Parenting Insights – Being an askable parent

In a recent conversation, a 16 year old told me how he’s enjoyed some great conversations with his father since the COVID-19 pandemic. What I heard from this young man was that his father is not just an affable person but also a very ‘askable’ parent.

The young man told me that he could talk to his dad about anything, which I suspect would be music to his father’s ears. I imagine that many parents would love to hear their kids say that about
them. The notion of being a parent that young people can discuss personal problems with and seek answers to some of life’s bigger issues such as politics, religion and sexuality has been a source
of personal reflection and study over many years.

While young people can be notoriously secretive about what’s on their mind, parent attitude and behaviour certainly impacts on their willingness to communicate. The following strategies will
maximise your chances of being seen as an askable parent in your young person’s eyes:

Be there
Proximity aids communication and relationship-building. The more time you spend in close proximity to a young person the more likely you are to have meaningful conversations.

Be attentive
Pay close attention when a young person starts a conversation or asks a question, as they are easily put o

Listen without judging or advising
Giving unsolicited advice is a sure-fire way to prevent young people confiding in you. Young people are more likely to discuss personal matters and difficult subjects if they know their thoughts and feelings won’t be judged adversely or that they’ll be deluged by advice. The use of Ahh statements (“Ahh, so that’s what’s bothering you?”) is great way to show young people that you are listening without judgement or advice.

Be prepared to challenge
There are times when you need to challenge the validity of a young person’s views, their behaviour or the values they express. Misinformation, disrespectful attitudes and revelations about unsafe behaviour need to be discussed rather than ignored or criticised. It’s wise to pick a time and a place that’s likely to promote rational discussion rather than responding when emotions are high.

Engage in banter
Respected Australian educator Dr. Tim Hawkes writes in his book Ten Conversations you must have with your son that lighthearted banter is a prelude to more serious discussions. Not only does banter build relationships but it gives parents’ permission to discuss thorny or personal issues with kids. At a time when a parent’s voice is easily drowned out by increased media and digital noise, it’s more important than ever to connect with a child or teenager on a personal level. Being an askable parent will help you build deeper connections with the young person in your life.

By Michael Grose.

Michael Grose, founder of Parenting Ideas, is one of Australia’s leading parenting educators. He’s the author of 12 books for parents including “Spoonfed Generation” and the best-selling

“Why First Borns Rule the World and Last Borns Want to Change It”. His latest release Anxious Kids, was co-authored with Dr Jodi Richardson

Term 2 Date Claimers

Date Claimer Term 2, 2021 These dates are intended as a guide and are subject to change. Please consult the College Calendar on the App …

view ARTICLE

Term 2 Date Claimers

Date Claimer Term 2, 2021

These dates are intended as a guide and are subject to change. Please consult the College Calendar on the App for the most recent, up to date details.

Thursday 22 April Prep- Year 2 ANZAC Day Service
  Year 3-12 ANZAC Day Service
Sunday 25 April

Monday 26 April

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day Public Holiday

Tuesday 27 April Year 7-12 Parent Teacher Interviews
  Prep-Year 2 Fun Run
Wednesday 28 April Year 7-12 Parent Teacher Interviews
Thursday 6 May Primary Mother’s Day Morning Tea & Art Show
Tuesday 11 May Year 3,5,7,9 NAPLAN
  P&F Meeting
Wednesday 12 May Year 3,5,7,9 NAPLAN
Thursday 13 May Year 3,5,7,9 NAPLAN
Friday 14 May Year 3,7,9 NAPLAN
Tuesday 25 May Secondary Careers Expo
Friday 28 May Secondary Athletics Carnival
Wednesday 2 June Year 9-12 Music Through The Years
Friday 4 June Year 3-6 Athletics Carnival
Thursday 10 June Year 7-12 Colours Assembly
Wednesday 16 June Year 10 SETP Interviews
Monday 21 June Year 12 QTAC Information Evening
Tuesday 22 June P&F Meeting
Wednesday 23 June Year 8 Camp
Thursday 24 June Primary Mid-Winter Melodies
Friday 25 June Last Day of Term 2

Leading the OSHC Program

One of the greatest highlights of my role has been the ability to see the fruitful beginnings that our Loose Parts program has had here …

view ARTICLE

Leading the OSHC Program

One of the greatest highlights of my role has been the ability to see the fruitful beginnings that our Loose Parts program has had here at Genesis Outside School Hours Care.

