November 21, 2024

Term 4 Week 6

From our Deputy Principal, Mr David Holland

“It began in no time at all,
And continued, time after time, day after day, until eventually there was simply no time, AT ALL.
Someone was always running out of it….
……..or losing track of it……
…….or lying around letting it slip through their fingers.
If only we had more hours in the day.’ Emit (whose parents turned back time to name him) was told, Time and Time Again. Which got Emit thinking.”
Kelly Canby

This is an excerpt from the picture book ‘Timeless’ by Kelly Canby. It focuses on the central character Emit who struggles with everyone around him not having enough time. As we speed towards the end of the school year (and calendar year), you may be finding that time is more precious and limited than it usually is. You may even be struggling to have the time to do all the things on your job list. If this is true of you, rest assured you are not alone. We are feeling this at the College too!

At present, we have one foot in 2024 trying to finish this year well; and one foot in 2025 planning and preparing to be ready for the start of the next school year. To illustrate this, our teachers are busy, marking end of year assessments and exams, writing reports, finalising end of year presentation awards; and collectively we are drafting 2025 classes, completing new timetables, rosters and room allocations, recruiting additional staff, planning camps etc.

Whilst these are all important things, and we dedicate the appropriate time to completing these tasks well, sometimes we wish we had more time. Time to linger a bit longer in that incidental conversation with a student to check-in and ask, ‘How are you going?’. Time to add those special touches which take a lesson from being good to being great. Time to spend with our Heavenly Father, not rushing prayer, and diving deep into his word. More time for people, and less time dedicated to tasks.

Christmas and the end of a year is something to look forward to. It tends to give shape and an end goal to each year. But how do we move towards Christmas and the end of the year while also managing that feeling of being ‘Timeless’ (or time poor is another way to put it)? Well, the advice given to Emit in the book is – “If time is what you want, you have to make it. Remember that, always”. In other words, to have the time for the people and things that brings us joy and purpose, we need to find a way to make time for them. I know, it sounds easier said than done. But if we don’t, as Emit discovers, ‘Time flies’ or ‘Time passes you by’.

About Timeless
This vibrant book won the Children’s Book Council of Australia 2024 Picture Book of the Year. Written by award winning author and illustrator Kelly Canby, it is all about time – making it, losing it and subverting the whole concept. Emit (whose parents turned back time to name him) is surrounded by busyness. Dad is too busy to read stories, Mum is too busy to play games and Emit’s brother and sister are simply too busy doing nothing to do anything at all. Emit tries everything he can think of to get more time, he tries to catch it, wait for it, but it’s not until Emit tries to buy some time that he learns the secret which is, if you want time, you have to make it. Why not grab a copy from our College library and read it with your children this week!

Prayer and Praise

BCC Prayer Warriors

We are privileged to be able to run a monthly prayer morning. It’s a treat to pray for new families, students and staff, share some coffee and cake and enjoy great conversation. Everyone is welcome to join us on the first Monday of each month from 8:45am – 9:30am to pray alongside parents and local churches. Come for a bit, or come for the whole time.

Please sign-in at the College Office. We meet near the Weathershed in the College Garden. Simply follow the signs.

For more information or to ask for personal prayer, please email prayerwarriors@bcc.nsw.edu.au.

Check out the prayer focus areas and upcoming dates in the image below.

Prayer Points:

Recruitment: Pray for the ongoing recruitment process as we seek to fill various positions over the next few weeks. Ask for God’s provision and that the hiring panel will be sensitive to His leading, choosing individuals who will best serve and support our College community.
End of Year Festival: Pray that as a College and community that we can bless each other in celebration and remain thankful to God for all He’s done for us through the year. Pray for God’s help in preparation for the festival and that the generous donations from our community might help those in need through Belmont Community Care.
2024 Formals and Graduation Ceremonies: Pray that these events might be a safe and fun time for our students. As many events happen offsite or on the College campus during a busy time of year, pray that transport and organisation will run smoothly allowing us to bless our students and BCC families.

Upcoming Important Dates

Primary

Secondary

25.11.24 – 26.11.24 | Yr10 Readiness Program and Big Day Out
26.11.24 | Yr12 Formal
27.11.24 | Yr10 Graduation Dinner

Whole College

Our College Calendar is available on our website where you can be kept up-to-date with events throughout the year. Closer to the event parents and carers will receive communication via the Sentral Parent App and/or email.

BCC End of Year Festival – A celebration of learning and community

The Annual BCC End of Year Festival is fast approaching. Lock away in the diary Tuesday, 3 December from 5pm.

Bring your camp chair and come along with all the family, including nana and pa, for a fun-filled evening.

On the night, we will be raising funds for our local charity partner, Belmont Community Care.

View Festival Details

Thank you to our sponsors

We wish to thank the following festival sponsors for their support.

