Dear Flinders community,

As we end Term One, we would like to take this opportunity to express our heartfelt thanks to each of you for making it a successful and rewarding term. We are immensely proud of the way our students have embraced their learning and engaged with the wider school community. Your hard work, dedication, and positive attitudes have made this term a memorable one.

As we head into the Easter break, it is important to remember the significance of this special time in the Christian calendar. Easter is a time to reflect on the sacrifice that Jesus made for us and to celebrate his resurrection. It is a time to be thankful for the love, hope, and joy that He brings to our lives.

As a Christian school, we believe it is important to teach our students the values and principles that are central to our faith. We believe that Easter provides us with an opportunity to share these values with our students and help them understand the true meaning of this special time.

We encourage you to take some time during the Easter break to reflect on the meaning of this season and to celebrate with your family and friends. We hope that you will find peace, joy, and hope during this special time.

Once again, we would like to express our gratitude for a successful Term One and we look forward to continuing to work together to provide the best possible learning environment for our students.

Blessings,

Andrew Watts
Head of Campus

EASTER CHAPEL

The Easter Chapel was huge.

More than 800 Prep – Year 12 students, many parents, lots of student input, a great presentation by Mr. Dave Hughes and then to cap it off, a ‘flash mob’ of sorts of students with (battery operated) candles then an Easter Egg hunt in the forest for the secondary students (even though the day was really warm and the eggs had started to melt…

A massive thank you to the staff and students who helped to make it ‘bigger than Ben Hur’.

During the up-and-coming school holidays, repairs are being conducted on the internal roads in the College. During this time cars entering the College will be detoured – please see the map below.

These works are quite complex and could take a third week to complete. We will update families if this impacts Week 1 of Term 2.

The College Office will be open 8 am – 4 pm Monday to Friday during the school holidays, excluding public holidays.

Please call 9785 0000 if you have any questions.

PST Interviews will be conducted during Week 2 Term 2: Monday 1st – Friday 5th May 2023

Families will receive a letter via email on Thursday 6th April. Please use your Surname and unique PIN to log into PTO and make your interview times.

PTO will be open from 9am on Thursday 6th April at 9 am until 5pm on Thursday 27th April 2023.

All interviews will be conducted via Zoom. Please follow the links below for video instructions on:

How to book your interviews using PTO

How to conduct your interviews via Zoom

Please note: Due to scheduled maintenance the PTO system will be unavailable for bookings on 11th April between 10 am and 4 pm.

Reception staff will be available to answer any queries during the Parent Student Teacher interviews by calling 9785 0000.

School Holiday Trading.

This is a friendly reminder to organise your winter uniform for Term 2.

Holiday Trading Hours

Monday 24th April - 12.00pm to 2.00pm

The 3 year old Kinder class, the Lorikeet class, have been learning about Easter through craft, stories and song.

We have learnt that Jesus is in our hearts and at Easter, he returned to us after being ‘taken away’.

Photos below: Decorating the bible verse John 3:16. Making Easter Egg ‘cups’ before dyeing eggs red as is Greek Orthodox tradition, which Mrs. A has brought to us. Threading beads onto ‘egg shaped’ wire to represent the Tomb where Jesus was laid.

Here at kinder we have been growing our own pumpkins.

The children have been watching them grow bigger each week and couldn't wait to pick the first pumpkin.

So much learning has come from growing our own pumpkins, sustainability, caring for the environment, mathematics and literacy. Mrs. Mendolia brought in her scales to weigh the pumpkins, the first on weighed 6.9kg. We even got to make pumpkin soup!

Please enjoy the photos below.

I trust you have a restful Easter break and reflect on the significance of this event. The celebration of Easter serves as a reminder of God's love and grace towards humanity and encourages Christians to live a life of faith and service, following in the footsteps of Jesus Christ.

This week we thank Ms. Tamlyn Paterson very much for her service at Flinders. Tamlyn is moving interstate to Queensland. Mr. Tom Pipella will be taking the class from the start of term two and we welcome Tom to Flinders.

Well done to our Grade 5 and 6 Lightning Premiership teams who competed against local schools on a wet and windy Friday. We came away with wins in basketball and softball and were runner-up in volleyball and cricket.

Adam Swain

Head of Primary

A couple of weeks ago our Grade 6 students undertook an education tour of our national capital.