Beginning my journey in 2018, and upon taking leadership of OSHC, I was able to share my vision and set out to create and form foundations for early learning within our program. Our vision here at OSHC is to provide opportunities for our students to acquire life skills, such as planning, design and construction. A vast amount of the most up to date research and knowledge were embedded into the professional development of our team leading up to the introduction of our Loose Parts program. This allowed our team to investigate and understand the practical considerations when creating play opportunities with children.

Toward the end of 2018, I began to explore the potential of Loose Parts collections for play resources at our centre. My aim was to increase the engagement in and the enjoyment of learning through play. From our observations of children interacting in these spaces offered, we were able to witness a more focused approach to the program, particularly suited to our integrated multi-age play at OSHC. Children were seen to be enjoying the outdoors and began to look forward to these play experiences.

Understanding and advocating for all children having the right to play, our outdoor play and Loose Parts play became an integral part of our overall approach to learning through play. With the introduction of Loose Parts, it became necessary to relate risk with play and develop our risk-benefit assessment. From our observations of children within these environments, it became apparent that children were generally very responsible, careful, and competent. We noted how children became aware of the responsibilities they had been given and how the children began to learn about risk, within a managed environment. Children were seen to build physical and social skills and produce a piece of work which is inhabitable, autonomous and of their own making.

In 2020, we saw our Loose Parts program partner with the Primary faculty and Curriculum-based lessons, with outdoor Loose Parts being implemented with weekly sessions for our Prep and Year 1 students. Our OSHC team facilitated this with our Prep and Year 1 teachers. Having play session within class time allows children and teachers to reflect on the learning that has occurred and document it accordingly. Children are able to make connections between numeracy concepts and the Loose Parts as well as increase their interest to formal learning when embedding Loose Parts within a formal curriculum context.

It has been evident through my time here at OSHC that Loose Parts create a richer environment for children, allowing them to do what they need to do, to follow their interests and go where their curiosity takes them.

In any environment, both the degree of inventiveness and creativity, and the possibility of discovery, are directly proportional to the number and kind of variables in it.” (Nicholson, S. 1971:30-34)

Kind regards,

Susan Cooper

Director – OSHC

Year 7 Camp

Year 7 Camp Noosa North Shore Retreat Earlier this term in Week 5, the Year 7s headed off to camp! It was a fantastic opportunity …

view ARTICLE

Year 7 Camp

Year 7 Camp

Noosa North Shore Retreat

Earlier this term in Week 5, the Year 7s headed off to camp! It was a fantastic opportunity for the students to make new friends and share new experiences together! On camp we spent a lot of time at the beach learning how to body board and surf! The students were also challenged in the high ropes activities and had the opportunity to try various difficulties.

The activities that the students could choose from were the flying fox, an obstacle course in their air, the giant swing and the leap of faith. We saw a lot of encouragement and team work amongst the Year 7s. This was demonstrated when so many of them wanted to help serve each other breakfast, lunch and dinner, as well as how they demonstrated their gratitude to each other and the staff at Adventure Alternatives.

The students were also put to the test with the mountain biking experience and having to build a raft that could carry up to 7 students with minimal materials. The ultimate activity however, was the laser tag at night time. The Year 7s absolutely loved running through the obstacles at night and using team strategies to try and win. All of the teachers and parent helpers were so encouraged to see how well the Year 7s got a long and took the challenges in their stride.

We were so thankful for the amazing weather and that the students got to enjoy quality time together. I am also so grateful to the parent helpers that came and spent time with the staff on Year 7 Camp. A camp can never run smoothly without the tireless work of the staff that attend camp.

It was truly a camp to remember and the students are still talking about it today!

Kind regards,

Lauren Klingberg

Care and Conduct Leader – Year 7

Year 9 Rite Journey Departure

Year 9 Rite Journey Departure The Departure event is an opportunity to celebrate the childhood of our Year 9 students with their parents, and encourage …

view ARTICLE

Year 9 Rite Journey Departure

Year 9 Rite Journey Departure

The Departure event is an opportunity to celebrate the childhood of our Year 9 students with their parents, and encourage the students to boldly step into the next stage of their lives. We hosted this event on Friday 19 March, where we were blessed with a perfect break in the recent weather event, taking our Boys and Girls groups separately to Lake Samsonvale. Here the students reflected on their journey so far and the childish behaviours that would not be useful to them as they step into young adulthood.

