Read more to hear from our Year Advisors and Stage Coordinators about the first week for our Secondary students and an update from Year 7 Science as they enjoy using our brand-new facilities.
Year 7 First Week with Mr Ralph Hearsey
It has been a great couple of weeks with our Year 7 community!
On their first day here at ACC, we came together as a grade to unpack some of our school’s core values and beliefs. We discussed how our community code of conduct and policies help facilitate a culture of respect and care for one another, and our learning environment.
Students also enjoyed a tour of our campus, with a particular focus on their Home Room locations and getting to know their Home Room teachers. Students then participated in team-building activities and were set up on their devices and on our ‘Canvas’ courses.
Our Year 7 Advisor, Mr Hearsey, said, “I am excited to get to know each and every Year 7 student in my cohort and have opportunities to teach them our 'Peace-Wise' wellbeing course. I have a passion to equip year 7 with the skills, abilities and mechanisms to deal with relational, mental and spiritual conflict that these students face.”
Year 7 Science with Mrs Anji Smith
This week Year 7 was able to use our fantastic new Science laboratories. They learned about how to safely use a Bunsen Burner and how to respond in an emergency in the laboratory. These custom-designed Science labs are so spacious, fitted with the latest in safety equipment and are so light and airy.
Year 7 worked in groups, connected up to the gas and lit their Bunsen burners for the very first time. They needed to safely pass a Bunsen burner test so they could receive their Bunsen burner licences. Success for everyone!
It is such a pleasure having lessons in our new building and brand new Science spaces. Year 7 students are enjoying learning all about being scientists and investigating. They will continue to build their skills over the coming weeks, months and years!
Stage 5 (Year 9 and 10) First Week with Mr Jonathan Brayshaw
Our Year 9 and 10 students have had a great start to the year, with lots of time to bond in their grades and stage.
Their first day started with a stage meeting, praying together and hearing from their Stage Coordinator, Mr Jonathan Brayshaw from Psalm 96. It was also an opportunity to make positive connections, meet their Home Room Teachers, and our new Head of Secondary, Ms Bromhead. We went through some important cultural norms and expectations that we are implementing across our Secondary school before heading off to Home Room and their regular timetabled classes from Period 2.
This Stage will have a few significant opportunities over the course of the year to come together as a community and form deep relationships.
Year 9 Camp in Term 3, and Year 10 Camp in Term 2 are significant events set aside for both individual and collective growth in Stage 5. On a daily basis, students commence school with Home Room. This is an intentional and crucial moment of each child's day, where they meet with their Home Room Teacher and peers. Home Room is a time of making connections - with God and with each other. Year 9 has a Year Meeting every Monday, while Year 10 has their Year Meeting each Tuesday.
Mr Brayshaw said, “It is a privilege to work with our students each day. Stage 5 is a crucial time in each student's growth and development. One of the things I am passionate about is helping students discover their gifts and talents, and how they could be used in the service of others.
These students are our future leaders, educators, entrepreneurs, and parents. During these years, students are beginning to explore elective subjects of interest to them and participating in work experience. By the end of Stage 5, my hope is that each student has a clear path ahead of them, whether it is further study at ACC, external study, or entering the workforce via apprenticeships or traineeships.”
For students in Stage 5, it is imperative that each child knows they are valued and belong, and to develop their character. Part of this also involves unpacking our CHRIST axiom at ACC, which represents courage, humility, respect, initiative, self-control and trust. Each of these are character qualities that Jesus modelled, and we long for the students in our community to be growing and developing each of these, both individually and as a Stage. This is something that will be explored throughout the year, during year meetings, in homerooms, and in larger events such as camp.
Once a fortnight, Home Room classes will be engaging in a new wellbeing program called Social Kung Fu. This is all about equipping students to speak confidently and learning how to navigate toxic behaviour that may be experienced through adolescent years through social circles or online.
Stage 6 (Year 11 and 12) First Week with Mrs Sarah Aydin
Our senior students on campus had a similarly strong start to the year. They have been getting to know their classmates and Home Room teachers, sharing their favourite hobbies and describing some of their favourite places.
Home Room is a special time everyday where each student is seen and important information is shared. It is also a time for teachers to invest into their students by sharing a devotion and praying with them.
We remind all our Stage 6 parents that the Year 11 and 12 Leadership Camp is an exciting event that we have coming up from March 1 - 3. This is a great opportunity for our students to bond as a year group.
Our Stage 6 Coordinator, Mrs Sarah Aydin said, “I am so thankful that I am in a position to lead this Stage. These final years of schooling is a season that calls for celebration, but also for perseverance, sacrifice and dedication to give it all they have as they run this final lap.
I am most excited to see this group of students bond as a community and for each of them to flourish in character with Christlike values. Being courageous and humble; respecting self and others; showing initiative in their learning and opportunities; self-control in their words and actions; and being trustworthy as a person, becoming a person of integrity.”
A big theme that we will explore with our Stage 6 students this year is that ‘the little things matter’ because of the way they reflect big things. Showing up to every class ready to learn and engage with the content, their peers and their teacher; and having the courage to discover and research the subject content that they don’t yet fully understand. We are excited to see these students grow in their capacity to exhibit a high standard of personal responsibility in their approach to their studies, and their role as a leader in the culture of ACC.