Music at Northern…

I am so excited about the enthusiasm and growth of our young musicians at Northern. I often joke that Music is the most important subject in any school. The Book of Psalms in the Bible, often referred to as the Book of Songs, is all about worshipping God through music. Therein lies the importance of it. People need to express their deepest feelings of need, anguish, sorrow, fellowship, longing, love, joy and worship to God. Music and singing have always been one of the main ways for us to express these feelings, and the 150 songs in the Book of Psalms cover them all!

We are surrounded by music every day and have been experiencing it since birth. Music is an international language, understood across the world. The power of music to connect people everywhere, regardless of where they are from, is amazing.

Learning music has scientifically proven cognitive and neurological benefits in people of all ages. It helps with mental development such as thinking, processing, and memory skills and actually helps our brain grow in very important ways.

Perhaps I wasn’t joking about how amazing music is…

For music to flourish in the lives of young people, they need the support of both school and home. I am so encouraged by the support and encouragement our students at Northern are getting from their parents and carers as more students take instruments home for practice. Please be patient - young musicians may take some time to sound good!

I already see positive results in many students’ playing ability because of home practice.

Thank you to all those families who have been making Ukulele bags. Guitar bags will be next!

Finally, the big news is that for the first time in approximately 17 years, Northern is putting on a musical production at the end of Term 3 Students have started learning the songs, and auditions for the main parts will be held in June. We will need plenty of parent support for costume and set design, construction, logistics and whatever else we need to make this event memorable. We

Alan Lawson - Deputy Principal and Music Teacher

Our Cross Country Carnival is on Friday, May 27 for all Prep to Year 6 students. The Carnival forms part of our Physical Education program and all students are expected to participate. Students have always enjoyed this day, exploring nature and spending time with each other as they run the bushland course.

The event will be broken into two separate sessions:
Years 3 - 6 students start at 9.10am - 11.00am
Prep - Year 2 students start at 11.30am - 1.00pm

Parents and families are invited to come along to support students at this event. All students will be required to wear sports uniform for this event and are encouraged to wear a top representing their sports house colour.

The School Council will be hosting a Hot Dog lunch for students. Hot Dogs are $3 and orders must be placed by 4.00pm Monday, 23 May via QKR!

We are looking for volunteers to assist with marshalling and assisting at the finish line. If you can assist at the Carnival, please contact me. All volunteers must have a valid Working With Vulnerable People card.

Peter Humphrey - Physical Education Teacher.

School Photos - Monday 23 May

Class, individual and family photos will be taken on Monday 23 May.

Please be reminded there will be no cash option for payment this year, so please feel free to start ordering your photos online.

All INDIVIDUAL orders must be in by 4.30pm Friday 3 June 

All FAMILY orders must be in by 4.30pm on Sunday 22 May

Any family who misses the family cutoff but wishes to still have a photo taken on the day will incur a $20 late fee and will be able to order this photo through the second chance system. 

Individual and Family Photo packages can be ordered via the Leading Image Website using the same access key ZJPD3P49

Parent Helpers for the Light Festival

Current Northern families are warmly invited to enjoy our new community event on Friday, 17 June from 5.00pm - 7.30pm. Experience live music around our fire pits on the Oval, with hot soup and dessert provided! There will also be a student art exhibition in the PAC with the theme of ‘Let your Light Shine’. This free event will include a special activity to light up the night. We'd love to see you there! You can RSVP via our Facebook event. Please note due to COVID-19 regulations, only immediate families are invited to attend.

To make this a success, we would greatly value parent help with the planning and the organising of this event. We need help with the planning, stringing lots of fairy lights, cooking soup and many other activities.

If you would like to be involved with the planning of the Light Festival, we encourage you to email us by Monday 23, May to express your interest and we will be in contact with you to discuss further.

We will also be sending out an online signup form for this event shortly for parent help on the night.

Jo Green and Bethany Armstrong - School Council Members

This Term, Year 6 will be joining different classes throughout the week for various subjects, including Art, Technologies and HASS. This will be an excellent time for students to enhance their cooperative learning behaviours such as taking turns, sharing knowledge, praising each other’s efforts, listening and completing tasks while having fun and creating positive relationships with their peers.

In class, we have been focusing on what it means to be respectful, resilient and kind. As leaders in the school, it is important that our Year 6 students can understand, embrace and apply these core values. We expect our student leaders to motivate, encourage and influence their peers to work together to embrace our values to celebrate kindness, model respect and nurture resilience.

This can take shape in many forms, including the how we talk, listen to and treat others. Or how we talk about and treat ourselves.

Through leadership opportunities, students will be able to feel a sense of pride as they serve the school, their peers and the community.

Luke Lamont - Year 6 Teacher

The Student Representative Council (SRC) meets weekly and has already embarked upon some important projects within and beyond Northern Christian School.

Our Term 1 fundraiser was to support Richmond Christian College, a fellow Christian school in NSW, which suffered significant damage due to recent flooding. The SRC raised $234 thanks to the generosity of the Northern Community, which will go towards new sports equipment. The SRC thanks everyone who supported this effort to bless another school in need.

Being a “Representative” Council, the SRC is keen to hear their ideas or suggestions from all students. Our SRC Community Relations and Marketing Leaders, Holli and Zeke, are designing and building an SRC Feedback Box, which will be situated near the school office.

Each member of the SRC contributes to the running of the Council. Allira and Olivia share Treasurer responsibilities to keep account of money raised and distributed, and Cooper is our Secretary, taking minutes at the meetings and helping with meeting agendas. Timothy and Ruth serve as School Captains.

A highlight of our last meeting was when School Captain, Timothy, highlighted the SRC’s need to think carefully about its Mission. When others responded to this, mentioning things like fundraising, Timothy quickly affirmed that activities such as fundraising were things that the SRC does, not why we do them. He was helping us see that understanding why we do things is critical in keeping us on track and helping us to succeed with the things that we do.

We are blessed by wise young leaders indeed!

 Alan Lawson - SRC Coordinator

Just a friendly reminder that we are currently in a transition period for some school uniform items, with a commitment to implement the Formal and Sports uniform guidelines for Years 3-6 in 2023 as outlined in our Uniform Policy. Hoodies, pinafores, polar fleece jackets and school leggings may continue to be worn only until the end of 2022. School leggings are to only be worn on the designated Physical Education day on a Friday. Please note: the plain navy leggings and the old red and blue check-style dress cannot be worn.

Nails: Only clear nail polish may be worn on fingernails. Fake nails or coloured polish are not permitted.

Socks: School socks and stockings should be navy. Please ensure your child wears socks or stockings with their shoes every day and that they do not contain any logos, cartoon characters or patterns.

Black Footwear: All students from Prep to Year 6 are required to wear black enclosed shoes such as a leather school shoe or sneaker. Please note, students are permitted to wear sport sneakers on Fridays for their Physical Education lesson. We are aware that some students are already wearing predominantly black shoes. When purchasing your child their next new pair of school shoes, please ensure that they are black. 

Hats and Beanie: Students are to wear the bucket hats and beanies sold by the Uniform Shop. No other hats or beanies are to be worn.

For a full list of uniform items and prices please refer to the Uniform Catalogue on the Parents Page on our website.

From the Office