Upon returning to school, each Rite Journey group presented to the gathered parents, their group name and its meaning, and the group cheer or chant that they had worked on. These cheers were greeted with rounds of applause, but perhaps the most memorable chant came from one of the group of boys who chose to sing their cheer. Well done gentlemen! After some brief speeches from staff, the students and their parents were encouraged to find a spot around the school to have a meal together where the students presented their parents with letters of appreciation they had written earlier in the week. Many tears of happiness were shed, and hugs exchanged.

It is hoped that this ceremony will signify the students stepping into their young adulthood by taking on more responsibility, and their parents giving their adolescent more opportunities to demonstrate their ability to make appropriate choices in their lives.

A huge thank you must go to Mr Kidd and Mrs Daniel for taking the lead role in organising this event, to the P&F for providing the afternoon tea that was greatly appreciated by the Year 9 students, and to the Senior School volunteers who provided their services throughout the event. Without their diligence and effort, this event would not have been the success that it was.

Kind regards,

Andrew Duncan

Rite Journey Leader

 

 

Department Spotlight – Humanities

Department Spotlight – Year 11 Humanities Year 11 students enjoyed an excursion to the Abbey Museum in Caboolture where they entered an ancient Archaeological site. …

Year 11 Humanities
view ARTICLE

Department Spotlight – Humanities

Department Spotlight – Year 11 Humanities

Year 11 students enjoyed an excursion to the Abbey Museum in Caboolture where they entered an ancient Archaeological site.

The first thing they found was the Egyptian Coffin! Pretty soon, it was clear that this was not just the site of an Egyptian tomb, but a crime scene as well! Why is there a skeleton with a Victorian era lamp in an Ancient Egyptian tomb site?

Students begin learning about Ancient History in Year 11 by studying Archaeology, and the Abbey Museum offers a chance to get their hands dirty – literally!

The Abbey Museum is a wonderful resource, right on our doorstep, that allows students to explore aspects of Ancient History, with artefacts from pre-historic Europe through to Shogunate Japan. In addition, the Museum has an amazing educational program that our students get to experience in Year 8 with our Medieval Europe Incursion and again in Year 11 with the Archaeological Dig.

After a tour of the Museum, the students are challenged to solve the mystery of the dig site. They are taught the methods that Archaeologists use on a dig, how to uncover artefacts, and how to record their finds. They find amulets, mummified cats, canopic jars and, of course, our mysterious skeleton. It’s delicate work, and as they work, the students collaborate to piece together the clues, interpreting their evidence and predicting what might have happened at the site.

The Year 11 students make excellent archaeologists and they successfully solved the mystery of the Egyptian Tomb Robber, who, after digging through the walls of the tomb, was crushed by falling masonry.

 

Applications for Siblings Commencing 2022

Applications for Siblings Commencing 2022  A Reminder from the Enrolments Office to Current Genesis Families As family life can become quite hectic, sibling applications can …

view ARTICLE

Applications for Siblings Commencing 2022

Applications for Siblings Commencing 2022 

A Reminder from the Enrolments Office to Current Genesis Families

As family life can become quite hectic, sibling applications can sometimes be overlooked, and closing dates apply to both Prep and Year 7. Families with students on the Prep or Year 7, 2022 lists, will have recently received by email, notification of the commencement of the 2022 Application & Offer process. If you have not received this email, please contact the Enrolments office or 3882 9000 to confirm your application status. Other Year levels for 2022, will be updated towards the end of Term 3.

 Prep Applications

Genesis families are reminded to enrol younger children (siblings) as soon as possible, particularly for Prep. Attendance at Little Genesis ELC, does not automatically transfer to an application for Prep at the College and a separate application for enrolment must be completed.

Applications for 2022

If you have family or friends interested in applying to Genesis Christian College to commence 2022, applications are welcome at this time. Applications for Prep and Year 7, 2022 will be closing on 31 March. Applications received after the closing date will be added to supplementary waiting lists and may still be considered for subsequent offer rounds or future years.

Application forms and the Application Process Guide, is available on the College website 

For further information or enquiries please don’t hesitate to contact the Enrolment office by email or phone 3882 9000.

