Funfest
As you are no doubt aware, last Saturday was our Funfest, the fourth in the history of the College.
Funfest was a wonderful day and another fantastic display of our community: staff, students, parents and grandparents all coming together to make a tremendous day.
Funfest provided entertainment and fun for everyone. We had all the old favourites like the show bags, Splat the Teacher, rides, car washing, all day entertainment, the auction, tasty strawberries and other market stalls. This year to add to the fun we also had an art exhibition, the Agricultural Extravaganza complete with petting zoo and demonstrations of martial arts and chainsaw art.
Once again our bellies were full thanks to all the delicious food and coffee. It was great to see so many smiling faces everywhere I looked.
For an event to run as wonderfully as our Funfest has takes a great deal of team effort and sadly there is not enough space in the newsletter to mention everyone who deserves our appreciation and gratitude so I am not even going to try. I would also hate to leave anyone out. Can I simply say on behalf of the whole College a very sincere and humble thank you to all who contributed to the success of the day in some way.
I cannot go however without thanking two very special ladies who once again have been the Co-chairs of the Funfest Committee: Nicole Bradley and Leisa MacKenzie. These women have again lived, thought and breathed Funfest for the past year. You are truly two incredibly giving individuals and the College is extremely blessed because of you. Thank you very much Nic, Leisa and the rest of your team.
To find out how profitable Funfest was, please refer to this week’s P & F President’s report.
What a tremendous blessing this money will be to all our students. Be sure to also look at the photo spread later on in this newsletter. Even I couldn’t escape being splatted!
Winner of the Funfest Car Park Space
I would like to congratulate the Banks-Van Straten family as the winner of the car space for a year as auctioned during Funfest. This is the carpark adjacent to the disability carpark in the front row of the church carpark facing the College. Soon there will be a sign erected to show that this carpark is reserved.
This car park came at a price and a generous donation to our College. It was also a competition that everyone had an opportunity to win. Please honour our arrangement with the Banks-Van Straten family and don’t park in this space.
Farewell and New Staff Arrivals
Sadly we have had to farewell one of our long serving Teaching Assistants, Tania Hill, from the College.
Tania was with GCCC for almost 10 years with just a one year break a few years ago. The most recent years have been as a full time secondary learning support aide; although she is also well known among primary students as being on duty every morning in the covered area from 8am.
Tania has taken a position which is closer to home and we will miss her greatly.
Tania’s replacement is Tascia Mare. Tascia’s name may be familiar to some of you as she has been at the College before as a Year 4 teacher. It is our pleasure to welcome Tascia back. Tascia will be working in the Eagle Centre. See her introduction later in the newsletter.
Renee Bell is another new Teaching Assistant working in the Eagle Centre. Renee is currently studying to be a teacher and has completed a Bachelor of Arts degree.
We are also saying farewell to Lynette Putzier (Year 5 teacher) and Sarah Leary (Year 2 teacher part time) as they are preparing to have their babies (and in Mrs Leary’s case twins). Lynette will be replaced by Mrs Leath Ramsay and Sarah will be replaced by Mr Abe Andrews. Both of these teachers will be featured in the next newsletter.
Finally Chappy Michelle is taking leave to complete the last practical component of her university study. While she is absent Dan Bassett (Chappy Dani’s husband and a full time worker at the GCB Church) will be available to assume some of her responsibilities.
Channel 7 News Helicopter Visit
It really has been a fortnight of extraordinary events and our visit from Bill McDonald and his Channel 7 News team was one that won’t be forgotten in a hurry.
If you didn’t catch it on the news you may want to head to our Facebook page to see some photos of the visit.
Our Primary students did a wonderful job of forming the letters GCCC and FUNFEST on the oval with all the teachers huddled in the centre with colourful balloons. This made a great shot from the helicopter and was a super promo for Funfest.
Year 6 students were privileged to have a Question and Answer session in the library presenting Mr Bill McDonald with very well thought out questions.
Some of our Prep students were outstanding in their preparation and serving of morning tea to the news crew showcasing our wonderful Kitchen Garden and its produce. Our visitors were each given a copy of the GCCC cook book to take home as a memento. Mr Bill McDonald sung our praises and even said it was the best school visit ever.
Our special thanks to Mrs Michelle Thomas (mother of Luca) for her liaison with Channel 7 and her great idea.
Athletics Carnivals
Unfortunately, the results of the Primary (3-6) and Secondary Athletics Carnivals are not known by the time the deadline for this article has come around, but I had the pleasure of spending some time at both events. The records in the track and field tumbled and the competition was spirited. Thank you to all of the parents who came to cheer their children on and lend a hand where they could. The next newsletter will feature our Athletics Carnivals.
Volunteers’ Lunch – Monday 8 September from 12:00-2:00pm
Funfest and our Athletics carnivals were obvious demonstrations of how important parent volunteers are to our College. Of course there are plenty of others, such as the Kitchen Garden, The Second-hand Uniform Shop, helping with literacy groups, tuckshop, covering books in the library etc. The list can go on and on.
Without our volunteers our school would grind to a halt. Our Volunteers’ Lunch is a way we can offer a small token of our appreciation. If you help out at our school we would love you to join us at the Glasshouse Country Baptist Church Hall on Monday 8 September from 12:00 to 2:00pm. Please feel very welcome to join us as we would like to honour your valuable contribution. If you could please RSVP to [email protected] or phone 5439 0033 so we can ensure we have our catering numbers correct.
Shine – 22 August
Shine is our annual celebration of the Arts at GCCC to be held on August 22 starting from 5:00pm and you are most welcome to join us. The students are keen to demonstrate their art work from both Primary and Secondary. There will be drama and dance displays and plenty of music. It is always one of the highlights of the College calendar. Click here for more info.
Welcome to the world – Adeline Jewel Hall
Congratulations to Cam and Crystelle Hall on the safe arrival of little Adeline Jewel born 27 July 2014. To quote Cam’s words on his description of Adeline, “Cutest little thing ever – praise God!”.
Mike Curtis, Principal