Download the Sentral Parent App today!

For all major announcements regarding College Life, student reports & absences, calendar access, newsletters, excursion permissions, fee payments and much more, the College uses the Sentral Parent App. If you have not already, please download the Sentral Parent App by searching ‘Sentral for Parents’ in the App Store on your smartphone and ensure that notifications are enabled within the App. Set up instructions can be found here. If you have any trouble registering, please email the College on sentral@bcc.nsw.edu.au and our friendly IT department will support you through the process.

Uniforms

Parents and carers, please assist our staff by ensuring that your children adhere to the College’s uniform policy. We are seeing too many girls wearing incorrect earrings, ribbons in their hair or other incorrect hair accessories. Boys are not permitted to wear jewellery other than a watch, and girls are permitted to wear one ring, one set of earrings (see breakout) and a watch.

Socks must be the College grey or white with the formal uniform. White sports socks (College logo) are to be worn with the PE/Sport uniform.

Secondary boys must tuck their shirts in at all times unless they have the all-season untuckable shirts. Girls’ skirts length must be 10cm from the knee.

Sport News

Primary Junior CSSA Basketball

Our Junior (Yr 3/4) Basketball teams had their opportunity this week at the same venue as the Seniors the week before.

Once again, both teams played strongly in their pool games and went through undefeated and into the semi-finals.

The boys came up against Maitland, a side they had beaten in the Zone Final just a few weeks prior. However, this time, the tables were turned with the Maitland side hitting their shots from all over the court.

BCC fought hard, but in the end went down in a tight battle.
Our Girls side had a very nervous start in their semi-final, leading 7-4 at halftime. The second half was a very different story as our girls switched on and played some very high quality basketball, going on to win 22-4.

Our Girls were very confident going into the final against Norwest and were red hot favourites to win the title, based on results throughout the day. However, these situations can bring on nerves, and BCC certainly felt this pressure. After scoring more than 20 points in every game on the day, they found themselves unable to score, even though they had the vast majority of shots. The side was down 2-6 at halftime before fighting back to take the lead 7-6 with just two minutes left.

Norwest tied the game late and when the final shot of the game from BCC rimmed out, we headed to overtime.

Again, Belmont took the lead through a single free throw, but that would be all they would get, as their nervous hands continued to miss the target. BCC went down in the final 9-12.
Whilst the girls were disappointed to finish that way after such a strong day, CSSA Runners Up is certainly an outstanding achievement.

With all four Primary teams reaching NSW CSSA Semifinals in 2024, Basketball has certainly continued to be a strength at BCC.

JUNIOR GIRLS		JUNIOR BOYS
def Mamre	30-0	def Mamre	24-4
def HopePoint	34-0	def HopePoint	29-12
def Northern Beaches	21-6	lost to Norwest	19-20
SEMI – def Pacific Hills	22-4	SEMI – lost to Maitland	20-27
FINAL – lost to Norwest	9-12

Primary Senior CSSA Basketball

Our Yr 5/6 teams travelled to Penrith last Monday to compete at the NSW CSSA Basketball Gala Day.

Both teams played very well throughout their pool games, winning their pool undefeated.
Both the Boys and the Girls sides fought hard in their semi-finals, but went down to the teams that would go on to win the day. Congratulations to our Senior Basketballers!

SENIOR GIRLS		SENIOR BOYS
def Wagga Wagga	18-0	def Wagga Wagga	32-17
def Penrith	11-2	def Penrith	30-12
def HopePoint	22-2	def HopePoint	23-4
def Pacific Hills	5-3	def Pacific Hills	31-17
SEMI – lost to Maitland	4-13	SEMI – lost to Northern Beaches	19-26

Basketball NSW Regional Tournament

Our Primary Senior Boys competed for the first time in the BNSW Regional Tournament.

Playing in Division 1 was a real challenge for our players but after a very tough first game, they composed themselves well to go down by just three points in a nail biter for their second game, before going on to win their final game by 20 points.

CSSA Cricket Final

After winning the Zone Cricket Day a few weeks ago, our Primary Cricket team travelled down to Terrey Hills near Sydney’s Northern Beaches. With one opponent unable to play in the finals series, the final became a one-off 20/20 game to determine the 2024 champions. Half of the BCC side was a part of the team that one the final last year, so there was genuine belief that they could go back to back.

BCC won the toss and sent Northern Beaches CS in to bat. A tidy first over including a wicket from captain Josiah Bell, had BCC on their toes in the field. However Northern Beaches put together a few solid partnerships and put the pressure on a BCC side that leaked a few runs. A stunning, left handed diving catch from Zirk Lombard was certainly a highlight from the morning that had everyone on their feet. In the end, Beaches were bowled out on their final ball, recording a formidable 144 off their 20 overs.