Students had a wonderful time participating in a variety of programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage, and democracy.

The packed itinerary included visits to the Australian War Memorial, Parliament House, The Australian Institute of Sport and Sportex, National Museum, The Royal Australian Mint, Questacon, and the Museum of Australian Democracy!

The Australian Government recognizes the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education.

To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian government is contributing funding of $45 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs.

The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.

Some concerns have been raised about a small number of students bringing Prime drinks to school and so I thought it timely to give this outline:

What is Prime drink?

It's the brand name for products which are being marketed as sports hydration drinks. Here's a breakdown of the main products:

Prime Hydration:

A still, coconut water-based electrolyte drink that claims to be fortified with "BCAAs and vitamins". It is available for purchase in Australia through retailers and bottles have a disclaimer saying it's not suitable for children aged under 15.

Prime Energy:

A carbonated drink that contains 200mg of caffeine per 355mL can – double the Australian legal limit of caffeine per 100mL. This product is not available to purchase through retailers in Australia but can be bought through online marketplaces and resellers. The Prime website says it's not suitable for under 18s

Due to the age restrictions on these Prime products, I have asked that these drinks are not brought to school to consume - and particularly not to sell to other students.

Geoff Grace

Head of Secondary

THE START OF TERM 2

There is a Staff Day on Monday 24th April - No students

Students return on Wednesday 26th April

There will be a brief ANZAC service on Thursday 27th during the time we would normally hold Year level assemblies

On Thursday 28th there is also the Year 8 Medieval Day

During Week 2 we will hold a Service and Mission Secondary assembly with a focus on how we might look beyond ourselves to make a difference to others in the world – both near and far.

Week 2 is also Parent-Student-Teacher interviews (PSTIs). Information is being sent to parents about ow to book in for these Zoom interviews. Please make every effort to engage with this important feedback loop, particularly if you are aware that your child – whether in Year 7, Year 12 or anywhere in between – is struggling for whatever reason.

DURING THE TERM 1 BREAK

For students in Unit 1&3 subjects, we have opened a session on Wednesday 12th April from 9am – 11am.

This is the first Wednesday of the term holidays. Students will be informed of this opportunity to come to school on this day and get one of their SACs completed.

My prayer for the Secondary school community is that the deep significance and profound importance of the death and resurrection of Jesus might impact every student, every parent and every staff member here at the Carrum Downs campus.

Regards

Geoff Grace
Head of Secondary

YEAR 8 CAMP

87 Year 8 students headed to the Grampians last week for a full 5 day camp.

Many positive stories have been told about the way the students engaged in the program and stretched themselves out of their comfort zone as they went through the week.

I am very thankful for Ms Liemareff, Head of Flynn House, who headed the camp, capably supported by a team of excellent secondary staff.

THAILAND TRIP IN NOVEMBER/DECEMBER

I have sent some initial information to all Year 10-12 students about the proposed Thailand trip in late November/early December. There will be more information shared at the May 2nd Secondary Assembly. Applications will then be due by May 16th.

Geoff Grace

Head of Secondary

‘READY, RESPECT REWARD’ HOUSE CHALLENGE

The 3 week ‘pilot’ of the Term 2 Challenge finishes at the end of this week.

I am of the opinion that we tend to do better when striving for a positive outcome rather than simply avoiding ‘getting into trouble’. As such it is good to see students making an additional effort with uniform and their House/locker areas.

My goal is to see this continue into Term 2 as one of several efforts being made to continue to build a positive culture in each House and, by extension, across Secondary.

I have asked staff for feedback on this RRR Challenge. I shall also ask Student Leaders for feedback as well so that there is student engagement in the process.

FLYNN FUND RAISER – PYJAMA DAY

At the time of writing, this charity fundraiser is still in the future so I cant report back on the results of the Flynn fundraiser. What I DO know is that a lot of time and energy has already been invested by the Flynn House Leaders – students and staff – to make sure that this event is a success.

We are thankful to the Primary staff that they have been willing to include the Prep – Grade 6 students in this event.

Geoff Grace

Head of Secondary

On Thursday the 30th March Mrs Fishwick, Mr Mason Ms Frankel and the VCAL and VCE VM students from Year 11 and Year 12 made their way to Albert Park from Frankston train station. Students looked at the Health and Safety measures and procedures in place to protect participants and patrons over the course of the event.