Yours sincerely,

Lynn M Swanson

Enrolments Registrar

 

Primary Sport

Primary Sport Swimming: Met North Trials  Congratulations to our swimmers who attended the Met North Swimming Carnival representing Pine Rivers. A special mention to the …

view ARTICLE

Primary Sport

Primary Sport

Swimming:

Met North Trials 

Congratulations to our swimmers who attended the Met North Swimming Carnival representing Pine Rivers. A special mention to the following students who were selected in the Met North 10-12 Years Swimming Team to attend the Qld State Championships: Ralph N, Callum F, Lachlan B, Mitchell E, Felix N

 

CSSAQ Swimming 

On Monday 15 March we competed at the CSSAQ Swimming Carnival as ‘Team Genesis’. Congratulations to all students who attended on the day competing fiercely for our College. At the end of the day, we were crowned Champion School overall for the 9-12 years age group.

Team Genesis also won the following age groups:

  • 9 Boys
  • 10 Girls
  • 12 Boys
  • 12 Girls

 The following students were awarded Age Champion placings:

  • Keegan H – 2nd – 9 years boys
  • Indigo K – 2nd – 10 years girls
  • Amelia L – 3rd – 10 years girls
  • Theo H – 1st – 10 years boys
  • Kiara V – 1st – 11 years girls
  • Felix N – 1st – 11 years boys
  • Matthew T – 3rd – 11 years boys

Cross Country:

We held our GCC Cross Country Carnival on Thursday 11 March and what an outstanding effort by all of our 8-12 year old runners. It was so great to see so many students do their best while competing for their house. Congratulations to our Champion House – GILEAD.

 

Age Champions:

8 Years Girls 9 Years Girls 10 Years Girls 11 Years Girls
Emily C Holly M Eliza B Chelsea L
Audrey T Sienna G Ayla J Lucy E
Chloe S Ruby K Grace R Poppy M

 

8 Years Boys 9 Years Boys 10 Years Boys 11 Years Boys
Charlie S Harrison L Thomas M Matthew T
Seth M Bailey S Cameron E Blayze W
Levi J Riley H Mark B Lachlan S

Morning Training:

Morning training with Mrs McCarthy and Mrs Turner has seen amazing numbers of students each week. Please see the Genesis App or school calendar for training weeks and details.

 

State Aquathlon:

Congratulations to Matthew T who has been selected in the Qld State Aquathlon Team after his outstanding performance at the Qld Championships. What an amazing achievement!

Congratulations also goes to:

  • Our Equestrian Team members who recently competed at the Wide Bay Regional Championships in their various age groups – Lily M (7th), Jonah M (5th) and Taylor L (3rd)
  • Phoenix G who has been selected in the Met North Golf Team
  • Elijah N and Windsor W who were selected in the Pine Rivers AFL Team
  • Noah C, Thomas M and Oliver D who were selected in the Pine Rivers Football (Soccer) Team
  • Isabella Schmidt-Ellwood and Viveca Magill who were selected in the Pine Rivers Netball Team

NISSA Gala Days:

It has been so lovely to see all of our Year 4-6 students having a blast at our Gala Days. What a wonderful opportunity to work as a team and practice those lifelong skills of working with others. It has been great to welcome our new NISSA school, Prince of Peace, into the mix with Genesis, The Lakes College and Grace Lutheran Primary.

 

10-12 Years (Primary and Secondary) Representative Sport Nominations – Term 2 

If you want to nominate your child for any of the Pine Rivers trials below you need to compete the form attached to the Genesis App communication no later than THURSDAY 1 APRIL. No nominations will be accepted after this time.

  • 10-12 Years Rugby Union
  • 10-12 Years Tennis
  • 10-12 Years Touch Football
  • 11-12 Years Girls Rugby League

 

Kind regards,

Louise McCarthy

Director of Primary Sport

Secondary Sport

Secondary Sport Representative Swimming Congratulations to the Genesis team in winning both the 10-12 years and 13-19 years Pine Rivers District Swimming carnival! The following …

view ARTICLE

Secondary Sport

Secondary Sport

Representative Swimming

Congratulations to the Genesis team in winning both the 10-12 years and 13-19 years Pine Rivers District Swimming carnival! The following students represented Pine Rivers District at the Met North Swimming Trials: Alice B, Amity H, Carel V, Cayden H, Cooper B, David H, Ella P, Emily P, Harrison B, Isabella J, Isabella Y, Jacobus L, Jake F, Jazmin E, Johann M, Lachlan T, Luka L, Luke D, Mackenzie S, Madison C, Marley P, Mia O, Mikaydi B, Sophie D, Tyron K and Xavier C.

