The Good Samaritan TERM 4

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1 Ephesians 4: but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head Christ 16 from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Term 4 Week 4 4 November 2016 Our Vision To foster a Christ centred learning community where all students receive an education which enables them to know the Lord Jesus Christ, grow in Him and serve Him to their full potential. Regents Park Christian School 59 Regent Street, Regents Park, 2143 Ph: Fax: principal@rpcs.nsw.edu.au TERM 4 4 Nov Welcome to Yr 7 Day 7 Nov Year 7 Vaccinations 9 Nov P: Kinder Stay & Play Day No 1 School at Work Tour am S: Year 12 Formal 7-11pm 16 Nov P: Kinder Stay & Play Day No Nov S: Yr 10 Snr School Orientation 23 Nov S: Yr 10 Last Day School at Work Tour am 2 Dec Term 4 ends PRAYER POINTS Praise God for an exciting start for the Kindergarten children at their Orientation Day Pray for our Year 12 HSC students sitting exams and for wisdom in staff appointments for The Good Samaritan The parable of the Good Samaritan is familiar to many of us. It is the story of a man who, while walking along a road, is beaten by robbers and left for dead on the side of that road. His tragic state is ignored by both a priest and a Levite, with his rescue coming from a Samaritan - the sworn enemies of the Jews. The context of the parable arose from a discussion with Jesus and an expert in the law about the basic requirements to inherit salvation which are summarised as; to love God with all our heart, soul and mind and to love your neighbour as yourself. However, the expert in the law wanted clarification on what type of person was classified as his neighbour. In the parable, Jesus is teaching us that everybody is our neighbour. Regardless of their background, affiliations or religion. We are called to love everybody as we love ourselves. In recent times there has been lots of discussion regarding the status of refugees and immigration in Australia. Despite the variety of opinions in parliament and the news, as Christians we cannot deny the foundational command to love and care for our neighbours no matter who they are. In the ancient world those who were powerful dominated over those who were weaker. For 430 years the Israelites lived in slavery under the cruel leadership of Pharaoh in Egypt and they understood what is was like to be a mistreated foreigner. Since the Israelites had experienced mistreatment, God wanted them to never be cruel to the strangers in their nation. God says in Exodus 22:21, You shall not wrong a stranger or oppress him, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt. This command was so important to God that he reiterates it again in Exodus 23:9, Do not oppress a foreigner; you yourselves know how it feels to be foreigners, because you were foreigners in Egypt. God understands that, in the ancient world, migrants were especially vulnerable as they had no right to land, family support or tribal support. So when they made their home in Israel they were to be treated with the love and respect that they would show their fellow Israelites. While our politicians debate and discuss the topic of immigration and refugee status, as Christians we need to remain faithful to God s commands and not oppress foreigners and strangers in our midst. That is our call as faithful followers of Jesus - to love our neighbours regardless of where they are from. I am proud to be in a school and church community that openly welcomes and loves our neighbours from all parts of the globe. On concluding His parable, Jesus asked the religious expert a simple question. Which of these three do you think was a neighbour to the man who fell into the hands of robbers? The expert in the law replied, The one who had mercy on him. Jesus told him, Go and do likewise. (Luke 10:36-37). This command to go and do likewise was not just for that religious expert but for all of us who earnestly desire to love God with all our heart, soul and mind. We are to show love and mercy to all of our neighbours - no matter who they are. Pastor Mitch

2 RAMA PRESENTS COMMUNITY NEWS TERM 4 WEEK 4 ALL SCHOOL NEWS UNIFORM SHOP Open: Fridays (term time) 8am-12pm & 12:30-4pm The Uniform Shop gratefully accepts donations of 2 nd hand uniforms as they are of great assistance to families in our community. Donations can be left at the office or brought in to the Uniform Shop on Fridays. Layby is available if you would like items set aside to pay them off slowly. Items can also be put on hold. Online ordering! Information and order forms can be found on our website under the Today tab. Orders are packed on Friday and sent home with students. Name labels: Personalised, iron-on name labels are available for $0.50 each. The labels are to be ironed on at home and will come with instructions. Each Secondary blazer sold will have a free label included. HEARTBEAT COMMUNITY CHOIR Everyone is welcome - Tuesdays (9-9.50am) at Heartbeat Church (61 Regents St) Enjoy Singing, Friendship and Morning Tea - Contact: or familychaplain@heartbeatchurch.org.au Donation $ 5 per session FREE ENGLISH CLASSES Join our fun and friendly English language classes where you can learn and share. When: Every Tuesday during school terms Time: Between 10 and 11.30am Where: Heartbeat Church, 61 Regent St, Regents Park Heartbeat Church is looking for native English speakers interested in helping people from the community to learn and practice their English. Classes are on Tuesdays from am pm during school terms. If you are interested in joining this great ministry, please contact Michelle Lin by mlin@rpcs.nsw.edu.au or Church office (Mon. Wed. & Thur. 9am-4pm) HEARTBEAT COMMUNITY CARE Heartbeat Community Care welcomes donations of quality, 2 nd hand clothing, shoes and homewares (no electricals). Our Emergency Relief program welcomes donations of non-perishable food items such as canned soup, Weet-Bix and basic hygiene items such as toothpaste. Donations can be dropped off at Heartbeat Community Care (Shop 1/5 Amy Street, Regents Park) or at the Heartbeat Church office (61 Regents Street) Who: For children 0 5 Yrs When: Friday (school terms) 10.30am-12.15pm Where: Regents Park Christian School Play time, Morning tea, Story, Craft, Music Fee: $ 2 per session

