The American presbyterian theologian and founder of L’Abri fellowship, Francis Schaeffer, echoed this sentiment over 50 years later: 

Christ is Lord of all – over every aspect of life. It is no use saying He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the Lord of all things, if He is not the Lord of my whole unified intellectual life. I am false or confused if I sing about Christ’s Lordship and contrive to retain areas of my own life that are autonomous.

Our school has a Christian staff, does lots of Christian things, and has a Christian ethos and foundation. But we also deeply believe in going further and imparting to our students the skills to examine all matters of knowledge and life through the lens of God’s word – his gospel truth. You could call it “teaching Christianly”, as opposed to just teachers who are also Christian. It is not something we are taught in our university training, in fact, it is not something you would generally pick up through a typical Christian life and regular church attendance. It takes deliberate thought of how the Biblical story shapes and frames so-called secular areas of knowledge and practice, but in achieving this goal, we equip our young people with a framework for their faith and a Biblical foundation for knowledge and culture that they can draw upon throughout their adult lives, taking “captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ” [2 Cor 10:5]

Please pray for our school and staff as we continually strive to bring that gospel lens to bear on all aspects of our school and our curriculum.

Natalie has been a driving force most recently behind our Learning for Life Framework, and is highly respected by her peers as an educational leader. She will be greatly missed. I do know, however, that Natalie will be a great blessing to the staff and students at Trinity, and I am thankful for the time I have had working alongside her in leadership.

We have begun recruiting for this executive position, so if you have friends or colleagues that might be interested in the role, please direct them to our website.

Mr David Stonestreet
Principal

While we recognize the value of NAPLAN in measuring key skills, we also acknowledge that it is just one aspect of a child’s education. At Shire Christian School, as evidenced by our learning framework Learning for Life, we believe in a holistic approach that nurtures students academically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually. Standardised testing provides useful data, but we are mindful that it does not capture the full range of talents, strengths, and potential each child possesses. Whether in the classroom, on the sports field, in artistic pursuits, or through leadership opportunities, we celebrate the many ways our students learn and grow. 

We encourage parents to support their children by ensuring they get plenty of rest, eat a healthy breakfast, and approach the tests with a positive mindset. However, we also remind students that these assessments do not define their worth or capabilities. Our priority remains fostering a supportive and inclusive learning environment where every student feels valued and empowered continue to grow. 

Specific information and schedules will be sent out by Mr Carter on Monday.

Mrs Natalie Bluhdorn
Academic Head 

If your child requires a card, please access this website:

https://transportnsw.info/tickets-opal/ticket-eligibility-concessions/school-student-travel

We would appreciate your support and ensure that your child has an Opal Card every day if they are accessing transport.

Thank you,

Paul Carter
Deputy Principal
deputy@shirechristian.nsw.edu.au 

As the term progresses, we will also return to assessment tasks. For many students this provokes a whole range of emotions. They can be an authentic way to celebrate the learning that has occurred in the classroom. For some students there can be a fear that they are a form of judgement on who they are as a person. However, the purpose of tasks is to demonstrate to a teacher what learning has occurred. All tasks should help students to identify how they can improve in the future. I always ask my students to reflect on how they prepared for a task and did that produce a result that enabled them to demonstrate what they had learnt.

One of the tools we have as a school is SEQTA. It enables parents to be aware of when tasks are upcoming for students. I would like to encourage you to monitor the SEQTA application so you are aware of the upcoming tasks your child has. Encourage them to undertake revision and practise before tasks occur. Help them to reflect on how they went before they receive feedback from their teacher. When you do receive results for the task, celebrate the good moments and encourage them in the challenging ones. 

As a school, we strongly believe that the value of a child is not connected to the marks they receive for an assessment task. If you have any concerns regarding your child’s learning, please contact their Pastoral Care teacher.

Mr David Collins
Head of Secondary School

Miss Hackfath, along with our Junior School staff and students, invite you to enjoy a special ‘sneak peek’ at our upcoming Engagement Evening. Our hope is that this event will be a time of fellowship for you, an opportunity to engage in your child’s learning, and a chance to get to know your child’s teacher and the routines and important details relevant to the year ahead. We’re also excited to gather together as a Junior School during the middle session, where we’ll share some wider initiatives designed to positively impact student learning in our Junior School.

