School Newsletter

I’m a big fan of knowing our Bible well. Part of our mandate here at WCCS is to help students develop in a Christian educational community founded on Biblically based beliefs, values and behaviour. We can’t do that well if we don’t know our Bible.

One of the ways we help our students to learn more about God’s word is through memory verses. John 3:16 is probably the most common memory verse worldwide, but several others also seem to get quite a good run. Philippians 4:13 and Jeremiah 29:11 would be strong contenders. One verse that I don’t often see as part of any memory verse program is John 16:33 where Jesus says, “In this world you will have trouble.” It might not be as encouraging or uplifting to have Jesus remind us that we will all experience difficulties in our lives, but I think we would all attest to the reality that is our lived experience. In the next part of the same verse though, Jesus goes on to say, “But take heart, I have overcome the world.”

For most people I would imagine dying would rate high on their list of greatest fears. When Jesus said these words, He knew He was about to endure the crucifixion. But He also knew that He was going to demonstrate that He was more powerful than death.

We have had quite a few Board members in the 19 years I have been at WCCS. One such member, Dave Kendall, went home to be with our Lord a number of years ago. I remember Dave used to talk about the value of giving 'live eulogies'. He made the point that when we attend funerals, people often say wonderful things about the person who has passed, perhaps things that they never told the person while they were alive. Dave’s point was, wouldn’t it be far better for the person to hear those words and how you felt about them when they were alive and could share in that joy?

I often like to say to our staff that we deal with things of eternal significance every day. We don’t know what impact we might be having on others with the words, actions, care and compassion that we show. It is not always common for us to give people live eulogies, but we worship a Saviour who has conquered death. Imagine what it will be like to be able to have the opportunity in heaven to speak with those who have had a great influence on our lives and thank them. I’m sure it will be wonderful, but we also don’t have to wait until then.

God bless,

• Junior School Grandparents' Morning - Friday 29th November (Week 7)
• WCCS Christmas Fest - Tuesday 3rd December (Week 8)
• Junior School Carols - Tuesday 3rd December (Week 8)
• Year 6 Graduation - Thursday 5th December (Week 8)
• Kindergarten Graduation - Tuesday 10th December (Week 9)
• Celebration Assemblies - Wednesday 11th December (Week 9)
• Secondary Thumbs Up Award Day - Thursday 12th December (Week 9)
• Last day of Term 4 - Thursday 12th December (Week 9)
• Presentation Evening - Thursday 12th December (Week 9)

• Give thanks for our students finishing their HSC. Pray that the students, families and staff have a wonderful time of celebration at the Year 12 Formal.
• Give thanks to God for the fun and educational excursions and incursions our students have experienced so far this term.
• Pray for our students who are completing end-of-year assessments and exams. Pray also for our incredible teachers as they head into the last weeks of Term 4.
• Pray for the safety and health of those within our community, especially heading into the busy Christmas season.

Greetings friends of Junior School.

Praise God our Infants Swim Scheme is going smoothly as we enter the final week.

Thank you to our bus drivers, the Fogartys, David, Geoff, Dan, Chris and the Grounds Team. We are so grateful for your support. It would be extremely difficult to run this program without you. May God bless you for your service.

Kindy Starters is back this week (Week 5). Our 2025 disciples are ready and raring to go to Big School next year. It is so sweet seeing the excitement from siblings and friends as the new Kindies rock down the corridor.

Next week (Week 6) we have some epic adventures to cap off the year for our Years 4 and 5 students.

The countryside around Hyde Park Barracks doesn’t look like this anymore. Our Year 4 students will experience this first-hand next Tuesday.

Our Year 5 students will be treated to an incursion with a Cosmodrome.

The Cosmodome is a mobile digital immersive theatre/planetarium offering an enthralling IMAX style immersive 3D experience, without glasses. The Cosmodome offers a study in space and astronomy in an interactive real-time simulation of the night sky in Stellarium.

If you read our Sport section, you will see that we have Zoe Newman visiting us that week as part of the Olympics Unleashed program.

Thursday next week, (21st November), all our K-6 students will have a taste test of 2025 when we enjoy our Orientation Day. All of our students will move to their 2025 classes and, where possible, visit with their new 2025 classroom teachers.

In our next newsletter we will share the names and photographs of the teachers who are scheduled for each grade. Now that is something to look forward to.

