Green Point Christian College eNewsletter

Head of Secondary

Mr Peter McLellan | Head of Secondary

In an age where technology plays such a large part in our lives and the lives of our children, there are questions we as parents need to ask to make sure that possible harmful effects are mitigated against.

We need to make sure that we are aware of the content our children are accessing is appropriate. Pornography is extremely harmful and addictive. We need to make sure that we have good filtering systems on the internet in our homes.

The amount of time our young people are on technology also needs to be regulated and should never be used as a way of keeping our children quiet. Too much time on technology is also harmful.

Finally, there are a lot of predators out there on the internet and we need to make sure that our students are safe on social media. As parents, you need to set strict guidelines that you are able to check what your child is doing on social media.

Just because technology is difficult does not mean that we can give up in that area. We are the parents and as a community we need to work together to enable our students to use technology in an appropriate way. It is a challenge, but as in all growth and maturing good habits are achievable with hard work and discipline.

Year 12 HSC Examinations

A reminder to please keep our Year 12 students in your prayers as they start their HSC exams this week. Pray for strength and motivation to continue through to the end of this period of time in the best way possible.

Prayer Calendar for HSC 2020

Prayer Calendar HSC 2020

Year 7 MAF Incursion

Year 7 enjoyed an incursion presented by Kylie and Michelle from Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF) last week.

The students participated in a virtual reality experience and visited a village and took a flight in Papua New Guinea. They engaged in a number of fun class exercises to learn about some of the challenges in developing countries and what some very committed people are doing to assist.

Year 7Y Excursion to Kincumba Mountain

Student Opal Cards

From January 2021 onwards, there will be a number of School Opal cards expiring, as the physical card has reached its lifespan.

These are cards for students who will be in Years 8 to 12 in 2021, and only those Opal cards which have not been replaced in the last five years.

Impacted students and/or their parent/guardian will be contacted directly by Transport for NSW via email or post. They will be asked to confirm their details online in order for a new School Opal card to be sent to the correct postal address in time for the new school year.

If contacted by Transport for NSW, details should be submitted online by 1 December 2020 at the latest. Affected students who do not confirm their details in time will have a new School Opal card posted to the address Transport NSW has on file.

Secondary Library Borrowing

Our Secondary students have been borrowing well overall, with an 88% increase in Library borrowing from last year. The top borrowing students in each grade were given book prizes last week. Congratulations to these students.

Year 7

Year 8

Year 9

Year 10

1^stJosh R (48)

2^nd Grace R (31)

3^rdOlivia F (25)

1^st William R (44)

2^nd Luke R (32)

3^rd Abigail V (22)

Lily M (22)

1^st Oliver C (68)

2^nd Ruby J (47)

3^rd Ellia T (40)

4^th Lauren G (32)

1^st Bianca F (26)

2^nd Byron V (20)

3^rd Amelia K (15)

HSC Students to Have COVID-19 Test Results Faster

Students taking the 2020 HSC exams will now have their COVID-19 test results fast tracked through pathology. They simply need to advise the nurse or doctor doing the test that they are HSC students. Find your nearest testing clinics:

www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/how-to-protect-yourself-and-others/clinics

Mobile Phones

Our policy for the use of phones at school is very straightforward. They are not to be out in class unless the teacher directs their use as a tool in class. They can be placed in the mobile phone tubs as a student enters a classroom. If they are seen, they will be confiscated and given to the Head of School.

All interactions on phones at recess and lunchtime should be positive and we encourage students to minimise their use at school.

Please do not contact your students at school. This makes it very difficult for them to concentrate and adds extra burden on our teachers.

Textbooks for new Year 12 Cohort

Green Point Christian College is pleased to announce our engagement with Box of Books for the provision of digital and physical education resources for the 2021 school year. Box of Books is a proudly Australian owned company that works hard to keep leading schools at the forefront of digital learning.

Please see the video below on how Box of Books works and how we will work together to support your student’s ongoing educational needs.

Box of Books - Service Overview

Parents will also have the option to supplement existing textbooks with a discounted digital license Some families may already have the school prescribed texts in hard copy either through siblings who have completed the subject in an earlier year or through the purchase of the text separately to Box of Books. Where this is the case you can optionally provision the digital version of the text on Box of Books and this can be purchased for a discounted cost.

Box of Books looks forward to supporting your students' learning through their world leading digital platform and 100% COVID safe delivery service for texts and physical resources for school families.

Steps to order:

Visit https://shop.boxofbooks.com.au to create your parent/guardian account
Add each student, nominating their school and Year group
Select the items you wish to purchase from the booklist shown
Use the checkout to organise postage direct to your nominated address and payment

For further assistance, please see this short informative video guide on How to Purchase Books or contact the Box of Books team through the in-app support function (located at the bottom right corner of the shop).