News & Updates: 13 May 2024
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Principal's Update: Term 2, Week 3
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Mother's Day Pancake Breakfast & Biggest Morning Tea Bake Sale - Thank You
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School Photographs 2024
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SEQTA Engage - Absence Notifications
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CCAS Creative Arts Production: 'The Alive'
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Scholastic Book Fair & The National Simultaneous Storytime (17th - 23rd May)
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Library Writing and Art Competition
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Student Achievement- Keira Johnson
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Primary HRIS Cross Country
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Tjudibaring Meeting
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Year 11 SDL
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Bouddi Foundation for the Arts (BFA)
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CCAS Exchange Program
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Safe on Social Parent Session - Cybersafety with Kirra Pendergast
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Resilience Seminar With Dr Justin Coulson
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Bible Verse Of The Week
Principal's Update: Term 2, Week 3
I do hope that all the Mothers in our school community had a wonderful day yesterday and that you received the extra special treatment you deserve on this special day in our calendar. It was great on Friday to see so many of our families joining in on our Pancake Breakfast which doubled as a Mother’s Day breakfast and Australia's Biggest Morning Tea fundraiser. A great community event and a big thank you to Mrs Katie Tipple and helpers for making this happen.
Hopefully, we will see a little less rain this week so our school can dry out and enable us to reopen the oval and other play areas, as well as give our builders a reprieve on the building site. Despite the rain, our building program continues to progress well and remains on schedule. I have the privilege of regular visits onto the work site (to sign off on different building components) and from these visits, I can say, it is coming together into a wonderful facility.
It was great last week to be able to facilitate an excursion for some of our students – Year 9, Year 11
and Year 12 Engineering classes- to get a first-hand insight into commercial building practice. They were very interested and excited in what they saw. A very privileged group of students. We were grateful to the builders for facilitating this opportunity.
I hope you enjoy the rest of this week’s newsletter.
Mr Tony Kent
Principal
Mother's Day Pancake Breakfast & Biggest Morning Tea Bake Sale - Thank You
A huge THANK YOU to all the CCAS families who joined us for our recent Mother's Day Pancake Breakfast and Biggest Morning Tea fundraising event. Your participation and generous contributions made the day truly special.
Special thanks to everyone who contributed delicious treats for our bake sale and to all those who supported the event by purchasing these goodies.
We also want to express our gratitude to all our amazing staff who worked tirelessly to make the day a success, from cooking pancakes to making hot drinks and helping out with the bake sales.
We are incredibly blessed to have such a supportive and caring community here at CCAS. Your willingness to come together and support our school initiatives is truly heartwarming.
Thank you once again for your continued support.
Marketing & Communications Team
School Photographs 2024
School photographs are coming up!
MSP Photography will be at CCAS on May 22, 24, and 27, and specific photos will be taken each day. This week, an email with details on how to order your child's photo will be sent. Please keep an eye out for it, as no flyers will be sent home this time.
Wednesday, 22 May
- Secondary year level groups photos;
- Individual secondary student portraits;
- Year 6 group - whole year level;
- Extracurricular groups over 40 students (from both Primary & Secondary - we will notify you if your child is in one of these groups);
Friday, 24 May
- Primary class groups
- Individual primary student portraits
- Extracurricular groups under 40 students (from both Primary & Secondary - we will notify you if your child is in one of these groups)
Monday, 27 May
- Sibling photographs - Please note this is the only day for sibling photographs;
- Absentee photos (portraits only for students absent on Tuesday or Wednesday).
UNIFORM
Students must be in full winter school uniform and follow the jewellery and hair length policy for their photographs. A school tie is required and no jumpers are to be worn. If students have sports on that day, they should also bring their sports uniform.
Girls: Skirt length should be just above the knee, black stockings or CCAS socks, and black school shoes. Natural makeup and hair colour.
Boys: Shirts tucked in, CCAS socks, black school shoes and hair above the collar, and natural in colour.
Marketing & Communications Team
SEQTA Engage - Absence Notifications
CCAS is now operating the Parent Notified Absences Feature within the SEQTA Engage App.
This feature allows parents to log absences directly with the school on their mobile device, through the SEQTA Engage App, or the parent web portal. These absence notifications can be for current absences such as sick days or appointments or for future time off such as a family holiday (4 days max can be logged).
We are encouraging all our Primary parents to start using this feature as it streamlines our absentee process, making it a more efficient and accurate log while also making life easier for you, our school parents.
Please see below, the step-by-step guide and useful information regarding this new feature.
Important: for 5 or more consecutive days, parents still need to apply for a Certificate of Exemption from Attendance at School, using the form which can be found on the Parent Hub on our website.
