IMPORTANT DATES

TERM 3

Fri 26th August Primary GBC’s Got Talent (9:00am start)

Thurs 1st September Father’s Day Stall

Fri 2nd September Correction and Report Writing Day Student Free Day

Thurs 15th September Parent and Teacher Interviews Primary and Secondary

Fri 16th September Last Day of Term 3 2:30pm finish

2016 TERM DATES

Term 1 1 February - 24 March

Term 2 12 April - 24 June

Term 3 12 July - 16 September

Term 4 4 October - 7 December _____________________________________________________

Geelong Baptist College

590 Anakie Road,

Lovely Banks, Victoria, 3213

Phone: (03) 5276 1674

Email: enquiries@gbc.vic.edu.au

Web: www.gbc.vic.edu.au

Principals: Mrs Trudy Knol and Mr Neil Wetmore No. 26 August 25th 2016

DEVOTION – THAT THING YOU DO

The people of Judah were victorious because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors. 2 Chronicles 13:18

As the convoy waited to roll out, a young marine rapped urgently on the window of his team leader’s vehicle. Irritated, the sergeant rolled down his window. “What?”

“You gotta do that thing,” the marine said. “What thing?” asked the sergeant. “You know, that thing you do,” replied the marine.

Then it dawned on the sergeant. He always prayed for the convoy’s safety, but this time he hadn’t. So he dutifully climbed out of the Humvee and prayed for his marines. The marine understood the value of his praying leader.

In ancient Judah, Abijah doesn’t stand out as a great king. First Kings 15:3 tells us, “His heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God.” But as Judah prepared for war against Israel, outnumbered two to one, Abijah knew this much: Faithful people in his kingdom of Judah had continued worshiping God (2 Chron. 13:10–12), while the ten tribes of Israel had driven out the priests of God and worshiped pagan gods instead (vv. 8–9). So Abijah turned confidently to the one true God.

Surely Abijah’s checkered history had caused grave damage. But he knew where to turn in the crisis, and his army won soundly “because they relied on the Lord, the God of their ancestors” (v. 18). Our God welcomes whoever comes to Him and relies on Him.

I know that prayer isn’t a good-luck charm. But I come to You now, Lord, because there’s no one better to talk to. I trust You with all of my circumstances today.

God will never turn away whoever turns to Him in faith.

http://odb.org/2016/08/18/that-thing-you-do/

Indonesian students preparing for the Indo-pendence Day Festival

WHOLE SCHOOL NEWS

PRIMARY PATCH

Here we are at the end of Week 7 already. The term is rapidly disappearing. Indeed, the weather seems to be improving and the days are gradually becoming longer again as we start to feel a hint of spring.

At the start of this term, the College introduced a new Student Attendance Policy. All families were sent a copy of the policy which is now available on our website. I would like to thank all those families who have made small adjustments in their routine ensuring their children are arriving at school on time. Likewise, thank you to all those families who have abided by our new Student Attendance Policy and are notifying the school of absences in a timely manner and providing reasons for these absences.

I would just like to remind parents that the College discourages families from taking children on holidays during school time and that if families are considering this, they are now required to make a written request to the school. A number of factors, including previous absences, timing of the holiday and the individual student’s needs, will then be considered before the absence is classed as an approved or unapproved absence.

TEACHER PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT, CORRECTION AND ASSESSMENT DAY Friday September 2nd is a student free day as Primary teachers spend time on Curriculum Planning, Correction, Assessment and Professional Development.

PARENT AND TEACHER INTERVIEWS Although Primary teachers do not write student reports for Term Three, we believe it is important to provide all parents with the opportunity to come and discuss their child’s progress at this time of the year. We will be conducting Primary Parent and Teacher Interviews on Thursday evening September 15th 2016.

These interviews will commence at 3:30pm and conclude at 8:30pm. Primary interviews will take place in their classrooms. Teachers will have a meal break from 6-6:30pm. Interview request forms will be sent out next week, so please ensure these are returned in a timely manner to secure an appropriate time slot.

We encourage parents to come along and look forward to seeing you on the night.

PRIMARY AWARDS

This week’s student awards go to: Foundation/1: Cookie Mechar and Keeley Blackman Year 1/2: Harry Gigas and Rosie Butina (absent) Year 3: Adie Noonan, Chase Schembri and Aidel Sibi Year 4/5: Erin Eastway and Kenny Wallace Year 6: Will Glenister and Noah Thompson-Bennett

The class award went to Year 3 for dressing up so well for Book Day

BOOK WEEK

Last week the primary school joined in with celebrations across Australia for Book Week. Book Week is a time for Schools, Libraries, Booksellers, Authors, Illustrators and Children to celebrate Australian Children's Literature and it is a great time to bring children and books together.

This year Book Week was celebrated at GBC with a range of different activities. Students created book marks, new covers and blurbs for their favourite stories and wrote stories about how books ‘light up their world’. Class time had a heavy focus on children’s literature along with a lovely session of shared reading outside of P Block.