The following students competed at the QSS State Swimming Championships representing Met North from 22 – 26 March: Jessica B, Kaelah B, Patrick C, Ellen G, Olivia G, Zeph H, Isaac H, Ben M, Lauren W, Mia T, Ralph N, Lachlan B and Callum F.

CSSAQ Swimming Carnival

Genesis competed at the CSSAQ Swim Carnival at Chandler on 15 March, winning both the Champion School for 9-12 years and 13-19 years.

Age Champions from the 13-19 Years age Divisions were:

  • Jake F –14 years boys
  • Kaelah B – 15 years girls
  • Jessica B – 16 years girls
  • Luke D – 16 years boys

A special thank you to Mrs Louise McCarthy for organising the event, GSA coaches (Brendan Keogh, Rick Pendleton and Tony Keogh) and Team managers (Julie Turner, Amy Griffiths and Rhiannah Boch) for their hard work and dedication to the Swimming Team.

 

Cross Country

The Genesis 10-19 years Cross Country was held at St Paul’s School on Thursday 11 March. A special thank you to all the staff involved and the House Captains for their assistance with setting up the carnival and leading their Houses throughout the day. Congratulations to Shiloh who were the winning house in the 13-19 years overall points. The top three students for each age division were:

 12 Year Boys                           12 Year Girls               13 Year Boys               13 Year Girls

1st – Windsor W                         1st – Sienna Barr          1st – Manie V                1st – Reagan B

2nd – Jonty M                            2nd – Madison R           2nd – Luka L                  2nd – Michaela F

3rd – Noah C                              3rd –  Lucy S                  3rd – Santiago R            3rd – Mackenzie S

 

14 Year Boys                           14 Year Girls               15 Year Boys               15 Year Girls

1st – Ian B                                 1st – Haley W                1st – Henry J                 1st – Kate C

2nd – Ryan F                              2nd – Laura G                2nd – Ben C                   2nd – Grace M

3rd – Lachlan M                        3rd – Caitlin P               3rd – Christopher V      3rd – Holly M

 

 16 Year Boys                           16 Year Girls               Open Boys                  Open Girls

1st – Mitchell W                       1st – Stella B                 1st – William M             1st – Ella S

2nd – Lincoln S                          2nd – Carmen S            2nd – Noah C                2nd – Charlize S

3rd – William P/Ben M             3rd – Sophie D              3rd – Josiah M              3rd – Abbie R

 

Genesis Run Club

We’re excited to introduce the Genesis Run Club which will be held on Tuesday and Thursday mornings from 6:30am-7:30am. Tuesday sessions will be Endurance Running and Thursday morning, track speed work. These sessions will be run by Elliott Shultz from GSA and are available for all students. The focus will be on improving fitness, and there are opportunities for students competing in the upcoming Cross Country District/Regional trials as well as distance track events and triathlons/aquathlons.

On Wednesday morning from 6:30am-7:15am there will be a bike skills session for triathlons and cycling to improve bike skills.

Please meet at the indoor Tennis courts. These sessions will still go ahead if it is raining. To begin, all sessions will be free of charge.

 

Futsal

Genesis were represented by 6 teams at the Metro Futsal competition in the 14 years girls and boys, 15 years boys, 16 years girls and Open boys and girls teams. Four teams made it through to the Finals round with the Open girls team progressing to the semi-final round. A special thank you to the coaches Chris Reynolds, Will Allan, Luca Braico, Jarrod Benbow and Jade Dethlefs for all their effort and commitment this term with the Futsal teams. We wish all our teams well for the BOSL finals which will be held on the 29 and 31 March

 

Touch

Genesis competed at the CSSAQ Touch championships on the 5 and 12 March. The Junior girls team came in second place, Junior Boys third place and the Intermediate boys fifth place.

Congratulations to Chelsea W, Mitchell P, Mikaela F, Jake S and Kye V for being recognised in the CSSAQ merit team. We wish all our teams the best for the BOSL Semi Finals which will take place on the 29 and 31 March.

