ASC NEWS | ISSUE 56 | JUNE 2017

News Issue 56 June 2017

Featuring from the ceo • ST JAMES’ ANGLICAN SCHOOL • ST MARK’S ANGLICAN COMMUNITY SCHOOL • BOOKWORMS • CAREER EXPOS • BOARDING LIFE• NEW PRINCIPALS • SOCIAL SCIENCES • CALENDAR • SCHOOL CHAPLAINS

From the Chief Executive Officer THE REVEREND PETER LAURENCE OAM

For our teaching staff based around Perth and the South-West, the term started with a most engaging Christian Purposes Day at HBF Stadium. 1,001 teachers in all…the first time that we have broken the thousand mark!

Of course, our valued colleagues from Esperance, Albury, Wodonga, Wangaratta and Cobram could not be with us due to distance but they will have the opportunity to view the first keynote address via video.

Our keynote addresses were delivered by well-known presenter, Ms Robyn Moore, patron of the Make a Wish Foundation and voice of Blinky Bill; as well as Mr Sam Walsh AO, Chair of the Perth Diocesan Trustees and former CEO of Rio Tinto.

Robyn Moore delivered a most engaging address in which she challenged us to look at our work and life using humour, optimism and passion, and to deal with the ‘thieves’ of cynicism, resignation, anger and procrastination. Robyn told the audience of the importance of laughter: “When you find your laughter, you find your resilience”. How true. She shared experiences from her own family and from the children and families she has met through the Make a Wish Foundation.

Robyn is a person of deep Christian faith which shines through, not only in her words, but in the actions of her life. It is clear that her faith has been a source of inspiration for her extraordinary work, most especially with the Make a Wish Foundation.

Contents From the CEO

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Feature Schools

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Feature Theme

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Who’s Who

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Biography 13 Curriculum 14 Calendar 15 Anglican Identity Cover image: The Principal of Trinity Anglican College, Mr Justin Beckett on campus with the School Captains.

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Sam Walsh AO drew on his breadth of experience in the corporate world to talk about the ‘unlikely mix’ of spirituality and business. He told us that, while the two make strange bedfellows, it is both achievable and worthwhile. Sam told the audience that the book of values of a business was the key to providing the right environment for spirituality in the workplace, and that the right combination of the two can improve efficiency for both the worker and the business. The Chair of the Perth Diocesan Trustees is a wonderful example of an Anglican living out his faith, putting it into daily practice in his former workplace, Rio Tinto.

The day concluded with a moving Eucharist, led by The Right Reverend Jeremy James tssf, Assistant Bishop of Perth, who spoke on the life of Saint Mark.

As it was St Mark’s Day, this was very appropriate and appreciated by those from St Mark’s Anglican Community School. The service was greatly enriched by the very talented staff choir from John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School.

The opportunity for such a large gathering of teachers and others from ASC schools is a tremendous privilege which we should never take for granted.

It is such occasions that remind us of the significance of the work that goes on in our 14 schools each and every day of the school year. I appreciated the opportunity to say hello, even if briefly, to almost all our 1,001 teachers present. After all, it is ‘you’ who are the ASC in action, daily touching the lives of our 14,500 young people.

New Campus for Frederick Irwin Anglican School It is exciting news that we have acquired the Halls Head Campus of Living Waters Lutheran College to become a second primary campus of Frederick Irwin Anglican School (FIAS). After a refurbishment over the next six months, the school site will open at the beginning of the 2018 school year as Frederick Irwin Anglican School Halls Left to Right: FIAS Principal Ms Head Campus. Whilst we Kerry Robertson, Primary students, anticipate that the majority of Head of Primary Ms Sue Skehan the existing 70 or so Lutheran

The Governor of NSW, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC and Mrs Hurley, open the new Infants Centre at Trinity Anglican College.

College students will remain, over the coming years some hundreds more will commence at the campus.

