The graduation ceremony was a mixture of warmth, humour, encouragement and wise advice. Many of those who spoke, including our parent guest speaker Dr Di Warren, reminded our students of the value of a distinctively Christian education. I do trust and pray that all of our graduating students will reflect on God's goodness to us in Christ, remembering the centrality of Jesus death and resurrection.

In my short talk at the graduation I interviewed 2 kindergarten students. Sofia Burke-Moore and Tim Morrison were very brave sharing about themselves in front of 750 people. Seeing the character development of our students from the ages of 4 to 18 is incredibly rewarding for our teachers.

Looking back on wonderful memories should equip and enable us to look forward to the future. As we look to 2020, we will have some new teachers starting with us. Mrs Ruth Cooper, who has been teaching Year 3 since Mrs Gawthorne left last term, will be with us a full time, permanent teacher next year. There will be two new teachers starting in the Junior School in 2020. Mrs Ellie Beresford will come to us from Bexley Public School and Miss Amy Van Santen will leave Heathcote Public to join us next year. Many excellent teachers applied for these positions and I am confident that the 3 successful applicants will make a great contribution to our school.

Because Mrs Irvine and Mrs Stonestreet have both decided to reduce their days of work next year, Mrs Nicole Ford will join the team of Music teachers for 2 days a week next year. Mrs Ford has many years of experience and is passionate about Music education. 

Mrs Olivia Burke will be on maternity leave in 2020 and Mr Cameron Mitchell will be replacing her. Mr Mitchell has been doing some casual relief teaching in our Secondary School this year and I am sure that he will make a great contribution to the teaching of History and HSIE subjects.

From the beginning of next year we will have another Maths teacher in the Secondary School. Miss Delia Wu was one of several impressive applicants for this role. Miss Wu has an excellent understanding of Maths and is passionate about explaining Maths in a way that students can understand. Miss Wu is currently working at the Presbyterian Ladies College (PLC).

Mrs Julianne Holdsworth has decided to step down as the Year 11 Year Coordinator. I thank Mrs Holdsworth for her love and commitment to her students. She will continue as a Science teacher. Mr Mark Peters will be the Year Coordinator for Year 11 (who will be the new Year 12 from the beginning of next term).

We are looking forward to Mrs Liza Bozik joining our finance team at the beginning of next term. She is replacing Mr Fred de Feyter, who left a couple of months ago.

I trust that our families will enjoy the change of routine during the holidays and will find some unpressured time to enjoy each other’s company.

Mr Brett Hartley
Principal 

With all this going on, did the children learn anything? Of course they did! Their learning was enriched this term because of their participation in these events. Not only did they improve in their learning in the classroom, but they learnt a whole lot more by being involved and contributing to the community.

Of course, none of this happens automatically with a click of a finger. We thank our dedicated staff team who have worked tirelessly this term to support, teach and encourage the children in their participation and achievements. We also thank our parents who helped support children and teachers in so many amazing ways. And of course, the kids, how good are the kids! Congratulations to all our students for your willing participation and enthusiasm. We trust that all families will have an enjoyable holiday, see you next term!

Mr Paul Carter
Head of Junior School

Year 8 learnt about Medieval European and Feudal Japanese dress, weapons, culture, entertainment and family life. Part of their experience was to hold medieval weapons like swords and spears, and wear helmets. Some students had the opportunity to dress up in Medieval outfits. 

Students had an active time in the second half of the day doing various hands on activities. After recess Year 8 students were taught about the dances that the nobility classes in Medieval Europe did. There was some impressive dancing from the students. Students also got to experience the medieval athletic pursuits of archery and sword fighting (with lots of rubber in the equipment).

All in all, Year 8 enjoyed the day experiencing Medieval European and Feudal Japanese culture and have come away with a much deeper appreciation of that time in history.

Mr Matthew Miller
Head of HSIE

My favourite part was getting to do this with my friends and classmates because they were always encouraging me to go on when I felt I couldn't. Overall, the Duke of Ed Practice Bronze Hike was a fun and challenging experience. A huge thanks to the teachers who took the time to come with us! 

Joel Zabaras
Year 9 Student 

Since we had been studying Brecht's political theatre this was an excellent opportunity for them to see one of his plays in performance. The play was done in 'the round', meaning the audience sat around the circular stage space. This reflected the discussion on stage about the planets and the work Galileo did as a key scientist. Our class had some good discussion around science, the theatrical techniques used and the Roman Inquisition that tried Galileo for heresy. It was a unique and valuable experience for our students to see this piece of live theatre.

Mrs Kathryn Breen
Head of Drama

They then performed this for an audience of their families and friends. 

