Over the previous months and going back into last year, we have been working on a school improvement plan. Unlike the traditional strategic plan, an improvement plan assumes that improvement and development are on-going activities rather than achievable events.

Our plan is formed around four key priorities:

1. Shaping everything we do around our core purpose statements

2. Teacher and staff development

3. Community partnerships

4. Learning from the past, eg the recent pandemic

 The plan contains some key elements, but is designed to get us always thinking about improvement and progress rather than achievement. That is not to say there are not events or activities that have a finite end which, once instituted, help with on-going improvement. Rather, it speaks to a culture of continuous improvement whereby we are always looking for opportunities to reflect on what we are doing and to find ways to improve, change, and progress.

The key elements of our plan are:

1. An explicit improvement agenda focused on our core purpose
2. A school culture that promotes learning and personal development
3. An expert teaching team that uses effective pedagogical strategies and differentiates for student need
4. Systematic curriculum review, design and delivery
5. The targeted use of school resources
6. Strong school-community partnerships, especially with parents
7. The analysis and use of data for improvement

Under each of these elements are some focus areas for this year, some of which will roll forward and others of which will change. We will report regularly on what is being done in each element and introduce new focus areas as they come to light or if the need arises.

We are currently working on some key performance indicators for each focus area that will help us know when we have made a change and if it is effective.

Our experiences through the pandemic and home learning trial are the type of events that we need to use to look at improvement. I have set up an Academic Committee to oversee a project we are calling: Capture the Momentum. This will ensure we learn lessons from the recent past and use them to spur us on to better teaching and learning in the future.

As a school we want to be instruments of transformative change in the lives of our students, equipping them with a mindset and the skills to boldly take on the challenges of twenty-first century life. In this we want to partner with you so that together we set our children off on a path to purpose and fulfillment.

Phillip Nash

Principal

Mr Peter McLellan | Head of Secondary

This term we have been looking at the Attributes of God.

I wanted to delve into why understanding who God is, is important in our lives and how we live our lives.

He is described as the ROCK and that is our base for life which gives us direction and purpose to what we do and why we do it.

This week’s attributes are that God is Good and He is Just.

Foundational understanding of God actually creates clarity to life decisions and purposes.

Uniform

Please ensure your child does not wear printed, coloured or long sleeve t-shirts underneath their shirts, as these are not part of the uniform.

A few students are starting to wear incorrect shoes; please ensure that enclosed leather black shoes are worn.

A reminder that if it is cold and a student wishes to wear a scarf, it must be in school colours.

Student Drop Off at Tank Works or 7-Eleven

The Tank Works across the road is private property and have requested that students are not dropped off on that site.

7-Eleven has also asked that students are not dropped off or picked from their premises.

Please do not drop off or pick up students of any age at these locations, as it not safe to do so.

Year 12 Students

The new dates for our HSC Trial Examinations are 17 - 31 August 2020. Our timetable will be released a little later.

Please note the HSC Examinations have also been pushed back by a few days. They will now start on 20 October and finish on 11 November 2020.

Year 11 Prefect Applications

Students who would like to be considered for the role of Prefect 2020/2021, need to apply. The application form is available from Mr Lewis or the College office.

Vaccinations

Year 10 Meningococcal vaccinations will now be on 5 August, (rescheduled from 13 May), and on that day the nurses will be doing Year 7 catch-ups for those who missed their earlier vaccinations in February.

Year 7 follow-up HPV vaccinations will be on Wednesday 2 September.

Year 10 Macramé

Recently Year 10 Textiles students have delved into the age-old art of Macramé.

Apart from the odd friendship bracelet in Primary School, all students were starting from scratch.  We coerced Mrs Rule (Mrs Cohen’s mum) out of retirement, who actually lived as an adult through the 70’s to assist us for our first lesson.  

Students learnt the basic techniques and skills needed to tackle the more complex and creative tasks they performed for their Assessments Tasks.  Students then combined patterns and pictures to design and plan their own pieces.

As you can see, their work is not only spectacular, but of an outstanding quality. The Folios (theory work) that complement practical work are also to be commended and show that the Textiles students are well on the way to achieving high standards in HSC Textiles.