Students visited all the car shows on display, old and new watched the Supercars’ warm up, watched the Porsche racing, took advantage of lots of freebies where the speeds of 140km an hour were loud – but not as loud as the F1 cars! The weather was warm and a great day for racing and some of the students even negotiated their way into the pits! Where they got a first hand perspective of all the safety measures in place.

Thank you to all players for expressing an interest to play on an after-school club team with Flinders Basketball. It’s very exciting to see the large number of students keen to join a Flinders Basketball team or continue with their basketball journey’s moving forward.

The growth in the number of teams we have playing in the Frankston / Westernport Basketball /Chelsea and Casey Associations is incredible and we’re really excited to be able to provide such opportunities to our players.

Teams are still in the process of being finalised. I hope you can appreciate that there are a number of factors that go into preparing our teams for competition. As a club we are working through teams to represent Flinders from U8’s through to U/21’s which is a massive task.

At Flinders Basketball, we understand that not all players are of the same skill level. The competitions we enter teams into cater for all levels and can accommodate players who are involved at representative level, as well as those players who are just keen to get an organised game.

We have a commitment with our Associations to place players of like skills in teams together, and consequently, all representative players will need to be placed in a team equivalent to that of their VJBL Grading. In forming teams, Flinders Basketball will comply with the various association’s rulings for representative players.

In fairness to all players, the skills assessments that took place, give players equal opportunity to be placed in a team that best suits them as players. Some teams may end up continuing as a team, while some existing teams may be short of players, and these sessions will help us place other interested players in the appropriate team based on their skill-level. As mentioned before, as our ballers move up an age group and division, so does the competitive nature of the teams and from top-age u10, our Flinders Basketball teams are aligned according to skill set wherever possible.

Parents will be notified of winter season teams by email in the last week of term OR first week of the holidays. Please do not email/call us as it just slows down the process having to respond to individual parents. Thank you for your patience in this regard.

Club Administration

Cindy and Natalie

I would like to take this opportunity to wish our Performing Arts Captain Alice Cooper, her sister Erin Cooper and alumni Lottie O’Hare every success in their forthcoming performance in A Million Dreams.

The three girls have been busy rehearsing twice a week for the last few months and it promises to be a great show. Performing through BATS Theatre Company, the show will be held at Cranbourne Community Theatre during the first week of school holidays.

The girls would love the support of our Flinders Community in the audience.

After a busy Term 1, the Music Department is planning for the first Have A Go Performance Night for 2023.

This will be held on the 11th May for all Instrumental & Vocal Students who wish to participate.

To register please email your full name, instrument or vocals and song title to Mrs Linda Harris at musiccarrumdowns@flinders.vic.edu.au

The Sound of Music

Rehearsals continue for The Sound of Music and the cast are developing their characters in preparation for their performance in June. I am now looking for parents interested in assisting with hair and make-up and costumes back stage and also those interested in selling encouragement awards in the foyer. Backstage helpers must have a WWCC and complete online training with the college.

Performing Arts Lessons

Mrs Mendolia and I are so impressed with our Musical Theatre and Drama students. The standard of performance has risen significantly from the start of Term and we are excited to see what Term 2 brings. We have 2 new spots available for new students and interested parents should email me for further information on Diane.ohare@flinders.vic.edu.au.

Flinders Got Talent

FGT will take place in E Block on Thursday 8th June at 6.00pm. This is an annual fundraiser for our secondary production, tickets will be available to purchase next term for $10 (adult) and $5 (child). Performers are free. Registrations will open at the beginning of next term for staff and students wishing to compete.

Trivia Night and Silent Auction

A reminder that our Trivia Night and Silent Auction will take place in E Block on Saturday 20th May.

Tickets will be available to purchase at the beginning of next Term. If you cannot attend the event please consider donating an item for our auction. We will have special performances throughout the evening from some of our students.

Congratulations

Congratulations to one of our Sound of Music cast members, Zoe Allison. Zoe auditioned for the forthcoming production of Cinderella with the State Youth Ballet Company and has successfully gained a role. We wish you all the best Zoe and cannot wait to see you shine on stage.

On behalf of the Performing Arts Team, I would like to wish everyone a safe and peaceful Easter Break.

Diane O’Hare
Performing Arts Co-Ordinator