2015 AGM — Chairman`s Report - The Hills Christian Community

Issue 17 2015
Term 2 Week 6
3rd June 2015
www.hccs.sa.edu.au
The AGM last Thursday
2015 AGM — Chairman's Report
As a Board, we are intent on the continued excellence in
Teaching and Learning that we deliver at HCCS and on
elevating HCCS to the position of ‘First Choice’ School in
the Adelaide Hills. Our commitment is absolute to
maintaining our strong Christian focus and nurturing our
students to help them to continue to develop into
outstanding citizens.
We have an amazing staff and the high quality teaching
team strive to make the learning of each and every child
personalized so they can reach their potential. The
teaching teams are so strong!
We have invested heavily over the past few years to
continue to develop our facilities and to offer some aspects
to our program that are unique. Our Year 7 Centre is
magnificent. It offers an experience that we believe is
unrivalled anywhere in the State and we are confident that
it will offer an educational and developmental standard that
no one can match.
We also recognised as a Board, the importance of our Year
7 Centre as a serious rival to our competitors but also as a
feeder to HCCS Secondary. As our ELC has been a
phenomenal feed in to our Reception classes, so we
believe that the highest standards of our Year 7 program
will allow us continued strength of supply into our
Secondary program in the coming years.
‘Rivermont’-Year 7 Centre
We are continuing to develop our Year 7 Centre and the
Rivermont property and are thrilled with what has
already happened. The establishment of the Anzac Grove
Memorial pathway is a beautiful memorial but it also
serves another purpose. We are very conscious that, just
like we did with the Admin Building, we need to provide an
impressive entrance to the School. If we are going to
compete with the other Independent Schools, both in the
Hills and further afield, we need to look the part as well. So
the upgrade to the Admin Building, apart from creating
some facilities that were very badly needed, has also given
us a showcase entrance. The Anzac Grove Memorial
pathway has provided that to the Rivermont property and
we are also looking at how we can create an entrance to
that pathway that can match in with the Hall and the Admin
Building to make that entire cul-de-sac area a truly
captivating entrance to HCCS for our families, both old and
new, and our visitors to the School.
As much as all of that is a part of our thought processes
and our planning of that area, the continued development
of the grounds on the Rivermont property has also been to
create additional play spaces for all our students and an
environmental focus for all HCCS year levels. As well,
we have virtually completed the Admin Building upgrade
now and we are thrilled with the result. Add to that the new
pick-up shelter and the major upgrade to the oval has been
a big bonus to the School. We are aware how much the
oval is used and what an important play area it is and it has
been a bit of a ‘thorn in our side’ trying to deal with the
amount of continual wear and tear and so we opted for a
major upgrade as opposed to the costly facelift repairs that
have been carried out at the end of each year to keep it in
a healthy state. When this list of improvements is added to
our ongoing sprucing and developing of all our grounds
and our facilities, it all adds up to a continuing commitment
from the Board to provide the best possible environment
and facilities for our HCCS students and families, and
all contributes to the fact that HCCS is a School of which
we can be proud.
(continued on Page 2)
'A Christian school community, helping children learn and grow to achieve their potential'.
Playgroup ~ Early Learning Centre ~ Primary ~ Secondary
PO BOX 120 VERDUN SA 5245
Email: enquiries@hccs.sa.edu.au
Phone: (08) 8388 7811
Fax: (08) 8388 1308
Chairman's Report (continued )
The Board is thrilled with the growth of HCCS Secondary into Year 10 this year and looks forward to Year 11 in 2016. The
Oakbank Campus is thriving with many new initiatives in 2015. Likewise, the fun and nurturing program at the ELC is
encouraging record enrolments.
There is no doubt that the incredibly high level that we maintain at HCCS and the astonishing children that come out of our
School every year are a direct result of the amazingly high calibre of our staff.
Thank you to Rinny and Karl (Grounds Staff), Admin Staff, Support Staff and Teaching Staff for your dedication,
professionalism and care!
They all are exemplary and combine together to form a team that is ‘second to none’. The graduating students and the
comments we hear about our present and past students is a reflection on our magnificent people.
We know that TEAM equals ‘Together Everyone Achieves More’ and the Board is so grateful to all members of the HCCS
Community who makes our School so delightful.
Tonight, we particularly thank:
 Desley Saldanha for her care, nurture, wisdom and bringing God into our community so beautifully
 Ben Raw for his diligence in bringing together the aspects of our organic growth and putting in important
processes as our new Business Manager
 Donovan Shaw who is doing an outstanding job as the Deputy at HCCS Secondary and aspires to HCCS being
the best boutique Secondary School in South Australia
 Ange Harvey for her delightful personality and excellent skills
 Chris Riemann for his leadership. He is the ‘best of the best’!
I am also grateful to the very effective HCCS Board Members:
 Reece Harrison, Paul May, Tom Grace, Mel Hogben, Phil Brown and Josh Lloyd for their generous, voluntary
contribution of skills, energy, vision, financial acumen, governance and faith.
We’re on the right track!
Mike Rogers (Chairman)
HCCS HALL, VERDUN
SATURDAY
JUNE 13TH
6.30pm—10.30pm
Tickets: $15 or Early bird price: $12
(until THIS FRIDAY, 5th June)
Have you booked your table yet?
OR
told the Front Office that you would
like to be placed on a table?
This is the school’s MAJOR
FUNDRAISER for 2015!
Faith ~ Nurture ~ Community ~ Learning
BYO food and drinks
FREE Tea and coffee
GREAT PRIZES TO BE WON!
SILENT AUCTION and GAMES!
Lots of FUN! FUN! FUN!
The
last
Quiz
Night
was
SO
SUCCESSFUL
because
so
many
families in the HCCS community
donated PRIZES which became Auction
items, Silent Auction items or ‘Winning
table basket’ items. Please let the Front
Office know if you intend to donate a prize.
As a reward for reading this Newsletter, we
have included ANOTHER ANSWER to one
of the questions at the HCCS QUIZ
NIGHT:
Q.
What was the name given by
European settlers to Verdun
prior to 1917?
A.
Grunthal
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Prayer & Praise Points
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thank God for an amazing Mission Trip in Fiji for the Year 8
students last week
thank God for a terrific Year 6 camp last week
thank God for this amazing School, the staff , the Board
and our families
pray for the Year 7 students and accompanying adults who
are in Canberra this week
pray for the Year 10 Bushwalking this week
pray for Ruby, Hamish and Jackson and their families as
they join our community
Welcome to our family
With our local Member, Jamie Briggs, at
Parliament house on Monday.
HCCS is delighted to welcome Ruby McBeath to the
ELC, Hamish Edwards to Year 2 and Jackson
Edwards to Year 4. Blessings to you and your family
as you join our community.
Milkshakes and Hot Chocolate
FRIDAY, JUNE 12TH
ONE DAY ONLY! $3 per item
Raising money for the ANZAC Grove trees.
Order forms have been sent home. Please return by
Tuesday, June 9th
Tuesday, June 9th
9.30am — 11.00am
Verdun Campus, ELC — Year 7
11.30am — 3.00pm
Oakbank Campus, Years 8 –10
Phone 8388 7811
www.hccs.sa.edu.au
In 2016, HCCS SECONDARY will have over 70 students in Years 8 –11 with Year 12
commencing in 2017.
We are delighted with the learning and growth in this unique location at Oakbank.
MEET THE PRINCIPAL and DEPUTY PRINCIPAL (Secondary) during an Open Afternoon.
Most SPECIALIST LESSONS will be in action.
Faith ~ Nurture ~ Community ~ Learning
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On Friday, May 22nd, the Year 7s experienced
their first ‘CAMP OUT’ on the ’RIVERMONT’
Property. The night was exciting with the
inaugural lighting of the fire pit. The fire provided
much warmth as the students participated in
camp fire games and also learnt how to pitch a
tent. Mr Stevens
We had a ‘Campout’ on the Year 7 property. We had
lots of fun playing ’Spotlight’, a rope game and trying
to beat Mr Stevens and many more! We slept in tents
in the Apple Orchard and it was so freezing cold that
there was frost on my tent. It was great fun! Gaby
We had a great experience in the cold weather and
a great way of camping. Our beautiful fire pit was
good to keep us warm and to make damper and
scones. The night was cold but the class did very well.
Adrian
I enjoyed when we played ‘Spotlight’ and I also liked
sitting around the camp fire. Brianna
It was an amazing experience that I’ll never forget.
Maddie
Camp Out was a great experience for me because
we did lots of fun activities including; tent pitching,
rope tug, making damper on the fire, scones on the
fire, spot light in the Nature Play and other fun things.
Will
I found kids Camp Out enjoyable because we all had
the best camp fire experience. We tried to set our
tents up in the Apple Orchard but Mackenzie and I
had trouble helping Delsie set up her tent. Mr Riemann
showed us how to cook damper using the fire. We
had a blast playing ‘Storm the Lantern in the Nature
Play area. We swapped jumpers with each other so
the person in the middle didn’t know who was who.
Mia
Faith ~ Nurture ~ Community ~ Learning
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I woke up hearing the girls screaming, ”There’s spider
in our tent!!!” It was a fun night! Caden
We had a lot of fun playing tug-of –war around the
campfire. We also had a big game of ‘spotlight’ in the
neighbouring paddock. Richard
It was probably the best camp I will have for a long
time! We had a fire pit. It was cold but not too cold.
We all pitched our tents and had sausages for dinner.
We played the most funnest games ever! Christopher
I loved the creamy, delicious pancakes we were
served for breakfast on Saturday morning. Gavin
We started by pitching our tents, which took longer
than expected! One time I walked into my tent to find
spiders crawling around in my bed. We woke in the
morning to find frost covering our tents. I have to say,
“It was one of the best camps I’ve ever been to!”
Jasmin
I enjoyed playing ‘Spotlight’ as it was really creepy in
the dark. Everyone was sneaking around in the Nature
Play area. It was so freezing we had to wear pjs, then
jumpers, then parkas and beanies, scarves and
gloves. We had 3 people in a 2 man tent so we were
like sardines. We weren’t cold at all! Isabella
Our ‘Campout’ on the Property was really fun and
something no one will ever forget! Matt
The ’Campout’ was a blast but my favourite bit had to
be when Brianna sat on her toothpaste and it
exploded. It was hilarious! Mackenzie
THANK YOU to Adelaide Hills Garden Supplies
at Verdun for their very generous donation of pebbles
for the Year 7 fire pit.
We played lots of games, ate marshmallows by the
fire and had hot chocolates for breakky. One of the
games we played was a ‘tug-of-war / rope challenge
/ balance thing’.
We all tried to beat Mr Stevens but he
was too strong. Finally, Mr Dawes beat
Mr Stevens so he was the Champion! I
thought Campout was fun and
exciting! Rosie H
Faith ~ Nurture ~ Community ~ Learning
Page 5
At Wirraway we did lots of fun activities. But the best activity
for me was definitely the horse riding. Until this camp l had
never touched a horse, so I was a little nervous when it came
time to riding them.
One of the camp’s other activities was sheep herding. There
were 6 lambs and 8 sheep, and we had to try and get them
into 2 pens. Our instructor would give us different challenges,
like 3 lambs and 4 sheep in each pen.
I had a lot of fun at Wirraway and have tried lots of new, fun
things. This has definitely been THE BEST SCHOOL CAMP
so far. Rosie Golding
I think this is the BEST CAMP EVER! Connor Hazel
The sheep herding required team work and cooperation from
the whole team. All the activities were fun but the food was
great!! The first dinner was lasagne and chocolate
mousse — yummy!! Breakfast was toast and a variety of
cereals. Lunch was burgers and dinner was apricot chicken
and for dessert was cookies and cream ice cream - yum!
Allana van Pelt
The games and activities at the camp
was horse riding, the Amazing Race,
ropes course, sheep herding, archery
My favourite activity, by far, was the
Lenger
were really fun. There
rock climbing, the low
and a long bushwalk.
horse riding. Georgia
The free time activities were really fun. I started off not
knowing how to play volleyball, but by the end of camp I had
improved so much. I found out that I am very good at carpet
ball. All the activities were my favourite part of camp. I really
enjoyed the sheep herding and for me this was a very new
experience. The low ropes were hard but very exciting.
Sophie Whitwell
Camp was like an old fashioned village. It was like an old
farm and it had a blacksmith shed, old bank, old looking
kitchen and a lot more. Isaac Tyrer
I also liked the bushwalk because we saw lots of wildlife and
kangaroos / joeys. We also found a really big tree that was
nearly completely hollow inside which was cool. We learnt
what to do if somebody got bitten by a snake. Here are
some of the things you should do: call the ambulance, say
“coo-wee” lots of times if near a place with lots of people there
and lastly call their parents. Sebastian May
Faith ~ Nurture ~ Community ~ Learning
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Rock climbing was so challenging because it was a
great experience and was good to conquer my fear of
heights but the over hang was just too tricky Ben Silver
The Low Ropes course was great! It was a commando course
where you can go under over, around, up and down. It was
great! We got timed and scored and overall my team got 405
points and won the whole course.
Another highlight of mine was meeting in the games shed for
meetings. We often did games like guess the brand, guess the
celebrity and other fun stuff. Also the Christian focus for me
helped and supported me a lot. Some of it I found rather
interesting. Jaimee Eden
My favourite activity was rock climbing. There were 6 levels
and you were allowed to have 3 climbs. I chose to do 4,5 and
6 but I didn’t get to try 6 as it started to rain and the rock
climbing got shut down. Henry Harvey
Archery was fun for me because there was a special
target called the ‘wormanator’ and I hit it ! You got a wormy if
you hit the target, I was one out of three kids to get a wormy.
I REALLY LOVED THIS YEAR’S CAMP !!!!! Angus Small
My favourite thing was the horse riding. I have never done
horse riding before and now I am bugging my parents into
buying me a horse. Overall, camp was fun. The food was
good, the leaders were nice and having my friends around me
was a blast! I would go again and do all the fun activities.
Drew Hinton
Camp was a lot of fun! The actives were great and so was the
food. My friends had fun and I know I had fun and I so want to
go back to this camp!!! Jaiden Howard
Faith ~ Nurture ~ Community ~ Learning
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2015 DATES TO REMEMBER
Fri 26th
JUNE
Wed 3rd
Thurs 4th
Fri 5th
Mon 8th
Tues 9th
Fri 12th
Sat 13th
Mon 15th
Tues 16th
Wed 17th
Thurs 18th
Fri 19th
Mon 22nd
Wed 24th
Year 10 Bushwalking
Year 10 Bushwalking
Lunchtime Music Concert
Year 10 Bushwalking
HCCS Playgroup 9.30am —11am
Year 1 and 2 Learning team to National Motor Museum
Year 3 and 4 Footy Clinics
Assembly 2.50pm - Yr 5, 5/6 & 6 Team
Year 7s return from Canberra
Queen's Birthday Public Holiday
PRIMARY OPEN MORNING (Verdun)
9.30am -11.00am
SECONDARY OPEN DAY (Oakbank)
11.30am –3.00pm
HCCS Playgroup 9.30am —11am
AHC Mobile Library
Milkshakes and Hot Chocolate
Year 3 and 4 Footy Clinics
Assembly 2.50pm - Yr 3 Team
HCCS Quiz Night
Devotions 9.05am — HCCS Secondary Yr 8
Year 1 and 2 Learning team to Bunnings
Winter Concert POSTPONED—new date to be advised
Winter Concert POSTPONED—new date to be advised
Reception Orientation
Second Hand Uniforms open 8.30am—9.00am
Meet The Writers - Adelaide Convention Centre
HCCS Playgroup 9.30am —11am
Deutscher Tag’ - Germany Day
Year 3 and 4 Footy Clinics
Assembly 2.50pm - German
Casual Day (Primary /Secondary)
Second Hand Uniforms open 8.30am—9.00am
Devotions 9.05am — Yr 6 & Anthony Risson
Reception Orientation
Board meeting
SRC Germany Day (Deutscher Tag)
FRIDAY JUNE 19TH
At the beginning of the year, classes and SRC voted on the
top event days they would like to see happen at HCCS this
year. This Term, students voted for a ‘Deutscher Tag’ which
will involve a range of fun events and activities like:
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German costume dress up
German activities and learning tasks
a special Germany Day Assembly
sampling German foods
enjoying German games at Recess and Lunch
It would be wonderful to see students dress up in German
folktale style dress, otherwise come in Casual Clothes.
PLEASE BRING A GOLD COIN DONATION for the day as
SRC is hoping to raise money for Nature Play and the
development of the ‘Rivermont’ property.
Congratulations
Campbell, Max and
Brad who competed
in
the
SAPSASA
Football competition
and won a GOLD
medal.
Faith ~ Nurture ~ Community ~ Learning
Mon 29th
Tues 30th
HCCS Playgroup 9.30am —11am
AHC Mobile Library
Year 3 and 4 Footy Clinics
Hot Pasta Lunch (Primary) has been CANCELLED
Assembly 2.50pm - Rec/Yr 1 and Yr 1 Team
Devotions 9.05am — Yr 1 & Matthew Carratt
ELC CAFHS Screening
ELC Orientation Visit 1
ELC Parent Orientation Meeting
JULY
Wed 1st
Thurs 2nd
Fri 3rd
ELC Orientation Visit 2
Year 5 Camp Illawonga
ELC Orientation Visit 3
Year 5 Camp Illawonga
HCCS Playgroup 9.30am —11am
Year 5 Camp Illawonga
Assembly 2.50pm - Yr 7
Last day of Term 2
HAPPY BIRTHDAY to these people having birthdays
THIS WEEK:
Shakaya Abbott, Megan Bloomfield,
Edward Bjordal, Angus Crawford, Stephanie Dumuid,
Hunter Garlett, Andrew Hacquoil, Kai Harvey, Nate
Hewett, Thomas Johns, Lily Kerber, Zali Schultz, Esther
Shegog, Jamie Spooner.
THANK YOU
to
Three Birds at
Stirling for their very
generous donation
of a beautiful clock
for the Year 7
Centre.
Community News
Further information can be obtained from the School’s
Front Office.
PROACTIVE PARENTING with guest speakers Mike
Stevens (June 26th) and Martin Gare (August 25th) at
Aldgate Baptist Church. Contact Lorinda Wishart on 0403
016 530
Do you live in the Lobethal / Mt Torrens /Charleston /
Woodside area and would like to look at CAR POOLING?
Please call Ali on: 0413 156 577.
When your child is going to be ABSENT from School:
Please advise the Front Office by email or sms if possible by
9.00am!!
Email: enquiries@hccs.sa.edu.au
SMS: 0400 738 405
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