Covie NewsIssue 10

On Tuesday we gathered as a whole school to remember and celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus. At our Easter Assembly, a group of Year 10 Drama students movingly captured the experience of Mary, the thief on the cross and Nicodemus when Jesus was crucified, all acknowledging that Jesus really was the Son of God. There were special performances by the Junior School Choir, Year 10 Dance Elective, and our Infants students who sang 'Jump for Joy'. Our Knowing God Coordinator, Mr Marriott, reminded us of the profound significance of Jesus' sacrifice and his resurrection - how great to be reminded of God's love and salvation.

There is never a dull moment in Year 9.1 History, with students recreating the trenches of WWI using lollies! Using Dan Snow videos, students conducted some painstaking research, and then inventively recreated and, importantly, clearly labelled their design using their favourite treats. Hopefully no trench foot was found!

On Wednesday, Year 7 enjoyed an awesome excursion to West Head, along a wonderful track where we saw some ancient carvings created by indigenous people and then a very steep walk down to the Basin. We had our lunch here, saw some wallabies, played some games and some went swimming. We were thankful for Mrs McDonald, Mr Stanwell and other keen walkers and swimmers from HSIE and Learning Support who joined in on a great day.

- Mrs Fletcher, Year 7 Geography teacher

Student voice

"My favourite part was the beach because it was fun to hang out with the grade and be more social with each other." - Claire

"I really liked the bushwalk. I also liked when we got to go and swim because we could play and have fun with our friends." - Zac

Our U15’s Boys Bill Turner Cup team have had a fantastic start to the knockout competition, progressing through to Round 2 of the tournament with a win against Barrenjoey High this week. This team keep coming together to support, encourage and to give their best at both training and in Round 1. Mr Stanwell (coach) and Covenant could not be prouder of their 'never give up' attitude and the respectful presence on the field. We are looking forward to the next match in Term 2!

Last week, four Covenant students made their way to Penrith to compete in the CSSA Triathlon. Year 7 students, Adalia S (bike), Adelaide S (run) and Isla T (swim) formed a Junior girls relay team and placed an impressive 5th place! Isaac T, also in Year 7, competed individually in the Junior boys event and finished well in a strong event.

The annual Year 3 and 4 Sleepover has come and gone and we've seen the massive smiles, tired eyes and inevitable lost property, including a very large squishmallow that has appeared in one of the classrooms, but no one seems to own. Yet, what will endure beyond these are the wonderful memories that were made!

Children began arriving just before 5.00pm, unable to contain their excitement. Year 3 and 4 headed to their appointed sleeping locations. Whole teams of amazing parents were recruited to blow up beds, unroll sleeping bags and set up the array of soft toys, lay out the libraries of books and organise the wardrobes. Thanks to the Year 4, 5 and 6 teachers and their classes for preparing the rooms.

Mrs Tripet had organised a round of sport to build up appetites, and then the food arrived. A huge thank you to Mrs Nercessian and the team of willing parents who prepared veggie-sticks and served pizza. It was all delicious.

We won’t forget Matthew Rockwell, former School Captain and brother to Jono in Year 4, who was our surprise guest speaker. The children settled down in front of the fire to hear the good news that God has promised to be with us everywhere. A group of brave parents and teachers helped to roast some marshmallows. The sticky smiles were a sign that these were a perfect way to end the day.

Memories continued to be built. Most students were able to get some sleep eventually, and then it was time to wake up. For many, this was well before the sun was up, and these brave soles lay in their beds and watched the minute hand slowly tick towards the 12 as the hour hand even more slowly slid towards six. Those who were ready joined Mr Groves in an early morning futsal game, while others played handball. Breakfast was so appreciated, as were the team of helpers who arrived to tidy the rooms and set desks back into place.

Thanks to all who helped to make memories that will last for the Year 3 and 4 Sleepover 2025.

- Mr Groves, Year 3 teacher

• Tuesday 13 May
• 6.00-7.00pm in the PAS
• A brief seminar explaining and demonstrating one of the most effective practices we are using in Secondary School to consolidate, enhance and extend students’ analytical writing. We have been embedding this practice in English classes in the Secondary School, and have seen improvement in student understanding, analytical skills, and writing across Years 7 to 12.
• This event is for parents/carers only as students are being taught this information in class.
• Bookings can be made here.

School photos for 2025 will take place in Term 2.

• Prep photos - Thursday 15 May
• Secondary School photos - Monday 19 May
• Junior School photos - Tuesday 20 and Wednesday 21 May

More information, including how to order photos, will be emailed home before the end of Term 1.

In preparation for the return of the Year 8 and 9 lockers to the newly refurbished J Block building, the students have been asked to empty their lockers by the end of the school day on Monday 7 April, before they head off on camps on Tuesday or Wednesday. All students will have access to a locker in the brand-new locker room facility from Term 2.

