Kuyper

Mr Mark Ramsay, Principal

Kuyper Christian School is unashamedly a Parent-Partnership School. We recognise the God-given responsibility of parents to raise their children. When God was instructing his Old Testament people how to live, the first commandment that deals with how to treat other people is this: 

Honour your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you.

Exodus 20:12

Honouring parents is the basis for healthy communities.

Over the next two weeks, I want to explore what this means for the Parent-School Partnership. What should a Parent-School Partnership look like in a school that recognises the God-given responsibility of parents to raise their children? What difference should it make to the actions and attitudes of each member in that partnership?

Firstly, here are some of the implications for us as a school as we partner with parents.

1. Because God tells us to honour parents, we recognise you, the parent, as the God-given authority in your child’s life. Therefore, our school will teach students to respect and obey their parents. We will listen to you and respectfully consider your concerns. We will seek to deliver an education that supports your hopes and goals for your children. 
   
   
2. Because God tells us to honour parents, we will commit to open and frequent communication. We want to let you know of the good and the not-so-good when it happens. There should be no surprises at parent-teacher interviews or in the reports that are emailed home.
   
   
3. Because God tells us to honour parents, we will commit to know and love each student. Every staff member at Kuyper is a Christian who desires to imitate Jesus. This should show itself in a genuine love for your children and a desire for their spiritual and academic growth. We hope this is exactly what you, as parents, want for your children.

This is our commitment to you in our Parent-School Partnership. Next week, I will explore some of the implications for parents as you partner with us.

One of the joys of working in a Christian school is watching the educational journey come full circle and welcoming past students back into the school community as staff. So we are thrilled to welcome a number of former Kuyper students among the new members of our Support staff team as Teacher’s Aides this year.

Charles, Ben, and Bethany have spent recent weeks getting to know our staff and students. We are already enjoying the energy, unique skills, and love for Jesus each of them brings to their roles. Praise God for His ongoing provision for our school! 

If you see Bethany, Ben, or Charles about the school, please make them feel welcome. 

Kuyper Christian School was started by families and exists for families. When parents enrol their children at Kuyper, we enter into a partnership where the school and the parents work together in the education of their children. Your school-age children will spend six and half hours a day, five days a week, for approximately forty weeks a year at school. With this in mind, it is important that there is regular, open communication between parents and the school. It was wonderful to see so many parents at the Meet The Team evening a couple of weeks ago. This was an excellent opportunity to start the communication ball rolling.

Regular communication is vital, but I do think that sometimes parents worry that they’ll be annoying their child’s teacher if they send them too many emails.

“Surely teachers don’t want to be reading lots of emails about what is happening in my child’s life …”

But they do!

Teachers want to partner with you. They want to hear the things that are going well, as well as the things that your child is finding difficult. They want to share in important moments and be prayerfully engaged in the messiness of family and school life. Nothing brings a teacher joy more than the feedback that one of their students loves learning, feels valued, and is eager to come to school!

But even more, consider this: no relationship will be healthy if it is built on the idea that one person will speak to the other only when they are unhappy about something. On the contrary, if you’ve sent five emails filled with encouragement and open sharing, then if you need to have a difficult conversation with your child’s teacher, you’re five times more likely to be satisfied with the result. The reason for this is simple: you’ve built a relationship, established a shared connection, and fostered trust that the teacher has your child’s wellbeing at heart.

If you haven’t already done so, drop your child’s teacher an email. Tell them a couple of things that are unique about your child. Share the things that most excite your child about the year ahead and the things that worry them. Let them know that you are praying for them. In other words, invest in a partnership that will bear fruit in the future.

Mark Ramsay
Principal

Mr Mark Ramsay, Principal

Kuyper Christian School’s vision is to be:

A learning community that prepares students to live restoratively for Jesus in a world where every square inch belongs to Him.

At our Meet the Team evening last week, I asked the question, “ What then should our priorities be as we work together in partnership to enable your children to be best prepared to live restoratively for Jesus in His world?”

There are many answers to this question. However, my goal for this year is to create an environment where you, your children and the staff at Kuyper can thrive in God’s world. We will do this by nurturing the foundation of our school community, refining our working relationships, and enhancing classroom learning. 

