March 20, 2025

Term 1 Week 8

From our Director of Teaching and Learning, Mr Andrew Kable

Goldilocks Struggle

We’ve all had it. That feeling when something’s just too hard. Whether it’s solving an algebraic equation or trying to get the kids to soccer on time early Saturday morning, we’re familiar with those feelings of overwhelm, of frustration, of wanting to just sit down and stop.

For many students, learning can feel like this sometimes.
As a teacher, it can be difficult to watch, and as a parent, even more so when my own children reach that point of struggle. But often the temptation, especially with my own kids, is to reach in and remove the challenge; to lift the toddler to the first step, to solve the puzzle for them, to take away those negative feelings. The problem is, sometimes those feelings can be helpful.

When students find everything easy, they aren’t sure what to do when things get hard. Resilience is like a muscle – it needs to be worked, grown, developed, and this happens often through learning to overcome challenges, to push through when we’re tired, to learn to captain our minds and hearts and make it to the end when things get tough.

The key for educators – and for myself as a parent – is finding the right balance, known as the ‘zone of proximal development.’ This is the Goldilocks zone: not too easy, but not so hard that the struggle becomes overwhelming. That balance is different for every student. But when challenge comes, when things don’t go our way or when life is not quite what we want it to be: that’s when we draw on the resources we’ve developed to press through until the end.

Research in psychology and neuroscience suggests that an appropriate level of productive struggle increases life satisfaction, as overcoming challenges strengthens neural pathways linked to resilience and motivation. In other words, it’s rewarding when we solve a difficult problem. We learn to be proud of ourselves, we learn that we can do hard things, and it builds our confidence and capacity to face more challenging situations. This idea isn’t new. The understanding that perseverance through challenge builds character and hope has been around for a long, long time. As articulated nearly two thousand years ago: ‘We know that suffering [trials or problems] produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.’ (Romans 5:3-4).

Director of Teaching and Learning, Mr Andrew Kable

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 Tuesday 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.

Thanks to Wendy for the nice reminder that prayer is about relationship, it is not a ritual …. “As we pray “Our Father in heaven,” God answers by imparting a childlike love and trust to our souls. When we address God as Father, every prayer transforms from ritual to relationship.” How beautiful is that picture of us calling on our Heavenly Father, and in response to that acknowledgement, He floods our souls with love and trust in Him.

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

Prayer Points:

College Vision & Purpose: Pray that our College continues to be a place where God’s purpose is evident in all that we do. May our vision remain aligned with His plans, and may our leadership, staff and students be guided by faith, wisdom and love.
Family & Friends Prayer Group: Thank God for the growth of the Family and Friends Prayer Group and for the increase in parents joining. Pray that it continues to be a space where parents and friends of the College community can seek God together, encourage one another, and lift up our College in faith.
Secondary Cross-Country: Thank God for safety, good sportsmanship, and enjoyment for all participants at the recent Cross Country Carnival.

Upcoming Important Dates

Primary

Secondary

Whole College

26.03.25 | All Schools Triathlon
14.04.25 – 27.04.25 | School Holidays
25.04.25 | ANZAC Day

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.

2026 Term dates are now live

2026 Term dates are now live on our website. To aid our in planning for the next year please find the details on our website or attached below:

https://bcc.nsw.edu.au/term-dates/

Exciting News – MathsHub is Here!

We are thrilled to introduce MathsHub, a new initiative that supports Secondary School students in their Mathematics learning.

MathsHub will be open every Wednesday at lunchtime in S3, where a Maths teacher will be available to assist students with:
✓ Homework and classwork
✓ Revising tricky concepts
✓ Asking any Maths-related questions

There’s no need to sign up—students can simply drop in whenever they need support. This is a great opportunity for students to strengthen their understanding and build confidence in a supportive learning environment.

We encourage all Secondary students to take advantage of this valuable resource!

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.

Creative News

Welcome to Wonderland – Our Secondary School Musical is Almost Here!

