Principal’s Message Recently I was reading the Parable of The Lost (or Prodigal) Son (Luke 15:11-31). This is probably one of the best known parables in the Bible. In it a father has two sons, one of which takes his inheritance early, goes and blows it all on a lifestyle that would not be supported by the values of the family. When all the money is gone and he hits rock bottom, he comes to his senses and comes back home seeking his father’s forgiveness. The dad is filled with joy at his return and welcomes him with open arms. The second brother certainly doesn’t share his father’s emotions. Instead, he is angry with the situation. He has remained faithful to his father and has always worked diligently for him. Now his irresponsible brother comes back and his return is celebrated, yet never has the father celebrated his faithful service and responsible behaviour. It is easy to understand why the second brother is upset, however; although his lifestyle has been a model reflection of what he believes to be right, he still lacks something. He is unable to see things from his father’s perspective or from his brother’s perspective. For the son to realise the error of his ways and seek his father’s forgiveness is a huge step, and then for the dad to regain his lost son the joy must be unspeakable, yet the brother just doesn’t see this. He lacked all empathy for his family members. Oscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador before he was assassinated in 1980, once said, “There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried”. In Australia today there are less and less people who would identify themselves as Christian, and Census data suggests this trend will continue. As we approach a Federal election later this year, the question of protection for religious freedoms will undoubtedly become a point of public debate and policy. I wonder if this move away from Christianity is partly in response to a society who is tired of being told what they shouldn’t do by the church. We should never compromise the truth of scripture, but perhaps as Christians we would do well to stop and listen, and hear the thoughts and experiences of others before we start protesting the things to which we don’t agree. These are easy words to write, but like the brother in the story who never left, this can be a difficult thing to practise. Pray for wisdom as you come across people in your life who might not share the same beliefs as you do. We are called to love everyone. Pray we can love others in a context that aligns with the things we believe and the way we behave. When we do this well, Christianity becomes attractive to others and people will hopefully be drawn to Christ rather than pushed away. God bless, Ian Liney Lighthouse News Week 7, Term 1 11 th March 2019 www.facebook.com/wyongccs @wyongccs A Ministry of Wyong Baptist Church OUR MISSION To provide a Christian educational community founded on Biblically based beliefs, values and behaviour. We do this to equip young people to be responsible and responsive disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ. SHINING LIGHT “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son’. But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found’. So they began to celebrate. Luke 15:21-24 Find our free School App on the App Store or Google Play @wyongccs
Transcript
WCCS
Page 1 Newsletter
Principal’s Message Recently I was reading the Parable of The Lost (or Prodigal) Son (Luke 15:11-31). This is probably one of the best known parables in the Bible. In it a father has two sons, one of which takes his inheritance early, goes and blows it all on a lifestyle that would not be supported by the values of the family. When all the money is gone and he hits rock bottom, he comes to his senses and comes back home seeking his father’s forgiveness. The dad is filled with joy at his return and welcomes him with open arms. The second brother certainly doesn’t share his father’s emotions. Instead, he is angry with the situation. He has remained faithful to his father and has always worked diligently for him. Now his irresponsible brother comes back and his return is celebrated, yet never has the father celebrated his faithful service and responsible behaviour. It is easy to understand why the second brother is upset, however; although his lifestyle has been a model reflection of what he believes to be right, he still lacks something. He is unable to see things from his father’s perspective or from his brother’s perspective. For the son to realise the error of his ways and seek his father’s forgiveness is a huge step, and then for the dad to regain his lost son the joy must be unspeakable, yet the brother just doesn’t see this. He lacked all empathy for his family members. Oscar Romero, the archbishop of San Salvador before he was assassinated in 1980, once said, “There are many things that can only be seen through eyes that have cried”. In Australia today there are less and less people who would identify themselves as Christian, and Census data suggests this trend will continue. As we approach a Federal election later this year, the question of protection for religious freedoms will undoubtedly become a point of public debate and policy. I wonder if this move away from Christianity is partly in response to a society who is tired of being told what they shouldn’t do by the church. We should never compromise the truth of scripture, but perhaps as Christians we would do well to stop and listen, and hear the thoughts and experiences of others before we start protesting the things to which we don’t agree. These are easy words to write, but like the brother in the story who never left, this can be a difficult thing to practise. Pray for wisdom as you come across people in your life who might not share the same beliefs as you do. We are called to love everyone. Pray we can love others in a context that aligns with the things we believe and the way we behave. When we do this well, Christianity becomes attractive to others and people will hopefully be drawn to Christ rather than pushed away. God bless, Ian Liney
Lighthouse News
Week 7, Term 1 11th March 2019
www.facebook.com/wyongccs @wyongccs
A Ministry of Wyong Baptist Church
OUR MISSION To provide a Christian educational community founded on Biblically
based beliefs, values and behaviour.
We do this to equip young people to be
responsible and responsive disciples of the
Lord Jesus Christ.
SHINING LIGHT
“The son said to him,
‘Father, I have sinned
against heaven and
against you. I am no
longer worthy to be
called your son’.
But the father said to
his servants, ‘Quick!
