Time to Shine Talent Quests
In the big lead up to our Shine Arts Night, our students have been doing auditions for the Legacy Cup Talent Quest. Our Middle and Senior School students had their moment in the spotlight on Tuesday 11 August, the Prep to Year 2 students on Thursday and the Upper Primary on Friday.
Our secondary students were given the brief to keep it light and fun, focussing on audience participation and that is just what they did. We had performances that went from the ridiculous (Jesse Woods in an evening gown) to the sublime with Maddie Roulston playing beautifully on her harp. All performances met the brief of audience participation and a good time was had by everyone. In the end Sinai came first and third with Zion coming in second place.
The Prep to Year 2 competition was a lot more serious and the quality of performances was astounding. Of course these particular students have a cute factor of 100 so it gives them a head start but there was no disputing the talent and hard work they put into their items. We enjoyed a recitation, a solo in German, break dancing, song and dance numbers and even a comedian.
The Upper Primary students weren’t to be outdone when they performed on Friday. Singers, dancers and acrobats featured strongly and it seemed that almost every second act was from Sinai students.
All the photos and some of the videos are on our Facebook page.
Uniforms
It was lovely seeing our Primary students wearing their new vests so soon after going on sale in our Uniform Shop. They looked very smart and hopefully are doing the job of keeping the students that little bit warmer.
By the end of 2016 the changeover to uniforms with the new logo on them will be complete. The GCC Uniform Shop already has the new shirts ready for sale and they look great.
Book Week
For the first time this year Middle School students will be invited to participate in Book Week. As we explore the theme of, ‘Books light up our world’ I am looking forward to seeing what they come up with.
Book Week activities are already underway with competitions and challenges in the Library. Of course, the highlight of this event is the Book Week parade which is on Thursday 27 August. I can’t wait to see the creative costumes our students and staff will create and wear for the parade.
Kiss and Go
With the addition of the new car park and extra-long Kiss and Go outside our Year 1 building, we are better off than most schools when it comes to how easy and safe it is to pick up and drop off children.
However, we are hearing complaints of parents arriving early, parking in the Kiss and Go lane for longer than two minutes and subsequently holding up everyone else after them.
The rules for the new Kiss and Go are just the same as the rules for the old one. Parents or caregivers are to stay no longer than two minutes and are not allowed to leave their vehicle. If your child has not arrived at your car within two minutes, you are to leave the Kiss and Go zone, exit the campus and rejoin at the back of the queue.
I know this can be frustrating but it is even more frustrating for the dozens of people you are holding up. It only takes a couple of people to break the rules and the whole turning circle, bus zones and traffic lanes right out to and along Roberts Road, are blocked. More importantly, this congestion is a safety hazard to our students.
We have staff on duty at the Kiss and Go and they will be asking people to move on if they stay longer than two minutes. The staff are there to look after the safety of the children so every driver who has to be asked to move on is taking away the attention of our staff from the students at the zone. Please do not be one of these drivers! Do the right thing and obey the Kiss and Go rules.
Volunteers’ Lunch
If you regularly volunteer at the College we would love to treat you to a special lunch made and served by our Hospitality students. The lunch is on Friday 28 August at 12 noon in our Hospitality Café but we must have RSVPs in by no later than 4pm Monday 24 August. RSVP is absolutely essential.
We will also have a small gift for you but unfortunately we couldn’t find any more of those chocolate truffles our volunteers loved so much last year and have been asking for again. This year the gift something practical but inedible.
I look forward to seeing you there.
How to help your child become a better student?
This fortnight’s top tip is very relevant to all the activities we have coming up in Book Week:
Help your child make connections to literature. To help your child get the most out of books, focus on problem-solving, social skills and life experience. Take your child to the zoo (life experience). Teach them to ask an adult for help if they lose something (problem-solving) or to hold the door for others (social skills). With skills like these, children will be able to relate their own life experiences to those of book characters, improving their comprehension. If they don’t have these life experiences, when they are asked to make deeper connections to reading material, it’s difficult for them.
Mike Curtis, Principal