parents which is located near D Block (new building). You may enter this car park from South Circuit. A path is located from the carpark, past D Block which parents can use to access the Junior School area. Please pay attention to changing road signs outside the College along the road and abide by all traffic rules for the safety of our families. Thank you for your cooperation. Yours in service Mrs Corina Lynch Office Administrator

In the last newsletter I wrote about building capacity in

our children, encouraging them to take on challenges in

learning. Carol Dweck’s research around fixed and

growth mindsets centres around our ability to take on

challenges. She often talks about the ‘power of not yet’,

the idea that we can grow in our capacity to learn. In

Dweck’s work she puts this beautifully saying, “Are you

not smart enough to solve it … or have you just not

solved it yet?” I love this simple statement of hope and

willingness to persevere through challenge.

It was wonderful to watch this in action with Year 5 and 6

on their recent camp to Wedderburn. There were group

challenges, abseiling, giant swings and swimming. This

was the second year that Year 6 had been involved with

the camp program and as I listened to them reflect on the

opportunity to have another go at some of the scarier

challenges it was great to see their own realisation of

how they had improved. I was proud to see so many

students willingly step out of their comfort zone and loved

how they cheered each other on and shared in the

excitement of success, no matter how big or small.

In the Junior School this week, we’ve had Parent

Teacher Interviews. Tuesday evening saw the College

campus alive with parents and students. These

interviews allow teachers and parents to share in an

ongoing conversation about their child’s education.

Building communication between College and home is

an important link in a successful school experience and it

was fantastic to see so many parents take up this

opportunity.

We end the week on a high note with the Cross

Country Fun Day. Mr Chapman and Mrs Clisdell have

planned a day full of games, a challenging cross

country route and a BBQ to raise funds for

Compassion Australia. We’re looking forward to a

great day!

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as

working for the Lord, not for human masters.”

Colossians 3: 23

Mrs Katherine Kendon Deputy Principal - Head of Junior School

MultiLit Helpers Needed!

MultiLit is a reading program researched and devised by

Macquarie University to help low progress readers make

up for lost time in literacy. It is a structured program that

follows a steady routine and can be easily delivered. This

program aims to get students back on track with their

reading, one on one, through three weekly sessions.

If you are interested in helping our MultiLit program, please contact Mrs Humphreys via email mhumphreys@opac.nsw.edu.au

In the Classroom with Kindy

Kindergarten students have settled quickly into the routines of College. They have been making new friends and are learning to work together in groups.

Each week we have been visiting a different country with our passports and have been learning what children in other countries do the same as us and what they do that is different. This week we visited China. We found out that children in China go to school on a Saturday.

In Maths we have been learning about shapes and the properties of each shape. We used different shapes to make shape monsters and shape pictures. We have enjoyed learning that some shapes are round and some shapes are pointy. Students also went on a shape walk to see what shapes they could find in the playground.

Mrs Zucchi, Mrs Presbury, Mrs Finlay, Mrs Ferdarico

In the classroom with Year 4

Year 4 are a delightful bunch of positive students working towards setting new “Personal Bests” throughout 2017. Learning about early exploration and the events that led to the European discovery of Australia has sparked interest amongst the students. We are seeing evidence of this within the children’s writing tasks and in particular through the expression shown in their art work and drama lessons.

To illustrate the desire of all Year 4 students to have a growth mindset approach to their learning we created “Grass Heads”. Their success can be seen in the photos below.

We are joining together each Friday morning to share a short worship time and devotion with Year 3. This encourages relationship building amongst the classes and is proving to be an enjoyable time for us all.

Mrs Lindsay and Mrs Keen

Captain Cook navigating the ship whilst the cook

prepares breakfast, land is found and our resident

artist paints this moment for history.

““Land Ahoy” Scrubbing the deck, steering the ship

and hoisting the sails.

Checking the progress of our “Grass Heads”

From Science

Well, it has been another busy couple of weeks in the Science block! The students have continued to become familiar with their new surroundings. Year 6 continued to learn about how light ‘bounces and bends”, Year 7 have been busy practising the laboratory skill of how to heat liquids safely in test tubes and had fun making Oobleck from cornflower. Year 8 are currently learning about human body systems and are preparing for heart and kidney dissections in the coming weeks (some are not so sure about doing this practical!) Year 9 have been studying the intricacies of their reflexes and Year 10 completed an experiment where they grew silver crystals and observed them under the microscope.

It was also wonderful to have so many parents wander through the laboratories at the Meet the Teacher evening, many commenting on how wonderful the new facilities are!

Mrs Arundell - STEM Coordinator

Years 3 - 6 Co-Curricular

Years 3-6 have had a busy start to the year. They have

participated in various sports carnivals, including both

Swimming and Cross Country. Students have also

competed in IPSSO inter-school competitions where

students have played well and exhibited excellent

behaviour and sportsmanship.

