Last week I had a student who asked me, “Did teachers start the whole Coronavirus just to make students appreciate them more?” The student was obviously joking but the underlying point was made- they had a newfound respect and appreciation for their hard working teachers! There is nothing quite like going through a hard time, to make you appreciate the things around you that you have always taken for granted.

I remember seeing a quote once which went something like this – “What if you woke up tomorrow with only the things you had thanked God for today?” For many of us, we would wake up with very little. It is so easy to take so much for granted.  Before this current pandemic, many of us took our freedom for granted. We never imagined a day would come when we would be forced to stay inside away from family and friends, away from favourite cafes and restaurants, away from sporting events. We never believed education would be run differently or that we would have to adapt without warning. We couldn’t imagine a life of zoom calls, isolation and fear of an invisible illness. 

For many, this coming weekend with Mother’s Day will be a difficult time as families cannot come together to celebrate. It is so easy to focus on the hardships of missing family, friends, school, hugs, chats and social events  – but we have so many reasons to give thanks. 

One of the biggest reasons for remaining thankful is our knowledge and belief in God.  The Apostle Paul writes, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39). That love claims us by faith.  If we have anything to be thankful for it is this: the love of an amazing God who wants us all to have a relationship with Him. 

As we remember to give thanks for our mothers this weekend, take time to show thanks for a heavenly parent whose love transcends our understanding. “Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:26)

-Mrs Meggan James, Nunawading Christian College Principal

One of my favourite TV personalities is talk show host, James Corden. You know him. He’s that Englishman that drives around a black Range Rover and sings with famous people.

If I told you I was friends with Mr Corden, you’d ask, “That’s nice but… ah…How often do you get to see him?”

If I answered, “Well… I haven’t actually met him yet, but I’ve watched his show every day, I’ve read a lot of articles about him and we kind of look similar,” you’d say I was nuts. We can’t really know someone or have a real relationship with them without spending time together.

God wants to have a relationship with us. It’s why He sent Jesus to die for our sins — so we can have a relationship with Him again.

As Christians we grow our relationship with God through reading the Bible and prayer. Reading the Bible is how we hear from God, and prayer is how we speak to Him in return. Kind of like a phone call mixed with an old snail mail letter. This process of talking to God, listening for His voice and reading His Word is how we spend quality time with Him.

Just reading the Bible by itself does not give us a relationship with God. People who don’t believe in God have read the Bible and some of them can even quote from the Bible better than some Christians, but they don’t have a relationship with God. Just like in our interactions with each other, we need to communicate both ways with God as well. Prayer is an integral part of growing in a relationship with God.

A simple way to pray is the ACTS prayer model…

Adoration: Give God praise and honour for who he is as Lord over all.

Confession: Honestly deal with sin in your prayer life.

Thanksgiving: Verbalise what you are grateful for in your life and the world around you.

Supplication: Pray for the needs of others and yourself.

This week our school challenge involves cooking for our ISO Chef Competition! 

Create a spectacular dish, showing off your culinary skills and including at least one lemon! The dish may be sweet or savoury.

Once cooked, take a photo and send it to principal@ncc2.vic.edu.au by Friday 5pm. The winning dish will be chosen based on what our judging panel members MOST want to taste!

I look forward to seeing your creativity.

-Mrs James

Congratulations to Benjamin Powell on being awarded the Premier’s VCE Award for Art. The Premier’s VCE Awards recognise students who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in a VCE subject.  

Benjamin Powell is one of only four recipients of the Premier’s VCE Art Awards. He received a perfect study score of 50 for Art. Benjamin also received a study score of 50 for English and an overall ATAR of 98.45.

We congratulate Benjamin on this outstanding accomplishment. We pray that God will guide his paths to use his talents and opportunities to bless and bring joy to others.

“Benjamin Powell was an exceptionally talented Year 12 Art student who worked consistently to produce work to a high standard. I couldn’t be more pleased with his results and wish him the greatest success with his future artistic endeavours.” – Mrs Tierney, VCE Art Teacher 2019

As we face changes to our routines and lifestyle throughout this season of COVID-19,  it is important for us to nurture all aspects of our health. Healthy food choices not only promote physical health, but mental health and wellbeing as well.