Things to note:
1. New Absence gives parents:
- The ability to submit a new notification of an absence from their mobile device without having to contact the school in any other way.
- The ability to submit a notification of absence for today, or any date in the future.
Please note: Submissions for dates in the past are not possible.
However, lodging an absence notification for the day once the school day has already started is possible. E.g submitting an absence for the whole day, at 8:45 am when the school day started at 8:00 am, is possible.
2. One Absence Notification for each child is required.
If parents/guardians have multiple children at the same SEQTA school, they will need to submit a new request for each child’s absence. SEQTA is planning to look into the selection of multiple children at the same SEQTA school as a potential future iteration.
3. Part days and multiple days can be selected.
4. Recurring absences cannot be submitted with this feature.
5. Parents must choose a reason for the absence from the list provided.
Parents have an optional free text comment box in which additional information can be seen by the school.
Thank you for taking the time to learn and utilise this new feature.
Mr Craig Davis
Head of Primary School
CCAS Creative Arts Production: 'The Alive'
Save the date: June 20
Join us for a spectacular evening celebrating the talents of Central Coast Adventist School's creative arts enthusiasts!
An event where creativity meets worship, where art, music, dance, and drama come together to celebrate the gifts of creation; to celebrate being ‘The Alive’.
Experience the culmination of our Creative Arts Camp with food trucks, live music, and a captivating concert showcasing the incredible talents of our students.
Date: 20/06/2024
Performance Time: 7:00 pm (gates will be open from 5 pm for food)
Performance Venue: CCAS Naomi Frew Hall
Tickets are available for $5 (children 3 years old and under are free). All proceeds go towards our Vanuatu Service Trip 2024. You can also make extra donations to this great cause at the checkout.
Don't miss this opportunity to support our young artists and be part of this inspiring event.
CCAS Music & Drama
Scholastic Book Fair & The National Simultaneous Storytime (17th - 23rd May)
SAVE the date, Scholastic Book Fair is back along with NSS.
Every Book Fair we transform the library to reflect a theme. This year we have chosen to use the 2024 National Simultaneous Storytime book, ‘Bowerbird Blues’ by Aura Parker as our inspiration.
During library class time we have discussed what a Bowerbird is and why they are so special. Along with this we have been making lots of beautiful origami birds to hang as part of our display.
The other day a Kindy student gave us a very accurate summary of what a Bowerbird does…
“Did you know Mrs. Robertson that bowerbirds build their bower and make it pretty with blue things to attract a girlfriend. And if they don’t ‘improve’ (impress) the girl they do a dance”.
You are invited to join us for the National Simultaneous Storytime on Wednesday 22nd May at 12noon in the Sports Centre to listen to the 2024 NSS story ‘Bowerbird Blues’ by Aura Parker.
Dress up this year will be shoulders up only for the NSS (22nd May)
Students wear full school uniform
Shoulders up, wear blue accessories in hair (nest)
BOOK FAIR VOLUNTEERS
Our Book Fair can get very busy with students buying before school and during lunch time and recess. If you can spare an hour a day we would love to hear from you.
Please pop in or email me with days and times you may be available (timeslots below).
Friday 17th - Thursday 23rd
8am-8.40am
10.40am-11.00am
12.30pm-1.15pm
2.45pm-3.00pm
We would also love to hear from you if you are able to volunteer some time to help us set up on Thursday 16th May, prior to Book Fair.
Book Fair can’t happen without our amazing volunteers so please contact me if you are able to help us this year.
Mrs Donna Robertson
Librarian
Library Writing and Art Competition
Student Achievement- Keira Johnson
We are so proud of our Year 12 student Keira Johnson who was recently awarded the Governor's Sword of Honour at Government House Sydney. This is the highest and most honourable award an Air Force Cadet can receive and represents Keira’s commitment and excellence in both the Cadet Program and her personal life.
Keira was also the national runner-up for Cadet of the Year and has now been offered personal mentoring from the Australian Defence Force to further her career after school.
Keira, this is an amazing achievement. CCAS is so proud of you, congratulations!
CCAS Administration
Primary HRIS Cross Country
On Friday 39 of our Primary students travelled to Avondale University to compete in the HRIS Cross Country Championships. All runners represented CCAS with great energy and enthusiasm with our team finishing a fantastic 3rd overall.
There were some wonderful individual and team results.
Lily S - 1st (8 yrs Girls)
Leo A - 3rd (9 yrs Boys)
Emily M - 3rd (12 yrs Girls)
8 Yrs Girls Age Winners - Lily S, Ruby M, Pearl M and Halle R
9 Yrs Girls Age Winners - Mila C, Nella F, Mary-Rose V and Macy W
10 Yrs Boys Age Winners - Bohdi S, Oliver S, Samson M and Joel M
I will advise students on the team to compete at CIS as soon as I receive the official results.