We appreciate the valuable contribution of the coaches Daniel Sarmiento, Damon Benbow, Rei San Agustin, Maddison Lanyon and teaching staff Kris Oettinger, Paul Forrester-Brown and Andrew Duncan.

 

Equestrian:

Genesis competed at the Wide Bay Regional Championships, consisting of four riders from the Secondary school:

  • Stella B – Year 9
  • Lara R – Year 9
  • Morgan L – Year 8
  • Carmen R – Year 11 (Carmen had to pull out due to her horse injuring itself. She came along and helped the team out in full Genesis team spirit)

Special congratulations to Morgan L:

  • Reserve Champion Combined Training Secondary 60cm
  • Reserve Champion Overall Intermediate Elementary Dressage (2nd & 3rd)
  • Reserve Champion Intermediate Show horse

 

Rowing

Congratulations to our Year 12 students, Ella and Jaeve, who recently competed at the 2021 Queensland State Championship Regatta held at Lake Wyaralong, representing both Pine Rivers Rowing Club and the College.

The girls received Gold Medals in all three of the following events:

1st – Championship U19 double scull

1st – Championship U21 double scull

1st – Championship U19 quad scull

Ella and Jaeve were also selected to represent Queensland in the First 8 (number 1) crew, to compete against other states in a national regatta in April.

 

Special mention – Ella G – Won Queensland Netball Youth Spirit award

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

District and Met North Representatives

Congratulations to the following students for their selection in representative teams:

Pine Rivers District Team

  • Shivaani VT – Basketball
  • Madeleine W – Netball
  • Madeline R – Netball
  • Lauren C – Netball
  • Sophie D – Netball
  • Shandri B – Netball
  • Ashley M – Netball
  • Isabella S – Netball
  • Elijah N – AFL
  • Windsor W – AFL
  • Daniel E – Touch
  • Caelan M – Soccer
  • Mackenna M – Soccer
  • Stephanie H – Soccer
  • Ryder C – Touch Football
  • Ben C – Touch Football
  • Henry J – Touch Football

MET North Team

  • Charlize Sivyer – Netball

Swimming

Olivia G in Year 10 competed at the Australian Open Water Championships held at Coolum, Qld. She swam in the 5km event and finished 14th nationally achieving a personal best by 2.5 minutes. Well done on this achievement!

 

Kind regards,

Anthony Arro

Director of Secondary School Sport

 

Primary School Highlights

Primary Highlights One of my favourite parts of being the Head of Primary is interviewing prospective students and families who want to come to Genesis, and …

view ARTICLE

Primary School Highlights

Primary Highlights

One of my favourite parts of being the Head of Primary is interviewing prospective students and families who want to come to Genesis, and we are just about to enter into a season of interviewing our future Prep students for 2022. We are really blessed in our school in that we have a significant number of applications for positions and choosing students to come can be really hard!

Truthfully, I just love meeting young people, hearing their stories, what they love about school, and what their hopes for the future are. It is so inspiring, that I often come out of interviews, wanting to come back to school myself!

One of the big topics of conversation in interviews is reputation. It is abundantly clear to me that Genesis Christian College has an exceptionally high reputation in our local community for being THE school of choice: many would say the pick of schools on the north side of Brisbane.

This makes me delve deeper into “why” Genesis has this reputation, and it all comes back to our culture and the heritage of who we are as a community.

As a distinctly Christian school, we hold a set of core beliefs. Many schools will say they have “values” or things they aspire too; but at Genesis our core beliefs undergird everything we do. It is from our biblical view of the world, that our values are formed, and from these values our expectations and actions. In other words, we are inspired by, and guided by the word of God in all that we do.

I often say to families when we meet, that Genesis has exceptionally high expectations on behaviour, and we follow through on this. We don’t just value good behaviours, but really believe that certain ways of acting are Godly and wholesome. And so, our classrooms and playing fields have a sense of order, and our students carry themselves with a sense of dignity, and pride in our school culture.

In our school, this translates into excellence in teaching and learning, and students’ results. We set the bar high, and students rigorously work hard to achieve their potential. This is part of our culture, and part of what makes Genesis Christian College, such a great school.