Hold onto your hats (especially if they’re mad ones!) because our school musical,
Alice in Wonderland, is shaping up to be a theatrical adventure like no other! With a
set that will transport you straight into Wonderland, costumes that dazzle, and a crew
working tirelessly behind the scenes, this is one show you won’t want to miss.

Students bringing the magic to life!

It’s not just what happens on stage that makes this show special. Our amazing
students are busy behind the scenes, painting giant teacups, crafting wacky
Wonderland props, and making sure every last detail is as magical as the story itself.

One of a kind set like no other!

Ever wondered what it’s like to step into a dream? Our set designers are making the
impossible possible—think oversized enoki mushrooms, larger than life props, and a
Wonderland that seems to twist and turn right before your eyes. Every element has
been carefully crafted to make you feel like you’ve tumbled headfirst into the
whimsical, topsy-turvy magic of Wonderland. Get ready for a visual feast that’ll make
you feel like you’ve truly tumbled down the rabbit hole!

Costumes that are pure magic!

From the Queen of Hearts’ over-the-top royal look to the Mad Hatter’s delightfully
eccentric style, every costume is bursting with personality. Bright, bold, and just the
right amount of whimsy, they’ll bring all your favourite characters to life in spectacular
fashion.

Stay tuned for ticket details—you won’t want to be late for this very important date!

Secondary School Musical Sponsors

We are currently seeking sponsors for our Secondary School Musical. This is a wonderful opportunity for our BCC Business community to get involved and be a part of the magic! We are offering a compelling sponsors package including inclusion in our promotional material before and during the Musical, on signage, programmes and across our campus. More information can be found on our website-
https://bcc.nsw.edu.au/support-our-community/

Thankyou to our sponsors Knight Frank Newcastle who have already jumped on board!

Sport News

X-Country Results

Praise God for an awesome day, the day started with excellent running conditions, but soon heated up both in temperature and competition.

Many students ran, walked, and enjoyed participating in the annual College X Country Carnival down at Thomas Halton Park, Croudace Bay.

Congratulations to the following students on outstanding results.

Primary Age Champions

8 Yrs Boys Leo Bishop
8 Yrs Girls Harley Fairbairn
9 Yrs Boys Nathaniel Vine
9 Yrs Girls Isla Tidey
10 Yrs Boys Lawson Barry
10 Yrs Girls Asha Ryan
11 Yrs Boys Xavi Bennett
11 Yrs Girls Mia Porter
12+ Yrs Boys Zirk Lombard
12+ Yrs Girls Leilah Clarke

Primary House Points
1st – Cuthbert – 209
2nd – Robinson – 203
3rd – Liddell – 183
4th – Booth- 179

Secondary Age Champions

12 Yrs Boys Tobias Burgum
12 Yrs Girls Taylor Dolph
13 Yrs Boys Samuel Carter
13 Yrs Girls Louella Scharfe
14 Yrs Boys Johannes Lombard
14 Yrs Girls Mya Terbeeke
15 Yrs Boys Toby Fragar
15 Yrs Girls Violet Burgum
16 Yrs Boys Bandile Sibanda
16 Yrs Girls Emaline Troyer
17 Yrs Boys Hamilton Dobson
17 Yrs Girls Sophia Hassall
18 Yrs Boys Micah Troyer
18 Yrs Girls Estella Brown

Secondary House Points
1st – Robinson – 249
2nd – Booth -221
3rd – Liddell – 206
4th – Cuthbert – 205

Congratulations to the following students who earned bonus points for their House by beating or coming very close to Mr Hall’s present times:
Year 7 – Samuel Carter, Tobias Burgum
Year 8 – Johannes Lombard
Year 9 – Toby Fragar, Violet Burgum, Bandile Sibanda
Year 10 – Hamish Rae, Patrick Montgomery, Lachlan Thorpe, Joel Johnston, Emmaline Troyer, Alex Campbell
Year 11 –
Year 12 – Micah Troyer, Aidan Rae, Kai O’Sullivan, Amos Maddison

Primary NSW CSSA Swimming

A large team of 20 students travelled down to Homebush on a Thursday night to represent Hunter Zone at the NSW CSSA Swimming Championships. For many, this was the first chance for them to swim in the pool that hosted the 2000 Olympic Games Swimming events. Our swimmers were very excited for this opportunity and once again swam their best against Christian schools from all over NSW.

