No Images? Click here From the Principal...If you follow the Ellenbrook Christian College Facebook page, you would be aware of the abundance of exciting activities that have occurred over the past fortnight. If you have not been following the page, it may be one to consider. Last week we were entertained by the Year 1 to 3 students at their Dance Showcase. Our talented Kindergarten teacher, Mrs Melissa Dawson, who also teaches dance in Primary, coordinated a fantastic display of the dancing talent of our students. It was a vibrant event and it was clear that the students got a great deal of joy from the experience. It was a pleasure to see how many parents were able to make it. We congratulate all the students and staff who were involved. The Secondary Orientation took place last week and it was a privilege to welcome this large group of new students to the school. It was also a great opportunity for our current Year 6 students to get a taste of Secondary school. It is always a pleasure welcoming new families to our College. The Leavers2Leaders trip took off in the early hours of Sunday morning. Fourteen of our Year 11 and 12 students along with three staff members and similar groups from other SCEA schools will be spending the next two weeks in the Philippines, experiencing life in a third world environment and serving the communities there. It will be a challenging and uplifting experience and we wish them all the best for their time there. We are very proud of the students and the sacrifice they have made to be part of this wonderful program. A number of Year 11 Probationary Leaders attended a training day at Swan Valley Oasis Resort. From amongst this group of committed and talented young people, the student leadership group will be appointed. The final group will be announced at the Awards Night later this term. To be selected is a great honour and the students will have a large responsibility to lead, serve and represent the College. I wish to honour all students who put themselves forward, even if they were not selected. The commitment and willingness to serve the school and their fellow students is admirable. I would like to congratulate all our students who represented us at WACCSA Inter-school athletics last week. They acquitted themselves well and represented our College with pride. I had the privilege of watching our Primary boys play yesterday in the T20 Blast Inter-school State Finals. The boys placed fourth in a tournament that commenced with 25,000 students from all over WA. The boys played with passion despite the heat and we are very proud of their achievement. Justin Krause Primary School NewsFrom the Head of Primary...Many of you recently managed to attend our first ever Primary Dance Showcase involving all students from Years 1 to 3. What was initially planned as a final assembly quickly developed into a performing arts spectacular. Routines were performed by class and ranged from jazz, to contemporary, line and hip-hop. The Showcase has been an excellent conclusion to the first year for our Primary Dance program and other performing arts events. Congratulations to Mrs Melissa Dawson for her excellent work, the success of which was so obvious to all who were blessed with the opportunity to view the Showcase. As we draw close to the end of the year i encourage you to take a moment to familiarise yourself with the details of our end of year events on our website's event page. We look forward to to seeing you at these celebrations. Stuart Harris Year 3 Excursion | Hyogo Cultural Centre When we arrived we were greeted by Sensei Melissa San and Sensei Matt San who told us that Hyogo has been Western Australia's sister state in Japan since 1981. Then they taught us how to count to seven in Japanese - "Ichi, ni, san, shi, go, roku, nana".
After that we played a game where we had to form groups with the number of people that was called out in Japanese. It was quite fun but it was tricky as well. When we were in the groups we completed some activities in stations. There was a worksheet that we had to fill out for all of the stations. At one station we had to explore the Japanese library to find some different books. At another we had to sketch the traditional Japanese house and correctly label its important parts like:
There was also a musical instrument called a "kota" which was similar to a harp and a Samurai helmet. At one of the other stations we did a Japanese puzzle and played with some traditional Japanese toys. At the final station we had to learn about different important places in Japan. There was also a fluffy, yellow mascot named Habutan, a phoenix. He is the official mascot of Hyogo in Japan. Lunch was extremely yummy. We ate teryaki chicken sushi and vegetable sushi as well as noodles, fried chicken and salad. Next, Sensei Matt told us about Japanese celebrations like Girl's Day, Japanese New Year and Children's Day. He showed us a carp kite which is an important part of the celebration. We also got to see a Happy Coat and Aly and Marc got to try it on. Jwan tried the wedding Kimono which we all thought looked stunning. Later on we enjoyed a Japanese calligraphy writing lesson where we practiced writing a Japanese character which means festival. We got to use a traditional brush, ink and an ink holder. Finally, we received a special fan to take home which had the mascot of Hyogo on it and we took a group photo in front of the traditional Japanese home. We thought the excursion was really fun and amazing and we learned a lot from the experience. Year 5 to 10 | STEM in the Valley Last Friday we co-hosted the inaugural Science/Technologies competition – 'STEM in the Valley' with Swan Christian College. Our College was represented by three Primary teams. Each team entered into two challenges against over 40 teams from 17 other schools. Challenge One | Tallest Tower Challenge Two | I Robot I am really proud of the boys and girls from Year 5 and 6 who attended the day and demonstrated excellent teamwork. I have a feeling there will be some future engineers from this talented group of students. Daniel Rolt WACSSA Inter-school | Athletics Carnivals Students competed in field events including long jump, shot put and turbo javelin as well as track events including 100m, 200m, 400m and 800m. Our students have been training hard leading up to the event and we had some outstanding individual performances on the day. Well done to everyone who was involved. Master Chef Français Competition | Bon appétit! The Year 6 students had one and a half hours to prepare and plate up 'choco fondant' (brownies) and 'salade nicoise', after translating the two recipes from French earlier in the day. They also learnt some new techniques from the chef such as cutting onions, testing a cake to see if it was cooked and pretasting dressing. The winning team was 6.2. Hopefully all the Year 6 students will now be able to use their newfound knowledge of French cuisine and vocabulary to recognise items on menus and recipes and maybe their families will benefit from their developing culinary skills. Year 5 | Muffin Break Fundraiser A reminder that the Year 5 students will be selling Muffin Break muffins to raise funds and awareness for Oxfam and Fair Trade on Tuesday 6 December! All profits will go to Oxfam - an organisation with a vision to help create a world without poverty. They envisage a world in which everyone is valued and treated equally. Students will be selling the muffins during recess and lunch for a gold coin donation. The following delicious flavours will be available for students to purchase. There will also be gluten free options.
We look forward to a wonderful event! Christmas Cheer Appeal As part of Ellenbrook Christian College’s way of supporting the local community we will again be partnering with the Salvation Army, in assisting them to provide local families with gift, toys and food products for their Christmas day. Many of the families that are assisted don’t have enough money to be able to have a special Christmas dinner or to purchase Christmas gifts for their children and families. As a church the Salvation Army put together hampers and parcels that can hopefully go some way to making this time of financial hardship a little less. How can we help? This is a great way to serve others; one small donation can make a difference! Last year we were able to increase the number of people supported by The Salvation Army. We hope to do this again. Donations are now being collected. The last opportunity to donate is Wednesday 30 November 2016. The class that brings in the most items will be presented with a small reward. Click here for a list of suitable suggested items. Secondary School News From the Head of Secondary...It was with much excitement that we held our Orientation day for new students joining the Secondary School in 2017. We welcomed many of our current Year 6 cohort along with many new students who will be joining the College. I was impressed by the way the students interacted with each other. After having a taste of what Secondary at ECC is like most students are now really excited about their future at the College and a little less nervous about joining Secondary. I know all of these students are joining a great community and will be afforded many opportunities. There is so much happening in the Secondary School! In the past two weeks the following opportunities have been afforded to our students. Students have participated (and finish first!) in an Inter-school STEM competition, have danced the night away at the River Cruise, some have taken a flight to the Philippines to take part in the Leavers2Leaders mission trip, others have undergone a leadership training day, represented the school at a Remembrance Day service and finally have simply come to school to learn and to develop the skills in a variety of learning areas. Jordan Smith Year 11 | Probationary Leadership Training Day On Wednesday 16 of November, the Year 11 Probationary Leadership Team had the opportunity to attend a leadership training day. It was here that we learnt more about each member as individuals, and formed closer bonds as friends and team members. One of the first activities we were given was a character survey that helped us to identify our own strengths and weaknesses as a leader. The first test was a written self evaluation in which we ranked attributes based on our own perception of ourselves. The second test was online, and gave us our best attributes based on our answers to a series of questions. We then compared them to each other to find any similarities and differences between the two and discussed these findings with each other. Throughout the day, we were also involved in many small activities that tested our communication and ability to work as a team. Some of these activities included trying to cross an imaginary river with only five pieces of A3 paper, and trying to form a line in alphabetical order of middle names without being able to talk. Before the day, we were all required to create a presentation in small groups, which was to be presented in front of the rest of the team. We were asked to address any changes within the school that we would like to see, and that could be achieved through the student voice. Each group presented in a unique way and provided solutions to their concerns that could be easily obtained. Overall the day was highly successful. As a team we learned how to work together and how to accommodate everyone's strengths and weaknesses. We came closer as a group and I am glad that I was given the opportunity to participate in this event. Alannah Woulfe Year 11 | River Cruise On the 17 November, the Year 11 cohort of Ellenbrook Christian College had the opportunity to attend an annual social event called the River Cruise. This event involved the year group dressing up in formal attire and enjoying the evening on a boat as it journeyed around the Swan River. A DJ provided an amazing soundtrack for the night which students (and teachers) took the opportunity to dance the night away; a good release of the pent up stress due to the recently completed examinations. The night was a success in which many students shared a well deserved social event full of food, photos and laughs. Awards were handed to deserving students and teachers alike for best dressed, best dancers and most social. All students would agree they are fortunate to be a part of a College that provides such great opportunities like this one. Montana Falloon Millicent Strahan Collins School Fees 2017 School fees for 2017 are being confirmed by the SCEA Board and will be released in early December. Once available, they’ll be posted on the SCEA website at www.scea.wa.edu.au/fees, where you can also access school fee FAQs and updated fee terms and conditions. An email will be sent to parents’ primary email address when the fee schedules are online. Please contact the office if you’d like to update your details. Student ServicesStudent Services Team
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Late Arrivals/Early Departures An early departure slip must be obtained from Student Services prior to you collecting your child early from school. If your child is being picked up for an appointment Volunteers and Parent Helpers Reminder Bike Helmets Uniform Shop Holiday Openings 2017 General opening times (no appointment necessary) Hours Kindergarten Pre-Primary
Years 7 to 12 Administration Upcoming EventsSecondary School Music Soiree | Sunday 27 November Parents and friends are invited to attend Ellenbrook College’s inaugural Soiree to be held on Sunday November 27 at 2:00pm to 4:00pm. The afternoon will showcase the College’s talented musicians and vocalists. The students performing learn both in and out of the College. The afternoon will provide a variety of entertainment with a performance from a special guest artist. Entry is by gold coin donation. We invite you to join us for this gala event. For further details please email melissa.argus@scea.wa.edu.au. EventsSignificant events that occur throughout the year at the College can be found on the events page on our website. Our Events page has had an update! Check out the new Term Dates Page with 2017 dates now listed! CalendarThe College calendar is updated regularly with new events. You are encouraged to use this resource to keep yourself up-to-date with school functions, excursions, incursions, after school programs and anything else that your child may be involved in. CommunitySummer is coming | Enrol now for swimming lessons |