Mike Curtis newsletter article 9 October 2015
Welcome to Term 4
Even though the holidays were wonderful, it is good to be together again. Term 4 is always the busiest but it is special time when significant milestones are celebrated.
One celebration began earlier than expected for our Primary Teacher Jane Beadon. Jane gave birth to Olive Eliza ten days early on Thursday 24 September. Apparently they organised the car seat just in time. Congratulations to Jane and her husband Andrew on their new bundle of joy.
Fiji Mission team return
For some, the holidays weren’t about sleeping in or lazy days on the beach. Our Fiji Mission team spent the break running kids’ clubs, going into schools, sharing their testimonies and putting on concerts in the marketplace.
This was one of the most successful missions yet. The team had been preparing for a long time and God honoured their prayers and preparation by opening doors normally closed to them. In the past, several Fijian schools have not allowed the team to enter but this year the welcome mat was thrown down.
For those who have been following the journey on our Glasshouse Christian College Chaplaincy Facebook page, you would have seen how much the Fijian children enjoyed the fun, teaching and interaction with our students.
Inaugural Noumea French study trip
In another part of the Pacific Ocean, some GCC French students were enjoying our first ever study tour to Noumea. The students spent several days with a Noumea school and shared lessons, videos and PowerPoints they had prepared about each school and area.
The GCC students’ video was very impressive and I hope you had a chance to see it on our Facebook page. If you don’t have Facebook, you can see it on YouTube.
Upcoming events
As I mentioned at the beginning of this article, Term 4 is packed full of important events so I hope you can celebrate as many as possible with us.
The P and F Primary Disco is on Friday 9 October. It’s lovely to see how much the younger students enjoy dancing and having fun on these nights. The P and F have organised for some terrific prizes to be won and our thanks go to Laserzone and Top Shots for their generous donations.
The Night of Talent is coming up on Thursday 15 October from 6:30pm to 8:30pm. This is an initiative of our student council and promises to be a great night.
On Friday 16 October we hold our Middle School Experience. If you have friends who have been thinking about the College and have children in this age group, encourage them to ring our Registrar Sonya Bowden and book in for the morning. You don’t have to be enrolled to experience Middle School at GCC and it is an ideal way to get a feel for the College.
Our Sports Awards Night is the first of the big annual events where we commemorate the achievements of our students. It is on Wednesday 21 October from 5:30pm and will be huge. We are privileged to have Duncan Armstrong as our guest speaker for the night but the real highlight will be celebrating our students’ triumphs.
The Middle and Senior School Awards event is once again on the night of Melbourne Cup day (Tuesday 3 November) at the Caloundra Events Centre. Then we have the Year 12 formal and graduation, Prep to Year 2 Carols, Years 3 to 6 concert and Year 6 graduation so please keep your calendar in a handy place so you can plan ahead.
You will also note on the calendar that 19 October is not a pupil free day at GCC. Instead, we are holding this on Wednesday 4 November – which will work out well for all the students and families who were out at the awards the night before.
Next year is a Funfest year. This is organised by the P and F and is a huge fundraiser for the College. There is a lot of planning and the first meeting is on Friday 23 October. If anyone is interested in hearing more about Funfest or being on the committee, please attend this meeting.
Top tips on raising children
How to help your child be a better student: Top tip number 8 is to remember that Middle and Senior School are not the times to take a more hands-off approach.
Just because your children are getting older doesn’t mean it’s time to put them on autopilot. This is the point in their lives when they’re trying to sort out who they are. Peer pressure is intense and their connectedness to school can wane. Secondary students have this air about them that they don’t need their parents anymore, but they really do.
Mike Curtis, Principal