News & Updates: 3 June 2024
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Principal's Update: Term 2, Week 6
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National Reconciliation Week
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Year 6 Leadership Conference
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Basketball NSW State Championship
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HSC & Careers Expo
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Kidslit Competition Success
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National Simultaneous Storytime
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Library: Bowerbird Competition Results
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Bush to Beach: 600km Walk for Blood
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Year 10 Red Shield Appeal
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Year 10 Textiles Excursion
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Year 9 Textiles Excursion
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Basketball: CCAS vs Sports College
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Year 7 Textiles Projects
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'The Alive' CCAS Creative Arts Production
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Haven Church Teen Rally
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Gosford SDA Church Holiday Program
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Bible Verse Of The Week
Principal's Update: Term 2, Week 6
Another week has passed with a flurry of excursions, incursions, special events, and sporting competitions. CCAS is an incredibly complex educational environment that sometimes can be all-consuming, but, we wouldn’t want it any other way.
Quality education in this day and age is multi-dimensional. I know the programs and experiences that make up life here at CCAS are central to why you chose to send your children to our school. From my perspective, what happens outside the classroom through both co-curricular and extra-curricular opportunities is just as important to your child’s education as is the core learning experiences. It all contributes to what we call a holistic learning experience –educating the whole child. This continues to drive what we do and plan for your child/children at CCAS.
Much of this is reflected in our newsletter and social media posts. I hope you enjoy these opportunities to keep abreast of all that is happening here at CCAS.
Best wishes
Mr Tony Kent
Principal
National Reconciliation Week
Week 5 of the school term was not an ordinary week for our school community. Week 5 was National Reconciliation Week, a week where Australia reflects on the past, acknowledges the present and moves forward into a more harmonious future with our First Nations friends.
Our school understood the 2024 theme, 'Now More Than Ever', as a call to action. It was our chance to look inward and ask ourselves how to better show compassion to each other.
Teachers across the campus proudly wore polos with Aboriginal designs to promote cultural visibility. Non-Indigenous staff and students participated in a panel to express why reconciliation was important to them. Art lessons and local Darkinjung stories were shared. Dylan Finney, a Mara illustrator, and I shared our culture with the students in our chapel program.
Thank you to our staff and school families who made this year's National Reconciliation Week meaningful and memorable.
Mr Jackson Burke
Secondary Teacher
Year 6 Leadership Conference
Our Year 6 school captains recently had the opportunity to attend the Grip Leadership Conference for leaders in Primary School. It was a fun-filled day where our captains got to hear incredible motivation around leading in their school, standing up and stepping out, putting the needs of others first, leading with their own talents, and spotting genuine needs where they are.
Hearing from our captains, it was much more fun than they ever thought it would be, extremely hands-on, and found it great to speak with leaders from other schools.
Mr James Crabtree
Assistant Head of Primary School
Basketball NSW State Championship
Led by lead scorers Charlotte Roder and Lara Tillot, our Under 16 girls division 3 went hard at the Basketball NSW State Championship competition over two days.
The pesty defence of Alyssa Romero, Sahara Mahmoud Ibanez and Zoe Heise and the rebounding prowess of Isla Carver-Weight and Piper Collins were noteworthy.
Although they cleaned up every game in their pool and semi-final round, they didn’t quite make it through the final game.
Our rookies Milla Beavis, Grace Leahy, Isabella Alborough, and Mikayla Dunstan, showed heart and spirit, while all our girls showed integrity and perseverance.
They came away with a finals appearance and the proud standing of NSW runners-up.
Mrs Ashleigh Simonsz
Secondary Teacher
HSC & Careers Expo
Last week there were some keen Year 12's exploring their future possibilities at the HSC & Careers Expo.
It was a beautiful sunny day at Randwick Racecourse. Some students were given ideas about what to do beyond the HSC they had not thought of before such as Maya Ward, who is now very excited about the opportunity to work at a USA summer camp and then spend a season working in a Canadian ski resort. The Australian Defence Force was strongly represented enticing potential cadets to join including Lilliana O'Connell and Grace Cameron who eventually got out of the tank, after discussions with the tank crewman!
Mrs Ula Paton
Secondary Teacher
Kidslit Competition Success
Two teams represented CCAS in the Hunter Regions heat for the National Kidslit competition. The event was held at Avondale School on the 9th May, 2024.
Students were very excited to represent and had a fun day answering 100 questions in a total of 10 rounds, along with fun in between answering a variety of questions with prizes up for grabs.
Australian Author, Nat Amoore, hosted the event and was available to personally sign copies of her books for students, including our school copies. Nat was very funny and entertaining giving away spot prizes throughout the breaks with some of our students walking away with some cash & book prizes.