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4 NSW GRANDPARENT OF THE YEAR: Ms Jessica Bennett! PRIMARY NEWS Sunday was grandparent s day and our very own Jessica Bennett was awarded Grandparent of the Year! Our school nominated Jessica in recognition of all that she does for her grand-children, Eva and Seb. The children live in Austral but their grandma provides transport every day to and from school in Regents Park! She also volunteers in their classes, helping not only her grandkids, but others as well. If ever their class has an excursion, she can be counted upon to provide extra help. When we planted our Bush Tucker, Jessica was there planting and digging with Eva and Seb. Our community is richer because of Jessica and we are pleased as punch that she received this recognition! Brava, Jessica! KINDER OPEN MORNING & ORIENTATION Last Friday and again on Wednesday, we welcomed next year s kindergarten to our school. It is always an exciting day, particularly when we see younger siblings whom we have seen grow from babies, to toddlers, to children ready for big school! We pray that they will find RPCS an exciting place to learn where it is safe to make mistakes! CRUNCH n SIP & LIVE LIFE SCHOOL Good nutrition and healthy eating habits are an important part of learning. Each morning our students enjoy Crunch n Sip, when they have a drink of water and eat a serving of fresh fruit or vegetables. We ask parents to support this by providing your child with a serving of fresh fruit or vegetables for their Crunch n Sip break as well as a drink bottle filled with water.

5 SECONDARY NEWS SUMMER UNIFORM All students should now be in the summer uniform. POSITIVE BEHAVIOUR FOR LEARNING (PBL) VALUE: Care for People and Property! It is important to remember to show respect by caring for people and property. We hold relationships and resources in trust. People trust us to care for and about them. We take care with how we treat them. A s well, we use these beautiful new facilities in trust. They are loaned to us for this season. Those who will join our community in a few years are trusting us to look after things so that they too will be able to enjoy them. Please encourage your children to demonstrate good stewardship by caring for people and property. PRIMARY ASSEMBLY Each Friday (9-9:30am) we hold our Primary Assembly in the Class Date school hall. This is a time when our Primary classes come S1 Assembly 4 November together to celebrate God s goodness. Parents are welcome, particularly when your child s class is rostered to share in Assembly. This term, Stages will be rostered on for Assembly to share what they have been learning - Stage 1 on 4 November and Stage 2 on 11 November. S2 Assembly Assembly Presentation Assembly Whole School Chapel 11 November 18 November 25 November 2 December For your diary: Presentation Assembly on the morning of Friday 25 November; Primary Celebration that night. PROBLEM / SOLUTION IN C21 THIS WEEK PROBLEM / SOLUTION was the focus of C21 in the last 2 weeks. Problem / solution is a critical thinking tool where an issue is identified and then creative thinking is used to try and develop effective solutions for the issue. These solutions are then broken down further and analysed to evaluate how effective the solution really is. Students were given the opportunity to identify an issues that they felt could enhance their experience of school life. Eg: a desire for a student lounge, changing the flow of traffic in stairwells, how to get to school on time. Students analysed the reason for heavy traffic in the stairs and the factors that lead to the congestion. They realised that it was impractical to change the shape of the stairwell or place in traffic lights, and created more viable and functional solutions which included having up and down direction in the stairwell traffic. Possible solutions were proposed and examined, students surveyed about the proposal, solutions rejected and reformed.

6 As in real life and world situations, the brief or the criteria changed mid project, and students were required to apply more creative and critical thinking to meet the new goals in the existing time available. They quickly collected data and statistics, transferring into graphs, on the importance of their solutions to the students experience of school. Once students had completed the critical and creative thinking of the solutions, they were required to prepare a proposal, either written report or visual presentation, which they presented to their peers for critiquing. Many students used Adobe Spark which they had only just learnt to creatively develop their presentation video. Students have strengthened their critical thinking skills as they break apart real life situations, examine the factors that relate to the situation and creatively develop solutions that work. Developing solutions to real life situations is a crucial skill for all students. God has given us the ability to be creative in the development of solutions. JUNIOR GEOGRAPHY CHALLENGE This week six promising Geography students from Year 8 participated in the WeSSSTA Junior Geography Challenge at St Mary s Community Hall. There were over 250 students from schools across NSW who also brought their best students to this competition. There were 10 rounds, each based on a different category including world wonders, anthems, seas and straights and introduced species. Our team (Hayley Choi, Sophia Lee, Jayden Parker, Samuel Barbosa, Nathaniel Chamron and Anthony Mateos) all performed particularly well and remained in the top 10 teams throughout the competition, finishing in 7 th place. Well done team!