Christians hold and defend strong views on many matters, including positions that stand against the tide of society (and this was just as true 2000 years ago as it is now), but we are also known for our charity and our grace. In fact, in the fourth century, the pagan Emperor Julian bemoaned that Christians’ charity to others was showing up the lack of such amongst his own people: ‘How apparent to everyone it is, and how shameful, that our own people lack support from us, when … the impious Galileans support not only their own poor, but ours as well.’

The ad hominem fallacy (i.e. “to the person”) identifies the tendency we have to attack or criticise the person, rather than the argument they are making – the ability to seperate the two is becoming an increasingly lost art. As Christians, it is important to stand firm on the truth we hold and give a reasoned and robust account for it. And at the same time, the Bible instructs us to show kindness, compassion, and forgiveness – attributes that point to Christ and stand out in society, even to Roman emperors.

As our communities become more polarised and aggressive, it is our desire at Shire Christian School that our students, through Biblical foundation of knowledge, will be articulate in knowledge and doctrine, compassionate and loving in heart, and moved to acts of service that show Christ’s love to a needy and truth-seeking world.

Mr David Stonestreet
Principal

Zoe Soper received her award due to the huge strides she has made recently in her learning in Mathematics. Her teacher, Mrs Bowe, nominated her because she has has taken emulating to the next level by understanding the course content, actively engaging with guidance and modelling of ways of study. She also has diligently designing her own study habits. Her reasoning in mathematics has flourished with deep thinking around the concepts, thoughtful questions in and outside of class and accurate application of conceptual understanding to both familiar and unfamiliar situations/tasks.  

Chloe Matthews and Hannah Seaton were both nominated by their Drama teacher, Mrs Johns. These girls directed a class drama play and both Mrs Johns and Mrs Breen were incredibly impressed by their dedication and passion. Throughout this term, they have organised each rehearsal, collaborated with every department in their team to ensure there is unity, and provided abundant resources for the actors to improve. They split the roles of director up according to their strengths and ensured that they delegated the play's requirements appropriately.

Congratulations to Hannah, Chloe and Zoe! I encourage each of you to persevere and develop yourselves as powerful learners.

Mrs Natalie Bluhdorn
Academic Head

The construction of the car park will impact and change various aspects of school life. One of the consequences is the oval at the front of the school will be unavailable next year. Our large green play spaces are a great feature of our school. Once construction is complete, this area will return as a play space above the car park for student use.

Our playgrounds are very busy during recess and lunch times with students enjoying sports and games like handball, basketball, soccer, cricket and tip footy and more. With one major area unable to be used, we have decided to implement new bell times for 2025. The purpose of the new bell times is to give Junior School and Secondary School students access to more playground areas by implementing staggered play times. There will be two 30-minute breaks for each school.

The new bell times are shown below. Notice the different break times for Junior and Secondary.

One adjustment to our approach is that it changes the idea of a ‘recess’ and ‘lunch’. We will be calling these playtimes Break 1 and Break 2. This is new to our school but many schools implement this format. 

Parents of young children in particular will need to prepare their children for eating a similar amount of food in both breaks so that they have time to eat and time to play during both break times. Sometimes our younger students can take more than 20 minutes to eat all their lunch. We will be suggesting that parents pack food for 2 breaks that may be eaten in less than 15 minutes so that students have time to eat and play during both breaks.

We think that this initiative will greatly benefit our students and provide more areas for play, particularly on wet days when grass is unsafe to use.

Further communication will come later about any changes to drop off or pick up as we get closer to beginning the building process.

Mr Paul Carter
Deputy Principal

In separate workshops, Melinda worked with the girls and Marshall with the boys, guiding them through activities that encouraged honest discussions about pressures and expectations. They came together in mixed groups to identify healthy ("green flag") and unhealthy ("red flag") aspects of relationships, followed by candid exchanges on body image, self-worth, and the desire for respectful relationships. These sessions were deeply moving, fostering empathy and mutual respect. For us as a Christian school, the conversations reinforced biblical principles of love, honour, and treating each other as image-bearers of God, encouraging students to seek relationships grounded in Christ’s love.

