The Biggest Morning Tea is an initiative of the Australian Cancer Council to raise funds for life-saving research, prevention programs, and support for those impacted by cancer. Kuyper’s Year 9/10 Food Technology class has registered with the Cancer Council and will host a High Tea at Kuyper on Friday, 31 May as a symbol of support for those in our school community who are dealing with or have dealt with this disease.
We warmly invite parents, grandparents and friends to join us as we break out the white tablecloths and fine china for a delightful morning together. Tickets are $20 each and can be purchased online via the link below. All proceeds raised will go to the Australian Cancer Council.
This event is designed for adults. Childminding is available and can be booked at no extra cost when you purchase your ticket. We hope to see you there!
Elevate Education is an internationally acclaimed provider of high-impact study skill workshops partnering with Kuyper to assist our Year 10-12 students become better learners.
In conjunction with the student program, Kuyper parents and carers are invited to register for Elevate’s free parent webinar series. The online parent workshops are designed to help parents support their child at home by reinforcing the study skills they are learning at school.
Registrations are now open for the Term 2 Parent Webinar Series.
How to Get (And Keep) Your Child Motivated Wednesday, 8 May, 6:30 PM
How You Can Help Your Child Prepare for Exams Wednesday, 22 May, 6:30 PM
How You Can Support Your Child During Exams Wednesday, 5 June, 6:30 PM
Ask Me Anything (Live Q&A) Wednesday, 19 June, 6:30 PM
Register at any time between now and 19 June to gain access to all four webinars.
Kuyper Christian School is unashamedly a Parent-Partnership School. We recognise the God-given responsibility of parents to raise their children.
Last week, I asked a question: What difference should this recognition make to the actions and attitudes of each member in that partnership? I also shared some ideas about how the school demonstrates this Parent-School Partnership. In brief, as the school partners with parents, we commit to teaching students to respect their parents, communicating with you, and seeking to know and love each student individually.
Today, I want to explore some ways you, as parents, can express your partnership with the school.
Mutual respect grounded in relationship In partnership, I would hope that parents respect and trust the school staff and give them the benefit of the doubt. Communication and good relationships are the keys to this trust. Get to know your childrens’ teachers, the principal, our support staff, and the office staff. Let them know that you believe the best of them so that if a problem arises, finding solutions will be supported by a strong foundation of mutual trust and respect.
Valuing the role of the school In partnership, I would hope that parents support the teachers’ role and the school’s authority. Schools need structure and consistency to be effective. Engage with the information the school provides about our policy and practices. Make sure you understand what is expected of your children so that you can be a supportive and effective partner in your child’s learning journey.
Participation In partnership, I would hope that parents are involved. Your child’s education is ultimately your God-given responsibility; you are their primary educator. Invest in knowing what your children are doing at school, ask your class teacher what you can be doing to support your child’s learning at home, and take every opportunity to participate in our school community. You are a vital partner in your child’s education, and your contribution is valuable.
As with any partnership, it won’t all be smooth sailing, but there is also great blessing in a partnership founded on God’s truth and a mutual desire to grow in maturity and wisdom.
In our Parent-School Partnership, it is my hope that both parents and the school will commit to each other in ways that honour God, honour one another, and create a learning environment in which students can flourish. Praise God, I have already enjoyed the blessing of these types of partnerships at work in our school. I pray that they will grow and strengthen this year.
It is with sadness I announce that, after ten years of godly service to our school community, our Director of Business and Operations, Mr Alan McCartin, will be finishing his time at Kuyper at the end of this term.
Alan joined the Kuyper staff in 2014 as our Bursar and expanded into a Business Management (Finance and Property) role in 2021. His astute business mind and expert financial management have been a tremendous asset to our school over the years. We have deeply appreciated his commitment to excellence and oversight of our property maintenance.
Alan will be taking up the exciting role of inaugural Business Manager at St Bishoy Coptic Orthodox College in Mt Druitt. We are confident that this school community will be equally blessed by his wry sense of humour and business acumen.
Please take the opportunity over the next few weeks to thank Alan for his long-standing service to our community. We pray God’s blessing on this new season in his life.
We are pleased to welcome the following new staff to the Kuyper team in 2024.
Welcome, Mr Robert Coleman. Robert will join the Kuyper staff in 2024 as a Secondary teacher, filling the current Mathematics vacancy in our high school. Robert brings extensive life experience to this role, having taught Secondary Mathematics, Science and Christian studies. He also has a Bachelor of Theology and has spent a considerable portion of his career in pastoral ministry and bible teaching. Robert has a clear vision for Christ-centred education, and we are delighted to welcome him to our teaching team. Robert is husband to Christine, one of our Teacher’s Aides, and father to Joanna and Alannah.
We also warmly welcome Mrs Anne Cuthill, who will join the Kuyper team next year as a Primary teacher. Anne is a seasoned teacher with 30 years of experience, including classroom teaching, maths and literacy tutoring, and home education. She is an accomplished curriculum programmer and proficient in the explicit teaching model we have implemented with such success in our Primary school. Anne brings with her a love for Jesus and her students, and we are excited to welcome her into the Kuyper community in 2024.
Following this, some familiar faces will take up new roles in 2024.
Mr Ja Baldwin will take up a new whole school role in 2024, managing Sport and PDHPE from Kindergarten to Year 10. Ja has already been assisting with coordinating our Primary sports programs and involvement in Zone and State sports events. As a passionate athlete and highly competent organiser, Ja has the ideal skill set for this role.
In addition, Mr Daniel Nixon, who has been part of our casual staff this year, will join us in a permanent part-time capacity in 2024 as a Secondary PDHPE teacher. Daniel has nearly three decades of experience as a PDHPE teacher and Sports Coordinator in Christian schools and has already made a valuable contribution to our Secondary teaching team.
We look forward to the energy, enthusiasm, and experience these staff members will bring to their new roles next year.
In light of the important implications for Christian Schools surrounding reforms to anti-discrimination legislation, the Abraham Kuyper Christian Education Association Ltd will be hosting a special guest speaker prior to the business part of our EGM on Wednesday 23 November.
Vanessa Cheng is the Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Association of Christian Schools and will speak on Partnering with Parents to Protect Christian Schools
Vanessa has extensive experience working in the education and government sector as a secondary Christian school teacher and a project manager in the Victorian Department of Education. She has also held senior policy roles within the Victorian Department of Premier and Cabinet and the Federal Department of Employment and Workplace Relations. She holds a Graduate Diploma in Education as well as a Bachelor of Economics/Arts from Monash University, majoring in History and Politics. She is a member of Holy Trinity Anglican Church and lives in Bendigo with her husband and their five teenage children.
State-level action to reform anti-discrimination and equal opportunity laws to restrict the ability of Christian schools to employ Christian staff is already having an impact. The current Bill before the NT Parliament will vastly change the landscape for Christian Schools in NT if it is passed. Find out more.
We encourage all Association Members and other interested parents to join us for this important discussion.
From 6:15pm, join Vanessa and our Board for a light meal.
The Australian Association of Christian Schools is an advocacy organisation representing the interests of over a hundred Christian schools in every State and Territory. For further information on their work, visit their website.
Kuyper’s Pioneering parents, who established the school, wanted their children to know and love Jesus. This is the fundamental reason for the establishment of Kuyper Christian School 40 years ago. Kuyper’s Pioneers wanted their children to know God’s love, faithfulness and forgiveness and to understand the world through knowing the God who created it with purpose for all life and living. For them, the world belongs to God and learning is a gift from him. Our school motto, Learning in God’s World, was chosen because these are the most important lessons anyone can learn; to know Jesus, to love him, and to understand that it is his world where we learn and grow to full maturity when we learn and grow with him.
Kuyper’s Pioneers wanted the school to be a place where students would be blessed by the instruction and nurture of Christian teachers who would work in partnership with parents; a place where God’s story is told from the beginning to eternity. We know that from Creation to the fall of mankind into sin, God’s People in Israel, the arrival of the Saviour Jesus Christ, his life, death, resurrection, ascendancy back to heaven and the hope of his return has given understanding and meaning to the life of millions of Christian people around the world for thousands of years. They have lived and shared this same story with others for generations.
But because of His great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Ephesians 2:4-5
Kuyper exists today only because of God’s faithfulness to his community. At this anniversary time, we corporately thank God for the people he has brought to us over many years and for his providence in sustaining the school over four decades. It is with deep gratitude we recognise those who undertook the work in the beginning to establish what we see here now. To the inaugural Kuyper Association and people like Sue Maguire, our first teacher, we say thank you. Your labour has not been in vain. The school continues, by God’s grace, to serve families in the Hawkesbury. Praise God for what he has done and what he will continue to do.
