In Focus Semester 2, 2020 by Christian College Geelong

SEMESTER TWO / 2020 ’ rs e tt a M t a Th g in rn a e ‘Th e L

FROM THE EDITOR

Welcome to Semester 2’s edition of In Focus for 2020. This edition, we explore a theme of ‘journeys’. This year has been a remarkable shared journey for the Christian College community, within which a multitude of personal and other journeys have ensued. In each of the articles, we delve into the narrative of different journeys for members of our community, and in various aspects of the life of the College. From the more literal exploration of the theme through a feature on our bus fleet and just how much goes on to get students from A to B every day, to further reflections from various people on the College’s 40 year journey that we have celebrated and highlighted this year. From student journeys through VCAL and VET programs at Senior School, to thousands of kilometres-worth of journeys that were run, walked, ridden and rowed during the RunFest and Amazing Race events held during two blocks of Continuous Learning @ Home. From profiles on ex-students and their take on their personal journeys through the College and beyond, to a focus on students starting and finishing their journey through school at Prep and Year 12 levels in a year when a pandemic dominated our lives.

We report on an exciting new stage in the College’s Music program, and a present a range of other interesting and thought-provoking perspectives on the whole journeys theme. As 2020 draws to a close and we all reﬂect on our own unique journeys and the unexpected places we’ve been taken over the past 12 months, please take time to enjoy the contents of our second edition of In Focus for this year.

Simon Garner Editor - In Focus

Cover photo - One of Christian College’s 30 buses arrives at Middle School-Highton at 8:25am. On top of the 900-odd students the buses carry each day on 23 different routes, the CCG fleet travels city-wide, state-wide and country-wide transporting students to different destinations, and back home. See more on Page 14.

A JOURNEY THROUGH

The Learning That Matters!

...An Education Beyond Measure

THAT ADDS UP TO

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CONTENTS

02 18 57 04 28 58 From The Principal

Alternative Pathways Through

The Two of Us -

the Senior School Journey

Dan Harwood & Daryl Woods

From the Dean

Starting and Finishing

The New Music Centre

of Christian Culture

the Journey in a Pandemic

07 36 62 14 42 64 Where are They Now?

RunFest and The Amazing Race

The Foundation Journey

- Long Journeys in Lockdown

Gains Momentum

Journeys to School,

More Reï¬&#x201A;ections on 40 Years

The Foundation -

Back Home and Elsewhere

of Christian College

Thank you to Sponsors

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FROM THE PRINCIPAL

2020:A shared journey we will not forget The pathway through 2020 around the world has been like nothing we have experienced in most of our lifetimes. The significant challenges because of the COVID-19 pandemic have been far reaching. The shared journey for our community has highlighted several factors, with relationships and connection at the core of what we have found to be most important elements this year. Communities thrive on connection, this has a positive outcome for our wellbeing, and we know in schools this enhances learning. Our fifth Educational Strategic Goal at Christian College states that our thriving community is central and integral to all that we do at Christian College. We aim to reflect a nurturing family that cares for and values each member, allowing them to grow and flourish. Central to this goal is building healthy and cooperative relationships between all educational stakeholders – students, families and staff. Adapting to the challenges of the pandemic has certainly fostered the cultivation of a community of confident and resilient students, who are able to thrive in all aspects of school life and in life beyond school. I am thankful for the way that our community has remained strongly connected throughout 2020, even though much of this time was spent physically apart.

Celebrating and creating new ways to learn and connect The hybrid elements of the remote delivery of learning into the homes of our students by their teachers created new ways of extending our connectedness during a remarkable time in our history. This provided a rich first-hand opportunity for our parents to experience some of the learning that takes place in classrooms through the lens provided by the Continuous Learning @ Home platforms. The acknowledgement and positive feedback that parents provided overwhelmingly indicated an appreciation for the incredible work that our staff produced during the two phases of CL@H. We can be truly proud too of our students for the capacity that they demonstrated to become selforganised, self-motivated, and independent. The positive, patient, and resilient responses to the challenge of learning via a new mode of delivery was remarkable. As we emerge from this period, we are seeking new ways and fresh thinking in relation to the further personalisation of our programs. We will continue to aim to deliver “the learning that matters” in a manner which further meets the individual needs of our students and sees them progress at their own rate, appropriate to their development, skills and interests. The new structure being implemented in our Middle Schools in 2021 is an important first step in this process.

Learning from the journey Education takes many forms. I believe in the powerful nature of authenticity to give relevance and meaning to learning. We discover a great deal from travel, shared experiences, meeting diﬀerent people, and from challenge. A well-measured challenge can bring out the best in individuals and this creates opportunities to grow beyond the capacity that we thought we had to reach and obtain new levels of achievement.

Developing resilience Living through a pandemic has most deﬁnitely been a challenge at so many levels. It has been heartbreaking to see and hear about the ways that this virus has impacted so many individuals, families, businesses, and organisations. Yet, we have also seen incredible examples of resilience and capacity – with so many people ﬁnding new ways to overcome challenges and adapt to the unique circumstances. Just as it is in most situations though, no two stories are ever the same. Each of us will have our own journey that will mark for us how 2020 will be remembered. We have all heard much from our political leaders about roadmaps during the COVID-19 pandemic. These have been used as a guide for our community to navigate our way through changing expectations about how we have or have not been able to live during the various stages of restriction and lockdown.

Mytern is a valuable language During this time, I saw the relevance and value of the Mytern language that we have been introducing to our students over recent years. The Mytern (Take Emotional Responsibility Now) language is based around the metaphor of travelling on a road. The simple language helps us to navigate the rough roads, appreciate the times when the roads are smooth, and empower us to take control of our own steering wheel when driving. Here is an example of one of the daily text messages that come from a free subscription on the mytern. com.au website, using CCG2020 as your code.

Taking control of your steering wheel means that you don’t need to rely on anyone else for direction. How wonderful is that? Simply use your own in-built GPS to steer down YOUR road ...be it rough or smooth... knowing that control is the key

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Developing resilience through the use of a simple language is an important part of our individual growth, as it gives us a healthy way to become better able to control our reactions to situations that test our resilience as well as our emotional wellbeing. The Mytern language encourages us to use TEPs (Trigger for Extra Precaution) and PETs (Personal Emotional Tool) to assist us stay in control when travelling along the roads of life.

God can be trusted in His care for us – He is preparing us for greater things. He walks ahead to ﬁght the battles we fear we can’t win. He calms the seas we are convinced we can’t beat. He softens the blows we worry will take us down. He knows our road. He understands our worries. He knows how to lead us through them. The sustaining blessings and comfort of God have certainly kept our community in steadfast love and hope during the challenges of 2020 and the COVID-19 pandemic. I often hear people questioning how Christians are able to trust God. I think this quote written by Alexa Ortiz, under her pen name Mila Bron, sums up some of what 2020 has been for me.

‘I am learning to trust the journey, even when I don’t understand it.’ It is my prayer that as we reﬂect upon our individual journeys of 2020, we might be reminded that placing our trust in God gives us peace and helps us when dealing with life’s challenges. Trusting God is one of the most important decisions that we can make for our lives. I encourage all families to invest time into looking at the Mytern website and to subscribe to receive a daily text message. Parents and carers can use the messages to include in conversations with young people to support them each day to think about which road they might be on, and to develop the capacity to take responsibility for their emotions.

Well-known author and leader Pastor Rick Warren says, The more you believe and trust God, the more limitless the possibilities become for your family, your career – for your life. Our community is truly unique, and it is so as a result of God’s love, provision and grace. To Him be all praise and glory.

God’s steadfast love Using the Mytern language, I could say that Jesus is a PET that I ﬁnd helps me along life’s journey. He helps me to see and appreciate all the blessings when I am experiencing smooth roads, and He also gives me a rock of support and solace when I am facing rough roads. God’s Word is full of promises that He has made to us.

Glen McKeeman Principal

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FROM THE DEAN OF CHRISTIAN CULTURE

Journeys - Health and growth go together It would of course be a massive understatement to say that this year, 2020, has been and continues to be, a year like no other. It has not been the season we expected. For all of us this year has brought diﬀerent experiences and taken us on an unexpected pathway. But does that necessarily make it “bad”? Each of us has the individual right to answer that question for ourselves. From my perspective, I choose not to see 2020 as “bad”, but simply as a section of the journey of life, which has, thus far, unfolded in a manner I did not expect. But it is a season from which I can learn much. These comments rest upon the following two concepts, which are pillars of my thinking.

1. Life is a journey of growth 2. Healthy things grow Based on these two concepts I live life with an attitude that says all experiences are potential opportunities to increase our health and therefore stimulate growth. This is not simply a pronouncement of positive or optimistic thinking, but rather a choice founded upon Scripture which declares that God created me (Psalm 139:13), He will never leave me or forsake me (Deuteronomy 31:6), He has a plan for my life (Jeremiah 29:11), and He wants me to live a full and productive life (John 10:10). I choose therefore to focus on health. So, the question I often ask myself is, “What is the healthiest choice in this situation which will lead to learning and growth?” Admittedly this is not always the easiest pathway, but I sincerely believe it to be the most fruitful. As we learn to focus on health in each of the moments we experience during the journey, we will grow – because healthy things grow.

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A three-point plan There is a short and not-so-well-known parable recorded in Luke 13 in which Jesus teaches us about growth through health during the journey of life. He describes a gardener attempting to produce growth from an unhealthy and fruitless ﬁg tree by deciding to adopt a three-point health plan:

1. Slow down the process 2. Dig around the plan 3. Add fertiliser Reading this parable in 2020 makes me smile to be honest, because I see the accuracy of this teaching as it relates to our current predicament. I suspect many of us feel like so much has slowed down this year, and our foundations have felt the de-stabilising eﬀect of digging, and we have endured the smelly experience of having manure added to our lives. But if life really is a journey of growth through health, and healthy things really do grow – can it be that the three steps of this gardeners’ three-point health plan could genuinely bring about an increase in our health and therefore our growth as people, individually and collectively?

Slowing down the process of life this year has given us the gift of time, which has allowed us to pause and think more than we would regularly do in a “normal” year. From what I have observed in my own life, and in the lives of others, this has been a very healthy addition to our lives.

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FROM THE DEAN OF CHRISTIAN CULTURE

Planting the 40-Year commemorative tree at Back Creek Farm in 2020

Digging around the plant and the roots system loosens the soil, providing the opportunity for more air to be released into the process, allowing life-giving nutrients to be added to the environment and delivering an increase to the potential for health and growth. Yes, digging around the roots can also loosen the plant and possibly allow it to weaken, but it also produces the greatest chance of growing deeper and stronger roots. Loosening the grip on the way we think we have to operate has been a blessing to many people in 2020. We know that the recipe for a different tomorrow begins with the selection of different ingredients today. We also know that we don’t just want to celebrate a great history but we also want to engage with a great future, so maybe this unexpected digging has actually let some fresh air circulate and has propelled us forward in health and growth toward our next season. Perhaps one of the opportunities afforded to us this year is the chance to ask ourselves questions we may not have raised before, to start thinking from a new perspective, to “take the lid off” and to dream of a future previously unseen.

Adding fertiliser is messy and uncomfortable but

fertiliser is an agent of change, a catalyst for health and growth. Yes, fertiliser stinks, and no-one enjoys these “manure moments” in life, but often, if we are prepared to journey through these messy and uncomfortable seasons, these are the periods of our greatest learning with the most signiﬁcant increases in our health and growth. The journey through 2020 has surprised us and brought into our lives unexpected levels of restriction, frustration, and pain – but could it also have been responsible for a timely delivery of much-needed health to help us grow? God Bless you all.

Rev. Tim Edwards Dean of Christian Culture Marketing & Publications

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? SIMON STAVENUITER 1991 GRADUATE Simon Stavenuiter was one of the very first Year 12 graduates from Christian College, finishing in 1991 with the first group of Christian College students ever to go through to Year 12. Twenty-nine years later, he is still involved with the College, providing audio expertise and services at major events through his business, Stage Solutions. His children Libby (Year 9) and Toby (Year 5) also attend the College. I attended Christian College from Year 3 to Year 12 between 1982 and 1991. A lot has changed since those days – one of my best memories was attending the Grade 5 camp 34 years ago at Port Campbell where all the students had a turn at shooting tin cans on a fence from the back porch with Butch (Mr Riddle).

When I attended Christian College, I was involved in setting up and operating audio for productions and assemblies at school, so I think that prepared me to a large extent for my professional career and being able to study Music and Electronics also helped. Going straight from school into working in pubs and other live music environments was a new experience for me and helped me see the world from a different perspective. I still maintain contact with school friends and teachers, especially through social media and school reunions. Today, being self-employed allows me to work when I want and gives me freedom to assist with school events, which is great, especially when my own kids are involved. During 2020, COVID-19 turned my industry upside down, and I have been longing for things to get back to the way they were. The first event I worked at since mid-March was the Year 12 Celebration Day service at Senior School on October 30. I’d welcome anyone who would like to stay in contact with me – search on Facebook and you’ll find me!

In secondary years, my favourite subjects were Physics, Chemistry and Electronics, which I went on to study at The Gordon in 1992 after graduating. At that time, I was also working at dB Concert Sound doing sound for bands on weekends. I started the second year of my Electronics studies but only completed the ﬁrst term as I went on a month-long tour of Australia with Boom Crash Opera who were playing ﬁve nights a week in universities, nightclubs and pubs. I continued working sound and touring for several years and ended up doing audio and lighting sales and installation with Bishop Audio and Lighting. During this time, I was doing studio work on weeknights and my own gigs with my own equipment. In 2000 I started working solely for myself, providing audio and lighting production for events across Australia, from touring theatres with international artists from UK and Ireland to local artists, such as Ross Wilson, The Black Sorrows, the Chantoozies and numerous tribute shows. One highlight was operating audio for two young original artists who supported Bon Jovi during their 2013 Australian Tour. This was part of a mentorship program ‘Telstra’s Road to Tamworth Discovery’. I married my wife Lisa in 1998 and have two children, Libby and Toby, who attend Middle School – Highton. I have been working with Andrew Dunlop and the CCG Major Events team since 2012 when Libby started in Prep at Junior School – Belmont. I have also been involved in audio installations and upgrades across all the CCG campuses.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

ANNA KOSMANOVSKI 2003 GRADUATE I came to Christian College in Year 4 in 1995 and graduated from Year 12 in 2003. In Year 4, my teacher was the wonderful Miss Novacevski and I found, for the first time since Prep, I was enjoying school again. She was such a great teacher! Then in Year 5 with another wonderful teacher, Miss Morrison (now Mrs Elliss), a real highlight was the read-in-your-pyjama treat days (sooo much fun!). Going to Back Creek farm in Year 9 was pretty memorable, despite the challenges I experienced, like breaking my hand running after a rogue cow and suffering hayfever. Lots of fresh air and mud, developing new friendships and, of course, cooking and eating with Nettie! In year 12, having access to my own studio room in Visual Art and enjoying that to the max. was special too. I remember cups of tea and long chats with fellow artists up there. Throughout my years at school, I enjoyed English, and in Year 12 loved English Literature with Mr Lewis, Psychology with Mr Hawkins and Visual Arts with Mrs Kelly. I was fortunate to have some great English teachers at Christian College who supported me in my writing. It happened all the way through, from Year 4 to Year 12. Mrs Kelly recognised my love of art and went above and beyond in encouraging me. As a result, I fell in love with art and still love it. I think her wonderful way of seeing the world and all its possibilities rubbed off on me! Even when I went through a “rebellious” stage in Year 9, I can remember a teacher approaching the necessary “discipline” talk with compassion. In that moment I felt sort of beyond the situation and like I was seeing it from a higher perspective. Little moments like that weaved through my entire time at school. Seeing the teachers’ genuine faith was impacting…as I got older I recognised that impact even more. But there was always plenty of room to ask questions!

Since graduating, professionally, I have remained true to my love of writing. I stayed at university until I had a Masters Degree in Journalism and Literature then began to work in various writing roles. I have been a copywriter, communications officer and (my favourite), a freelance journalist with a weekly fashion/homewares column for a local magazine for a few years. (That was fun!) Another great job was editing a magazine for a charity. These days I am working in content administration at a local TAFE. I am writing fiction after work. My current genres are historical fiction for adults and adventure stories for tweens. I met the love of my life, Asher, in 2010 - we’re now seven years married. It was around 2010 that I also re-found my faith. I have some close friends from school still and am in contact with a favourite teacher. It’s always cool to see old friends and people (including teachers) from Christian College around Geelong. I really enjoy being able to work part-time at my job and then come home and be creative with my own projects. Currently I am deep in research for my historical fiction, set in the Victorian era. But just writing a whole new story is fun too…I’m also getting back into painting, which I am really enjoying. And five or ten years down the track? Hopefully I’ll be a published author by then. And an artist again. But even if that doesn’t happen, I’ll be still writing...and researching... and painting.

I remember a moment at Year 12 camp when a teacher took us to a place with a lovely vista for morning devotions. We were overlooking a dam, in a bush setting. He read a Bible verse, then we were just silent for a few minutes. The air was thick as we all settled ourselves, and I could sense that his faith was something solid. His devotion led us to see something greater than ourselves and our Year 12 troubles.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

HEIDI SERONG 2010 GRADUATE I attended Christian College from Year 7 in 2004 until I graduated in 2010. I would have graduated in 2009 but I went on Rotary Exchange to Finland in 2008. I have many fond memories of my time at Christian College. I absolutely loved my time there and I am so grateful to have attended such an amazing school. In my ﬁrst year there, my father passed away and Christian College teachers, the chaplain and my peers showed an overwhelming amount of continued support to me and my family. It helped me get through a very tough time. In 2006 (Year 9) I attended Back Creek Farm for seven weeks. It was honestly one of the best experiences of my life - the learning opportunities, the experiences of weekly rotational tasks, my personal growth and most importantly the fun times. I often look back on the awesome times we had at Back Creek. In 2010 (Year 12) I really enjoyed being part of the House Wearable Art Competition. That was such a fun and creative time. Go Taylor! At the end of Year 12 I loved the opportunity of going up the Middle School clock tower and signing my name on the wall. That was a special moment for me and an end to a wonderful time at school. In 2011, I moved to sunny WA and began my Commerce Degree with majors in Tourism, Event Management and Marketing at Curtin University. I completed my undergraduate course in 2013 and went on to complete my Masters of Marketing in 2015. During my studies I worked part-time in hospitality and travelled when possible.

On completion, I was working in the higher education sector but sadly this year, my marketing role was made redundant due to COVID-19, I have since started a new role in marketing for a not-for-profit organisation within the energy sector. I have so enjoyed the change and the new learning opportunities. My partner and I have recently bought our second home in Perth and will be undergoing another renovation project. Prior to COVID-19, I was enjoying travelling internationally and domestically as much as possible to visit family and friends. Throughout my schooling, Christian College offered excellent support across all areas which helped me grow and develop as a teenager. In later years, the subjects I particularly enjoyed were English, Legal Studies and Psychology. I found particularly at Senior School there was great support for looking at the next steps after schooling. The teachers used excellent real life and industry examples across our subjects which helped us think about and prepare us for our career pathway. I have maintained close contact and friendships with many friends I made at Christian College. As I live in Perth, I am grateful for technology which makes it easier to keep in close contact. In the next five to ten years I hope to gain further professional growth in marketing across different sectors, travel more (hopefully!), take part in more volunteer projects locally and internationally as well as start a family.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

SOPHIA BLAKEBOROUGH 2010 GRADUATE I first came to Christian College in Year 7 in 2005, enjoying my Middle School years at the Bellarine Campus. I graduated from Senior School in 2010 and I can’t believe how quickly the past decade has flown by! During my time at Christian College, I was fortunate to do a lot of learning outside of the classroom. Back Creek farm was one of my favourite experiences, where I developed a lot of resilience and many hands-on life skills in that unique environment. I also loved my study tours to Japan and Sarawak where I was able to practise my language skills and fully immerse myself in the Japanese and Indonesian cultures that I had learned so much about. I can thank my casual gig at Donut King at the time for helping me fund all of these adventures! From the get-go, I absolutely loved learning foreign languages. I had previously learned some Indonesian in primary school but was introduced to Japanese in Year 7 which challenged me with a completely different alphabet! After having sampled both languages in Middle School, I decided to pursue both Indonesian and Japanese all the way through to Year 12, which took a lot of dedication and long school bus rides home to Ocean Grove memorising new vocabulary and grammar. Indonesian and Japanese ended up being my top two subjects in VCE and I then pursued further studies of Indonesian at Deakin University. I took a well-deserved break after graduating, after which I studied a Bachelor of Arts at Deakin University, majoring in Public Relations and Indonesian. I even studied for a short time at a sister university in East Java. After graduating from Deakin University in 2013, I began work at Pace Advertising, one of Geelong’s largest advertising and marketing agencies. I have been working as an Account Manager at Pace ever since.

I look back on Year 12 and still believe it was the hardest I’ve ever worked in my life. My time at Christian College taught me how hard work always pays oﬀ and that in life, there’s always likely to be someone smarter, stronger and faster than you – and that’s okay, as long as you try your hardest. It also taught me the importance of having a strong support network and I thank all my dedicated teachers and friends for their unwavering support over the years. I’ve always believed that my time at Christian College made a strong impact on the person that I am today. I think that Christian College helped me become a more well-rounded human being, allowing me to see and experience the world from a diﬀerent point of view and it gave me opportunities to learn things well beyond what a textbook could ever teach me. As Geelong is such a small community, I often bump into past students and teachers and it’s always lovely to stop and chat. I still have a close-knit circle of friends from school who I see when we can make our calendars align. I’ve also managed to hang onto my high school sweetheart! As far as projecting to the future is concerned, that’s a really tricky thing for me. I never had a clear plan of what I wanted to do back when I was choosing VCE subjects or university courses, but when an opportunity pops up, I always like to give it a red-hot go. I think as long as I’m happy with who I am and what I’m doing, that’s all that matters to me.

Pace is an amazing workplace where no two days are ever the same. Some days I ﬁnd myself copywriting for tourism guides and aviation magazines, the next day I might be behind the scenes at a video shoot for a television commercial. In a non-pandemic world, I also help manage one of Geelong’s largest events, the Geelong Revival Motoring Festival which attracts over 60,000 people to the Geelong Waterfront each year – and that’s just the tip of the iceberg of what I do for work.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW? The next step for me is to take the big leap overseas and find a full-time contract in Europe. I would love to base myself in Germany. I had the opportunity at the end of 2019 to travel overseas and audition for the Bayerische Staatsoper in Munich and the Metropolitan opera in New York. These are two of the finest opera houses in the world. It was my first time travelling overseas by myself and it was such an invaluable experience.

STEPHEN MARSH 2009 GRADUATE Since graduating 11 years ago from Christian College, Stephen Marsh has embarked on a successful career as an opera singer – as he outlines below. Just prior to publication of In Focus, Stephen was announced as one of 12 singers awarded grants via the Joan Sutherland and Richard Bonynge Bel Canto Foundation. There are literally too many things to write down when I reflect on all the memories I have. I have always been a very hands-on person so the six weeks I spent at Back Creek Farm were Incredible! Music was a huge part of my studies while at school. I was in several music ensembles and because of this I had the opportunity to go on amazing music tours to Brisbane, Sydney, Bendigo and Hawaii! I also look fondly back at all the friends I made and how wonderful and supportive my teachers were. I still keep in contact with many of them! In the secondary years, my favourite subjects were Outdoor Education, Physical Education, both VCE Group and Solo, Woodwork and Art. My one regret is that I did not study History with Syd Strauch. I have taken a great deal of interest in history since finishing school because of my line of work. When I finished in 2009, I honestly did not know what I wanted to do. I had applied for nursing and received the score to do it, but in the back of my mind I still wanted to continue with my singing studies. I decided to have a gap year, work full time and continue singing lessons in Melbourne with Susan Breen Clarke - who is (Deputy Head of Junior School) Carla Dunlop’s Aunt. I took part in my first operatic production in 2011 which was ‘Assembly’. This production was with the Victorian Youth Opera and part of the Melbourne Festival of the Arts. From my lessons with Sue, I already had a really good feeling about singing and the introduction to the world of opera that I had experienced but when I took part in Assembly, I knew then that I had fallen in love with this exciting and adventurous new world.

In 2021 I will be making my European debut at the Verbier Festival in Switzerland. I will be performing the lead baritone role in Puccini’s ‘La Boheme’. I was given many opportunities to perform and develop as a musician while studying at Christian College. Fiona Gardner, Carla Dunlop, David Gardner, Andrew Dunlop (Dunny), Lesley Walters, Regina Thomae, Carolyn Greedy, Mandy Calderwood and the late Andrea Collins laid the foundation stones for the world of classical music and drama. I was given so much encouragement and often draw upon things that I was taught during my studies. Performing the role of ‘Tevye’ in Christian College’s production of ‘Fiddler on the Roof’ allowed me to develop a new-found confidence in myself. I am a person of faith and I think that the College motto, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God”, has always stayed in the back of my mind regardless of where I am or what I am doing. I believe that we should treat all others as we would like to be treated and with love and kindness, regardless of one’s life journey. Christian College always encouraged this. These beliefs and the support from my family, friends and school have ultimately shaped me into the person that I am today. Music is the universal language, regardless of who you are or where you come from, everyone recognises is and everyone feels it. I love opera because I have seen it affect people in ways that I have never seen before. I believe that it is an art form that has the complete ability to touch a person’s soul, it allows them to feel emotions and feelings that they may have never experienced, and I think that is truly special. In years to come, I hope to be working internationally. To be honest, I cannot really say I work a day in my life as I enjoy it so much. I also hope that one day I will have a family of my own to share it with!

From that point in 2011, my progression and opportunities have grown consistently over the last 10 years. I have now performed over 20 principal roles with companies such as Victorian Opera, Melbourne Opera, Melbourne Lyric Opera, Shoestring Opera and the Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra. I was a scholar with the Dame Nellie Melba Opera Trust for two years as well as a Young Artist with Victorian Opera and a member of Melbourne Opera’s ‘Richard Divall Emerging Artist Program’.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

KYM DILLON 2007 GRADUATE Inevitably my best memories are based around Music and Drama, and it’s diﬃcult to pick the best ones. But it’s hard to go past my Year 12 Graduation. Glen McKeeman asked me to compose an orchestral piece to be performed there as a special item. I’d never written for an orchestra before, so the lead up to the performance was extremely nerve-wracking. Nevertheless, it turned out to be a huge success and drew a standing ovation from peers, teachers and parents. That was a very special moment for me. Apart from Music and Drama I also rather enjoyed Mathematics and English. Though I was known for singing quite a lot while solving Maths equations. It helped me think, but the guy sitting next to me didn’t seem to ﬁnd it quite so helpful. Both subjects have been relevant to my work as a composer. During my last three years of school, I was already earning my keep from performing; in the orchestral pit for local musical productions and in jazz bands. All those opportunities originated through the network of CCG, so I have the school to thank for giving my career that headstart. Following school, I studied Composition at the Victorian College of the Arts. These days I am regularly working as a composer, a conductor of several community choirs across Geelong and Melbourne, a performing jazz pianist, an arranger, a piano teacher, a theory teacher, a composition teacher, an accompanist, a presenter and video producer. All these are tied together by the unceasing love I have of discovering new things about music each day.

The College impacted on me in more ways too. Many of the things that are important in my musical life are connected with general relational and moral principles that were present in my time at CCG. Learning other people’s perspectives, being willing to use one’s gifts to serve others, the joy of collaboration, the joy of learning. It was also important to me to have quite a few mentors at CCG whose faith was the primary impetus in their life. My Christian faith has always been the heart of everything I am, including my love of art and music. To me, the creative aspect of humanity is itself an expression of the image and signature of God written on each one of us. To create is in itself a good and beautiful thing, and part of our calling. This idea has been very important in the grounding of what I’m doing. Many of the things I’m doing now I wouldn’t previously have thought myself capable of, and this pattern keeps recurring. The lesson? You don’t actually know how good you can get at something unless you put the work in -that’s the only way you’ll discover what you can do. The joy of music for me comes from the music itself, and the joy of creating something of the highest possible quality. When I focus too much on career ambitions, I lose the thing that got me excited about music in the ﬁrst place. My favourite modern composer György Kurtág is in his mid-nineties now, and just a couple of years ago wrote his opera ‘Fin de Partie’ which many consider to be his masterpiece. What do I take from this? One is always learning, always growing. That said, I’m currently studying a Masters of Composition at Melbourne University towards the aim of one day being able to teach composition at university level, so that’s something of an ambition for me!

The CCG Music program provides a broad range of musical skills and experiences. I learned the ins and out of jazz piano through involvement with the Stage Bands and other jazz ensembles, I was learning about rhythm, conducting, musical structure and other things from playing in the Wind Symphony, I was learning how to arrange for these ensembles through opportunities given to me by the teachers, I was learning how to accompany other performers, and much more. My striving for versatility, diversity and appreciation of diﬀerent approaches to music can be traced back to my time at the CCG Music Department, and the vision held by its leaders.

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Where are they now?

BACK IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL CHAPEL! Kym Dillon and Stephen Marsh recently combined their formidable musical talents to collaborate on a piece written by Kym (and William Shakespeare), called ‘If we Shadows’. Released on social media in mid-October, search the title on Facebook to find it. Kym: To the great puzzlement of us both, Stephen and I haven’t really worked together much at all prior to this! We were in the same B1 homeroom and both recall giving a joint performance for the homeroom at the end of 2007. I also recall writing a piece for the CCG Senior Choir when I was in the first year of university and Stephen was part of the choir for that. He enjoyed the piece a lot, which certainly came to mind when I was thinking of contacting him for ‘If we Shadows’ 12 years later! Stephen: I spent my first year at Senior School in Jan Strauch’s homeroom with Kym. I told him while we were working together recently that I was quite in awe of him when we were at school and his incredible skill as a musician. Kym accompanied me while I sang in that 2007 homeroom performance, and then played a solo piece. Who knew that 12 years later we would come back together and work in the same way! Kym: I started working on the piece after a scholarship/ competition came up at Melbourne University where I’m currently studying. Watching an online performance of Shakespeare’s ‘A Midsummer Night’s Dream’, I was reminded how much I loved the closing monologue of Puck, “If we shadows have offended, think but this and all is mended...” I resolved to set these words to music for my entry.

