GPCC Primary Swimming Carnival

Last Friday was very exciting as our Primary Swimming Carnival was held at Mingara. It was a very dreary day outside, with the wind and rain battering the complex all day. However, the atmosphere was electric in the swimming pool, with some extremely fast times posted and great participation and enthusiasm by all.

Many students went in numerous events over the course of the day which was wonderful to see. Our House Captains also were great influencers on their team, leading by example by demonstrating great encouragement to their team members, as well as competing themselves.

As always, it was another close competition between the Houses, with the leader changing positions during the course of the day. Last year, the competition was so close that before participation and Novelty event points were added, the scores were level between 1^st and 2^nd place. This year, the overall winner was able to pull away in the end but the fight for 2^nd to 4^th was still very close.

Our 2020 Primary Swimming Age Champions is always a highly contested competition, with numerous athletes in the running for Age Champion. There were some age groups where the Age Champion won by a large margin, while in others, the Age Champion was determined by only one race or it came down to a couple of points.

Congratulations to students for their efforts in all races and how they encouraged one another throughout the day. Also, a big thank you to our parents, volunteers and House Captains for assisting during the day with 25m races.

The announcement of the 2020 Primary Swimming Age Champions and the overall winning House will be presented in Chapel on Wednesday 4 March (Week 6).

2020 NSWCIS Awards Night

We have had a number of fantastic athletes who excelled in their chosen sport in 2019. These students performed exceptionally well as an individual and because of their skill and dedication, progressed through the different levels of representation.

Shannon S excelled in Tennis; Sophie S in Cricket and Crosby P in Judo; all playing at a National level. It was wonderful to see them achieve so much last year and their success truly reflects the effort they put into training.

One other person who had a sensational year in their sport was Raj S. Not only was Raj chosen in the CIS Team, but he was then selected in the NSW State side to play at the National Cricket Championships in Term 4 last year. Their team had a wonderful tournament, just missing out on taking the Championship.

With this amazing achievement by Raj, it is my great honour to announce that Raj will be receiving a special award at the CIS Awards Night. Congratulations Raj and we wish you all the best for 2020.

Finally, congratulations to all of these students for such a fantastic year in 2019 and we cannot wait to see what is in store for them this year.

Secondary Swimming Carnival

The greatly anticipated Secondary Swimming Carnival is fast approaching, to be held on Friday 28 February at Mingara. We look forward to another close competition between the Houses, as well as the highly contested Age Champions for 2020. Detailed information about the carnival will be emailed to parents soon.

Infants Swimming Carnival

The Infants Swimming Carnival for K-2 students is also getting closer. This will be held on Friday 13 March at the Peninsula Leisure Centre at Woy Woy. There are a range of fun activities for our Infants students to participate in, and they always have a fantastic day. Also, having the assistance of our parents (with a cleared WWCC) and House Captains on the day are wonderful and greatly appreciated. Further information will be sent out to parents shortly.

Nathan Lambert, Sports Co-ordinator (K-12)

Sport Houses Introduced with Traditional Tongan Dance

Green Point Christian College has had a close connection with the Kingdom of Tonga since 1997 when we established a sister school relationship with Hofangahau College located on the island of Eua.

In the 2000’s our school sporting houses were named after the main island groups of Tonga signifying our connection. These are the Ha’apai Hurricanes, the Eua Eagles, the Taloa Warriors and the Vava’u Breakers. The proud island culture provides an excellent basis for our sporting Houses to emulate with the strong focus on community and working together.

During our House Assembly on Monday 10 February, we were so blessed to have Tally Pakofe, Year 11 student, perform a traditional Tongan dance for the Secondary School. These traditional dances are very important in Tongan culture as community members represent their family and their village. Tally wore her "tapa" which is made of natural cloth fabric and is inherited from within her family.

We are so proud of Tally as this was the first time she had shared this part of her life with her friends and teachers at Green Point Christian College. Tally has often separated her Tongan life from her College life, so it was lovely to see how supportive students and teachers were as it opened up opportunities for Tally to share more of herself with others. As a Christian community we want to encourage opportunities to build one another up, so it is wonderful to see this happening amongst our students.