Both of our teams performed well with our Year 7 team finishing in an extremely close 2nd after a tie breaking question & our Year 6 team finishing in 12th out of 21 teams. The point scores were all extremely close.
Congratulations to both teams:
Anya Kirby, Elizabeth Williams, Eva Roennfeldt & Noa Davis
Seb Knapman, Julian Ross, Charlie Conroy & Miles Chadwick
So proud of our students who displayed respect and the CCAS Way throughout the whole event.
Mrs Donna Robertson
Librarian
National Simultaneous Storytime
Two weeks ago our Primary School students were one of 2,359,147 participants at 21,969 locations across Australia and the world to be a part of the National Simultaneous Storytime 2024. Students watched the author, Aura Parker do a live reading of her story, Bowerbird Blues and then participated in a short activity with their classmates to celebrate.
Parents, you are invited to take a ‘Story Stroll’ following the path of story cards explaining more about the NSS and the featured book ‘Bowerbird Blues’. Start at card #1 on the verandah of the Sports Centre. Use your phone to scan the QR codes and learn more about what the NSS is all about.
A huge thank you to Mrs. Timmins who created our beautiful bowerbirds for our library display.
Our Primary students also contributed to the display by making origami birds as well as decorated feathers for our giant bowerbird hanging above the desk.
Mrs Donna Robertson
Librarian
Library: Bowerbird Competition Results
Thank you to the students who entered our ‘Bowerbird Blues’ competition. There were two sections to the competition, Art & Writing.
Art - Students were to create a bowerbird using only recycled materials to represent the essence of the nominated National Simultaneous Storytime title.
Writing - Students were asked to write a poem or short story using ‘If I were a bowerbird’ as their inspiration.
Thank you to all students who took part in the competition. And the winners are:
Art
Winner: Ella Mackie
Runners up: Catharina Duarte, Hannah & Noah Hegyi
Writing
Yr. 2 - Myles Peek
Yr. 4 - Darcel Peek
Yr. 6 - Maya George
Special Mention:
Yr. 3 - Hannah Hegyi
Mrs Donna Robterson
Librarian
Bush to Beach: 600km Walk for Blood
Scott Worgan, Dad to our students Scarlet, Sienna and Mace will soon be walking 600 km from his hometown of Inverell, Northern NSW to Terrigal on the Central Coast. This is to raise awareness of the importance of blood donations.
"Our gorgeous daughter Sienna (SJ) was always the life of the party, but that spark was almost all but blown out when she was diagnosed with Leukaemia in August last year. Since her diagnosis SJ has received 30 blood transfusions. Like many cancer patients, SJ requires blood transfusions due to low blood cell counts caused by chemotherapy treatment and the cancer itself.
But, SJ isn’t alone. One in three Aussies will need blood during their lifetime, however, only 3% donate today.
My goal is to change this. "
If you want to learn more or donate, please click the link below.
Mrs Katie Tipple
Primary Wellbeing
Year 10 Red Shield Appeal
Our students recently participated in the Salvation Army's Red Shield appeal by collecting donations at Erina McDonald's. Their enthusiasm and dedication shone through as they engaged with the community, spreading awareness and encouraging contributions.
Thanks to their hard work and the generosity of the community, we raised an impressive $1006.20. This event was not only a financial success but also contributed to the student's major service project hours, which are a vital component of the Year 10 Bible program.
We are incredibly proud of their efforts and the positive impact they have made in supporting such a worthwhile cause.
Mr Joshua Goss
Secondary Teacher
Year 10 Textiles Excursion
It was Year 10 Textiles' turn to have a big day out in Sydney on Tuesday the 21st of May. They were lucky enough to experiment at Bobbin & Ink with the talented Laura, bringing their creative pictures to life on T-shirts or Tote Bags.
After playing in this fabric colouration playground, students were able to get up close and personal with dazzling apparel while exploring a level of the Strand Arcade in Sydney Centre. It was wonderful seeing our students appreciate the care, talent and design evident in the Australian Fashion Industry. Immersed in the greats such as Dion Lee, Acler, Scanlan Theodore, Aje and so many more.
Thanks for a great day out Year 10, may the day have inspired and prepared you for whatever you make next!
Mrs Abby Davis
Secondary Teacher
Year 9 Textiles Excursion
Year 9's turn! What an absolute delight and honour to offer 11 young women the opportunity to dive into the Australian Textiles Industry.
Starting at Remnant Warehouse where fashion fabrics are accessible to the public, we then went on to bespoke screen printers - Signature Handprints. Sheridan and Jennifer walked our students through what it takes to craft custom-made wallpaper and hand-printed fabrics; with students given the opportunity to make their own and practice the art of industry screen printing. We even made our own two-coloured wallpaper!