To work towards this, two focus areas for this year will be creating predictability and maximising learning opportunities.

Creating Predictability

Predictability does not mean things are mundane or that school is just “same old, same old”. It is about having confidence because we know what to expect and what is expected of ourselves. I want you to know what to expect of us as a school and what will be expected of you as parents. I want your children to know what to expect when they come to school and what is expected of them. I want the staff here to know what to expect and what will be expected of them. If all that happens, everyone can relax in the confidence that we all know what’s going on.

Good communication and established routines will be key to creating predictability. It is my hope the communication you receive from the school will help clarify the established routines needed to engage with the school confidently. Indeed, the Meet The Team evening was one of the important pieces of the communication puzzle.

Predictability is the essential nourishment that enriches the soil for the growth that is to come.

Maximising Learning Opportunities

This growth comes as the sturdy foundation that predictability brings enables us to maximise learning opportunities.

I want all staff members and all students to make the most of every learning opportunity. There will never be another time that allows your children to enjoy so much exploration and creativity as they discover every square inch of the world that belongs to Jesus.

I want everything that happens in and out of the classroom to be rich with vitality and energy. I am committed to upskilling the staff here to become even better at what they do so they can help all students find what they are good at, what lights their fire. 

This is a partnership; we are in this together. My commitment to you is to:

• Do what I can to make you feel welcomed as partners
• Do what I can to provide a safe learning environment for all students
• Do what I can to help staff deliver the vision of the school.

It has been an amazing start to 2024. As we continue to partner together to prepare your children to live for Jesus in His world, it is my prayer that it will be more than just an amazing start. I look forward to enjoying the rest of the year with the confidence that comes from predictability and the growth that comes from maximising all opportunities.

With a new year always comes the anticipation of a new start. Even for the seasoned school staff among us, a new year seems brimming with fresh ideas and new possibilities. So it is with some excitement that we commence this year at Kuyper with a new principal, new families, new staff and new roles (for some not-so-new staff).

Following Ian’s retirement at the end of last year, Mr Mark Ramsay has now formally taken up the role of Principal. Mark will head up a new-look leadership team with a new structure and focus.

Senior Leadership Team
Mr Mark Ramsay, Principal
Mrs Kaelene McCaull, Head of P-6 and Director of Teacher Development
Mrs Alexis Clarke, Director of Programs and Development
Miss Cassie Dixon, Director of Learning Enhancement
Mr Alan McCartin, Director of Business and Operations

The following staff will also take up new roles this year,

Mr Mitchell Cavens, Head of 7-12
Mr Ja Baldwin, Sport Coordinator

In addition, we warmly welcome some new staff to the Kuyper team,

Mr Matthew Daly, teaching Secondary HSIE and Christian Studies
Mr Robert Coleman, teaching Secondary Mathematics
Mrs Anne Cuthill, teaching Year 3
Ms Megan Lloyd-Johnson, teaching Secondary English and Creative & Performing Arts.

We also welcome the many new families starting at Kuyper this year. We value your partnership and look forward to the contribution each of you will make to our school community.

Over the coming weeks, there will be several opportunities to hear about Mark’s vision for Kuyper and get to know one another better.

A special Principal Commissioning assembly will be held on Thursday 1 February, commencing at 9:15 AM in the School Hall. We would love all our families to join us as we mark this significant event with prayer and praise.

Additionally, our Meet the Team evening will be held on Monday 5 February, from 5 PM to 6:30 PM. Follow the link for more details.

Put the dates in your diary! We look forward to seeing you soon.

Mr Mark Ramsay

The declaration by Solomon in the Old Testament that “there is nothing new under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 1:9, NIV) has often puzzled me. It seems contradictory because, in our daily lives, each day unfolds like an unwritten chapter in the book of life, presenting opportunities for new discoveries and experiences. There are new neighbours in our street and new songs on the radio. Even the occasional appearance of new grey hairs in my beard is a tangible reminder of the passage of time.

Yet, Solomon’s reflection invites us to consider a deeper meaning. While our personal experiences may feel novel, God’s wisdom emphasises that human endeavours and patterns tend to repeat throughout history. There are cycles in our lives, patterns that turn over time and time again. In the midst of the new, we recognise familiar experiences.

