Illawarra ChrIstIan sChool tongarra Campust. 02 4230 3700www.ics.nsw.edu.au

234 Calderwood Road, Albion Parktongarra@ics.nsw.edu.au

snapshots tongarra

Issue 3 2015

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In this issue

Kosei Junior High School visits from Japan 3 - 9

Tongarra Auction Night 10 - 13

Babies at Tongarra & Senior Boys Soccer 14

Kindergarten Cook Up a Storm! 15

Stage 3 Poetry 16 - 17

The Illawarra Science and Engineering Challenge 18

Year 5 Picnic 19

Year 11 Masterclass 20

Tongarra Students excel in Australian Geography Competition 21

Stage 5 overnight excursion to Canberra 22 - 23

Stage 4 Joffa Cartoonist Workshop 24 - 25

Jump Rope for Heart Launch 26

From the Green Room 27

The Samba Experience 28

Senior Ski Trip 2015 29

Year 8 Goes Colourful 30 - 31

Stage 3 Excursion to Canberra 32 - 33

Tongarra Talent Quest 2015 - 10th Anniversary 34

Laptops and books to Nabila, Fiji 35

A Book Review by Mr Geoff Chesher 36

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KOSEI Junior High School visits from JAPAN Monday, July 27th saw the arrival of 25 very tired boys from Japan arrive at our school to meet and be taken home by their host families for the next 2 weeks. Thank you to all school families, student and staff, that generously opened their homes and hearts to care for up to 2 students each. Quite a challenge considering the language barrier!

During their visit the boys spent a number of days sightseeing and participating in activities such as horse riding, golf, visiting Nowra Animal Park and indoor rock climbing. The boys also had an overnight excursion to the Blue Mountains and Mowbray Farm.

They also spent 4/5 days at Tongarra ICS. During this time they:

1. Exchanged cultural activities like origami and calligraphy with Kindergarten - Year 6.

2. Exchanged how to play outdoor games with Year 3 and 4.

3. Smashed our High School athletes at indoor soccer – a number of times!

4. Cooked damper over an open fire, made lamingtons, threw boomerangs and learnt local indigenous history.

5. Made clay fish, painted large landscapes with sticks and charcoal, picked mandarins, feed the cow and experienced Archery.

6. Played Pictionary with Years 7 and 8, attended Stage 5 Maths and made dodecahedrons

7. Participated in Drama activities with Stage 5 Drama.

8. Attended English classes each day run by their program coordinator.

A big THANK YOU goes to all teaching, administration and support staff, as well as our site manager, Mr Greg Cleall, for embracing the Kosei students’ visit and giving generously of their skills and time to help make this a memorable experience for our visitors. Our prayer is that through their time at school and at home, they will have witnessed something of God’s love for them. Mrs Vaartjes and I give thanks for all those who ‘shined’ for Jesus during this exchange of cultures and we pray for a safe journey home for the boys and teachers.

Blessings

Mrs Gillett and Mrs Vaartjes

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Japanese students responses "I was surprised by school is big. I really liked all the students is friendly. My favourite thing is archery. My best memory is pizza party." by Nagayoshi Iemura "I was surprised by sushi is very expensive. I really liked Blue Mountain. My favourite thing was to play tennis. My best memory is to watch sunrise" by Junnosuke Imai

"My best memory is to play soccer with ICS students. I was surprised by Australian toilets" by Takeru Aiba

"I really like wraps. My best memory is to introduce Japanese culture to ICS students" by Kotaro Egawa

" I was surprised by handball. My best memory was played soccer with host family" by Takahito Kawai

"I was surpirsed by this school has twelve grades. My best memory is to play soccer with ICS students" by Hidemi Nakajima

" I was surprised by sleep early. I really liked my host family, My favourite thing was playing tennis. My best memory is watched sunrise" by Daichi Ishikawa

" I was surprised by train. My best memory is play soccer" by Sora Kawase

" I was surprised by big house. I really liked my host family" by Daisuke Funakoshi

" I was surprised by Sydney House. My best memory is Farm Stay". by Imakuma Rikimaru

"My best memory is camp fire. I really liked Australia" by Shisu Yoshioke

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Kosei Visit

My Experience, by the de Jong Family

When we first decided to have the Japanese students I was excited but on the day we were to pick them up I was feeling very nervous and excited at the same time. The first night was awkward, it was hard to speak to them because they didn’t know much English and they were very very shy. As they days went on, they began to understand more English and to not be so shy. They were able to have some good conversations with us in broken English. We had a lot of laughs together and there is no language barrier when something is funny. We did so much whilst they were here, we went to see the sunset and sunrise at Shellharbour Harbour and they thought it was beautiful. We joined up with a few families’ who also had students and went for a walk to the waterfall at the bottom of Macquarie Pass. We also went to Sydney with them and did the tourist things like Darling Harbour, Ferry ride and the Opera House. We also did plenty of kid things like playing Uno, soccer, basketball, tennis, surfing and going to the skate Park – I don’t think they have scooters in Japan as they were very cautious and wobbly riding them. We took them to the Sushi train but they said it was very different to what they had a home. They showed us their school and where they live on Google Earth it was very interesting. Their time quickly came to an end and we have had heaps of fun with the students and I hope they have enjoyed themselves too. Can’t wait to do it again in 2 years time.

