2023 February/March Wrap-Up! - 13 March
From our Principal – Mr Neville Stanway

From our Principal – Mr Neville Stanway

Dear Parents/Guardians,

It has been a very positive start to the year, and the staff and students have settled in well. We are over half-way through the term, and it is Autumn already. It feels like Summer, because of the beautiful weather plus we have only recently had the House Swimming Carnivals!

 

Partnering with Parents

Domain #9 of the National School Improvement Plan describes School-Community Partnerships as follows: The school actively seeks ways to enhance student learning and well-being by partnering with parents and families, other education and training institutions, local businesses and community organisations.

At Foundation Christian College, we place a high value on partnering together with families, so we try to facilitate this as much as possible. We regularly communicate with families, Parent Information evenings were held earlier this term, a morning tea is held for families after each assembly in the Primary school, Parent/Teacher interviews are happening at the moment, and we are having our first Parent Association for the year on Tuesday 21 March.

Last week, over 30 parents attended the Volunteer Induction training which is held each term. Parent volunteers can help the staff in different ways throughout the College.

 


Student Leadership

The Student Leadership teams in both the Primary and Secondary school have been organizing a range of activities during lunchtime and for the other classes. It is wonderful to see how these leaders are serving the College at Assemblies, Worship Services, House Carnivals, College Twilight Tours, Lunch-time clubs, etc. Mrs Dryland (Primary) and Mr Marillier (Secondary) are doing a great job working with the student leaders.

The GRIP Leadership Conference will be held at the Perth Exhibition Centre on Tuesday 21 March (Secondary) and Wednesday 22 March (Primary). It is a wonderful opportunity for our student leaders to join with over 1,000 leaders from school all over WA for a time of training and input.

 


Community Service – Mrs Lisa Munday MLA Dawesville

Recently, we invited Mrs Lisa Munday MLA Dawesville to visit the College to speak to the Secondary Student Leaders about Community Service.

Mrs Munday has extensive experience in serving the community as a Paramedic, then a Clinical Psychotherapist, and now as a Member of the WA State Parliament.

It was great to hear Mrs Munday share about her experiences and to encourage the students to serve others. It was also good to introduce Mrs Munday to the Executive Team where we talked about the vision of the College.

 


National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) – 15 to 27 March

NAPLAN Testing commences shortly for Year 3, 5, 7, and 9 Students. Here is some information from the NAPLAN website:

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) is an annual assessment for students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9. It is a nationwide measure through which parents/carers, teachers, schools, education authorities, governments and the broader community can determine whether or not young Australians are developing the literacy and numeracy skills that provide the critical foundation for other learning and for their productive and rewarding participation in the community.

NAPLAN results allow parents/carers and educators to see how students are progressing in literacy and numeracy over time – individually, as part of their school community, and against national standards. The tests support monitoring and evaluating of the performance of schools and school systems in these fundamental capabilities. They also provide schools, states and territories with information about how education approaches are working, areas to be prioritised for improvement, and those schools requiring support in the teaching and learning of literacy and numeracy. The results can assist teachers by providing additional information to support their professional judgement about students’ levels of literacy and numeracy attainment and progress.

NAPLAN tests are one aspect of each school’s assessment and reporting process and do not replace the extensive, ongoing assessments made by teachers about each student’s performance. Each teacher will have the best insight into their students’ educational progress. Parents/carers can use NAPLAN reports, along with other school assessment reports, to discuss their child’s strengths and areas for improvement with their teacher. NAP – NAPLAN

 


Michelle Dempsey CEO of Christian Education National (CEN)

Last week, we were greatly blessed to have a visit from Mrs Michelle Dempsey CEO of Christian Education National (CEN). Michelle was in Perth for some planning meetings for 2024, so she came down to the College to meet with the Primary Leadership team (Secondary Leaders were at the Swimming Carnival) and the Executive Team. It was Michelle’s first visit for a number of years, so she was really excited to meet the new leadership team and to hear about how things are going. Michelle will come back for another visit later in the year.

Thank you for your on-going support of the College. It is wonderful serving God in such a great community. God bless you!

Kind Regards,

Mr Neville Stanway

Principal

Sausage Sizzle planned for last day of Term!

The College Cafe will be closed for trade on our last day of Term 1, Thursday 6 April. But Foundation Friends will hosting a sausage sizzle fundraiser on that day! Details are in the flyer below:

 

Can you help?

We would love some helpers on the day –

  • from 8:30am to count orders,
  • from 9:30am to start cooking and cutting buns
  • from 11:30 to assemble the sizzles and pack lunch tubs

Please contact Michelle Cronin via the College office or email michelle.cronin@fcc.wa.edu.au

 

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jnr is coming to FCC!

Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jnr is coming to FCC!

We have a real Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Car and an amazing cast working hard to present the musical Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jnr to Mandurah Audiences!

Save the dates 3-5 May (a Matinee will be held on 3 May) and be taken back to your childhood!

Tickets go on sale 12noon on 20 March and will be available at this link: Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jnr Tickets!!

 

Celebrate Harmony Day with us!

Celebrate Harmony Day with us!

Meet Chaplain Kelly ..

Meet Chaplain Kelly ..

Hi Everyone,

I’m Chaplain Kelly and my role and focus is to support the primary school students for their emotional and spiritual well-being.  My role is varied, and no two days look the same!

If you are finding your child needs some extra support, please let me know, I would be more than happy to help.

There are also many services available to struggling families.  Whatever your needs, I can point you in the right direction, please reach out.  All conversations are kept confidential. 

My days are Monday, Wednesday, Friday.

