The Christmas Story

It’s the time of the year where we hear students’ excitement about putting their Christmas Tree up on December 1. If you drive late enough in the streets you will see some homes covered in fairy lights and Christmas decorations. On the weekend I was speaking to my sister about the consumer society that we live in and how Christmas can sadly be centred on ourselves — about how much we can get or even eat at Christmas. I have been chatting to family members about the gifts that I am to buy and I have had to remind myself that no matter how impressive the decorating skills, how beautiful the gifts are wrapped and precious family times with little ones, no matter how high the level of expectations we place upon this special, sparkly window of time each year — the real glory belongs to Jesus.

I would have to agree with Paul Tripp that our culture tell us a false “Christmas story”. This Christmas story puts children and ourselves at the centre, the place for God and God alone. It looks to ‘presents' for fulfillment rather than worship of the Creator. It makes physical pleasure our primary need rather than the rescuing intervention of the Redeemer. It’s dominated by the comforts of the moment rather than eternal priorities.

Our hope at Northern Christian School is that our school will not only be filled with Christmas, but the very present reality of the Lord Jesus Christ. We are looking forward to hearing and sharing the ‘true’ Christmas story at the Travel to Bethlehem Musical on Thursday 12 December. We pray that we will all be reminded that the grace of Jesus shines brighter than any gift the world has to offer.

Here are five ways to help your children focus on the true Christmas story:

1. Start early: You can’t start early enough or tell the true story often enough, since the false story is everywhere to be heard. Don’t wait until Christmas Day to point your family to God’s Word.

2. Tell the bad news: Protect your family from fake news by telling them of the bad news: their sin and separation from God. Good news isn’t good unless it’s prefaced with bad news, and redemption becomes beautiful when we understand the depth of our need.

3. Warn them about the false story: Enjoy traditions and fun, but take opportunities to point out how and why the false story your children will hear again and again isn’t true.

4. Present Jesus as the gift of gifts: Express love by giving gifts, but remind your children that creation can’t satisfy, and that our only hope is found in one Gift—the person, presence, work, and grace of Jesus.

5. Embed the Advent story everywhere: The Advent season gives you a wonderful opportunity to help your children understand themselves and everything in their lives from the vantage point of the birth, life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. The Advent story tells them who they are, what they need, and what their lives are about. This story is the only reliable way they will ever make sense out of the story of their individual lives.

Miss Bethany Armstrong - Principal

Year 5 News

Over the past two weeks Year 5 have begun to prepare for next week’s Christmas presentation, practising our song and working on our costume items. 

As we have an Australian themed experience this year, we have been designing and constructing our own cattleman style hats and Akubras to wear.  Students created a paper template of their own making and used Paper Mache to cover and to give strength and texture. Each student will then paint and adorn their hats with various designs that will be presented as part of our costumes. 

We look forward to showing you the finished product in the coming weeks.

Mr Dean Prentice - Year 5 Teacher

Students and families of Northern Christian School are warmly invited to our Aussie Christmas Party Event.

We will kick start the night off at 5.00pm with our Travel to Bethlehem Musical and end of year awards.

There will be lots of activities for the whole family to celebrate the wonderful year we've had at Northern Christian School this year. There will be live music, The Hobart Hurricanes, Rides, a Jumping Castle and a Petting Zoo.

Food will be FREE with food vans, fairy floss and ice cream. Lots to get excited about!

Car parking will be limited at this event and we suggest to carpool if possible.

Students please arrive by 4.20pm and meet your teacher in your classroom.

Qkr - Uniform

Have you set up your Qkr App yet? All of our school uniform is available to be purchased through the App. The Qkr App is owned by Mastercard and is a trusted and convenient way of purchasing items from Northern Christian School.

Also from time to time when we have special events, such as the school disco and Footy colours day, items will be available to be purchased through QKR.

Search for “Qkr” on your preferred Mobile App Store and download the App to get started.

Bump Up Morning

This Friday December 6 from 9.10am until 10.40am, all students will have the opportunity to spend some time in their new classroom for the 2020 school year.

They will get a taste of what to expect in the upcoming year. All the teachers at Northern Christian School are looking forward to spending some time with their new students.

Our Teachers for 2020 are:

Kinder – Mr Sam Whittle
Prep – Mrs Adrienne Bitt
Year 1 – Miss Tara Johns
Year 2 – To be confirmed
Year 3 – Miss Claire Gardner
Year 4 – Mr William Davis
Year 5 – Mr Dean Prentice
Year 6 – Mr Luke Lamont

The 2019 Year 6 class will be spending the morning with Mr Whittle.

2020 Language Program - Auslan

In 2020, students will be taught Auslan [sign language of the Australian Deaf community] from Kinder to Year 6. Auslan is a language approved by the Australian Curriculum and we hope our Auslan program will provide unparalleled opportunities for our students to access and use Auslan at school and in our community. We hope that our students will also learn more about the deaf community and will be able to communicate and show love to others in our community. 
I am thrilled to announce that Jacqui Wilson will be our Auslan teacher in 2020 and she is looking forward to teaching all students from Kinder to Year 6.

Year 2 News

Year 2 have had a fantastic Semester together so far. We have been learning about what life was like many, many years ago in our Humanities and Social Sciences (HASS) unit. The students have made a PowerPoint presentation about what toys, transport and communication were like in times gone past. We had a special day where the students had the opportunity to dress up like someone from the early 1900's and we had a class museum.

In Design and Technology we have been learning how to design a boat that floats. So far we have experimented with plasticine. We will continue to test our boats until everyone's floats.

We have been busy making our end of year gifts (shhh, it's a surprise so we can't tell you) and they are looking fantastic so far. We have been talking about our most precious gift, which of course is our Saviour Jesus Christ. The students can't wait to bring them home for you to see.

One of the most exciting events this Semester has been swimming! Everyone has learned to swim better and is safer in the water.

The end of year is fast approaching and we only have a few weeks left. The students are all practising for the Road to Bethlehem and we hope to see you there.

Mrs Jacqui Wilson - Year 2 Teacher