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In this issue

School Captains Appointed for 2016 3

4 - 5

Cyber Parenting Seminar 6

7

Fred Hollows Award Winner 8

Year 9 Enrichment Day 9

Book Week 10 - 11

Stage 5 IST Excursion 12

Year 11 Business Studies - Students Excel at Business Planning 13

Refugee Mixed Media Portraits - Year 6 Art 14 - 15

City vs Country 16 - 17

Grandparents Day & Jump Rope For Heart Jump Off 18 - 19

CSSA Secondary State Triathlon 20 - 21

Year 9 Compassion Project - 22

Stage 5 Agriculture Wins Again 23

Wollongong Art Gallery Visit by Year 6 24

Year 5 - 8 Surf Education 25

Stage 3 see $$$ signs 26

Interest & Expert Groups Assembly 27

From the Green Room 28

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School Captains Appointed for 2016

On Tuesday, 3rd November at the weekly whole school assembly which had been moved from Monday, the school captains for 2016 were appointed.

Congratulations to Sandy Lowcock on his appointment to the position of Tongarra Captain, and Eden Williams on her appointment to the position of Tongarra Vice-Captain.

word and action. Both students have many plans for supporting the student community and will be seeking meaningful ways of enriching the life of our campus through our students. In their new roles, Sandy and Eden will be ambassadors for Tongarra at formal assemblies and community events.

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In weeks 8 and 9 of term, Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 travelled to the Kiama Leisure Centre for a quality swimming and gymnastics program.

where students can learn to be confident in the water. As our students explored the aquatic environment of the indoor heated pool, their progress and development was facilitated through the guidance of AustSwim trained instructors, along with Miss Jessica Yeo and Mrs Sian Barnes.

The Infants students also had the opportunity to experience and develop their skills in a range of gymnastic and aerobic activities. Our students learned to use the gymnastics equipment in a safe manner. They learned the importance of landing different jumps correctly, and how vital it is that

different aerobic activities in the Kiama Leisure Centre gymnasium, using equipment like balls and hoops.

Our students showed a great witness to the community in their programs, as they showed their dedication and faith through their words, actions and general demeanor. The Infants classes are to be congratulated on their fantastic behaviour throughout their swimming, gymnastics and aerobics programs.

We would also like to give a huge thank you to all the parents that attended the program, ensuring that all our students were safe in the pool as well as during gymnastics. You did a great job and we are very appreciative of your dedicated assistance throughout the two weeks.

A big thank you to Mrs Rowena Cornale, Mrs Brianne Eastman and Mrs Alison Mathie, for their assistance throughout the program and in assisting getting the students to and from Kiama Leisure Centre.

Mr Chesher Year 1 Teacher

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Cyber Parenting Seminar Brought to you by the Tongarra Campus Committee

On September 12th, our Campus Committee hosted a 2 hour seminar and workshop on Cyber Parenting. Authors of Cyber Parenting - Raising your Kids in an Online World, James and Simone Boswell, updated us on what is needed to know about technology and how it impacts families. But more importantly, they discussed timeless parenting principles that help mums and dads teach their kids how to live out their faith online and stand firm when the physical and digital

worlds collide.

This was a well attended event, with everyone leaving with a greater understanding of the dangers of the digital world and what is necessary as a parent to protect our children and students.

The feedback from all those attending was astounding with most wanting us to hold this event again so that they can invite others. As a Campus Committee we will be considering this request so watch this space.

James and Simone have their own

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CyberParentingBook/. Advice, upcoming events and links to articles are often shared on this page, so make sure you like their page.

To make sure you are kept up-to-date with all that is happening with the

Campus Committee, please like our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/tongarracampuscommittee

Mrs Scherlowski Tongarra Campus Committee member

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Students had the opportunity to spend some quality time with their dads, or other family members that were able to attend.

Some of the activities that were enjoyed by the students with their fathers included: board games and reading books in the Learning Hub, ball games on the Primary playground, playing on the play equipment next to H block and eating of some afternoon tea in the Hub Spot.

Thank you to all the fathers, and other family members, that were able to make this event, and spend time with their children program.

It was a great time to see dads playing soccer and football with the students, even some in their suits! It was a real encouragement for both staff and students alike.

A special thanks to Mrs Brianne Eastman, for preparing the food for the afternoon tea the party

pies, sausage rolls and hot dogs really were tasty!

Mr Chesher Year 1 Teacher

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Fred Hollows Award Winner 2015 - Alicia Rowe

showing care and compassion for others. I was honoured to go to State Parliament to receive this award. Mum and Dad took me there. The awards were presented by Gabby Hollows (Fred's widow) and the Premier Mike Baird. There were ninety-seven students presented and one recipient was awarded the Junior Ambassador of the year. It was a great day and I was proud to represent my school.

Alicia Rowe, Year 6

The students in Year 6, 2014 and 2015, have supported the provision of cataract eye operations in

poor communities by raising money for the Fred Hollows Foundation.

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Year 9 Enrichment Day

On Tuesday, 14 October, eight students selected from Year 9, travelled with Mr Walker to North Sydney to take part in an enrichment and extension day. The purpose of the day was to give talented students a variety of topics and areas of interest to choose from,

and then present engaging and challenging seminars on them. Students could use the day to explore their passions and to see how to use their talents to glorify God.

Some of the workshops that our students attended included: Why God? Film Making, Game Making, Bridge Building and Creative Writing. All in all, the students found this a

productive and enjoyable day. Sarah was particularly impressed by the creative writing seminar, which featured author, Scott Monk. The boys were able to build on what they have learnt in class with Mr Babbage, in order to create a computer game. Tatum and Georgia, learnt some of the intricacies and techniques involved in film making. All students represented their school tremendously on the day.

The students that attended were: Tatum Barrington, Georgia Ahearn, Sarah Hawkins, David Cuthbertson, Ben Markoulis, Andrew Barnett, Koby Fulton and Lachlan Clarke.

A huge thank you goes to Catherine Fairbairn, for organising the excursion and working with some

of our talented students.

Mr Walker English/History

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BOOK WEEK 2015

Jesus as the Light of the World.

Students participated in Book Week activities in their classes and also by attending the visit in the Hub, from the Warilla Library. They performed

A special thank you to the parents and grandparents who braved the

awful weather on our parade day.

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Thank you to Warilla Library for once

again entertaining us this year for

Book Week!

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Stage 5 IST Excursion

On Wednesday, 26th of August, 16 students from the Stage 5 IST class visited a selection of companies and businesses specialising in game and software development. These businesses, located in and around Sydney, included Big World Gaming, AIE Animation Studios and 3rd Sense. The purpose of this day was to improve our knowledge and understanding of game and software development. Our Semester Two major task was to create a game that fit into the requirements needed to upload to the app store, and this excursion enabled us to learn about the different aspects of game design.

First on our agenda was Big World Tech/WarGaming.net, a gaming development company. We were taken on a tour around their headquarters in Ultimo. We learnt about their international successes in the gaming industry and what it takes to make a global enterprise.

After we departed from WarGaming, we travelled to AIE Animation Studios, also in Ultimo, where we received a brief course in computer game development. We were given the opportunity to use Unreal Engine 4, a program designed to make game-making easy.

After our brief but beneficial visit to AIE, we travelled to North Sydney where we stopped by our final destination, 3rd Sense, an app developing company. This visit was the most useful for us, as our task was to create a game suitable for the app store. This company provided us with a presentation about what it takes to make a game and the qualities it should have.

Overall, the day proved to be very profitable, and we arrived home with a greater

understanding of game making and software developing.

The Students who attended were: Andrew Barnett, Lachlan Clarke, David Cuthbertson, Koby Fulton, Jeremiah Lothian, Benjamin

Markoulis, Ricardo Rivas, James Aldridge, Katherine Barker, Benjamin Cathcart, Kirralea Cunningham, Emily De La Torre, Aydan Fitzgerald, Jack Galbraith, Zachary Kennedy and Alexandra White.

We want to thank Mr. Babbage for all of the hard work and effort he put into this excursion to make it a beneficial day for us.

Alexandra White and Katherine Barker Year 10

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Year 11 Business Studies

Students excel at Business Planning

Congratulations to Holly Waples, Joy Chayna and Teah Fulton, who attended the NSW Awards Presentation for the CPA Australia Plan Your Own Enterprise Competition.

Holly, Joy and Teah worked throughout Term 3 on a team entry for the competition, and were selected as one of five finalists from students across NSW in the group division. Holly, Joy and Teah

gave a short presentation summarising their business plan, and had the opportunity to meet students from other schools who also excelled.

