Dear Parents & Friends of Kuyper, The Prodigal Son On Monday morning Mr Hottinger shared a modern retelling of Jesus parable of the prodigal son. We ve all heard the story - a young man demands his share of his father s inheritance. With a broken heart the father divides his inheritance between his two sons, and the younger son proceeds to squander his money in wild living. Eventually finding himself broke and in despair he realises his sin and foolishness and makes the difficult decision to place himself at his father s mercy. Seeing his son from afar, the father runs to embrace him, in a way that at the time would have been undignified for an elderly man. He orders a ring for his finger and sandals for his feet. Kill the fattened calf! My son was dead and is now alive. What an amazing image of our God - a father who runs toward us to restore broken relationships and offer unbridled grace and forgiveness. Definitely not a father looking for opportunities to punish us for our foolishness and sin! But let s not forget the second son... On hearing the celebrations, the older son comes in from a hard day s work. He discovers the source of the jubilation, music and dancing, and he indignantly stands outside and refuses to join in. But he answered his father, Look! All these years I ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him! Luke 15:29-30 The father sees him and implores him to understand his joy. He wants his eldest son to join in his celebrations. As Christians, we can learn lessons from both sons. There are times when we will squander the blessings that God has given us, turn our backs on Him and those closest to us. But in our broken lives we must seek the humility needed to ask for forgiveness in order to restore our damaged relationships with God and others. The world might tell us that the younger son is a role model; that we should be looking after ourselves first. Our independence is a priority. Take what you can from those around you and run with it! Likewise the example of the older son is one we should reflect on. How often do we respond in situations like the older son with a feeling of self-righteousness and a misplaced justice? Are there times when we are angry at God s mercy and grace and feel that people should be punished instantly and publicly for their sinfulness? We are called as Christians to respond like the father. True joy and celebration comes out of forgiveness. In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents. Luke 15:10 This week, as we spend time with loved ones and colleagues in our workplaces and classrooms, the challenge is to look for opportunities to forgive, and also to repent. A bigger challenge; don t just look...run towards them. See these moments as opportunities to join the heavenly celebration. Mr Hottinger (Chaplain) & Mr Shadie (Secondary Coordinator) 294 Redbank Rd Kurrajong NSW 2758 T 02 4573 2999 E admin@kuyper.nsw.edu.au W www.kuyper.nsw.edu.au
Notes & Reminders Don t forget the Jelly Bean Guessing Competition TOMORROW to raise money for a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. At recess, in the Primary Gazebo, 50c a guess! Oct Fri 19 Tue 23 Year 9 Swimming Training K/1 Dinosaur excursion BookClub has gone home today. Please return your orders, with the correct money to the Office by Wednesday 24 October. You can also order online after this date, using this link to the Loop https://mybookclubs.scholastic.com.au/parent/ Login.aspx New Appointments for 2019 Wed 24 Auditions, Kuyper s Got Talent, 1pm Thur 25 Year 5 12 Invictus Games Excursion Fri 26 Year 9 Pushing the Boundaries exc. Sat 27 Term 4 Working Bee & Tour Morning Tue 30 Barista Training, 9:15am 1pm, Hall Wed 31 Rotary Dream Cricket excursion Wed 31 Auditions, Kuyper s Got Talent, 1pm Nov We are thrilled to announce that Mr Evan Barnes will become a permanent member of the Kuyper team from 2019. We have been blessed by Mr Barnes enthusiasm, commitment and flexibility to serve. Mr Barnes will teach Year 6 in 2019. Fri 2 Mon 5 Tue 6 Wed 7 Year 9 Swimming Training Kinder Orientation Morning Year 7/8 Swimming Training Year 4 CARES excursion In addition, Mrs Merrilynne Shaw (no relation to Mr Shaw) has been appointed to teach Year 5 next year. Mrs Shaw will be moving from Grace Christian School in Western Australia to take up the appointment. We are excited about what Mrs Shaw will bring to the Kuyper community. Wed 7 Auditions, Kuyper s Got Talent, 1pm Thur 8 Year 12 Graduation dinner Fri 9 Year 9 Swimming Training Mon 12 Book Fair, 3 3:30pm, in the Hall Tue 13 Book Fair, 8:30 9:30am, 3 3:30pm Tue 13 Year 7/8 Swimming Training Prayer & Praise Give thanks for the seasons and God s provision for His land with the steady rain over the last few weeks. Pray that it will spread throughout the country to those areas that are still suffering from drought. Give thanks for holidays and the safe return of our families and staff. Give thanks for the provision of a new staff member to teach Year 5 in 2019. Continue to pray for the Miller family and for Josh who has undergone his bone marrow transplant. Pray for healing, peace and hope as they continue this journey. Pray for our Board and Association as they prepare and plan for 2019. Wed 14 Book Fair, 8:30 9:30am, in the Hall Wed 14 Celebration Assembly, 2:30pm Wed 14 Extra-ordinary General Meeting, 8pm Fri 16 Year 9 Swimming Training Tue 20 Year 7/8 Swimming Training Wed 21 Auditions, Kuyper s Got Talent, 1pm Wed 21 Prayer & Board Meetings, 7pm Fri 23 Year 9 Swimming Training Tue 27 Year 7/8 Swimming Training Wed 28 Kuyper s Got Talent! 1:30 3:25pm Thur 29 Primary Oasis Fun Day Fri 30 Year 9 Swimming Training
