Week 1A, 30.01.2020

02 6923 8888

www.waggachristian.nsw.edu.au

401 Kooringal Rd, Wagga Wagga, NSW, 2650

Dear Chronicle Readers,

Welcome to our 2020 College year. Whether you have been with us for many years, or recently decided to join our community I encourage you to spend a few minutes each week to rest and catch up on the events of the College. The Chronicle is our weekly newsletter that is published on Tuesdays and sent to you via email as well as published to our website and Facebook page. It contains information about activities and events

throughout different parts of the College community. Please make the reading of it a priority. We endeavour to keep the Chronicle positive, accurate and informative. Using it in conjunction with your family calendar, particularly the Diary Dates section, will assist us in being strong for the education of our children.

Yesterday and this morning I had the chance to welcome some of over 85 new students and their families as we continue to enjoy strong growth across all year groups.

Our 2019 HSC results show that a pleasing number of our students have performed well with many outstanding efforts by individuals in a variety of areas. We had several notable state-wide successes. I look forward to working with the Senior School teachers in enthusing the students searching for excellence in their academic studies.

This year we have some wonderful new staff joining us, and it is wonderful to see them settle in well. I am certain they will see why this community is welcoming and friendly. Many of you will have a chance to meet them at various information nights over the next few weeks. The new staff include:

Every year, changes also occur within the areas some staff teach or lead. The major changes for 2020 include:

As a community we also congratulated Mr Cunningham and Miss McInnes on their recent marriage, and the students (and staff) are slowly getting used to calling them Mr and Mrs Cunningham.

Car Park

One of the great blessings and biggest frustrations at schools is often the car park. We are fortunate to have an off-street parking area, but it also means we all need extra care as the car park is usually a very busy place at around 8:30 - 8:50am and from 3:10 - 3:45pm.

We ask staff to park away from the main car park wherever possible to maximise spaces for families to pick up children. We also have staff on supervision during these times. There is a clearly designated area where you can park for a short time (on the left as you come in the College gates) and an area that you MUST stay with the car and have children ready to get into your car. If they are not there you will need to park and find them. Please work with our staff if you are asked to move to a parking space as they are trying to keep everyone safe in a busy area of the College. Some car parks are designated staff only. This is because we want to keep that section free from movement to enable efficient pick-ups. Please continue to observe the speed signs, don’t use your phone while driving; and understand that others have busy schedules too. If at all possible put off the pickup till 3:25pm as it’s amazingly quieter at that time. Please also be on the lookout for inexperienced and less confident drivers too as they will do much better if we don’t rush them. There are 2 exits when you leave the car park. If you are turning left onto Kooringal Road you should keep left within the carpark and do the loop around the outside (closest to the office). If you are turning right you can also stay on the outside or go down the middle of the car park and join the right lane near the exit gate. It becomes a bottle neck at the exit if you don’t think your exit through (especially if you are trying to turn left from the right lane). We know Kooringal Road is busy at several times in the day, and we are all wanting to make our travels home safe.

Please see the ‘Car Park Safety’ plan on page 5 for further explanation.

Swimming Carnival

Our annual swimming carnival is to be held next Friday (February 7) at the OASIS Aquatic Centre. It is our strong and reasonable expectation that all students from Years 5 - 12 will attend and competitive swimmers from our Junior School (from 8 years old) are invited to participate. It’s always a great day out and we’d love you to join us for as little or as much time as you are able. There will be special plans made to enable all students (including the non-competitive ones) to cool off during the day. Parents who wish to pick up students throughout the day are welcome to do so, but we must insist that from 2.45pm no student leave as we will need to prepare the rolls for an accurate ‘end of the day’ roll mark. Your planning and support of us in this is greatly appreciated.

Information Nights

There will be a ‘Welcome to Wagga Wagga Christian College’ information night for all new families tonight, Thursday January 30 from 5.15pm. Feedback from previous years has been very positive, and child minding facilities will be available. It is an expectation that all new families will join us to find out more about our unique style of schooling.

This year we will be holding a number of information nights as we have seen families appreciate the chance to meet the teachers, learn about subjects, assessment details, study needs, and find out some of those other hints and tips that help us all. Further details are contained in the Chronicle and I would ask you to take a note of the dates and make attendance at the meetings a priority. If you absolutely cannot get to an event please give your child’s teacher a call and they can seek to fill you in on the information from the evening. Our staff dedicate themselves to caring for your children and teaching with a commitment that is exempla-ry. Your partnership with them is perhaps the single most important thing you can do in the success of your children at school. Committing to dia-logue and trusting each other makes a remarkable difference to our chil-dren’s opportunities and development.

A Chance to Meet

I know we all lead busy lives but I want to continue to support you in educating your children. I have put aside a time each Friday from 9 - 9.30am when I will be available for parent ‘drop in time’. No appoint-ment is needed – just come on in and share what is on your mind. Until then, have a great day.

Sincerely, Mr Phillip Wilson Principal

TERM 1 Term 1 ends Thursday 9 April

TERM 2 Monday 27 April – Friday 3 July

TERM 3 Staff Development Week is July 20 to 2

(non-student week) Monday 27 July – Friday 25 September

TERM 4 Monday 12 October - Thursday 10 December

Jan 29 Term 1 Begins for Kindergarten - Yr 12 Jan 30 Term 1 Begins for Preschool Jan 30 Welcome to WWCC Feb 4 Jnr School Information Night, 5:30pm or 6pm, JS Classrooms (this event has 2 repeat sessions, for your convenience) Feb 4 Preschool Information Night, 5:30pm or 6pm, PS Classrooms (this event has 2 repeat sessions, for your convenience) Feb 4 Yr 11 Information Night, 7pm, TLA Feb 5 No Kindergarten Today Feb 6 Middle School Information Night, 6pm, MPC Feb 7 College Swimming Carnival, Oasis Feb 10 Kindergarten Bus Safety, 9:30am Feb 12 No Kindergarten Today Feb 13 Formal Assembly & Commissioning Service, 10am, MPC Feb 14 Junior School Water Fun Day Feb 18 Yrs 9 & 10 Information Night, 7pm, MPC Feb 19 No Kindergarten Today Feb 28 CSSA Zone Swimming Carnival, Orange Feb 29 Wagga’s Monster Garage Sale Feb 27 Yrs 7 & 10 Immunisation Mar 2 College Prayer Night, 7pm, Library Mar 7 College Open Day, 10-2pm Mar 9 CSSA Primary State Swimming Carnival Mar 17 Yr 7 2021 Information Night Mar 17 KI 2021 Information Night Mar 23 CSSA Secondary State Swimming Carnival Mar 23 Parent Teacher Interview Evening Mar 24 Parent Teacher Interview Evening Mar 31 College Easter Worship Service Apr 2-9 Year 12 Exams Apr 9 Term 1 Ends Apr 10 Good Friday Apr 12 Easter Apr 13 Easter Monday Apr 25 ANZAC Day Apr 27 Term 2 Begins Jun 10 Queens Birthday Holiday Jun 28 Term 2 Ends

Welcome to a new year! We are looking forward to another exciting year ahead with many developments in our teaching, learning and facilities.

January account statements will be emailed to all families on Monday 3 February. The January statement will show any payments and charges made in January but not the 2020 Tuition Fees.

The 2020 Tuition Fees will be charged to accounts in the second week of February and will be emailed to families.

Early payment discounts are available where accounts are paid in full before 27 February.

Families on instalment plans who need to change their instalments according to the change in tuition fees for 2020, please contact me as soon as possible.

Families who have yet to arrange a payment plan should also contact me so that this can be set up.

The 2020 Tuition Fee schedule is available on the College website.

If you have any queries relating to tuition fees please contact me.

Thank you.

Mrs Lynda Koren Senior Finance Officer accounts@wwcc.nsw.edu.au

Congratulations to Mrs Natasha

Mannion for the birth of her first child

Elsie, born before Christmas. Isn’t she

beautiful!!