Zirk Lombard (12yr 50m Freestyle) and Asha Ryan (10yr 50m Freestyle) have qualified for the NSW CIS Carnival, along with our Senior Boys Relay team (Alfie Taylor, Xavi Bennett, Ashton Millett, Zirk Lombard).

Congratulations to our swimmers.

HCZS Touch Football Gala Day

The HCZS Touch Football Gala Day was another successful event for Belmont Christian College. All teams were great representatives of the College and displayed exceptional athleticism, skill and sportsmanship.

The senior boys had some challenging round games and fought hard to be the top of their pool. Winning a tight Semi-Final they went into the Grand-Final battle ready. Unfortunately they were narrowly defeated and finished runners up for the day.

The senior girls entered the day with a young team and brought excitement and enthusiasm to every game. They had mixed results and finished in fifth place overall.

The junior boys were the dominant team on their side of the draw, going through undefeated in the preliminary rounds. Breezing through the Semi-Final they went into the Grand-Final with a great chance of victory. Again they were unlucky losing by only one try and finishing runners up. The junior girls started the day with a big win and after some mixed results they finished top of their pool. Another solid win in the semi final had them go into the grand final full of confidence, but a tough day of games showed, and they went down again by the closest of margins, finishing the day as runners up.

A big thanks to Mrs Haggerston and Mr Prozinski for coaching the teams and to Mr Hahn for his excellent organisation of the day.

Secondary Zone Swimming

Age Champions
12 Years Girls – Taylor Dolph
13 Years Boys – Blair Gillon
14 Years Girls – Skylar Moore – 2nd Place
15 Years Girls – Amelia Palmer
15 Year Girls – Stella O’Toole – 2nd Place
16 Years Boys – Hamish Rae
16 Years Boys – Fletcher Arendts – 2nd Place
17 Years Girls – Estella Bonsor

Record Breakers
Belmont – Girls 12-14 4×50 Free Relay – 2:04.84
Skylar Moore, Taylor Dolph, Isabella Maiden, Molly Mawson

School Results
Overall School Champions 2nd Place
Challenge Cup – 1st Place

CSSA State Representatives

Congratulations Hamilton Dobson (Open Boys) and Willow Barry (Under 15s Girls) for being selected to represent CSSA NSW in the State Hockey

Thredbo Interschools Mountain Biking Representation

Congratulations to Tom Mathieson, Kobe Munk and Kai Power who represented the College exceptionally, at the recent Thredbo Interschools Mountain Biking Event.

Out-of-School Sporting Excellence

Charlotte Campbell Year 8 has qualified to represent NSW at Junior Athletics Nationals in Perth in April, beating the qualifying time of 15.04 seconds with a new PB of 14.90 seconds. Awesome Job.

Office News

Alinta Uniform Shop going Cashless

Dear Families,

Due to a shift in how shoppers spend and the way banks are transacting, Alinta has made
the decision to become a cashless company. This decision has come due to a number of factors:
Consumers no longer carrying cash
Local branches are closing
Local branches are becoming cashless and making depositing cash difficult
Cash will no longer be accepted in store as of 1 June 2025.
We apologise for any inconvenience this causes.

Thank you,
Alinta Management.

Payment Options:

EFTPOS (EFTPOS cards, Mastercard or Visa using card, smartphone or
smartwatch)

Credit Card & Debit Card (Mastercard or Visa)

LAYBY (with 20% deposit and 3-month term)

Careers News

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.

NSW Mining Careers Dinner

LAT Plus Law Accelerator Program

Parent/Carer Information and Support

SWAP IT – Everyday in a lunch box

Good for Kids Good for Life

Fundraising with Entertainment Book

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