FIAS has developed a much envied reputation across Mandurah and beyond as a school offering an outstanding Anglican education from Kindergarten to Year 12. The existing Meadow Springs campus is located on the northern side of Mandurah so the new Halls Head Campus (south of Mandurah) will open up the same high-quality education and care to young students in southern areas. The ASC is thrilled with this move to expand the FIAS low-fee, high-quality, Christian education from 2018, located on one secondary and two primary campuses covering a wide area around Mandurah.

New Building at Trinity The Governor of NSW, His Excellency General The Honourable David Hurley AC DSC, and Mrs Hurley, visited Trinity Anglican College on Wednesday, 24 May to open the new Infants Centre on its Albury Campus. ASC Board Member and Bishop of Wangaratta, The Right Reverend John Parkes AM, blessed the new building and its students with Holy Water. Dr Ron Bailey (Chair of Council) and Mr Justin Beckett (Principal) were also joined by Mr Philip Goldsworthy, who represented the Anglican Schools Commission on this occasion. In the words of the Principal, the day was a great success: “As a keen teacher herself, Mrs Hurley was quick to dive into a Kindergarten class to help young students with their letter formations.”

During the official ceremony, His Excellency spoke of the Infants Centre as a gift to the current students and those to follow. He urged them to use and enjoy that gift, knowing that they are children of God, built to be people of peace, joy and love.

New Principals This edition of ASC News features two new Principals who commenced at the beginning of this year. Both Felicity House (Peter Carnley Anglican Community School) and Justin Beckett (Trinity Anglican College) are new to the roles but have already made their marks in their respective schools. Their biographies on page 13 make for a great read.

Over the Easter school holidays, we also welcomed back to the ASC family Ms Susan Shaw, as Principal of St George’s Anglican Grammar School (SGAGS). Sue served for 14 years as Principal of Geraldton Grammar School and, last year, was Interim Principal of Trinity Anglican College after Mr Steven O’Connor moved to All Saints’ College, Bathurst and prior to Justin Beckett’s arrival this year. As a highly experienced and accomplished leader in Anglican schools in WA, New South Wales, Victoria and Queensland, Sue is well placed to be the second Principal of SGAGS, following the resignation of Mrs Rensché Diggeden at the end of last term.

We are delighted Sue is back with us in this important leadership role.

Felicity, Justin and Sue bring with them a diversity of experiences which will enrich their school communities. We welcome them and wish them God’s blessing.

ASC Students Rock Peter Moyes On the evening of Wednesday, 17 May, Peter Moyes Anglican Community School (PMACS) hosted the annual ASC Rock Show, featuring rock bands from our schools. This year, there were nine

PMACS rock bands which were joined by bands from St James’ Anglican School (SJAS), Swan Valley Anglican Community School and St George’s Anglican Grammar School. In addition, staff from participating schools came together to play two songs. All in all, some 15 bands and 23 songs: what a night!

It was a great family occasion as the front rows of seats in the Allan Shaw Centre were removed, allowing space for the students and younger children to dance and play as the rock music brought many smiles and applause from the large crowd of supporters. Well done to the PMACS staff and music teachers from across our schools who formed a band led by Aaron Graham, the guitar teacher from PMACS and SJAS. We look forward to the next PMACS system-wide music event, the ASC Piano Competition on Wednesday, 21 June.

Music is alive and well at PMACS and in all our schools!

ASC NEWS June 2017

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Feature School

St James’ Anglican School Establishing a new school has been an exciting process – a process that has involved a vision for what the school will be like in 10, 20 or 30 years’ time when it is at full capacity.

Our School St James’ Anglican School was opened by the ASC in 2015. It is located in the rapidly growing beachside suburb of Alkimos, which is about 40 km north of Perth. The school currently has just under 400 students from Kindergarten to Year 8 and, by 2021, we anticipate it will be a K – 12 school with a capacity for 1,100 students.

Establishing a new school has been an exciting process – a process that has required a vision for what the school will be like in 10, 20,or 30 years’ time when it is at full capacity. The architects have worked with the ASC and the School to create a Masterplan and to deliver buildings that are equipped for modern-day schooling and able to cope with the demands that expected growth will place on them. The design of the Junior School buildings embraces the nautical theme of the suburb; Alkimos is named after the SS Alkimos, a Greek-owned merchant ship that sank off the nearby coast in 1963. Inspired by the nautical name of the suburb, the School named its four house groups after ships that have sunk off the coast of Western Australia; Cervantes, Eglinton, HMAS Sydney and Twilight.