The fantastic achievement of Holly, Joy and Teah follows in the footsteps of previous finalists from our school in the individual division: Natalie Cunzolo (finalist, 2014); Kiarnay Smith (runner-up, 2014); and Tabitha Bellino (finalist, 2011).

Mrs Brennan Business Studies

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Refugee Mixed Media Portraits, Year 6 Art

During Term 3, Year 6 learnt about immigration to Australia and our refugee program. In order to honour God, and have a heart for this complex world wide issue, our unit of study began with a guest speaker from SCARF- Strategic Community Assistance to Refugee Families (www.scarf1.org.au)

Sharyn Mckenzie, explained that the group was formed from a

friendship group of Christians that believed we are called to put our faith into action by helping those less fortunate than ourselves. Sharyn also brought Princess along, a Year 11 student from our Cordeaux campus. Princess came to Wollongong from a refugee camp in Ghana a few years ago. The class listened with a mature and attentive attitude, and had the opportunity to ask Princess questions at the end.

Following this visit, students selected a refugee to profile for an

artwork.

The process involved:

1. Researching their story focussing on: What life was like in their country of origin? How did they journey to their new life? How life is for them now in Australia?

2. Students downloaded their portraits into an iPad app called, Adobe Ideas. They were

3. This image was then printed off and cut out. Then it was pasted onto the canvas board.

4.

5. These symbols, images and background colours where then placed onto the canvas board using a variety of medias.

From this experience, students have a deeper understanding and compassionate heart for the complex issue of refugees. They have learnt that the role of the artist is often to respond to the

world around them.

Mrs Gillett Art Teacher

Grace K

Jasmine H

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Anna I Alicia R

Josiah A Darcey W

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City vs Country

Underdogs pipped at the post...

On the last day of Term 3, the annually held City vs Country, was a remarkably tight affair between ourselves and Cordeaux. With results being traded back and forth throughout the day the overall result was not certain until the final few events, Cordeaux prevailing 6-5 wins. With Cordeaux having won the contest on the previous three occasions, and having a larger drawing pool of students, it was a terrific effort for our students to have made the contest so close. Well done in

particular to our Yr 5-6 Netball team for their outstanding win.

The full results are as follows:

My thanks goes to all the students who trained and prepared diligently for City Vs Country, along

with the respective coaches who put in time and effort to ready their teams. Thanks to Mr Cleall and Mr Fogerty, for helping prepare the field for play, and to Mr Kime and Mr Clifford from Cordeaux, for organising Primary and Secondary students to come and play against us.

I am genuinely thankful to God for these people and their efforts. As well as for the parents and family members that attended and helped to make the atmosphere of City Country 2015 a fun, community and God honouring event.

Mr Graham PDHPE /Secondary Sports Coordinator

Event Tongarra Cordeaux

Yr 3 - 4 Netball 2 16

Yr 3 - 4 Football/Soccer 1 0

Yr 5 - 6 Netball 17 9

Yr 5 - 6 Football/Soccer 0 3

Primary Chess 1 2

U15 Girls Touch 1 3

U15 Boys Football/Soccer 1 0

Open Girls Football/Soccer 1 0

Open Boys Football/Soccer 0 0

Mixed Volleyball 3 0

Mixed Tennis 2 3

Mixed Chess 2 3

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JUMP ROPE FOR HEART Jump Off

On Thursday 22 October, there was a great buzz about our campus and lots of excitement in the hall. There

cooking up a storm and the Year 6 students having a Science lesson with eyeballs, to prepare them for high school? No, they were all involved in an amazing display of skills and teamwork, performing their choreographed skipping or jumping routines for well over one hundred and seventy people.

-6 students. Guests enjoyed a morning tea followed by the P-6 performances and then spent some time with students in their classrooms or in the Learning Hub. Lots of fun was had and special memories created, as

students played board games, drew or read with their grandparents.

The skipping/jumping performance concluded the Jump Rope For Heart Program, that students had participated in during Term 3. As a part of the program, students learnt about people whose lives have been affected by Heart Disease, including Mr Maina and a young boy called Ethan, who was undergoing heart

surgery during the program. The students prayed for Ethan and raised money through the Jump Rope For

that they can make a difference through prayer and by serving others through an activity such as Jump

Rope For Heart.

Our students raised a total of $4,944.77 to support the Heart Foundation. Thank you to all staff and students, who worked hard throughout the program to make this possible. A special thank you goes to everyone who

Jump Rope for Heart.