Many groups have started this term and have been well

attended. Groups that your children may be involved in

are Dance, Choir, Gardening and Cru Club. Students

can borrow equipment to use in the playground or

spend some quiet time in the Library if they wish to.

Year 4 students have the opportunity to participate in

the Art Club with Mrs Low from next week. Please

encourage your child to be part of any of these groups.

Years 5 and 6 had an enjoyable time away on camp in

Week 5. The students had the opportunity to participate

in many activities that taught them to trust themselves

and each other and push through fears. Students had

the opportunity to abseil, have a go on the Giant Swing,

swim, learn about insects and the funnel web spider,

walk through the bush at night time, sit by a fire and eat

marshmallows. All our students displayed excellent

behaviour and interacted with each other in a

responsible and respectful manner. There were many

memories that will be remembered for a long time.

Mr Hudson - Stage Coordinator

It was great to meet so many parents at our Senior School Information Night last week. I hope you walked away feeling confident that your children are not only engaged in a high quality education, but that they are receiving an education that is holistic in philosophy. It is our hope that students at Oran Park Anglican College will develop their sense of identity throughout their time here and build the knowledge, skills and character that will lead to a life of purpose.

This week we have taken occupation of the remaining rooms in the new building. Woodwork, Technology, Visual Art and Food Technology are all enjoying the new facilities and the Senior School students are also enjoying some dedicated playground space.

I mentioned at the information evening that in building a safe and supportive College culture, we need to have high expectations of our students in all areas of school life. To that end, can I ask all parents to assist in ensuring their children come to College with the correct uniform. Of particular note is the wearing of hats. Hats are an important part of the College uniform and must be worn before and after school and during recess and lunch. The wearing of hats falls under our duty of care as a College, though more importantly students need to be aware that protection from the sun now will save them from potential pain in the future.

Furthermore, the wearing of the College uniform is an important statement in the building of a College community. Wearing the uniform correctly and with pride says to everyone that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, that we respect and love our College and each other and that as human beings we are all equal. This is central to our Christian worldview and to the value we place on each and every student. The temptation for teenagers is to see outward appearance as incredibly important, (Instagram, Facebook and Snapchat are no help here!) and ironically, maintaining a firm policy on uniform reminds us that outward appearance is not what makes us significant.

As parents and educators we must teach our children that it is what we do with our ‘hearts, heads and hands’ that is of the greatest worth.

On that note, can I encourage you once again to remind your children of the wonderful co-curricular opportunities available to them in the Senior School. So far this year we already have up and running;

Dance Troupe

Band and Choir

Drama club

Debating

Duke of Edinburgh

Cru Group

There are plans in place to offer even more in the near future. Co-curricular groups are a great way to contribute to something bigger than ourselves, to meet and make new friends and to actively use our hearts, heads and hands.

An initial notification for parents of Year 7, that our first parent teacher evening will be held on Tuesday 4 April from 3.30pm-7.30pm. You will receive details on how to book in the next couple of weeks, however for now please save the date.

‘For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do’. Ephesians 2:10

God Bless,

Mr Michael Newton Deputy Principal - Head of Senior School

Year 9 PDHPE – Survivor!

In Year 9 PDHPE, the strand that we are investigating at

the moment is Lifelong Physical Activity. The unit,

Survivor, focuses on this strand as well as developing

leadership characteristics. One of the activities that we

have done this term is to build ‘a walker’ as a team and

then walk together on it to collect the objects set out

before the team. It was a challenge for the teams.

However, once they were able to work together and form

a plan, they succeeded. This was a brilliant example of

different students, with different strengths working

together for the desired outcome. The students enjoyed

this activity and are looking forward to the rest of the unit!

Mrs Clisdell

Debating On Thursday March 2, I had the pleasure of taking four talented Year 8 students to the MISA Debating Training Day where we were able to get great advice in a workshop with an expert debater and jump straight into competition mode with two practice debates. The day was held at Georges River Grammar School and we were very excited to meet students and teachers from other MISA schools who made us feel very welcome as ‘newbies’ to the debating competition.

OPAC students did a great job in their two debates. Our first debate topic “Students should be allowed to use mobile phones in class” was an exciting one where our team really shone! The team came so close to winning this debate but unfortunately the Negative Team’s third speaker was just too fierce and got the edge on us! Our second debate “Tourism is ruining the Great Barrier Reef” was a tricky one as students were not able to research the topic area and were forced to rely on their general knowledge about this topic which was somewhat limited. Good Samaritan won the debate, however, our students really took the opportunity to gain advice from this experienced team (former state champions) who have been debating together for some time. The other teams were so impressed with our team who had only debated together (and for some the first time EVER) for the first time that day!

Overall, the training day was a really valuable experience and got our team excited for the competition ahead! Nicholas Everett, Leah Veld, Campbell Franke and Phetmanee Vongpoothorn are great ambassadors for our College and I wish them well in the MISA Debating Competition this year! Well done to our team and a huge thank you for their generosity and hard work!