The Australian Government has produced guides to give us advice on the amount and types of food that we need to consume for health and wellbeing. These resources and other healthy eating models are studied by our students in Food Technology and Health and Human Development.

The recommendations are based on credible research. They describe an approach to eating that ensures we obtain sufficient and correctly proportioned nutrients, to achieve good health and reduce the risk of obesity and chronic diseases such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes and some cancers. We are more likely to feel better, live longer and enjoy life more if we are able to follow this advice.

The Australian Government has also produced ‘The Australian Dietary Guidelines’ which in summary include:

1. To achieve and maintain a healthy weight, be physically active and choose amounts of nutritious food and drinks to meet your energy needs
2. Enjoy a wide variety of nutritious foods from these five groups every day
3. Limit intake of foods containing saturated fat, added salt, added sugars and alcohol
4. Encourage, support and promote breastfeeding
5. Care for your food; prepare and store it safely

More information can be found here –  https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/sites/default/files/files/the_guidelines/n55a_australian_dietary_guidelines_summary_book.pdf

https://www.eatforhealth.gov.au/guidelines/australian-dietary-guidelines-1-5

We are thankful to have received feedback from so many school families as to how home learning and online classes are going. This feedback has given us new ideas, sparked change and encouraged our teachers. 

Here we share some of the comments from our school families, showing the positive results that are coming out of these changed and challenging times. 

Home and online learning is promoting growth in our students – 

My child has more discipline and self-motivation.

It is training my child to listen more carefully, he is slowly improving in this.

They have increased ownership of learning goals and are getting to be more organised.

I am seeing the independence of my child and no morning rush.

They are taking charge of their own learning, managing their time and becoming confident with new technology.

This will help my child when she goes to Uni.

Our families are appreciating the new experiences and insights – 

As parents we are getting involved in the education process too. 

I have a greater understanding of how my child works – her strengths and weaknesses.

We’re able to spend lunch time together and go for a bike ride!

I have greater insight into how my child learns and the expectations he has on himself as a learner.

My children have been so happy. They love coming into the kitchen after each class, grabbing a bite to eat and telling me what they have just learnt.

The hallway and classrooms are strangely quiet and when the bell rings, there is not the mad rush from the playground to the classroom.  School is different.  It is not the same. 

However,  school is just a place where learning happens.  Our students are learning and doing extremely well at juggling technology they may not be familiar with, problem solving issues independently and showing resilience.  This is valuable learning. 

There has been some concern expressed in the media that students will not be taught the whole curriculum this year.  This is probably true.  We are in an unusual situation and therefore we cannot expect everything to be the same.  However, teachers will focus on ‘what has to be learned’ instead of getting through the curriculum. 

After the devastating earthquake in Christchurch, New Zealand in 2011, schools were closed for weeks and most students did not have the opportunity for online learning or discussion with the teacher.  However, student results did not suffer and high school students did not drop out.  John Hattie, an educational guru, was quoted at the time saying “Let’s not get stressed about it.  When we get back to the old normal, the recovery will be reasonably quick.”

So prioritise what is important for your child. If you focus your learning lens on these three things, then the learning journey will continue:

1. Have your child read every day.  

There is a strong correlation of reading with achievement of future goals and work success.  If your child is resistant to reading, try to build their reading stamina.  Start with five minutes of reading by choosing materials they like to read. Then slowly increase the reading time by 1 minute per day. 

2. Build your child’s Maths stamina.

How many times have you heard that children need to know their multiplication tables – 342 x 85 times?  It is true.  Brush up on table skills by the end of Year 5; it will help to make Maths easier.  Remember that Maths is not just being able to do a page of equations quickly.  It is problem solving, telling the time, measuring and ordering.  15 minutes a day is better than zero minutes a day. 

3. Practice social skills.

Within families is the ideal place to practice social skills.  Manners, self-regulation, hygiene, organisation skills and the art of conversation all help to make a great human being.  

If your children can sustain these three learning skills while learning at home – literacy, numeracy and social skills – they will be well positioned to go forward, as they can be applied in every subject area.

Hello NCC, 

I hope you are having a fine time right now. I know currently with the Coronavirus many of your parents have been going through financial tough times. And you cannot meet up with all your friends.

But there are positives at this time. You can have more time to spend with God.  I know entertaining yourself all day with technology can be fun. But reading and studying the Bible is also important.