By Mikayla de Jong

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My Experience, by the William’s family

I enjoyed them coming and teaching me origami. They were nice and we got to take them to a few places around our home. – Eli

When the boys, Shion and Ryu, first arrived it was hard to communicate and make sure they understood what we were trying to say. As the days wore on everyone grew more accustomed to each other, learning to read body language as much as words. One of the most enjoyable times for me was going up to Sydney with some other families who were also hosting. It was great to see the boy’s excitement over things up there that we often just take for granted. They were all very polite, always saying sorry or thankyou. I’m glad they could come and stay with us for two weeks and experience a bit of life in Australia. – Eden

On the second day Shion and Ryu were here, we showed them the apple slinkier. Mum started to cut the apple, and they were both just like ‘wow.’ On Tuesdays, we do tennis lessons, and in the second week, Jun (staying with the de Jong’s) said that he would like to play tennis, so we had nine people in one tennis lesson. At youth group on Friday, we were having a lip sync battle, and some of the Japanese boys were there, and they were dancing on stage to ‘We Will Rock You’! - Ben

I learnt how to say ‘Konnichiwa’ which means ‘hello’ in Japanese. – Micah

I really liked going on the bushwalk with them and having a picnic. – Daniel

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Kosei Visit

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My Experience, by Jacob Macleod

My experience with my exchange student (Masaki) has been a good one. It has been really fun but also challenging with the language difference though he is quite good and understands a lot of what we say. (When we have difficulty speaking we use Google Translate). We like to play Basketball and usually do that after school, we also like to play soccer and Masaki is very good at it.

He is very serious about learning English and usually reads his dictionary in his spare time. He writes well and his English has improved while he has been here, but with some words it is hard for him to pronounce, like G’day. Masaki likes to make origami and has given them to us as gifts. He also likes to make paper planes.

One of the first things we did was went on a bike ride around Albion Park Sporting Complex looking at the different sports fields. I don’t think he had ever seen rugby league and hockey before. We rode to the soccer fields and shot goals.

I took Masaki to Lighthouse Youth Group on Friday night. It was Boys vs. Girls night. I think Masaki liked playing soccer there; there were two other Kosei students there so it gave him someone to talk to.

On the weekend we tried to do a lot of things to make his visit interesting. On Saturday we took him to Kiama and Hang Time (He really liked Hang Time because he had never been anywhere like it) we looked at the blowholes and had a meat pie for lunch. At Hang Time we played dodge ball and we particularly liked the basketball hoop there.

On Sunday we went to Sydney with the Walkers. We arrived by train and looked in the markets at The Rocks. We then went on a ferry to Watsons Bay and had Fish and Chips. Then we caught a bus back to Circular Quay and then the ferry to Luna Park. At Luna Park we went on two rides and Coney Island. Masaki liked the big slide. We left Luna Park by Ferry to Darling Harbour then walked to Chinatown for dinner. It was a busy but fun day.

It has been a great experience having an exchange student. I think Albion Park is very different to Tokyo so it has been a different experience for Masaki.

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Kosei Visit

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Tongarra Auction Night The ICS Tongarra Bi-Annual Auction night was again held on Saturday night, 1st August 2015.

We had over 150 families and friends in attendance and well over 200 items up for grabs, so there was certainly a buzz in the air!

Many of the tables were spectacularly presented, especially the Hawaiian themed table which should clearly have won but was robbed. (Just kidding!) The prize went to the Rocking 70's table, with the Formal table and the Green & Gold "Aussie Aussie Aussie" table certainly worthy of mention. We even had a bespoke "Auction Jingles Band' who added fizz throughout (Chris Milliken, Sandy Lowcock, Joy Chayna, Lydia Funcik, Mikayla Jenkins & Noami Boulton).

The bidding was strong, as always, on the class baskets and also those romantic weekends away. Other sought after items were the six donated photo’s and prints from Dee Kramer as well as the remote control AUDI which brought out the big boys after toys ;-).

All up we raised over $10,000, which will be directed towards our Outdoor Early Learning Centre as we continue to establish our Prep as a first class facility (no pun intended.) An outstanding result but more importantly, a really fun time was had by all who attended. The Auction night is a rare opportunity for the Parent Community of ICS and friends to all come together and have some fun. Thank you to all who joined in the excitement of bidding.

A great big THANK YOU to all who attended and to all who contributed by working on the night and in the days, weeks and months in the lead up. Also, thank you to those school families and staff who provided contributions. Please look for our list of sponsors and wherever possible, support those businesses who supported Illawarra Christian School so generously by donating the gifts and services we auctioned. Without their generous contributions, we really have no auction at all.

Next year our 2016 Country Fair will be held, and the next Auction will be in 2017. Keep an eye out and don't miss out!! If you can assist in any way, watch out for our notices and let us know through the office or contact our Campus Committee.

Many hands really do make de-light work ;-) We look forward to an even bigger and better Auction next time.

Mr Wayne De La Torre (Auction Committee)

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Business’ that supported our Auction: A big thank you to the following business’ for their kind donation to our Auction. Please support them when you can.

NorthBeach Novotel Wollongong Albion Park & Gerringong Veterinary Hospitals Captain Cook Cruises Graze Butchers, Balgownie Bosco Accounting Albion Park Paul The Shoeman Shoalhaven Zoo & Adventure World Oneclick Office Supplies Skydive the Beach and Beyond Taronga Zoo Love Homewares, Albion Park Rail Izzard Family at the Bungalow Motel, Gilgandra Restored Furniture Oak Flats Veterinary Clinic Unanderra Country Grocers Sensational Piercings, Stocklands Shellharbour Dee Kramer Photography CSC Australia Naveen Beauty Salon, Albion Park Tecnica Hair Salon, Albion Park Alinta Uniform Suppliers Fernwood, Shellharbour Murphy’s Bar & Grill, Unanderra Streetcrew, Dapto Blue Jay’s Café, Sophia St, Albion Park Beds ‘R Us NSW Entertainment Book Relish on Addison, Shellharbour Oska’s Hair Design, Albion Park/Stocklands Shellharbour Bunnings Shellharbour Ecomist Calderwood Golf Course Albion Park Cakes, Princes Highway, Albion Park Rail Drop ‘N Go Laundry, Terry St, Albion Park Natural Necessity, Gerringong Ravensthorpe, Albion Park

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A Parent’s View What a great night! Friends, food and fun - couldn’t help but be good. Thanks so much to Wayne, Jill, Val, Linda and Tracy for your amazing organisation. Thankyou to those who generously gave items to be auctioned, especially teachers and families who gave donations of their time to help others. Thank you to parents for contributing, and teachers for encouraging, which led to some awesome class baskets that raised top money. It was great to see teenager tables, including a table of Japanese students enjoying the evening together. Overall, a great school community event, that has the added bonus that it raised money for our school. See you there in two years! K Williams

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Babies at Tongarra Twice a day feeding, careful analysis of their stools, listening for correct breathing, checking the temperature of the milk and worried nights if they are coughing. Sounds familiar? Well the Stage 5 agriculture students are enjoying the highs and lows of parenting but their babies, who are five weeks old, weigh an astonishing seventy six kilograms. Don’t worry we are not breeding Nephalim at school but rather two cute little Friesians on loan from Phil and Craig Tate, who raise dairy cows next door to Tongarra,

The agriculture students are part of a program called “Cows Create Careers”. The goal is to expose the students to dairy farming as a career path and the many different careers that are available within the industry. The students take part in daily feeding and care of the calves which includes monitor their health and weight daily. This program is also part of a competition where we compete against thirty other schools in the regions to produce the best video and scientific report of our time with the cows. Last year ICS won the best overall school section and netted Five hundred dollars for the Agriculture department, beating many larger schools in our region.

This year we believe we can win again and have a fun learning experience at the same time. A special thank you to Phil Tate who is always on call to help out if the calves are sick or there are any questions.

Mr Imisides Agriculture Teacher

Senior Boys Soccer On Thursday, 30 July, the Tongarra senior boys soccer team, fresh from an all-conquering gala day earlier last term, travelled by bus to radiant Penrith to play with the big boys of NSW soccer. The boys were caught off guard early and literally ran off the bus and onto the pitch for their first game. The getaway sticks had clearly not warmed up and they lost the game convincingly.

The boys recovered well and improved more and more as the day progressed. Their second game was a close loss, the third a draw and the fourth and last a resounding victory.

Tongarra fought hard all day, despite playing teams with seasoned footballers and represented the school admirably.

Some highlights included a great finish by Mitchell Imisides after a long team build up: Some individual class from Sandy, who collected a few goals on the day: The worst goal assist of all time from Isaac Hudson (who also managed to score a goal with the last kick of the day): Our ever reliable backs for not taking a backward step all day and two nice goals from Aaron Brown and Matt Cignarella.

Thanks to Ben Markoulis for stepping up from juniors. He worked hard all day and did not look out of place amongst the seniors.

Mr Walker Senior Boys soccer team (minus a few absences)

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Kindergarten Cook Up a Storm! This term, students in Kindergarten have been studying procedures. As part of their text study unit on "Wombat Stew" by Marcia Vaughan and Pamela Loft, students learned how to read and write a recipe. Students enjoyed following a recipe for 'Chicken Stew Pies' and 'Milo Mud Muffins'. To conclude the unit, students were able to make pies and muffins. In groups, with the help of Year 6 Learning Assistance students mixed, stirred and added ingredients as the followed the recipes. Students enjoyed making, as well as eating, their Chicken Stew Pies and Milo Mud Muffins. They were very excited with what they had made.

A big thank you to Anna Imisides, Patrick Schubert, Grace Kennedy and Jasmine Hall for your help. Thank you also to Mrs Royters for putting our yummy food in the oven so it could cook.

Miss Yeo

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Stage 3 Poetry In the second half of Term 2, selected students from Stage 3 with an interest in writing gathered every Wednesday morning to share their writing and develop their understanding of poetry writing as a means of expressing their thoughts and feelings.

They wrote every day in their personal poetry journal as a means of capturing ideas that stimulated their imagination. These ideas became the basis of many poems. Each student selected some of their favourite pieces for you to enjoy. Mr I Nicholls

Jessica Stubbs

I can’t wait ‘till the day is done! Not for dinner, but for bed.

I love the feather-filled duvet. The soft, fluffy pillows that cradle your head.

The curved wood is amazing too, Holding up that mattress on all four.

Oh, how I wish for day to be over, Only if I weren’t the bed!

Sabastian Vidler

Rabbitoh’s Jersey Being a Rabbitoh’s jersey

Is the feeling of victory Red and green stripes

You can’t hear me, ‘But I sing “Glory, glory

To South Sydney” And say

“Go I Rabbitoh’s” The only bad thing is,

It’s a bit sweaty under my armpits.

Jessica Lamanna The

Pitter Patter

Of rain. A flood coming.

Trees sagging, A painful time. Loss of something,

A choke, A cry,

A Drop

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George Johnson

Juice Box full of delicious liquid.

Underneath the cardboard coating Is truly magical.

Put it to your lips, Squeeze and enjoy Sound of gunfire, Rings in my ears.

A bright light, Then pitch black

And pain.

Daniel Williams

Country and City

I watched out the window, Birds flew by,

Leaves blew past, Butterflies fluttered in the wind,

That whistled against the cold, clear glass. That was in the country.

But in the city it is more like

Smoke in the air, No fresh air to breathe,

No animals running around, People hurrying to work.

Cars honking their horns in frustration, Road rage,

Lights on at night. Can’t get to sleep.

Out the window I can’t see anything But tall buildings.

Courtney Smith

Perfect Love Perfect love casts out fear,

Sweeps it away, Protects your soul.

Like a leaf dropping from heaven, Touching your heart.

Nothing beats God’s perfect love.

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The Illawarra Science and Engineering Challenge On Tuesday 28th July, 32 students from year 10 attended the 2015 Science and Engineering Challenge at The University of Wollongong, where they competed in 8 different activities against other Illawarra and South Coast schools. The challenges are designed to test students’ planning skills, construction skills and problem solving abilities. The students work in groups of 4 to try and make or solve a problem given to them by the organisers.

The range of activities included solving electricity distribution problems without overloading the system, or designing and building a bionic hand. Others designed and built a suspension bridge from balsa. Another group designed and built a “Mars Rover” that had to traverse a simulated Martian landscape. Another group designed and built a hovercraft that could be maneuvered through a series of different terrains and paths. Two groups worked on designing and building houses, one to withstand earthquakes and the other to withstand wind and catch water.

It was exciting to see many students attacking their challenges with enthusiasm. The organisers regularly say that it is usually not the smartest students that do well, but the ones that work diligently and work together. It was a good experience for students who are thinking of pursuing a career in the STEM fields and the student from our school can hold their heads high for a job well done and excellent behavior.

Mr Barker

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Year 5 Picnic Mrs Williams very kindly organised a Year 5 picnic at Integral Energy Park on the first Saturday of the holidays. We were really blessed with the weather and the sun shone down on us. Many of the families enjoyed a game of football, volleyball and hide and seek.

Several of the parents took us on a ‘Giocache’ adventure, where we got to add ICS Tongarra to the treasure box.

A great afternoon was had by all. It was lovely for families and children to catch up with one another in the sunshine.

Thanks for organising such a great picnic for us Mrs Williams.

By George Johnson

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Year 11 Masterclass On Monday the 29th July, 26 students from both campuses of Illawarra Christian School, boarded a bus early in the morning, and made their way to Covenant Christian School to attend the Bible Societies Masterclass. The day was well attended by over 600 students from a range of schools throughout NSW.

One of the Bible Society’s missions is to encourage and equip young people to engage with the Bible. Exploring Scripture in ways that make sense to them is vital. Masterclass was an event for Christian students designed to do just that. 'Many young Christians struggle to see how the Bible engages with their world. When asked if they believed that all the miracle stories in the Bible really happened, 25% of Christian school students said it was not true at all, and only 8% said it was definitely true.’ Building confidence in Scripture among young people, and the skills to see how it can speak to their world is vital for them to grow into life-long followers of Christ.

The Bible Society chose three highly engaging speakers and topics to encourage students in their approach and engagement with the Bible and help their confidence with being Christian leaders amongst their school – a leader who leads others to God

This year's speakers were:

Dr John Dickson (Centre for Public Christianity, CPX) A doubters guide to the Bible Karl Faase (Christian media presenter) How the teaching of Jesus changed the world and

how following Jesus will change your life Glen Gerreyn (Specialist Ministry) Purpose Driven

All students who attended said it was well worth the drive, and that the day challenged them in their walk with God.

“It was an exciting day to unpack and discover more about the Bible and what it means to us as young people living in the 21st Century.” Hayden Dodds

“The speakers were really inspirational and challenged me to think about my purpose in life and how I view the Bible.” Drusilla Moala.

“I was challenged to be proactive with my faith and live it out.” Jordan Rochester

Mr J Nicholls

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Tongarra Students excel in Australian Geography Competition Several Year 9 and 10 Geography students from Tongarra tested their geographical skills and knowledge against students from all around Australia in the 2015 Australian Geography Competition.

The results were recently announced and we are very pleased with our results. We have a number of students at our school who performed at a very high level, with five gaining high distinctions, four distinctions and three credits.

Over 76,000 students from 770 schools across Australia entered the Australian Geography Competition, so the results give us an external benchmark as to how our students are going in certain aspects of Geography.

Geography is an important subject which develops a student’s understanding of the spatial and temporal relationships of people and place. It helps students appreciate the complex nature of local, regional and global social, economic and environmental interactions. By developing their geographical knowledge and skills, students are able to be better stewards of the environment that God has entrusted to their care.

Special congratulations to the following students:

Mrs Brennan

High Distinction: Distinction: Credit:

Katherine B Ben C David C Aydan F Zachary K

Lachlan C Harrison C Benjamin M Liam B

James A Emily D Andrew I

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Stage 5 overnight excursion to Canberra On Monday 3rd and Tuesday 4th August, Stage 5 spent time in Canberra visiting a range of venues linked to their studies in History, Geography and Civics and Citizenship.

During our tour at the National Gallery, we learnt a lot about art appreciation. The highlight was the Sidney Nolan “Ned Kelly Series”, leading us to reflect on how art shapes culture and how popular myths are created.

At the Australian War Memorial, we participated in a guided tour linked to World War Two. We listened to many moving stories, including that of Matron Vivian Bullwinkel, a nursing sister serving with the 8th Division’s 2/13th Australian General Hospital. She was the sole survivor of the infamous Banka Island Massacre, in which 21 of her colleagues were killed by Japanese troops. Vivian then endured three and a half years in a prisoner-or-war camp.

We spent our leisure time on Monday evening at the ice-skating rink. All the skaters improved significantly by the end of the evening, after a couple of falls!

Our tour of Parliament House allowed us to see first-hand the House Representatives and the Senate that we see so frequently on the nightly news, as well as to learn about some of the processes and procedures involved in both of these Houses.

The High Court of Australia was very educational for many students. We learnt about the role of the High Court in interpreting the Constitution of Australia, as well as hearing appeals from lower courts. We were fortunate to sit in on a case: Alcan Gove Pty Ltd v Zabic, a case appealed from the Northern Territory Court of Appeal. The respondent was a manual labourer who regularly carried out repairs and maintenance (1974-1977) of the network of pipelines at the refinery, which were insulated with asbestos lagging. In November 2013 he began to experience chest pain and shortness of breath and in January 2014 he was diagnosed with

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malignant mesothelioma. We listened to arguments over whether the respondent’s claim was barred under the statute of limitations.

Our final destination was the National Museum, where we participated in another guided tour and we all learned varied interesting facts about Australia’s heritage as we examined many artefacts.

On return to school, Stage 5 students wrote a response to the question: “Canberra has many attractions that are of educational significance to Australian high school students. Do you agree? Why or why not?”

Mr Thomas, Mrs Kerr, Mrs Batten, Mr Walker and Mrs Brennan

Here are some student reflections on the excursion:

“Ice skating was a lot of fun. I enjoyed myself and felt proud that I got the hang of it and by the end I could skate by myself. I learned that I love ice skating and that it takes patience and ‘blocking everything else out’ sometimes to achieve”. – Kirralea C

“In the National Gallery you can just walk around and feel the inspirations and ideas flow into you. It helps to develop a picture in your mind of what could have been happening and what might be happening in the time of the paintings” – Jack G

“The High Court was one of my personal favourites. Listening and learning about courts and their formal procedures gave us as students a greater understanding of our law system and how it works, according to the Constitution. Also, being allowed into an actual court case gave us a feeling of importance, as we learned about the case and could listen to the debates on it. This was an excellent educational opportunity for anyone hoping to study law in the future”. – Alexandra W

“The National Gallery has a very large display of indigenous artworks in both traditional and modern forms. These artworks help us to develop an understanding of indigenous dreamtime stories and their culture”. – Liam B The Parliament House tour was significant to us because in a few years we will have to vote for the party we think will best suit our country and we needed more explanation of how this worked”. – Georgia A

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Stage 4 Joffa Cartoonist Workshop

During Week 4 Stage 4 assembled into the Learning Hub armed with a book to lean on and a pencil.

A professional cartoonist, Jeff Taylor, known by his pen name, JOFFA, led the students through a workshop that used humour and cartooning to promote the following: encourage the students to listen better to improve their learning;

think about how they can be more resilient;

identifying their strengths whilst learning some skills on how to create cartoon characters.

Below are some comments written by the students about the experience.

To learn more about Joffa or purchase his ‘How to draw a cartoon Book’ go to his website www.joffa.com

“Joffa was good. He was funny and taught us how to draw cartoons easily. He was entertaining and we had a good time.” By Caitlin Battersby Yr 8

“Joffa was really fun. I liked how he made jokes and taught us how to draw at the same time. It was really entertaining. We had a really good time”. By Ethan de Jong Yr 8

“He helped me to see that I can draw cartoons. Joffa is a fantastic drawer and even though he was stern he is funny and an inspiration.” By Melinda Pallas Yr 7

“Joffa’s art was very good and he encouraged me to make free choices”. Tamonya Herman Yr 7

“Joffa is a talented artist who is using his gifts for God by teaching us to be able to do cartoons.” Caleb Walker Yr 7

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Jump Rope for Heart Launch Kindergarten to Year 6 students have been skipping during Fitness and / or Sport this term, in preparation for Jump Rope For Heart.

This week, our very own Heart Foundation Skipping team, the ICS Isotopes lead the Kindergarten to Year 6 students in a skipping skills session. Team members wanted to serve their peers by teaching them skills and came up with the idea of skipping stations. Throughout the session, students learnt short rope individual, pair and group skills such as, the pretzel, double under, can-can, criss cross, build ups and the Chinese wheel. They also learnt long rope tricks like the eggbeater, double dutch, triangle and eyeball. It was terrific to see students engaged and having fun while exercising and learning to work together to perform tricks.

A representative from the Heart Foundation also visited our school to launch the Jump Rope For Heart Program. She explained to students what the program is, how their participation can help themselves and others and how the fundraising and prize component of the program works.

Prep to Year 6 students will continue working on their skipping skills for the remainder of the term and will create a class routine to be performed at our ’Jump Off’ day on Thursday 22nd October, as a part of our Grandparent Day celebrations in Term 4. All students will participate in the skipping program at school and will perform in their class routine, even if they do not participate in the fundraising component of the program.

Jump Rope for Heart has proven to be a fantastic program at our school, enabling our students to use the skills God has given them to serve the Heart Foundation through a demonstration team and fundraising. It also builds community in our school as students learn and work together, teaching patience, perseverance and cooperation. We look forward to seeing the students’ skipping skills develop and the routines they will create and invite parents and grandparents to mark down the date for our “Jump Off’. It will be an event not to be missed!

Mrs Barnes and Miss Yeo

ICS Isotopes Skipping Coaches

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From the Green Room......

Multiplication facts in Years 3-6, why they're important! Memorising the multiplication facts once students enter Year 3 is an important building block for other top-ics in school. Not knowing your tables makes division, long multiplication, fractions and decimals much harder to master or simply understand. Students who have not learnt their multiplication tables will very of-ten fall behind in mathematics and begin to lose confidence.

As well as being a part of everyday life (doubling ingredients for a recipe), mental calculations are a subcon-scious elements in work, play and daily jobs. Knowing the times tables can help simple tasks to be per-formed rapidly and save time and stress.

So....Why can't they just use a calculator?

Calculators are great but are time consuming and can result in errors in keying in information. Students who rely on calculators are often weak in estimation skills and can often be unaware that an error could simply be a keying error.

What's more important, understanding or memorisation, and how can I help with both? It's not one or the other, it's both. A child must understand and memorise the facts. Early on, a student needs to understand what multiplication is - the grouping of sets, repeated addition, a faster way of adding. Show them this with an assortment of concrete materials, by skip counting and by using arrays. As they master the basics, expand upon this concept by creating interesting word problems. Allow them to discover the patterns in the numbers by exploring a 100s chart, skip-counting tables and the times table chart. This is the time that they can discover multiplication strategies. However, there eventually comes a time when we need to highlight the importance of rapid recall.

Memorisation can be facilitated by concentrating on those facts that need to be learned. By removing the ones already known and learning reciprocals (i.e. 6x7 and 7x6) and reviewing all facts occasionally to make sure they are lodged in the long term memory. Music, stories and visual association can also help.

Encourage and support when doing tables, remove distractions, stick to a limited time, keep it fun and in-volve your child in the learning schedule. Remember anxiety, stress and conflict reduce learning outcomes!

The Google learning website recommends the following tips to helping a child memorise the times tables. Make sure there is understanding. Explain why it is important. Demonstrate what fast recall is. Be interested in math yourself. Find out what facts they already know. Involve your child in the goal setting process. Focus primarily on the facts they need to learn. Use a chart to monitor progress. Provide encouragement along the way. Spend quality time together practicing. Acknowledge their success. And most importantly: Have fun!

Look for further learning opportunities from our teaching staff in our Parents’ Green Room opposite the office, off the Giraffe Skin.

Mr Maina

Primary Coordinator

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The Samba Experience On Tuesday the 4th of August, students in K-6 and Stage 4 Music had the opportunity to be a part of a musical experience in the Tongarra Hall. Throughout this time, students used drums, go-go bells, shakers and tambourines.

Tom Harding from the Young Australia Workshop came and directed students learning, while get-ting teachers into playing some music as well. It was a time that was enjoyed, whilst learning about rhythm and how to listen to the beat to make the music sound fantastic.

Tom is an award winning community musician who has been leading workshops for schools, com-munity groups and businesses in the UK since 1997. He is a gifted musician with a passion for shar-ing music with anyone. His teaching style is energetic, charismatic and supportive; his infectious enthusiasm for samba and music shines through in the workshops that he leads. He believes that we are all musical, and by simply taking the pressure out and putting the joy back in, we can all play. Although music is an art and a science, it is also a game for many players where no one loses.

Whether the students play music or not, all students were engaged in the activities and had a blast in making music with their peers and teachers. They learned to play to a rhythm with the students around them, listening to what is happening and adjusting their playing of their instrument to what they heard. Some students struggled to keep in time with everyone else, but all students enjoyed their time in the end as having some fun playing their percussion instruments.

Mr Chesher

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Senior Ski Trip 2015 In the pupil free week from the 17th-19th of July, was the first combined Cordeaux-Tongarra Skip Trip, attended by 20 students and 2 teachers from across the campuses. The trip began at Cordeaux where we boarded a coach and travelled to Bungarra Alpine Lodge in Jindabyne where we stayed for 2 nights. Students and teachers we fitted out with the required equipment and clothing ready to hit the snow fields the next day.

After an early start and breakfast each day we travelled to Thredbo where we were split up into groups depending upon ability level and whether skiing or snowboarding. For three of the four sessions at the snow we were in these groups with an instructor who taught correct technique, demonstrated and helped us practice and hone our skills. This enabled many to move from first timer and beginner status, having grown in confidence, and move from the busy beginner run of Friday Flats, to go up the chair lifts to the more challenging and exciting runs.

The nights were spent hanging out together relaxing watching TV, playing pool, table tennis or card games. The trip was an excellent experience as it enabled the development of new relationships and the building of old ones through shared experiences and much laughter as people fell over numerous times or were hit by snowballs. Additionally, it was an amazing time to experience and appreciate God’s creation and enjoy the world that He created. We look forward to this continuing and the greater unity and community that will be built between the students of Cordeaux and Tongarra.

Mrs Gold

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Year 8 Goes Colourful During the year, Year 8 have been drawing and painting portraits. On this page are a number of the large colourful self portraits they have completed.

The original artworks are currently hanging in the Learning Hub. Pop in and view them anytime.

Mrs Gillett

Why not try and match as many of the artworks with their artist listed below.

Alex Jovanov, Ben Williams, Ethan De Jong, Jack Hayward, Jacob Hudson, Jerry Jabbour, Kai O’Regan, Lachlan Rowe, Luke Harrison, Mikayla De Jong, Ryan Imisides, Tom Knight

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Stage 3 Excursion to Canberra

At the end of Term 2, Stage 3 had an overnight excursion to Canberra, exploring the capital in relation to class work on democracy. Here are some comments from year 5 about the excursion:

‘I liked going to the aquatic centre and swimming’ Daniel

‘I liked the War Memorial the best because there was lots of interesting things there and I got to learn about the Second World War and all the amazing people who served in our county.’ Ayla

‘It was fun learning more about my great grandfather and swimming at the aquatic centre.’ Georgia

‘I liked exploring and finding cool places. I liked going in the pool with some of our teachers and I liked having my big cousin.’ Emilia

‘I thought the new and old Parliament House was interesting because we learned lots of stuff and we got to meet some people.’ Keira

‘I thought the new Parliament House was interesting, because there was stuff there that I didn't know about it and it was fun visiting Canberra.’ Maddison

‘I thought the water park was great because I had a lot of fun on the slide.’ Oliver

‘I had lots of great fun while on our excursion, I saw so many amazing sights with my friends. Thank you.’ Noah

‘I had lots of fun on the excursion, thank you very much.’ Mackenzie

‘I liked the War Memorial best because you get to pay respect and see all of the people who fought and died in war.’ Sienna

‘Canberra was so FUN because we went to lots of places but favourites were, the War Memorial because we got to learn about Australia's history in war and The Parliament houses old and new!!’ Sahra

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‘Going to Canberra was a great experience and two favourite activities included: the war Memorial and old Parliament House because they were both fun, interesting and fascinating.’ Courntey

‘When we went to Canberra my favourite thing was when we were at the pool and we all got to go down the slide (it was really fun and fast)’ Kane

‘If you took off your swim shirt and used it you went even faster.’ (the slide at the aquatic centre) George

‘It was really fun going to the pool at night and going down the slide and in the pool.’ Emily

‘It was really fun going to Canberra and going to different places.’ Lucy

‘I enjoyed the pool and the war memorial, it was so fun.’ Samuel

‘I think the Canberra trip was the best.’ Josh

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Tongarra Talent Quest 2015 10th Anniversary

“Sing and make Music in your heat to the Lord” Ephesians 5:19b

Congratulations to ALL the students who gave the audience a wonderful showcase of TALENT at the 10th Anniversary Tongarra Talent Quest held on Thursday the 11th of June. The enthusiasm and professional attitude displayed by the students was excellent and a credit to all of the performers. For some of the students in the Junior section it was their first time performing and a little overwhelming to an appreciative audience. A special mention needs to be made to the Year 12 students who performed this year and their spirit of fun captured in their performances. Thank you to the parents and relatives who came to encourage all the performers.

The Master of Ceremonies for the Talent Quest was under the guidance of Mr Mitchell Walker. We thank him for his direction on the day. A special mention needs to be made to our Adjudicators - Mrs Jennifer Gray, Brinlee Deans and Mr Garry Hol, who had the difficult task of choosing between the many talented performers. There was a wonderful variety of performers that have shared their gifts and talents with the school community.

After much consultation the following places were awarded: Intermediate Section

1st Place Caitlin Battersby, Lydia Funcik and Mia-Rose Harris – performing ‘Budapest’

2nd Place Mia-Rose Harris – performing ‘Different Worlds’

Encouragement Award Melinda Pallas- performing ‘This I believe’

Senior Section 1st Place Naomi Boulton and Joy Chayna –

performing ‘Forever’ 2nd Place Natalie Conzolo dancing to ‘Never Let

Me Go’ Encouragement Award Daniel Rainey performing a Mime Comedy

Thank you to Haworth Guitars and Manna Bookshop Shellharbour for sponsoring the Talent Quest.

Mrs Nerylee Deans

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Laptops and books to Nabila, Fiji Back in November 2014, Year 10 students from Illawarra Christian School (Tongarra Campus) went on a 10-day Service Trip to Fiji. This was a wonderful opportunity to serve in a range of maintenance tasks at the Kennedy Training Centre near Nadi, and also to make connections with the Fijian people.

We spent an afternoon at Nabila Public School, talking with the students, playing sport, and touring the facilities. Year 10 2014 made a donation of a laptop and printer for Nabila Public School, which was very gladly received.

We also spent a day at Nabila Village, where we played games with the children at the orphanage, spent time with the villagers, and donated sports equipment, toys and some books. These were also gratefully received.

On return to Australia, Year 11 considered the greatest needs of Nabila Village and decided to use fundraising money to send over an additional two laptops, as well as to purchase new books for the school library and the orphanage.

On behalf of Year 11, Mrs Deans donated the items to Nabila Public School and Nabila Orphanage during the July school holidays.

Our school’s connection with Nabila Village is set to continue, with planning underway for a Year 10 2016 Service Trip to Fiji.

Mrs Gold, Mr Barker, Mrs Deans and Mrs Brennan

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A Book Review by Mr Geoff Chesher Soon – Morris Gleitzman “After the Nazis took my parents I was scared. After they killed my best friend I was angry. After I joined the partisans and helped defeat the Nazis I was hope-ful. Soon, I said, we’ll be safe. I was wrong.”

‘Soon’ is the surprise (at least it was to me!) fifth book in Australian author Morris Gleitzman’s incredible ‘Once’ series of books for younger readers … though, as Gleitzman says in a letter to readers at the end, he prefers to think of these as a ‘family of books’ rather than a series, because they can be read out of order or stand-alone.

When we left young Felix in fourth book ‘After’ (way back in 2012), World War Two was drawing to a close. Our young Jewish protagonist had lost much to this war and the Nazi’s – his mother and father, dear friend and faithful com-panion Zelda and too many acquaintances along the way. When we meet up with Felix and his protector, Gabriek, again in ‘Soon’ the war is indeed over … but danger still looms for Poland.

I highly recommend this family of books to readers in secondary and above. Morris Gleitzman’s ‘Once’ series is among this prolific author’s best work, which is really saying something when many of his books have been turned into stage plays and won countless prestigious awards. This family of books allow us to tackle these incredibly difficult subjects in the classroom in a way that kids can both understand, be deeply affected by and still utterly consumed by the story.

And that’s really what ‘Soon’ is about. The Soviet Red Army pushed out Nazi German forces from occupied Poland, and readers find Felix and Gabriek at the beginning of Soviet communist dominance at the end of the World War Two, over what had become the Polish People's Republic. Gleitzman is glimpsing the periods of social unrest in the country that was trying to heal the scars of war – and Felix starts to comprehend how nothing takes so long to heal as the horrors of war. We witness the traumas that shaped Felix into the strong, kind man of ‘Now’, and in ‘Soon’ we’re still witness-ing that transformation unfold. For Felix in this book, it’s really a push-pull of doing the right thing and still struggling to survive.

‘You want to change the world,’ says Gabriek. ‘That’s natural at your age. But only dreamers try to change things when the world’s in this state. Sensible people know it’s as much as we can do to look after ourselves.’ I don’t argue. I know how lucky we are, surviving this long. How lucky I am to have Gabriek’s protection. ‘How do you spot a sensible person?’ says Gabriek. I sigh. Gabriek says this at least once a day. ‘They’re alive,’ says Gabriek. ‘Sensible people stay alive because they don’t get involved in other people’s business and they don’t take risks.’

And there is a lot of violence in this book - don't be fooled that just because the war is over, this is going to be any less a harrowing story. One event in particular happens concerning a woman, so teachers/parents out there may want to read this book so they can have conversations with children afterwards about what happened. I don't think that means children shouldn't read this book - and I'm not advising that "gatekeepers" keep it away from kids, not at all - it absolutely has place in the story because it is speaking to a very true history of war (past and present, sadly).

This book is Felix coming to the realisation of how wars get started in the first place, when good people who know better stand by and do nothing in the face of other’s suffering. And that’s such a big truth that Morris Gleitzman is presenting to young readers in the tender, beautiful ‘Soon’ that fits so perfectly into this family of books.