Another aspect of our College which radiates excellence is our co-curricular programs. Genesis sets the bar high for students in Music, Dance, Drama, Sports, and Service areas. I had the privilege of attending the Primary Music camp on the weekend and listen to our music ensembles rehearse together. What a joy it was to see such enthusiasm and teamwork with staff and students. This joy in community came through in the beautiful sounds the children made when performing together. An old mentor of mine would often use the phrase “Excellence through Community” when describing how we get the best work out of students and each other.

In essence, we do better individually when we are part of something greater than ourselves. This is something I would encourage all parents to get their children involved in; co-curricular activities which promote teamwork and the common purpose of working together, in music, arts, sports or service areas. The life skills this encourages in our children will influence their schoolwork, and ultimately their purpose, direction, and later success in life.

Yours sincerely,

Jeremy Williamson

Head of School – Primary

Secondary Highlights

Excellence in Character – Ambassadors for Genesis We have now embarked on our sure and steady character journey. ‘Walk in the Light’ is a framework …

view ARTICLE

Secondary Highlights

Excellence in Character – Ambassadors for Genesis

We have now embarked on our sure and steady character journey. ‘Walk in the Light’ is a framework and vocabulary to describe the Genesis student.

As we nurture character with you, the College will be working with students to achieve better than their best (Grow) and use their time and talent for the benefit of others (Give). We will continue to develop a true sense of belonging (Connection). The flavours that we wish to see in all these endeavours are Christian values and faith (Conviction).

It is always a pleasure to meet with student leaders and those involved in the broader co-curricular life of Genesis. Their passion for our College, their sense of belonging, and their strong voice are always an encouragement. These students exemplify ‘Walk in the Light’.

The fruits of ‘Walk in the Light’ that we see in their lives are things like:

  • growing your gifts and talents
  • serving others to make a difference
  • playing their part to build a sense of family and exercising a Christian moral compass.

The fruit is a well-lived life. It is a purposeful and flourishing life.

The root of ‘Walk in the Light’ is found in our Lord, though His Word. The school motto is ‘Your Word is my light’. As we encounter what God reveals in His Word, we are blessed to ‘Walk in the Light’.

Sometimes when we talk about character, we will be only speaking about the fruits. At other times we will be speaking about the root of real character, a relationship with a living God, directed by His Word.

Blessings,

Stuart Taylor

Head of School – Secondary

Curriculum Matters

Curriculum Matters Recently the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) released the scaling report for Senior subjects in 2020. This is the first opportunity we have …

view ARTICLE

Curriculum Matters

Curriculum Matters

Recently the Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) released the scaling report for Senior subjects in 2020. This is the first opportunity we have had to see how subjects have been scaled when calculating the ATAR for 2020 students. However, I need to point out that last year the Year 12 students completed one less assessment item, due to COVID-19, than students will complete this year. QTAC will scale the subjects each year and we can expect some differences year to year as the cohorts vary.

 I would also like to make these comments on the use of this document:

  • We thank QTAC for providing us such a comprehensive report in the spirit of fairness and openness.
  • QTAC, who calculate the ATAR and manage tertiary entrance in Queensland give this advice for students when selecting subjects

“Students should not select subjects based on predicted scaling outcomes, but should choose subjects they enjoy, are good at and which meet any prerequisites for courses they want to apply for”.

  • When choosing subjects at SETP interviews, we discussed and encouraged the subject choices which were the best fit for each individual student.
  • Students who choose subjects based on scaling parameters tend to become disengaged as they have little, if any interest in the subject, and consequently perform worse than if they had chosen subjects they are good at and enjoy.
  • Students who are eligible for an ATAR need to work consistently in all their subjects, as students who try to predict which subject will be used to calculate their ATAR generally get this wrong.

Students and their parents are welcome to meet with the Future Pathways team at any stage to discuss options after Year 12.

Kind regards

Wayne van den Bos

Director of Senior Phase

Pastoral Care

You Matter! You are God’s workmanship, (masterpiece) created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared you to do.’ Ephesians 2:10 Each one …

view ARTICLE

Pastoral Care

You Matter!

You are God’s workmanship, (masterpiece) created in Christ Jesus to do good works which God prepared you to do.’

Ephesians 2:10

Each one of us has been uniquely fashioned. God put time and effort into expertly crafting you to be who you are. The original Greek word for `workmanship’ is poiema, literally meaning a poem or work of art. It is said that art is an expression of the inner being of the artist, who in our case is God himself.  How wonderful that through His grace, we are that!