Think the excursion was over? Think again!
Our students were then given the honour of meeting Geri Lesson and the rest of the team at Style by Wesson, a dedicated partner to our Textiles Department here at CCAS. Wesson hosted a private Salon Edit for our students, giving them the opportunity to be the first to know what is on trend in Europe before it arrives on Australia's shores. Imagine getting up close with designs from Karl Lagerfeld, Coco Chanel and Hugo Boss.
Want to know what's coming this season? Talk to a Year 9 Textiles student, they are more than ready to hint at colours, styles and fabric features.
Thanks for a great day out Year 9 Textiles - you were awesome!
Mrs Abby Davis
Secondary Teacher
Basketball: CCAS vs Sports College
Last Wednesday our Open Boys and Open Girls basketball teams competed against Central Coast Sports College during lunch at the Sports Centre. These matches were a part of our ongoing local series and helped our teams consolidate some team chemistry ahead of the upcoming HRIS and BNSW Regional Championships this month.
The Open Girls team had a challenging start, allowing Sports College to gain an early lead. However, once the team found their rhythm, particularly in transition, they managed to close the gap. The game then became highly competitive, with both teams trading baskets and keeping the score to within a point for much of the game. Despite excellent offensive play and effective use of their systems, our girls struggled to convert shots in the half court. In the final minutes, a couple of critical shots by Sports College secured the win 41-40. This marks only the second loss for the Open Girls team this year, following their defeat in the AICES grand final, leaving their season record at 5-2.
The Open Boys team had a strong start, managing to stretch a 15-point lead in the first half. They ran the floor well in transition, and the benefits of the extra training sessions were evident as their half-court sets worked effectively, allowing them to take the right shots both inside and outside the arc. Defensively, they performed well, holding back some strong scorers from Sports College, particularly with great help defense in the lanes. The boys closed out the game with some deep three-pointers, securing a 50-38 win. Their season record now stands at 6-1.
Thanks to the supportive student base who came down to support the teams to create an awesome atmosphere for the games. Our teams are now focused on leveraging these experiences as they prepare for their upcoming HRIS event on June 5th and BNSW Regional Championships on June 12th (Boys) and June 13th (Girls).
Mr Ryan Starrett
Basketball Coach
Year 7 Textiles Projects
Year 7 have been tie dyeing for their clothing brand website assignment.
We are looking forward to untying them and seeing the results next week!
Ms Maree Curdie
Secondary Teacher
'The Alive' CCAS Creative Arts Production
You are invited to 'The Alive' an original CCAS Production.
'The Alive' is a themed performance event and the culmination of our High School Creative Arts Camp with food trucks, live music, and a captivating concert showcasing the incredible talents of our students. A place where creativity meets worship, where art, music, dance, and drama come together to celebrate the gifts of creation; to celebrate being ‘The Alive’.
Date: Thursday, 20th June
5 pm: Please join us at the Primary picnic tables for light entertainment, food, and drinks. Various food trucks will be on campus with dinner and dessert options (proceeds will go toward our 2024 Vanuatu service project)
What's on the menu?
-Savour some delicious wood-fired pizza
-Indulge in a crepe
-Enjoy refreshing gelato
-Treat yourself to some tasty gnocchi
7 pm: The program starts in the Naomi Frew Hall for a one-hour performing arts showcase.
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.
We hope to see you there!
CCAS Music & Drama
Haven Church Teen Rally
On Friday 24th May, around 180 teens gathered at CCAS for their first combined Teen Rally of the year. Buses arrived from Macquarie College and Avondale College, with parents also bringing kids in groups. Around the outdoor firepits, friendships were rekindled and new ones formed over a generous serving of Haven Haystacks.
The program continued in the hall with ice-breakers and joyful worship led by students from all three schools. Pr Grant concluded the night with an inspiring message, challenging the kids to be fearless in their faith.
As an adult looking in, it warms my heart to see these types of programs being run for, & especially by, the teens in our community. It's a chance for them to know that there are like-minded Christians outside their own sphere, an opportunity to step forward and develop their unique leadership styles, and a time to hear messages about Jesus specifically tailored for their age.
I thank God for each chaplain, pastor, parent, and helper who contributed to this event. These gatherings are a testament to the power of faith and community, and they play a crucial role in shaping the spiritual growth of our youth. So ... thank YOU!
The next Teen Rally will be held on August 23rd at Macquarie College.
Mrs Suzan Abel
Teacher's Aide
Gosford SDA Church Holiday Program
Bible Verse Of The Week
Eclesiastes 5:2
"Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few. "