Bayside Bulletin Newsletter, 21 November 2023

Principal’s Message

Dear All,

I am amazed that we are talking about only weeks to go until Christmas. Where has the time gone? As a child I remember wishing forward to so many things, and wishing time would speed up, that we would get there faster, and that I would soon be old enough to drive and do so many of the things I wanted to do. Now so much older, I wish we could slow all of this down, so we could truly spend more time enjoying what we have.

The pressures of responsibility can at times be overwhelming and yet we just carry the load – whether it be in our jobs or in raising a family; we have a responsibility and so we just soldier on. This is admirable, but are we taking care of ourselves, are we taking the time to enjoy the beauty around us, and are we thankful for the many gifts we have been given?

There are many people in our world who do not enjoy a ‘spiritual happiness’, and by this I mean, they may greet others with broad smiles, a genuine heart, and with true love and compassion, but inside there is a gnawing pain that exists. In these moments, we appear happy, but it saps much energy for us to mask the pain, doubt, fear, or frustration we carry. I must admit there are a great many times this describes me, and I suspect I am not alone.

Thankfully in the last few years in particular, I have met a number of men who seem to have a far greater sense of peace, to be able to roll with the challenges they face, and who are a genuine light to others. Each of these men have shared wonderful testimony’s to their faith, and through this, are far more able (or willing) to see the many gifts from God all around them. They are thankful for the trials as opportunities to rely on God more, they are thankful for the beauty around them, they take the time to appreciate it all, and they stop, and take time to be in relationship with God.

Personally I have noticed that when I am at my most frustrated, anxious, tired, and feeling discouraged, it is when I have focussed too much of my attention on merely working on the tasks imposed by regulatory authorities and the demands of people, as opposed to working for the Kingdom. Both are required, and I am not suggesting otherwise, but happiness stems from an alignment of our activities with our purpose and the heeding of our calling. I believe a lot of the stress we feel is when we choose to (or forced to) work in ways or in things that go against our nature and the reasons behind our existence.

After a great many years, I still fall into bad habits and neglect my inner-self, and require a reminder, whether it is through illness or the encouragement of a respected friend, to remind me to follow and re-align myself with my purpose.

As we approach the wonder and miracle of Christ’s birth, God’s greatest gift to us all — His Son, I pray that you will take the time to sit in thankfulness for all you have been given, to sit in a gentle breeze and reflect on the Spirit of God, and sit in silence in His garden and marvel at the beauty of God’s creation. I hope that you will then look in the mirror and see how much more important we are to God than all of His creation, and realise that we are God’s children, precious to Him, and that all He wants in return is our love and for us to live in harmony with each other.

May you all enjoy the Gift of Christmas, and  may you share this Gift — the true meaning of Christmas, with all others, and in so doing find your peace in Christ.

Brian Grimes
Principal/ CEO

Deputy Principal’s Message

As we move toward the end of the 2023 school year at Bayside Christian College, we take a moment to reflect on the incredible events that have filled our calendar this fortnight. The Years 7–12 Annual Awards Ceremony was an evening filled with much joy, celebration, and a sense of community. It was heartwarming to see parents and community members in attendance, and I truly enjoyed meeting many of you in person. Your presence and support in celebrating the achievements of all our students made the event a special one. We look forward to a rise in attendance from our parents and community members at these events in 2024, promoting a sense of unity and acknowledgement for all our students. We thank Mr George Seymour, Fraser Coast Mayor, for his attendance and encouragement for our students. Special gratitude goes to our dedicated Board Members for joining us on this significant evening. Your support is instrumental in maintaining a strong bond between the school and our community.

The Junior Annual Awards Ceremony is fast approaching, scheduled for Tuesday 28 November 2023. We invite parents and community members to join us for this special occasion. The Prep–Year 3 Ceremony will commence at 4:30pm, followed by the Years 4–6 Ceremony at 6:30pm. We kindly ask all students to arrive 15 minutes earlier for roll call and a prompt start time. For students in Years 2–6, please wear your formal uniform to the highest standard on this evening. Let us all come together once again, at Hervey Bay Baptist Church, Nikenbah, to celebrate the achievements of our Junior School students and strengthen the ties that make Bayside a special place.