We were able to gain access to the chapel at Christian College Middle School to record. I released it on social media, and Stephen and I were both so encouraged by the very warm reception it got. This is very rare for new classical/art music pieces so we must have done something right! Stephen: This was my ﬁrst time performing a piece of music like this, so the process was very exciting. Very rarely does one get to work with a composer, so working with Kym and develop a unique song was incredibly special. It was a new challenge and as a result I learnt a lot about my voice in the process. Kym and I work together incredibly well, we have great respect for each other and our crafts. I also believe we have particularly good balance of both laughter and seriousness when working, which is important. We worked together closely over several weeks, and we couldn’t be happier with the result. Future plans... Kym: After we began working together on this piece, Stephen mentioned that for a while he had been thinking of approaching me about writing a larger song cycle for him. We’re both very excited about the prospect, hot oﬀ the heels of the great reception our recent piece has received. Stephen: Kym and I have some plans, but I think we will keep everyone in suspense in the early stages. It was such an uplifting experience to work with him and I want to do a lot more of it before I venture overseas next year. He is a truly gifted composer and musician.

The piece starts out melodic enough, but soon as the listener is told of dreams and visions the music transforms into territory that would be unfamiliar for many listeners. At the end as Puck speaks of ‘making amends’ the music transforms back into the melodic style of its opening, waking the listener up so to speak. As such, the piece was my attempt at making the ‘inaccessible’ accessible! I had written the piece for a baritone and thought: “who do I know that could sing this?” I had seen recent videos of Stephen singing with Melbourne Opera and Victorian Opera and was blown away by the clarity, character and beauty of his sound. Fortunately, he was in Geelong at the time, and I contacted him. Stephen was immediately enthusiastic, and I was so impressed by his willingness to experiment with technique and try unfamiliar things in order to bring the piece to life.

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JOURNEYS TO SCHOOL, BACK HOME AND ELSEWHERE

A major exercise in logistics The Christian College bus fleet transports around 900 students to and from our campuses every day of the school year on 23 separate bus routes. There are 30 buses and the College has depots at its Highton and Bellarine campuses. Operating the service is a major logistical exercise overseen by Bus Fleet Manager, Peter Hayes. The service has come a long way since the College purchased its first bus – a 1976 model 18-seater Toyota Coaster. There’s more to this story than meets the eye. The narrative about the Christian College bus fleet that makes thousands of journeys a year transporting students to and from school, and many other places, has involved quite a remarkable journey in itself.

CCG’s ﬁrst ﬂeet - the Toyota Coaster and the ex-St Augustines bus

Every morning and afternoon on every school day of the year, Peter Hayes checks the screens in his office that show real-time locations and progress of the Christian College buses on their various routes. Buses travel far and wide throughout Geelong and the region to transport students to school and home again – to and from Shelford to the north-west, Little River to the north-east, Winchlesea to the west, Torquay and Jan Juc to the south, Ocean Grove and Barwon Heads to the south-east and Queenscliff, St Leonards and Portarlington to the east. “The whole industry has changed a lot since I started here in 2006, especially with compliance and technology,” Peter said. “Our bus minder app records where and when every student gets on and off. The GPS plots the route of every bus in real time – it’s a brilliant system, I can see at a glance exactly where any bus is when it’s out and the data we collect shows exactly who was on board when.

Bus Fleet Manager Peter Hayes with the GPS real-time location screen in his oﬃ at the Highton depot ce

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“There are changes every day in terms of students who travel. There are times when they don’t catch buses one way or both – kids might be absent from school; parents bring them in or pick them up; one student may board but a sibling may not; senior kids get their licence and start driving to school. We have to keep up to date with that information every day and I communicate everything to drivers so they know what to expect on every run. “What we do, we do very well. For example, if a bus is late because of things like traffic congestion or a flat tyre - as soon as I know, parents are notified. I get the bus route up on my system at Highton and can send an SMS instantly to every family affected.

“We have a very high duty of care, and we do care. We have kids as young as ﬁve and as old as 18 on board our buses. Particularly at the beginning of the year, it can be a bit like herding cats and we have to make sure that every child knows which bus they have to be on. And it’s not only coming into school and going home. We run shuttle buses between campuses, so there are students who come into Highton on one bus and get on another bus to go to a diﬀerent campus.”

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A MAJOR EXERCISE IN LOGISTICS CCG drives changes The ﬁrst Christian College bus driver was current CEO Daryl Riddle, who did a bus run in the early 1980s when he taught at the school before becoming College Principal. “I used to do a run in the Toyota Coaster from Herne Hill, along McCurdie Road past the old cement works and down Shannon Avenue,” Daryl said. “I’d start at 7am, pick up the kids, teach a day at school, then leave at 3.45pm to take them home. “We rented rooms from St Augustine’s back then and they had an old bus they used to take their kids to various schools from Highton in the morning, then they’d pick up some of the Christian College kids and bring them back here for school. In the afternoon they’d do it the other way round. When St Augustine’s sold us the Highton buildings, they sold us their bus as well. “In the mid-1980s, after we’d bought our second bus, Barry Kirby, a bus mechanic and a parent from the school, joined us to manage the service. Early on we didn’t charge any fees for bus trips and we decided we would need to do so. But that wasn’t a decision that commercial bus operators in Geelong liked – they were funded by the State Government to do the public school bus runs and took us to court over it.

Barry Kirby - the ﬁrst CCG

bus ﬂeet manager chatting

ork on our bus ﬂeet

The new-look 2020 artw

“Because we were an independent school, our kids were eligible to use the public school service, but only if there was room on the buses. So we had kids being left at bus stops unable to get here, or get home, because the buses were full of government school students. But the other bus companies objected to us charging for our service, claiming it wasn’t legal and that it encroached on their commercial operations. I went along to the hearing as a young Principal and argued our case. Fortunately, the presiding judge saw our point and decided to open up a new class of Vic Roads licence that enabled private schools to charge for their bus services – so Christian College became the very first school to be granted that licence – we changed the regulations.” More than three decades on, it’s a very different scenario. Since that landmark case, all bus fleets that charged fees for service operated on the same accreditation status for many years, but more recently, two categories of licencing were established – one for commercial accredited bus operators and one for not-for-profit registered bus operators. Christian College was the first organisation to be granted the latter category of licence when it was introduced. Pleasingly also, the days of acrimony between commercial buslines and private school operators are long gone and relationships are far more harmonious.

with students - late 1980s

A growing bus ﬂeet delivering CCG students to school in the late 1980s

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A MAJOR EXERCISE IN LOGISTICS Beyond the school run

More than sitting behind the wheel

Bus journeys for Christian College students are not just about commuting between home and school. Virtually every day of the year, buses are involved in other trips. They might be short shuttle runs like the multiple trips between Senior Campus and Villa Paloma for senior students of Art, Technology and Design. Other times, they’re major expeditions over thousands of kilometres – like transporting Our World students to central Australian Aboriginal communities. Then there’s a myriad of excursions, conveying sporting teams to events, carrying our students or Japanese and Indonesian exchange groups to and from Melbourne Airport, taking students at all levels to camps, and Music and Outdoor Ed groups for days and nights away to any number of destinations, and bringing them home again.

While management of the bus ﬂeet is complex, the key to making the journeys not only an exercise in getting students from A to B, but ensuring their experience is safe and enjoyable, are the drivers. Drivers come from a range of backgrounds – included in our number are exteachers, farmers, police oﬃcers, bus and coach drivers and an aircraft mechanic.

A whole other side of the operation involves acquiring buses – Christian College is now purchasing two brand new buses every year and retiring older vehicles from the ﬂeet – as well as maintaining and repairing them. The Highton depot includes a two-bay garage with a pit and employs two full-time bus mechanics. They undertake servicing like oil changes, transmission checks, globe replacements and all manner of internal and external maintenance work on a daily basis. On top of the 30 buses, Peter’s team also oversees the storage, maintenance and scheduling out of a whole range of trailers that accompany groups on diﬀerent outings – trailers for canoes, bikes, sea kayaks, surfboards and luggage. Just like the buses, they have to be registered and maintained in a roadworthy condition.

Being a school bus driver is not just about having the skills to drive a vehicle. Drivers are people with a genuine love and care for our students. As Daryl Riddle points out, for some students, the bus driver is the first person in the morning to bring a smile to their faces. “Drivers build very positive relationships with the students. They provide consistency and stability in students’ lives - a driver is the first person from the College to greet travellers in the morning and the last one to say farewell at night,” he said. Peter Hayes drove buses when he first came to Christian College and said when he stopped driving to take on a full managerial role, he sorely missed the contact with students. “Most drivers have been with us a while. They watch kids grow up and go through different stages – it’s one of the most enjoyable things about driving. It’s like a community, the drivers and the travellers all know each other. You get to know kids’ habits and sometimes it’s almost like being a school counsellor. When a driver retires, the kids are so sorry to see them go,” Peter said. “That’s one really important thing about recruiting drivers. There are the driving skills, the required certification – heavy vehicle licence, driver’s certificate, basic first aid, working with children – buses carry first aid kits, asthma puffers, epipens and drivers have to know how to use them. But something else that’s just as crucial as all that is that drivers must have the right personal attributes and temperament. It’s easy to teach someone to drive, but you can’t teach personal attributes.”

Bus Drivers at Bellarine

Next time you sit behind, or pass a Christian College bus, spare a thought for the size and scope of our bus ﬂeet operations and the wide-ranging expertise, compliance and attention to detail on the part of a whole team of caring people that goes in to making thousands of journeys, over hundreds of thousands of kilometres, safe and enjoyable for our students every year.

Bus Drivers at Highton

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VCAL AND VET – ALTERNATIVE PATHWAYS THROUGH THE SENIOR SCHOOL JOURNEY

Students steering their own course

For the past six years, Christian College has offered VCAL – the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning - in addition to VCE - the Victorian Certificate of Education - at Senior School. VCAL students also undertake a VET - Vocational Education and Training - course or SBAT - School-Based Apprenticeship or Traineeship - alongside their VCAL course. To make sense of all the acronyms and understand exactly how the programs operate – and more importantly, how much students stand to benefit should they take the VCAL option - CCG’s Coordinator of VET and VCAL, Mrs Kerryn Fearnsides, takes us through some of the FAQs...

How is VCAL structured at Senior School? VCAL is the alternative to VCE as a Senior Secondary Certificate offered in Victoria. It is best suited to students who know they don’t want to go directly into university and who are looking for flexibility in their learning program in Year 11 and 12. It offers students the opportunity to accelerate their pathways into apprenticeships, traineeships and employment and can be an alternative pathway into tertiary education. There are three levels of VCAL, Foundation, Intermediate and Senior. VCAL meets students at their individual level, offers flexibility in their timetables and gives the students the opportunity to work for a day a week in the industry of their VET choice. VCAL subjects include Literacy, Numeracy, Personal Development Skills, Work Related Skills and VET or School Based Apprenticeship or Traineeship. VCE subjects can be studied as part of VCAL. VCAL students can choose to do VCE subjects scored or unscored.

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So where do VET and SBATs fit in? VET or a vocational training such as a School Based Apprenticeship or Traineeship (SBAT) is a mandatory component of VCAL. Aside from VET Music, which is offered at CCG, VET subjects are undertaken externally at various Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) across Geelong. Many VET courses are offered, from the traditional trades to Equine Studies, Agriculture, Dance, Engineering to name a few. These are nationally accredited certificate qualifications and typically run over 2 years. Students study and travel to these courses on either a Monday or Wednesday afternoon. The courses are mostly a blend of practical and theory components and are competency-based. We have one student who is studying two VET courses and planning on starting a third certificate qualification in 2021 in Year 12.

What about work placement – when does that occur? VCAL students are timetabled to work in the industry related to their VET course on Fridays. SBAT students also work one day a week and attend trade school, usually on Wednesday afternoons. Some trades have different training days and individual student timetables are managed to enable this. SBAT students are making a start to their careers by beginning their apprenticeship whilst still at school. This typically transfers directly into a full-time apprenticeship on leaving school. Students are paid as apprentices and entitled to all the benefits that come with these. Many SBATs involve working during the school holidays and on other days that other students might have off school. The SBAT option allows students to mature, become licenced and to complete a Year 12 Senior Secondary schooling qualification, so they also get to finish school with their peers.

How does the CCG VCAL course complement the skills and experience students have on work placement? VCAL provides students with work-related experiences, literacy and numeracy skills and an opportunity to develop personal skills. Through practical and real-life work scenarios and undertaking projects students develop employability skills such as teamwork, communication, planning and organising, initiative and enterprise, problem solving and self-management. VCAL provides opportunities for students to lead areas of the program in the direction of their own interests. VCE and University is not always the best fit or pathway into employment for all students. This is not a reflection of academic ability, but rather a choice of the most appropriate pathway to follow for individuals to be well placed when leaving school. Both VCAL and VCE are equally recognised Senior Secondary Certificates – they just lead students in different directions.

Can you paint a picture of the type of activities and projects that various VCAL subjects might involve? In 2020, our themes have been environmental sustainability at Year 11 and safety at Year 12. Activities and projects have included: Planning and undertaking a Murray River canoe trip and urban camp. Planning and carrying out an event – the VCAL EXPO - to showcase works around various safety areas, such as: • Water safety, safe partying and drinking, virtual reality display • Bushfire safety – 50 birdboxes constructed for Mallacoota • Road safety – Road to Zero • Work safety • Financial safety • Food safety – our school-based produce garden and chickens Community projects of choice in Year 12 Personal Development Skills Mock job interviews through GFORCE Recycling and mini sustainable home models and looking at ways we can be involved in a sustainable future Additional training and certificates including Bronze Medallion, CPR, Safe Food Handling Certificate.

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ALTERNATIVE PATHWAYS THROUGH THE SENIOR SCHOOL JOURNEY What sort of pathways might VCAL students take once they ﬁnish secondary school? Typically, the school-based apprentices in traditional trades move straight into full time employment. SBATs have also led students into full-time jobs such as childcare or primary teaching whereby further training has taken place at either University or TAFE level. Some students have used their VET qualiﬁcations to move into family businesses. Some students’ work placements have led them into full-time employment on leaving school such as working in agriculture/farming. Students have gone onto study courses such as Community Services, Photography and Diploma of Nursing to name a few.

Can you describe some of the beneﬁts for students that you’ve observed this year? There have been many. Students are involved in diverse projects and activities within the program and have an array of opportunities to develop their strengths and conﬁdence in themselves. Some really demonstrated their strengths and pushed themselves for self-improvement though the swimming. The urban camp set the tone for Year 12 students developing responsibility and independence – a really good launch into independent learning. The Amazing Race was great for student’s navigational skill development and, with a number of students, I clearly saw the development of maturity and perseverance to push themselves to new limits.

Many students came a long way in their organisational and meeting skills through real-life situations, such as organising the EXPO, the urban camp and canoeing trip. It’s been great also to see some students’ conﬁdence grow in oral presentations – particularly those who had struggled in this area in previous years of schooling. Involvement in projects with organisations outside of school does a lot for many students’ communication skills generally and it pushes them out of their comfort zone. This was particularly seen in things like the mock job interviews with real-life employers.

Finally, how is VCAL evolving? Has it changed over the past few years? The program has evolved to become more integrated. It has also become more diverse as more staﬀ with special interests and expertise have come on board. In 2020 we have 13 SBATs and 74 students studying VET courses externally. We have a Year 12 student who has started an Associate Degree part-time at Deakin University with a view to moving onto a Bachelor of Education post-secondary school. As the program becomes more recognised around the College community, we are getting increased numbers enrolling in VCAL.