These names have been displayed at the front of the school on four oversized pencils. The pencils not only represent the house groups by their colour, they also have key words and headings from the School’s Strategic Plan.

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Senior School Currently, the Senior School comprises all students enrolled in Years 7 and 8. Our current Year 8 students will be our first cohort of graduating Year 12 students in 2021. Although our Senior School is small, our students are offered a wide range of subjects which expose them to the eight learning areas. Toward the middle of Year 8, students are expected to focus their areas of interest by choosing subjects for Years 9 and 10. In Years 11 and 12, students will have identified their future pathways and enrolled in either ATAR or VET courses. Subjects available for selection include: Japanese, Music, Visual Art, Design & Technology - Woodwork, Drama, Food Technology, Digital Technologies, and Marine Studies.

New Projects The school grounds are constantly growing as more of the campus is developed. Towards the end of 2016, the nature playground was completed to coincide with the opening of the final stage of the Junior School building. It has been designed to allow the students to explore and develop their gross motor skills in a calm and beautiful setting. Included in the design of the nature playground is our own SS Alkimos, a sinking ship that has sparked the imagination of the Early Years students who have claimed ownership of it.

Community and Sustainability It has been the vision of the School to create grounds that embrace the local environment, are sustainable, and engage with the community. One of the first buildings, completed and consecrated in late 2015, was the Chapel of St James. It was built in partnership with the Diocese and the local Parish of Yanchep. The School and the Parish share the same priest, the Reverend John Taylor. It has been a wonderful way to establish a partnership with the growing community.

Our founding staff and families donated various trees which have been planted within the school grounds.

Many of these were fruit trees which were added to our orchard, an area left open for students to access and, eventually, a place where they can learn how to cultivate and care for the trees. Next to the orchard is a vegetable garden. Each class is responsible for growing crops of their choice. Last year, the Food Technology Department turned our leeks and pumpkins into some wonderful homemade soup, which was appreciated by the students on a blustery winter’s day.

Finally, a state of the art solar energy collection system was installed to help reduce our energy footprint. These are exciting times for the people of St James’ who make up our wonderful community.

ASC NEWS June 2017

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Feature School

Learn it, Live it, Teach it, Embed it: A process of building emotional awareness.

St Mark’s

Anglican Community School Student wellbeing has always been a major priority for St Mark’s Anglican Community School. One of the main components of student wellbeing is Social and Emotional Learning (SEL). While the School has run SEL programs over the years, feedback from our community identified the need for a more consistent approach to our SEL programs, particularly the importance of developing a common language across a K-12 School.

To this end, St Mark’s introduced the RULER Approach to SEL which originates from Yale University’s Centre for Emotional Intelligence. RULER is an acronym for Recognising, Understanding, Labelling, Expressing and Regulating emotions.

A lot of research testing the validity of SEL found that teaching social and emotional skills contributes to better social and emotional adjustment and higher academic achievement.

Students participating in this approach perform better in school and on standardised tests. SEL helps students and teachers to develop skills that will maximise their full potential – academically, socially, and emotionally.

Selected staff from each of the sub-schools (Primary, Middle and Senior) have been involved in the training with a specific focus on our Year 2 and Year 4 teaching teams. Each session is devoted to one of the four primary tools of RULER.

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The Charter The charter is a collaboration between the students and teacher in age and ability-appropriate ways to agree a charter for a rights-respecting classroom. Students in Years 2 and 4 have started to build their charter. The charter is not about coming up with a list of rules; it is about creating an environment where everyone feels secure and valued.

Mood Meter Students identify and label emotions; they learn to expand their emotional vocabulary, replacing basic feeling words with more sophisticated terms.

Students are encouraged to map their emotions on a meter when feeling challenged. It encourages students to pay attention to where their emotions are and keep them in check so as to be proactive, not reactive.

Meta-Moment

Although the implementation began with Years 2 and 4, St Mark’s anticipates a continuous roll-out model from K-12.

Students press the ‘pause’ button to think about ineffective responses and, with practice, replace unhelpful and ineffective responses with productive and empowering responses in a challenging situation. The approach involves nurturing students to make better choices, build healthier relationships and experience greater well-being.

Blueprint

A major component of successful implementation of any SEL program is shared language and, more importantly, shared language between school and home. The parent-school partnership is a critical component of any successful model. As such, parents of students from Kindy to Year 6 were invited to attend a presentation during second term. Similar presentations will be held for parents in the other sub-schools.

Managing conflict effectively, developing empathy, considering other people’s feelings and identifying solutions through collaboration are the basis for the Blueprint.

Creating safer and more productive classrooms is where the science of well-being and flourishing meets best practice teaching and learning.

ASC NEWS June 2017

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Feature Theme - Primary

Book Worms DEAR = Drop Everything And Read

John Wollaston Anglican Community School

The inaugural Story Night In at John Wollaston Anglican Community School was held on Thursday, 1 June, 2017. This exciting night involved all students from Pre-Primary to Year 2 coming to the Library Resources Centre in their pyjamas for an evening of storytelling and connecting with family. The Story Night In concept was shared by another school during a recent Library teachers’ networking meeting and the John Wollaston Library staff thought it had great potential as a community event.

Students were able to show their parents some of the amazing work they have been doing this year in the Library, including working with coding bots and interactive reading activities with

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iPads. The Library staff at John Wollaston are teaching Digital Technology in the Primary School, aligning with the new Digital Technologies area of the Australian Curriculum. Their aim is to create global learners in a digital world. This enhances the world perspective our Primary students already have through their inquiry learning with the International Baccalaureate.

The John Wollaston Library staff are constantly trying new things and introducing creative learning methods. This year, in the Library Resource Centre, there has been a focus on improving and expanding literacy skills through the clever implementation of new technologies.

Swan Valley Anglican Community School In the Swan Valley Anglican Community School Junior School, students take part in a daily reading program called DEAR. DEAR stands for ‘Drop Everything and Read’. This program provides students with much more than a just-sit-there-and-read experience. It gives the teacher a structured time to touch base with each student over a period of time, assess progress, and target instruction. Even more importantly, it gives our students time to read what they want to read, share what they have read, and receive the support they need for further reading explorations and reflections. In our busy classrooms, it is hard to fit everything in during the day.

We find that the DEAR program enables teachers to set aside that quality time for reading. In our classrooms, the students pick the books they want to read and choose where in the room they want to read them, whether that be in a cubby, under a desk or outside the classroom in the shade. Daily reading sessions last approximately twenty minutes and are followed by a ten minute reflection during which students write in their reading response logs. When a book is completed, the student conferences with the teacher to discuss the book and share his or her reading log.

Frederick Irwin Anglican School Frederick Irwin Anglican School celebrates reading every day but, as May is the National Family Reading Month, a few extra activities were planned to promote reading.

Firstly, the Library hosted a Book Fair from 15 to 26 May, using the theme ‘Bookaneer Book Fair’. This resulted in great decorations, including a pirate ship check-out desk and hidden treasure around the bookcases.

A Story Time session was also hosted on 18 May. The Library invited students and parents to come in after school and listen to stories read by the Head of Primary, Deputy Head of Primary and a Year 5 Teacher: a fun event for all who attended!

Outside these special events, the Library has a dedicated Primary reading area which has been designed to be a safe and comfortable zone for Primary students to learn to enjoy reading. A big, comfortable, red chair is used to read to a group, while the draped materials create the feeling of a cosy nook.

Primary School students also participate in the buddy reading system with older students. Book Week, which is celebrated every year, allows even more opportunities for older year groups to share their love of reading with younger students.

Digital screens in the Library feature new books and promote reading to the constant influx of both primary and secondary students.