It was a beautiful and poignant story about triplets who move through their lives, each reacting in their own way to the tragedies that occur in their lives as they grow and learn who they are. Tahlia Hampson and Chelsea Christofides lead the team as the Directors creating the vision 'Each season serves a purpose'. They wanted to focus on the idea that, although the girls go through difficult times, it is these times that shape them and remind them of who they really are. 

Playing the three sisters were Sophia McDonnell as Albienne, Grace Han as Beatrix and Charli Russell as Carmen. Each performed exceptionally well, carrying the majority of the lines and driving a lot of the energy and action on stage. Riley Martin and Jeremy Herbert played the two male roles with subtlety and candour, bringing both a maturity and humour to a number of parts of the play. 

Making up the rest of the team were Amy Sandilant who designed the poster and program, Caitlin Britton and Natalie Quarantino who organised and sourced the costumes and Annaliese Hatton whose set design, with its shifting seasons including snowflakes and leaves suspended above the stage, was inspired.

Tori Bonhomme and Lillian Johnson worked well in presenting the story as the Narrators, straddling this character as well as some other smaller ones too. Special mention goes to Natalie, Tahlia and Annaliese for filling in some extra roles on stage in addition to their production team role. At the end of the performance the cast and crew took part in a Q and A with the audience who were able to ask them questions about their concepts and experience. This was a valuable time for all.

There were many struggles for our students in putting this play together; but this is what helped them to learn perseverance, stamina and creativity in solving problems. Sadly it can be rare in our education system for us to see students focusing on skills such as creativity, collaboration and curiosity, yet these 7C skills were cultivated this term for year 10. In addition to this all were encouraged by the end and felt they had bonded as a class. 

Abbey has represented Shire Christian School in a number of sports throughout her schooling years, including playing for the Shire Christian Opens Netball Team and the Opens CSSA Netball Team and has been a great asset in whichever sporting team she has played.

Outside of school, Abbey has been playing in the Netball Premier League, firstly in 2017 as an Under 20’s training partner for UTS Sparks, then in 2018 in the Under 20’s team and this year in the Under 23’s UTS Sparks Premier League Team.

Abbey plays goal attack and wing attack and says that she loves the challenge of the game and enjoys working with her teammates.

Abbey has been playing netball since she was 7 years old, originally for her local club, Barden Ridgebacks, then playing her junior representative years for St George.

She hopes to soon represent the Under 19’s NSW State Netball Team and one day play for one of the Australian Netball League teams.

The school is very proud of Abbey and her contribution to school sport and wishes her all the best in her future representative endeavours.

Sophie finished up 10th overall at the 800m and Isabel finished 5th in long jump including a massive PB, with Noah also jumping well in his long jump event. 

Mr Peter Richardson
Head of Sport

Our U17 girls team were amazing! They played four games against Cabramatta High School, Bonnyrigg High and Green Valley Islamic School, and managed to win every game and place first in their division! Well done girls. 

The boys team displayed outstanding sportsmanship and skill over the course of the day and came away with a fifth placing overall. Great job boys.

Mr Asher and myself are very proud of the way our students conducted themselves and participated on the day. 

Mrs Leah Ham

Mr Richardson said he felt “elated and filled with joy and a sense of accomplishment” as he crossed the finish line.

“It was so hard going without sleep through the whole night. Between 3am and 5am I was struggling to stay awake and just stumbling… I was just closing my eyes for a few seconds at a time as I was running along and I would sort of veer off a little bit before finding my way again,” he said.

After spending 6 months training in preparation for the event, with a few shorter races in the lead up, Mr Richardson was excited to see what his body could do.

“I enjoy running and exploring in the bush and pushing my body to its limits. I love challenging myself to see what I’m capable of and modelling that to others,” he said.

Jason Hosking, Shire Christian School parent, also ran in the event, placing third in the 160km run.

Mr Richardson has established a running program at the School in recent years, encouraging students of all running abilities to join him on a run before school. The initiative has seen many students and parents participate in the weekly activity.

“I want to encourage everyone to embrace activity whether they are gifted at it or not”, he said.

“At Shire Christian we have opportunities for every student. That might be just taking part in our Friday afternoon sport program or it might mean taking part in one of the many representative sports we have on offer”.

While recognising that not everyone loves sport, Mr Richardson said the key to helping people get involved in physical activity is to give them lots of different options and challenging them to find something that they enjoy doing.

“The impact that exercise has on a student’s academic ability and the ability to engage and concentrate is class can sometimes be underappreciated, but the physical benefits are undeniable”, he said.

Let me tell you that my DNA doesn’t handle this very comfortably, especially when there seems to be another part of my DNA that inclines me in the direction of anxiety and stress!