For the staff, Melinda and Marshall explored the role of harmful media on young people’s well-being, offering strategies to help students build resilience and uphold positive values. The evening session for parents provided practical advice on helping children resist toxic cultural pressures, navigate boundaries, and seek respectful relationships. It reminded us of our calling to guide young people in living out God's design for healthy relationships and self-worth.

We are grateful to Melinda and Marshall for their inspiring work, and we wholeheartedly recommend their presentations. Their time with us has left a lasting impact, equipping our community to face cultural challenges with knowledge, empathy, and confidence. As a school, we remain committed to teaching our students to view themselves and others through God's lens of love and dignity.

Forever Projects - Mt. Kilimanjaro Challenge

As of this morning, our school has so far raised $934 for Forever Projects as part of our school Mt. Kilimanjaro Challenge! Please check out our school page and support those brave participants who are completing various challenges of their own as we seek to add to that tally.

Forever Projects, is an organisation dedicated to empowering vulnerable families in Tanzania and is transforming lives by providing resources, education, and sustainable solutions for families in need.

Nathan Barry Prize for Evangelism & Greg Smith Award

In a couple of weeks on Monday 25 November, we are blessed to be able to award two Year 10 students with the Nathan Barry Prize for Evangelism. Nathan was a much-loved student of our school community who passed away a number of years ago prior to starting Year 11. Nathan loved Jesus and is now with him in Heaven. He was a wonderful witness to others and I am so thankful to have known him. I encourage you all to watch Nathan’s testimony which is available here. In Nathan’s words, ‘no matter what happens in life, the only thing that really matters is trusting in Jesus.’

During this same assembly, we will also be presenting one Year 9 student with the Greg Smith Award. Prior to his passing, Greg was our Head of Secondary and was a wonderful, caring and Godly leader. This award is now presented to a Year 9 student each year who has an inquisitive mind, shows a courageous spirit in the face of adversity and demonstrates a strong Christian character with a concern for others.

We are very thankful for both Nathan and Greg and the role models they were to others in our school community.

HSC Examinations Finished!

Well done to our Year 12 2024 cohort on finishing their HSC Examinations! The final examination finished just a couple of hours ago, that being Geography. We look forward to celebrating the end of their examinations and their schooling next Tuesday 12 November at the Year 12 Formal.

Asia Trip & Roots Cambodia

In just a few short weeks, Mrs Holdsworth, Miss Yock, Mr Moran and I will be heading over to Cambodia and Vietnam with 25 Year 10 students. The students are super excited for what is sure to be an eye-opening experience and a trip to remember for many years to come.

While we are over there, we will be visiting Roots in Kep, Cambodia which is run by Steve and Mandi Cook. You can find out a little more about Roots here. We will be spending two days painting and working at the local school as we seek to serve the local community with Christ-like love.

We would appreciate your prayers as we head off on Saturday 30 November for 12 days. We look forward to reporting back to our school community upon our return.

Mr Peter Richardson
former Head of Secondary School (2021-2024)

Last Thursday, we also took the opportunity to commemorate 'Reformation Day,' reflecting on the significance of relying solely on God’s Word, Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross, and His grace for our salvation.

We were delighted to welcome our new Prep families for the first of our orientations this week. It was heartwarming to see the excited faces of our newest students as they formed new friendships and embraced new experiences. We look forward to continuing this warm welcome for our 2025 Kindergarten students and their families over the next two Wednesdays.

Subway Day is BACK! We plan to end the year with a special Subway lunch on Thursday 5 December, Week 8 (Prep is unable to participate this time due to their Christmas Concert). Instructions and lunch order options will come home early next week. Please follow the instructions on the bag, including the correct change and return your order bag by Wednesday 20 November.