I am so proud of what they have accomplished and the patience and perseverance they exhibited during this task. All the Year 10 Textiles students are to be congratulated.

For those interested in apprenticeships and traineeships, there is information in this week’s Careers Newsletter. 

The Careers Newsletter is emailed to Years 10 – 12 students and their parents. 

It is also available on the College website under the “Education & Learning” menu in the “Student Careers” section.

For more details, please see this week's Careers Newsletter or visit the "Student Careers" section on the GPCC College website.

Mr David David Russell
Curriculum Co-ordinator (7-12) | Student Advisor (7-12)

Nathan Lambert  |  K-12 Sport Co-ordinator

PERSEVERANCE 

There are times in our sporting experiences when things can get very tough.  Times when is just is too hard to finish.  Times when we think we cannot do it anymore and just want to give up.

Last year in May, Mr Turner and I both competed in the UTA50. This is a 50km trail race held in the Blue Mountains. It is a fantastic race, with amazing scenery and an adventure to remember. 

Completing a race of this distance does require a certain amount of fitness (which I hope I had coming into the event and I knew Mr Turner had) as well as good race strategy and an ability to keep yourself going, even when it’s extremely tiring and challenging. This is where perseverance came in and let me tell you, I was tested quite often that day.

Starting at 8:00am at Scenic World and running in a group of 300 people was a fantastic feeling. As the kilometres kept coming though, I had to keep telling myself more and more to not stop, don’t quit and to focus on that ultimate goal ... finishing!

Climbing up those 1,000 steps at the end and getting over that finish line, I did want to get a good time, but my main goal was just to finish upright (instead of crawling over the line).

There were many times I would pass people who were not well, injured, struggling to finish their distance, and their goal. After checking to see how they were, you would push on and keep saying to yourself, “I can do this. I will get there!” 

In the end and after 9 hours of challenges, I did get to the final stretch (in a much faster time that I hoped) and was able to cross that finish line, with my daughters on either side of me, fighting back the tears.

Mr Turner smashed it, finishing in a much faster time. It wasn’t just an achievement for both of us to complete that distance, but also an accomplishment to push ourselves to the limits and to keep going, even though being exhausted, very sore in the legs, and mentally drained.

Over the years I have seen on numerous occasions times when our school teams are tired, worn out, and want to throw the towel in and rest as they have pushed themselves. But do you know what? They never do. They always keep fighting to the very end, finishing the game exhausted and physically tired, but always finishing on a high. 

Look at some of our own distance runners. These athletes can run a long distance at a phenomenal pace. It is impressive that it not only involves a physical fitness up to the task, but also a mentality to keep going forward, to strive to the end and to not stop.

For example, at the CIS Cross Country Championships last year, look at the split times of our amazing runners who qualified for this carnival: 

Event	Name	Place	Time	Mins per Km
9yrs Girls	Zoe C	40th	9:42	4:51
9yrs Boys	Chase C	12th	8:10	4:05
10yrs Girls	Emily F	13th	8:36	4:18
11yrs Boys	Charlie M	59th	14:09	4:43
12yrs Girls	Olivia F	15th	13:55	4:38
13yrs Boys	Wade B	12th	12:07	4:02
14yrs Girls	Codhi W	52nd	19:45	4:56
15yrs Girls	Poppi L	40th	19:07	4:46
15yrs Boys	Luke B	62nd	17:02	4:15
17yrs Girls	Hayley O	39th	20:46	5:12
17yrs Boys	Joel W	45th	24:19	4:03

You can see by their overall times and split times, that to keep up that pace requires perseverance, it requires a high fitness level and it requires a strong mental toughness to force themselves to go harder, go faster, and don’t stop.

It is fantastic to see so many students in our school with such a strong ability to persevere in challenging sporting moments. I encourage everyone to never give up, no matter what is happening in a game, an event, and to keep trying to get to that “finish line”.  We all can be inspired and encouraged by the accomplishments of students in our school.

