The End of Term 1 and Easter Just Around the Corner

It is with great pride and pleasure that I commend our College students and staff on the absolutely brilliant start to the 2019 academic year. It seems not so long ago we were preparing for the beginning of Term 1 and here we are approaching Easter with many wonderful achievements.

New staff and students have settled in amazingly well to the LJBC College community, with positive stories emerging of new friends having a positive impact on the community spirit of LJBC. We all know that this is due not only to the quality character and positive attitude of those joining us but also in no small part to the sense of community and care which continues to grow through the students and staff commitment to ensuring everyone finds their place at LJBC. This high level of respect for everyone at LJBC every day continues to grow, as is evident through the progress made so far this year, however we are acutely aware that there is still more to do as individuals continue to face challenges and don’t always feel supported and cared for appropriately. As we continue to become aware of the individual challenges for students and staff, it is important that we encourage each other to ‘find our voice’ and stand with those who need support in having their needs met, relationship differences resolved and comfort in times of challenge.

It has been wonderful to see the College community coming together recently through the time of sadness, as we grieve together over the loss of our dear colleague, teacher and friend, Mrs Coetzee. Although we still have further to go in the healing process, how pleasing it is to see the progress made and the unity being showcased during this difficult time. May I encourage you to continue to be sensitive to those in need, caring for each other as a strong community does and being willing to be ‘family’ to each other in the true sense of the word.

There have also been a number of initiatives developing nicely within the College, some of which are highlighted in this edition of the eNewsletter. Bringing notable excitement this week has been the arrival of Maxi, our Primary School Comfort Dog. Maxi has had a significant impact already, not only playing the ‘Cuteness Card’ with everyone she meets, but also by the way she has taken each challenge in her stride, learning everyday and giving the best snuggles one could imagine. Maxi joins Cooper, who works in the Secondary area, with both of them getting along well with each other and enjoying their canine friendship, even though Maxi has been showing a little bit of attitude and assertiveness which Cooper is adjusting to (you have to love ‘Girl Power’!) We look forward to the continued development of this program, and if you want to know more about how these furry friends will help students and staff, please feel free to check out our website, catch up with our College Counsellors and Chaplains, and look out for updates on social media.

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to wish you a blessed holiday break and an enjoyable Easter weekend. This is such a significant and precious season for us all as we are reminded of God’s amazing grace and love for us through the death and resurrection of His Son Jesus, so we can be set free of our baggage and imperfections. We continue to give praise and thanks to our loving Heavenly Father for all that He is doing for us as a learning community at LJBC. His provision of each one of you to become part of our ‘LJBC Family’ is such an absolute delight and we thank God every day for the honour and privilege we have been given to be able to journey together.

God’s richest blessing and hand of protection over this holiday period.

Regards

Daryl Pollard

College Principal

Family copies have been distributed to the child who was the eldest in each family in 2018.

If you have not received your copy, please ask your child to enquire at College or Primary Receptions.

Brooke Howard

Enrolment Events Coordinator

The first ever LJBC Colour Explosion took place on Friday 5 April, and it was well attended by 272 very excited children and their parents. The anticipation was palatable in the air as the families were let onto the Western Oval at 4pm and everybody collected their sunnies and headbands, pumped and ready to begin the race.

Mr Pollard kindly opened the Colour Explosion, and after he gave a few words of encouragement, the keyed-up runners lined up, ready to begin the race. Once the signal had been given by Mr Chappell, the animated crowd exploded forward with gusto and the air filled with all the colours of the rainbow. Squeals of delight could be heard from both the runners and the paint throwers. We are not sure who had more fun, the people spraying the paint or the runners being sprayed!

After the race, the children enjoyed using the water slides, zorb soccer, hair station and the bouncy castle. A big word of thanks to Antica Gelateria, Sammi's Wood Fired Pizza, Saucy's Sausages and KoffeeWorks vans who were ready and waiting for when the tired families needed sustenance. In fact, Saucy's donated 30% of their sales to the P&F, a huge thank you to them from the P&F.

The P&F would also like to acknowledge Mike Payne for sponsoring and providing the PA system and music for the event.

The final amount raised is not confirmed as yet but will be announced at the next P&F meeting on 29th May at 7pm in the Primary Library.

A heartfelt thank you to the fabulous P&F team, Luciel Kruger, Victoria Woods and Michelle Rizza for all their time and effort in organising this wonderful event, as well as to the LJBC staff and parent volunteers. A great effort everyone!

