Last Monday, the school gathered for a moving Anzac Day tribute to give thanks and pay our respects to our service men and women who have gone to war, currently in war, have died in battle, or have come back with scars both visible and invisible. As a school, we value their service and sacrifice, and it was fitting that the school paused to remember.

Recently, at our whole staff meeting, I shared a reflection on Genesis 1 and highlighted the amazing, sovereign, and powerful God we serve. Genesis 1 simply states that “God said…” and it came into being. The mere words of God, the utterance of his command, created unimaginable, wonderful, and beautiful things. This power extends to Jesus’ conquering death by the work of the cross. In the presence of such power, it can be quite intimidating, yet God is not distant, but one that invites us to come boldly into His presence. A good, good Father.

When we see people who put themselves in harm’s way to protect the lives of others, it garners our immediate respect. We honour them and rightly give our praise. As a community, let us not only remember our service men and women, but also Jesus who went into harm’s way, to take away the sins of the world and the punishment that we deserve.

It has been wonderful to see all the different learning activities students and staff have been engaging in the classroom this term. One of our school pillars is academic growth. A focus and understanding of academic growth is important as it enables all students to achieve success no matter where they are on their learning journey.

At OCS we celebrate all students’ achievements and encourage everyone to put in their best effort. Research has shown that student effort and having a growth mindset are fundamental ingredients in student academic success. Students who try their very best, work hard, are consistent in their efforts, and embrace the process of improvement (including making mistakes) will reap the rewards.

Success can take many different forms, sometimes it is improving a mark or grade in a subject or trying something new. With this focus all students will be able to achieve their personal best in all areas of their learning.

There are many co-curricular activities that the students are looking forward to this term. Please refer to my note posted to the school app for all the details.

The String Taster group for Stage 1 students has recommenced, which our students are very excited about. Every Stage 1 student this year will participate in several violin lessons with Mrs. Laura Christian, held during weekly Music lessons.

The Primary Ensemble begins next Friday morning (17^th May) before school and is open to all Primary students. The enrolment form is on the app, so please complete it before commencing. Students are to bring their own instrument. Please contact the front office for further information.

Welcome to Term 2! I trust you all had a refreshing break and a great start to the new term.

Week 3 is set to be an exciting week with our PeaceWise Launch Day on Monday and our SLT Movie Night on Wednesday Night.

Last Friday we had Kate Young from the Salvation Army come in to talk to our students about volunteering again this year in collecting money for the Red Shield Appeal. This will take place on Sunday 25 May. If you are interested in helping, please see the note on SchoolStream for more details.

On Monday May 13 we are excited to launch PeaceWise, a Biblically based conflict resolution program with age-appropriate content from K-12.

God blesses those who make peace. They will be called his children. Matthew 5:9 (CEV)

The program gives students understanding of conflict and language to use when conflict occurs.

The image below is from Course 2 for Years 1 and 2. It shows the ‘slippery slope’ of conflict. When we play the blame game, for instance, we are escaping conflict and so ‘faking peace’. When we attack by being mean or fighting, we are ‘breaking peace’. The course helps us understand motives in conflict and how we can stay on top of conflict by instead choosing to apologise and forgive so we ‘make peace’. For more information, please see the leaflets attached in SchoolStream recently.

Important Reminders:

PeaceWise Launch: Monday May 13

What to wear: Casual Clothes day: appropriate casual clothes with enclosed shoes please.

Food to bring: Recess, fruito & snacks

BBQ Lunch: Sausage sandwich, poppa + small snack provided. (No money necessary)

Can you help? If you are available to help us with serving lunch from approx. 11.30 – 1.30 (or part of that) please let the Front Office know. Thank you.

Hi, I’m Chris Cameron, joining the OCS community as the new Business Manager. I’m really excited to be a part of the work that God is doing at our school, and am eager to continue growing the school into the future and raising up content students who reach their potential, and know and serve Jesus.

Growing up in Sydney, my wife Shara and I saw the light and moved to the beautiful Central West 20 years ago. We now have 4 kids, ranging from year 12 to year 4, 2 dogs, including a ferocious Cavoodle named “Beast”, and chickens that love destroying the garden. I like playing all types of sports; currently soccer, ultimate frisbee, touch footy & tennis, and then complaining about my injuries. I also love engaging in more adventurous activities such as canyoning and swimming in the lake on the winter solstice (I encourage you to join us!).

Since moving to Orange, my family and I have attended Orange Evangelical Church where I’m a member of the leadership team, love leading kids church and run a men’s weekly growth group.

I’ve come from the world of Health, as asset manager for Downer looking after Orange & Bathurst hospitals. I’m really thankful to be a part of Orange Christian School and look forward to meeting you and partnering with you and your children.

Wednesday 8^th May was a wonderful day for a run on the soccer fields at Parkes. OCS took away 8 teams a girls’ and boys’ team for Stage 2, Stage 3, U/15s and Opens. The Far West Zone Gala day was full of excitement, several ‘Real Madrid’ flair goals and lots of team bonding with new friendships formed. Our awesome 3/4 boys team coached by Mr Nathan Gray were the team of the day, captivating their supporters by going through the day undefeated.

This team along with our U/15 girls came first in their age groups and both secured a berth to the State championships to face off the other top 7 teams of the state.

The sports team would like to acknowledge our 3 parents who coached teams: Ms Tabitha Franks, Jen Vandenbergh and Adam Reilly, along with our staff Nathan Gray, Allen Grant, Alex McFadyen, Katie Pyle, Adrian Lee and Dylan Naveau.

Upcoming Events:

17^th May: Sports Assembly: Swimming and Athletics Certificates Presented

31^st May: CSSA Cross Country