Because of this, I love the Psalms. I love them because they keep reminding me that God IS SOVEREIGN, that it is HIS job to ‘solve’ the problems in the best way (HIS way), and that MY job is only to be faithful in serving him - regardless of how confusing and perplexing HIS perfect plans and outcomes might seem to be! I love the Psalms because they constantly remind me that God understands the mess that our world is in because of sin, that he understands that I am an integral part of (and contributor to) this mess, and that he persists in loving me, protecting me, and caring for me in the midst of it all. The Psalms even point me to the One whom he would eventually send (and has now sent) into the mess to SOLVE the fundamental problem through his sacrificial death and resurrection - to pay a debt he didn’t owe because I owe a debt I could never pay!

Why am I telling you all this? Because I need to be reminded often that it is not MY job to SOLVE people’s problems; MY job is just to be faithful in pointing people to the ONLY One who CAN enable us to cope with whatever providence he sends our way. Because our world has turned its back on the Sovereign Creator God and his revealed truth in the Bible, it is careering on a course of self-destruction at an accelerating rate. This is very worrying, but I remind my DNA genome that it’s not MY job to find a ‘solution’. The ultimate Solution will come when Jesus returns to “make all things new” (Revelation 21:5). MY job is to be faithful, so that when he comes I will be ready. “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns.” (Matthew 24:36).

This doesn’t mean that I can relax and do nothing; but it does mean that I don’t need to be stressed and anxious when I watch the evening news and reflect on where our culture is inexorably heading - or even how, sadly, the Church is being influenced adversely by this culture instead of functioning as ‘salt and light’.

“The Lord is King! Who then shall dare resist his will, distrust his care; or murmur at his wise decrees, or doubt his royal promises? He reigns! ye saints, exalt your strains; your God is King, your Father reigns; and he is at the Father's side, the Man of love, the Crucified. One Lord one empire all secures; he reigns, and life and death are yours; through earth and heaven one song shall ring: 'The Lord omnipotent is King!'” (Josiah Conder).

Bruce Christian

Congratulations are in order for the students who have been involved in the Piano Recital Evening and the Strings Recital Evening this term. We have had some wonderful feedback from audience members at these events. 

A few parents commented on how proud they were of the students that 'gave it a go', even though beforehand they were feeling a little apprehensive. More often than not, we find that students tend to surprise themselves by how much they enjoyed the rush of performing in front of friendly faces. Some parents commented that they noticed a general "step-up in ability" of the performances.

For One Night Only is happening on 31st October, starting at 7 pm in the newly renovated Hall. An email will be sent to our community members in Week 1 with details on how to secure your ticket.

Mr David Humphreys
Head of Music

Until now the school has been using an alternative product to provide effective internet filtering for school owned devices. In the future, the school will use Family Zone to set filters and controls on school owned devices during the school day. The great benefit of Family Zone is that our parents can set their own filters and controls on any school owned device, or any other device the family owns, outside of school hours.  

The school will be rolling out Family Zone in the coming months.

• Years 7 and 10 parents - An evening on Tuesday 15 October from 7pm to 8pm in the school hall. We will be helping parents to understand how Family Zone works with a Chromebook and also how Year 7 and 10 parents can use Family Zone on other devices they own. 
• Years 8, 9, 11 and 12 parents - there will be a parent evening in the future to introduce Family Zone; however, the school would like to see how we go introducing the product to Years 7 and 10 first. Because we aren’t sure how quickly our families will adopt and engage with Family Zone, we will set a date in early to mid Term 4.
• Junior School parents - We will hold an information evening to help you use Family Zone on your personal devices in the not too distant future. As outlined above, we want to hold off setting a date until we are confident that our roll out of the product is progressing well.

Edstart helps make it easy for you to manage school fees by providing flexible payment plans.  You can reduce your annual school fee spend by extending payments over a longer period.

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.

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.

Items can also be purchased online. Visit the website for the link to the online portal. 

Please refer to the Old Branded Uniform Phase Out document on the website as you consider purchasing uniforms. Please note that from 2020 there are a number of items with the old logo on them that we ask no longer be used.

07:35 - Secondary students (and Junior School siblings) are asked to board first with enough space left for students further on the route to be picked up. Approx. arrival time 08:00 to school.

07:47 - Secondary students (and Junior School siblings) are asked to board first with enough space left for students further on the route to be picked up. Approx. arrival time 08:10 to school. 

08:00 - Any remaining students will be asked to board. Approx. arrival time 08:35 to school.

We welcome your feedback, please send us an email with any suggestions or comments. This service will be reviewed mid-way through Term 4 and any further changes that may need to be made will be communicated.