Schools can feel a bit like that. One year finishes, and another one starts. One set of exams is completed, and students start preparing for the next ones. Our children grow out of one pair of shoes, and we get them another pair. For some people, this leads to a never-ending sense of wonder and anticipation. Others, well, they feel it’s all much the same as it has always been. Both of these responses are true and valuable!

Embracing the cyclical nature of our experiences is a recognition that we are not starting a new book, but we are turning the page to a new chapter in God’s ongoing story.

Knowing we are part of God’s story means we can trust that there is nothing that will take Him by surprise. He has designed the world to reflect these patterns and cycles. That is how He works. But we can also experience each cycle or repetition as a new gift from God.

Kuyper’s new year and new team are all part of God’s narrative. We’re not embarking on an entirely new book; instead, we are entering a new chapter. While the concept of newness may produce change, what remains unchanged is the hope we hold for your children.

This hope is that Kuyper will be an educational community where students are prepared to live restoratively for Jesus in a world where every square inch belongs to Him.

This is a constant thread running through the pages of our school’s story, anchoring us in the overarching story of God’s plan for each child.

It is with this hope that I welcome you all back to Kuyper for another school year. My prayer is that it is not ‘just another’ year. Instead, I pray that it will be a year where Kuyper students, families and staff can share their excitement about learning in God’s world and investigating how to live for His Son in all that we do.

Fellow Kuyperians,

Every journey has a beginning and an end. My principalship journey is coming to an end in the new year, and a new chapter will begin with Mr Mark Ramsay as Kuyper’s Principal in 2024. Mark’s commitment to keeping Jesus at the centre of all learning and teaching will provide wonderful continuity of leadership, and I am confident Kuyper’s momentum as a growing P-12 Christian School will continue in future years. 

My journey takes a different path into retirement. I will be working on being a better husband, son, father, and grandfather or ‘Pa’ as my grandchildren call me.

Tracey and I would like to thank you for so warmly welcoming us to Kuyper over eight years ago. We have been greatly blessed to be part of this wonderful community. I recall with deep appreciation the early days when our faithful Kuyper Board and staff members went above and beyond to commence Stage 6 and our HSC program. This dedicated team is still deeply committed to bringing Christian Education to the Hawkesbury today. 

Thank you to all those who have demonstrated their commitment to our school community over the years. By supporting meetings, events and interviews. By writing, teaching and praying. By making financial sacrifices. By trusting. By standing beside and in support of the Kuyper staff team. By sweating over a BBQ or getting your hands dirty during a working bee. Thank you for living out your commitment to Christ and your ownership of the school. You have blessed many students in the process. I have enjoyed partnering with you.

I will forever remember my final Celebration assembly at Kuyper, surrounded by the whole school singing “The Blessing”, a beautiful song based on a Bible passage. It was unforgettable and very moving. As I looked at my wife Tracey and saw her tears, that was it for me too. 

As I finish my work at Kuyper, it is my heartfelt desire for the Lord’s blessing on our whole school community. So, I would like to share the same blessing with you.

The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;
the Lord turn his face towards you and give you his peace.

Numbers 6:24-26

Our world is searching for peace. The Bible reminds us that we can only find true peace with God in His son Jesus. From the beginning of time, God’s plan was that peace would come to earth in Jesus. As we celebrate the birth of the Lord Jesus this Christmas, may you find and understand His true peace in every square inch of life.

Forever a Kuyperian.

Ian Shaw
Principal

P.S. I hope to see you and continue sharing life with you from the other side of the school gate in the new year, as a fellow grandparent and friend of the Kuyper community.

It was lovely to see so many of our families at Limelight last night. I was also thrilled to see some of our new 2024 staff and families in attendance. What a wonderful way to celebrate the many ways God has blessed and continues to bless our school community.

As this year draws to a close, I would like to take this opportunity to thank some of our staff who will be moving into new seasons in their life in 2024.

In addition, the Hill family will be making a big move to far north Queensland at the end of this year to be closer to their extended family. The Hills joined us in 2018 when Joseph started in Year 1. Tracey commenced as a teacher’s aide at the end of 2020, and not long after, Ken joined our School Board. 