Bring the best robe and
put it on him. Put a ring
on his finger and
sandals on his
feet. Bring the fattened
calf and kill it. Let’s
have a feast and
celebrate. For this son
of mine was dead and is
alive again; he was lost
and is found’. So they
began to celebrate.
Luke 15:21-24
Find our free School App on the App Store or Google Play
Car Park & Road Safety Please be reminded that the speed limit in our school car park is 10km/ph. Please adhere to this speed limit at all times and drive safely in our car park. Please also ensure that you leave safe gaps between oncoming traffic when pulling out onto Alison Road. Junior School Grandparents’ Morning Our first Grandparents’ Morning for 2019 will be held next Friday 22nd March. The morning will commence with Junior School Chapel at 9am in our Multi-Purpose Centre, followed by some time in the classrooms. Morning tea will be provided for our grandparents and parents, and the morning will conclude around 11am. We hope to see you there. Position Vacant - Development/Administration Officer (Maternity Leave) WCCS is seeking to fill a full time role of Development/Administration Officer (Maternity Leave) in our Administration team. For more information on this position, please refer to Page 8. Open Day Our first Open Day will be held this Wednesday 13th March, w ith tours departing at 10am and 11:30am. If you know of anyone who might be interested, please spread the word. For more information or to register your interest in attending, please visit our website. Prayer Request Box Please feel encouraged to place any prayer requests/points into the Prayer Request Box in our front office, and our Parent Prayer Group will pray for you. Anzac Day Ceremony Last year for our Anzac Day Ceremony, WCCS sought from staff and Secondary Students pictures of family members who had served during a conflict to create a montage. This montage was created and shown to pay respect to relatives that have served during war time and make deeper connections and relevance as to why we reflect on, and remember Anzac Day. This year, we encourage students from both Junior and Secondary School, as well as staff, to submit pictures of loved ones to be a part of this collage. Enquiries or pictures can be submitted to Mrs Linda Makepeace ([email protected]). Wanted: Drama Props We are looking for antique props for a Secondary School Drama class to keep or borrow for around 8 weeks. We are rehearsing scenes from a Victorian era play. Antique props like arm chairs, chaises, lamps, vases, picture frames etc. would be a fantastic help. If you can be of assistance, please contact Mrs Emma Maher (Drama Teacher) via email to [email protected]. Business Directory Our School App provides access to a Business Directory which contains a range of contact details of businesses within our school community. Some business categories include; electrical, fashion, optometry, web design/hosting, and more. We encourage you to check the Business Directory if you are in need of any business services.
Prayer Points Give thanks for every student that walks through our doors each day. God has blessed us so richly with
such wonderful children to teach, nurture and minister to.
Continue to pray for our first Open Day taking place this Wednesday. Pray for good weather and that
those who visit will experience and see firsthand the love and light of Jesus as they tour our premises.
Pray that God’s love will shine through our students and teachers next Friday at Grandparents’
Morning, so that any non-believing visitors may notice that there is something very different about this
school.
Ask God to help our school be a shining light for Jesus to the wider community and that we can be
aware of the needs of others within our community so that we may serve them in a Christ-like way.
https://bit.ly/2ESlWrq
WCCS
Page 4 Newsletter
Junior School News Greetings friends and families of Junior School. It is with great pleasure and a good deal of pride (non-sinful, non-selfish – te he he) that we present, to our Christian Community, the Junior School Leaders for 2019. The first official function for our leaders occurs today. They are off with Mr Thomson and Mrs Manwaring to the International Convention Centre, in Darling Harbour, to attend the 2019 Halogen National Young Leaders Conference. This conference will give our young leaders some insight into the lives and service of various high profile leaders. This year the presenters are;
Tim Diamond – GM Cotton On Foundation – projects in Uganada, S.Africa, Thailand and Australia
Cate Campbell – Commonwealth Games Gold Medallist
Holly Ferling – International Women’s Cricketer
Liv Phyland – TV personality, ARIA presenter, Girls Who Glow, Starlight Foundation Ambassador
Tamsin Janu – Award winning Australian Children’s Author
God bless and chat soon. Mr Paul Marks | Head of Junior School | [email protected] .edu.au
We have had a busy couple of weeks in Secondary School with plenty of extra-curricular activities happening from day-to-day across faculty’s, year groups and interests. Students have had lots of opportunities to participate in, Zone Swimming, Duke of Ed hike, CMT Retreat, Peer Support, Merge groups, excursions to the RYDA Driver Education day, the Jewish Museum, incursion from Generation Next, to name a few. This allows students to engage in areas that support and encourage skill development in line with their curriculum and personal development. It’s exciting to see students use these opportunities to not only build on their ability but also use their God given ability for his glory. We care very much for the whole student and want to see them succeed in whatever they put their mind to and then realise that this ultimately comes from our Creator. YEAR 8 HIKE The preparation for our annual hike is in full swing and we remind parents who are wanting to help to attend the information afternoon this Wednesday at 3:45pm in the Multi-Purpose Centre. You will need to supply your Working with Children Check number, your date of birth and medical details. A note will be sent out this week regarding the practice hike next week. BUSES We have asked students to have their Opal cards out and ready when boarding the school buses. The data of how many students are boarding the bus can only be collected by tapping the Opal card. When students fail to do this, misleading information is recorded which results in crowded buses. Please make it a priority to obtain a student Opal card if you haven’t already. You can apply for a student Opal card online. PREMIER VOLUNTEERS AWARDS Congratulations to the following students who have been recognised for their contribution to the community for 2018. These students will be officially awarded with a certificate at the upcoming Celebration Assembly. It’s encouraging to see students serve not only here at school, but also outside in the greater community. YEAR 12 HALF YEARLY EXAMINATIONS Year 12 Half Yearly Examinations will take place in three weeks’ time. We encourage our students to utilise this time as an opportunity to practise their examination technique, express their knowledge and learning in an HSC style examination format, and take on the feedback they will receive. The more that students can do these things, the better equipped they will be for their HSC. ONEDRIVE Each student in our school has access to 1TB of cloud storage through OneDrive. This is made available due to our arrangement with Microsoft. I strongly encourage all students to utilise this resource for all their electronic school work. It means that students can access their work from any device and will not lose any of their work should there be a computer failure. Students need to remember that it is WCCS policy that technological issues are not valid reason for not submitting their work on time. In the week ahead, we will make sure that all students understand how to access OneDrive from their laptops.
