We have focused completely on Jesus for our Term 3 Worship times. We progressed from his birth in Week 1, through different aspects of his ministry until arriving at his death and resurrection in Week 9 and 10. It is a little strange celebrating Easter events in September, but it is great to have two opportunities to investigate and celebrate the event that is pivotal in God’s rescue of humanity from selfishness, self-centredness and sin.

Our College holds up ‘Celebrating the Gospel’ as the first tenant of our mission. The Gospel is all that Jesus has accomplished for humankind through his life, death and resurrection. Our School song ‘Semper Fidelis’ proclaims ‘On solid rock our school St Andrews is found. Jesus Christ is our foundation and cornerstone…’ Our school is certainly physically built on solid rock. The bluestone that was blasted from the side of the hill where J block sits is testament to this. The fabric of who we are is built on the love and forgiveness won for all people by Jesus through his death on the cross. 

Articulating the very essence and meaning of what took place on a hill outside of Jerusalem 2,000 years ago is challenging. I recently bumped into a book that outlines 50 reasons why Jesus gave up his life on the cross. All of these reasons are different aspects of what was achieved on our behalf by God as he sacrificed his own life for us. It is the type of concept that can never truly be grasped once and for all. The more it is contemplated, the more it reveals to us, and in doing so shapes our hearts and minds. 

Middle/Senior School and Junior School encountered the truth that God took all the sin of the world upon himself at the cross. In Junior School we had a heap of fun witnessing how the sin that covers us (represented by dark coloured water) is taken away from us as Jesus (represented by a candle) gives up his life (represented by a glass jar placed over the candle, extinguishing the flame) as this happened all the dark coloured water rose into the Jar freeing us from the sin that darkens our lives. It is an awesome physical demonstration of what God achieved at the cross and it has helped in my grasping of the significance of this history changing event, highlighting how we are never too old to experience anew the beauty of Jesus’ sacrifice, love and forgiveness. 

The transformation Jesus can make in our life is seen in these two images. The first is us covered by sin… and the second clearly shows how the sin is taken up by Jesus as He gives up His life and we are freed from sin (we are represented by the coin that is now visible due to the ‘sin’ being taken away) Junior School parents. You can check with your children!

Our School is built upon the Gospel. We are so fortunate to have this as an unchangeable truth in our community. I pray all of us can continue to enter into the reality of Jesus’ forgiveness as seen at the cross and welcome it into our hearts and minds where it brings great peace, joy and love into our very existence and who we are.

LEARNING EVERYWHERE – THE BUZZ OF EXCITEMENT! 

There has been a buzz of excitement in the last few weeks of term as both the race to complete major assessment tasks and the culmination of learning activities collide. There is simply so much I want to share. 

ESPORTS

Last Friday week, four Year 9 and 10 students represented St Andrews Lutheran College in The FUSE Cup Esports competition – Super Smash Bros, and on Thursday, four Year 7 and 8 students represented St Andrews Lutheran College in The FUSE Cup Esports competition – Rocket League. With a strong emphasis on developing valuable life skills such as integrity, resilience, inclusion and teamwork, our teams learnt about digital wellbeing while testing their Rocket League skills against other Gold Coast and Brisbane schools. We would like to thank our teams for showing commitment and good sportsmanship. These Esports teams and competition initiative has been led by our very capable Teacher-Librarian, Mrs Kristo.

YEAR 12 FORMAL 

The Formal, which was held at HOTA on Saturday, is the first in a series of celebrations and milestones for our Year 12s. It was a pleasure to share the evening with these elegant, thoughtful and exemplary young people. Year 12s, you are a credit to yourselves, your families and our College. We will be sharing images and videos of the arrivals with our wider community. 

SERVICE LEARNING – CURRUMBIN COMMUNITY SPECIAL SCHOOL

Selected Year 10 students continue to engage and offer support at the Currumbin Community Special School.  This is such a powerful opportunity for growth in our young people’s soft skills, particularly empathy and in initiative as they interact with the children from this community school. This program is aptly led by Mr Nelson, our Director of Student Development. 

IC'21 PROGRAM

Last Friday week, the Secondary School’s IC’21 program had its 6^th session of developing students in innovation and entrepreneurship. The session focused on Storytelling, with Sonya McGuire; CEO and Founder of ACIT and IFTV sharing her story. Sonya speaks globally about education systems, technology, information protection and cyber security. She travels globally as an exporter of Australian education and has a particular passion to empower women, especially in disadvantaged countries. 

A huge thank you to Mrs Myles, Miss Yeo and Miss Sippel for their work with these schools and the delivery of such an exceptional program and opportunity for our students. 

SPORT COMPETITIONS AND OPPORTUNITIES 

Both our Touch football players and Basketball players have had the opportunity to shine in different competitions.

Our Touch players competed in the Ormeau Woods Touch Tournament over 3 days and our Open Basketball team played in the CBSQ Open Championships at the Gold Coast Sport and Leisure Centre. The Basketball is a State-wide School Tournament held over 4 days (Thursday through to Sunday). Many close and exciting games were played by the boys, who showed great effort, skill and sportsmanship.

YEAR 7 AND 8 FRIDAY FRENZY!

A great day was had on Friday, with all Year 7 and Year 8 students engaged in a friendly round robin sports competition. It was wonderful to see many Year 9 and 10 students step up as leaders and give of their time to help manage the teams along with refereeing the sports. This was a wonderful day for these students to end the term. Thank you, Mr Smith and Mr Harris, for creating this activity day and providing a barbeque for our students.  

LOOKING AHEAD

When we return in Term 4, our Year 11 Visual Arts’ students will have an authentic experience, visiting Jellurgal and working with an artist for two days. They will gain inspiration and an appreciation for the uses of this area, both traditionally and presently. 

I do also hope we see many of you at the rescheduled P&F Trivia Night, on Saturday, 9 October. Please be sure to book a table.

https://www.trybooking.com/BRWAQ

Finally, a word of thanks from me as we head into the term break. I am grateful every day for this community. Thank you to all of our students, staff and families for the ongoing hard work and support that has helped our young people to flourish in Term 3. 

Adele Ramsay
Deputy Principal Head of Secondary School 

YEAR 9 STEM LECTURE: CREATIVITY IN DESIGN TECHNOLOGY

Guest Speaker: Melissa Sadler (Maessen)

On Friday, 10 September, our alumni and College Captain, Melissa Sadler presented a lecture to our Year 9 STEM Andrians about her academic pursuits in the design technology fields towards a Bachelor of Education degree practical experience. 

Upon completion of Year 12, Mrs Sadler travelled to the United States and Mexico. She also completed an Internship in Church Ministry before returning to Australia to further her education. She commenced with a double degree in Business and Graphic Design but decided to pursue a degree in Education - majoring in Design Technology.  During this time, she has deepened her experiences through travel to Japan while experimenting with design technologies. 

Mrs Sadler expresses her deep passion for the design process and being creative building projects. She believes this to be a great way to apply creativity in problem solving. She enjoys using new technologies (i.e. 3D printing/laser cutting) and is fascinated by 3D printing technologies such as SLA, FDM (Fuse Deposition Modelling - currently used at our College), and SLS. Griffith University provides access to large state-of-the-art printers for their students to create innovative structures. 

Mrs Sadler completed her talk with an engaging class activity, designing and building marshmallow and spaghetti towers within a stringent ten-minute time frame. All Andrians thoroughly enjoyed this activity - challenging each other to build a taller tower than their competitors. On behalf of the St Andrews community, we sincerely thank Mrs Sadler for sharing her knowledge and expertise in the field of STEM.

Dr Gordon Naidoo
Year 9 STEM Educator

The IC’21 (Innovate and Create) Program is in its fifth year.  IC’21 aims to develop student’s entrepreneurial skills.   It engages the students with the entrepreneurial mindset that encourages students to look for opportunities, think outside the box, develop an empathy for their customer or someone in need, resilience and persistence.   

The Program has had an array of guest speakers this term leading with Kate Morgan; CEO and Co-founder of “Eggy – Your Life Unscrambled”, Jon Morris; founder of Justice Water, Vipin Dhunoo; developer of “Aftermath” – a virtual reality teaching tool to educate effects of global warming; Phillipa Taylor - Southport Church of Christ speaking about her work in China empowering women in disadvantaged situations; Paul McCarty; Founder of Securestack (named by Forbes as one of the top 20 cybersecurity start-ups to watch in 2021) and last Friday the students were able to hear the story of Sonya McGuire; CEO and Founder of ACIT and IFTV.  Sonya speaks globally about education systems, technology, information protection and cyber security. Thank you to all our guest speakers who continue to support our students in developing their own entrepreneurial skills.

Three of our IC’20 winners continue to work via zoom with their Melbourne mentors from Xplor on a Friday afternoon during the Program. We are very blessed to have this connection with such expertise to help mentor our students in their projects.  

Photos are:  Annie R working with her Xplor team in Melbourne.  Zoe F working via zoom with her Xplor team.  Sonya Mc with the IC’21 team on Friday.

BOOK-A-GRAM

The CRC celebrates the love of reading and sharing a good book recommendation with friends. Over the last couple of weeks students were able to leave a ‘comment’ or ‘like’ on popular book titles with our larger-than-life Book-a-Gram display.

Do you know how the people in your world are really going?

Conversations can make a difference when someone is struggling. It’s better to ask than not ask. Conversations help people feel more connected, supported and better about themselves and their situation. Young people are more likely to speak to their friends and family first. That’s why it’s important that everyone is prepared and knows what to do if they are worried about someone. More information and useful guides on how to ask Are they really ok? are available on the R U OK? website.

Our current display in the CRC encourages students to pick up a book and discover more around mental health and wellbeing.

To support meaningful connection and positive communication this week the CRC set up a ‘Take What You Need’ wall. Allowing students to share positive thoughts, inspirational quotes and a little bit of joy with their fellow students as they navigate exams and end of term demands.

ESPORTS

St Andrews Lutheran College was blessed to have two teams compete in The FUSE Cup this term, in both the Year 7 & 8 and Year 9 & 10 year levels. Congratulations to the below students who represented the College in the tournament.

Claire G, Harry L, Isla S, Jakob H

Bryce U, Eva L, Lavinia B, Rhys B

COMMUNICATION IS KEY

Taking the time to talk with our children when they are young can open many doors when they are older. However, when our children are wanting to talk to us, it can be at a time when we are busy. When your children talk to you about day-to-day things, where possible, stop what you are doing and listen. Be supportive and encourage them to talk. You don’t have to know everything about their life. However, you do need to try to keep in touch with what is happening on a day-to-day basis. Make it clear that your children can talk with you no matter what the topic. If children know that their parents will listen to them about the small things, they will feel comfortable to share the big things. Some tips for encouraging greater communication

• Turn the radio off when you are driving the car and engage in a conversation  
• Show an interest in what they are talking about. You might even do some research before hand on your child’s favourite thing
• Stop what you are doing
• Role model to other people in your family good communication skills
• Listen

PYP EXHIBITION

The PYP Exhibition is a culminating event in the journey through the PYP. It is a team endeavour and an individual pursuit. It is an opportunity to showcase skills, develop attitudes, consolidate knowledge, share understandings and take action. It is inspiring, exhausting and there is a satisfaction with a job well done. Well done to all or our Year 6 students and staff who have embarked on this mighty challenge. You should feel very proud of your learning, growth and skill development. Congratulations on a job done well.

SCHOOL HOLIDAY BREAK

Please enjoy the upcoming spring holiday break. I hope it is a great opportunity for you and your family to spend some quality time together. Looking at my calendar for Term 4, it is going to be a busy and rewarding term. 

Darrin Schumacher
Deputy Principal Head of Junior School

PYPX (Exhibition) – What a night!

Throughout the Exhibition process, we saw the students living the IB Learner Profile and demonstrate elements of the PYP as they worked individually and collaboratively in their inquiry groups to make their learning visible for others. After nine weeks of inquiry, with one of the weeks learning from home, the Year 6 students were very excited to share the knowledge, skills, conceptual understandings and action they had taken as a result of their inquiry. Our students interacted enthusiastically and confidently during both the PYPX Evening event and on the Open Day when many classes from across the College from the Early Learning Centre (ELC) through to Year 10 were able to view the exhibits and engage with the students. Here are some written comments we received from parents:

• Wow! The communication skills of the students are excellent. So much passion in those voices!

• So awesome…super informative, very confident presenters, clearly passionate and enthusiastic about your topic!

• I loved the singing and dancing! So much fun and smiling faces!

• Wonderful! We learnt so much from everyone. Thank you for sharing with us.

• I travel the world and attend expo’s and this expo was the best one I have ever seen. Well done guys.

• What an incredible display of team work and knowledge. Love your thirst for learning!

One of the Year 6 students, Adelaide recently shared her action on social media so parents and students would have access to healthy, nutritious recipes. 

This year the Year 6 are inquiring into a variety of issues for the PYP exhibition. During my research, I discovered that a nutritious meal is one that is balanced by the right amount of a variety of food groups. As part of my action I decided to make a cook book which could be shared with St Andrews families. The cook book contains healthy recipes that can easily be made by kids. To view the cook book please click on the link below. 

Adelaide (Year 6 Student)

Nutritious Recipes by Adelaide

Congratulations Year 6 for your outstanding efforts throughout the process and especially for the way you confidently communicated during the Exhibition Evening and Open Day. You were very knowledgeable!

ICAS Results

Students in Years 4 to 6 were invited earlier in the year to participate in the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) for Science, Digital Technologies, Writing, Spelling, English and Mathematics. The students have completed the papers on various dates throughout the term. We still have one paper to sit next term - Writing. This competition provides an opportunity for students to gain a measure of their own achievement in an external assessment situation.

Certificates are awarded to each Year level as follows:

High Distinction: to the top 1% of participants
Distinction: to the next 10% of participants
Credit: to the next 20% of participants

We recently received the results for the competitions that have been completed. Congratulations to the following students who will be awarded certificates:

High Distinction
Oliver J Year 4 – Digital Technologies
Cassia P Year 5 – English

Distinction:
Zoe E Year 4 – English and Science 
Oliver J Year 4 – English, Mathematics and Science
Alexander T Year 5 – English, Mathematics and Science
 Jack B Year 5 - Mathematics

Credit:
Nahlah B Year 5 – Digital Technologies and  English
Mia G Year 5 – Digital Technologies and English
Dustin H Year 4 – English
Lexi H Year 6 – English
Dylan A Year 6 – Mathematics
Ty B Year 4 – Spelling
Chloe K Year 4 - Spelling

It has been an outstanding term for learning. Our students have been engaged, active inquirers. 

May you experience a refreshing September break and we look forward to welcoming you back for the final term for the 2021 academic year!  

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make straight your paths. (ESV) Proverbs 3:5–6

Jacqueline Faulkner
Deputy Head of Junior School and PYP Coordinator

POSITIVITY - A DAILY ROUTINE 

The science is in and gratitude really does change your thinking. Positive Psychology is all about looking from a point of strength rather than of deficit AND…that is where gratitude and positive emotions spring in. Do a quick Google search to find out more (or look at the links below).

In our current climate when we are bombarded with many messages of hopelessness and sadness, we can flip the scales of negativity by looking for the good around us. Our children need to hear these positive messages as much as we ourselves do.

Here are some ideas for your family to try to look for the good around and be grateful for all we have:

• start a routine in the family (maybe around the dinner table) where each person shares two good things from their day and something they want to work on tomorrow
• devote a space in the house (it may be the fridge) to post positive messages about each family member (change these over regularly)
• watch a feel-good movie together
• start a gratitude journal – each family member contributes to it – leave it around the house to look back on
• go on a ‘Positive Detective’ outing – head out on a walk and take photos of things that you see that bring you joy – talk about these when you get home
• spend some time just laughing together – find some funny YouTube clips or tell some corny jokes 

These might sound simple but when we feel overwhelmed by the many negative messages we are surrounded by, these ideas can help us to cope and thrive.

It is amazing how once we start to find the positive and are grateful to others, it snowballs into seeing and finding more around us. Let’s join the positivity movement and watch our community thrive.

For more ideas check out these sites:

https://michellemitchell.org/https://michellemitchell.org/everyday-resilience/-resilience/
https://positivepsychology.com/neuroscience-of-gratitude/
https://positivepsychology.com/gratitude-tree-kids/

Have a happy, positive and joy-filled break.

Karen Koehler
Deputy Head of Junior School Pastoral

LION KING 

Congratulations to cast and crew on such a wonderful production of The Lion King Jr. The experience of being part of a show brings such wonderful learning and memories that will last well beyond the final curtain. 

SHAKEFEST

Congratulations to the following students who are finalists in Qld Shakefest. They have been invited to perform in the State Festival in October at La Boite in Brisbane. Well done!

Madyson C - Monologue, Samuel K - Monologue, Phoebe G - Monologue, Evie K - Dance, Coco B - Music, Claudia M - Music.

GOLD COAST EISTEDDFOD RESULTS

Many of our students competed in the recent Gold Coast Eisteddfod Speech and Drama and Vocal sections. It was wonderful to see so many be able to perform live and to do so well in their respective sections. See some of our exceptional results below.  

VOCAL

Colby W - 3rd: VHC and HC.

Poppy C - HC: Popular Song 9yrs.

Patrick T - VHC: Song from Animated Movie 13yrs and VHC: Musical Theatre 13yrs.

Lilian M - 3rd: Contemporary/Pop Song 16-20yrs.

Izzy Y - HC: Musical Theatre 16-20yrs.

Amelie L - 3rd: Song from an Animated Movie 14yrs.

SPEECH AND DRAMA

Major Awards

Madyson C - Friends of the Arts Foundation Artistic Development Grant and Outstanding Speaker of Verse 11-18yrs.

Marly M - Encouragement Award.

Olivia F - Outstanding Speaker of Prose.

Shelby B - Outstanding Achievement in Speech and Drama 11-14yrs.

Ally C - Outstanding Speaker of Verse 11-18yrs.

Madyson C - 1st Place Individual Drama 16-20yrs, 1st Place Verse Speaking 16-20yrs, 1st Place Shakespeare 16-20yrs and 3rd Prose 16-20yrs.

Marley M - 2nd Place Verse Speaking 13-15yrs and 3rd Place Individual Drama 14 and 15yrs.

Marley M and Eva L - 2nd Place Duo Drama 13yrs and over.

Marley M and Lily D - 3rd Place Duo Improvisation 16yrs and under.

Jasmine C - 1st Place Prose 13-15yrs, 2nd Place humorous or Light Poetry 13-15yrs and Very Highly Commended Individual Drama 13-15yrs.

Olivia F - 1st Place Humorous or Light Poetry 13-15yrs, 1st Place Prose 13-15yrs, 3rd Place Verse Speaking 13-15yrs and 3rd Place Individual Drama 13yrs.

Shelby B - 1st Place Individual Drama 12yrs and 2nd Place Humorous or Light Poetry 12yrs

Sam K - 2nd Place Individual Drama 12yrs.

Spencer H - 1st Place Individual Drama 13yrs.

Xanthe B - 3rd Place Humorous or Light Poetry 11yrs.

Kai J - 2nd Place Individual Mime 10yrs and under.

Liam W - 1st Drama and 3rd Humorous Poem.

Ally C - 1st Verse, 1st monologue, 2nd poem.

Olivia F - 1st for Prose Own Choice (Memorised) 13-15yrs, 3rd for Verse Speaking 13-15yrs, 1st for Humorous or Light Poetry 13-15yrs and 3rd for Individual Drama 13yrs. 

Lucas B and Paddy D – Duo Drama – 3rd Place.

Tenby D – Individual Drama – 2nd Place.

Paddy D – Humorous Poetry – 2nd Place.

JUNIOR SCHOOL 

Sahara B and Georgia R (Year 6)– Duo Mime – 1st Place.

Elizabeth H and Zahra A (Year 5) – Duo Mime – 2nd Place.

Luke D, Mia W, Piper Q, Hannah G, Finn C and Chanel C (The Birthday Bunch) (Year 3) – Scenes – 2nd Place.

Harper H, Anoushka Mc, Poppy A, Evie T, Tilly S and Violet Z (The Partay Princesses) (Year 3)– Scenes – 1st Place.

Roisin F, Holly M, Mia G & Jemma A (Queens of the Sea) – Scenes – 1st Place.

Nahlah B, Juliette K, Abigail G, Lily B and Eadie P (The Screech Queens) – Scenes – 2nd Place.

Lachlan S, Mason H, Corben C, Dustin H and Spencer B (The Howdy Boys) – Group Mime – 2nd Place.

Roisin F, Holly M, Mia G and Jemma A (Queens of the Sea) – Group Mime – 1st Place.

Kai A, Noah D and Kai M (Trains of Thought) – Group Poem – 3rd Place.

Sophie S, Indy-Lee K, Isabella L, Amilia C and Abbey M (The Rest Home Gang) – 2nd Place.

Dinae P, Nash K, Fisher P and Dylan A (The Best Group Ever) – Scenes – 2nd Place.

Alexander G, James E and Jack B (Gangstas) – Scenes – 3rd Place. 

Nahlah B, Juliette K, Abigail G, Lily B and Eadie P (The Screech Queens) – Scenes – 1st Place. 

Lachlan S, Mason H, Corben C, Dustin H and Spencer B (The Howdy Boys) – Scenes – 2nd Place. 

Grace S, Raffa G, Luca Z, Lucas K and Zane M (The Meme Gang) – Scenes – 3rd Place.

Cilla Scott
Head of Arts

TRIVIA NIGHT

Get your TICKETS - Saturday 9 October. Current table bookings will automatically be transferred to the new date and we will continue to take bookings via the following link for 9 October. https://www.trybooking.com/BRWAQ

ANNUAL P&F RAFFLE 

Back by popular demand, the Annual P&F Raffle, where you could win school fees for a year will be launching soon.

Families with Junior School children The youngest child in your family will bring home one raffle ticket booklet. Each booklet contains 10 tickets at $5 per ticket. A total of $50 worth. 

Families that only have Middle or Senior Students If you would like a raffle ticket booklet, please collect from the Junior, Middle or Senior School Administrations.

MEETINGS

Our next P&F meeting will be our AGM:

* AGM Wednesday 10 November 7:00pm

All positions will be vacant. Please feel free to contact us for the nomination forms.

We look forward to seeing you. If you would like to add an item to the agenda, please email pandf@salc.qld.edu.au