The BCC run chase could not have got off to a worse start, losing early wickets to the pacey Beaches attack. Our side found themselves struggling at 3/3 after 3 overs, and in trouble of posting an embarrassing innings. However, as good sides tend to do, some of our batsmen stood tall and put on some significant totals.

In the end Belmont Christian College batted out their 20 overs, managing to finish at 8/90. A respectable total, given the start to the innings, but unfortunately not enough to get the win. The boys had a fantastic day though, enjoying lunch and drinks provided by the hosts.
A Runners Up medal to finish the year for our team. Congratulations on your efforts.

Northern Beaches 144 (J. Bell 2/12, J. Badenhorst 2/18, I.Davies 1/16, H. Batchelor 1/17) def Belmont CC 90 (J. Badenhorst 22, J. Hassall 20, J. Bell 17 n.o.)

College Activity

Extension English Book Reviews

Annie Mathieson (Year 4):
My Books : “Belly Up” & “Darius Bell And The Glitter Pool”
Authors : Stuart Gibbs (A FunJungle Novel) & Odo Hirsch

Belly Up
“Teddy Fitzroy is in over his head.” I would strongly recommend the book ‘Belly Up’ to young readers. It is an interesting murder mystery book. But whether the victim is a human, or hippo that has gone “belly up”, you’ll have to find out. With the help of Summer McCracken, will they figure out the culprit at FunJungle? Or find themselves in serious trouble?

I would recommend this with a rating of 7/10, as it is an intriguing book with interesting and captivating language. It is not as complex as other books I’ve read but it draws you in. If you love mysteries and excitement, I would highly recommend this book to you.

Darius Bell and the Glitter Pool
This book is, so far, one of the best I’ve ever read… and I haven’t even finished it!
Odo Hirsch is a richly talented author whose words and chapters tempt you with every word. “It swished at his knees, and Darius smiled as he went through it, feeling like a pirate ploughing through a wide green sea.” This is one of the first sentences and dares you to read more. I would rate this book a solid 10 out of 10 as it is like an incandescent candle in the distance waiting for you to follow it. It is a fantastic book that I would highly recommend if you love a bit of mystery and a bit of fun.

Jessika Sparrow (Year 6):

The Narnia Series:
C.S Lewis is a Christian author and is known for writing the 7 book series: The Chronicles of Narnia. He shows his Christianity through writing books and makes the books enjoyable for everyone. His purpose for writing is to not only entertain readers but to show his analogy for his Christian faith.

I have only read the first 3 Narnia Books in the 7 book collection and I’m adoring it. It is suitable for the ages of around 10-15 years old and is a whimsical journey through the land of Narnia. The Christian aspect around this book is noticeable but takes time to realise. When you do realise this, you see that it really has a beautiful purpose behind it, making you feel loved and encouraged.

The book itself is a great print but only a small size and is not a normal size. I bought mine at Koorong, it is a small, printed book. I don’t mind this size as it is great to take to the beach, school or even on a car trip!

The language included in this book is gorgeous and paints a real picture in your mind. I suggest you read the book before the movie so that you can really get the most amazing adventure through the series, meeting all the characters. It is a wonderful collection to read. The tension built pulls you towards the books, keeping your head in them for a while. It is well written by C.S Lewis!

Each book has its own personalities but all come together in the final book. It’s a fun and enjoyable series to read overall. Making you laugh, cry and beam with joy all at the same time!

Taylor Dolph (Year 6):

Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton.
I have enjoyed and loved this book. Faraway Tree takes you into another world with its whimsical writing and enhanced dialogue, it truly feels like you’re there in the present moment with Joe, Beth and Frannie all going off on an adventure. The intriguing details among the book lure you in with suspicions of what will happen next.

I love the story of going up the faraway tree, getting a new adventure every time. I enjoy the characters developing and being smarter with their choices. The additional, funny characters coming into play add another element of fun and enjoyment. I would totally recommend this book for all ages because of its intriguing adventures and funny moments. I rate it an 8.5 out of 10.

Charity Fackler (Year 4):

Amelia Jane Again
I rate ‘Amelia Jane Again!’ 4.7 out of 5 stars. I gave the book this amount of stars because I found the characters, especially Amelia Jane, to have humoristic qualities which makes the book very funny and relatable. An example is the time when Amelia Jane stuffed shoes up her apron!

Office News

Holiday Office Hours

The College office will remain open during the holidays with adjusted hours to assist families.
Holiday Schedule:

9.12.24–20.12.24 | Monday to Friday, 8.30am–3.30pm
6.1.25–17.1.25 | Monday to Friday, 8.30am–3.30pm
20.1.25 (Monday) | Closed for staff training
21.1.25–23.1.25 | Tuesday to Thursday, 10am–3.30pm
24.1.25 (Friday) | Closed for staff training

If you have any questions or need assistance, please feel free to contact the office during these hours.

