Ruth Thompson

There is a mammoth amount of effort involved in presenting a musical, and our recent production of Shrek, The Musical Jr., has been no exception. Kuyper Christian School would like to thank everyone involved in getting the show onto the stage.

The Shrek Production Team, a group of six dedicated and enthusiastic Kuyper staff members, have poured their time, energy, and creativity into producing a stellar show. Their commitment and passion for every aspect of the production have been truly inspiring. 

Director Mr Rob Weule has been the show’s foundation, guide, and faithful captain. His leadership, wisdom, and artistry have not only inspired but also guided the entire team – staff and students alike. His vision and direction have enabled every person involved in the production to blossom and shine. 

Producer Mrs Amanda McAlpine has been responsible for organising and managing all things ‘P’ – planning, people, paperwork, props, participation, promotion and prompting. Her understanding and implementation of the show’s ‘behind the scenes’ elements equipped and enabled the cast, crew, and production team to do their jobs well. Her ability to motivate, reassure and fix any issues meant that we were always ahead of schedule. Thank you for your flexibility, dedication, compassion, problem-solving, and motivation.

Assistant Director Mrs Meg Lloyd-Johnson has provided the cast with invaluable drama techniques and skills to develop and enhance characterisation and scene production. Her ability to capture the essence of a moment and teach the cast how to bring that to life was instrumental in making the show such a success. Thank you for your ideas, advice, initiatives and ability to see the grand scheme and make it all work together seamlessly. 

Creative Director Mrs Amy Thornton was tasked with creating and capturing the choreography, costumes and cheer. The show’s dancing parts are original compositions and routines choreographed by Ms Thornton. In addition, her organising, mending, altering and adapting of the costumes meant that every cast member not only looked the part but felt it, too! Thank you for your creativity, originality, animation, craziness and patience in making rehearsals and preparation fun and entertaining. 

 Music and Vocal Director Mrs Jodie Paul, with her enthusiasm and love for musicals, brought her knowledge and expertise in vocal training and coaching to develop every cast member’s voice and help them excel. Thank you for your exuberance, aptitude, instruction and flare in empowering the cast to find their voice and dazzle the audience.

Technical Director, Mr Mitch Cavens, spent hours setting up, tuning in and refining the sound, lighting, music and microphones to provide a truly remarkable and extravagant performance and experience. Thank you for your perseverance, patience, calmness, proficiency and ability to lead and teach others to serve and succeed. 

Thank you to the amazing tech crew – Jack, Pat, Jake, Noah, Finlay and Macsen – for all your hard work and commitment. Your willingness and dedication to mastering the sound and lighting were an asset to our production. 

Thank you also to the backstage crew – Ruben and Chayse – who learned the show inside out and mastered scene changes quickly and seamlessly.

Thank you to our stage and prop managers, Josh, Ellie and Felicity, for making and creating props and ensuring all cast members had their props ready to go. 

Thank you to the team of people who helped to paint the sets and backdrops and made the scenes and stage come to life:

• Miss Lyndall Gluskie – for painting the barn door, Duloc Castle and Fiona’s tower. 
• Mrs Heather Cumming – for painting the stage trees.
• Mrs Bec Block – for painting the Duloc Castle and Dragon’s Cave Lava.
• Mrs Christine Huyhn – for painting the beautiful and enchanting stage backdrop. 

Thank you to Mrs Aline Kirkby and your catering team for all the time and effort you put into Swamp Sweetery and the creativity of the delicious treats you designed and prepared.

Thank you, Miss Jemima Robinson, for your help in organising the costumes and designing and creating the hairstyles for the performances. 

Huge thanks to our make-up team. Our cast was literally transformed by the work of your hands! Thank you:

• Mrs BJ Weule – for your creative expertise in designing and applying stage make-up to bring our characters to life and for teaching these skills to our student team.
• Mrs Emily Gash – for your skill and technique in special effect make-up and prosthetics.
• Miss Kristine Carter and Mrs Bec Block – for your artistry in creating fantastic make-up looks. 
• Alyssa, Elsie, Kiara, Matilda, Abigail, Jess and Kiara – for your endless patience, diligence, and teamwork in assisting with make-up.

Thank you, Mrs Merrilynne Shaw, for your swiftness and focus in making all the microphone headset changes happen. 

Thank you, Mrs Jo Kean, for making the guard’s tunics, Duloc banners, and Lord Farquaad’s F’s.

Thank you, Mrs Lyn McLean, for making the Storyteller’s outfits, costume alterations, and adjustments.

Thank you, Mr Bill McLean, for your quick and innovative fixes, particularly your work on Lord Farquaad’s legs.

Thank you to our Principal, Mr Mark Ramsay, for your support, encouragement, allowances and commitment to getting Shrek, The Musical Jr., on the stage.

Thank you to the teaching staff at Kuyper Christian School for your support, patience and understanding in permitting students to be out of class and for your help during performances.

Thank you to the non-teaching staff for your willingness to do whatever was asked of you and your support and responsiveness in rearranging, sorting, printing, and communicating. 

Thank you to the parents, family members and friends of our cast and crew for allowing our students to be part of this production. Thank you for supporting their creativity and giving up your time to get them to extra rehearsals. 