“Then he taught me, and he said to me, “Take hold of my words with all your heart; keep my commands, and you will live.” Proverbs 4:4

This verse tells us about how keeping God’s word in your heart is very important! I encourage everyone to study more about the Bible!

Entertainment online is fun and will also put you in a happy mindset for the day, but there are also other forms of entertainment. Go to your backyard and have a walk! Ride your bikes! And enjoy this term!

From Enoch.

Primary School Captain

Maths at Foundation level always involves lots of things to move and manipulate while the Mathematical concepts are being explored.

One of the concepts recently covered was making a simple bar graph. Mrs McNamara looked around her home and dug out her son’s old matchbox car collection. She angled her computer camera so that the students would get a good view as she made a colour graph using the toy cars. The students were then set the challenge of finding something in their homes that they could use to make a graph.

The prep students made wonderful graphs and are convinced that Maths is fun!

In Week 2, Mrs James set the challenge of creating a poem about gratitude. Thank you, students, for sharing your creativity! Congratulations to Alara, Abigail, Peter and Nelia on your winning entries.

Thinking of things that we are thankful for boosts our mental health – we hope these poems encourage you in gratitude!

Alara – Year 1

Abigail – Year 1

Peter – Year 6

Nelia – Year 6

Our staff had the privilege of making home deliveries to some of our NCC families. They delivered packs of learning supplies put together by classroom teachers to enhance the home learning experience. Our teachers and chaplains also included some special gifts for our students. The Prep students in particular enjoyed finding puppets in their learning packs!

It was a beautiful opportunity for our staff to check in on how our families are going and to pray with them. Thank you to our generous bus drivers for making this possible.

In Week 3, Mrs James asked students to capture a photo showing the ANZAC spirit.

Congratulations to Aarav and Valmoana on your winning entries.

Aarav – Year 3

Valmoana – Year 4

Our Alumni community organised a beautiful surprise for the Class of 2020.  

After our Year 12 students completed their English assessment, in social distancing style, they were presented with thoughtful gifts. They were also shown a video, filled with encouraging messages from our Alumni community. Click here to view the video. 

Class of 2020, know that you are loved and supported by our NCC community as you continue to work hard in this changed learning environment. 

In Term 1, our Year 9 & 10 Journalism class researched and wrote articles for a student publication. Here we share some of their articles with our wider school community.

Mrs James has been a loved teacher at NCC for 9 years, and has been welcomed as the overall Principal of ELC, Primary and Secondary with open arms this year. Along with this new change, there have been other developments concerning the theme for this year, 2020 Vision. Mrs James was kind enough to share, in an interview, the leadership’s vision for this year. Through this, we have been given some insight into what the next four years are going to look like. 

Our school has grown 23% in the last 3 years, bringing our campus total up to almost 500 students. This has resulted in new ideas, plans and developments for our school community and campus. Her goal for the school is to ‘develop the whole child’; ‘academically, spiritually, physically, socially and emotionally’. Her aim is to ‘provide quality learning for all students’ that attend Nunawading Christian College and to teach ‘Biblically based, Christ-centred, Service-oriented and Kingdom-directed’ learning. 

Through encompassing ‘strong academics, along with a strong spiritual culture’ throughout the school, Mrs James hopes to encourage students to use their voice and be active participants in the community. We are looking forward to getting to know her as our year progresses.

-Caitlin, Year 9 & 10 Journalism Class

For the first time ever, our usual Year 9 Community Volunteering program has been altered to be based in the home. Read on to hear from some very happy Year 9 parents! 

“It was good for my teenager.. Being away from the screen and just digging amongst the dirt… This has been his best day so far since self isolating.”

“This is the most help we have received around the home from our teenager.”

“I needed certain things done around the garden and our teenager has done them all!” 

“My teenager now knows how to iron clothes!”

In Term 1, our Year 9 & 10 Journalism class researched and wrote articles for a student publication. Here we share some of their articles with our wider school community.

Last year, NCC had to say goodbye to Matt Ponozzo. But at the beginning of 2020, NCC happily welcomed Bryan Roberts into the school community. From the questions we asked him, we try to get to know our newest member of the staff team.

What do you do here?

