Melissa Brown heads to our Writers Workshop at Camp Kedron to speak with three students about their experiences.
Melissa Brown heads to our Writers Workshop at Camp Kedron to speak with three students about their experiences.
“Very truly I tell you, whoever obeys my word will never see death.” (John 8:51, NIV)
Praise God for eternal life through Jesus!
Please continue to pray for our school and community:
Prayer Group meets on Thursdays 9.00-9.30am, in T9. All welcome. Please email us at prayergroup@covenant.nsw.edu.au if you would like us to pray for you.
Heidi Stead speaks with our Junior School Teacher Librarian, Mrs Robyn Watson, about the upcoming RSL Writing Competition and talk about WWI.
One of the exciting upcoming opportunities for students in Years 3 to 6 is the RSL Writing Competition, sponsored by Forestville RSL. Students may write a poem or a two-page story. The topic is 'Going On An adventure' - Australia in August 1914, commemorating the commencement of World War I.
For students who are not familiar with World War I, the Junior School Library has a wonderful collection of books on this topic. Additionally, one of our Secondary History Teachers, Mrs Mairwen Chapman, will be visiting the Library to give a talk on WWI at lunch time, on Monday 8 April. Anyone interested in coming to listen to Mrs Chapman is invited.
On Wednesday 10 April, those students who are involved in the competition will be writing their entries. Currently there are 32 students who will enter the competition, but we would love to see plenty more! Students simply need to get their permission note signed by a parent.
A big thanks to Mrs Chapman and Mrs Watson for their passion and enthusiasm for our young writers.
This was one of the topics that our Year 7 and 9 debaters wrestled with in a friendly debate against Oxford Falls Grammar this week.
Our students approached this topic and the topic, 'Contact sports should be banned in schools', with thoughtful and logical arguments and solid rebuttal. Covenant and Oxford Falls were awarded one debate each and all students learnt a lot from the experience.
Congratulations to our Covenant debaters, Olivia B, Sydney E, Aime K, Harry K, Natalie S and Yeri L. Thank you also to Mrs Newcombe for supporting our students.
Students can join our debating team in the new after school Co-Curricular Debating Program commencing in Term 2. Parents can enrol their child via the Covie App by selecting Co-curricular>Activity Selection.
As part of our Enrichment program, 36 students from Years 3 to 6 had the opportunity to explore and grow their God-given gifts at our Writers Workshop held at Camp Kedron.
Students were joined on Wednesday by author Louise Park who worked with students to develop characters and stories with an adventure focus. On Thursday, students were given the gift of time – time to plan, craft and write a story (or stories) of their choosing.
We are thankful to God for each of our students who were able to hone their writing skills this week, to the amazing team at Camp Kedron for such a wonderful workshop setting and to our author, Louise Park, for sharing her expert knowledge with us.
We hope you enjoy some excerpts from our keen writers:
“No” yelled Ashley. Her blood was rushing through her body. Her heart was pumping furiously in her chest, waiting for Mum to answer. Silence. - Eve-Marie
The look on the lady’s face seemed to calm Anna down. The lady didn’t look happy and cheerful but it seemed like she was smiling on the inside. The lady told Anna that they had to hide somewhere else, or the soldiers would catch her and put her somewhere terrible. - Llywela
I can hear the horses' feet clip clopping on the ground and men in green khaki walk with their feet stomping. I bury myself in leaves so that they don’t see me. - Ruby
The horses galloped at the sound of the whistling wind, dazed by the heat that the sun gave off in the afternoon’s heat. As the sun set you could hear the horses miles away, trotting back to the stables… except for one. - Bea
Taylor shut her eyes and red, white and yellow sparkles spun around her, changing her clothes, shoes and hair. Now she was wearing a wrinkly orange dress with a white apron…. She wasn’t a singer anymore. She was in her past! - Scarlett
Sophie blinked away the memory. When she was trapped down in the ice hole the feelings of loneliness had surrounded her and the same feelings of loneliness trapped her now. Sophie looked around desperately trying to find someone or something to follow. - Esther
Amanda Drain
Extension and Enrichment Coordinator (K-12)
This week, our Senior and Junior String Ensembles had a combined rehearsal in preparation for the Evening of Music in Term 2. With a range of ages and abilities the students spent the morning workshopping their pieces with some mentoring by our older students. What an amazing sound and opportunity for all our students. Don’t forget to put the date for the Evening of Music in your diary - Thursday 6 June.
This term our Year 6 Scientists have had lots of fun learning about Earth Sciences through a unit on Natural Disasters.
They have learnt about the difference between a natural hazard and a natural disaster and how some disasters are classified as meteorological whilst others are geological. A memorable highlight involved using Mars Bars to replicate the different ways the earth's plates can move (notably lots of the earth's plates were moving suspiciously close to Mr Stanwell's mouth!).
Students have also been conducting a term-long project focusing on a renowned natural disaster and exploring what could have been done to alleviate some of the related devastation. The coding/robotics component of this unit involved students building a robot to travel over the uneven terrain of a disaster site to rescue a villager - how wonderful to work on solving real world problems whilst having so much fun. We love your work Mr Stanwell!
Our Secondary Key Learning Area Coordinators invited teachers from other Christian schools to join them for a Results Analysis Package (RAP) session.
As part of our commitment to developing a culture of continuous educational improvement, it is a priority to ensure our teaching staff are supported and equipped with the tools they need to provide an academically rigorous education for our students. Earlier this week, our Secondary Faculty Coordinators gathered with leaders from other Christian schools for a RAP session.
The RAP provides data that enables our teachers to compare Covenant's performance in specific HSC courses to the performance of the entire state candidature based on course marks, performance bands and question-by-question analysis. This is an incredibly useful tool as it provides insights into areas for improvement, enabling targeted intervention where data indicates its usefulness. It also helps our school to identify specific areas where students need additional support, as well as where adjustments need to be made and teaching strategies changed.