Once we understand our true value in the eyes of God, it becomes easy to see those around us through His eyes too, and to marvel at what God has created in and through them.

This idea is at the heart of You Matter Day, which we celebrate at Genesis every year and which has its roots in Anti-Bullying Day. This year, we celebrated You Matter Day on Friday 19 March. This day continues to provide a chance to stop, examine our hearts, and value one another, appreciate one another and celebrate one another as God’s workmanship. Unfortunately due to COVID restrictions, we could not invite our parents on campus, but please know that you matter to us and that we value who you are. We sent a You Matter Day at Home flyer, which gave ideas for families to express their appreciation to people that matter to them in a tangible way.

Any profits made on the day went towards the New Life Orphanage in Myanmar, who we continue to  support, especially now more than ever as the country faces violence and a growing daily death toll due to Civil war. During the holidays, some beautiful children got together and decided to fundraise for Myanmar in an effort to show they care.

You can make a difference in the lives of others…YOU MATTER!

Unplug this Easter

Unplug this Easter From the Leadership Team  Recently the College hosted a Parent Information Evening with guest speaker, Brett Lee, former Queensland Police Officer, and …

view ARTICLE

Unplug this Easter

Unplug this Easter

From the Leadership Team 

Recently the College hosted a Parent Information Evening with guest speaker, Brett Lee, former Queensland Police Officer, and detective in the field of Child Exploitation. Brett now works with schools and community groups to provide education on safe and responsible internet use. Encouraging our young people towards safe and responsible use of digital technology is such an important topic for us to be considering in this current age. You can access a recording of this must-see presentation here. 

We currently live in the technology age where more than 4.3 billion people across the globe use the internet and as a result, we have never been more widely connected. Social media connects families and friends across the world and COVID-19 certainly highlighted the wonderful opportunities that social media platforms offer each of us for connecting socially, educationally, and even professionally as we overcome the barrier of distance and separation. It is not all bad – we received extremely positive feedback from families with loved one’s inter-state or overseas last year on the ability to connect in via livestream to many of our end of year events.

However, despite the opportunities for connection that technology and social media provides, our society more widely has moved from a ‘we’ society – ‘we are all in this together’- to an ‘I’ society – ‘I am free to be myself’. One of the consequences of this ‘I society,’ has been the social isolation that many in our society feel (Sacks, 2020). I guess one of the weaknesses of digital connection is the fact that it does not involve face-to-face contact or the vulnerable intimacy of face-to-face connection. The immediacy of digital forms of communication has made it a default form of communication and a constant distraction for many young people today.

On average, teenagers in America spend between 7 and 9 hours a day watching a screen (Sacks, 2020).  Without doubt, this is having a profound impact on our young people as technology takes the place of face-to-face connection. Mark Zuckerberg, the creator of Facebook with his wife Priscilla, published an open letter written for their daughter August, explaining why they felt it was important for her to make time to go outside and play, because childhood is magical. This example is simply highlighting that even those who have created these digital platforms, have also identified the associated risks of their use.

Genesis staff are currently adopting a Staff Email Charter which is a set of guidelines that aims to help us actively reduce the number of emails sent and received. Therefore, providing more time for core business; reducing the distraction throughout the day; supporting work/home harmony and in certain instances, finding more effective methods of communication. I also recently read of a family that agreed to have one day per week without digital technology and social media. They called it their Shabbat … the Sabbath, the Hebrew word for cease and rest. They took this time to disconnect digitally but reconnect through face-to-face communication and quality time together.

As Easter approaches, we are reminded of the death and resurrection of Jesus. The purpose of Jesus Christ’s life was to offer himself as a sacrifice for our wrongdoing and in turn give us a fresh start and new beginning. But as we look at how Jesus lived life, it was all about connection and relationship with people and his father God. As we break across the Easter weekend to remember the life and sacrifice of Jesus, could I also encourage Genesis families to consider taking a break from digital technology and social media for a day or two, making an effort to do things that help us reconnect on a face-to-face level with those around us.

I wish our Genesis community a very special and refreshing Easter break and trust that you will find quality time to connect with family and friends, face-to-face.

Blessings,

Paul Sterling

Principal