The Library is open from 8.00am to 4.15pm every day during term and many book worms take advantage of this before, during and after school each day.

ASC NEWS June 2017

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Feature Theme - Secondary

Careers Expos Peter Moyes Anglican Community School The Expo allows visitors to explore tertiary and VET course options, learn about traineeships, apprenticeships and/or school based traineeships and/or apprenticeships. Representatives from all six Western Australian universities attend, allowing ATAR, or future ATAR, students the opportunity to discuss the courses offered and confirm any prerequisites required to obtain a placement in these courses. The State’s TAFEs, Registered Training Organisations and Group Training Organisations are also present and outline their courses and procedures to students trying to gain government-funded placements during Year 11, Year 12 or post-school fee-for-service placements.

Peter Moyes Anglican Community School stages its annual Careers Expo at the start of second term. This event is one of many career programs and activities offered by the School.

It is held at the same time as the Year 10 parent interview evening which encourages students and parents in this cohort to seriously consider career options. However, this is not exclusively a Year 10 event as all year groups are encouraged to attend.

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The Expo provides an opportunity for the considerable number of School students and families who are new to Australia to become aware of career options. The Expo also helps all students clarify and consider their educational direction and priorities, especially those in Years 11 and 12.

As an annual event, the Expo reinforces the work the School does to make students aware of the continually changing educational and workplace environments that await them.

St George’s Anglican Grammar School St George’s Anglican Grammar School, at the heart of the Perth CBD, is surrounded by a vast array of businesses, tertiary organisations and opportunities to enhance the career opportunities for our students.

The annual Careers Expo at the Perth Convention Centre is within walking distance of St George’s.

The annual Careers Expo held at the Perth Convention Centre is within walking distance of the School. Our Senior School students attend this event, providing them with an excellent opportunity to talk to representatives from universities, TAFEs, government departments, training organisations and employers. These conversations are invaluable in assisting students to make decisions about their futures.

The School runs a dedicated Careers subject for all Year 10 students. During these lessons, the students find out about who they are and then look at career options that match what they enjoy doing and how they like to work. All Year 10 students attend a week of work experience at the end of third term. Work experience allows students the opportunity to observe what it

Mr Rod Dunbar with Alistair Hurst and Gabriel de Carheil

is like in industry while gaining valuable information, skills and experiences about potential career paths. The students prepare for this experience during Careers lessons. They write a resumé and cover letter for a job application and use these to apply for their placement. Past work experience placements have included The Sunday Times, Yirra Yakin Theatre Company, REmida WA and The Legal Aid Commission of WA. Some of our students have been so impressive on work experience they have been offered part-time employment.

As the students move into upper secondary schooling, it is important that the School assists them in making choices about what they will do after they leave school. St George’s invites the universities, TAFE sector and TISC to talk to students about life after school and study options available to them.

St George’s is very fortunate to be situated in such an amazing location, with so many opportunities on the door step and we look forward to growing our relationships and expanding our offerings in the future.

Social Enterprise students

Cathedral College Wangaratta At Cathedral College, academic programs are complemented by an extensive careers program designed to develop the key skills required for tertiary study and job opportunities. To help prepare for Years 11 and12, our Year 9 students participate in Student Pathways interviews to help guide and support them in choosing subjects for their final three years of school. In Year 10, students not only have a week of Work Experience, but they also participate in our Social Enterprise program which is a collaborative, hands-on experience giving young people opportunities to run their own business. Provided with practical learning that opens up the ideas, skills and creativity needed for entrepreneurship, students create, build and run a business with a social cause and, in second term, Year 10 students run a variety of pop-up food stalls and activities which raise money for a variety of causes.

VCE students attend Career Days, both locally and in Melbourne, to investigate possible career paths and learn what requirements must be met in order to enter a particular field. Our Year 12 students attended a two-day urban experience in Melbourne at the beginning of the year with workshops at universities and an opportunity to hear from Old Collegians. This was followed up with a visit by Old Collegian, Gabriel de Carheil (School Captain, 2011) who had just returned from a European exchange in Germany. In his final year of a double degree in Bio-Medicine and Law at Monash University, Gabriel was able to talk to our final year students about university and the diverse career opportunities post-schooling.