Blessings

Chaplain Kelly Waldeck

Digital Technology Room is a buzz!!

Digital Technology Room is a buzz!!

Students in the Primary School are enjoying a new-look to the Upper Primary Auditorium which is now the Primary Digi-tech room! Mrs Southwood is our Primary Digital Technologies Specialist and is teaching students how to be producers of technology rather than simply consumers! 

The Upper Primary Auditorium has been redecorated for this purpose and an amazing mural of bees, honeycomb and flowers has been beautifully painted by Mrs Kara Chidlow.!

 

Photographic Highlights from the Primary Swimming Carnival !!

Photographic Highlights from the Primary Swimming Carnival !!

It was an excellent day for the Primary Year 4-6 Swimming Carnival with a high level of participation and determination shown by the students during the swimming events. We would like to extend a special thank you to our parent volunteers and the Primary Team for making this day a success.
 
Jarrah claimed the first place with an impressive 463 points…
Followed by Banksia in second place with 262 points, Tuart in third place with 261 points, and Wattle in fourth place with 218 points.
 
Congratulations to all!

Enjoy some images from the day!
 
From our College Board

From our College Board

Hello Foundation Family,

Welcome back to school! It’s hard to believe we’re over halfway through Term 1 already. We pray that you and your family has had a good start to the year so far. 

We as a Board met together with the Executive team in February at Neville and Lisa Stanway’s home where we enjoyed good food and fellowship. We had a wonderful afternoon getting to know each other and sharing our hopes and dreams for the College in the year ahead. We are excited to continue to work together in unity towards the outworking of the vision and mission for the college. We have some very passionate people keen to serve the College in this way, and we are excited and encouraged to see the momentum building for the year ahead. 

We had our first Board meeting on 24 February where we were challenged from a devotional by our Chair, Pieter Verster, on the importance of uniting together and utilising the support and collective wisdom of like-minded believers. We also heard from one of our new advisory members, Seth Merlo, the results of our self-evaluation which we completed last year. Seth had some great suggestions for improvement, and we are already starting to see some outworking of these recommendations. 

We as a Board are excited to be focussing our Strategic Plan this year. We will be attending regular training and upskilling as well as gleaning collective wisdom from CEN and other Christian Colleges.

We also want to hear from you! We welcome you to contact the Board at any time via front office or email.


Invitation:  Parent Association Evening

We invite you to the first Parent Association meeting for the year, on Tuesday 21 March.

The College Executive team, in conjunction with the Board, are putting together a special evening to honour our wonderful parents. There will be a ministry team to care for our children while we have a time of worship, hear some testimonies from students, celebrate some of our parent volunteers and hear from our Principal and the Board.

Supper will be provided so please RSVP to the COllege Office for catering purposes AND if you would like your children to attend the Creche.

May God bless you richly as you continue to lead your families, for His glory!

From Mr Marillier – Secondary Student Development

From Mr Marillier – Secondary Student Development

 
We have started 2023 with the relaunch of the Student Leadership programme!

 

Our aim is to develop each student’s God-given abilities and mature their character so that they can walk in their destiny for Christ. We do this through weekly trainings and discussions on a Tuesday as well as informal opportunities as they arise.

So far, we have started social clubs at the College, including: Book club, Chess and board games, E-Sports and the very innovative maintenance team.

Student Leaders assist with running College assemblies, worship services and events at the school.


A highlight thus far was the leadership incursion by our guest speaker Mrs Monday, MLA member for Dawesville. She challenged our students to start with their local area of interest and provided the College with incredible leadership resources.

 

 

 


The Student Leaders played prominent roles in the recent Swimming Carnival at the MARC assisting the Phys Ed department in a highly successful event. Our leaders have been shining examples in terms of character and have really become the catalyst of involvement and enjoyment amongst the students.

 

We are always looking for more involvement, so if you have any bright ideas or leadership aspirations for 2024, contact Mr Marillier!

Photographic Highlights from the Secondary Swimming Carnival

Photographic Highlights from the Secondary Swimming Carnival

Our Secondary Swimming Carnival was held on 1 March and was a day filled with much action and activity!

We apologise that we were unable to announce the winning House Team and Champion swimmers on the day, however this was rectified on Monday 13 March at a special extended Homeroom session with parents and fellow students.

Congratulations to Team Banksia for winning the Carnival and breaking Wattle’s 6-year winning streak !

Please enjoy the photo highlights from the event and special presentation!

 

 

Have your say with our Community Survey!

Have your say with our Community Survey!

My role at the College is to encourage our parents to be active in our College Community and there are many ways to do so.

Whether you simply keep up-to-date with information, or choose to be more involved by volunteering for: class excursions, at the College Café, the Library or at family events our P&C “Foundation Friends” coordinates.

We are gearing up for a wonderful year of events and to help I would appreciate if you could take the time to complete our annual:

FCC Community Events Survey

Foundation Friends (our P&C) and our Fathering Project Team would like to know which events you are keen to be part of and are seeking your ideas for future events. The plan is open to change!
 

All surveys that are completed go into a draw to win one of two coffee vouchers from a cafe of the winner’s choosing!!!

Last date to complete survey is WEdnesday 22 March!

Kind Regards

Michelle Cronin

Community Relations Officer

Mother’s Day Stall – Can you help?

Mother’s Day Stall – Can you help?

Foundation Friends is planning their annual Mother’s Day Stall to be held on 10-11 May. If you can help to source gifts for the stall or to help on ether day, please contact Julie Parahi or Amanda Chong. All details are in the flyer below: