In the last fortnight we have had three large events, the Dance Showcase on the 14 October and then the Secondary and Primary Sports Presentations last Friday. 

All three events were fantastic showcases of what our students have been working towards during the year. 

The dancers showed grace, teamwork and a certain fearlessness as they shone on the stage. It really is terrific seeing students enjoy Dance from a young age right through to Year 12. 

Dance is a part of the Australian curriculum for a good reason. It builds skills, confidence, mental benefits,  physical health and discipline. These character traits will support our students in their chosen careers whatever they might be.

GCC families can see all the photos on Pixevety here.

Never be derailed by doubt

The title of this blog, ‘Never be derailed by doubt’, was inspired by listening to our guest speaker, Nicola Olyslagers at the Sports Presentations. Her talks were relevant not just to sporting events but for everything we set out to achieve in life. 

Nicola told us that her dream to break the women’s 2m high jump record was born when she was eight years old at Little Athletics. After being teased about her height since she was young (reaching six foot tall in Year six), Nicola finally found a sport she showed some promise in. She wasn’t always good at high jump but found a good coach who fostered her dream. He told her not to let her current failings cause her to be derailed by doubt but to give it her best for the next ten years and he believed she would achieve her goal of that 2-metre record. 

Nicola kept working towards her goal but her motivation to achieve break the record changed drastically in Year 6. That is when Nicola went to a Christian school and learned that God loved her. All of a sudden her goal wasn’t to do well in high jump to be accepted but to do well in high jump because she was accepted by God. 

Of course, you all know that Nicola reached her goal last year and not only broke the 2-metre record but went on to leap 2.01 in Stockholm and raised the bar again to 2.02 at the Tokyo Olympics last year!

Nicola told us that a typical year as an elite athlete means at least five months away at a time. For example, in 2022 she travelled to America, Morocco, Sweden, Finland, Paris, Switzerland then back to America again before going to the United Kingdom, Spain,  Ireland, Italy, Germany, and back to Switzerland again before heading to Brussels and Croatia. This doesn’t include speaking engagements or invitations and Nicola had just arrived back from Japan the week before where she was a special guest.  

Josh Bennett asked Nicola how she kept her motivation for so long and asked how she handled doubt. Nicola replied, “Whenever I was discouraged, I would remember that God is with me so all I had to do was give it my best and leave the outcome to him. This meant that there was no stress in the lead-up to a competition. It’s okay to feel nervous because that is an emotion but stress is not good for athletes.” 

Nicola said, “When something negative comes into my head, I block it and then turn it into a positive. For example, if they raise the bar and the negative thought comes that there is no way that I can reach that height, I block the thought and tell myself that I can just jump a little higher and try a little harder.” Nicola also writes messages to her future self. When she enjoys a good training session or feels encouraged by someone or something, she writes in a little notebook that she takes with her on her travels and then reads them back to herself when she feels discouraged or in doubt. Nicola makes sure that she is never derailed by doubt.

New house logos

Before Nicola came to the stage I was pleased to unveil our new house shirts to the students. There were gratifying gasps of awe and wonder from the primary students but it was a little more challenging to get the same excited response from secondary students. 

The new house shirts will arrive by the end of this year and be available for purchase for 2023. The older house shirts will be phased out during 2023 so we all have the new logos on our shirts in 2024. 

Some of you may not be aware of where we got the names of Sinai, Ararat and Zion from in the first place. These are actually named after mountains in the bible. Seeing that we live in the region of the Glass House Mountains it was appropriate to choose mountains as our house names and biblical names in honour of the importance we place on the bible here as a Christian College. 

However, it is a little hard to dress up as a mountain and they all kind of look the same which is why later we chose the animals of the Shark of Ararat, the Tiger of Sinai and the Crocodile of Zion.

Our last mascot designs were done by one of our students Keaton Maksimous way back in 2013. We’ve enjoyed Keaton’s designs for almost eight years but felt it was time to modernise our logos to match our growth and sporting status. I hope you like them as much as we do.

Special mentions and thanks

Before I make a special mention of the top honours in these events, I would like to thank everyone involved in making this a great year in sports. To the staff, the sports captains, the coaches, the players, the parents and the support team – thank you.

Congratulations to all of our students who earned a medal or trophy and to all of those who gave their absolute best. As Nicola said, “if you give it 100% then you have already achieved something great.” 

I would like to particularly mention the following students.

The 2022 Primary Most Outstanding Sports Achiever: Indigo Hetherington 
The 2022 Primary Sportswomen of the year: Sophie Doyle
The 2022 Primary Sportsman of the year: Jye Turner
The Secondary sports dedication award recipient: Olivia McKenzie
Middle School Sports Woman of the Year: Emma Small
Middle School Sportsman of the Year: Ashton Van-Straton
Senior School Sportswoman of the Year:  Maddy Small
Congratulations Senior School Sportsman of the Year: Joshua Collins

Primary Sports Presentation photos on Pixevety
Secondary Sports Presentation photos on Pixevety

I would like to leave you with the same verse that Nicola gave us: “In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” Matthew 5:16.

Mike Curtis, Principal