Parents are warmly invited to share in our regular morning assembly this coming Monday, as we commemorate Remembrance Day in the Junior School.

Mrs Ruth Cooper
Head of Junior School

A special mention goes to the following students for their exceptional achievements across the state:

In the English competition, Grace Phung, Daniel Yan, Isabelle Hosking, Ethan Salaun, Grace Balmforth, Axel Kauter, and Esther Gooch received Distinctions. Micah Jones and Cullen Hamlin earned High Distinctions, placing them in the top 1% statewide—a remarkable accomplishment!

In Mathematics, Grace Phung, Henry Sneddon, Daniel Yan, Miriam Gooch, and Esther Gooch achieved Distinctions, with Cullen Hamlin earning a High Distinction.

Our students also excelled in the Spelling Bee. Distinctions were awarded to Micah Jones, Raphael Tjioe, Cullen Hamlin, Axel Kauter, and Esther Gooch.

Well done to all participants, and congratulations again to our high achievers!

Mrs Ruth Cooper
Head of Junior School

Our teams represented our school in Riley Rescue and On Stage. For Rescue Riley we had two teams - Year 6 - Seth V, Tom A and from Year 7 - Adriel T, Henry S, Nathan D and Matthew W.

Our On Stage teams were, Year 6 - Mia L, Emmie O, Caitlyn K and from Year 8 - Annabel A, Willow M, and Joel V. Three other valuable members of our teams (Elise E - Yr 6, Matthew L - Yr 6 and Ben C - Yr 8) were unfortunately unable to make it to Brisbane, but they were very much still part of the teams preparations and results.

Riley Rescue

Robots compete by following a winding line on a series of tiles to a designated rescue area, on the way they may encounter obstacles and bridges that will challenge the most intrepid programmer. After negotiating the randomly selected path, the robot arrives at a green coloured area which indicates a chemical spill. While the clock is still ticking the robot must find “the victim” ( silver can) before pushing them out of the chemical spill to safety.

Our Rescue teams completed 9 challenging courses over the two days of competition. Our Year 7 team progressed to the finals and placed 4th overall, with our Year 6 team not far behind in 8th position out of 31 teams. This was a fantastic achievement, for our first year competing in line rescue. The teams worked hard to design and build well engineered line following robots and had great success applying a variety of strategies and well written code to score highly in each round. They were a credit to our school, supporting each other and encouraging other teams. A special congratulations to Seth and Tom who received the Line Rescue Encouragement trophy for their well-mannered and positive interactions with judges and other teams. 

On Stage 

The On Stage competition, challenges teams to design, build, and program robots to perform to music or tell a story. Across the two days, there were 34 teams competing in Novice and Open divisions, each completing three performances and one 20-minute interview to explain their original builds and complexity of code - a huge undertaking. Between our two teams they had 14 robots, many props and costumes. The creativity, collaboration and growth in their coding abilities and engineering of original builds, was evident through their near perfect performances throughout the competition. 

Our Year 8 team - ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’, competed in the Open On Stage competition, progressing to the finals. They came 2nd overall after an international team and first in our national competition- an outstanding result.

Our Year 6 team - 'The Ozians', who are the current NSW first place winners in the Novice division, came up against some very tough competition and although they did not place were commended for their original builds and creative performances.

Leading up to Nationals, all teams worked tirelessly Thursday afternoons, lunchtimes (too many to count) and several days in the holiday break. 

Special thanks to Mrs Veltmeyer who not only supported all our teams and myself, but had the added pressure of watching her two boys compete in On stage and Riley Rescue. Thank you also to Mr Pinn for being an assistant mentor and encouraging our teams to come up with innovative ideas and code - his prayers and encouraging emails during the competition were much needed. Thank you to the families, who were unable to travel to Brisbane, however, cheered us on from Sydney, staying in regular contact, encouraging and supporting us all over the weekend. 