I hope this holiday period is one that families enjoy together. I pray for those who have been struggling with poor health; that sickness may be overcome. As a community, we are all looking forward to the School Musical (Seussical!) in early Term 3. We hope to see you there. It’s going to be amazing!
Kuyper Christian School, K – 6, 1982Kuyper Christian School, K – 10, 2006Kuyper Christian School, P – 12, 2017
Life is hectic. It seems to go too fast, and we often miss the tiny things that God gives us to remind us of the wonder of his creativity and love.
Two weeks ago, I was walking the Prep class from the hall to our classroom. This is not a particularly long walk, but my mind was already busy thinking about our plans for afternoon lessons. As we hurried along, I heard one of the Preps say “Mrs McAlpine… look!” I heard the urgency in the voice and stopped in my tracks. I turned around, expecting something wrong.
“Look, it’s a beetle!” said the Prep Explorer. At first I couldn’t even see the insect; it was hidden on the other side of the handrail. Once I saw, I wondered how on earth I had missed it, as this was no ordinary beetle. The back and wings were the most amazing combination of metallic and iridescent colours! We were all in awe of its perfect miniature beauty. Despite its size, the Preps insisted I take a photo. It was difficult for my camera to focus, but I managed to get a couple of shots. When we got back to the classroom, we watched the photographs on the television so we could have a closer look. We counted the colours, spots, and legs as we zoomed in on this most beautiful and intriguing insect. We thanked God for creating such an amazing creature.
Life is hectic. It seems to go too fast, and we often miss the tiny things that God gives us to remind us of the wonder of his creativity and love.
My Preps are experts at noticing amazing things in God’s creation, everyday. Not only do they notice, they are desperate to share it with everyone around them! That is why I call them “God’s Little Explorers”; they see and seek God in all the little things, and they rejoice! It is natural for them to be in awe of everything God has made and done for us.
This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.
Psalm 118:24
I think we can learn a lot about our wonderful God by looking at life through the eyes of our youngest Kuyperians.
Last Sunday night, I was glued to the NRL Grand Final. Every year I tune in and cheer on whichever team takes my fancy. But this was different. This year was special. This year my own team, the Penrith Panthers, were in the Grand Final and I was eager to see them win. It was a thrilling match. I rode the roller coaster, with every Panthers fan, in every twist and turn of the game. And as the final siren sounded, as our battered and bruised boys finally held up the Provan-Summons Trophy, I was jubilant, along with the many other fans across Western Sydney. Yet, it was only a year ago that the Panthers faced the bitter disappointment of losing a Grand Final.
As much as I love sport, I don’t love how cut-throat it is. It’s great when you win, but in the words of Roy and HG “there are a million ways to lose”. Sometimes that comes down to millimetres or a thousandth of a second. The weak quickly fall away, while only the strongest are victorious.
Life can feel just as cut-throat. It doesn’t take much to show us how weak we really are. Just a tiny, microscopic virus can shut down an entire country. Things we consider certain can suddenly be whisked away and we realise that our world is like a dune where the sand shifts and changes all the time. A common question I got during our Year 3 Google Meets last term was “When are going back to school?” It broke my heart to respond with “I don’t know”. How uncertain our world can be, and how helpless it can make us feel.
Yet, the Bible reminds us that in our shifting, sand dune world, God is the rock on which we can stand. In our Year 3 devotions, we have been looking at Jesus’ parables. One parable in particular is called the Wise and Foolish Builders. It goes like this:
Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine (Jesus) and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.
Matthew 7:24-27
Notice how the house that stands on the rock may not be the prettiest house, or the house that’s the most well-built. It’s the one that is built on the rock. When we build our lives on Jesus, even though the winds or rains of life batter us, we can still stand. We don’t stand because we are strong. We are actually weaker than we realise, and it doesn’t take a lot to expose that truth. No, we stand because Jesus is strong. When we put our trust in Jesus, we have secure salvation that cannot be changed no matter how many times life’s certainties are whisked away from us. It’s in the strength of the Lord Jesus that we can say:
My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 72:26
Praise God, that in Him we are not trapped in a cut-throat game where the fittest, fastest and strongest win the victory of life. When we put our trust in Jesus, we can be victorious in the end with Him, not because we are strong but because He is.
A recent study by the UNSW Gonski Institute for Education produced a summary report on technology and families. The data represented more than 5000 children and 2450 Australian parents and grandparents, between the ages of 25 & 65 years old. Here is a snapshot of what we learn about ourselves if the survey is representative of our lives. I have a sneaking suspicion that it is fairly accurate, even for Kuyper families.
