Newsletter 2017March 2 - Week 5, Term 1

During Week 3 our Prefect team got together for our annual camp at Batchelor. The students were encouraged and challenged in sessions run by Mr Joel Van Bentum, Mr del Rosario (JR), one of our College Chaplains, and Mrs Glenda Nyhuis. Mr Herman Nyhuis, one of our founding members and a former College Principal, was a guest speaker who treated the students to an insight into the early days of our College and helped foster a deeper appreciation of the sacrifices many people made in order to see Marrara Christian College become a reality.

Lots of fun was had and friendships made or strengthened during our archery and climbing wall sessions, our cool down at the local pool, our night game and (some might argue) our gruelling mountain-bike ride! Students also led devotions before each meal and this, for me, was the highlight of our camp, to hear the thoughtfulness and maturity of our Prefects as they shared different gems of wisdom from God. It was a real privilege to spend time with these young people and soak in their positivity, their great attitudes, their willingness to serve and their desire to love God and love others.

Mrs Jen Palmer - Year 12 Teacher

Prefect Team Camp

Diary Dates

Monday 6thCouncil Meeting

Wednesday 8th - Friday 10thYear 11 Camp

Monday 13th Austswim lessons begin

for Primary students. Monday to Thursday for 2 weeks, finishing Thursday 23rd

Tuesday 14thLarapinta Info Evening

Monday 20thNTCC closure for Staff

Profesional Development

Friday 24thLarapinta Training Walk

Tuesday 28thCross Country (TBC)

Thursday 30thParent Teacher Conferences

Friday 31stYear 7 & 8 Immunisations

Saturday 1stWorking Bee

Monday 3rd Council Meeting

Monday 3rd - Friday 7thStructured Work Placement

(VET)

Tuesday 4thParent Teacher Conferences

Thursday 6thWhole College Easter

Assembly

Thursday 6thBoarders travel out

Monday 10th - Monday 17thEaster Holidays

Tuesday 18thStudents start Term 2

Tuesday 18thBoarders travel in

Wednesday 19thBoarders start Term 2

March

April

I would like to thank all the families who came to the new parent BBQ, it was a lot of fun and I enjoyed having the opportunity to meet you. As often happens I got into a conversation that afternoon with a few parents about what I mean when I talk about teaching students to read the stories of the world. Now, parents who have been around the College for a while may have heard this from me before, but at the prompting of this new parent I am going to try to share our conversation with you. It went something like this:

Why is it that our children (particularly our adolescents) are struggling so much with the big questions in life? Despite living in one of the most abundant and affluent cultures in history our children are struggling with big, important life changing, life shaping questions. Why is it, that so many people who we see as having “made it” in reality are so disillusioned with life that they sadly throw it all away in such despair and hopelessness.

My answer to this question is that they are listening and learning from the wrong stories. This may sound too simple but I believe that these stories are important and learning to listen to the right ones even more so. Why? Because they shape how we view the world.

“The BaMbuti people live in the dense, forested valleys of the north eastern Congo in Africa. Their history is marked by geographical and cultural isolation, and their way of life, like their language, is deeply shaped by their forest home. In the 1950s, a British anthropologist studying their culture and lifestyle formed a friendship with a BaMbuti tribesman called Kenge, who began to accompany him on his expeditions. Like most BaMbuti, Kenge had never before left the confines of the forest. It was on one of these journeys that the anthropologist invited Kenge to accompany him onto the plains.

As they drove out of the forest into grassland, Kenge was speechless. His language gave him no words to describe a land where you could see for miles around with no trees. Pointing to a herd of buffalo, far in the distance, Kenge asked what kind of insects they were. Perplexed, the anthropologist explained that these were buffalo, a common sight to the BaMbuti, but that they appeared smaller because of the distance. Kenge’s reaction left no doubt that he thought this was nonsense, but when they drove closer, he saw that the anthropologist was right.

Having never seen an object at a distance, he had no expectation that distance makes things look smaller. What witchcraft had made such small buffalo grow larger as they approached? Insects and buffalo. Anthropologists and tribesmen. So much of what we know depends on how we view the world. Like the BaMbuti and the anthropologist, we each have a set of assumptions about reality. We think we know how things are. We look at the world through the lens of our assumptions and we interpret what we see according to those assumptions.” *

Each of us has a worldview. Our worldview is, in simple terms our assumptions of reality, the way we think things work. The compilation of these assumptions form the story of how we see the world. Are we looking at insects or buffalo? This is a challenge for those of us who are trying to grow children in the world today. The truth is that in many cases, what they see as insects we know are buffalo.