Last but certainly not least, thank you to our incredible cast for your commitment and dedication to your characters and to one another. What a spectacular show!

God has given our community many gifts, and we are so blessed to see them brought together in Shrek Jr. 2024.

Kaelene McCaull, Head of Primary and Director of Teaching Development

One of my favourite activities as a teacher is reading to my class. There is something special about sharing a book with others that makes it more enjoyable than simply reading it on your own. Story-telling is a powerful way of sharing the narrative of our lives, passing on knowledge and thinking more deeply about the world around us.

The theme for this year’s Book Week here at Kuyper is ‘Reading is Miraculous: Share the Miracle of Reading’. Our book week celebrations in Week 4 offer us an excellent opportunity to share what we love about reading and the books we enjoy. However, this year, we want to share the miracle of reading beyond the boundaries of our school gate. 

Earlier this year, I had the privilege of joining Year 11 on their service learning trip to Vanuatu and visiting the Child Care Centre (CCC) school in Port Villa. Immense importance is placed on reading as part of learning in Vanuatu. CCC teaches its students to read and speak English because they believe this will give their children more opportunities to break away from the poverty they often experience. Reading books in English is a vital part of their learning, just as it is here in Australia, but they have very few reading resources. Their library is a small room filled with ‘retired’ books donated by libraries in countries like Australia instead of throwing them away. Many of them were old and tattered with a distinctive brown paper look about them. 

CCC is building a new school in Teouma, roughly 20km inland from Port Villa, and Kuyper will partner with CCC Teouma from 2025. How wonderful it would be if we could help fill their new library shelves with books that we love here in Australia—bright, colourful books that excite, share information, and tell wonderful stories. 

I am inviting you and your children to take part in this opportunity to share the miracle of reading with our friends in Vanuatu. We are asking every primary school student to donate one book to the library at CCC Teouma. This should provide a collection that appeals to all age groups and help the students in our partner school in Vanuatu grow in their learning. God has richly blessed us through our access to education and reading. We hope that we can encourage our students to serve others with the blessings they have received. 

‘The Wandering Bookseller’ will hold a bookstall at school on Wednesday, 21 August, in conjunction with our Book Week Celebration and Book Parade. We encourage you to purchase a book to donate to CCC Teouma on the day. Alternatively, students can bring a new book to donate anytime during Book Week, and we will arrange for them to get to Vanuatu. 

Students have been encouraged to talk with their parents about what would be appropriate for them to donate. If you have any questions, please feel free to email me at kmccaull@kuyper.nsw.edu.au

Thank you for your support in sharing the miracle of reading!

Find out more about our Book Week Celebration here.

Mark Ramsay, Principal

After a lengthy recruitment process, we are pleased to announce that Andrew Southwell is joining the Kuyper team as our new Chief Financial Officer. Andrew is a qualified accountant with a Master of Management. He has extensive experience in business management, having managed his own printing business for nearly twenty years. We are confident that Andrew’s professional background will greatly benefit our team.

Part of maintaining a school culture that remains true to our vision is employing staff who are committed Christians, who identify with the School ethos and have a Biblical worldview. This applies not only to our teaching staff but also to administrative and support staff. If we are committed to being a truly Christian community that keeps the gospel at the heart of all teaching and learning, every one of our staff members needs to be on board. Andrew’s Christ-centred heart for people is a good fit for our school community. 

Andrew joins us three days a week, Tuesday to Thursday. Feel free to pop in and say hello.

Mark Ramsay, Principal

Every second Wednesday at 2:50 p.m. in the Library, K-6 students meet for a Primary Assembly. This is an opportunity to celebrate the learning that has been happening in our Primary classes, sing together, and talk about what it looks like to Learn in God’s World at Kuyper. 

Last week, I shared with the students the importance of being thankful. Thankfulness helps us be happy, which is the H in WHOK.* Being happy or joyful is something that God calls us to do.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says this:

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (NIV)

One way that we can practise being joyful or happy is by thanking God in all circumstances.

In the spirit of this, I asked the students and staff to share some things about the Athletics Carnival, for which they were thankful. Here are some of the answers:

• That we could run races.
• For the good weather.
• For Mr Baldwin, who organised it all.
• For strength.
• For fun times.
• For the sausage sizzle.

We then prayed, thanking God for each of these ways that His provision for our Athletics Carnival made this day such a fun and enjoyable time together. 

God provides for us in rich and abundant ways, in both the large and small details of life. We have much to be thankful for. Practising thankfulness is a good and right response that helps us have the right attitude towards God and others.

Here is what I am thankful for today:

• All the parents and families who make up our Kuyper community.
• The students who approach each day of learning with wonder and enthusiasm.
• The staff who work tirelessly to provide the best learning environment for our community.
• Coffee!
• Jesus – who loves us to the point of laying down His life for us.

Let me encourage you to consider what you can be thankful for today and to share it with your childen. You might find that this, in turn, encourages them to rejoice and be thankful as well!

Parents are always welcome at our Primary Assemblies. The next one will be held on Wednesday, 3 July, commencing at 2:50 p.m. in the Library. 

* WHOK stands for Wise, Happy, Obedient, and Kind. These are key things that we are called to do by Jesus. We use the WHOK acronym with our Primary students to help them understand how to love God and love others.