A steadfast hope in Christ provides a deep sense of purpose and meaning, forming a strong foundation not only for learning but also for trusting in God’s supreme sovereignty over our lives. When we ground ourselves in His Word and truth, we are inspired to cultivate compassion and kindness within our learning community. These key ideas have been at the heart of our morning assemblies and classroom discussions this week. I encourage you to ask your children about what they’ve learned and how they’ve engaged with these themes from our Renewal Domain.

Mrs Ruth Cooper
Head of Junior School

This webinar will equip parents with a five-step “emotion coaching” process that brings together the emotional intelligence research from Dr John Gottman, the Yale Centre for Emotional Intelligence, and others, to build children’s resilience, increase well-being for the whole family, and develop healthier humans.

Shire Christian School has signed up for this webinar, 'Emotional Regulation', which will occur online on Wednesday 12 March 2025 at 8pm. In the lead up to the event, Shire Christian School will provide a link that will allow you to sign up for this online event.

Despite the challenging heat, the team showcased skill, determination, and attacking prowess, delivering an impressive performance filled with goals. Their strong start sets a promising tone for the competition as they now advance confidently to Round Two.

Mrs Leanne Dipple

The team had been training very hard over the first couple of weeks of term to improve their batting and bowling skills as well as understanding how to field and communicate well as a team.

We were drawn in a group against Nowra and Illawarra Christian Schools, both of whom presented a significant challenge. However, thanks to some fantastic fielding efforts from Alana Rowlands, an almighty run chase led by Ayden Godfrey, Lincoln Nugteren and Jonathan Dewhurst, and terrific wicket-taking bowling from Harley Sneddon, Shire found themselves winners of both matches.

A match-winning run by Oscar Sked scored us a memorable victory over Nowra and ICS couldn't quite chase down the total we had set for them, thanks in part to the contributions of Elisha Smith's and Sonny Campbell's fielding efforts.

This meant for the first time under coach Mr Charleston, Shire would be in the gold medal match! We were against two-time champions Calderwood and while we couldn't quite chase down their total and prevent the three-peat, we came the closest to them of any other team on the day, eventually going down by just 7 runs.

We took home the silver medal in the end, a remarkable achievement considering the number of players who were giving cricket a go for the first time! This is something that everyone who was part of this team should be proud of and should stand out as a highlight of their time in Junior School.

Mr Phillip Charleston 

If you are interested in joining this group, please fill out this form. It’s an excellent way to start the day, so it would be great to see you there.

All four touch teams showed excellent school spirit and good sportsmanship. They persevered throughout the day and we came out with some excellent results.

The Open Boys team were undefeated all day and were one of two of our teams to make it to the finals. They came away victorious in the grand final with a 3-0 win over Oran Park!

The Open girls played well with an injured player, playing with heart and plenty of commitment.

The U/15 boys played well against tough competition. They drew 2-2 in game one (to the overall winners William Carey), and had a few other good results, including the largest of the division 97-1). Rocky S stood out with his leadership, passion and skill.

The U/15 girls were the only other team to make it into the finals. After excellent pool results, showing strong skill and combinations, the under 15 girls came away with the grand final win in an extra time drop off showdown! Down to 4 players, full field, Grace S scored a length of the field try to secure the title. Boom.

Congratulations to all of our touch teams who did an excellent job of representing the school. Special thanks to Mrs Wilcockson, Mr Williams, Coach Mellor and Coach Grant who went to great lengths to ensure our touch teams achieved the best results they could.

Eleven players have been chosen to represent CSSA South Met Zone in the State comp at the end of Term. More information to come out soon.

Nia Rees
Year 11

I was extremely impressed after heading out to watch my first game for Shire. Our Open Boys Football team are a committed squad. There were plenty of fans (equally committed parents) who made the trip to watch the strategic and passionate coach, Mr Gallagher, in action with the team.

We came up against a sharp Moriah College team on the synthetic at Moore Park. It was a tough encounter, fast paced, end to end football. Unfortunately, we didn’t get the result we were after with Moriah being a step ahead in a few key areas that mattered most. Shout out to Luke R who showcased his many talents, leading the team. We will get another opportunity later in the year in the CSSA Zone comp.

Thanks for representing our community so well. As they say in the classics “full credit to the boys”.

Mr Dixon
Secondary Sports Coordinator 

Rachel Baker, who portrayed Miss Hannigan in our 2009 production of Annie, has been captivating audiences with her performance as Pearl in Summer of the Seventeenth Doll at Arts Theatre Cronulla. Her critically acclaimed portrayal highlights her remarkable ability to bring depth and nuance to her characters.

Olivia Vasquez, who played Nancy in our 2012 production of Oliver!, has taken her talents to the screen, starring in the upcoming new Stan series Watching You. This exciting new project showcases Olivia’s versatility as a performer and marks another milestone in her flourishing career.

Lachlan Dearing, known for his role as Dodger in our 2012 production of Oliver!, has been touring as Samuel Seabury in the highly acclaimed musical Hamilton. Adding to his impressive list of achievements, he has recently been cast in Guys and Dolls on Sydney Harbour, a thrilling opportunity that further cements his place in the world of professional musical theatre.

Emilie Lawson (née Davila) and Jayden Marre, who shared the stage in our 2014 production of The Wizard of Oz as Dorothy and the Guard, and later in the 2015 cast of Into the Woods as the Witch and Jack, are currently performing together once again. Both are featured in the musical Georgy Girl at Pavilion Theatre Sutherland, bringing their undeniable chemistry and talent to the stage.

We are beyond proud of our alumni and their accomplishments in the performing arts. Watching them excel in their respective fields is an inspiration to our current students, reaffirming that hard work, passion, and dedication can lead to remarkable opportunities. We eagerly anticipate their future successes and will continue to cheer them on as they shine on stage and screen.

Mrs Kathryn Breen
Production Program Producer

So here is what I said:

As Paul concludes his long and forceful letter to the Church at Corinth, he urges them, in the strongest possible terms, to stand rock-solid on the Gospel of their dying and risen Saviour. He is well aware of the pressures they are under, and that they will continue to face, both from a hostile, mocking world that prides itself in MAN’s wisdom, and from within their own ranks as still-being-sanctified believers compete for recognition and prominence among them.

This seems very similar to the culture we are called to work in today! Paul’s ‘therefore’ follows the best and clearest treatise we have on the essence, meaning and importance of the resurrection in the message of the Lord Jesus. Yes, we WILL suffer hardship, rejection, misunderstanding, persecution, even bewilderment, for the sake of Christ; but what makes it all worthwhile is the sure and certain HOPE of the resurrection.

If it wasn’t for that hope, we would be among the most pitiable of people: “If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied.”, he’d noted earlier (19). But because of that hope it is worth STANDING FIRM in the face of whatever ridicule or opposition might come our way.

Moreover, because of that hope, Paul encourages us to throw ourselves WHOLEHEARTEDLY into doing the Lord’s work! Often we get very little response or feedback from our efforts and it’s tempting to question whether there’s much to be gained from pressing on. We don’t mind putting in the hard yards when there are visible results, but it’s not so easy without them.

This has been brought home to me more recently as I’ve had to do the vacuuming and dusting in the house! When I mow the lawn (my usual domestic task) I can see things happening and when I look back where I’ve been, and see the difference, it is very satisfying and encouraging - but somehow that does NOT happen when I’m dusting!)

When people whose mindset is focussed only on the things of this world look back on their lives, very few might be able to say that they’ve made any real impact on the overall scheme of things. But for those whose mind is fixed on Jesus, the One who now, because of the resurrection, rules over ALL things at the Father’s right hand, EVERYthing done for him is a WINNER because it impacts, not only the fading things of this world, but the things of ETERNITY.

Let us ALL take heart that the hard yards we are putting in to maintain consistent BIBLE-based, CHRIST-centred education for our children are ALL worth the effort, because our labour, hard as it might seem to be at times, is NOT IN VAIN. And let us continue to support one another, and especially our children and their devoted teachers, in PRAYER, on the strength of this Spirit-inspired promise.

Rev Bruce Christian

If your child is in the musical, they will be at the after school rehearsal. Musical students will be walked back to the Secondary Library for pick-up. In order for us to have a productive afternoon we are unable to cater for siblings/additional children at the prop making afternoon.

Afternoon tea will be provided. No special skills are required.

Come along and enjoy the community atmosphere as we work together to produce props for the show.

Please RSVP by responding to this form if you are available.

Location: 6/133 The River Road, Revesby, NSW 2212

Opening Hours
Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm 
Saturday 9am - 1pm

For online purchasing and appointments visit shop.ranier.com.au (click and collect and delivery options available).

Click and Collect

School Click and Collect orders placed prior to 5pm on Fridays can be collected from school reception from Tuesday morning the following week (during the school term).

If you are unsure of sizing, please book a fitting appointing or visit the shop. For any exchanges, uniforms must be in original condition with original packaging.

CONTACT

Phone: 02 9773 8291
Online: ranier.com.au/contact
Email: custservice@ranier.com.au

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.