Respect, Kindness and Resilience

As students continue their learning journey at Northern Christian School, it's vital that the whole community use the School Values of Respect, Kindness and Resilience to frame all that we do. We do not want these values to be merely seen as words on walls or as attractive slogans in our marketing campaigns. Instead, our goal is that the School Values define the culture of everyone in the Northern community by serving as a behavioural compass guiding how we act, what we say, and the choices we make. As an example, recently, we have been actively encouraging our students to use their manners to show respect to others and to take the time to greet someone when they walk past each other as a positive way to show kindness. It’s been encouraging to witness students demonstrating these two values in their interactions around the school, a testament to the positive impact of intentionally teaching and modelling the School Values.

We have received some valuable feedback from parents about the importance of us taking the time to encourage and celebrate students when they are demonstrating the School Values. Next term, we will introduce a new initiative to recognise, encourage, and celebrate positive behaviours that reflect these values. We look forward to sharing the details of this in Term 2, but to make this initiative successful, we must remind ourselves of the ‘Why’ of our School Values.

As a Christian school, we believe that Christian education is not just about imparting a Christian methodology for understanding the world around us. It is also about demonstrating a Christian way of living within that world. The way we look at our School Values stems from our Christian worldview shaped by the Bible and reflected in the teachings of Jesus. We believe everyone is important and valuable and should be treated respectfully because we are all made in God’s image. We show respect by treating others well and putting their needs before ours. This is the same as the love God showed for us that we read about in the Bible which repeatedly tells us to love God and, therefore, to love others, which we demonstrate by showing them respect. Mark 12:30-31 commands us to:

“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these”.

God is always kind, compassionate, and slow to anger; therefore, He expects us to always show kindness, even to people we may struggle with at times. We know that Jesus showed his loving-kindness on the cross for us when we were so undeserving. His act of kindness to us should be both the motivation and the power for us to be kind to others. God does not call us to be selective or random in the kindness we show others. Instead, we need to be intentional in our kindness. We are instructed in Ephesians 4:32:

“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you”.

When we face challenges, resilience helps us stay strong, knowing that God is always with us. Resilience allows us to trust in God’s plan, knowing He is with us through all circumstances. It helps us grow in faith and depend on His guidance. We can overcome setbacks, learn from our mistakes, and become stronger when we have resilience. We teach students resilience by encouraging them to face life’s challenges with courage and hope. We are reminded of this in Isaiah 41:10:

“Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”.

We will strive to continue to be a transformational Christian learning community where students, parents, families, and staff will be able to articulate, understand, encourage, promote, and celebrate the values of Respect, Kindness, and Resilience and use them as a guide to act, say and choose as Jesus taught.

Bethany Armstrong - Principal

ANZAC Day Thursday 25th April

Northern Christian School students and families are warmly welcome to attend the ANZAC Day Service at Brighton Remembrance Park at 11.00am on Thursday, 25th April. Our Student Leaders, accompanied by our Principal, will lay a wreath at the ceremony.

We encourage students to dress in their school uniform (Year 3 to Year 6 students in formal uniform) and to represent our school at this community event.

Monday, 13 May at 8.00am - 9.00am

Current students' mothers and mother-figures are warmly invited to a relaxed, casual Mother’s Day celebration. This will be a special time for our students to share time with the adult women in their lives, be it Mum, Big Sister, Grandmother, Aunty, or a family friend. The celebration will include a muffin and barista-made coffee or hot chocolate and will be held outside on our Performing Arts Centre Green!

The Community Engagement Committee would greatly value some help from our fathers or father-figures with set up from 7.30am. Please email the Community Engagement Committee if you would like to help. All volunteers must have a valid Working With Vulnerable People card.

Community Engagement Committee

City to Casino Fun Run
Sunday, May 26 2024

Come along and join the 2.7km Northern Christian School Fun Run/Walk Team. Families are encouraged to join in on the fun. Prams are welcome! Members of the Community Engagement Committee and Miss Armstrong will assist on the day.

· Enter via the website

· Select - Hansen Orchids 2.7km

· Select - Join Team and Northern Christian School

· Cost is $20 per participant. $5 bus fee for those who would like to be returned to the start line at the end of the race.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Community Engagement Committee

Students in Years 3 – 6, prepare for a thrilling day of cross-country racing at Calvin Christian School in Kingston. It's not just a race; it's a chance to have fun, compete, and make new friends with students from Emmanuel Christian School, Calvin Christian School, and Channel Christian School!

This event aims to provide an opportunity for kids to compete in a long-distance run and to build community within Christian Schools Tasmania.

Parents and carers are invited to attend the Carnival and can meet us at Calvin from 10.00am on the oval at the Secondary Campus.

Further information will be sent shortly via Consent2Go.

Book Week - Book Parade
Wednesday, 22 May at 9.20am

Families are warmly invited to Northern's Book Week Parade to be held in the Performing Arts Centre.

This year's theme is ‘Where's Wally?’. Students are encouraged to come dressed as a ‘Where's Wally’ character or to dress in red, white and black.

Book Week - Book Fair 

The Book Fair and book sales, as part of Book Week, will begin after the Book Parade on Wednesday. Students will be given time to complete their Book Fair Wish List on Tuesday, 21 May and then bring it home and share it with parents. The Library will be open for book sales as follows:

• Wednesday: after the Book Parade until 11:30am, 1:00pm-1:30pm

• Thursday: 8:30am - 9:30am, 11:00am - 12:00pm, 1:00pm - 3:30pm

• Friday: 8:30pm - 9:30pm, 11:00am - 12:00pm, 1:00pm - 1:30pm

EFTPOS and cash may be used for book purchases.

Illustration Competition

To celebrate our Book Week theme of ‘Where's Wally?’, we will be holding an illustration competition. Students are encouraged to draw their own ‘Where's Wally?’ page. Their submissions will be grouped into either Prep - Year 2 or Years 3 - 6 for judging.

• Students can work individually or in pairs.

• The Library will be open for students to work on their entries at lunchtime on Wednesdays and Fridays.

• Competition entries must be handed into the Library by Friday, 17 May.

• Prizes will be awarded at the Book Week Parade.

We’ve had a very productive term in Year 3! The students have made a great start to the year and have been working very hard. We’ve had a lot of new routines and programs to learn as well as preparing for NAPLAN, and the students have done a fantastic job! In Literacy, we’ve been working hard to get the hang of SpellEx, as well as exploring how we can make our Narrative and Persuasive writing more detailed. After a bit of practise, the class is doing a great job with the routine of the SpellEx lessons, and some great discussions are being created in our Persuasive Writing lessons.

In Mathematics, we have been expanding our understanding of ‘place value’ by working with numbers into the tens of thousands. We have also been learning new strategies, such as the Split Strategy, to help us visualise and complete addition sums.

In HASS, we have been discovering how our communities can work together. Students have been researching groups that improve our communities for everyone. We have also been learning why rules are important and how they can be made fairly and democratically. Our class has also thoroughly enjoyed learning about God’s creation and exploring the ways that He has made each of us special and unique.

There’s been a lot of other exciting things happening, and we’re looking forward to the holiday break to rest up and prepare for Term 2 and our Year 3/4 Camp!

Ben Shurley - Year 3 Teacher

Drae’s winning poster

James and Emmett’s winning poster