Thank you to everyone who attended the iPad information night last Thursday, we hope it was beneficial for you.

Perhaps one of the most pervasive misconceptions heard that evening was the balance between maintaining your child’s privacy and your right to know what your child is up to as a parent.

Can I stress that the computers and iPads that your child has been given are not private machines. They have been issued by the College for the enhancement of school work only. Students should not be disclosing anything on the machine that they do not want the College or parents to see.

Some students are not disclosing their passwords to their parents. This is completely unacceptable rebellious behaviour  Similarly, if students are asked by College staff for access to their machine, that access must be granted.

For this reason it will be a standard practice for spot checks to be conducted on machines in the near future.

Recently I have said this to our Senior students in an assembly but I would like to repeat it here so that you are also aware of some of our standards;

Any screensavers or illustrations that appear on the computer/iPad must be in keeping with the College GREAT values. This means illustrations that glorify violence, objectifies and sexualises women or men or has inappropriate language are not acceptable

Computer games are not to be played at the College  Facebook, Instagram and other social networking sites are not permitted.

Students are not permitted to access the Internet via their mobile phones. The Internet access provided by the College is strictly filtered.

We now have a list of all the staff names, titles and email addresses that you may need on our website. The list includes Primary Teachers, Secondary Form Teachers, Heads of School, Heads of Departments and Specialist Subject Teachers. At the moment the list is in a Word document in the ‘Contact Us’ section of the website but we hope to change this soon to make it even easier for you to access these contacts.

Unsung Heroes

We are blessed to have many ‘unsung heroes’ working at our College. Recently a parent drew our attention to our wonderful Tuckshop ladies who work hard, long and well above and beyond the call of duty to provide our students with nutritious meals and snacks. Cathy and Lauren not only work hard, they do it all with a generous spirit and a huge smile. I would also like to take this opportunity to also thank the team of Tuckshop volunteers who help feed the hungry hoards and provide much needed assistance to Cathy and Lauren. More volunteers are always needed and if you can help, please see Cathy or email her on [email protected]

The ICAS (International Competitions and Assessments for Schools) information for families with students in Years 3 to 12 is now available on our website under College Life, Parent Notices. If you would like your child to participate in this optional competition please fill out the form and return it to Admin with full payment by 27 March 2013.

New Newsletter format

We hope you are enjoying the new delivery system of the Newsletter and finding it easier to navigate to read the stories that interest you the most.

Please remember that you still have that option of reading all the news in one document like the old format. The only difference is that the photos have been dropped out to reduce the size and speed up the download for you.

When the emailed link to the newsletter comes to you there are three options:

1. Click on the link that will take you to the old format i.e. all news in one document but with no photos.

2. Click on the link that takes you to all news and navigate from there to what interests you the most or scroll through the stories in date order.

3. Click on one of the categories at the bottom of the email to take you directly to the sections that interest you most e.g. Primary.

If you know of any College families who are not receiving the emailed link to the newsletter, would you please encourage them to contact Admin with their email address.

P and F Family Fun Day – Saturday 16 March 11am to 3pm

If you haven’t sent in your RSVP to this event yet please do so at [email protected] so catering can be arranged. If history is anything to go by, this will be a fun day for all ages and I look forward to seeing you there.

Over the last fortnight GCCC has held its annual Leadership Induction Services for Primary, Middle and Senior School leaders. It is inspiring to see these young people step up to take on responsibilities and be willing role models for other students. It was also encouraging to see the many parents that were able to rearrange commitments in order to participate in the service and pin the leadership badge on their child. A recent study highlighted the importance of parental involvement in the education journey of their child and we are very blessed at GCCC to have such committed parents.

Transformation of the ‘Dust Bowl’

During the April school holidays a transformation of Cinderella like proportions will take place to what is affectionately known as the ‘Dust Bowl’ i.e. the car park on the west side of the church. Recent wet weather has turned the dust into mud and made parking in this area even more difficult. During the upcoming holidays the area will be sealed and turned into a proper car park. Sealing the car park will not only make it more pleasant to park in, it will have the added benefit of creating more car spaces and reducing congestion.