Important Information for 2025 School Bus Travel

Belmont Christian College would like to share the following information from Busways to assist families in preparing for the 2025 school year.

School Opal Cards
If your child will be traveling to school by bus in 2025, they will need a School Opal card. Applications for the 2025 School Opal card are now open. To avoid delays, we encourage families to apply before the end of this year.

Under the School Student Transport Scheme (SSTS), eligible students can apply for free or subsidised travel between home and school. For more information and to apply, please visit transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts on a desktop computer and select ‘apply for a school travel pass.’

Bus Timetables
Busways is the school bus operator for Belmont Christian College. To check the bus timetable for your child’s journey, follow these steps:

Visit busways.com.au/nsw.
Click on ‘school services’ in the navigation bar, then select ‘school timetables.’
Enter the College’s name in the search field or use the drop-down menus to locate it.
Open the timetable to view available school bus services in your area.
If you have questions or need assistance, please contact Busways directly.

Canteen Holiday Closure

Please note that the final day for canteen purchases this year will be Wednesday, December 4. This will be the last opportunity for students to order or buy items before the canteen closes for the year.

We thank our amazing canteen staff and volunteers for their hard work and dedication throughout 2024, ensuring our students have enjoyed delicious and nutritious options all year long.

Uniform Shop News

Extended Trading Hours

The uniform shop will be extending their hours after school finishes for the term for appointments only.

Tuesday, 10 December: 1:00pm-3:30pm
Wednesday, 11 December: 1:00pm-3:30pm
Thursday, 12 December: 8am-11am

If your child needs to try uniforms on, please make a booking online for an appointment.

Year 10 Students Needing a Year 11 Blazer

Careers News

Making confident career choices at results time | Tuesday, 3 December 6:00pm

The end of the year can be an anxious time for senior secondary students as they take their final exams, wait for their results, and think about what the future holds. Some of you will celebrate, some will be disappointed, and many will feel uncertain about what it all means. Many of you will second-guess your decisions and wonder if you should change your plans and preferences.

Join the myfuture’s career development expert Dr Michael Healy shares some tips on how to make sense of your results and plan your next steps accordingly. He will talk about:

How to make sense of what your results mean for you
How to deal with second thoughts
How to change your plans, if you really need to
What kinds of options you have if you didn’t achieve the results you hoped for
Where to go for help if you need it.

These tips will help you to make good career decisions and approach the next chapter of your journey with confidence.

Register now for this free webinar event.

Construction Trade Scholarships 2025 – 2026

Unlock the future – Cognitive Neuroscience Event

Are you curious about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) is shaping our understanding of the human brain? What would happen if AI started to do your homework for you? Could AI be used to enhance your memory and cognitive flexibility? Join us for an exciting event where AI meets its maker at Newcastle City Hall.

Event Details
Date: Wednesday, 27 November
Time: Doors open 5:30pm, Conversation begins at 6:00 pm
Location: Concert Hall – Newcastle City Hall

Parent/Carer Information and Support

The following activities and services are offered by external providers and may be beneficial to your family. These services focus on strengthening student wellbeing or academic capacity. While these services are not explicitly from a Christian worldview, they do provide insights based on human wisdom and evidence based research. However, personal discretion as to whether these services align with your own beliefs will be required. Such services are NOT fully endorsed by the College, but are made available for families to make their own judgement and decision.

SWAP IT – Everyday in a lunch box

Sunday Night Discipleship Group

Fundraising with Entertainment Book

Entertainment Book Available Now

Support a cause that’s meaningful to you by purchasing a Membership to The Entertainment App.

20% of each Membership purchase will go directly to your chosen Fundraiser.

Entertainment Memberships are now 100% digital. Saying goodbye to the iconic Book wasn’t easy but the new Entertainment Memberships start anytime and are valid for 12 months from activation. Packed with thousands of substantial savings to delight and inspire, an Entertainment Membership is your pass to exclusive offers and quality experiences, activities and benefits. The digital membership is easy to download to start using instantly. New offers are added weekly for ongoing value all year round.

Benefits of the App include:

~ User-friendly: Instantly search and redeem offers or check out the Near Me tab to find offers, wherever you are.

~ Memberships start anytime: Flexible start date, Memberships are valid for 12 months from when you activate.

~ Multiple devices: You can still share your Membership with your family. Encourage your partner and kids to download the App so they can access valuable savings when out.

~ Convenient: The App means that as long as you have your phone, you have your Membership too (no more lugging around the book).

~ Easy gifting: We’ve made it simpler than ever to gift an Entertainment Membership – simply purchase from your chosen fundraiser and the gift Membership will be delivered instantly to your inbox.

Buy now