Mrs McLaren

Adjudicators Needed:

We are looking for adjudicators with C.S.D.A or D.S.E training to adjudicate morning debates at OPAC in Terms 2 and 3 as part of the Year 8 MISA Debating Competition. If you or anyone you know has this skill can you please pass on contact information to Mrs Catherine McLaren - Year 8 Debating coach. cmclaren@opac.nsw.edu.au. Thank you!

IPSSO

IPSSO Winter Trials will be held on Monday the 13th and Wednesday the 15th of March. Students may trial for the following sports:

AFL (Mixed) *

Netball (Girls)

Football/Soccer (Boys)

Newcombe Ball/Volleyball (Mixed)

AFL although mixed, has girls only zones in competition matches. Students will be notified of selection once tri-als are completed. If any of the days above are washed out, the wet weather backup is on the 20th of March.

A huge congratulations to our students in Summer IPSSO who have represented the College so admirably during term 1.

CSSA State Swimming Carnival

Congratulations to Ava Brown and Lara Tindal for their fantastic achievements at the CSSA State Swimming Carnival at Blacktown Aquatic Centre.

Cross Country

What an amazing day that we have had today in organ-ising the CSSA Cross Country. Well done to all stu-dents. The students who finish in the top 4 for each age group will progress to the State Cross Country at Hors-ley Park Equestrian Centre.

Mr Anthony Chapman Junior School Sport Coordinator

OPAC Sporting Motto

Starting off as a new school it is hard to develop culture. However, our students at Oran Park Anglican College are the pioneers and creators of the Sporting Culture here. The Sporting Moto that we would like to adopt as a College is:

To Win HUMBLY

To Lose GRACIOUSLY

To Act JUSTLY

And GLORIFY GOD THROUGH SPORT

Let’s enjoy representing God and our College as well as challenging ourselves in the sporting arena!

MISA Secondary Sport

MISA Secondary sport is continuing to progress well. Due to the rain this week, our games were cancelled, except for Basketball. In round 2, our OPEN girls’ cricket almost beat Mount Carmel Catholic College, with the end result being 37-34. This week, our basketballers had pleasing milestones by scoring a few baskets. The 8/9 boys basketball team only lost 17-8. Well done! Due to the rain, we were able to get some quality training in! Bring on Round 4!

NSW All Schools Triathlon

Cody Turner participated in the NSW All Schools Triathlon on Wednesday 22 February. The race consisted of a 600m Swim, 15km Bike and 4km run in 32 degrees heat! Cody had a great race finishing in 52minutes and 52 seconds, coming 8th out of 97 competitors. He is now a reserve for the Australian All Schools competition in April. Well done Cody!

CSSA South Met Swimming – Zone Carnival

2017 is a HUGE year for our athletes at Oran Park Anglican College. This is the first for many events! I had the privilege of taking 20 Oran Park Swimmers to our first ever CSSA Zone Swimming Championships on Friday 24 February. The students behaved beautifully, showing determination and excellent sportsmanship! Our College came a very respectable 6th place out of 8 schools, especially since we did not have 16yr girls, 17 or 18 age groups. Look out for when we are a full squad!

Well done to the following students who represented

Oran Park at the CSSA Zone Swimming Carnival:

Well done to Kaneisha Cox, who has also been selected

in the CSSA Zone Swim Team to compete at CSSA

State Swimming, at Sydney International Aquatic Centre,

Homebush on Monday, 27th March. Kaneisha will be

swimming in: 13yr Girls 50m Backstroke, 13yr Girls

100m Freestyle, 13yr 50m Freestyle.

Good luck Kaneisha!

Students

Mae Alden Mia Nichols

Emily Alden Madison Poll

Charlotte Arnold Arnav Ram

Aleksandar Banjas Blake Ranson

Nicholas Caruso Gabriella Russo

Kaneisha Cox Madison Smith

Evan Gardner Rory Southwell

Emily Kapitanow Daniel Squire

Hayden Kaye Cody Turner

Nyree Mair Naomi Wyatt

CSSA Touch Football Zone Trials

The weather got the better of our CSSA Touch Football

Gala Day! Due to the amount of rain and closures of

the ovals, the Gala Day was cancelled. However, trials

still needed to be held to select a CSSA Zone Touch

Football team to participate in the CSSA State touch

Football Gala Day in Port Macquarie later this month!

Oran Park Anglican College took 10 students to the

trials. Unfortunately, this year our students did not make

the team. However, they did us proud! Well done to the

following students:

Sporting Events coming up:

Cross Country Carnival FUN DAY – Friday 10

March

CSSA State Swimming Carnival – Monday 27

March

OPAC Athletics Carnival – Wednesday 29 March

Mrs Rebecca Clisdell Senior School Sports Coordinator

Students

Brodie Franks Rebecca Ling

Kyle Ferguson Madison Poll

Angus Geoghegan Victoria Shaw

James Sanders Tanisha Thin

Cody Watson Naomi Wyatt