More than 4 in 5 children own at least one screen-based device. The average is 3 devices per child.
Personal ownership of devices starts as young as 4 years old.
Parents are most worried about the negative impact of screen use on their child’s physical activity levels, attention span and time to play.
3 of 4 parents think it is harder to control their child’s digital habits since they have got their own screen-based device.
83% of parents felt their child was negatively distracted by digital technologies.
65% of families agreed that negotiating digital technology use causes conflict in the home.
72% of parents recognise that their own digital media and technology habits influence those of their children.
Over 90% of parents felt that they themselves were distracted, at least to some extent, by digital technologies.
More than half of parents primarily allow their children to use digital media and technology for entertainment. Comparatively, only 1 in 5 predominantly use it for learning purposes.
65% of parents felt that when their child is bored, using digital devices to distract them is their first choice.
37% of children and young people have been anxious or depressed because of their time online or because they were not allowed to use their device.
90% of parents felt that digital technologies make is easier to stay in touch with family and friends.
3 in 5 children who are struggling at school go to bed with their devices.
30% of families allow their children to use their devices in their bedroom after bedtime every single day.
Nearly half of Australian parents (47%) suggest that screen time has a negative impact on emotional health.
What can we learn from this? We would do well to heed the warning signs listed above and seek to guide our children with wisdom in this domain. By way of doing this, I would like to commend Mrs Stewart, one of our parents, who recently gave a presentation at the Kuyper Association Annual General Meeting. She discussed how she and her husband manage the screens in their home with 4 teenagers. The Stewarts use a program called Google Family Link which gives control to parents and helps them teach appropriate device use for their children at home. I have asked Mrs Stewart to repeat her presentation at the Not Even Once (Changing the Narrative) drug and alcohol workshop for parents on 9 June at 7 pm. I strongly encourage you to be present for both sessions. What these presenters have to say will be gold for families struggling with technology and other teenager issues.
So, are our smartphones hostile territory? Is it a cultural trinket or a legitimate tool? Just like belly buttons, we all have them, but we want students to understand that technology can be friend or foe. It is a gift from God, and like many other things, can be used for good or evil. As recorded in Genesis, Adam and Eve made the tragic mistake of ignoring God’s only request and we all live with the results of the breakdown of our relationship with God, and everyone, and everything.
With this history, let us seek to honour God with our technology. This starts with being conscious of our example and how technology is affecting us and our families. Let us seek to transform technology use in ways that foster goodness and community building.
One difficulty of living in a sinful world is that we come under the illusion that it is better to rely on oneself than be dependent on others.
Timothy Jennings in ‘The God Shaped Brain’ illustrates this point using the example of God’s creation. In any ecosystem, the survival of every being is dependent on another. He observed that for animals to survive, a plant or another animal must be ‘sacrificed’ and consumed. A plant’s survival depends on nutrients from the soil, rain, and sun; it cannot possibly grow on its own. There is not one member of creation that can be entirely independent.
For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities – his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.
Romans 1:20
We should expect God’s creation to reflect His nature. Timothy Jennings argues that the sacrificial nature of all creation reflects the love of God, because love is, by nature, sacrificial. From this perspective, love really does make the world go around. If an element of creation decides not to love and not to sacrifice, its community risks loss of life.
The same is true for humans! For some reason, we have decided that self-dependence is best, but actually, it halts the cycle of love and hurts families and communities. I think we know this to be true from our own experiences. When we live isolated lives, we tend to lack joy, but when we choose to love others by sacrificing our time/money/attention, we receive joy. Communities that help and rely on each other for their needs, tend to be relationally close, more joyous communities. Truly it is “better to give than receive” as the Bible says.
Last week, we spent time with Year 7 and 8 students at Galston Gorge camp. The students participated in bushwalking, archery, abseiling, and climbing, as well as other activities. At the end of every activity, Crusader staff gathered the students together to reflect on the importance of encouragement and teamwork. Many students recognised the importance of working as a team, particularly as they experienced failure when they did not practice effective teamwork!
I would like to encourage you to reflect on your need for Christ, and other people; we can’t live life in isolation. I also encourage you to be that help for others; sacrifice your time and resources for your neighbour and follow the greatest example of love, Jesus Christ.
If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? But in fact, God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body.
Roll up! Roll up! Kuyper will be at the Hawkesbury Show this year. Come and pay us a visit, behind the Art & Craft Pavilion, opposite the Redbank Communities display.