ASC NEWS June 2017

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Who’s Who

This Boarding Life in Esperance We are delighted that boarding at Esperance Anglican Community School, now into its third year, continues to develop strongly, with evidence from a recent survey showing that we compare very favourably with boarding schools across Australia.

Students from the wider Esperance and Goldfields region are able to benefit from a boarding school with a family feel and world-class facilities, without parents having to sacrifice involvement in their child’s education – the best of both worlds. We offer an affordable alternative for country families seeking an experience to rival city options and be a second home close to home.

Our boarders reside in the heart of the School acknowledging the vital contribution they and supervising staff – who all teach in the School – make to the life of the whole school

community. Indeed it can be argued – with some conviction – that boarding embodies, in its purest form, the School’s ethos of nourishing heart, head and hands. This conviction can be justified by simply looking at the progress made by our boarders: we have noticed improved levels of personal and academic organisation, higher levels of academic achievement, wider involvement in school and community, better resilience and tolerance, the development of strong relationships and enhanced problem-solving abilities.

Our location in such a beautiful area allows our students to pursue individual talents and interests, and embrace the outdoor lifestyle that is central to the identity of what it means to be a ‘country kid’. So, there are plenty of water-based activities such as surfing, swimming and fishing, bush-walking, and also participation in local sporting teams and cultural activities. This enables us to fulfil our founding vision as we strive to encourage our students to embrace and develop the talents with which they have been blessed. It is our aim that our boarding students develop these talents and become great contributors to the region and beyond.

An Intellectually Adventurous Student Georgiana Molloy Anglican School Year 10 student, Hannah Bowden is off to Oxford University in the UK to take part in the Oxbridge Academic Program.

With the help of her teachers Mrs Lisa Ness and Mr Brad Taylor, Hannah put together an extensive application after seeing the advertisement in the school library. Receiving her acceptance email from New York at 6am, she said “It was unbelievable to

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find out I had been accepted because it is such an incredible opportunity to have and I feel very lucky”.

The program has run for over 30 years in Europe and the United States for “intellectually adventurous high school students” to take part in summer study programs. Hannah will attend Oxford University for one month and take part in an international relations and human rights course. More than 300 Years 10, 11 and 12 students from around the world are part of the program and the participants will stay on campus while mainstream students are on their summer break.

Georgiana Molloy Anglican School wishes Hannah all the best and congratulates her on this outstanding achievement.

Biography

New ASC Principals Ms Felicity House Peter Carnley Anglican community school Felicity was born and raised in country WA on a mixed crop and livestock farm in Toodyay. “As kids, we helped on the farm, chasing sheep, feeding chickens, and generally being useful. We caught the bus into town each day and, like most country kids, I played lots of sport. My passion was for athletics and running – running after the sheep on the farm was great training!”

In Year 11, Felicity moved to St Mary’s Anglican Girls School to board. She then completed a Bachelor of Education, and gained her first teaching job in Geraldton, teaching Geography. From there, she went to St Mark’s Anglican Community School, where she gained experience as a Year Coordinator, Head of Department, and Dean of Students. She then moved to Perth College as Deputy Principal.

“My appointment as Principal at Peter Carnley Anglican Community School is an extraordinary honour. My philosophy as Principal is to empower people to make good choices in school and in life, and PCACS is certainly one of the best choices I could have made.”

Mr Justin Beckett TRINITY ANGLICAN COLLEGE Trinity Anglican College’s new Principal Justin Beckett is living proof that parents know best. As a budding young film maker, songwriter and author of fiction, Justin knew his parents believed he was a natural-born teacher.

“They saw me as a people person,” Justin said. “They always said I’d make a great teacher and encouraged me to pursue that as a career path. So, while I was playing gigs in a band and dabbling in film making, I was also doing an arts degree to which I added a Dip Ed in 1995.”

Then, frustrated with his lot in the music world and disillusioned from a failed bid to cut a record deal, Justin took a teaching position at a school in the tiny town of Moora, 177km north of Perth. Within weeks, he knew he had found his calling.

