Newsletter~Term 2~Week 1~2020

MARRARA CHRISTIAN COLLEGE PRESENTS
College News
24TH APRIL, 2020 | TERM 2, WEEK 1
Diary Dates
MAY
Friday 1st
Administrative Professional's Day
Monday 4th
May Day Public Holiday
JUNE
Monday 8th
Queen's Birthday Public Holiday
Exec Thoughts
JOEL VAN BENTUM | PRINCIPAL Finding Joy
Welcome back to Term 2.
It has been a tumultuous time for our world, our country and our community as we adjust to so many changes to what ‘normal’ life looks like. We have all been grappling with rapid change and then change back.
When major changes in life are occurring,
it can be hard to respond well. We often find
ourselves reacting, rather than responding, and
in the process of reacting to the changes in front of
us, we can often find ourselves feeling lost and in an unfamiliar place.
I was reminded of how easy it is to lose ourselves during major change again this morning. At our staff devotion this morning we shared a song called ‘Joy’. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lA7n7TwPDmw –
This song is an encouragement when circumstances are difficult and bleak, to choose joy. It was a great reminder for me and all our staff during this current time of change. As we played the song, I felt a shift in my heart as I committed to choose joy.
In the book of Philippians, the writer Paul says “rejoice in the Lord always, I say it again rejoice.” In another parts of the book he says, “when I think of you, I always pray with joy,” and “my joy and crown stand firm in the Lord...”
What amazes me about this is that while Paul is full of joy, he is also locked up in jail, chained to a wall. His circumstances are clearly tough, yet his outlook is full of joy.
As we as a community continue to work out the changes that have come about due to COVID-19 we want to be a place that is also full of joy. There is much to be joyful and thankful about. We have been blessed to currently have no local transmission and the opportunity for school to be open for students. As I sit writing, I can hear the joyful voices of students as they move through the school. Our staff have done amazing work preparing for this term and we are ready for whatever might be ahead. There is so much good in our current circumstance.
As we continue to walk through this season, my prayer is that we may be a community that continues to choose joy in all our circumstances.


Welcome to Term 2
It has certainly been an interesting past few weeks, but it is lovely to see the majority of students back at school. Thank you all for your support as we hovered in this somewhat unknown space of whether we would be engaging with distance learning or returning to face-to-face teaching. For those of you who are choosing to engage with at-home learning, please know that you are never far from our thoughts and prayers, we support you in your decision and we hope to see you when you are able to return to school again.
For those back at school, welcome back!


Middle School News
Year 8 English
Year 8 students are creatively responding to the novel 'Hatchet,' by Gary Paulsen. This week, student build shelters, and explained to their classmates how the features of the shelters worked.
"Brian is on his way to Canada to visit his estranged father when the pilot of his small prop plane suffers a heart attack. Brian is forced to crash-land the plane in a lake and finds himself stranded in the remote Canadian wilderness with only his clothing and the hatchet his mother gave him as a present before his departure."
Rebekkah Crawford | Middle School Teacher


Senior School News
Our Year 11 English class is studying “Animal Farm.”
Students viewed a real example of folded propaganda from WWII. This was a picture of pigs (as per Animal Farm) which were given to children to fold to "see the biggest pig.” When folded on the dotted line, it turns out to be a drawing of Hitler!
Neat introduction to our lesson, hey? Roz Elkington | Senior English Teacher
Animal Farm
We miss our crazy Year 10 boarders
Mr Dempster found this quote from James Prescott Joule. This impressive scientist understood the awe and majesty of God!
These photos were taken by Hayden Schatz during Photography class.


School and Community News
School Banking - A message from Commonwealth Bank
The health, safety and wellbeing of our communities and our people remains our highest priority. Due to the ongoing uncertainty surrounding coronavirus, the School Banking program will remain on hold. We will continue to monitor the situation and keep you informed with any updates including how we will be managing Dollarmite tokens for students.
In the meantime, here are some handy online resources for parents who wish to maintain momentum with their child’s financial education:
Start Smart: these resources have been created to improve children’s money management skills, and is aligned to the Australian Curriculum and the National Consumer Financial Literacy Framework.
The Beanstalk: offers videos and fun activities for children to learn about money.
Hello all School Seabreezers!
We are excited to be announcing Dreamedia Nightcliff Seabreeze Festival 2020 @ Home! A full weekend of local music, dance, theatre and visual art, channelled to you through TV, Radio and Online broadcast!
Anyone can watch it from anywhere, we hope that local Top End schools can get involved in the competitions and everyone in the Northern Territory can support our local festival by watching online! IAdd to your calendar now Friday 8th, Saturday 9th and Sunday 10th May and tap into the Seabreeze@ Home online festival by:
- Heading to our website www.nightcliffseabreeze.com for a virtual walk to stages and competitions across the "foreshore".
- Interact with our presenters and keep up to date on Facebook: www. facebook.com/NightcliffSeabreezeFestival
And be sure to tune in to the amazing entertainment, that's the 1 hour shows on each night at 6:30pm, on Darwin TV Channel 41, Larrakia Radio, Australian Indigenous Radio VAST channel 913!
Hot100 will be also be broadcasting a "Best of Seabreeze@Home Music special" 6:30pm Sunday.
CareFlight Donations
This term we will be raising funds for CareFlight. You can drop your washed & dried 10c containers to our Front Office or you can drop in directly to TOMRA. All donations over $2 are tax deductable, you will need to keep the receipt. Please ensure your containers are eligable; displaying the 10 c recyclable logo, have the lids removed and the cans remain uncrushed.