To celebrate the conclusion of Book Week and of our school Readathon, students came to school dressed as their favourite book character on Friday. There was a book parade which showcased the amazing effort that students put into their costumes. It was a fabulous week, enjoyed by students across the primary school.

SECONDARY NEWS

ART NEWS Year 8A students are working on portraits of a Geelong identity as part of the 'Who's Who' portraiture prize. All Year 8 paintings will be entered in this competition run by the Geelong Gallery, exhibiting in September.

T - Block has had a small makeover thanks to VCAL students painting the Design and Technology corridor (practical measuring outcome for Numeracy) and thanks to Mr McWha who hung up some of the creative and colourful paintings that contained strong messages on resilience. These were painted by Paintstorm artist Phil Doncon last year. This has really served to spruce up the area.

BOOK WEEK AND READATHON - IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR PRIMARY PARENTS

It doesn't seem possible but a month has passed since we began our annual fundraising initiative. This year we decided to focus on reading with a Readathon.

Last Friday was the last day for reading and we celebrated the end of the event with a Book Day.

You have until tomorrow (Friday 26th August) to collect your donations/sponsor money and return the Sponsor Form and money to the Office. It is the expectations that each student will contribute a minimum of $10. As money is involved, the school must also be accountable so all forms MUST be returned. A demerit will be issued to any student not returning their sponsor form - in compliance with our Discipline Policy.

Prizes will then be presented to our top fundraising students and the class that raised the most overall will enjoy a party afternoon. All students will then benefit from extra bubbler taps. So, come on Primaries; let's get behind our SRC and bring in those all important donations.

GBC'S GOT TALENT Don't forget that tomorrow is GBC's Got Talent. We aim to start at 9.00 am in the Auditorium. All parents are welcome to attend this event.

GRANDPARENTS' AND SPECIAL FRIENDS' DAY All Grandparents and Special Friends, you are invited to attend our Grandparents’ and Special Friends’ Day on Friday 9th September 2016. At 9.00 am, there will be a special assembly in the auditorium where you will be entertained by the Primary classes. After that, you are invited to come back to visit the classrooms and join in with some fun activities. The morning will conclude with a special Morning Tea, in the Library, at 10.30am. Please fill in the reply slip sent to you via your invitation or through a note in the diary if you are able to attend.

ART NEWS PRIMARY Year 4,5 and 6 students currently have their animal sculptures on exhibition in the Auditorium foyer. At present, Year 6 students are learning about Edvard Munch's expressionist painting of 'The Scream' and creating an artwork themed 'What makes you scream'? Artwork 'Sharks' by Nathan Mwangi

9B EDGE

During their Edge day, the Year 9B Edge students created a group artwork celebrating their strengths.

VCAL PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT PROJECT

As our VCAL Personal Development project we are holding a Red Carpet Night on the 1st of September to raise funds for a teacher from the local community who has recently been diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.

A wide variety of food and drinks as well as entertainment will be provided throughout the night.

We would really like to see everyone there to support this young teacher.

Tickets can be purchased from the office.

SNOW TRIP

On Sunday 14th August, a range of students from Year 11 and 12 attended the Geelong Baptist College Annual Ski Trip to Mount Buller. The drive

up the mountain was long, exciting and well worth it once we arrived at the snowy village. For the next two days, students tried their hand at either

skiing or snowboarding. Each morning they were involved in a lesson where they learnt the necessary techniques to partake in the activity.

Although there were lots of falls, the students picked up the skills very quickly and were able to confidently make their way down to the bottom of

the runs. Students stayed in a lodge on the mountain and throughout their stay were able to experience the alpine environment during the day and

night. Mr Reid would like to thank and acknowledge Mrs Andrew for giving up her time to attend and supervising the students during the trip.

INDONESIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY (INDO-PENDANCE DAY) On Thursday the 18th of August, the Year 7 and 8 Indonesian classes participated in Indo-pendence Day (Indonesian Independence Day) activities.

The students listened to a short presentation about the Independence of Indonesia, learning that, after many struggles of independence from Holland (the Dutch) on the 17th of August 1945, Soekarno and Hatta declared Indonesia's Independence. To celebrate this day in Indonesia most of the town is covered in red and white banners and fences. Special parades and drama festivals are held, even athletic events are part of these celebrations.

The GBC students were involved in a variety of activities, which were organised and run by the Year 9 - 11 Indonesian students. The activities ranged from a marble and spoon race, potato sack race, a prawn cracker eating competition, pass the bomb competition and an Amazing Race. Students thoroughly enjoyed all four activities.

The students were offered a special lunch of traditional Indonesian dishes including Nasi Goreng (Fried Rice) and Mie Goreng (Fried Noodles), cooked and prepared by the Senior Indonesian students. It was great to be able to celebrate such an important event in Indonesia and a wonderful opportunity for Indonesian students from a range of year levels to interact with one another. The day ran smoothly and was very suc-cessful!

Ibu Jane Tabak and the Year 9, 10 and 11 Indonesian students.