Welcome to Covenant Christian School in 2010! If you are new to our school community I hope that you feel welcome and included as we seek to serve God well in bringing up children. The school has been a busy place since the end of the 2009 school year with many different projects happening to make the school a better place in which to live and learn.

We have a number of new staff starting this year, and we are grateful that God has providentially provided us with passionate and highly skilled staff for 2010. I look forward with expectation to what God will do in and through our school this year. One of the most significant documents that our school has is the Creed to Curriculum document which was written some time ago, but still is a vibrant and strong document that helps shape the contours of education at Covenant.  The full document is on the school’s website in the employment section. I would encourage you to read it.

The following comes from the ‘Creed to Curriculum’ and is a summary of the intent and purpose of education at our school. To ‘educate’ means to lead (out). It implies a journey that starts in one place and ends in another. All schools educate, but the ‘end’ or goal of education is mostly quite different to the goals we have.

These statements are taken seriously at Covenant and we are committed not to allow them to become ‘motherhood statements’ that sound nice but in fact have little or no relevance to what we do in our school.

“Each person develops their commitment to Christ according to the following beliefs:
1. God is sovereign.
2. God created everything.
3. God sustains the creation.
4. Each person, as a creature, is totally dependent on God.
5. As persons made in God’s image, we are to create (be creative), be stewards of/care for, use and enjoy his creation.
6. A person’s worth and self esteem is derived wholly from being created in the image of God and being intended for relationship with Him.
7. Each person is sinful before God resulting in a rift in all relationships.
8. Sin has impacted the whole created order.
9. All of creation, on a personal, communal and cosmic level, has been redeemed by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
10. A person can only come to a true understanding and relationship in any part of life, through the active agency of God’s Holy Spirit.
11. Jesus Christ is Lord of all areas of creation and life and He will be fully manifested as such upon His return.

Thus our classrooms will be places where:
1. Children are given opportunity to create, to be stewards of, to use and to enjoy God’s creation as they develop and grow towards Christ-likeness in knowledge, skills and commitment.

- Create: to make, originate, invent…..in Creative Arts, Mathematics, Music, Languages and Writing, Science and Technology.

- Be stewards: to set up patterns of relationship based on service; to develop responsibility for the surroundings; to establish patterns of responsibility as students develop personal management skills .

- Use: to employ skills and personal talents – to recognise and encourage the God-given gifts of others unselfishly; to investigate and apply the resources and knowledge of the creation; to discern and deconstruct contemporary ideas.

- Enjoy: an occupation that can be pursued for its own sake of personal enjoyment or the enjoyment of each other.

2.    Servanthood is a key principle underpinning all classroom activities. These should reflect the framework of ‘create’, ‘be stewards of’, ‘use’ and ‘enjoy’ and must always be framed within the context of Godly personal relationships.”

I hope that this is what you want for your children. We look forward to 2010 as a time of growth, energy and excitement!

Monday mornings is drop-in time if you would like to come and have an informal chat with me.  You do not have to make an appointment to visit.

Mr Bill Rusin
Principal
Covenant Christian School

As the year ends, I would like to take the opportunity to thank parents for the privilege of partnering with you as you seek to bring up your children in “the fear and nurture of the Lord”. This year has been a year of both highs and lows, which is only to be expected in a world that is broken and hurting, but a world that is a recipient of the promise that the Lord who is faithful and active. There are also people who leave our school community at the end of this year, who leave both the school community and the family with a sense of grief.

The school has grown numerically by over 70 students in 2009 and will continue to grow into 2010. We have seen many physical improvements and again this year many further projects are being done in readiness for the New Year. We are thankful for a God who provides but are mindful that the Lord who gives also takes away. There is a real sense that we ought to be thankful in these times of ‘prosperity’ in the life of the school, but the thankfulness is sometimes tougher to express in the leaner times. People who have been through tough times know this on a personal level.

I would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the parents who work tirelessly for the good of the school, and in particular the School Board. They put in many hours of unpaid work on behalf of the wider school parent body and ensure that we are focused on doing our task well. This is not only an important job, but it is one that others ought to consider. I would also like to suggest to those who are eligible to consider joining the school’s Association. It is the Association that elects the Board, and members of the Board come from the Association.

In my final speech to the Year 6 class I spoke of my favourite Christmas Carol, Joy to the World. As well as the uplifting music, it begins by declaring:


This is a great declaration of the true Gospel message: “The King has come!” Whilst this may have been misunderstood by those who were there, this side of the Cross we have the privilege of hindsight and are able to grasp the enormity of this statement.
The King of the Universe has indeed come, and the good news is that he is coming back again! I hope that this is what we celebrate this Christmas season.

On behalf of the staff of Covenant Christian School, I thank you for sharing the journey with us in 2009.

May God bless you and your family this Christmas. I look forward to seeing you again in 2010.

Mr Bill Rusin
Principal
Covenant Christian School Sydney