A HUGE thank you to the families of our very first National Robocup Team. Although some families and team members were fighting sickness, others had flights cancelled and had to be picked up from the Gold Coast by another of our families to make it in time, or were feeling under pressure when robots were having technical issues, they rallied behind each other, helping and supporting wherever they saw a need. God sustained and strengthened us all.

Mrs Leonie Hampson (with co-contributors - Willow M and Annabel A)
Junior School Enrichment Coordinator 

“We really enjoyed working together with all the other teams! It was so much fun getting to know each other and helping the younger teams out. We want to thank the parents and families for making this trip possible for all of us. A big thanks to Mrs Veltemeyer for also traveling up with us, and a big thanks to Mr Pinn for helping us make our builds better. The biggest thanks goes to Mrs Hampson and Mr Hampson for driving all the way up to Brisbane with all our robots, making sure we were prepared, and moving all our equipment around. We will never forget this amazing experience.”  Willow and Annabel 

Key highlights included:

• Sharing their game and the process of designing their game to a theatre of more than 130 people. 
• Opportunities to try out new game titles and meet developers who are showcasing upcoming games from major studios, as well as indie developers showcasing their games for the first time. 
• Watching visitors to PAX play, “Star Shooter” the game the boys developed – was a highlight for us all!  

We also visited different theatres where industry experts led talks covering topics such as game design, storytelling, and the future of gaming.  There were opportunities to participate in tournaments, competitive gaming events for popular titles, allowing attendees to test their skills against others.  We watched Cosplay Events: A celebration of fan creativity and parades featuring elaborate costumes based on favourite characters. We played games in Tabletop Gaming, an area dedicated to board games and tabletop RPGs. There were opportunities to play video games from the past – we enjoyed games such as, Pong, Frogga and Tetras!

I am so proud of the way the boys represented our school. We learned so much at the convention. I am also thankful to the families for their enthusiasm and taking part in all PAX had to offer. It was an exciting and memorable time. 

Congratulations also to the 12 other teams from Grades 5 and 6, who worked hard applying their newly learned programming skills in Scratch to design and create a game based on this year’s theme, Stars - all making it through to round 2 of the judging!

Mrs Leonie Hampson
Junior School Enrichment Coordinator

Bebras is an international initiative aiming to promote Computer Science among school students of all ages. 

Bebras Australia began in 2014, and is now administered through the Australian Maths Trust. Students in Years 3-12 are eligible to participate, solving 15 questions that engage their computational thinking and problem-solving skills in a fun, interactive environment.

Congratulations to Eli Buttigieg and Miriam Gooch in Grade 4 who were awarded the Certificate of Excellence for receiving a perfect score in Round 2.

A High Distinction was awarded to these top achieving students across Grades 3 and 4 – Samuel Dewhurst, Jonathan Donnan, Cullen Hamlin, Hannah Lee, Alana Rowlands and Daniel Yan, and a Distinction to Hendrix Nugteren, Eyana Tang, Ellyssa Taouk and Ruby Wheeler.

Congratulations to these students for achieving excellent results across the Year 5 and 6 challenge - Emily Block, Lola Chalk, Esther Gooch, Caleb Lee, Jennifer Lee and Eve Vono. 

I am so proud of all those who participated in this complex computational challenge!

Mrs Leonie Hampson
Junior School Enrichment Coordinator

I personally found the format challenging as it was not normal sets but rather the first player to 10 points.  It’s difficult to get a feel for your opponent in such a short match. I enjoyed the experience, even though I did not progress, as I learned a few areas that I need to improve on in my game as a tennis player.

Ben Robertson
Year 8 Student

In a fantastic display of teamwork and spirit, the girls triumphed over both Parkes CS and Inaburra, showing tremendous improvement with each match. Though they narrowly missed victory against Pacific Hills, their resilience and growth on the field were inspiring to witness. From start to finish, this team demonstrated sportsmanship and enthusiasm, making them a joy to coach and mentor.

A heartfelt thank you to Mr Wilson for his invaluable assistance throughout the day, contributing to this memorable experience for the team. Well done, girls, on paving the way in our school’s cricket journey – here’s to many more achievements ahead!

Mrs Kirren Wilson

This was over five days at the Sydney Olympics Park Athletics Centre (SOPAC) Homebush. This event is for all public, independent and Catholic high school students across NSW. There are more options for events than normal school athletics carnivals. Jacob Milionis competed in the 13 Boys 90m hurdles and came 9th. Alexis James competed in the 14 Girls Javelin and came 6th with a new PB of 31.77. I came 4th in the 12 Boys Hammer Throw, 7th in 12 Boys Discus, 8th in the 12 Boys Javelin and 11th in 12 Boys Shot Put. 

Jacob Fox
Year 7 Student

James Heinrich (Year 8) represented Shire Christian at the MTB Interschools event at Greenvalleys on Friday 25 October.

Despite a heavy fall on his final run, James managed to place 16th in a field of 76 in his age group and 37th in the all-age category in a field of 122. Congratulations James! 

Mr Steve Moore
Head of PDHPE and Sport

The phrase that really struck me in verse 49 in this context was ‘for you have given me HOPE’. I was immediately reminded of the wisdom of the founding fathers of our school when they decided to make Psalm 1 our School Psalm. 

If there is one thing that young people need today more than anything else, as they face such an uncertain future at so many levels, it is a message of HOPE. Here, as in many other places, God reminds us that the true source of HOPE is God’s WORD. As Psalm 1 tells us: “BLESSED is the man who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the LAW of the LORD, and who meditates on HIS LAW day and night.” What a privilege it is for us to keep on pointing the students in our care to God’s WORD as the true SOURCE of hope as they grapple with the issues they face each day, and the value of MEDITATING on it DAY and NIGHT. 

The word for ‘meditating’ (‘hagah’) is the same one used in Psalm 2:1 and translated by ESV and NIV-1984 as ‘plot’. If our culture is putting so much determined effort into PLOTTING, albeit ‘in vain’, ‘against the [Sovereign] LORD and his Anointed One [‘Messiah, ‘Christ’], ie the Gospel built on the fact that JESUS - God the Son who died as the only perfect sacrifice for our sins - is the ONLY Saviour and Lord, then how much more should WE be encouraging our students and children to put the same effort into the study of God’s WORD as the foundation for ALL their other studies. How much more should we be showing them that this is the FIRM FOUNDATION for having a blessed and secure HOPE that will enable them to face every (financial, moral, emotional) challenge that is before them. 

Tim and Kathy Keller in ‘The Songs of Jesus’ (‘Our Rock Our Refuge’) make this comment on this section of Psalm 119: “The Bible creates endurance. Its promises lift the heart and its panoramic insights strengthen the will. It truly is spiritual manna that keeps us on our feet and able to go on.”

What better legacy could we give to the precious ones entrusted to our care as they face their battles? “Your words to me are life and health; pour strength into my soul; enable, guide, and teach my heart to reach its perfect goal! Your words to me are light and truth; from day to day they show their wisdom, passing earthly lore, as in their truth I grow. Your words to me are full of joy, of beauty, peace, and grace; from them I learn your blessed will, through them I see your face.  Your words you have fulfilled on earth, yourself, the living Word; within my heart your image print in clearest lines, O Lord.”  (George Currie Martin).

Rev Bruce Christian

With Edstart, you can fund tuition fees, additional charges such as uniforms, extra-curricular activities as well as amounts in arrears.

To find out more, visit edstart.com.au/shirechristian.

Please note that in providing information about Edstart, the school is not providing any recommendation, brokering or advice services. The school does not receive referral fees, commissions or any other remuneration from Edstart.

The initiative is designed to build community, encourage support for our families who are business owners and provide access to goods and services from within our community.

If you’re going to spend anyway, why not spend with a local Shire Christian School connected business and invest in your community.

View the directory on our website or register your business.