Mum and Bub are doing well!

The College carpark is a busy place and the following car parking arrangements help it to be safe space for our students, parents and staff. Signage and roadway markings should make it easy for our families during pickup and drop-off times. Please take note of these car park rules: Speed Limit – 10km per

hour (Please check your speed every time you visit the College).

Staff Car Park (near the MPC Building) – This area is closed between 3pm and 3.30pm each day. Note: Only staff are permitted to use or drive over the pedestrian crossing into the staff car park. No access is permitted to OOSH or Preschool via the staff car park. Keeping our staff cars together provides more parking in the main area for parents. Keeping this car park closed is essential to keep students safe as they move to and from the bus bay which is a designated safety zone.

2 Minute Parking Area is on the left (northern) side immediately after you enter into the College car park. You can park here for a short time and collect your children. Car spaces are marked with green lines.

Drop Off and Pickup (in front of Canteen). This is an immediate Drop Off and Pickup zone. You cannot leave your car or wait in this area.

Pedestrian Crossing in Drop Off and Pick Up Area. This crossing is to assist students and families to move safely between the car park and the College play areas.

Staff Car Places (between administration building pedestrian crossing and the drop off and pick up area). This is to centralise staff cars that park in the main car park within this high traffic area so that the amount of cars moving into and out of these spaces is reduced during drop off and pickup times. This area has been identified as a high hazard area during the afternoon pick up times.

Bus Only Parking – This is to keep the mini bus away from the administration building crossing as it restricts drivers visibility to the crossing due to it’s size and shape.

Disabled Parking – Please do not park here unless you have a permit or special access need. Deliveries Only Area – Only deliveries are permitted to use this space. This is to prevent cars parking in

this space and then reversing backwards over the pedestrian crossing to leave the parking space. Entrance and Exit Signage and roadway directional arrows – Road markings and signage at the

College entrance and exit improves safety and traffic flow. The centre lane of the car park is one way towards Kooringal Road to move cars efficiently away from the main area of students. We suggest that cars who need to turn left (south) onto Kooringal Road use the road closest to the admin building for ease of exiting.

Student Parking Area is immediately between the entrance and exit gates.

We ask all our families to adopt these practices and to work with the College to ensure we can make our car park as streamlined and safe as possible. Remember that our young people do not have the same perception of danger, peripheral vision or road safety awareness as drivers.

It is up to us to make our College car park a safe place. Thank you.

Sadly, as we are commencing a new school year, the school holidays have been for Australians traumatic to say the least.

So, the Australian Government has responded to the bushfire crisis with a raft of support packages.

One initiative that I would like to bring to our College community’s attention is the Mental Health Support for the Australians affected by the 2019-2020 bushfires.

One part of this package is, if anyone has been affected by the bushfires, they can immediately access up to 10 Medicare counselling sessions in your local area. Under this new initiative you do not need a mental health diagnosis nor a GP referral, you can self-refer to any local psychologist or social worker/counsellor and you will receive a rebate from Medicare for the cost of the session, for up to 10 sessions. Quote the package called: Medicare Bushfire Recover Initiative. To be eligible you need to have been affected by the bushfires, for example; your husband or wife was fighting fires or you lived in a fire affected region.

Also if you are concerned for your child this initiative is available also for children.

Moreover, if you would like to discuss this initiative or you are concerned about your child and how the fires have affected them psychologically, please do not hesitate to contact me by calling the College Office. I am available Monday, Tuesday and Wednesdays; after hours appointments are also available for working families.

Kind regards, Dr Stephanie Jarratt

Dr Stephanie Jarratt is the College Counsellor and she is available to assist and support your

child or young person. She works from Monday to Wednesday every week.

Dr Jarratt is also available for after school hours appointments for working parents. Please do

not hesitate to contact her to support your child. Dr Jarratt can be contacted via the College

Office on 6923 8888.

The Summer holidays were full of activity across the College.