Part of what we are trying to do at the College is help students understand and interpret worldview-forming stories correctly. Why is this important? It’s important because issues like identity, purpose, our value are found within these stories. Together we need to give students the experiences and stories that help them challenge their views of the world that are false and help them find the truth.

One of the ways that we do this is talk with them about the story of the Bible. Held within this story are the answers to issues plaguing students today like identity, purpose, and value. Knowing the story of the Bible and how to correctly interpret it provides the answers to these big questions.

Now don’t worry, we do all this in amongst teaching subjects like Maths, Science, English Literature and Physics to name just a few. Which I might add we do very well indeed; just take a look at our last Year 12 results which are excellent. But what makes our students truly stellar is that they are not only academically successful but know who they are, they know that they are so important, so immeasurably valuable that Christ died to save them and that story makes all the difference.

* The Insect and the Buffalo (Allpress & Shamy, 2009) is a fantastic little book that explores how the story of the Bible reshapes how we see the world. I fully recommend reading it.

Blessings,

Mr Andrew Manning - Principal

A Word FromOur Principal...

Prefect Induction Assembly

Our Prefect Commissioning took place during our Whole College Assembly last week. Mrs Dimmick, our Head of Senior School, wisely spoke about the true nature of Godly leadership and then demonstrated this by washing the feet of our Prefects, with the help of Mr Van Bentum, Principal of NT Christian College. The assembly concluded with a morning tea for the newly-badged Prefect team and many of their parents.

Our 2017 Prefect team consists of: our College Captains, Eliza Palmer and Thomas Rehrmann, and our Vice Captains, Naomi Beissel and Aggie Vateitei. Together with Mitchell Stennett, Katie Farnsworth, Alesha West, Digby Williams, Madison Russo, Leah Beissel, Hayley Twartz, Isaac Dimmick, Mikaela Sager, Dominique Carbone, Jemima Fernandes, Sophia McKee, Thomas Palmer, Joshua Van Bentum and Lucas Badenhop.

Mrs Jen Palmer - Year 12 Teacher

New Staff Introductions - Meet Miss Hawkes & Mrs Barrett

Hi, my name is Melissa Hawkes and I am a new teacher at Marrara Christian College. I will be working in Education Support and teaching some Science. Previously, I worked at Plenty Valley Christian College in Melbourne, teaching Middle School Science and Maths, and Senior Biology. I also worked with the Student Leadership Team and was Camps Coordinator. For leisure, I love the outdoors, hiking, running and swimming. I’m also finishing my Masters this year. I am excited for the opportunity to provide support and care for our students and to make sure they can make the most of all education opportunities.

Hi, my name is Rebecca (Bec) Barrett. I was born in QLD where I lived for 5 years before living in Indigenous communities in WA, including Fitzroy Crossing. My family moved to the Territory when I was 10 years old which is about when I met the boy who 9 years later became my husband.

After being blessed to have spent the past 10 years at home with my 3 kids who are now 10, 8 and 6 years old, I have recently taken on the adventure of the Middle School Administration Assistant role.

My greatest weaknesses are Greek desserts and planning themed events. They get me every time!

It is so refreshing working in a Christian workplace and I have been overwhelmed by the warm welcome I have received from so many friendly faces.

IMP Parents Please Note:Carolyn Gray will not be available to teach piano lessons on the following days:

Week 7 - Tuesday 14th March

Week 8 - Monday 20th March and Tuesday 21st March

Week 9 - Monday 29th March

For any queries, please contact:amber.badenhop@ntschools.net

Our VisionMarrara Christian College seeks to be a learning community where parents and staff partner together,

and where students are nurtured through a loving, biblically based school curriculum to build their faith, character and desire to serve.

Opportunity through learning

50 Marcus Clarke Street, Canberra ACT 2601 GPO Box 9880, Canberra ACT 2601 | Phone (02) 6121 6000

2017 Student Residential Address Collection

This notice is from the Australian Government Department of Education and Training (the department), to advise you that the department has requested your child’s school provide a statement of addresses, in accordance with section 21 of the Australian Education Regulation 2013 (the Regulation).

A statement of addresses contains the following three pieces of information about students at the school:

• Students’ residential address (not student names or other identifying information) • Students’ level of education (i.e. whether the student is receiving primary or secondary education) • Students’ boarding school status (boarders or day students)

Authority for and Purpose of Collection

Consistent with previous practice, and following the 2016 Australian Bureau of Statistics National Census of Population and Housing (Census), it is timely that information held by the department is updated in order to ensure that Australian Government funding calculations for your child’s school are accurate.