“I loved it. It was a small school so it didn’t take long to know everyone and I loved being part of the community. I really wanted to be part of something bigger than myself and teaching offered that completely. Turns out my parents knew me best, after all.”

His passion for education has strengthened with each passing career step. First, he returned to his former school, Hale School in Perth, as a teacher and Assistant Boarding Housemaster, where his passion for educating the whole student took flight. Over the ensuing years, St Stephen’s School in Perth and All Saints Anglican School on the Gold Coast were the wind beneath his wings, allowing his concept of holistic teaching to soar.

Now, in the top role at Trinity Anglican College, Justin has the capacity to shape students’ learning in the way he has envisioned and practised in everything he has done to this point.

“I want Trinity to be defined by the quality of our graduates; the human quality of our students,” Justin said. “They will be life-long learners, positive connectors, people who persevere and give their best. We’ll be developing students’ soft skills – their emotional intelligence, critical thinking, creativity and resilience – alongside their academic skills and, in this way, we will be giving them the skills to live a happy and fruitful life.”

Justin believes that faith plays a vital role in an holistic education. “As an Anglican College, we celebrate that each child is loved by God and created to live a life of hope, generosity and purpose.”

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Curriculum

Social Sciences Cobram Anglican Grammar School During the first two terms of 2017, the Junior School students (Prep to Year 4) at Cobram Anglican Grammar School have been busy. Prep students have been exploring families by looking at different family structures and creating family portraits, while the Year 1 and 2 students have been challenged by focussing on the question, ‘How are our toys different from those in the past?’ A favoutite activity was participating in games that their parents and grandparents may have played.

Year 3 and 4 classes have been studying the great explorers of the past and learning about world exploration prior to the late 18th century.

The highlight for Middle School students, particularly Year 7, has been related to the Indigenous component of the

curriculum. Students were introduced to a local Elder, Uncle Eric, and heard his personal story. In addition, they viewed many traditional paintings and learned about the stories behind them.

Our Year 10 students travelled to the Shrine of Remembrance and the Jewish Holocaust Museum in Melbourne. At the Shrine, they participated in a remembrance ceremony and spent some time around the eternal flame reflecting on and discussing the sacrifices of our service men and women. At the Holocaust Museum the tour began with a documentary which introduced students to some of the key facts and information, and ended by lighting a candle in remembrance of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice.

John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School It has been said that there are two pillars of knowledge, History and Geography, as one places us in time whilst the other places us in space. Perhaps we can add to this Civics and Citizenship and Economics and Business, although I am sure my colleagues in other departments would strongly disagree with me. However, given the uncertainties of the world we live in today, the value of a liberal education has never been greater and so the recent introduction of the West Australian Humanities and Social Science Curriculum would appear particularly timely.

At John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School, the introduction of the new West Australian Curriculum has been embraced wholeheartedly from Pre-Primary to Year 10, with Accounting and Finance, Business Management and Enterprise, Economics, Geography and Modern History being offered in Years 11 and 12. In implementing this, the Primary School has taken an integrated approach with the program operating around three phases over the course of the academic year. In Years 7 to 10, the Curriculum has been implemented on a four-term plan, with each of the four subjects being studied for a ten-week block.

The need to provide appropriate opportunities for students to engage with the world in which we live in has seen students at the School participate in a number of visits, excursions and camps. Students in the Primary School have made visits to Kalamunda Historical Village, Fremantle Prison, Cockman House, Tranby House and Mundaring Weir, to name but a few. In the Secondary School, students have also been out and about, visiting Rottnest Island, the Alcoa Mine, Perth’s Central Business District, Fremantle Prison, Kailis Brothers, the Metropolitan Coastline and Morley Galleria. These excursions have been supplemented by visiting speakers.