Preschool is looking forward to moving facilities before the end of this term and much

work happened over the break in their new rooms, including some efficient new air

conditioning! Year 3/4T and 3/4C are also enjoying the new ducted air conditioning

that was installed.

The IT capabilities and infrastructure were enhanced and complemented by the installation of new screens,

interactive boards and dedicated wireless systems for Senior classrooms.

The growth in Agriculture across the College resulted in some reorganisation of the Agricultural zone to allow for

an expansion in animal numbers and associated infrastructure.

Maintenance around the College grounds, including establishing new landscaping around the new Senior

classrooms behind the MPC.

Installation of viewing panels has opened up the Design and Technology zone, allowing expansion of the design

space to include computing facilities.

The cleaning and maintenance staff worked tirelessly cleaning carpets and doing a complete tag and test of all

electrical items in the College. We thank them for their efforts to enhance the College environment.

The Promise Centre 48 Vestey St www.thepromisecentre.com.au Sunday Service at 10am.

Generocity Church Wagga 194 Lake Albert Rd (the old Prime News building) www.generocitychurch.com.au Sunday Service at 10am

Wagga Wagga Evangelical Church (WWEC) 401 Kooringal Road www.wwec.org.au Sunday Service at 10am and 5:30pm

Inspire Church Wagga 555 Kooringal Rd www.inspirewagga.com.au Sunday Service Times: 10am Service 5pm Service Inspire Youth Wagga Every Friday from 6:30-8:30pm Check Facebook for updates

UniChurch/Christian Fellowship CSU Wagga, In the Rec Hall cfwagga.org.au

Sunday Service at 7pm

St Aidan's Presbyterian Church 62-64 Coleman St staidanswagga.org.au Sunday Service Times: 9am Service 10:30am Service 5pm Service Kid’s Club meets at St Andrew ’s, Cross Street, every Friday during term time, 5.30-7.30pm. SAYGE is the Youth Group of St Aidan ’s and St Andrew’s Presbyterian churches. We meet at St Andrew’s on Cross St every Friday night of school term from 7.30-9.30pm.

Wagga Baptist Church 156 Tarcutta St www.wwbc.org.au Sunday Service Times: 8:15am Worship Service 10am Worship Service 6pm Worship Service Crossover Youth on Fridays: 5.30pm for Bible Study 7pm – 9pm for Youth Group

Living Water Fellowship Kooringal Guide Hall 565 Kooringal Rd www.livingwaterwagga.org.au Sunday Service at 10am

The Salvation Army 188 Edward Street salvos.org.au/wagga/contact-us/

Sunday Service 10am Mainly Music Mondays 10.30am Salvos Woman Wednesdays 10.30am Connect & Grow all ages, 2nd Wednesday each month AA Meeting Thursdays 7.30pm, Fridays 7pm

For other activities and info about joining a small group call the church office on 6921 7895.

St Paul’s Turvey Park 31 Fernleigh Rd Sunday Service Times: 8am Holy Communion 9:30am Family Church SWAC Youth 6pm Evening Church Fridays 5:30 - 7:30pm St Alban’s Kooringal Playgroups 270 Lake Albert Rd Tuesdays & Fridays Sunday 8am Holy Communion www.swac.church

Gospel Power Ministries Cnr Bourke and Mckell Ave (Mt Austin Public School) www.gospelpowerministries.org.au Sunday Service at 9:30am Connect Group fortnightly on Wednesdays Prayer meeting on Fridays at 7pm

Wagga Church of Christ 49 Fernleigh Road Kids Church 9:15am Sunday Service at 10am Youth Group Fridays from 7:30 -

9:30pm

Wagga Wagga Uniting Churches www.wwuca.org.au

Pilgrim Uniting Church Sunday Worship Services – 10 Tanda Pl Glenfield Park 10am Family and cross-cultural service 6:00pm Modern expressions Wesley Uniting Church Sunday Worship Services – Cnr Johnston & Tarcutta Streets 10:30am Traditional service 2pm Korean language service