Announcements

Covenant was once again listed in the Top 200 schools in all of NSW. Covenant with its 750 students is a quiet yet consistent achiever. Principal Bill Rusin states “to be placed 110th in the whole of NSW and 5th on the Northern Beaches is a wonderful reflection on the hard work by students and teachers.”


As a non-selective school offering no academic scholarships Covenant is naturally thrilled with the results. Our 53 HSC students sat a total of 305 exams with 39 achieving the highest Band 6.

There were also some notable individual achievements
Jennifer Syme     2nd in state in General Mathematics (against 30,334 students)
Ernie Au-Yeung    3rd in state Software Design and Development (against 1,883 students)

Chris O’Sullivan Deputy Principal congratulated Jennifer and Ernie. She said of Jennifer “she is an independent and diligent young woman. She is commended for excellent work in German, General Maths and Economics. Her strong Christian faith is worked out in genuine concern for justice and for others.”

“Ernie is a diligent student commended for excellent effort in English and Mathematics Extension  1 and Mathematics. He has played in the Soccer and Rugby League teams, the string ensemble and has been an active member of Student Council. Ernest has a servant heart and has achieved Gold in The Duke of Edinburgh Scheme.”

Below is a summary of the results for the Northern Beaches from the Daily Telegraph's Top 200 Schools. This year there were 67,931 HSC students, the largest group ever to complete Year 12 in NSW. There are around 900 private schools in NSW.

Rank in NSW	Rank in NB	School's name	Exams sat	Band 6	%
15	1	Manly Selective  - NB Secondary College	685	258	37.66
63	2	St Luke's Grammar School	427	82	19.2
74	3	Pittwater House Girls College	99	17	17.17
80	4	Killarney Heights High School	606	101	16.67
110	5	Covenant Christian School	305	39	12.79
119	6	Oxford Falls Grammar School	174	21	12.07
159	7	Mackellar Girls - NB Secondary College	542	52	9.59
162	8	Stella Maris College	1013	97	9.58
194	9	Barrenjoey High School	471	40	8.49
198	10	Northern Beaches Christian School	461	38	8.24

Covenant is a parent controlled school. This means parents who are members of our Association vote for a Board who represent them. This Board is very involved in recruiting and selecting staff who have the day to day responsibility of running the school. Here Rod Post, the Chairman of the Association thanks the staff for their amazing work.

Dear Staff

On behalf of The Board I would like to extend a word of heartfelt thanks for your individual and collective contributions to the school this year.

May I share this passage of Scripture with you? Colossians 1:3 ff
“We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints [including students, parents and your colleagues] - the faith and love that spring from the hope that is stored up for you in heaven and that you have already heard about in the word of truth, the gospel that has come to you. All over the world this gospel is bearing fruit and growing [we see evidence of this here at Covenant, and thank God for it], just as it has been doing among you since the day you heard it and understood God's grace in all its truth. You learned it from Epaphras, our dear fellow servant, who is a faithful minister of Christ on our behalf, and who also told us of your love in the Spirit. For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light. [The Board regularly prays this for you all, at our meetings and also in our personal prayers.] For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.”

As you wind down for a well-earned break it is our prayer that during your holidays you will get the opportunity to spend time with your families and friends, and personal time with God. May we challenge you to continue to draw near to Him.

We pray that God will continue to bless you all in your different roles at school, or for those who are leaving us in your new roles, and wish you and your families a well earned rest and the peace and joy that comes with knowing the mercy and grace that God bestows on His people as we celebrate our Saviour’s birth.

Regards

Rod Post - Board Chair
on behalf of the Board and Association