Tracey’s joyful energy, enthusiasm and creativity have been evident in every aspect of her work and relationships at Kuyper. Her capacity to get alongside and motivate students has been a great asset to our support team, and we are particularly grateful for her commitment to establishing a regular parent prayer group. 

In addition, Ken’s faithfulness and wisdom have been a significant asset to our School Board. His prayerful and godly approach has been an influential example in our school community and a great encouragement to both board members and staff.

As a family, the Hills have made a tremendous contribution to our school community, and we will miss their partnership and encouragement. We thank them for their commitment and pray that God will continue to bless their family in this new season.

We also say farewell to Mr Gareth Thompson, who will be moving into a new role at another Christian school in 2024. Gareth is a long-standing member of the the Kuyper community, joining as a parent in 2009, when he and Ruth enrolled their two youngest daughters. He was a member of the Board that initiated the commencement of our Stage 6 program, and one of his daughters was part of our first HSC cohort. Gareth stepped down from a Head of Department position at another Christian school to join the Secondary staff team as our first Mathematics teacher in 2017. His experience as a Maths teacher, HSC marker and HSC judge has been invaluable in establishing our Stage 6 Mathematics program and teaching our HSC Extension Mathematics courses. He was also a part of the team that commenced and established our Vanuatu partnership.

We are particularly grateful for Gareth’s extraordinary understanding of, and excitement for, mathematics and learning, as well as his willingness to serve. His Heave Hoe service team have transformed a section of the bushland behind the library this year, removing invasive weeds to create access to Redbank Creek for our classes and revealing the beauty of the rock wall and ferns along its bank. 

We will miss Gareth’s passion for all things mathematical, sharp sense of humour and commitment to the growth of our school community. We thank him for his dedication to Kuyper and pray for God’s blessing on this next season in his life.

In this season of change, we are grateful for God’s faithful provision for Kuyper over many years and can be confident in His ongoing provision in the years to come.

In Christ
Ian Shaw
Principal

We are very excited to announce the principal character roles for Shrek Jr!

Shrek: Isaac Fitton
Princess Fiona: Matilda Maunder
Donkey: Leo Huynh
Lord Farquaad: Cameron Clarke
Dragon: Alyssa Thornton
Captain of the Guard: Hamish McAlpine
Gingy: Alaura McCaull
Pinnochio: Nathan McAlpine
Teen Fiona: Evie Clarke
Storytellers: Jessica Kassis, Astrid Hamilton, Sean Lloyd-Johnson

Congratulations to all these students.

We would like to thank everyone who had the courage to prepare and attend this year’s auditions. The standard was amazing! It was a tough decision for the production team. We have so many gifted musical students in our midst.

We now look forward to auditioning for the rest of the cast during our first Saturday rehearsal on 17 February 2024.

A full rehearsal schedule will be available early next year in the Shrek Google Classroom, where all information is posted and maintained.

There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens

Ecclesiastes 3:1

At the end of this year, we will be farewelling several Kuyper staff as they move into new seasons in their lives.

Dr Shareen Liggins will be joining her children at St Paul’s Grammar School in 2024, a move that will be of significant assistance to her family. Shareen joined our secondary staff team in 2018, bringing a wealth of experience to our fledgling Stage 6 program.

We will also be farewelling longstanding staff members Mrs Julie Wilson and Mrs Sue Stuut as they move into well-earned retirement.

The Stuut family also have a long Kuyper history. Sue & Steve first enrolled their children in 1997, and Sue joined the Kuyper staff in 2001 as a Library Assistant.

Julie and Sue’s commitment to our school community over so many years is a testament to both their dedication and God’s faithful provision of His people for Kuyper Christian School. We praise God for all the wonderful staff he has blessed us with over the past forty-two years.

Following this, I am pleased to share that we will welcome some new staff in 2024.

In this season of change, we are grateful for God’s faithful provision for Kuyper over many years and can be confident in His ongoing provision in the years to come.

…everything God does will endure forever; nothing can be added to it and nothing taken from it.

Ecclesiastes 3:14