The Heritage Herald

Week 2 - Friday 4 August 2023

A message from our Principal

Dear families  

Welcome back to school for Term 3.  During the school holidays our staff group undertook some preparation for this term’s learning. This included two days of formal professional learning focused on the implementation of our teaching and learning approach:  the Student Formation Framework. One of the goals of this framework is to build the skills and character of our students so that they are highly capable as students and become great adults. We call the acquisition of these capabilities ‘Deep Learning’ and our approach to this ‘Designing for Deep Learning’. Our teaching and ancillary staff have been growing in their understanding about how to best effect this in their classrooms.  

This Professional learning has been ongoing over the year: in our staff meetings and with professional input from the Association of Independent Schools (NSW). It is very exciting seeing our staff model an approach to learning that we want to see grow in our students. The best teachers are those who love to learn; our teachers really love to learn! 

What does this mean for our students? Well, as they start to engage in developing competencies in critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, character, and citizenship we would expect them to improve in their engagement in learning, to improve in their understanding and thinking and expression of ideas and to improve in how they understand the problems of the world and different ways to solve these issues. In short, they will become excellent as adults.  

We are similarly focused on ensuring that they are well-prepared for the public examinations that are part of the New South Wales educational landscape. I am pleased with the direction that our teaching staff and students are facing regarding their education at the school.  

Of course, at our school, we hold all of the above in its rightful place under the sovereignty of God. Our students are being taught to be highly capable students of Christian character ready to serve and enrich the community. Our teachers see the interconnected and holistic nature of student formation to include Christian faith and academic progress intertwined, after all our motto is ‘Faith and Knowledge’. 

At home, my encouragement is to start asking your children about the competencies I’ve listed above (we call them ‘the 6Cs’). Ask about what they understand of them, it’s early days now, so please be understanding as they grow in their use of this language. And ask them about ‘One more thing’ they could do to improve in the Competency they are working on. Encourage them that learning with courage takes effort and that giving their best is all they have to do. 

It is my expectation that the language surrounding Deep Learning will come to permeate our school learning culture and will help shape our shared desire that we provide excellent and authentic Christian education for our children and their families. Thank you for partnering with us in this. 

I’m praying for a rich term of learning. 

Matt Cohen 

Principal 

 

Celebrating the Newest addition to our School Community!

Congratulations to our dear staff member Leeton, and his wife Tamara on the safe arrival of their baby girl Eloise Dorothy. She is Just Lovely. We are thrilled to welcome this little bundle of joy into our school family, on behalf of the entire school community, we send you our warmest congratulations and heartfelt blessings on this joyous occasion.

Recent Events

Age Champion Results from our Senior School Athletics Carnival 2023


 13 year girl         Madeline Letchford

 14 year girl         Rebekah Pym

 15 year girl         Sophie Mackereth

 16 year girl         Sarah McGregor

 17 year girl         Tianna Colwell

 18 year girl         Chelsey Day

 18 year girl         Tia Baldwin

12 year boy        Justin Colley

13 year boy        Peter Somers

14 year boy        Axel Frost

15 Year boy        Braiden Apps

16 year boy         Ethan Glover

17 year boy         Brady watts

Senior School Athletics Carnival House Results 2023

1st place       Oxley - 419 points

2nd place      Flynn's - 387 points

3rd place       Shelley - 266 points

4th place       Lighthouse - 240 points

Age Champion Results from our Junior School Athletics Carnival 2023

9 year boy       Reid Hurst

10 year boy     Christian Brougham

10 year boy      Leo Hanson-Crickmore

11 year boy      Keith Long

12 year boy       Jeremy Boyce

12 year boy       Riley Reichelt

9 year girl      Willow Whittaker

10 year girl     Indigo Frost

11 year girl    Madilyn Tinley

12 year girl    Charlie Walsh

12 year girl    Alisha Pym   


Junior School Athletics Carnival House Results 2023

1st place     Oxley - 209 points

2nd place    Shelley - 200 points

3rd Place     Flynn's - 189 points

4th place     Lighthouse - 181 points

Year 10 Barista Training

Last week some of our year 10 students took advantage of an opportunity to become an industry certified barista. Thanks to Ainsley at Peak Coffee for this amazing training. The teachers in particular enjoyed it!


Kindergarten Celebrates 100 Days of School!

Kindergarten celebrated an exciting milestone this week – 100 Days of School! Students were presented with a special certificate at Assembly, then were applauded off to their classroom with 100 claps from Junior School.

For the rest of the day, students participated in all sorts of challenges centred around the number ‘100’ - from stacking 100 cups, to counting out 100 water drops, to doing 100 exercises, to pretending to be 100 years old!

Congratulations Kindergarten, on 100 wonderful days at school. 

