S c h o o l T a l k

What’s on @WCS

Wednesday 7th November Kinder Orientation 3

Monday 12th November Norwest CS visit

Wednesday 14th November Last Kinder Orientation

Tuesday 11th December Thanksgiving Service, 7pm

Wednesday 12th December Last Day of School

Gipps Street, Wellington NSW 2820

Ph: 6845 1999

Email:: admin@wellingtoncs.com.au

www.wellingtoncs.com.au

2nd November 2018 Term 4 Week 3

Dear parents and carers,

In reflecting on this week at school and different situations that have arisen and been worked through, particularly with students, I have been contemplating…again.

I am well aware that life is not easy but my perspective has subtly shifted over the years to a clarity point, for me anyway.

Something I have heard myself say quite a lot this year is this: Life is full of hard things and the best we can hope, is to do each one as well as we can.

The clarity point has been that hard things will rarely feel good but the fact that hard things exist is normal. The point should not be doing whatever we can to be comfortable, but rather engaging in a measured and wise way, even if uncomfortable.

I think as people, we crave comfortable. We want things to feel good and peaceful and there is nothing wrong with that. I do not love uncomfortable things.

However, it does remain that some of the best learning and greatest impact comes from working through hard things. The trick is knowing that it may never feel comfortable but that doesn’t mean we haven’t done the hard thing well.

As an adult this is not an easy road, let alone trying to teach our children this truth. In my years at this school, some of my most special memories involve hard things that were worked through. Not because I enjoyed the process but because there was deep good that came from it.

Parents and carers, I think parenting is one of the noblest and yet also hardest callings in life. I honour you in the mission and encourage you to continue engaging in hard things as well as you can. It is such a good example for your children, who are ever watching, learning and forming opinions.

We want our children to grow to be people who don’t shy away from the hard things but can exercise measured and wise action as they engage.

For me, doing hard things well means asking God and His wisdom into the space. One of my favourite little pieces of Scripture is James 1:5

If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God,

who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you.

I know it to be true.

Bless you, especially in the hard things and times that are uncomfortable.

Sarah Strahorn

Tuesday 13th November Parent Assembly, 10am

P a g e 2 S c h o o l T a l k

Revive Livingroom

For: School families with children not yet at school.

When: Each Thursday 9.15am—11.30am

Cost: Gold coin.

Where: Sign in at the front office and go to Room W1 (past the reading room after 1/2 classroom).

Thank you to everyone who donated gifts for Operation Christmas Child. We were able to fill 10 boxes!

Save the Date

Wellington Christian School

invites you to our

2018 Thanksgiving Service

with Nativity Play

to be held in the WCS Hall

on Tuesday 11th December at 7pm

Followed by supper under the

verandahs

Kindergarten have been very busy; they have had extra visitors—next year’s Kindergarten students for Orientation. Fun and games—matching analogue & digital time cards. Chelsea brought in her special little chick for news. They also are learning about their skeletons & the useful Friends of Ten!

Congratulations Nash & Desi!

They both competed in the Kumiai Ryu Martial Arts National Championships held in Dubbo. They both came away with a swag of medals between them! Well done boys!

Hello to Malietoa and his family, Toa has a little brother called Kekoa, who is 4. Malietoa’s favourite food is bananas, he also loves to play soccer and tag with his friends and cousins.

W e l c o m e T o a

P a g e 3

Parent Information

Parent Assembly

Tuesday 13th November, 10am. All welcome—come along and see what the children have been learning, please bring a plate to share for morning tea afterwards.

SMS Notification of Absences

From Monday 19 November we may start sending you an SMS when your child is absent. Please feel free to reply to this SMS with the reason why your child is absent. We will record this information in our absence systems. If you have any questions please contact the school office.

2018 RESIDENTIAL ADDRESS COLLECTION NOTICE

Please find attached to this newsletter a 2018 Student Residential Address and Other Information Collection Notice. Our school is required to provide student information (not names) to the Australian Government Department of Education and Training annually. This collection will change this year to include the names and residential addresses of student’s parents and/or guardians in order prepare for a change in School Commonwealth funding arrangements from 2020.

Year 3 at Wambangalang Mrs Blatch loaded our Year 3 students onto the bus and drove off into the wilderness– to Wambangalang Environmental Education Centre, which is set on 12.5 ha within a travelling stock route reserve. They joined with DCS Year 3 and were challenged with a rope course, a bike skills obstacle course and learned to work as a team.

Our Year 4 students had their first overnight excursion to Red Hill, Gulgong. Mrs Janetzki & Mrs Frankham accompanied them.

They gained a taste for life back in Colonial times—went to an old school room to attend class, played colonial games like quoits & three-legged races, churned milk into butter and made scones to eat it on, worked as a team to make a tent shelter, panned for gold, explored and learned about the history of the Gulgong Pioneer Museum & Gulgong Opera House – all before dinner & bedtime adventures!

On day 2, they made their own Aboriginal artwork, walked to Hands on Rock to see the Aboriginal hands painted onto it with ochre, learned about traditional Aboriginal tools and weapons, used pestle & mortar to grind some grain to add to damper mix before cooking their own damper on a stick in a campfire. They then went on a bushwalk to The Drip and had a paddle in the stream before doing the return walk to travel back home on the bus.