Kerryn Fearnsides

Coordinator of VET and VCAL

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ALTERNATIVE PATHWAYS THROUGH THE SENIOR SCHOOL JOURNEY

Students share their journeys - in and out of the classroom With a theme of safety in Year 12, a second semester project as part of Personal Development focussed on the UN’s 17 Sustainable Development Goals. Students worked solo or in teams on a project to make a diﬀerence, which was based on one of those goals. Three groups of students share a glimpse of their work with us.

JAYA SHARMA , TIA HORZITSKI, CHARLOTTE BRUNT, JOSIE STEWART “We created an interactive brochure providing advice and support for Year 12 students struggling with mental health concerns during a diﬃcult year. It related to the UN Sustainable Development Goal 3 – Health and Wellbeing. We focussed on positive things that can help Year 12s cope with isolation during COVID. We researched statistics about anxiety, depression and suicide and found that many young men particularly don’t seek help when they are experiencing mental health issues. We wanted to get the message across about breaking the stigma and that it’s okay to speak up when you are struggling. We covered things like meditation, breathing exercises, mindfulness and colouring, how high-proﬁle celebrities and sportspeople struggle with mental health and provided links to helpful websites and organisations. We were approved by College leadership to distribute it to all Year 12 students at Christian College.”

L-R: Charlotte, Jaya, Josie and Tia

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ALTERNATIVE PATHWAYS THROUGH THE SENIOR SCHOOL JOURNEY

KER NEL HSER AND TAW LOE MOO DREAMER Ker Nel and Taw Loe Moo were both born in refugee camps in Thailand. They know ﬁrst-hand what it’s like to grow up in such an environment and both have been through the experience of coming to Australia to start a new life - Ker Nel, when he was 10 years old and Taw Loe Moo when he was 12. “We didn’t know each other before coming to Geelong and for both of our families, Diversitat provided us with a lot of support. For our PDS project, we wanted to give something back and help others who, like us, have been helped. We chose the UN Sustainable Development Goal 16 – Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions and we organised a casual dress day at Senior School to raise money in support of the work of Diversitat.”

Pic 2 L-R Ker Nel Hser and

Taw Loe Moo Dreamer

The day was a great success and raised $1020 for the Geelong-based not-for-proﬁt that provides a range of services for new migrants, refugees and asylum seekers.

OLLIE DOULL AND JACK DYSON

“We looked at the UN Sustainable Development Goal 14 – Life Below Water. We put together a 14-slide PowerPoint demonstration about two areas of great environmental concern – whaling and plastic pollution. Ollie researched whaling – its history, which countries are still involved in whaling, how whales are killed, the environmental eﬀects, some whaling statistics and solutions to the problem. Jack researched plastic pollution in our oceans – statistics about how much plastic is in our oceans (5.25 trillion pieces of micro and macro pieces of plastic!), the environmental eﬀects and solutions to the problem.”

Pic 3 L-R Jack Dyson and Ollie

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Doull

ALTERNATIVE PATHWAYS THROUGH THE SENIOR SCHOOL JOURNEY

Beyond the school gate Year 11s and 12s on diﬀerent vocational and training pathways

KYE ADORNETTO YEAR 11 “I chose VCAL because it gave me a better focus and was more about life skills. About half way through Year 10 I decided I didn’t have the passion for university and decided to go for a trade qualification. I’m also doing VCE Units 1 and 2 Maths as it’s required for my chosen career – an electrician. I’m doing a School-Based Apprenticeship, which is great because I’m learning on the job with an A-grader. Most of the work is in Ballarat – I work with two other guys on domestic work, roughing in and fitting off houses. I’m really learning a lot. The VCAL course at Christian College covers some helpful stuff, more helpful that what VCE would be for me. After I finish Year 12 next year I can go straight into an apprenticeship with my employer.”

TED PAGE-WALKER YEAR 11 “I always liked the idea of getting a trade – you learn skills and you never lose them. VCAL was a good choice for me – it’s a different pathway and for me it’s opened doors. I’m doing a School-Based Apprenticeship in plumbing. Every Friday I work with a family business called Vagg Plumbing – they do domestic plumbing work on the Bellarine Peninsula and around Geelong. I’m learning so much and doing a lot of different tasks, including learning how to use many different tools properly. On Monday afternoons I do five hours at The Gordon and that’s lots of fun, the teachers there are fantastic. The outcomes in the VCAL course at school are very useful – Work Related Skills, OH&S – which is my favourite, numeracy, Personal Development Skills. It’s interesting and personalised for where you want to head. When I finish Year 12 I’ll look at a full-time apprenticeship, which will be three years not four because of the work I’ve already done. I’d recommend VCAL to anyone – you need to understand how it works, it’s different from VCE and I’m absolutely loving it.”

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ALTERNATIVE PATHWAYS THROUGH THE SENIOR SCHOOL JOURNEY

NI K’MWEE KU YEAR 11 “At first I thought I wanted to do VCE because I want to study and go to university, but after talking with a Year 12 student about their VCAL experience, and some of my teachers, I chose to do VCAL. I’m enjoying it very much and it’s the right pathway for me. I love working with little children. I’m doing a Certificate 3 in Early Childhood and have had two work placements this year. The first was at Good Start in Waurn Ponds working with 3 year-olds and under, and the second at Williams House working with 3 year-olds and over. It’s really extended my knowledge and has given me more diverse experience. The Certificate 3 course goes well with work placement, and the work we do in VCAL is useful in preparing you for real-life experience. When I finish the Certificate 3, I want to do a Diploma and then look at university. The pathway I’ve chosen is more hands-on. I’ve worked with different staff at work placement who have different backgrounds and it is useful to have this contact with others.”

JAYA SHARMA YEAR 12 “I chose VCAL because I am not a textbook learner – I have to see a purpose in what I’m learning and where it’s going to lead me. I wanted to get some practical career experience sooner rather than later and my aim is to become a primary teacher. For my VET course I took on a Certificate 3 in Education Support at VFA Learning and last year worked at a Teacher’s Aide at Christ the King Primary School in Newcomb where I worked with a beautiful group of children and teachers. The children were different ages and from different backgrounds. Some had learning difficulties. The experience really cemented my career choice. This year I started an Associate Degree of Education at Deakin University. It is a two-year course that leads directly into a Bachelor of Education degree course. I have really enjoyed this pathway and gained a lot from it – I wouldn’t change what I have done for the world.”

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ALTERNATIVE PATHWAYS THROUGH THE SENIOR SCHOOL JOURNEY

OLLIE DOULL YEAR 12 “For many years, I’ve had a passion for working with animals. Through my VET course, I completed a Certificate 2 in Animal Studies at The Gordon and have done three work placements. The first was at GAWS (Geelong Animal Welfare Society). Then I worked at Roaming Ranch, which is an animal therapy centre. We had young kids with disabilities coming each week to interact with animals. My third placement was at Serendip and that was really fun – working with wildlife, lots of different birds - I was helping in different ways – feeding animals, collecting feed dishes and washing them, helping with the hay run and caring for animals. Next year my aim is to complete a Certificate 3 in Animal Studies and I’m very keen to move into employment in that field.”

KER NEL HSER YEAR 12 “When I was a young boy in the refugee camp, I saw the food and other trucks come and I loved seeing them, I loved trucks, I wanted to learn about them, I wanted to fix them. So I have a big opportunity in Australia to do that. I am doing VET Automotive (Certificate 2 in Vocational Preparation – Motor Mechanics). I have had a work placement at a mechanics workshop in North Geelong. I’ve done a bit of everything there. I’ve enjoyed it and learnt a lot. When I finish the VET course I want to look for an apprenticeship – it’s my passion.”

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ALTERNATIVE PATHWAYS THROUGH THE SENIOR SCHOOL JOURNEY

TIA HORZITSKI YEAR 12 “VCAL is so good and it enables you to change direction if you are interested in different things. That’s been my experience. Last year I was invested in the outdoors. I’m a lifeguard outside of school and my VET course was a Certificate 2 in Aquatics and Community Recreation. I did some work placement with Outdoor Ed at Christian College and at Middle School as a sports assistant. But I realised I was also interested in other things too, like a career in the Police Force and I started preparing for that. Now I’m wanting to do Criminology at University, but because the intake is mid-year, I’m looking to do a short fashion ‘taster ‘course beforehand. And that’s the good thing about VCAL – it’s flexible and you can tailor what you learn to suit you and different pathways you might want to take.”

Year 12 VCAL and VET Expo 2020

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From Early Years to Prep and beyond...

A seamless transition

Junior School - Belmont Prep to Year 4

Surf Coast Campus Torquay Prep to Year 3 in 2021

Bellarine Campus Drysdale Prep to Year 9

A balance of pastoral care and exceptional core and specialist learning programs For information on enrolments at all levels, visit christiancollege.vic.edu.au/enrol/enrolment-procedure.html

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2020 - A VERY DIFFERENT SCHOOLING YEAR

Starting and finishing the journey in a pandemic

The 2020 school year has been like no other in the history of our College – the same is true for every school around the country. With our state being hardest hit by the pandemic, students were forced to learn from home in two blocks, which extended across most of second and third terms. Students, teachers and parents alike had to make radical adjustments and the ground shifted rapidly. It was a momentous change for educators and learners - and it took place in a context of extreme uncertainty where everyone’s circumstances changed simultaneously, and normal family routines were thrown into chaos.

While every family and every student at every level were impacted, there were two cohorts for which the situation carried their own unique set of challenges – those starting their school journey and those ﬁnishing it. Preps and Year 12s – the ‘bookends’ of the College. Here, we speak to some teachers of students at each end of the school journey, and some exiting Year 12 students. Each one tells us about their 2020 experience as they came to terms with the ‘new Christian College normal’ in COVID lockdown - Continuous Learning @ Home.

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Prep Starting a 13-year school journey for a five-yearold child brings a whole mixed bag of emotions – excitement, anticipation of a new adventure, nervousness and for some, anxiety. Ensuring they get off to a smooth start and feel safe, confident and happy about beginning this critical new phase of life is essential and something that Prep teachers work very hard to achieve. Then things radically altered. Home became the classroom, physical interaction between teachers and students disappeared and the whole dynamic of that first school year changed completely, placing teachers and students in a whole new space.

CLAIRE TUCKER, SAMANTHA CALLAN, LOUISE WARD

Prep teachers, Junior School - Belmont Big changes - Term 1 to Term 2

Virtual lessons

“Our Prep students had made an excellent start in Term 1 onsite. We all felt they had settled into school routines well and that we had established some great relationships with our parent cohort.

We provided teaching videos for the daily learning tasks. The students would watch the 10-15-minute teaching video where the teacher modelled the concept and explained the task requirements. The students then completed the task, and their parents uploaded a photo of their completed work to ClassDojo. Teachers then gave written feedback on the task. This process was followed for all subject areas. The Prep students received four or ﬁve teaching videos and tasks per day, which were sent on the preceding afternoon so parents could familiarise themselves with the tasks beforehand if they needed to.

First term finished early and we worked through the holidays to familiarise ourselves with Class Dojo and prepare the first week of CL @ H lessons. At times it was quite overwhelming having to learn a number of different IT platforms in such a short period of time, and we needed to know them well enough to be able to support our Prep parents who were also learning these platforms for the first time. As we began second term with students learning at home, there was a sense of excitement at the opportunities ahead.

We were very grateful for the way parents and students engaged with the learning opportunities provided.

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STARTING AND FINISHING THE JOURNEY IN A PANDEMIC The positives In all respects, CL@H was much easier second time around. We were already familiar with the IT platforms and so were the families. The positives that came out of CL @ H were the learning of new IT skills and platforms, and the way that we Prep teachers collaborated as a team. When we returned to onsite learning in Term 4, two days in and it felt like we had never left. We were so glad to be back, although we have missed parent helpers in the classroom and all the usual special things that Term 4 would normally bring, such as assembly items and Presentation Night practice. We are very proud of the way the Prep students have engaged with the learning challenges presented this year and the resilience they have shown.

JESSIE DONNAN

Prep teacher, Surf Coast Campus Rich learning – real-life scenarios

Showing and sharing

“A positive of home learning was access to a varied range of resources that the children had at home which enabled rich learning experiences using real life scenarios. Children searched for 3D objects in their homes; used their swimming pools or backyard ponds to retell Bible stories, such as Jesus calming the storm or making a basket to hide baby Moses; and a pet dog ate some biscuits to model subtraction problems by demonstrating taking some away from a group.”

“There were many opportunities for Show and Share that ordinarily wouldn’t be possible. Each week the children maintained their Show and Share day and uploaded a video recording for their peers to see. They loved showing their pets, including baby lambs being fed and tropical ﬁsh; one student showed his friends how he could drive his ride-on lawn mower, and then wrote a procedural text in Literacy about how to ride the mower; a father and son duet on the guitar and harmonica; and one proud Prep interviewing her nan who works in a pet shop and showing the kids the pets at the store. Our families consistently engaged with our CL @ H program, and the learning that we saw occur is a real credit to the families who supported their children so incredibly well. We have always cared so much for our students but seeing photos and videos that were uploaded of the children in their homes with their families really hit home just how precious each of our students are.”

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STARTING AND FINISHING THE JOURNEY IN A PANDEMIC

ALLIE JACOBI AND SUSIE MOXEY

Prep teachers, Bellarine Campus Quick changes, quick responses

Teamwork was essential

“For us, starting the year onsite was very productive and students were well settled into the daily routines of school by the end of term. Given how quickly things changed after that, we really needed to think on our feet, however we all worked together and supported each other to learn the new technologies. Like everyone, we were feeling a bit anxious about the unknown and how so many changes happened all at once, however, we felt very well supported by the school. In planning for CL @ H, we didn’t want children sitting at their desks for two or three hours every day, so we tried to make activities interactive, hands on and doable outdoors where possible. As Preps were not yet independent in their learning, parental help was essential and luckily our Prep parents were amazingly supportive not only of their children but of us as teachers as well. Having said that, the ﬁrst round of CL @ H was a quite a period of adjustment, perhaps more so for the parents who had to suddenly become teachers overnight.

We were so lucky to work so closely as a team. Having the support from a teaching partner made all the diﬀerence. Having support from our leadership team was also instrumental in our positive outlook. There were hard days, but we always felt like we had help from those around us. In terms of the specialist subjects, at school we don’t normally get to see a lot of what the children are doing in those subjects, but Class Dojo allowed us to see more of that. CL @ H 2.0 was easier because everyone knew what to expect. We kept the planning format the same and by then everyone was familiar with Class Dojo and how to use it.

The positives We felt that a major positive of CL@H was that parents developed a much more in-depth understanding of not only what their children are learning at school, but also to gain a greater understanding of their child’s abilities ﬁrsthand, rather than simply reading a report. We missed the kids so much, so it was great to be able to get back into the classroom. We felt like the kids were able to enjoy a lot more variety in their day at school – for example, using instruments in music and running on the oval with friends. At home it was impossible to create all the diﬀerent experiences school provides.

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STARTING AND FINISHING THE JOURNEY IN A PANDEMIC

Year 12 students

ASH BARRETT

What a year our Year 12 cohort have had! They endured a relatively normal Term 1, then totally abnormal Terms 2 and 3. Term 4 back onsite, then two weeks later, their secondary school journey wraps up. For VCE students, it’s an intensive academic year, and for VCAL students one that delves very much into the ‘real world’ of work - not to mention the social side of things that is so important in shaping young adults. It was all diﬀerent in 2020 – teachers weren’t in the same room for most of the year, nor were peers. For those areas of study with a heavy practical or experiential component, ﬁnding resources in and around home was challenging.