Under section 21 of the Regulation, a statement of addresses must not explicitly identify an individual student. Accordingly, all information in the statement of addresses provided by your child’s school to the department is de-identified.

Use and Disclosure of Information

It is important to ensure the statements of addresses are accurate, and the department may from time to time carry out audits of statements of addresses to verify their accuracy. In the event of an audit, the department’s contracted auditors may seek to compare a school’s statement of addresses with student enrolment information held by the school for the purpose of verifying the information. The department’s contractors will not use the information for any other purpose.

Any further use and disclosure of information relating to the statement of addresses will occur in accordance with section 65 of the Regulation.

Contact

If you have any questions regarding this notice, you can contact the department by:

• Email: seshelpdesk@education.gov.au • Phone (free call): SES helpdesk on 1800 677 027 (Option 4)

For further information about the department, including the department’s privacy policy, please go to: https://education.gov.au.

Contact usMCC 08 8920 2000 • NTCC 08 8920 2006 • www.mcc.nt.edu.au

admin.mcc@ntschools.net • PO Box 84 Karama NT 0813 combined campus of NT Christian Schools

Would you like to try a Tri?

On Saturday 15 April 2017, Triathlon NT presents the annual Kids and Junior NT Championships at the picturesque Lake Alexander, East Point Reserve, Darwin. Races are open to all comers, and comprise a series of fun challenges in swimming, cycling and running across distances to suit all levels of ability for children

aged 6-16. Non-members are welcome! We also offer pre-event participation opportunities, most of which are free, or offered for a

nominal charge.

For more info, click on the following link:www.active.com/east-point-reserve-nt/triathlon/races/nt-kids-

triathlon-2017

Or contact Tim Ellison: 0437 602 346 ntjuniordevelopment@gmail.com

Parents can help catastrophisers learn to change their perspective when things go wrong.

It’s natural when things go wrong to think that life will never be the same again. I recall as a teenager doing poorer than expected in my end of school exams, and missing the tertiary course I had set for myself. At the time it was such a catastrophe. I thought that there was no point taking another course – naturally, I would hate it. Of course, I undertook a teaching course, which I really enjoyed and I didn’t look back.

Breaking up with a friend, losing close sports events and being on the receiving end of teasing can at the time seem like events from which we will never recover.

Catastrophising (jumping immediately to the worst possible scenario) only exaggerates kids’ worries and makes them feel even more anxious. It always helps to keep your sense of proportion, but it’s not easy when emotions run high. We all exaggerate our problems from time to time, particularly, when we are under stress. It takes a cool customer to moderate their thinking the whole time, but some kids are prone to jumping to the worst-case scenario, even when the events are quite minor.

If your child is a serial catastrophiser, always seeing the worst case in a

negative situation, try to change their thinking so they learn to keep things in perspective. Ask them the following questions to challenge your child’s catastrophic thinking:

‘What’s the most likely scenario?’Sometimes it’s useful to introduce a dose of old-fashioned rational thinking for those kids who always assume the worst will happen to them. ‘Yep, you could break your leg if you go skiing. But the odds are that you won’t.’

‘You may be right, but does it really matter?’ One way to help hard-core catastrophisers is to admit that they could be right, but then ask them to imagine that the worst possible scenario actually happens. Then challenge them to understand that even the worst possible scenario is not so bad after all. This is the type of reality check many kids need.

disaster meter?’Catastrophisers tie themselves in

things. Okay, making a fool out of themselves when they give a talk at

kids, but there are plenty of worse things that could happen. Help them get some perspective by giving their worry a score out of ten on how important the issue really is.

parentingideas.com.au now we know.

Help kids change their perspective when things go wrongBy Michael Grose

POSITIVE PARENTING

‘Is that helpful thinking’Sometimes kids’ thinking is so out of whack with reality that they become anxious about minor things. Thinking things such as, ‘Everyone must like me,’ ‘I must never make a mistake’ and ‘Bad things always happen to me’ are extreme and need to be replaced by more moderate, realistic thoughts, such as, ‘It would be nice if everyone liked me but not everyone will. It’s important to have some good friends.’

When children experience hardships it is helpful if parents and teachers can assist them to process what happened to them. Children are faulty observers

full picture particularly when they are so close to the situation. Help your child see the full picture and in doing so they may realise that things may not be as bad as they seem.

Visit our website for more ideas and information to help

and resilient young people.

© Parenting Ideas 2017