Staff were delighted to see that as a result of the Jump Rope for Heart Program students had the opportunity to develop leadership skills, teamwork qualities, became fitter and more skilled (including younger students who could not skip at the beginning of the program). Students learnt to skip along with a

few basic tricks.

If you missed this remarkable event, you missed out on seeing Prep students displaying jumping skills and pre-skipping skills, and other students demonstrating short rope individual and partner skills, single long rope skills and

part in the performance by contacting Mr Chesher (Yr 1). He will be able to locate your child on a video and show it to

arrange to watch it in the comfort of the Green Room?

Mrs Barnes P - 2 Coordinator

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CSSA Secondary State Triathlon

On Friday, 16 October, six students from Yr 7 and 8 travelled to Penrith to compete in the CSSA

State Triathlon. In the morning was the Individual component of the day, where students competed in all three legs by themselves (swimming, cycling and running). The afternoon held the Teams Event, where three students joined up to tackle one each of the legs.

Caleb Walker (7), Jeremiah Jabbour (8) and Thomas Knight (8), all took part in the Junior Boys Individual event and were all outstanding in their own way. Caleb was in 7th place at the end of the swim, although he was 3rd until he took a small detour! Thomas moved up ten places on just the cycle alone, to finish in 4th place. Jeremiah overcame a sluggish swim leg, to power home on both the ride and the run, to finish 7th overall.

comprised of Caleb Walker (swim), Boston Dempsey (cycle) and Josh Monie (run). The Yr 8 team comprised of Thomas Knight (swim), Jeremiah Jabbour (cycle) and Ethan de Jong (run). Both teams performed exceptionally well, especially as the thermometer had reached 35°C by lunch

rd place going to our Yr 8 team. Our Yr 7 team was not far behind finishing in 15th.

Well done to all the students who competed! Particularly for their co-operation and effort on the day, as well as for their training and preparation, all

of which was crucial in helping us to have such a

more individuals and teams competing!

Mr Graham PDHPE /Secondary Sports Coordinator

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Year 9 Compassion Project -

On Wednesday, 14th of October, the Year 9 compassion fundraiser for Samaritan's Purse "Turn On the Tap" was a huge success. All the Nachos and poppers sold out! The total amounted to $283.80 which was beyond our goal of $250. For the Year 9 class groups (and some teachers) it was a very busy and stressful day to set up everything, to gather the ingredients, cook the food, sell the Nachos and poppers to both Primary plus Secondary and pack up everything.

At the Primary stall, the Nachos quickly sold out and some of the people working at the stalls had to wait for the new trays of Nachos to come.

to raise money for the people in Mexico or Cambodia to have clean water to drink.

Year 9 and Mrs Deans, Mr Graham, Mr Thomas and Mrs Brennan

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Stage 5 Agriculture Wins Again

Congratulations to the Stage 5 Agriculture students, who entered and won the Cows Create

Careers competition. This event is run by Dairy Australia, who wanted to get more students involved in the dairy industry.

Our students had to care for the calves by daily feedings and weighing as well as checking water, topping up their feed and cleaning out the old straw.

the students set to work on the competition entries that were to be marked. The students produced a

interactive poster or a video.

The competition took the best four teams from each school. Tongarra students were able to beat thirty other schools, from Ulladulla to the Far North Coast of NSW. They took out the top prize winning the senior school section for the second year in a row. In addition, they were able to win five hundred dollars

which was a welcomed addition to the agriculture department.

Mr Imisides congratulates his students and thanks them for their creativity and hard work to trump so many other schools in NSW. Well done Stage 5 Agriculture.

Mr Imisides Agriculture Teacher

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Wollongong City Art Gallery visit by Year 6

This term Year 6 had an excursion to the Wollongong City Art Gallery to view the exhibition, 'A Road

artworks of the region that focus on roads and tracks. The students were very well behaved and the gallery lecturer commented on how engaged they were.

On our journey to the gallery, we stopped on Marshall Mount to photograph the valley. This will form the basis of a group painting for this term.

identify good and bad elements of development for our Calderwood Valley.

Following are a number of comments students made about the excursion:

- Jess

- Stubzy

- Jasmine

- Anna

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Year 5 - 8 Surf Education

While the beach is a favourite place for many of us to visit (especially during the summer months) each year 34 people die swimming at Australian beaches. That's why it was so exciting to have all students from Years 5 to 8 participate in a surf education program early in Term 4.