Subjects taken: English, Mathematical Methods, Specialists Maths, Chemistry and Japanese “Perhaps the biggest struggle regarding online learning was staying motivated. I think I speak for everyone when I say that it felt quite disheartening sitting in front of a computer all day, without any face-to-face interactions. The teachers deﬁnitely played an enormous role in aiding us students with the struggles of the year. Whether it be before or after class, my teachers were always willing to provide assistance and support, which certainly helped improve the situation we were immersed in. Whilst remaining motivated proved to be a struggle, I believe that such an unsettling year has helped strengthen my self-discipline. Since we were not granted the luxury of teachers making sure that we were doing work and being consistently reminded of any deadlines, we were compelled to strengthen our time-management skills. In doing so, we were able to become more independent learners - a trait which will be imperative for the years to come.”

PIPER RICHARDSON

JACK DOUGHTY

Subjects taken: Health and Human Development; Japanese; Biology; English Literature; Further Maths

Subjects taken: Music Styles and Composition, Music Investigation, Chemistry, Further Maths and English

“I found conversation practice in Japanese especially challenging online, but every subject had its challenges during CL @ H. I found all my teachers were really helpful in group learning sessions and with one-on-one catchups.

“Undertaking two music subjects and not being able to be present in the classroom for lessons or play with other people was particularly diﬃcult, along with not being able to do as many chemistry practicals.

Being a Burrows prefect and meeting with the prefect team online was also challenging – we had to keep the morale and spirit up, and after a while we felt like we were succeeding. It was certainly very exciting to come back to school!

My teachers were incredible during learning at home, they gave me timely and great feedback on my work and were always very encouraging. They went above and beyond to create extra resources and ways to help us learn.

Positives for me from this year have been development of my independence and resilience – you had to ﬁnd the best ways to deal with things and I felt stronger and more capable at doing that.

There were actually quite a few positive things that happened because of isolation. There was more time to study, more time to practice - I ended up writing more and doing more extra work, was able to organise my time better and manage distractions better.

Next year I’m hoping to go to university and undertake a degree in zoology or physiotherapy.”

Next year I’m hoping to study a Bachelor of Music specialising in Jazz and Improv.”

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STARTING AND FINISHING THE JOURNEY IN A PANDEMIC

JESSICA SELLER

JOHANNA HALL

Subjects taken: Chemistry, Maths Methods, English and Indonesian

Subjects taken: Maths Methods, English, Chemistry and Physics

“There were many challenges throughout CL @ H, especially with practical subjects such as Chemistry. For most of the year our understanding was mainly theoretical as we were unable to complete practical exercises at home. However, since returning to school we have had the opportunity to demonstrate our understanding in various areas in practical format.

“This year was tough when it came to our online studies compiled with moving to remote learning because we lacked security with our attendance at school. Whilst I got pretty accustomed to our online routine, there were almost no set dates for when things were going to happen. Our SACs were constantly adjusted, and we couldn’t do the hands-on practical work for subjects such as Chemistry and Physics.

All the teachers and support staff, throughout the college were amazing during CL @ H. They were always available to answer questions and support us in any possible way. Our teachers were also very understanding that CL @ H wasn’t the end to our schooling journey that we had imagined and helped us to achieve our best in such a difficult year. Although 2020 brought much uncertainty, it also provided us with the opportunity to develop and grow as people and learners. I think that the structure of CL @ H provided us with the best opportunity to organise our time and focus on areas of study that we may have been lacking confidence in, allowing us to perform to the best of our abilities. In the future, I hope that I will have the opportunity to go to university and complete some kind of science-based course.”

The teachers were as supportive as they could be during our time at home, they were online and ready to promptly reply to our emails and message as soon as they could and were willing to put in extra time in order to assist us. Learning at home really helped me with being able to manage my time and learn at my own pace and at my own way. I was able to experiment with new ways of learning and I saved two hours each day by not having to commute to school. I was able to focus on my learning and work through tough questions and teach myself. After this year, I’m hoping to study Science and Engineering at University, although I’m not too sure what ﬁeld speciﬁcally. I also hope to travel, explore and learn skills from the world.”

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STARTING AND FINISHING THE JOURNEY IN A PANDEMIC

Year 12 teachers For teachers, spending so little time with their students physically in one place together brings many challenges, including maintaining motivation and engagement among students, getting allimportant feedback from them about how they are progressing, and the amount of preparation time needed to eﬀectively teach in online mode.

SIMON PEAKE

MANDY CALDERWOOD

Year 12 Maths Methods teacher

Year 12 Drama teacher

As teachers, we were blessed to be able to keep working, compared with some other professions. But there were many challenges with CL @ H adapting to diﬀerent teaching and learning strategies without the teacher in the room. Students had to take more responsibility for their learning. It felt like I was lecturing a lot and giving and receiving feedback was diﬃcult, you couldn’t read the room like you can in class and the reciprocity of learning was often lost.

The biggest challenge students faced in my subject was undertaking performance work in the online space. They weren’t able to work oﬀ each other’s energy, and that lack of energy showed when they performed online, but it clearly returned when we came back onsite.

Students who are proactive in their learning normally continued to be proactive and some thrived with the lack of distractions that might come in a classroom environment. But those students who learn better with stronger students around them in a classroom, weren’t getting that. I’d typically spend six or eight hours online a day, and sometimes the work-life balance suﬀered. Lesson planning took longer, everything had to be planned, it was all pre-meditated learning and completing and verifying assessment was harder. The second time around it was easier, because we’d been there once already. We had the platforms well set up and there wasn’t the scramble like the ﬁrst time to quickly adapt to the new style of teaching.

The ﬁrst time we went to online learning, we’d already had the kids at school for a term so relationships had already been established, which was important. This was not the case for our CL @ H take 2, so getting the students to perform for me on the screen was a bit more of a challenge. And as I didn’t know a lot about technology, I had to really think about how I could use Teams in a practical sense. There were positives – for the 12s it was a challenge to do a major solo performance at home, but that also meant there were no other distractions and it gave them more creative space than they may have found at school. There was also a lack of social distractions – the 18th birthday parties and so on – so kids used that time to get work done. For their ensemble performance, the Year 12 Drama class were keen to work with each other and they got together when they could. They worked on scripts at home and were able to take them from page to stage when we got back to school.

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STARTING AND FINISHING THE JOURNEY IN A PANDEMIC

JULIENNE WELSH

BEN HINES

Year 12 Indonesian teacher

Year 12 Data Analytics teacher

“Learning another language is all about building interpersonal skills and conﬁdence to communicate in social interactions. Using Teams was an eﬀective way to practise the language in one-on-one and small groups settings. In addition to classes, we could meet with students at suitable times during ISPs and after school. As everyone was working at home, it created opportunities to discuss everyday experiences that involved family, daily routine and the student’s personal world in a natural way, using realistic language which developed key knowledge and skills for the Oral Exam in particular.

In a school as big as ours, it was a phenomenal effort to put the CL @ H program into place. Some students flourished. I had to rely much more on students giving me feedback but those Year 12s who did interact well online made it possible for me to see where they were at. In my subject, we’re used to spending a lot of screen time, so it was perhaps a bit easier to adapt. When we first went to online learning, there was a bit of a novelty aspect. The second time though, there was no such feeling.

The Year 12s were appreciative of the extra time we could spend with them editing drafts and the additional multimedia materials they could access and review in their own time. This year the Indonesian students made the most of virtual webinars and VCE workshops, which in other years they would have had to travel to Melbourne to attend. Overall ‘belajar secara daring’ - learning online, was a challenging yet eﬀective learning experience.”

In CL @ H 2.0, because we’d been through it once, I had diﬀerent expectations and thought diﬀerently about what I was doing. For example, I would prepare material for assessment to be done open-book, because that’s really the way it has to work when you’re not physically with the students. For me, there were also complications like teaching while having to deal with my own young children who were at home too.

MATTHEW HOLLOWAY

JACQUIE LESSER

Year 12 Chemistry teacher

Year 12 Biology teacher

Teaching is a relational profession, so when you’re in a situation where you’re teaching blind without a lot of feedback, that makes it diﬃcult. In class I’ll ask for feedback and be able to get it quickly, but that immediate feedback didn’t come during CL @ H, which made ﬁnding out what the students had learned challenging.

CL @ H was very challenging – a classroom is fun, but that disappeared, and it is much harder to engage students online. You can’t read the room and there’s very little feedback and I felt like a lecturer sometimes. I was conscious of a big gap between students that are very self-motivated and those that are not.

I tended to plan whole weeks at a time and had to look for diﬀerent ways to assess the students’ knowledge as I went.

Preparation took a lot longer – every lesson was a selfdirected lesson and was designed very much step-bystep. I ﬁlmed some demonstrations that I would normally do in class, and while the students were at home, we couldn’t do pracs. While that’s not a huge component of the course, they had to be designed as activities they could do at home.

Another big diﬀerence with learning oﬀsite is that there’s not the separation between school and home – normally for students, and me, teaching and learning goes on in the classroom during the day and home is home, but for a lot of the year this year, there wasn’t that distinction.

One of the advantages coming out of all that is that the material I’ve developed in preparing lessons for CL @ H will be very useful with future classes for students who are absent or otherwise miss class sessions.

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RUNFEST AND THE AMAZING RACE

Long journeys in lockdown Despite being in lockdown for the best part of two terms this year, the Christian College community collectively managed to cover a staggering 89,000 kilometres over two virtual events organised by the Health, Physical Education and Sport Department - RunFest and The Amazing Race. Director, Andrew Richardson provides a behind-thescenes look at the rationale, preparation and execution of the two events. RunFest involved 665 participants (students, staﬀ and family members) and The Amazing Race, 759. Staging each of them required the collection, veriﬁcation, collation and reporting of a massive amount of data.

Rationale The idea behind staging the two events was to provide a friendly, House-based competition that would encourage students, staﬀ and their families to engage in physical activity during the two blocks of Continuous Learning @ Home. With students and staﬀ spending a huge amount of screen time during remote learning, RunFest and The Amazing Race provided incentive for our community to use various forms of exercise as an outlet to maintain their physical and mental health throughout this challenging time. The events also allowed each Campus to use the results of these competitions to count towards the overall InterHouse shields and trophies at the end of year. In a normal year, students would have ordinarily participated in InterHouse events, such as the annual

Track and Field and Cross Country Carnivals. RunFest and The Amazing Race helped to ﬁll the void left by the absence of these events by giving students the opportunity to still feel a sense of connection and House spirit during periods of online learning, albeit in a virtual setting.

RunFest – achieving the ‘buy-in’ The RunFest concept was actually conceived in 2019 when the College made the decision to shift from the traditional Cross Country events staged on diﬀerent days at each campus, to one big event that brought all campuses together for a single-day running carnival. COVID-19 made this impossible to achieve in 2020, so the virtual RunFest was a way to give students that feeling of connection to their House and the College in a way that only team sport can. We challenged the College community – individuals and families – to keep ﬁt and maintain health by regularly walking or running as often they could and tally the total number of kilometres they covered each time. As a Year 9 student leader, Jacob McKie was looking for ways to keep our Middle School Campus connected during remote learning, he saw potential for the RunFest concept to play an important role in that. His enthusiasm and the proactive way he promoted the events among his peers was crucial in gaining the ‘buy-in’ from students and their families that ultimately made the RunFest such a success. The video he made to promote and explain the idea to the student cohort was invaluable and he was able to recruit many other students to help in this regard.

Finke in Central Australia - the ﬁnal Amazing Race pitstop

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The Amazing Race – taking the concept to a new level After the success of the CCG RunFest during CL@H 1.0, both in terms of the number of CCG community members who engaged and the positive feedback we received, we wanted to provide students, staff and family members with more motivation to stay physically active through CL@H 2.0. To provide a point of difference, we felt that involving more forms of exercise would add variety to the CCG Amazing Race and also help to include community members, who liked to ride, swim or paddle as well and run and walk. Involving these different forms of exercise meant that, as a collective, the community could cover a lot more kilometres. That’s where the idea for a virtual race around the globe emerged, and then it was about linking together places around the world with which our College has a connection - through teaching and learning areas, such as Japan, Vietnam, Indonesia and Central Australia, or the great community-based work our College supports in East Timor. A key part of building excitement for the Race was to establish this connection between the College and each destination we would visit. Teachers and Directors of the faculties involved provided fantastic support in this regard - Graham Barton, Yuji Nakayama, David Evans, Tom McKenzie and Cassidy Hurrell. The time and effort each one put into creating a video and telling the story of the connection between our College and each destination added a whole new dimension to the journey, and we couldn’t be more thankful for their input.

Naga High School students with a virutal welcome to Japan - the second pitstop on The Amazing Race

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RUNFEST AND THE AMAZING RACE CCG AMAZING RACE - ROUTE INFORMATION

First Leg

Christian College Middle School Highton to Viqueque, East Timor

Handling the data Participants could log their kilometres for both the Amazing Race and the RunFest by either emailing veriﬁed evidence of their physical activity, or they could use an activity tracking app called ‘Strava’. Within the Strava App, four ‘Clubs’ were set up for each of the Houses - Burrows, Flynn, Penman and Taylor. CCG community members joined these Clubs and then tracked their activity in real time using the app, which automatically uploaded the details of their exercise into each Club.

TOTAL KILOMETRES: 3,720 WINNER: Burrows

Second Leg

Viqueque, East Timor to Naga High School, Iwade, Japan (Sister School to CCG)

The CCG Sports Department then used the data from the Strava App and from emails to log the scores and provide weekly updates to the College community via email, social media and ‘The Vine’ Newsletter.

TOTAL KILOMETRES: 4,878 WINNER: Penman

Third Leg

Naga High School, Japan to Nam Dinh, Vietnam TOTAL KILOMETRES: 3,235 WINNER: Taylor

Fourth Leg

Nam Dinh, Vietnam to SAM Negeri 2 Mataram, Lombok, Indonesia (Sister School to CCG) TOTAL KILOMETRES: 3,415 WINNER: Burrows

Fifth Leg

Lombok, Indonesia to Finke, Central Australia. TOTAL KILOMETRES: 2,680 WINNER: Burrows

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RUNFEST AND THE AMAZING RACE

The high level of engagement from the CCG community meant there was a massive amount of data for the Sports Department to record daily. The task was particularly exhaustive during The Amazing Race when it came to calculating which House had crossed the ﬁnish line ﬁrst at each pitstop. The extra hours of work that Sports Administrator Matt Murnane did in bringing these two ideas to life was invaluable and cannot be underestimated. Another key part of creating and sustaining enthusiasm for the two events and communicating the results was the College’s excellent social media platforms. The use of graphics, videos and images helped capture our social media audience and bring added meaning to both competitions. This competition really highlighted the quality of our College’s social media platforms and, as a Sports Department, we were hugely grateful for the work and support of Simon Garner in that regard.

Overwhelming response – from all quarters As a Sports Department we were overwhelmed by the response from the CCG community. One of the most memorable aspects of the competition was the number of pictures and feedback we received showing how many families embraced the concept and used it as motivation to exercise together. In some instances, it was the mums and dads and brothers and sisters who were the most excited about the concept. It was uplifting to see how our College’s House spirit can run through an entire family and how much the parents enjoyed becoming ‘defacto’ members of a House. It was also great to see ex-students leaving comments on social media posts about the events, encouraging their former House to rise to the challenge, which shows how much people continue to feel a connection to their House long after they have left the College, no doubt because of the fond memories of their own journey. The success of these two competitions at our College served as inspiration for GISSA to stage its own ‘Virtual’ Cross Country Championships over a three-week period in Term 4. Christian College students had the chance to test themselves against the best from other independent schools in Geelong by performing the same type of activity in the same way as they did during RunFest and Amazing Race.

Andrew Richardson Director, Health, Physical Education and Sport

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RUNFEST AND THE AMAZING RACE Helping drive RunFest When Jacob McKie was contemplating life during lockdown, he emailed Mr Richardson asking what he thought of the idea of a virtual running challenge. Ideas came together, momentum built and on April 27, RunFest 2020 kicked off. Sandra McKie, Jacob’s mother, said her son was very keen to see the idea take off. The McKie family were regular participants in RunFest over the five weeks. “It’s important to Jacob to give back to the school in his role as Middle School Captain. We’ve always been an active family and big believers in the benefits of exercise for physical and mental health,” she said. “Jacob had been due to fly to Queensland to compete in the School Sport Victoria (SSV) triathlon race but then everything got cancelled. This got Jacob thinking about how people could continue to be engaged with their goals without actual races going ahead. Jacob wondered if an online fitness challenge might be possible. He approached Mr Richardson and it was great to see the RunFest idea come together.

Jacob MKie - promoted RunFest by ﬁlming, appearing in, and editing a video that went out in The Vine and on social media

“On weekends, Jacob, his sister Jaime and brother Archie, my husband Andy and I would head out somewhere together. And most days in diﬀerent combinations we’d do something - from walking the dog to going for a run.”

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RUNFEST AND THE AMAZING RACE

An article published in the Geelong Advertiser featuring the Jane family and their participation in RunFest

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MORE REFLECTIONS ON 40 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

Gwen Prosser

One Journey – many pathways In celebrating 40 years, we continue our presentation of reflections from people with a profound connection to Christian College. Mrs Gwen Prosser worked at Christian College between 1982 and 2014, serving as Vice Principal alongside two Principals – Mr Daryl Riddle, now CEO of the College and in later years, current Principal, Mr Glen McKeeman. She reflects on her remarkable time at the College, where she saw many changes and played a key role in shaping many aspects of College life that remain a legacy today of her long and distinguished career. I always wanted to be a teacher and had 10 years teaching at government high schools in Melbourne and Geelong before resigning to bring up our family. (There was no maternity leave in those days!) I applied for the position of secondary teacher of Humanities not knowing anything about Christian College except that it was Christian. At that time there were many Christian schools starting up and the idea of working in education with Christians of different denominations attracted me. In 1982 this small Christian, parent-controlled school was housed in just a few rooms of the imposing St. Augustine’s orphanage building in Highton. I was appointed to teach English, Christian Ed. and Social Studies – at that time a combination of History, Geography and Economics with Homeroom responsibility for Years 9 and 10. Even then, ‘teaching’ was much more than face-to-face in the classroom. There were full curricula to be written, fundraising to organise, classroom furniture to renovate, evening Board meetings to attend and volunteer parents to organise.

successful. My church membership with The Salvation Army meant that I would try to initiate its involvement. The Chairman of the College Board, Howard Williams and myself spoke to the Divisional Commander in Ballarat. He, in turn, gained the approval of General Eva Burrows (after whom one of our Houses is named). Thus, Christian College was the ﬁrst school to involve The Salvation Army directly at Board level.

Changing roles My responsibilities changed according to the needs of a growing student enrolment and broadening educational opportunities for our students – to teaching was added involvement in staff recruitment and interviews. Making initial choices of College uniform with parents and developing our own Uniform Shop kept the cost to parents as low as possible. New and exciting ventures meant the need to develop educational material for ‘Back Creek’ farm, camps and staff retreats. Organising the first few Annual College Debutant Balls was a real challenge. I remember the first rehearsals in the upstairs gymnasium at Middle School when we discovered to our horror that every time the Deb. couples moved to the music, clouds of dust came up through the wooden floorboards. Conversely, I can still remember each year, the looks of pride on the faces of parents and grandparents as the students were presented in all their formal attire as fine young adults. Across the range of responsibilities, I was determined that each exciting development was done to the highest standard and reflected the Christian values the College held dear.

Daryl Riddle, as the senior teacher at Primary level Grades 4,5 and 6 was regarded as the leader of the staffing team. His vision for the College was passionate and we both saw the huge potential of an education where Christian values and care were exemplified within a broad-based education program. Few Christian schools in the 1980s enjoyed a good reputation in the community. However, we were determined that Christian College would be recognised for its excellence in education as well as integrating Christian values. “A balance of Care and Curriculum for today” was the first slogan used to promote the College. By the mid-80s, however, it became crucial that the governance of the College needed to involve mainstream churches along with parents of the College. Approaches to Anglican and Uniting Church leadership were

Gwen Prosser in 201

2 on the occasion mar

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king 30 years of service

at Christian College

Gwen Prosser and her Year 9-10 Homeroom in 1986

Motivator memories In the mid 1990’s, I took on the preparation and co-ordination of the College Year Book – Motivator and the College marketing strategy until I retired 16 years later. This was an exacting but exciting role and one that gave me the privilege of ‘capturing’ the special moments of student activities across the five campuses. I remember for many years working with dedicated staff members at each campus to ensure that every student’s photograph was included in the Motivator somewhere. Unfortunately, this became impossible as enrolments grew at each Campus. Excellent photography by College parent Don Lum, and innovative design and layout work by Stephen Davey over many years, ensured that the College Yearbook was eagerly sought after by students on the final school day of each year.

embodied the Christian values of the College and were prepared to ‘go the extra mile’ to ensure the best possible learning experiences for students. As I sit and reﬂect on these memories, I can hear the ‘hesitant’ trumpet melody of ‘Away… in a Manger’ drifting across the Middle School carpark into my back garden from the Music rooms. I am reassured that Christian College – ‘God’s School’, is in good hands now and into the future.

‘In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your path’ Proverbs 3:6

Looking back now on my years at Christian College, whether as a teaching colleague or Vice Principal, I am humbled that I was able to play a small part in the establishment of a Christian School with a ﬁne reputation, both locally and overseas. Such growth, excellence and amazing opportunities for students was only possible with both dedicated staﬀ and College leadership who

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CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

For me as a new student these values were what I was missing from my life and what I found at Christian College in my formative years.

Bradleigh Morris Student, parent, manager – the journey continues Brad Morris and his sister Genaya attended Christian College during the 1980s and early 1990s. Today, Brad manages the Sports and Aquatic Centre at the Middle School – Highton Campus and his daughters Sierra and Brooklyn are in Years 3 and 2 respectively at Junior School – Belmont. My family’s journey starts at the very beginning of Christian College with my step-father Graeme Dalton being one of the founding parents of the school in 1980. He also taught at Christian College for close to 30 years. My sister Genaya and I started our Christian College journey in 1984 with approximately 50 students from Prep to Year 10 at the time. My step sister Alicia and step brother Kane also attended CCG with Kane being recognised as the first ever student to complete their entire primary and secondary schooling at CCG. My other sister Pearl who my mum and step dad adopted from China also attended CCG from Kinder-Yr12. She graduated in 2015 and is currently finishing off a Masters degree in Melbourne.

Love Simply put I felt loved, important and worthy especially by my teacher Daryl Riddle, who, over 35 years later, is still someone I love dearly and always want to make proud.

Faith Two aspects to this one. Firstly I as a young kid I was always full of self-doubt but having teachers and staﬀ that really had the faith in me that I could do anything was truly amazing. Secondly, my family had never been to church before Christian College. We were introduced to the Christian faith during our ﬁrst few years at the school. Each of my family discovered a personal relationship with Jesus that was life transforming.

Truth To be able to be honest and open with staﬀ and students without feeling like I was being judged really helped me to open up and grow as a young person.

Grace I learned compassion - to put others ﬁrst, to value their thoughts and opinions.

Hope I was taught to never give up, that I can accomplish the things I set my mind to and overcome any obstacles along the way.

Life-changing values Starting at Christian College was a life changer for me, coming from a state primary school, where I was constantly picked on and bullied, to an independent Christian school where, for the first time in my life, I felt appreciated and important. Today the College has their official school values of Love, Faith, Hope, Grace and Truth. I look back on my time there, long before these became an official part of the school’s philosophy and I can truly see these represent the foundation upon which the College is built.

There are so many wonderful memories, the fantastic whole school camps we used to go on together, our weekly visits to the local nursing home where would sit and chat to the residents and hear their amazing life stories, helping start the Motivator Magazine in ‘86, going on the College’s first ever “overseas” trip to Tasmania, hosting our first ever Japanese Exchange program visit in 1989 which back then was from Genkai High School in Fukuoka and the school’s purchase of St Augustine’s in 1987, a miracle in itself. It’s such a blessing to see how the school has grown from five classrooms to more than 2000 students across multiple campuses. I was lucky enough to be a part of the first ever year 12 class at Christian College in 1991, a class of just 18 students and the first graduating class to sign our names up in the clock tower. I love the fact it’s a tradition that continues to this day. I can’t believe next year will mark 30 years since I graduated.

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CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

Around the world, and back home again After finishing Year 12 I went and worked at a summer camp in the USA and then returned home to study Hospitality and Management which eventually led me back to the USA where I spend most of my 20s. I was lucky enough to live in a number of different cities across the country including Los Angeles, San Diego, Minneapolis, Tampa and 5 years in New York City working as a Flight Attendant Supervisor for one of the world’s largest airlines. With my job and amazing free travel benefits I was able to travel all over North American (inc. all 50 US states), Europe, Asia, Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. I returned to Australia in 2003 and continued to work in the airline industry for several years. I am now back to where it all started and for the past eight and a half years have been working here at Christian College as the Sports and Aquatic Centre’s Manager. My job here includes managing the Aquatic Centre operations, looking after all sports clubs and community groups who hire our facilities and grounds at the various campuses, school functions held in our sports centres, weddings held on campus as well as assisting the maintenance and ground crew, teaching swimming, and I’m involved with the Sport/PE program here too. I get to do a bit of everything which is great. I am married with three beautiful daughters, Sierra (Yr 3) and Brooklyn (Yr 2) attend Junior School and my youngest Willow is enrolled for 2022. My sister Genaya also has all her 3 children studying at CCG at moment in Years 6, 10 and 12. By the time Brooklyn finishes Year 12 in 2035, that will mark 55 years of continuous involvement with the College across three generations of people.

A word from the children... Sierra I love Christian College because I get to learn something new every day. We recently went on camp to Anglesea and I had a fun time getting to spend so much time with all my friends as I hadn’t really seen them for so long.

Brooklyn I love Christian College because I have made lots of great friends who really care about me. Mrs Daley is a great teacher and I missed seeing her everyday while we were learning at home.

Sierra Morris

Brooklyn Morris

Graeme & Kaye Dalton

A safe place and no hidden agendas

Graeme and Kaye Dalton’s five children graduated from Christian College – Kane, Alicia, Bradleigh, Genaya and Pearl. Graeme taught at the College for 26 years and five grandchildren are current students. Graeme first came to CCG 39 years ago to maintain the school’s outdoor swimming pool. One infamous incident occurred when the automatic chlorination system broke down and students who swam with blonde hair that day went home with green hair! Kaye first got involved at CCG 35 years ago, in the school canteen. She is thankful for her many years spent in Parents and Friends meetings and for relationships established with Christian friends. The fun, care and commitment of the staff, as well as the Christian values and support for students and parents were the reasons for sending our own children to CCG. They have all gone on to successful careers. Four have their own families now. All of us agree that CCG was a ‘safe’ place to be educated, free from bullying, hidden agendas. The school provided that ‘special’ something that other schools did not. Graeme came to start up a Technology Department at CCG in 1989. He retired at the end of 2015. Across those years, he taught Electronics, Robotics Maths, Science, Woodwork, Graphic Communications, Outdoor Education, History, Geography, Christian Ed and Sport. He was a Year 8 and 9 Homeroom Teacher.

Values paramount As the world becomes a more diﬃcult place to live, the CCG values become paramount in how we communicate with, support and encourage the community around us. I believe CCG has a God-given call to demonstrate His love, Christian ethics and high educational standards for our students. Our youngest daughter Pearl attended Williams House Kinder, then Prep to year 4 at Bellarine Campus, before moving to Middle and Senior Schools. She has now completed a Bachelor of Health Science and a Masters in Public Policy Making at Monash University. We cannot thank CCG enough for the fabulous education, facilities and support that she and all of our children received - and now ﬁve grandchildren, with another granddaughter starting Kinder next year. The care, commitment, discipline and Christian values at CCG have not changed over the years and our grandchildren will be challenged to become the best possible, responsible adults.

Graeme, Kaye & Pearl at Williams House Kinder

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CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

Genaya, Jayden, Elizabeth and Elleigh Hutchinson Finding care, support and direction Genaya With my brother Bradleigh, I started at CCG in 1984 I was then in Grade 4 and finished Year 12 in 1992. When I reflect on my time at CCG in those earlier years there were many highlights and great experiences with camps, excursions and musicals. There were very limited resources in the early days so there were lots of fundraisers, including fetes, chocolate drives and cake stalls, which always brought the College community together. Even though there are over 2000 students spread across many campuses that ‘community’ still stands out today. What really stood out for me and still does today is the care and support of teachers, staff and parents in the family of CCG. The values of the College is what allows students to reach their full potential in all areas of their lives. The opportunities at CCG along with the support has enabled my two older children to discover what they’re passionate about and given them some direction as to where they see their futures. These values will continue to impact many more thousands of people for years to come in the same way as they have for my three children. This has been especially prevalent this year along with some family challenges and COVID where my children have been impacted while studying a Years 6, 10 and 12 - the support of the College has been invaluable.

Jayden Hutchinson

Jayden, Year 12 2020 Some highlights for me from my time at Christian College were the diverse opportunities that were given. What particularly stands out for me is Year 9 Back Creek experience as I learnt a lot about myself as well as how to run a fully operational farm. Other opportunities outside the classroom like Athletics Day, VCAL excursions and experiences where we get to spend time with classmates and teachers doing fun activities. Media Studies and Studio Arts were where I discovered a passion for photography and ﬁlm and was able to create pieces that were meaningful about things that are going on in the world. This is something I will continue on with now that I have ﬁnished school.

Genaya Hutchinson

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CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

Elizabeth Hutchinson

Elizabeth, Year 10 2020 I ﬁnd the teachers are fantastic and relatable and are really organised and ﬂexible. I enjoy seeing my friends every day, I love the freedom we have in Senior School and how we are treated like adults and not little kids. There’s a really good sense of community, a lot of House activities that are really good to participate in and I feel supported by the people around me. The range of subjects that we have to choose from is diverse which gives us the opportunity to work out what we enjoy doing.

Elleigh Hutchinson

Elleigh, Year 6 2020 The thing I like about school is the teachers because they help me a lot, especially Mrs Riddle and Miss Sugrue. The school grounds are great because there’s a lot of room for us to run around and the vending machine because it has good snacks! We also have some great camps and excursions.