Secondary School News
Nicholas B Jemimah C Eloise C Naarah M Riley N
Joshua S Madelyn S Mikaela S Allyse W Emily A
Tanaysha C Daniel C Brylee D Ryan G Grace K
Harry M Amelia S Aurelia T Gabriella A Emma A
Olivia C Natasha F Mikaela H Emily V Rebecca P
WCCS
Page 6 Newsletter
CHARGING OF DEVICES As mentioned in our last edition of the Newsletter, we now have our laptop charging station in the Library. Students can securely charge their laptop during lunchtimes, so they can continue to work on their devices after lunch. Please be reminded that students should come to school each day with their laptop fully charged, however, this station will assist if batteries are low before afternoon classes. God bless, Mr Stephen Moody | Head of Secondary - Teaching & Learning | [email protected] Mrs Rachael Wilesmith | Head of Secondary - Student Wellbeing | [email protected]
THACCCSA Secondary Zone Swimming Carnival On Thursday 7th March, WCCS competed in the THACCCSA Secondary Zone Swimming Carnival at Mingara Recreation Club. It was a fantastic day of competition as our swimmers completed a variety of individual and relay events. The students swam really well with most of them improving their times from the school Swimming Carnival, and some students achieving personal best times. We also had some great results with many finishing in the Top 3 places of their event. WCCS finished 3rd overall on the day and 22 of our students have qualified for the CSSA State Swimming Championships in Homebush on Monday 25th March. A special congratulations to students who finished in the Top 3 of their aged division. Cameron S was the Age Champion for the 15 years boys division and Amelia B was the Age Champion for the 16 years girls division. Mikaela S finished 2nd in the 16 years girls division. Bluebell M achieved equal 2nd in the 13 years girls and Holly Z finished 3rd overall in the 14 years girls division. A wonderful achievement for all our students. Finally, a massive thank you to Mrs Rainger, Mrs Boyce and Mr Kirchner for taking and organising our students on the day. A special thank you also to our Year 8 volunteer timekeepers for making the event run smoothly. Mr David Thomas | Secondary School Sports Coordinator | [email protected] .edu.au
WCCS is seeking to fill the role of Development/Administration Officer (Maternity Leave) in our Administration team. DEVELOPMENT/ADMINISTRATION OFFICER (MATERNITY LEAVE POSITION) 2019:
1.0 FTE Wyong Christian Community School is a K-12 Christian School with 740 students and 83 staff located on the Central Coast of NSW. We are seeking to employ a full time Development/Administration Officer to commence during Term 1, 2019. This is a maternity leave position. We are seeking a well organised, task orientated, enthusiastic self-starter to join our administration team. The primary role of this position is to promote our School in both the local and wider community and build links between our School and past students (Alumni). In addition to this, they would also be required to assist with event organisation and in our administration team where necessary under the direction of the Business Manager. The successful applicant will be actively involved in their local church and affirm a personal belief in the school’s Statement of Faith, available here or on our website. In their applications, candidates should provide evidence of the following:
Proven experience and /or relevant qualifications in relation to office administration
Strong team player
Strong computer literacy
Experience in fundraising and event management
Experience in marketing, advertising and development
Strong knowledge and skills in social media management
Sound interpersonal skills with the ability to deliver a high and consistent standard of service
A Driver’s license and car is also required for this role as the work may involve some travel.
We also encourage past students demonstrating the above attributes to apply. To apply for this position, please review the Development/Administration Officer (Maternity Leave) Job Description here or on our website, and complete the Development/Administration Officer Application Form Application for Employment, available here or on our website under Information > Employment. This completed Development/Administration Officer Application for Employment, together with supporting documentation, should be submitted to the School by email to [email protected] or post to PO Box 550 WYONG NSW 2259. For further information please contact the Business Manager, Grant Kayes. Applications for this position will close Thursday 21st March 2019. Early applications are welcome.