Last week marked the Year 12 Valedictory Week, a time to bid farewell to our graduating students. Our greatest appreciation goes to Mrs Emily Taylor and Mrs Bel France for organising a series of fantastic events, creating lasting memories for our Year 12 students. From insightful Police talks to cheerful visits with our Prep students, they enjoyed a week filled with reflection of their time throughout school and celebrations of their new chapter. Congratulations goes out to our staff, for winning the new award ‘Bayside Lucky Duck Shield’ — a new tradition and award for winning the Staff vs Year 12 Students end of year sporting competition. I look forward to seeing who will win the shield in 2024!

During the Valedictory Day assembly, it was a pleasure to listen to our graduates speak and share their blessings. It was evident how much our Year 12 students have grown in maturity and confidence throughout their time at Bayside. We had the pleasure of sharing a delightful dinner with our Year 12 graduates and their families at the Waterfront Restaurant, where we learned more about their future aspirations. As they embark on new journeys beyond Bayside Christian College, our thoughts and prayers go with them.  Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.” May God walk with our graduates in every endeavour they choose in life and may they trust in God’s greater plan and purpose for them.

As we approach the final week for our Year 10 and 11 students (last day: Friday 24 November) and Years Prep–Year 9 (last day: Friday 1 December), we pray for all our students to have a relaxing, safe, and enjoyable holiday break with their families. May the spirit of Christmas fill your homes with joy and love. May this be a time where we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, indeed a celebration of the gifting of Christ to the world. It is a time when we celebrate and give our thanks and praise to God for giving us His only Son, who lived and died as one of us, who brought us to the Father, and through his death, took away our sins.

I extend my gratitude to all the families and staff members who have warmly welcomed me to the College community this term. It has been a wonderful time at Bayside, and I eagerly anticipate the special events and opportunities to gather in 2024. As we farewell 2023, may the Lord bless us all with peace, joy, and the love of family and community.

Heavenly Father,
We thank you for the blessings and achievements this year at Bayside Christian College. As we conclude this year, we lift our College community before you. May your love bind us together, and may our actions reflect the love and unity that comes from you. Guide us in the upcoming year, and bless each member of our community with strength, good health, wisdom, and joy. Amen.

God bless us all.

Edelle Broadhurst
Deputy Principal

Awards Ceremony Years 7–12 2023 Photos

Click the image below to see all the photos.

It’s MOvember time!!!

Mr Casey Robinson, Mr Simon Deane and Mr Bruce Glover are growing their beards furiously for the month of November in an attempt to raise money for men’s cancer. They will be cutting it into a Mo towards the end of the month. If you would like to donate click the QR code. Thank you and every little bit helps.

The Boys are back from Singapore

The SingaCup 2023 soccer tournament held in Singapore brought together teams from all corners of Asia, offering a platform for budding talents to showcase their skills and sportsmanship.

Our team, made up of 14 exceptional young players, including Bayside athletes Malakai Yeatman as Central Defender, Antonio Friouzfar and Lucas Mills as Right Mid-fielder and Striker, put on a memorable display throughout the competition. The boys faced tough opposition amidst challenging conditions.

The tournament showcased fierce competition, with our team achieving commendable results: two wins, a draw, and two losses. The LS Talents Academy players showed remarkable resilience, adapting to the regional area’s scorching temperatures, playing on an astroturf surface that intensified the heat by 10 degrees Celsius above the already hot ambient temperature. The weather presented an additional challenge, with humidity and temperatures soaring above 35 degrees Celsius on some days. The boys, exhibited immense determination, focusing on hydration and concentration to tackle the demanding conditions.

The boys hadn’t encountered such challenging outdoor surface and weather conditions before, making their achievements even more commendable. We congratulate our U12s team for their outstanding performance at SingaCup 2023. Their dedication, sportsmanship, and resilience should make our school community immensely proud.

Well done boys for flying the Bayside flag high and congratulations for doing so well.