Well done students!
Mr Michael Kosmeier
Primary Sport
Tjudibaring Meeting
Wiyabu, everyone.
The first Tjudibaring AECG Meeting will happen on May 15 at 4:30 pm (see flyer attached below). All school families and staff members are welcome to attend.
Mr Jackson Burke
Secondary Teacher
Year 11 SDL
We’ve been encouraging our Year 11 students to investigate some of life’s big questions, including the fundamental question, “Who am I?’.
To assist with this, we have made use of two different character profile tools:
- VIA Character Strengths
- DISC Profile
Both of these are extremely useful in terms of the student learning and also for their future. Knowing and understanding themselves and being aware of what some of their draw-downs might be.
We would encourage parents and guardians to ask their children about these profiles as it may be an excellent starting point for a conversation that fosters a deeper understanding about themselves and how they relate, and learn for everyone involved.
The VIA Character Strengths
This focuses on traits like humility, gratitude and perspective and looks at where we shine in our communication and interaction with others. Exploring these strengths helps us to realise that we all process, give and receive information differently and the more we understand ourselves the better positioned we are to make great choices.
DISC Profile
The DISC profile is another tool used widely, particularly in the business world, to help people understand themselves and how they relate to others. Again, it offers students another window into their wonderful and complex selves and helps them to grow as leaders in their own lives.
Mr Paul Glasbergen
Secondary Teacher
Bouddi Foundation for the Arts (BFA)
The Bouddi Foundation for the Arts (BFA), chaired by renowned Shakespearean actor John Bell, announces the opening of the 2024 Grant Year, with applications welcomed from any young (15-30 year old) artist (in any genre) connected to the Central Coast.
Grants of up to $5000 will be made to outstanding young artists in a range of genres, based on the quality of their online application, their audition (later in the year), and their need.
Artists, performers, creatives and writers who may be interested are encouraged to read more about the Foundation on the website below.
Applications open 8 April and close 3 June 2024.
Mrs Hannah Rappell
Head of English
CCAS Exchange Program
We still have exchange students from ‘Students of the World’ Exchange program looking for host families.
Our CCAS students get to interact and build friendships with these students. For some of our early exchanges, these friendships have now spanned a decade, with Australian families visiting the exchange family in their home country.
If you and your family are interested in hosting a student from Estonia, Germany, Italy, Spain, or France sometime this winter, please email Mrs Grange (marilyn.grange@ccas.nsw.edu.au) for
Thank you for considering this enriching opportunity!
Mrs Marilyn Grange
Secondary Teacher
Safe on Social Parent Session - Cybersafety with Kirra Pendergast
Join us on May 23rd for a Cybersafety Session with Kirra Pendergast, Founder of Safe on Social, as she addresses critical cybersafety topics that every parent should know!
Kirra Pendergast will be at CCAS addressing several student groups on the critical subject of Cybersafety. This event marks a continuation of CCAS's partnership with Safe on Social, which provides invaluable support to our students in navigating the ever-evolving online landscape.
We are also hosting a session for our parents. Kirra brings over three decades of experience in technology, cybersecurity, and business consulting to this discussion. Her expertise extends to pressing issues such as cyberbullying and the ethical use of AI in education, reflecting her commitment to fostering responsible digital citizenship.
Some of the topics that will be covered during her presentations include:
- The impact of social media on mental health and wellbeing
- Online Ethics
- Online safety and privacy for children and teens
- Legal responsibilities
- Group chat management
- Respectful online relationships
- Managing cyber bullying
- Image-based abuse and online sexual harassment
- Strategies for managing screen time and digital addiction.
When: Thursday May 23rd, 5 - 6pm
Where: CCAS, Naomi Frew Hall
How: Please register your interest below.
Mr Adam Kranz
Assistant Head of Secondary School
Resilience Seminar With Dr Justin Coulson
You are invited to join the Resilience, a virtual seminar with Dr Justin Ciulson. In this session, you will learn the psychological secrets that build your child’s sense of identity, strengths, and growth mindset, enabling them to perform better, be happier, and build resilience.
When: Tuesday 14th May
Where: Online (see Happy Family link below)
How:
Step 1: Access CCAS login below using the password happyccas.
Step 2: Click on the Happy Families Webinar Link and use the password: AWJRES to access the live stream.You can also access the recording following the event by accessing our Happy Families membership.
Marketing & Communications Team
Bible Verse Of The Week
1 Thessalonians 5:9-10
"For God did not appoint us to suffer wrath but to receive salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ. He died for us so that, whether we are awake or asleep, we may live together with him."