 

 

Enrolments for Kindergarten 2021 

Interviews for Kindergarten 2021 enrolments are well underway. 

Current families at Green Point Christian College who have a child ready to start school in 2021 are requested to contact the Registrar, Angela Sheather, to lodge an application and arrange an interview.

Angela can be contacted on 02 4363 1266 or via registrar@gpcc.nsw.edu.au

Parent Lounge Details

The College has a legal requirement to keep our records up to date. 

Please review your details on Parent Lounge to ensure that all your information is correct. This includes medical information on your child/children (only complete the immunisation question if your child is not immunised).

Please note: Should you require both parents/carers to receive SMS notifications, please tick the appropriate boxes.

Thank you.

BUSWAYS SCHOOL BUS SERVICES UPDATE

COVID-19 and back to school.

With the recent announcement of social distancing on bus services, Busways wants to clarify that school services are not affected and will not have limited capacity.

Service Operations
School services will continue to operate as normal, with no student to be left behind. NSW Health advice is that children are at lower risk of contracting COVID-19. Transport for NSW and Busways have increased cleaning measures on board bus services and will continue to monitor transport usage to support students travelling safely to and from school.

Our policy is that no school student will be left behind and as such, school students will be given priority over other passengers on regular route services, even if this means a service goes over physical distancing capacity. Adults may have to wait for the next service or choose to get off if they are not comfortable with how many customers are on a service. All services will continue to operate to a normal timetable until advised otherwise. Please remind students that they are still required to tap on and off with their Opal card, or show their school bus pass when boarding.

Current COVID-19 Advice
It is important to continue communicating to students that we all have a responsibility to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Where possible, students should maintain social distance from each other on board bus services. If different school groups are boarding a bus, each school should maintain social distance from the other and students should always maintain a safe distance from their bus driver, where practically possible.

Busways has continued to exercise additional procedures for all Busways employees to follow in order to limit any chance of the virus spreading. This includes issuing employees with hand sanitiser, requiring employees to wash their hands every time they enter and leave a worksite, employees staying home if they are unwell, and minimising the handling of cash.

For any further questions, please contact Busways’ Customer Experience team at infoline@busways.com.au.

RED BUS SCHOOL BUS SERVICES UPDATE

With the recent announcement of social distancing on public transport, Red Bus Services would like to clarify that dedicated school services are not affected and will not have limited capacity.

Our policy is that no school student will be left behind and as such school students will be given priority over other passengers on regular route services even if this means a service goes over physical distancing capacity.

Where possible students should limit their travel to catching dedicated school buses as this will help us mitigate the risk and help provide a service to regular passengers where capacity is currently restricted.

Please remind students that they are still required to tap on and off with their Opal card when boarding, but are requested not to use the Opal card reader nearest the driver.

To help minimise the risk of spreading an infection, every bus in our fleet is being hygienically cleaned daily by a team of cleaners.

Red Bus Services has continued to exercise additional procedures for all our employees to follow to limit any chance of the virus spreading.

This includes issuing employees with hand sanitiser, face masks and gloves requiring employees to wash their hands every time they enter and leave a worksite and requesting that employees stay home if they are unwell.

https://transportnsw.info/covid-19#home-carousel

https://www.safeworkaustralia.gov.au/covid-19-information-workplaces/industry-information/public-transport

For any further enquiries, please contact Red Bus Services: info@redbus.com.au

Canteen 

The Munchery (Canteen) has now resumed full time operating hours.

Uniform Shop 

Uniform Shop has recommenced normal trading hours.

Prayer

We pray that “… the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life.”  Ephesians 3:17-19 The Passion Translation (TPT)

Green Point Baptist Church

In light of the current COVID-19 crisis, Green Point Baptist Church has suspended all regular Church activities and has encouraged any Church member who is not in a high risk category to find ways to serve the vulnerable in their community.  If you are in need of assistance, please contact the Church office on 4369 1585 or office@gpbc.net.au

GPBC has moved their services online:

SERVICE TIMES

Sundays

9:30am

6:00pm    

Sunday Service

Green Point Baptist Church invite you and your family to join the Sunday service LIVE on Facebook at 9:30am every Sunday.