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Calendar Highlights of Third Term

Calendar

July, August September 2017 Date

School

Event

21 JULY

PMACS

Peter Moyes Day

24 JULY

FIAS

Artist in Residence

25 JULY

SJAS

St James’ Day

27 JULY

SGAGS

School Production

28 JULY

JSRACS

Me No Hair Day

2-4 AUGUST

CCW

Ski Trip

7 AUGUST

EACS

Japanese Exchange Visit

11 AUGUST

JWACS

Founders’ Day

14 AUGUST

CAGS

Book Week

14 AUGUST

PCACS, SGAGS & PMACS

Science Week

14 AUGUST

GMAS

Pedal Prix Competition

19 AUGUST

SVACS

Open Day

21 AUGUST

FIAS, JSRACS & JWACS

Book Week

21 AUGUST

SJAS & TAC

Book Week

22 AUGUST

SMACS

Primary School Production

25 AUGUST

CCW

Debutante Ball

30 AUGUST

FIAS

Founders’ Day

1 SEPTEMBER

CCW, CAGS & SVACS

Fathers Day Breakfast

1 SEPTEMBER

JWACS

Family Football Festival

8 SEPTEMBER

PCACS

10th Anniversary Art Exhibition

8 SEPTEMBER

TAC

Trinity Art Exhibition

9 SEPTEMBER

PMACS

Quiz Night

19 SEPTEMBER

EACS

Peer Mentoring

20 SEPTEMBER

GMAS

Junior School Musical

21 SEPTEMBER

JSRACS

Year 12 Valedictory

22 SEPTEMBER

SMACS

Jump Rope

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Anglican Identity

Reflections from Chaplains

The Gift of Words As a child, I attended a state primary school and an Anglican Grammar School in England. Even in my primary school, we began each day with an assembly and we recited the Lord’s Prayer; at the end of the day, another prayer. At the Grammar School, each day began not just with the Lord’s Prayer but with a chapel service. As you might imagine, between the ages of 5 and 18, I sang a lot of hymns!

This term, at John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School, we held a Songs of Praise concert, inviting the local parishes as well as the school community to come and sing the hymns which may no longer be in vogue.

Focusing on my hymn book and selecting which hymns to keep in and which to leave out, I was reminded of two things: firstly, that I can still remember the tunes of many hymns which I thought had been forgotten, and where I was when we sang them; and secondly, how beautiful are the words to the hymns.

As a teenager, I can remember being unimpressed by many of the hymns. But now I am older and hopefully wiser, I believe that our songs of worship are a great gift to us. To have someone put into words the sometimes confusing emotions and thoughts which we can claim as our own is a wonderful inheritance. It also reminds me that the journey of faith has not changed so very much.

Speaking Thematically Our Anglican identity is most easily identified in embracing difference. It is intrinsic to, but not limited to, the areas of pastoral care, Chaplaincy, Chapel, Christian and Religious Studies and Service Learning, in which I have seen many changes and differences over my last 14 years at Georgiana Molloy Anglican School.

Most recently, we have taken a whole-school approach to exploring difference and our Anglican identity by working with a fortnightly theme across all four sub-schools. The students experience the theme through Chapel, assemblies, and Christian and Religious Studies. The same ideas are incorporated into staff briefings and the daily notices, which commence with a prayer relevant to the theme.

Examples of the topics we have explored in 2017 are the qualities of gratitude, honesty, forgiveness, kindness, team work and humility. During Chapel services and Primary School assemblies, classes take turns to give a presentation on the fortnightly theme. A reading from Scripture is presented alongside students’ interpretations of the text which connects the past and present. All this is only achieved through teamwork, “so if one stumbles another is there to pick them up.” (Ecclesiastes 4:10) It’s team work that makes the dream work at Georgiana Molloy Anglican School.

The Reverend Cheryl Absalom

Father Earle Chamberlain

School Chaplain

School Chaplain

John Septimus Roe Anglican Community School

Georgiana Molloy Anglican School

The Anglican Schools Commission Inc 5 Wollaston Road, Mt Claremont, WA Postal Address: Po Box 2520 Mt Claremont Wa 6010 P (08) 9286 0290 F (08) 9384 5023 | info@asc.wa.edu.au | www.asc.wa.edu.au