Just a quick reminder to the parents of our lovely young ladies, to please keep their beautiful jewellery and fashion accessories at home. We are seeing some expensive necklaces, bangles, bracelets and anklets sneaking into school. Please support us by keeping these precious items at home for use on the weekends or after school. We will be asking the girls to remove the jewellery when we see it. We would dearly love to save our girls from this potential embarrassment.

During the last few weeks, we have noticed our students becoming a little less patient and tolerant with one another. There are many reasons for this. It is challenging when we see children who are upset over words from their friends or being left out of games and activities. For this reason, we need, as a school community, to work hard in demonstrating kindness.

It is always easy to show kindness when we are feeling good about ourselves. Those days when we struggle as parents, teachers and students can be the hardest days we experience. How much better can we feel when someone shows us a bit of kindness?

Kindness is an action. It’s the right words, the right gestures, and the right deeds. It communicates God’s love sincerely and plainly. Kindness is more effective when it is shared with others.

As this term marches on, let me encourage all of us to use words of kindness that build others up. Let our actions show God’s love so we can all feel valued for who we are.

God bless,

Hello to our wonderful Secondary families,

Throughout the past two weeks there have been many highlights, including reaching the completion of the HSC Examinations, excursions and focused teaching in our classrooms. With more year groups having completed their formal examinations and assessments, our wonderful teaching staff are busily marking papers and writing reports to reflect the progress our students have made throughout the semester.

Weeks 5 and 6 are filled with adventure! Our elective art students will embrace their creative gifts while observing the uniqueness of God’s creatures at Taronga Zoo. Year 7 students will be participating in their aquatics program. Year 8 will delve deeper into their understanding of Geography while attending an incursion. Years 9 and 10 Marine Studies students will be getting out on the water for their excursions. Year 10 will be participating in a Your Choicez incursion focusing on respectful relationships. Some of our Year 11 students will be witnessing the wonder of Physics and Engineering at Luna Park. Our Student Leadership Team will participate in a two-day camp. Our outgoing Year 12 students will finally have the opportunity to let their hair down at their Formal.

As we move into a different stage of the term, we encourage our students to focus on maintaining positive habits to assist in their learning. These include:

• Arriving at school and classes on time.
• Being prepared for each class with a drink bottle, their materials and a charged device.
• Wearing all required elements of the WCCS uniform, including appropriate footwear.
• Being focused in class and ready for learning.

As we continue to live out our Vision and Mission statement, which prompts us to “equip our students to be responsible and responsive disciples”, we have been discussing the impact of our words, particularly when referring to appearance. Our students are constantly navigating their perception of identity, together with the pressure placed upon them via social media and their peers. We encourage our students to consider their words wisely and to remember the advice from Proverbs 15:4: “A word of encouragement heals the one who receives it, but a deceitful word breaks the spirit.” Let us be known as a community that encourages one another rather than allowing careless words to bring others down.

If you are hearing comments that are causing you to be concerned, regarding your child’s perception of their appearance, we would encourage you to seek support and guidance. You are always welcome to reach out to a member of our Wellbeing Team.

Please click here for a resource on this topic from the Butterfly Foundation.

God bless,

EVENING OF EMINENCE
Each week throughout Semester 2, 40 inspired K-6 students have been diligently working on a very exciting project – the Evening of Eminence. Each of these students has chosen someone who has made a positive impact on the world to learn about, and ultimately become. I’d love to invite our WCCS community to join us on Tuesday 26th November, from 5pm in the MPC, to hear from and meet some inspirational people, from Neil Armstrong, to Beethoven, Audrey Hepburn, Isaac Newton, Queen Esther, Corrie Ten Bom, Sir David Attenborough, Cristiano Ronaldo, Eric Liddell, Eddie Woo, Rosa Parks, Abraham Lincoln … and many more! We would love to see you there.

Mrs Anne Livette-Vial | High Potential & Enrichment Teacher

CSSA TENNIS

Recently, Year 6 student Matthew W competed at the CSSA Primary Tennis Championships. He participated really well and came 5th in his pool. Congratulations Matt, for competing at this level.

OLYMPICS UNLEASHED

Zoe Newman will be connecting with Years 5 and 6 students on Wednesday 20th November, as part of Olympics Unleashed.

The students will learn from Zoe Newman's Olympic journey how to build resilience, the importance of setting goals and how to find what you are passionate about.

Students will hear firsthand from Zoe about how she overcame challenges to compete in her sport at the very highest level, and how some lessons they’ve learned in sport can help students to be the best they can be – whether that’s in school, at home, on the sporting field or with friends.

Mr Dean Kibbs | Junior School Sport Coordinator