We are thankful for this professional learning opportunity for our teaching staff and the fellowship they were able to enjoy with other teachers in our Christian Schools network.
In Term 2, we are excited that Covenant will be entering four teams in their respective Chess Competitions. Two teams will be competing in the Primary Schools Chess Teams competition, and two teams will be competing in the Secondary Schools Chess competition. Our enthusiastic chess players have been attending our weekly Chess Club at lunch time to practise and grade for this competition.
We are grateful for our Year 12 students, Brian and Isaac, who have graciously stepped up into the role of Chess Club coaches and mentors. Both Brian and Isaac are passionate about encouraging our younger students in their love of playing chess and generously giving their time to coach our students in competition rules and playing strategies. These students demonstrate the attributes of our Graduate Profile with their heart for serving our school community and pursuit of knowledge and critical thinking.
This term the Learning Hub has celebrated the power of language and expression with some wonderful poetry creations by staff and students. The term started with Black Out poetry, with words emerging from the darkness to create new narratives. Then in celebration of Pi Day we had some fun with Pi-Ku poetry, a Pi take on the traditional Haiku. We've ended the term with some clever and well written Ekphrastic poetry, where words intertwine with visual art. We are thankful for our staff team in the Learning Hub who continue to inspire our students in their love of all things written!
We love to celebrate and honour the beautiful mums in our community, so this year we have reimagined our Mother's Day event! Covie mums and their children are warmly invited to our Mother's Day Morning on Friday 10 May.
We are looking forward to seeing you there!
Tickets are on sale now! Whilst there are plenty of tickets to enable all mums to attend, bookings will close at the end of Term 1 (Friday 12 April) for catering purposes.
Transport for NSW have recently assessed the speed limit in our area. After a comprehensive review, they have decided to extend the 40km/h School Zone to improve road safety on Forest Way. These changes come into effect on 15 April.
Bookings are now open for Term 2 Dance Academy, Sports Academy and Coding opportunities via the Co-Curricular tile on the Covie App.
Thanks to all the Covie parents who volunteer their time for our students and school community. There are several ways you can be involved at our school including Sport Ribbon writing, Cafe Covie and assisting at Peninsula Cup.
For more information on Parent Involvement Program (PIP) please go to Parent Resources. All volunteers must have a valid Working with Children Check and submitted a Volunteers Code of Conduct form to the School Office in order to assist.
Our Sports Department are looking for a parent with very neat writing to write on our Sports Ribbons. This can be done at home or at school.
If you are able to assist, please contact Lisa Slatter.
The role of Cafe Covie parent helper is to assist the Cafe staff by helping take orders, serving customers, carrying out cleaning duties and preparing for catering events.
Help is required from 8.15am to 11.30am weekdays. All training will be provided.
Please contact cafe@covenant.nsw.edu.au if you are interested in assisting our friendly team.
Badged and highly experienced netball umpires are urgently needed from Term 2 for the Peninsula Cup on Tuesday afternoons in Curl Curl.
All assistance can count towards PIP hours.
If you can assist in this way, even just for a few weeks, please contact Scott Vincent at svincent@covenant.nsw.edu.au.
From Term 2, all students are required to wear full Winter uniform.
The Uniform Shop will open on Monday 29 April from 9.00am to 12.00pm for families to purchase winter uniforms.
No appointment is necessary.
During term time, the Uniform Shop is open on Mondays from 2.15pm-3.15pm and Wednesdays from 8.00am-9.30am, or alternatively you can order online. All online orders will be sent home with students or can be collected from the Office.
There is a new form you will need to complete if you are planning to take your child out of school for up to 4 days (Secondary students only).
If your child will be absent for up to 4 days due to a holiday, a planned medical procedure etc., you will need to complete a Planned Absence Form. This will ensure any missed assessments are rescheduled.
This form can also be found under Parent Resources > Quick Access: Essentials > Absences.
The current request for leave form for 5 days or more is also available under Parent Resources.
CDC NSW provide Covenant students with school buses to the Northern Beaches, Hornsby, Wahroonga, West Ryde, Chatswood, Gordon and Pymble train stations.
For all bus routes and timetables, please visit the Student Transport page on our website.
Please note the following timetable changes to bus routes, commencing on 31 March 2024:
127 (From Chatswood Station) starts 8 mins earlier – now 7.42am
196 (from Gordon Station) starts 5 mins earlier – now 7.55am
8038 (from West Ryde Station) starts 7 minutes earlier – now 7.30am
8055 (from Hornsby Station) intermediate times updated – 7.28am (not changed on timetable but may change intermediately)
113 (new route from Belrose Super Centre) – departing Belrose super Centre 8.22am
9053 (from Sydney Japanese School) passes 2 minutes later from Sydney Japanese School – now 3.29pm
Letters sent this week which can also be found on the Covie App > Links > Letters to Parents.
General letters:
Term 2 Co-Curricular (letter sent Tuesday 2 April)
Years 9-10 Elective Sport Term 2 (letter sent Tuesday 2 April)
Pre-selected students:
PISA Primary Netball Umpiring Term 2 (letter sent Thursday 4 April)
2024 Yarrabah Trip Kids Games Training Weekend (letter sent Friday 5 April)
Peninsula Cup Competition (letter sent Friday 5 April)
Holiday and Term 2 opportunities available.
23 April 2024 | North Narrabeen Reserve, Field 6, Pittwater Road, Warriewood | For children 7-16 years
A clinic for track and field enthusiasts and any child that takes part in an individual or team sport and would like to improve their speed.
These speed clinics include the following areas of speed development: