Adventist Education

HILLS ADVENTIST COLLEGE

While school students are finishing their eighth week in Sydney’s lockdown and year 12 are in the midst of their HSC, local Hills school captains and principals were asked by Hills Shire Times.

Hills Adventist College principal, Carlie Deppeler, said “This is such a difficult time for everyone, and I would like to encourage parents in this journey, and recognise the amazing job they are doing to support their children’s learning, emotional wellbeing and physical needs all while trying to manage their own workloads, anxieties and general wellbeing.

HURSTVILLE ADVENTIST COLLEGE

Lockdown hasn’t stopped Hurstville Adventist School from worshipping! Every morning at 9am our school joins on zoom together to sing and praise God. Our chaplain Miss Cassie leads 130+ students and their families in singing, dancing and worshipping God.One of the parents wrote about Hurstville and said…..

“We are so very thankful that we are part of the HAS school community. I also love worship every day, it is such an amazing way to keep the whole school connected in these times. So the biggest shout out to everyone at HAS and to you for your leadership through these times, thank you from the bottom of our hearts.” (Rebecca Kant)

A big shout out to our amazing Chaplain Miss Cassie for uniting our school through Jesus, for taking the time to connect with parents on zoom, and being a light for our community in uncertain times.

Carlie Deppeler’s top tips:

1. Have compassion for yourselves and for others – adjust your expectations as we all learn together what our children and ourselves are capable of in this environment. Some days, and for some students, just attempting a task might be a reason to celebrate.

2. Celebrate the positive – Ask your child or yourselves every week “What have you done this week that you are proud of?”

3. Find structure – Children of all ages and many adults thrive with structure, so find a way to create a sense of certainty in the day, even when the world around us seems so uncertain and unpredictable.

4. Find some time for fun – While so many of the ways we create memories with our families are not possible right now, it is important we try and create our own positive family memories of lockdown by playing games, creating a family challenge or just getting outside and exercising together.”

SYDNEY ADVENTIST SCHOOL AUBURN

For over a decade, the ADRA Community Care Centre in Blacktown has been providing support to some of the most vulnerable people in Sydney’s western suburbs. The student representative council ran the fundraiser for all classes.

On the 25th of June, the students and families from Sydney Adventist School Auburn rallied together and donated food to help ADRA with the vital care that they provide the vulnerable in our city.

MACARTHUR ADVENTIST COLLEGE

From delivering school learning packs to navigating the everchanging lockdown restrictions, it has been an incredibly tumultuous season at Macarthur Adventist College. However God has been faithful. Our chaplains and wellbeing team have worked extremely hard with an emphasis on the spiritual and emotional wellbeing of students and staff. We’re very fortunate to stay connected virtually.

MOUNTAIN VIEW ADVENTIST COLLEGE

Mountain View Adventist College’s Director of Studies, Melissa Jardine has been at the coalface of preparing the Year 12 students for the revised examination format. Communication has been the key in supporting everyone through this challenging time.

“Together as a leadership team we have made it a priority to prepare the students for not only what lies ahead between now and the end of the year, but also to set them up for success for a life beyond the school gate” Mrs Jardine commented.

EDUCATIONWAHROONGA ADVENTIST COLLEGE

Hallelujah! Music events such as Hymn Praise and The Sydney Eisteddfod provide students with an invaluable opportunity to rehearse and perform in a professional environment. The musicianship and understanding of music extraordinarily improves in a way that can’t be easily replicated. Recently, the senior string ensemble at Wahroonga Adventist School were due to perform at the Sydney Eisteddfod. Rather than cancelling the event, the organisers took the event online. The school was fortunate to be able to film the students performing last term and were thrilled to receive a highly commended in their category.

“This is a first for the school and were thrilled to receive the accolade. It is rewarding to see the dedication to excellence from the students and teachers being acknowledged” noted Kristina Vuceski, Head of Department – Creative and Performing Arts at Wahroonga Adventist School.

In addition, held in June this year, HymnPraise gave the various soloists and music ensembles at Wahroonga Adventist School the opportunity to perform whilst experiencing Glorifying God and using their talents to serve him.

CAPE/CASE 2021

The GS Education team had plans to bring all their school staff, over 400, together for their annual Spiritual retreat and Professional Development days in July 2021. Bankwest stadium had been booked with a face-toface program designed to refill their "spiritual cup", engage in collaborative discussions, and unite to focus on company mission and goals.

However, due to changing COVID restrictions in Sydney this event had to be converted to recorded content which we had hoped to have shown, and engaged with, at each school – abiding by the 1 per 4 square metre rule. However, due to further lockdown restrictions our content had to be delivered remotely, to staff working from home or in classrooms. There was much disappointment as staff had been looking forward to spending time together as a conference – we have not been able to hold this event together since 2018!

However, our Sydney schools rallied together and worked hard to balance the online content with current restrictions and find ways to continue to engage and collaborate with our staff. Through the use of technology, which we have been blessed with, our schools were able to find ways to deliver this content to our employees remotely, whilst still interacting; holding "virtual meetings" to discuss the IMPACT they all have on each other, their students and their communities.