Luciel Kruger

Primary P&F Coordinator 

It has been an exciting start to the year with our Primary chess club being full of enthusiastic players. Our first competition at club level had 40 entrants, and congratulations to our finalists Ella, Reeve, Riley and Lucas. Our champion for Term 1 is Lucas. Also, a very big thank you to Mr Fred Maris (former president of Perth Chess Association) for mentoring our more experienced players.

John Hampton

Year 4 Teacher 

Year 9 Outdoor Transition Camp

At Lake Joondalup Baptist College we recognise that Year 9 is a vital and pivotal year in the transition from adolescence to young adulthood. The Year 9 camp provide a variety of diverse opportunities to experience and engage in different levels of challenge, adventure and cross-curricular educational opportunities to enhance learning experiences. The camp helps to encourage and develop young peoples’ natural instinct for adventure by providing a range of outdoor-based activities that assist in promoting the exploration, development and growth of personal and social capabilities, as outlined and promoted in the Australian Curriculum, such as self-awareness, self-management, social awareness and social management.

Our experience has shown that time in nature is a critically important aspect of a students’ education at LJBC. We hope that Year 9 students take advantage of these opportunities to continue to grow in self-belief, maturity, independence, face fear, anticipation, and call upon their resilience to find exhilaration and growing confidence in themselves and their own decisions. These experiences can also help to boost wellbeing, and through adventurous activities to practice and learn to be brave.

Challenge refers to activities that are mainly about journeying from one place to another, often using self-propelled power, and which provide a clear objective and destination. The focus of the experience is on the day to day journey and the voyage of personal self-discovery. These experiences are often physically challenging and require students to make an informed choice about what it is they are about to tackle.

Journey aims to stimulate and promote the sense of personal and group endeavour and pioneering spirit in our students. These experiences seek to imbue our students with a sense of discovery and the rich rewards that result from working collaboratively towards a common goal. While a number of activities provide a level of physical challenge, others offer a more relaxing way in which to explore our natural environment.

A key aspect of the Year 9 Camp is the transfer of learning from a students’ experience to their ‘normal’ life at school and home. Realising this while in a challenging and stimulating environment can be a catalyst for change to begin the transformation from adolescence to young adulthood.

Further information related to the Year 9 Camp timetabled for Term 4 in November 2019 will be handed to all Year 9 students in the week beginning Monday 9 September 2019.

The 2019 Year 9 Camp is yet to be finalised as we await confirmation from some of our external providers. Costing is still to be finalised as we endeavour to minimise costs to parents to provide greater opportunities for students.

I look forward to your child’s involvement in this unique, challenging, fulfilling, fun and highly rewarding camp.

Please do not hesitate to contact me throughout the year should you wish to discuss any aspect of the Year 9, 2019 camp.

Helen Del Frate

Dean of Students

Children and teens will experience events during their lives that will affect them emotionally and physically. How they react to these events depends on their age, personality and past experiences. Children can experience strong feelings of fear, sadness, guilt, anger or grief, making it difficult for them to cope with everyday life.

There are a number of ways that parents and care givers can support children after a traumatic event. Your reaction to an event, will impact your child’s ability to cope and recover. Children will look to the adults in their lives to help them better understand a traumatic event so it is important to ‘tune in’ to their fears and provide them with the comfort and support they need.

In this edition of SchoolTV, parents will learn how to gain a better understanding of trauma and how it affects children of all ages. We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this month’s edition, and we always welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to this month's edition https://ljbc.wa.schooltv.me/newsletter/trauma

Helen Del Frate 

Dean of Students 

Drama

Term 1 in Drama has been very busy. We have had an incredible couple of weeks! 

On Wednesday 20 March, our Year 10 Drama students went on an excursion to see Romeo and Juliet. This performance was put on by WAAPA third year acting students at Health Ledger Theatre. Renowned English actor and director Michael Jenn directed the show and the students enjoyed it.

On Wednesday 27 March, Year 11 and 12 ATAR Drama students attended the 23rd Performing Arts Perspectives Showcase for 2019 at Perth Concert Hall. This showcased the outstanding creativity and diversity of student performance and provided benchmarks of excellence in Dance, Drama and Music for students. Our students were attentive audience members and are excited to start working on their OSPs and monologues in class.

On Monday 1 April, we had the Year 11 ATAR Drama production Gate 38. It is a non-traditional musical where Bollywood meets Australian drama. Each student had both an acting role and a production role. This gave them an opportunity to not only preform on stage but also manage back stage. The students worked incredibly hard and the show was a great success.

On Monday 8 April, our Year 11 ATAR Drama students were lucky enough to have Julia Moody come in and run a workshop on their monologues. Julia was the head of voice at WAAPA for 22 years until taking up a position at The Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts (UK). This workshop assisted the students with the process of selecting, creating and presenting a monologue, one of the requirements of the WACE exam. They concentrated on one monologue each and placed it in the context of the scene and the play from which it is drawn. They then identified key lines of dialogue, the climax of the piece and the character's motivations. Appropriate performance styles and choices were also discussed and applied in order to effectively realise the character in performance.

On Monday 9 April, we had our first ever Specialist Theatre Arts performance of Way off Broadway. This was a show comprised of eight musical numbers from such shows as Annie, Hamilton and Matilda! Over 70 students from Years 7 to 12 came together to put on this show and it was incredible. A special thank you to WAAPA graduate Taylah Crothers who directed and choreographed this show.

Dance

The end of Term 1 has been busy for Dance. As a part of the Year 7 and 8 Dance programs the students were required to perform to an audience during recess.

In the Year 7 Dance program, the students have been working on fundamental Hip-hop and breaking skills through a routine as a whole class. The students were tasked with creating their own choreography in small groups and combining the two pieces together. We were fortunate to have perfect weather on the day and the students did an excellent job performing to the growing crowd.

The Year 8 Dance students have been exploring Commercial Jazz technique and choreography with Alumni student Alysha Cheetham. The students then created their own performance by combining their own dance skills with the new skills that they had learned.

On Monday 9 April, selected Dance students performed in the Specialist Theatre Arts showcase Way Off Broadway. Choreographed and coordinated by Mya Thorby, the students performed a wonderful dance to songs from The Greatest Showman.

The co-curricular program really kicks off next term with the re-commencement of Dance Strength and Conditioning which is a dance focused fitness group where we will be working towards a performance later in the year.

Jethro Pidd
Teacher in charge of Drama and Dance

The Visual Arts department has had a welcome makeover and the once rather small room used for upper school art is now a wonderfully modern, bright and spacious double room. The new facilities allow dedicated areas for theory and practical instruction. The space also allows students to exercise creativity in pursuing large scale projects and innovative expression!

Liz Gray

Visual Arts Teacher 

Breakfast Concert

Parents and friends were treated to tea, coffee, milo and hot cross buns early Tuesday morning followed by a mini concert. The Concert Band played five contrasting pieces including the famous theme Jupiter and other atmospheric numbers like Ghosts in the Graveyard and City Life. The Guitar Ensemble entertained the audience showcasing the improvising solo skills of Caitlin Mathews Markey (Y11) and Ethan Battle (Y9). What a wonderful way to start the day!

Woodwind Day

Three students from LJBC attended the CASSWA (Clarinet and Saxophone Society of Western Australia) Ensemble Day on Sunday 31 March.

Nicholas (Y7), Jack (Y6) and Elliot (Y5) came to the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts where they formed part of a fifty strong clarinet ensemble and in Jack’s case a much smaller saxophone ensemble of eight. They had to learn four new pieces of music in an hour and then perform in front of an audience of over 100 people!

They all did a wonderful job and we are very proud of them.

Tammy van der Nest

Director of Music 

Lake Joondalup Baptist College awards College Colours for outstanding achievement in the areas of curriculum, service, sporting and cultural pursuits in the life of the College. Students in Years 10, 11 and 12 are eligible to apply and students can download an application form from the Student Gateway. If the criteria has been met, successful applicants are awarded a badge and certificate at a College assembly or the College Awards Evening. The closing date for the next round of applications is Term 2, Week 2, Friday 10 May. All queries can be directed to an Awards Committee member.

On Saturday 6 April 13 members of the Glee Girls represented the College at the Lantern Parade as part of the Joondalup Festival, accompanied by Mrs Campbell, Mrs van der Nest and Mrs Adams. This year the theme was ‘Space’ and the girls entered into the spirit of the event with glitter, luminous dress and jewellery and face paint. Throughout the Parade, the group sang an acappella medley of space-related songs including ‘Stars’ from Les Misérables, ‘Starman’, Space Oddity, ‘Here Comes the Sun’ and ‘Fly Me to the Moon.’

The girls sang very well indeed and it was lovely to see their beautiful voices applauded by sections of the spectators as they went past. Their behaviour was exemplary and a great time was had by all.

I would like to personally congratulate the Glee Girls on a very successful Term 1 and look forward to making more music with them in Term 2.

Catherine Campbell

Head of Languages

Glee Girls Musical Director

On behalf of the LJBC All Stars, a huge thank you to everyone who supported the team doing 'The March Charge' for Cancer Council. Together we walked or ran over 1600kms and we raised a total of $7215. We had over 150 individuals donate, students supporting us with the Bake Sale plus hundreds more sending encouragement as we charged through the month.

Uniform Shop extended times for start of the Winter Changeover 2019

Regular Uniform Shop hours during school term
Tuesday and Thursdays 8am to 4pm (closed 11.30am to 12.30pm)

Winter Extended hours (No appointments necessary)

All Blazer Orders for Winter 2019 (Year 7 to Year 12) will be available for pickup before the start of Term 2 2019.

Annette Haskins 

Uniform Shop Manager 

Monday 29 July - Friday 9 August 2019

Lake Joondalup Baptist College will have a visit from a group of Japanese students from Hanazono High School in Japan, sister school to LJBC. Exchange visits are a wonderful way to increase cultural awareness and develop cross-cultural communication skills for all participants. It’s rewarding and fun for families to experience another culture, share their experiences learning about Australia and form international friendships.

 We are looking for families who are willing to host a student for 11 nights:   

• Apart from friendship and the opportunity to participate in family life, host families only need to provide a bed (a mattress is OK) and meals (as normal) for the students. 
• The students are high school aged (15-17) but it is still a good experience for families if host children are younger/older as they mix well and everyone benefits from the cultural exchange. 
• Shoji Australia act as guardians for the students during their stay and offer 24 hour bilingual support to students and host families. 
• The students will start and end their day at LJBC having English lessons and participating in school life in the afternoons. 
• All host parents are required by law to have current Working with Children Checks but Shoji Australia will provide the forms and reimburse the cost.
• Families will receive a payment to cover the student’s living expenses.

Please support this rewarding school program. It may seem like a long way off but please register now so progress can be made towards the visit.

Please fill in a confidential application form at

https://shojiaustralia.com.au/application-school.html 

Or contact Shoji Australia for more information.

Ph:  9385 6911

e-mail:  jenni@shojiaustralia.com.au

Meagan Maassen

Japanese teacher

For the last 9 years a program has been in place offering the opportunity to young French students aged 14-17 years to discover Australia and its education system.

We are looking for families willing to host students for the four weeks of their visit. They will travel to and from school with your children. 

The purpose of the programme is for these French students to experience living with an Australian family, to see how an Australian school operates, to improve their English language skills through this full immersion and to create a strong friendship with their Anglophone peers.  The programme is highly successful and both Australians and French students greatly enjoy the exchange. Many families still keep in touch with each other.

The students are fully briefed about the school rules, are not to leave the school premises and will attend classes daily. They will be fully covered by appropriate insurance.

Host families will be visited prior to the arrival by the organiser to explain the programme.

We believe such an exchange is also highly beneficial for our Modern Languages students, opening their eyes (and ears!) to similarly minded students for an extended period.   

Please contact Martine Floyd, email:  martine.floyd@iinet.net.au,  mob: 0403 019 609  

if you are interested in hosting. 

Catherine Campbell 

Head of Languages

It is with sadness that our College community acknowledges the passing of former Secondary Science Teacher, Mrs Michelle Coetzee. Michelle passed away on 28 March 2019. Michelle was a valued member of staff from January 2009 until September 2017 when she took leave due to her battle with illness.

Michelle was a fun-loving teacher who radiated joy and compassion. She loved sunflowers and, in many ways, she was like one herself. Enjoying a close relationship with the Lord, she absorbed God’s love and passed it on to others. Indeed, she was the sunshine in the Science Department, encouraging everyone and showing unconditional love and care towards students and staff alike.

Join our Principal for a tour of the College each month during term time.

Connecting parents, students and collegians who own businesses with members of our community 

LJBC has teamed up with B2Me Australia to provide our families with a digital business directory, which encourages members of the LJBC community to do business with each other.