Students listened carefully to a presentation at school on identifying and locating rips at the beach. They asked many questions (lots related to sharks) to further their understanding of what the beach and surf are like.

The second component of the program, saw students heading down to Shellharbour beach to get some hands on training in beach safety skills. Students

participated in rip identification and practiced what to do if they were to be caught in a rip. Students also had the opportunity to catch waves on surf paddle boards, body surf and become more confident negotiating waves as they come to the shore.

Stay safe this summer, swim between the flags, apply sunscreen every two hours, and if you're caught in a rip, don't fight against it, call for help.

Mr Graham PDHPE /Secondary Sports Coordinator

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Stage 3 see $$$ signs!

Stage 3 students (Year 5/6) recently attended a Start Smart banking presentation by the Commonwealth Bank. Marica Tardic, visited the school and really enthused the group as she laid out the possibilities of imaginative, sound and sensible money management. The students were excited as she presented before them what is possible as they grow older in using money wisely, and looking for imaginative housework and neighbourhood work opportunities.

They were shown how we need to budget and plan wisely for saving, and the things that money can

buy. The group were excited and lots of talk was generated as they discussed the potential opportunities. We also talked about godly stewardship of money as Christian people and how we can bless others.

Marica encouraged them to think widely and plan for their future. The talk was full of exciting ideas and potential future ways to build a sound financial base.

Here's what one member of the group said:

Mr Maina Year 6 Teacher/Primary Coordinator

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Interest and Expert Groups Assembly

On Friday, 9 October, parents and grandparents were treated to a display of the activities that had been done in our Interest & Expert Groups during Term 3.

The Card Making and Wool Craft groups showed their skills via a Power Point presentation. The Digital Writing group was represented by Alex Gregory and Oliver de Jong, who explained what they had been required to do. They then showed one of the results, a digitally animated story, narrated by Oliver.

Some of the boys from the Sport group invited group members to demonstrate kicking, throwing and Frisbee tossing skills. Awards were then given to students who have extensive skills in their chosen area and readily assisted others, as well as to students who used their time well and demonstrated improvement.

Mrs Sian Barnes took the opportunity to hand out special character and academic awards to students from K-6 during this assembly.

Well done to all our students!

Mrs Heather Morton Yr 3 Teacher

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From the Green Room......

21st Century Skills at ICS Tongarra.

There is a great deal of debate across the globe about what constitutes learning into the 21st century. While the specific skills may be defined, categorised and determined very differently from one person to another, one school to another and one society/culture to another, there is a broad agreement or consensus among educators.

It is generally agreed that teachers and students will need to develop a range of specific skills to take them into the future. One list I looked through from 'Education Reform' encompasses the following:

Critical thinking, problem solving, reasoning, analysis, interpretation, synthesizing information

Research skills and practices, interrogative questioning Creativity, artistry, curiosity, imagination, innovation, personal expression Perseverance, self-direction, planning, self-discipline, adaptability, initiative Oral and written communication, public speaking and presenting, listening Leadership, teamwork, collaboration, cooperation, facility in using virtual workspaces Information and communication technology (ITC) literacy, media and internet literacy, data

interpretation and analysis, computer programming Civic, ethical and social-justice literacy Economic and financial literacy, entrepreneurialism Global awareness, multicultural literacy, humanitarianism Scientific literacy and reasoning, the scientific method Environmental and conservation literacy, ecosystems understanding Health and wellness literacy, including nutrition, diet, exercise, and public health and safety

To this list we would certainly add developing and expanding a Christian worldview and seeing these actual skills through the lens of a Christian worldview based on a Christ centred life.

How you as parents and we as educators go about the task of confronting this list must be a subject for ongoing discussion and planning.

Look through the list. How are you as a family developing these skills in your children? Are you

talking to them about these types of things. Are you encouraging these skills by the way you parent? Are you showing your children by the way you live that you value these varied skills?

Parenting can be a whirl, often dictated by the 'immediate' and sometimes 'sheer survival' but it would certainly benefit us all if we are more proactive and intentional about these things. Our role is to support you as parents in partnership, as you raise your children. The school's leadership are thinking about these important areas and ways that we, as a school, can meet this challenge.

Let's start thinking about them now in the light of Colossians 1:17 - He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

Mr Greg Maina Year 3 - 6 Coordinator