Year 11 Academic Aspirations Tour

 

Last week, our Year 11 cohort travelled to Sydney on their Academic Aspirations Tour. The 4-day trip had a packed itinerary of university and residential college tours, Sydney attractions and the fine arts. The purpose of the trip was to give our students the opportunity to see first-hand what life may look like as a university student. Our tour began at the University of Newcastle, where students were shown through the medical science and education buildings. Students enjoyed getting hands-on with multi-million-dollar simulation technology. We then made our way to Sydney, settled into our hotel in the heart of the city and enjoyed dinner out at Spice Alley, a hidden gem of all types of Asian cuisine.

Day 2 began with a visit to UNSW. Students gained valuable insights into life on campus and gained knowledge in the various entry methods into uni. We then met up with Dave and Tim from the University Christian group (run by AFES) and they shared with us how being part of a group can give students an instant social network when starting uni. We visited New College, a residence accommodation, which happens to be a dry college with strong Christian values. Several of our students said they could see themselves studying and living here. After a quick dinner at Paddy’s Market, our day finished with a trip to the Capitol Theatre to watch Beauty and the Beast. A real highlight of the trip, we were all blown away by this production.

The next day saw us up early and on the South Coast Train line down to the University of Wollongong. Another tour, another residence college and another chance to connect with the staff workers of the AFES Christian group. Many of our students said UOW was their favourite uni, with the beautiful, lush campus, the ease of transport and the great atmosphere of on-campus living. After catching the train back to Sydney we were straight to Darling Harbour to catch the Manly Ferry across to tour the International College of Management Sydney. If you haven’t been to ICMS, do a quick Google search. This 19th century castle has hosted several celebrity weddings and was the set for the Great Gatsby movie. As we arrived at sunset, it was hard not to be lured in by the romantic ambience. This private university specialises in business and management and several of our students could see themselves studying here. After saying goodbye to our hosts, we caught the ferry back across Sydney Harbour, taking in the sights of the Opera House and Sydney Harbour Bridge lit up brightly. Our day finished by heading to Tumbalong Park, to the FIFA Festival Zone to watch the Matildas take on Nigeria. Unfortunately, the result did not go our way but the atmosphere was electric.

Our final day included a tour of the University of Technology, Sydney. The modern, funky architecture was cool to see, and again, we were given valuable information about several of the courses available to study.

The Academic Aspirations Tour was a resounding success and we were excited to see our students consider more deeply their options for further study after school. If your child has questions or wants to discuss their future options, please book a time to speak with our fantastic Careers Advisor, Mr Marty Dures. You can book a time on our website.

Lastly, a heartfelt thank you to the exceptional teaching staff who poured their passion and effort into making the 4-day trip an enriching and memorable experience for all involved! 

Regards,

Mr Luke McDonald

Head of Curriculum

CSSA Zone Athletics Carnivals 2023

 

Heritage Christian School recently entered 55 students from Yrs 3-12 in the North Coast Christian School Sports Association (CSSA) Zone Athletics Carnival in Coffs Harbour.

God blessed us with fantastic weather and the atmosphere was amazing. They enjoyed competing against approximately 600 other students from Christian Schools from Port Mac to Tweed Heads to Moree! Each student ran, jumped and threw to the best of their ability with some fantastic results. Congratulations to those students who achieved Personal Bests (PBs) and also qualified for State Athletics.

What was particularly impressive were the quality choices students made throughout the day. They showed respect to their peers and adults, which added to the culture of the Christian community that Heritage strives for. They encouraged each other and this led to a great sense of unity in the group.

Juda Leet did a great job in leading the Coffs Harbour Community College to convene a smoothly run carnival. A huge thank you to the Heritage staff who attended: Mrs Thomas, Mrs Betenson, Ms Strahorn, Mr Parsons and Mr Mason!

All the very best to those students who qualified for CSSA State Athletics in Sydney in the coming weeks.

Mick Baldwin      

Live with Integrity in Junior School

Mark 12 Awards for Week 2

Heritage Celebrates 40 Years!

We are excited this year to be hosting the 40 Year Celebrations of Heritage Christian School.

 

We look forward to celebrating this milestone as a community and praising God for His blessings over our School. This year's focus is to honour the past and shape the future as we strive to develop highly capable students of Christian character, ready to serve and enrich the community for the glory of God. It would be our desire that we, as a school community, would be a part of this special occasion together. We also will invite our founding members, previous Board members and Principals along with previous staff and our alumni students, and we encourage anyone in our community to extend this invitation to anyone connected with Heritage.

 

On Saturday 19 August, from 11am we will gather for a Thanksgiving Service in the Woolshed at the school. This will be a time when we will honour God and those who have faithfully served the school over the last 40 years.

 

Following this service, from 12:30-4:30pm, we will host a gala afternoon on our school oval, together we will enjoy live music, fun activities for all ages, and a school tour. There will be food and refreshments available for purchase.

 

If you would like to attend this event, please RSVP via the link below.

 

RSVP Heritage 40 Year Gala

 

Please see invitation and follow us on Facebook for any updates on this event.

Heritage Christian School

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Educating | Nurturing | Empowering