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CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

Chris and Robyn Maddock

The Maddock family (2015) Adults L-R David, Robyn, Jonathan, Megan, Jess, Chris. Children L-R Ruby, Layla, Jordan, Billy, Oscar

Many hats – on staﬀ, Boards, as parents and grandparents Chris and Robyn Maddock have a long association with Christian College, which goes back to 1987. Now both retired, Chris is a current member of the Christian College Foundation Board, a past College Board member and has previously worked at the College as Business Manager. Robyn worked in Learning Support before serving as Chaplain at Middle School-Highton for 10 years. Their children, David and Jonathan both attended Christian College, and their grandchildren Jordan (Y6 Highton), Ruby and Billy (Y4, Prep Junior School), Layla and Oscar (Y3, 2 Bellarine) all attend the College as current students. Jess, Jonathan’s wife (nee Richards), also attended Christian College and while Megan, David’s wife did not, her three brothers – Steven, Stewart and Hayden – are ex-CCG students. Their father, Peter Fossey, was a teacher at Middle School-Highton for 17 years.

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CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

dock

Billy Mad

Layla Mad

dock

Jordan

Maddo

Oscar Maddock

dock

Ruby Mad

Chris

Robyn

In the late 1970s, I was camping with Daryl Riddle and he made the statement that he and I would one day work together in a very large and thriving organisation. At that time, he was a trainee teacher, and I was a trainee accountant. I couldn’t envisage how that was ever going to happen, but 20 years later, we were!

Christian College has been a place that has nurtured my sons, and now my grandchildren and it has always supported the values that we as a family hold dear. Over all my years of involvement as a parent, grandparent, working in Learning Support and as a Chaplain, I have always recognised and appreciated the excellent education, the caring, committed and professional staﬀ and the upholding of the Christian faith that is available to all.

Christian College is a place where lifelong learning occurs, and this doesn’t just apply to students. It has been, and is, a truly pivotal place for our family and for many thousands of others over 40 years. The College has been blessed with visionary people who have made it a wonderful place of learning - from the early years when numbers of students and staff were small, to now when it serves the educational and pastoral needs of thousands of students and their families. The spiritual focus has been its cornerstone and the loving, caring approach of its staff and all associated with the College has made it a very special place – and will continue to do so for many decades to come. The College motto of ‘Seek ye first the Kingdom of God’ is central to everything that the College stands for. This verse in Scripture goes on to say ‘And all these things will be given to you’. The seeking of God’s purposes frames the learning - it comes first – then the work to learn the skills, knowledge and understanding that fulfill God’s purpose for every student’s life and future pathway occurs.

During my working years at the College, I found it an incredibly empowering place. One that challenges, instils confidence and provides opportunities for everyone to learn, grow and develop wisdom. At times it stretched my capacity in many ways but the people and the wonderful programs offered also enabled me to acquire belief in myself and others and continually deepen my trust in God. For me and our family, we made many dear friends through our involvement with Christian College and over decades, it has been inspiring to observe and experience what a loving and perfect God can do through imperfect people as we seek Him first!

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CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

Paul and Jan Brewster A family joins a bigger family

The Brewster family has been involved with Christian College for 34 years when Paul and Jan decided to enrol their two children, Catherine and Stephen. After Alison was born in 1988, she became the first of their children to complete their entire K – 12 schooling journey at the College. Paul reflects on walking in the door all those years ago… and never leaving… We first came to Christian College on return from New Zealand in 1986 and decided that Saint Andrews private school (where they were attending before our time in New Zealand) was no longer right for our children. David Marsh who was a friend of ours and a board member at Christian College suggested that we try Christian College. We met Mr. Riddle in a very small office where there was only room for himself, his desk and one chair - I had to stand up. Very quickly, Christian College felt like home and so our two children were enrolled. My first task for Christian College was to prepare a feasibility study for a new school when we learned that Saint Augustine’s was to be sold. That feasibility study showed that it would be better to purchase the existing buildings than to start a new school – as impossible as that seemed at the time. After doing a deal with Barry Provan to help with arranging finance and fighting off a counter offer from Deakin University, we were successful in our bid. (That’s a story all on its own). To fund the deposit for the purchase, many of the families donated $1000 each.

Admin’s humble beginnings Apart from the feasibility study, I started at Christian College when Butch (Daryl Riddle) asked if I knew how to use a computer – he told me there was one sitting in the corner (donated by Stuart Baker) but no-one knew how to turn it on. That developed into “Can you set it up to do fee accounts?” and after that, “Can you set it up to keep track of bills and pay our creditors?” and later still, “Can we do our own payroll?” All that gradually morphed into a part-time job that carried the grand title of ‘Bursar’.

Less-than-ideal working spaces weren’t uncommon - before the days of photocopiers we had a spirit duplicator and Irene Butterfield used it to run off the newsletter. It was housed in a small room off Whiting Hall (which is now the Middle School library) and more than once she was seen staggering out of the room due to a temporary overload of spirit fumes after running off a number of copies. In time, Jan joined us - first of all helping me with paperwork, filing etc together with mail collection and distribution then went to Junior school to do photocopying, attend the sick bay and serve as an admin assistant. She stayed for 18 years. Chris Maddock came on Board and relieved me of the accounting functions of the Bursar’s job and after a few changes of personnel, I’m now the builder who looks after Christian College’s major alterations and new building work.

Some things change, some stay the same… I’ve seen a lot of changes here - obviously the growth from under 100 students to more than 2000 now. When we started, things were on a very small scale and it took a lot of hard work and sacrifice on the part of many people to make the growth occur. I’ve seen a change from how much we appreciated things then to how we expect them now. Once upon a time we had to fight for everything – now that’s not the case. New staff, students and parents take where we’re at now as the starting point – they don’t know the struggles of the early days to get where we are. Back then we were small enough for everyone to know everyone else – and we were all part of those struggles. But what we should really celebrate is what hasn’t changed – our College philosophy of providing a Christian education for as many children as God brings to us, our outstanding pastoral care and our balance of care and curriculum.

After a while I needed some clerical help and Heather Carvill joined the team on a part-time basis. At first she was stationed in the passageway at the bottom of the stairs up to what is now the staff room. The glass wall between the main building and the chapel didn’t exist and the doors were sliding doors. Every time they opened all her papers blew off the desk!

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CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

The Brewster family - rear L-R Stephen, Paul, Mark (partner of Alison), front L-R Jan, Maiko with Kylie, Alison, Catherine with Ewan, Hayden (husband of Catherine)

The right place to be

A snapshot of Jan’s highlights and memories

In all my years here, I’ve felt like it’s where I ought to be and need to be. I can’t imagine life without Christian College. In retrospect all that I have ever done prior to that has prepared me for doing what I’m doing for Christian College.

• Meeting the Principal in a tiny room in the north wing when we ﬁrst decided to send our children to Christian College - at the time there were 70 kids in the school

I’ve worked in a few places where it was really important to watch your back – a distraction which aﬀected work ethic and satisfaction. Christian College is exactly the opposite – other people watch your back for you and give support when necessary.

• Sewing house ﬂags to hang on the walls and later on making loads of banners for the music stands for the bands.

There have been many highlights – obviously the purchase of the buildings, but then the gradual addition of more campuses including the bold step of opening the Back Creek Farm campus. One of the early things I remember fondly is visiting state schools in the area at the end of each year to collect their unwanted furniture, which we could renovate and use ourselves. Another example of an a frugal approach was when we interviewed Bob Seaton for the Head of Science position, told him he had the job and then I asked him if he could bring his own desk.

• The camaraderie of all the families having working bees to do things around the school

• Cooking lunch for prefects’ meetings which were held weekly in the boardroom with Mrs Prosser • The excitement when we knew we had succeeded in the purchase of the beautiful old St Augustine’s buildings • Fond memories of plays and functions in the hall at Middle School which has long since been converted into art rooms • Having one school bus and Mr Riddle was the driver • The big kids playing with, and looking after, the little kids • The school fairs and ﬁreworks • The family feeling at Junior School, which was much smaller than now • The many Japanese students we’ve hosted over the years.

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CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

Alison Brewster Inspired by teachers to become a teacher Alison Brewster started at Christian College at Williams House in 3-year-old kindergarten in 1991 then moved on to the 4-year-old room in 1992 and into Prep in 1993, graduating in 2005. I have very fond memories of Christian College. I was lucky to have the most wonderful Junior School teachers - Jeannine Riddle, Justine Stephen, Annie Spence and Violet Novochevski. These ladies are the reason why I am a teacher now. They inspired me and showed me the lasting impact a teacher can have on a child. The Music Department also played a large role in my schooling life, especially during secondary school. The many memories of excursions, camps and outings with friends were always highlights. I became an instrumental music teacher, teaching flute for five years at Christian College, across all four campuses, including the entire time I studied my Bachelor of Teaching at Deakin University, Christian College prepared me for life beyond school through giving me the resilience, self-esteem, knowledge, communication skills and ambition to keep going through all situations. Adult life isn’t as perfect as a teenager perceives it may be, and Christian College gave me the resources to cope when I left school and finally went out into the big wide world.

My family and the College family Christian College is a special place for the Brewster family because it has always been a home away from home for us. For me, my whole family was at the one campus when I began school. It is one of my fondest memories going to school in Prep and having my mum and dad just across the yard in the administration building along with my sister and brother in secondary school. Catherine and Stephen always came to find me during lunchtime to make sure I was happy and having a great day, or to see if I wanted anything from the canteen. Both Mum and Dad were only a sneaky walk/run down the hallway away too, and it seemed Mrs Prosser, Mr Riddle or Mrs Butterfield always managed to catch me regardless of how quiet I was being. I have so many memories of all the wonderful people who have worked with and around my family at Christian College, it will always hold a special place in my heart. The school has been going for 40 years because of the strong educational philosophy and Christian faith that it values so highly. There is a certain ‘something’ that can be felt at the school, both as a student and as a teacher that no one can seem specifically describe in words. Perhaps it’s the community spirit, the school values or the everevolving pedagogy, but whatever it is, there’s a certain type of magic that happens at Christian College that continues to grow brighter each year.

Alison Brewster - Grad Pic 2005

Both Dad and Mum have dedicated the best part of their lives to the school from the very start when they enrolled Catherine and Stephen into the school to now, with dad working on/building the new music department. I remember when I was young, Mum even made all the banners for the music department music stands along with the silk banners that were hung up down the hallway outside Dad and Mr Riddle’s oﬃces. The little things that people don’t know about how the school started, where it came from, how hard people have worked to get it to where it is and how far it has come are really important for perspective and we should never lose sight of the gratitude owed to the longer-standing members of the College community.

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CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

Stephen Brewster That intangible essence Stephen Brewster started in 1986 at Christian College in Year 3, graduating in in 1995. Having studied Japanese at school, he lived and worked in Japan for 15 years and met and married his wife Maiko. They now have two children Kylie and Ewan. Kylie attends Christian College Junior School in Year 3. Stephen is a Year 7 Homeroom teacher and teacher of Japanese, English and Humanities at Middle School – Highton. It is often said that ‘there is something about Christian College’ - the essence, which people can’t quite put their finger on. Christian College was founded with love, a sound educational philosophy and a strong Christian faith and these have remained to this day, making it a one-of-a-kind school that I am very proud to be a part of. The thing that stands out to me as someone who has been both a student and a teacher here at Christian College is the effort that goes into creating good people - people who will make positive contributions to society. It is the care of the staff and their willingness to not look past the small things that help us to mould our students into good people. People who can make immediate impacts in their chosen fields.

A positive place to learn… There are not many teachers left at Christian College now who taught me but for any of them to hear my name and “teacher” mentioned in the same sentence might come as a shock. However, I feel a great debt to each of them for helping me to realise my place in the world and I am very happy to be in the position I am in now. I am able to give back.

Some of the most inﬂuential teachers for me were Mrs Carol Milton-Garner, Mrs Fiona Gardner, Mr Daryl Pobjoy Mr Peter Woods and the late Mr Norman McNess just to name a few. Of course there are many more, and it is teachers like this that, alongside our CEO Mr Daryl Riddle and long-time Vice Principal Mrs Gwen Prosser, who helped to create the essence of Christian College for me. My dad, Mr Paul Brewster, was also instrumental in the founding years of Christian College. He continues to work very hard to improve the College facilities across all campuses and this is something that brings me immense pride.

…and teach I actually started teaching at Christian College very shortly after graduating. I was employed by Mrs Fiona Gardner to work as an instrumental teacher in the music faculty. So, after graduating in 1995 I began teaching at Christian College in 1997, which continued for three years before I headed to Japan. I am currently teaching Japanese to Years 5 through 8 and Year 7 English and Humanities. I have also had the opportunity to be involved in many of the areas of our amazing exchange program, both Japanese and Indonesian, and I look forward to any future involvement I might have in the very program that gave me my first taste of Japan and its language. My role this year took a bit of a turn as I have had my own homeroom, 7B. This is something that I always wanted to do but the opportunity had not yet presented itself. But I am extremely passionate about it. Being that first point of contact for families and young people, having the continuity that you don’t get as a specialist teacher and really getting to know students and connect with families is something that I love. This year has provided us all with obvious challenges and if I have been able to provide even a little normality in terms of my homeroom students’ schooling, then that would make me very happy. The best thing about teaching here at Christian College is the interaction between staff and students. As teachers, in particular homeroom teachers, we are given the opportunity to really have a positive impact on our students’ lives. As a first year homeroom teacher at Christian College, 2020 has provided me with many wonderful memories that I will keep forever. I hope that the students of 7B feel the same way and I am very excited for the opportunity to work with more homeroom groups in the future.

Stephen Brewster - Year 6, 1988

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CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN COLLEGE Opportunities and growth

And a word from Kylie…

I think the things that stick out in my mind most about Christian College are the amazing opportunities the students have. As a student myself, two passions were always Japanese and music and the opportunities and experiences that I was given through these subject areas literally created who I am today. In particular, I remember 1994 being a particularly special year for me personally. The concert band went on a tour of Tasmania and I also went on the study tour to Naga Senior High School in Japan. For these opportunities, and the experiences and career paths that they have provided for me, I am truly thankful.

“I love my school because I get to make new friends and learn new things. My teachers don’t just teach me about the subjects but other things in life too. Like how to take care of yourself, how to be kind to other people and how to love God. I am especially looking forward to going to Middle School because my dad might be my teacher one day!”

When Maiko and I were looking at schooling for our daughter Kylie, it was a very natural choice that she would attend Christian College. Having been through Williams House, her transition to Junior School would be smooth, and knowing the quality of the staff and the care given at Junior School made it a very simple choice for us all. Our son Ewan has followed the same path through Williams House and is very excited to start Prep in 2021! Through my many years connected to Christian College, it has been amazing to see the growth of the school. When my sister and I first came here in ’86 we were students 71 and 72 (years prep through 10) and the entire school took up about a quarter of the Middle School campus. The property was mostly surrounded by empty paddocks and this campus looked drastically different to today. To see the College today is truly astounding and a tribute to the vision and commitment of Mr Riddle and the senior management team. All the best memories and experiences I have had at Christian College have come through opportunities I was given and to see that things like the Back Creek Farm experience have been added to the mix….wow, what lucky students we have here! I am positive that Christian College will thrive for many generations to come and I cannot wait to see what the future holds.