Thrive is on hold for now, but kids can join via Zoom from home each week during the school term. Join the “Thrive Green Point 2020” facebook group for information.

Over the past few weeks, Green Point Baptist Church has been partnering with Kincumber Neighbourhood Centre to help those who are doing it tough in our neighbourhood as a result of Coronavirus. The One + 1 Food Aid Project is based on a simple idea - when you are out shopping, buy a few extra items each week and build up a food hamper that can be passed onto a family who really needs it.  

We would love for you to get involved with us in this project.

Each Wednesday morning, Kincumber Neighbourhood Centre runs its Food Pantry Program. For a gold coin donation, recipients are given two generous bags of groceries, often supplemented with a loaf of fresh bread, various fruit and vegetables, even eggs sometimes. In the half hour before the food program begins, a line of 10 people quickly grows to 60 people or even more, stretching the entire the length of the carpark. Leanne who heads up the program, says the last couple of weeks the number of people seeking food aid has been growing. Two weeks ago, there were 80 people and they nearly ran out of food.

When you look at the line, there is mix of older and younger people but they are mostly women. They wait quietly and patiently. When the volunteers begin serving people, they do so with generosity, dignity and kindness. Without exception, every person they speak to brightens and some even manages a smile when they realise they would not be judged. Every time we deliver food hampers, Leanne and Collette from KNC speak about the quality and thoughtfulness of the grocery items that are given and how it gives them options and helps them to respond to particular needs.

Remember, once you have completed a food hamper, items can be dropped off at the kitchen in the Church office between 9:00am and 12:00pm, Tuesday to Friday or the College office if it needs to be earlier. For more information, feel free to call the Church office on 43691585. 

Coast Shelter Restaurant

346 Mann Street, Gosford

Due to COVID-19, Coast Shelter have had to suspend dinners and are not allowing volunteers to enter.

Green Point Trader

Box Divvy: Does your family eat a lot of fruit and vegetables? Green Point Box Divvy is a fruit and vegetable co-operative that can save you money.

We work together to buy entire boxes of fruit and vegetables at wholesale prices which we divide between us. 60% of produce is local and spray free.

Pay 30-40% less than at the big supermarkets. Fresh food picked 48 hours ago.

• Low food miles
• Minimal waste
• Eggs, bread, coffee, sauces and dry pantry products also available
• Easy online ordering system 
• Pickup on Tuesdays from Green Point Hub between 2:00pm and 5:30pm

Delivery available within 5km of Green Point for $7.

Our Facebook page is below:

https://www.facebook.com/BoxDivvyGreenPointKatherine/

 

 

If you would like to place an advertisement in the Green Point Trader, please email details to Marie Hay at newsletter@gpcc.nsw.edu.au

Coming up

Monday, 15 June, 2020

Year 12 English HSC Study Day Webinar Incursion from 12pm

Tuesday, 16 June, 2020

Year 12 English Ext 1 Poetry Webinar Incursion 

Wednesday, 17 June, 2020

Year 12 HSC Geography Webinar Incursion

Thursday, 18 June, 2020

Year 12 English HSC Webinar Incursion during Period 3

Uniform Shop 

Operating Times

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday during the School Term:

8:30am - 11:00am

(Closed Wednesdays)

Afternoons by appointment only.

Contact (02) 4367 9954

gpcc@alinta.com.au

Canteen

The Munchery

The Munchery (Canteen) has now returned to full operating hours.

Visit The Munchery page on our website

Munch Monitor

New to Munch Monitor? Order your school lunches each morning before 8:30am via Munch Monitor from home, for a hassle free start to your mornings.

We have daily menu specials as well as popular items available every day of the week.

www.munchmonitor.com
Username: greenpoint
Password: munch2251

TERM DATES

Term 2, 2020

Wednesday, 29 April 2020 to Friday, 3 July 2020 

Term 3, 2020

Monday, 27 July 2020 to Friday, 25 September 2020

Term 4, 2020

Tuesday, 13 October 2020 to Wednesday, 9 December 2020