Rostered Families Bryant Birrell-Luttrell Jaggard Jary Lawless Lucas Mccaull Mitchell Grech Sinfield Smith Sorrenson-Cox Sparks Speirs Spencer Spillane Spiteri Steer Hansen Hawkins Hitch Hodson Inskip King Kirch Kirkby Kruger Lauter Lightfoot Lobb MacDonald Mackay McDonagh Roper Shamoun Stewart Sultana Thomas Thompson Thomson Thornton Tonkin Toohey Townsend Van Wyk Vella Vitols Whitworth Wilson Wootton Young Zaayman
Don t forget to invite your non-kuyper friends and family who may be interested in Prep or Kindy next year to our School Tour Morning & Working Bee on Saturday 27 October (next Saturday) from 8am until 12noon. Remind them that there will be free barista coffee & croissant! For many students, a block of examinations can be daunting. Some students have no idea where to start and what they should work on. The first thing to do if you have examinations approaching in the next few months is to find out what topics will be tested. Even a simple question to teachers can get you started such as are we being tested on the whole year s work or just this semester?. Once you know what topics will be covered, organise all of your learning materials, make sure nothing is missing and that you have everything you need to review those topics. The next step is to make study notes on these topics if you haven t been doing this throughout the year (hopefully you have!). You can visit the SUMMARISING unit in the Study Skills Handbook to learn more about making effective study notes. Then it is time to start learning the notes (testing yourself on them over and over) and doing practice questions to make sure you can apply your knowledge to different types of questions. The ACTIVE STUDYING unit will give you lots of ideas on different study techniques to help you achieve your personal academic best. If you have a number of weeks prior to the examinations, it is a good idea to make a plan in your diary, phone or on a whiteboard of what subjects you will study and when. Try and allocate time for each subject once or twice a week, depending on the number of examinations you have. The PREPARING FOR EXAM BLOCKS unit explains in more detail how to put together a study plan for exams. Our school s subscription details to this online study skills website for secondary school students at www.studyskillshandbook.com.au User name: kuyper Password: 294study Jen Scanlan, Secondary Teacher
For those Year 9 11 students who put their names down for Barista training this term: Daniel G, Dylan, Peyton, Grace A, Hannah, Zoe, Lauren, Noah G, Samuel, Jade Kuyper Christian School s first school building! Training will occur on Tuesday 30 October, at 9:15am in the Hall. We look forward to seeing you there! Earlier this year, our Senior class experienced a cultural trip to Vanuatu. During this trip, the Kuyper students visited local schools in Port Vila and participated in classrooms. They also visited Port Vila Central Hospital to talk and pray with the ill. Since returning home, our students have communicated a passion to help those other than themselves, particularly the children of Vanuatu. They would like to do this by raising money to fund school resources, play equipment, toys for the local hospital and donations to children's programs at local churches. In order to do this, we are hoping once again to raise money through a silent auction at the Graduation Dinner in November. Any funds will make a real difference to underprivileged children in Vanuatu for decades to come. We would really appreciate your support as members of our local community and hope that you may be able to make a donation of a service or saleable item that we could auction on the night. If you would like more information about this please contact Mrs Alexis Clarke, Senior Core Teacher at aclarke@kuyper.nsw.edu.au Please bring any items you can contribute to the Office. Ian Shaw, Principal
This is a great opportunity to purchase books for Christmas! The Book Fair will be held in the Hall on: Monday 12 November, 3 3:30pm Tuesday 13 November, 8:30am 9:30am & 3 3:30pm Wednesday 14 November, 8:30am 9:30am If you can help on any of these days, please email admin@kuyper.nsw.edu.au. We look forward to seeing you at the Book Fair!
Operation Christmas Child is a charity organisation under the umbrella of Samaritans Purse that gives a shoebox of gifts to underprivileged children around the world. During Term 3 and Term 4 at Kuyper we collect the gifts and eventually package them at school. During November, we pack the boxes for both Girls and Boys in three different age categories (2 4 years, 5 9 years and 10-16 years) and deliver the boxes to the warehouse in Blacktown. A list of ideas is below. Please remove it and stick it near your shopping list! Thank you for the generous start to our Operation Christmas Child collection for 2018! Our first collection period is now drawing to an end and now we will switch to something different. During the first two weeks of Term 4, the items we need are as follows: Kindy, Year 1, Year 2, Year 5, Year 6, Year 9 and Year 10 Something to wear Year 3, Year 4, Year 7, Year 8 Year 11 and Year 12 Something special I have had some inquiries from people wanting to fill their own box. This is fine and I can supply an official box or you can use an ordinary shoe box up to A4 size. If you return them to school, we can deliver these to the warehouse for you. Keep an eye out for up coming fund raising events. Gareth Thompson, OCC Coordinator