Stephen Brewster

Catherine Bell (Brewster)

One of our ﬁrst College Captains

After starting Christian College in Year 5 in 1986, I graduated from Year 12 in 1993, and that year I was privileged to share the title of first School Captain, along with my friend Scott McFadyen. Today, it looks like a very different place than it did when I started in 1986! My dad has actually had a lot to do with that, as he supervised the building and improvement works all this time and is still busy doing so even today! When I first walked in it was a big, windy and cold building that had definitely seen better days, but people’s kindness and the family atmosphere were really obvious. People genuinely cared about each other, which was lovely.

Catherine Bell

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CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN COLLEGE Happy memories One of my earliest memories is the school musical, Hot In The Furnace, which I think nearly the whole school participated in in some way! We also used to have whole school sports days, camping trips and other events, which are pretty special memories. The old swimming pool was one of my favourite places, it used to be outdoors before Dad created the beautiful SAC that is there now. It was freezing cold with no heating, but I was a great swimmer and I loved having a swim whenever I could. Mr Riddle’s famous bombing contests were always the last event at the swimming sports, and somehow, he always won. I remember one he did oﬀ the diving board that resulted in most of the mums and spectators getting drenched. They were NOT happy but all the kids thought it was hilarious! As more teachers and students arrived, the family atmosphere continued to grow. I’ll always remember the celebration day where classes were cancelled and everyone wore casual dress and a funny hat. We ate huge amounts of junk food and had a sausage sizzle to celebrate we had just purchased the building that is now known as Middle School. It was an amazing celebration, and the school seemed so huge it was hard to imagine it ever being full of people!

me to understand the importance of taking care of the people around me in the community and especially those less privileged than myself.

The CCG narrative Christian College is central to our family’s story because all three of the children studied there and both parents worked there - it’s been part of just about every dinner table conversation for as long as I can remember! I know that the values that Christian College holds and the importance they put on connecting with Christian love and caring for others is still a central part of school. I congratulate everyone at Christian College for reaching this incredible 40-year milestone! It’s an amazing place.

I was also really into music and it was great watching the Music Department develop over the years and all the talented Music teachers who helped us to play and sing - not just well, but with heart. School musicals and choir practice were always important to me, and for most of my years at Christian College I also studied guitar with two of my favourite teachers, Paul Armstrong and Ashley Ward. School Fetes were always fun. One year I was on the Japanese food stall and stayed up nearly all night with my lovely Mum, making hundreds of Yakitori chicken skewers, which sold really well, and many trays of red bean paste jelly, which no one bought!

Influences in later life When I think about Christian College over the years the main memories I have are of people pulling together to achieve something special, caring for each other, and always trying to do something fun or creative with whatever resources they had. It was also one of the only places I’ve experienced where prayer was a regular part of conversations, and seeking and striving to lead a good, purposeful Christian life was something we all did every day. I think this influenced the kind of work that I’ve ended up doing, which is often about helping people in organisations find their voice, perform better, lead with compassion and humanity, care for their staff, and make the world a better place. I think it’s also influenced the amount of volunteering and charitable giving that I do - I just feel disconnected from the wider community if I’m not reaching out in some way. Christian College helped

Catherine Brewster and Guitar teacher, Paul

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Carrigg - 1986

CELEBRATING 40 YEARS OF CHRISTIAN COLLEGE

Vicki Hayden

Amazing change

A CCG teacher across four decades I started teaching at Christian College in 1987 with a staff cohort of around a dozen and student enrolment of around 120. I began teaching year 7 and 8 Maths classes, and the following year took on SOSE - Studies of Society and Environment, which, in 2020 we now teach as two subjects called History and GEOS. I had five years of part time employment, which gave me the opportunity to see the youngest of my five children begin school, before taking on full time employment. As well as teaching Maths and SOSE, I taught all the primary Physical Education classes. During this time I introduced inter-school sport in association with Heathdale Christian College and Covenant College, running Swimming, Athletics and Cross Country Carnivals. This was the precursor to what we now know as the GISSA competition with schools within the Geelong area. As the school grew, I took on the role of Year 7 Homeroom teacher, which I did for many years. I was privileged to become Year 7 Coordinator for a couple of years, but realised that my passion was within the classroom, not the administration side. I had also thought that I would retire once my children had finished their schooling - of course this didn’t happen! Now being a Homeroom teacher in Year 8, I have been part of great teams working together to help students at this challenging time of their lives, building positive relationships whilst setting sensible boundaries.

Vicki Hayden in the

I have seen amazing change over the time I have taught at Christian College. From very small numbers to now over 2000 students spread over many campuses, including the Back Creek Farm. A highlight for me was the introduction of Staff retreats and the creation of 10 year plans with staff input. It was an opportunity to put forward ideas that reflected, and projected, the teaching and learning life of the College. Our first plan seemed to be a bit pie in the sky, however, amazingly, everything that had been put into this plan was achieved. No place is without its challenges and issues, Christian College included, but we have always placed everything we do based on the Christian worldview, which has helped to see our College grow and thrive. Putting the growth of our students in the academic arena, as well as the development of faith within the whole child, attracts families to our College. Christian College is a special place for me. Having been involved for such a long time; to be part of relationships between staff and students, and between staff, has been incredible - seeing long term relationships beginning and flourishing within and outside of the school has been a wonderful aspect of my time here. It is great to see past students in the community who willingly want to touch base with me and ask how things are going. I am always so impressed that we have been able to see our students grow into people who care about and for others, not just focussing on academic side of things. I believe this has been, and will continue to be, one of the real strengths of Christian College.

late 1980s

Vicki Hayden, 2020

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THE TWO OF US

Dan Harwood and Daryl Woods

Dan and Daryl are members of the Maintenance Team based at Middle School – Highton. Daryl, who has an intellectual disability, is the son of former Head of Middle School, Peter Woods and started working at Christian College in 1994. Dan joined the team 15 years ago and since then has worked closely with Daryl in a supervisory role - in Daryl’s words: “Dan keeps me in order – if I’m not doing my job, he’ll be right on my back.”

I work at the diﬀerent campuses, but Daryl’s mostly at Highton. If I need him to do something, I call him on the phone and he’ll get to where he’s needed. I keep an eye on him – you have to watch him sometimes, like at the Deb setup one year when he grabbed the microphone and started singing...I had to shut him up! (Big grin from Daryl). He’s such a good-hearted bloke, he’ll do anything for anyone, he’s always happy and he loves his work.

Dan

I think the best thing about working at Christian College is that you always feel valued, it’s like you’re part of a family. Your work is appreciated and there is plenty of good feedback. I’ve got no intention of going anywhere else soon - I don’t think I’d ever ﬁnd a better place to work.

Just about all the maintenance work here is done in-house. We’re a great team. My role is buildings maintenance. No two days are the same and that’s what I love about working here. My background is carpentry and joinery, so I do a bit of that sort of work, like refurbishing classrooms...more recently I’ve worked on the honour boards in the board room and have been doing some of the carpentry at the new Music Centre at Senior School, but there’s a lot of variety. I’m in contact with lots of different staff here and they’re all great people to work with. Before coming to Christian College, I was in a job for 24 years where I was on the tools 24/7, but here there’s always something different to do. Woodsy’s a great help, people mostly see him looking after the bins but he does other things too...helping out at events, setting up for Debs, sports days, looking after the workshop if the rest of the guys are out doing things...

Daryl

Dan’s good to work with, he and Eugene tell me what’s got to be done. They say Daryl, you need to look after the ‘stinky bins’, so I do the bins and help clean up. I like working here, the other guys are good to work with and the kids are good, they say hello, but I’ve got to make sure I keep doing my job. Dan looks after me. If I wasn’t doing my job, he’d chase me around the yard! I used to work at an egg farm and one day Mr Riddle said “Daryl, you’ve gotta come and work at Christian College,” so I came to work here. It’s a good place to work, I’m not going anywhere either.

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OUR NEW SENIOR CENTRE FOR MUSIC

Bring on 2021 Excitement among the Senior Campus Music Department is palpable as we anticipate next year’s move into our new, purpose designed and built, facilities. To be completed for the start of the 2021 school year, this facility will signiﬁcantly impact the teaching and learning programs across the breadth of Senior School Music studies and provide a new home for the ensembles and Music activities of the senior campus. But the beneﬁts will extend beyond that as we host events for Music students from all campuses, such as performance recitals, festivals, workshops, masterclasses with visiting musicians, and music examinations.

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The new Music Cen

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Artistâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Impression

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OUR NEW SENIOR CENTRE FOR MUSIC

Artist’s Impressions

Showpiece The Centre’s showpiece is the 160-seat rehearsal/recital auditorium which will provide a much-needed space for the program’s ensembles and solo performers. The Wind Symphony, Senior Strings, Senior Choir, Stage Bands and contemporary ensembles will have a rehearsal environment in which they can hear themselves play as well as those around them. The auditorium is an acoustically tuneable room providing appropriate acoustical treatment for soloists, groups of acoustic musicians, as well as amplified instruments and groups. There are also rooms and studios designed to cater for the broad range of activities undertaken in Music studies. For amplified contemporary music there are two isolated rehearsal rooms that feature a central recording room and ‘iso’ booth all built on sprung floors to assist in isolating the sound.

office is adjacent to the front doors, at the head of a wide, sweeping central corridor, which will allow the shifting of grand pianos and other large equipment from room to room, and students with large instrument cases will have an easy avenue through the facility. The Centre also has three instrumental teaching studios, significant storage spaces, a music library and resource room and a sunny central courtyard. Music staff will also be provided for with new offices, a meeting room, and staff room.

Two large classrooms also feature, which are ﬂexible in use in that they can serve an open foyer space for events and a green room for the auditorium. The main foyer will provide a gathering space for students/audiences and has a servery with a box oﬃce. The Music administration

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OUR NEW SENIOR CENTRE FOR MUSIC

Instrumental teaching studios

Rehearsal areas with sound isolation

Classroom/ greenroom

Foyer

Flexi classroom foyer

Courtyard

Rehearsal & performance auditorium Music, admin & oﬃces

Store & music library

Many students - vast offerings Our Senior students can study music performance, theory, composition, and music industry skills through the extensive suite of subjects offered at the Senior Campus. The College instrumental music program has over 700 musicians learning an instrument and playing in a wide-ranging ensemble program. These musicians will benefit enormously by having an opportunity to perform, rehearse and learn about music in facilities that are specifically designed to support, encourage, and enhance their work.

Fiona Gardner Director of Teaching & Learning - Music

We can’t wait to celebrate the opening of the Senior Centre for Music - 2021 cannot come quickly enough!

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THE FOUNDATION’S JOURNEY IS GAINING MOMENTUM

CCG Foundation – a Heart for our College Since our humble beginnings in 1980, Christian College Geelong has established a fine reputation as a provider of exceptional educational experiences for young people in Geelong and the surrounding areas. Back in 2014 the College began discussing strategies for making this educational experience available and affordable to as many young people as possible. Out of those discussions, in 2015, the CCG Foundation was born. The Foundation Board was established with members who have a heart for, and a close connection to, the College. Passionate people, all with a current or former connection to the College, stepped up to become involved. Michael Peck, our founding and current Chair, is a past parent, current grandparent, and current member of the College Board. Michael brings terrific leadership to the Foundation, with a great understanding of the College from many perspectives, wonderful business acumen, a passion for Christian education, and the ability to unite the team and connect with the wider community. Under Michael’s leadership the Foundation has begun to grow, with scholarship funds established, relationships with like-minded donors cultivated, and, importantly, the profile and purpose of The Foundation being clearly communicated to the community.

2020 – Big Events, Big Steps Forward The Foundation accepted the task of leading the 40th Anniversary Celebrations of the College in 2020 – in what can only be described as a most unusual year. We were blessed to hold two wonderful events in March – the sensational 40 Year Gala Dinner and a very meaningful Service of Thanksgiving and Celebration. These two events gave us the opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate all that has been, what is today, and what will be tomorrow thanks to God’s incredible blessings. This year has also allowed us to focus inwardly, with a review of the current position and, the future plans for the Foundation. We are aiming to strengthen our culture whilst remaining focussed on our Philosophy, Purpose, Mission and continuing to capture and share our story. A Strategic Plan is being developed that will enable us to continue to move forward hand in hand with the College. We welcomed Rev. Tim Edwards in the capacity of Foundation Manager at the start of the year. Tim has been instrumental in raising the proﬁle of the Foundation and being a key driver of the Foundation Review. In 2021 we will welcome a new member to our team in the role of Foundation Oﬃcer who will be working to engage with our Alumni, in addition to working closely with the Foundation Board and Manager to achieve our objectives.

In 2020 the Foundation has also driven the Clocktower Appeal and the soon-to-be-launched Music Centre Seating Appeal. The Clocktower Appeal has raised funds for the restoration and refurbishment of the Clocktower stairs and platforms to ensure future generations of College graduates experience the time-honoured tradition of climbing the Clocktower to sign a brick, leave their mark and ring the bell to signify their ﬁnal day of school. The Music Centre Seating Appeal gives the opportunity for members of the College community to purchase a seat in our new Music Centre performance space as an acknowledgment of the impact the music program has had on the lives of many students, past and present, and their families. As we look forward to 2021, the Foundation signs oﬀ this year with two closing comments.

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Thank you Linda Firstly, we lovingly thank, and sincerely acknowledge the incredible contribution of Linda Salamy, who retires at the end of this year. Linda has, in addition to her other role within the school’s Major Events Team, worked tirelessly for The Foundation since 2016 to oversee the administrative patterns, processes and systems required to support this endeavour. Without Linda, her capacity, her energy, and her positive attitude, The Foundation would not be set up for future fruitfulness, as it is now. Thank you Linda – may you and your family be truly blessed in this next season of your life.

Recommitting to our Goal And finally, The Foundation takes this opportunity to remind our community that we are honoured to work closely with the College on a daily basis, and we are pleased and excited to recommit ourselves to the goal of supporting the College in an effort to ensure that a Christian College education is available and affordable to all young people. We invite you to join us in this purpose.

Thank you. christiancollege.vic.edu.au

CHRISTIAN COLLEGE FOUNDATION

Thank you to the 2020-2021 Major Events Series Corporate Sponsors Our College believes transformative learning happens when you go ‘beyond the curriculum’. Each year the College Major Event Series provides students with experiences enabling the development of skills including problem-solving, self-management, collaboration, and communication. These events include the Musical/Drama Production, the Annual Music Evening, the Art, Technology & Design Extravaganza and the Presentation Balls.

2020 has indeed presented challenges none of us could have foreseen and we are yet to know the full impact this will have as we journey through the remainder of the year and into 2021. We continue to plan for our College Major Events albeit in diﬀerent forms. The Art Technology and Design Extravaganza will be presented as a virtual event, Campus Music Showcases and end of year Celebration Evenings will be streamed to the College community. The support of our Major Event sponsors for this year, both continuing and new, has assisted us to adapt and continue to share and celebrate the wonderful programs and opportunities experienced by our students. We cannot thank them enough for joining with us for 2020-2021.

Daryl Riddle OAM Chief Executive Oﬃcer

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drysdale village pizza

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att M t a Th g in rn a e L e ‘Th

ers’

Williams House Kindergarten and Day Care Middle School Highton Year 5 to Year 9

Butterﬁeld House Kindergarten and Day Care

/ ChristianCollegeGeelong

Surf Coast Campus Torquay Prep to Year 3 in 2021

Bellarine Campus Drysdale Prep to Year 9

Senior School Waurn Ponds Year 10 to Year 12

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Junior School Belmont Prep to Year 4