The Heritage Herald

Week 8A - Thursday 1 December 2022

Celebrating Moments

Dear Families 

This is our penultimate week of the year. Penultimate is a word that means the one before the last. I’ve wondered about the significance of penultimate moments in life. They often go without mention as if they are of lesser significance than the important final moment. For instance, much is made of the last supper when Jesus and His disciples broke bread and drank wine together as a representation of Jesus’ death and sacrifice for sin. In contrast, not much is recorded about the dinner they ate together the evening before. However, by the nature of Jesus’ relationship with His disciples, we might extrapolate that there were many meals that preceded the last supper. The penultimate supper (that is the supper before the last supper) may very well have been quite ordinary by theological standards and yet it speaks to the extraordinary teaching and relationships that Jesus and His disciples were building together.  

Next week, our final week of term, will be an exciting one – there are awards assemblies and class celebrations and our wonderful Celebration evening. This week, the penultimate week of the year, is full of, well... very ordinary events. However, we should not miss that these ordinary events, such as classes, excursions to the University, sports, assemblies, interschool challenge days and chapel services are actually remarkable events because of the teaching and learning and relationship building that occurs between students and staff, all of which build and strengthen our Christian Learning community. What may seem mundane and ordinary – just another week in the school term – needs to be celebrated as meaningful even though it may not have the glamour and excitement of the final week.  

During our K-12 Christmas chapel service, I was very encouraged to watch our remarkable students from Years 5 and 6 use shadow acting and puppetry to tell the story of Jesus’ birth. At the same service Students from our Year 7-10 music group led us in singing, our Prefects played the role of Masters of Ceremonies through the chapel service and several senior students prayed and read the Bible. It was wonderful and remarkable, but perhaps more so because it was consistent with each of our other chapel services throughout the year. Our students being excellent leaders isn’t a one-off event. Though the topic of Christmas was contextual our students have, with great consistency, lead similarly wonderful chapel events and serve the school community through these spaces in the weekly calendar. It is the case that our students and their teachers are remarkable in many ways, but particularly in the pursuit of excellence in which they approach the daily learning opportunities with which they are presented. 

As we come to the end of the year, I am thankful to God for the blessings of learning together in our Christian Learning Community, for the rich opportunities to grow together relationally, for our wonderful students and their families, for our high-quality teachers and support staff. Above all these things, I give thanks for Jesus – in Him, through Him and for Him are all things created. What a wonderful time to celebrate His birth. Merry Christmas. 

Praying for a rich week of learning. 

Matt Cohen

Principal

Whole School News

More to come next week

This week's newsletter is a snapshot edition with a word from Matt and important information about next week's events.

Keep an eye out for our final newsletter of the year over the coming week, which will capture all the happenings at Heritage in the final, busy weeks of 2022.



Celebration Night 2022 - Next Wednesday - Don't miss it!

We are excited to once again be able to meet as a whole school community and celebrate the excellent achievements of our students and showcase their wonderful gifts and talents to all our families on this very special night. 

Doors open at 5:30pm for a 6pm sharp start.  Please be mindful that all adults will need to sign in at the front desk before entering the auditorium.

Where : Panthers Auditorium, 1 Bay Street Port Macquarie

When:  Wednesday 7 December 2022

See you there!

Direct Debits for School Fees

Dear Parents/Carers

Please note, scheduled weekly/fortnightly Direct Debits for school fees will continue over the school holidays UNLESS you contact the school to stop them (providing your school fee balance is zero).

Any queries, please contact Leanne in Finance.

Mark 12 Award Recipients - Week 8

Calendar

Splish, Splash, Splosh - Infants Event

Date and Time

From Tuesday, December. 6th to Tuesday, December. 6th

Information

Contact your K, 1 or 2 teacher for more details.

Celebration Night

Date and Time

From Wednesday, December. 7th, 5:30 pm to Wednesday, December. 7th

Location

1 Bay Street, Port Macquarie NSW, AustraliaGet Directions

Information

Doors open at 5:30pm with event commencing at 6pm sharp.

All students involved in items or receiving awards, must wear full unless otherwise advised. 

Secondary students must wear their formal uniform - no canvas shoes or boots.

Communication will be sent in due course, advising parents if children are receiving awards.

COMMUNITY NOTICEBOARD: The following notices are included as a means of sharing information that may be of interest. Publication does not equate to Heritage’s endorsement.

Salty Kids

Bunnings Christmas Night Market

Engineering and Robotics Camp

Summerfest 2023

Zero Central Circus Workshops

Holiday Tennis Camps

Heritage Christian School

We encourage all families to have a copy of our weekly newsletter, via 'Skoolbag', or email to stay up to date with what is happening within the school community.

Educating | Nurturing | Empowering