Westham Opportunity

Congratulations must go to Lucas Mills who has been given a second opportunity to go to the UK (September 2024) to attend the training academy in football for Westham. He trialled regionally for George Cowie Westham football in mid 2023 and was then selected to go the nationals just recently (Sep 2023) and there were 4 selectors attending from the UK. What a great achievement again. Good luck and Bayside’s prayers go with him.

Barracudas Head Coach

Brett Carter, Head Coach of the Bayside Barracudas, has recently been appointed Under 17s Wide Bay Bulls Cyril Connell Head Coach for the State Cup. He was provided the opportunity to attend two key events, where he learnt new skills in rugby league. The first was the Future Maroons Conference, where head coaches from across Queensland travelled to the Gold Coast. Here Brett attended sessions learning on and off the field rugby league content from special guest speakers and former NRL players. There were even sessions run by current NRLW Queensland Maroons coach, Tahnee Norris.

Next, Brett travelled to Redcliffe to attend Dolphins Education sessions, where he went on a tour through the NRL Dolphins and reconnected with his old coach, now chairman of Dolphins, Bob Jones. He attended The Dolphins Junior Academy sessions, both on the field and in the gym. Brett also had the opportunity to attend NRL Dolphins sessions for skills and conditioning. All of these skills he has brought back ready to implement for the Bayside Barracudas.

Science Year 4

Year Four got to explore the chemistry that makes fireworks bright and colourful in the Science Lab in week 6. It was so cool to have the opportunity to safely burn things and have our first experience with Bunsen Burners (and for some of us, our first experience lighting a match)!

William McKiernan (2023 Graduate) now ready for Service!

It is wonderful to hear of our students’ successes and achievements when they leave the College and lovely when we can celebrate with them. William McKiernan left the College to join the Australian Defence Forces and to serve our Country. Not only did he survive basic training, but he thrived in it, winning the prestigious Chief Instructors Award. On behalf of the community we commend and congratulate William on this wonderful achievement, we hold him in our prayers that he will never see the horrors of armed conflict, and we thank him for the Service he will now give our nation in both defence and in supporting those in need. May God bless him and always keep him safe from harm.

Valedictory Day Celebrations

Year 12 celebrated Valedictory Day in style last week, starting with the laying of named pavers, the Valedictory Assembly, parade through the school, chapel Service and finally a lovely evening dinner at the Waterfront Restaurant. Here is a small selection of photographs, the complete album will be online soon — check the college website next week.

Inaugural Lucky Duck Shield Competition

The first Lucky Duck Staff vs Students competition was a whitewash! The netball competition was a fierce battle with a resounding scoreline win of 9–3 in the teachers’ favour. The shield was presented at last week’s Valedictory Dinner and will become an annual event.

Year 5 Probability Carnival

The Year 5 students have been studying probability during Maths lessons. After learning how to express probability as a fraction and as a percentage they created their own probability games. The games were creative and the students calculated the theoretical probability of their game. Last Friday, they invited the junior classes to their probability carnival, awarding winners with cute prizes of blessing cards, lollies and stickers. It was lots of fun and gave the Year 5 students the opportunity to calculate their experimental probability and compare the results.

Science

5T

5T have been learning about the states of matter and how different states of matter can change when mixed together. First they examined what happened when mixing oil, water and food colouring which they found really cool. They investigated why the oil and water separated and expanded their knowledge on liquids. The next experiment involved mixed baking soda, vinegar and food colouring. They were excited to see how a solid and a liquid can mix together to form bubbles (a gas).

Year 10

Year 10 Science students worked on their assessment this week. Students are investigating which commercially purchased antacid tablets work the best at neutralising stomach acid.

Forensic Science

Forensic Science students this week have been working to solve a mock crime. They are analysing evidence collected from the crime scene and comparing to evidence obtained from suspects.

Bumper Sticker Grand Prize Winner Announced

The Bumper Sticker grand prize winner for 2023 is Alex. Congratulations Alex, your term 4 fees will be reimbursed! Thank you to all those who entered, applying a sticker to their cars and spreading the Bayside Christian College word.