Bryan has two roles in the school. The first role is the Student Welfare Officer. The second role is the Work Experience Coordinator. He stated that being a Student Welfare Officer involves promoting the wellbeing of students and teachers. As the Work Experience Coordinator, he will mostly help Year 10 students in finding work placements. 

What do you do in your spare time?

Bryan has spent his free time this year planning a wedding and moving house. He also goes cycling, likes to play chess and tennis and swims with Mr Marsh in the mornings. 

What do you like best about your job?

Bryan loves how every day is different in this job. He loves being here at this school because it has a great and positive environment.

What do you want to accomplish while at NCC?

He would love to form lifelong relationships with students and staff, grow and journey in life with the school community and be of service to the Kingdom of God.

-Lucy, Year 9 & 10 Journalism Class

In Term 1, our Year 9 & 10 Journalism class researched and wrote articles for a student publication. Here we share some of their articles with our wider school community.

Nunawading Christian College has a new high school choir. Led by Maree Worker, the choir currently consists of 41 students.  Mrs Worker is a very experienced music teacher having taught music for over fifteen years.

Practising every Friday at lunch, the group is always learning two songs. One of the songs to be performed at events or in front of the school and the other song performed with the purpose of worshipping God. One of the purposes of the choir is to aid in creating unity in our school community and to provide a ‘voice’ for the school.

Why did you want to start a choir at NCC? 

There is something incredibly fulfilling when you sing as part of a group. To have the opportunity to blend your voice with people standing on either side of you makes you more aware of yourself, and lifts you to a place where you recognise that the world needs music! A choir is a unique way of bringing people together with a shared sense of purpose and belonging as the group creates music and communicates in ways that mere words cannot. Through choral singing, students develop self-esteem, confidence and the ability to communicate with each other as well as the audience.

Were you expecting to have so many students interested in joining the choir? 

I would have been really happy with 20 students in the choir. That was my goal, so to have 41 students is incredible! I am so delighted.

Where will the choir be performing? 

We will be performing at school events and church services. Absolutely anywhere they’ll have us.

Do you have any long-term goals for the NCC Choir? 

My big dream is for us to work towards being able to go on tour.

So, if you are interested in music and becoming a part of the choir, contact Mrs Worker!

-Ella and Siew, Year 9 & 10 Journalism Class

Our Year 7 Scientists have adjusted well to their new work environment. Here they share with us about their experiments and learning, from their home labs!

Despite the current COVID-19 situation and our inability to access the lab, we have still been keeping up-to-date by conducting multiple experiments related to what we have being studying such as a crystallisation, paper chromatography and water filtration. In this way, I have been able to continue to grow my knowledge on Science at home and have been given an opportunity to discover new terminology. 

-Ethan

In Science we have been doing many practicals, experimenting with mixtures and solutions. We have also been exploring different methods of separating mixtures, such as filtering and decanting. In our last classes, we have been learning about crystallisation. 

-Chantelle

In Week 2, Mrs James set the challenge of creating a poem about gratitude. Thank you, students, for sharing your creativity! Congratulations to Zoey, Michaela, Arianna and Taylor on your winning entries.

Thinking of things that we are thankful for boosts our mental health – we hope these poems encourage you in gratitude!

Zoey – Year 7

Michaela – Year 8

Arianna – Year 12

Taylor – Year 12

In Week 3, Mrs James asked students to capture a photo showing the ANZAC spirit.

Congratulations to Jason and Sally on your winning entries.

Jason – Year 7

Sally – Year 11

You can purchase your new Entertainment Membership here to support our Home & School fundraising and receive this year’s Entertainment offers.

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Entertainment Memberships can start anytime and are packed with thousands of substantial savings. Treat your mum this Mother’s Day. Shop in your favourite online stores and enjoy movies, TV shows, games and much more for less with an Entertainment Membership. Many local businesses now doing takeaway need your support. Access these and many other offers on gift cards to help you save. Entertain yourself and save from the comfort of your own home.

We have second hand MacBook Air laptops for sale. Contact the school office for purchase and collection details  – admin@ncc2.vic.edu.au or 9877 3555

MacBook Air 11 inch (Early 2015)

• A1465 / 1.6GHz Core i5 / 4GB RAM / 128GB SSD
• $330 each

MacBook Air 13 inch (Mid 2013) 

• A1466 / 1.3GHz Core i5 / 4GB RAM / 128GB SSD
• $250 each