If you have any questions, please contact your child's Year Coordinator or the Office.

Students and parents have until 4.00pm on Friday 11 April to collect items from the lost property boxes. Any items remaining after this time will be donated to the school or disposed of as appropriate.

Lost Property locations:

• Junior School - A Block, opposite rumpus room and outside the B block bathrooms.
• Secondary School - outside E5 and between E and F block walkway.

Each family with students from Kindergarten to Year 12 is asked to contribute up to 24 hours per year to the life of the school. These hours can be completed by either parent and can be done at any time throughout the school year. Once you've completed your PIP hours for the year, complete the new PIP Declaration of Hours form. Only one form per family needs to be submitted each year. You can submit your form at any time during the year when you have completed your PIP hours. Once this form is processed, a credit of $210 for each 6 hours of PIP will be applied to your fee account, up to a maximum of $840 for 24 hours for the year.

A free webinar for the parents/carers of primary aged children.

Led by Brad Marshall (The Unplugged Psychologist), who is an internationally published author, researcher, clinician, and speaker in the field of healthy tech use. He will use this session to provide practical insights and strategies to help parents and carers navigate screen use. Topics include:

• The science behind how screen use affects children
• Warning signs of screen addiction
• Practical strategies to manage screen time and build healthy habits
• Where to find further information and support
• Live Q&A session.

Date: Wednesday 28th May, 2025

⏰ Time: 6:30pm–8:00pm

💻 Location: Online via Microsoft Teams

👉 Register here

It can be hard to stay on top of all the information. Below is some information from the past few weeks that you might need a reminder of.

Qustodio Parent App

The Qustodio Parent App provides Covenant parents with advanced controls for your child’s school laptop (plus one personal device such as their mobile phone) outside of school hours, allowing you to play an active role in your child’s digital life.

At Covenant, we recognise that technology is an essential tool for learning. The internet offers incredible opportunities for learning and connection, but it also comes with risks for children and families including:

• Cyberbullying: The anonymity of the internet can lead to hurtful and damaging interactions, affecting children's mental and emotional wellbeing.
• Exposure to inappropriate content: Children may inadvertently encounter or be targeted with explicit or violent content online.
• Excessive screen time: Unrestricted access to devices and online platforms can lead to unhealthy habits and impact sleep, academic performance, mental health, and social interactions.

By partnering together, we can empower our children to navigate the digital world safely and responsibly.

Covenant’s partnership with Linewize

Filtering and Reporting: We already implement robust filtering and monitoring systems to protect students from harmful content, cyber threats, and online distractions. This ensures a safe and secure learning environment.

Online Safety Resource: The Covenant Christian School Online Safety Hub is a dedicated resource offering a wealth of information, including app reviews, how-to guides, and expert advice, empowering you to have open and informed conversations with your child about their digital development.

Parental Controls: The Qustodio Parent App enables you to take an active role in your child’s online journey with robust online safety features. This enables you to supervise your child’s online activities on their school-managed device outside of school hours.

The Qustodio Parent App

Qustodio extends digital visibility and management of school devices (plus one personal device) to parents, allowing parents to steer and direct their children’s online behaviours and habits.

• Manage your child’s school device outside of school hours: Take an active role in safeguarding your child’s school device outside of school hours.
• Ultra Personalised Settings: Allows you to add your own filtering rules, alerts, reports, and more to support your child’s digital needs and uphold your household rules.
• Safety Net Always in Place: The school has established a baseline of cyber safety rules across all SLP devices. You can add to these by creating family rules on all your family devices, keeping your child safe online when at school and at home.
• Filtering Content and Apps: Enables you as parents to create a safe online space for your kids by blocking inappropriate apps, games, websites or entire content categories in addition to the school's baseline set of rules.
• Custom Reports and Alerts: Provides parents with detailed daily, weekly, and monthly reports on your child’s online activity. You can also set real-time alerts to be notified immediately when your child tries to access blocked websites or engages in risky behaviour.
• Setting Time Limits: Helps you balance your child’s online time. This tool helps prevent screen addiction, preserve family time, and encourage healthy sleep routines by establishing consistent time limits and scheduling downtime.
• Protection of Personal Devices: Every Linewize Connect licence includes protection for one personal device per school student, allowing parents to secure mobile phones, iPads, and more. This step further supports your child’s online safety and wellbeing.

Create your free account HERE.

If you are experiencing any issues with Qustodio, their dedicated support team is easily contactable at myschool@qustodio.com or use the Help Centre Form.

Winter uniform from Term 2

A reminder that from Term 2, all students must wear full winter uniform. Changes to the uniform from Term 2 are shown in bold.

Kindergarten to Year 2

• All students can continue to wear their sport uniform every day.
• Alternatively, girls can wear the winter pinafore with long-sleeve blue shirt, navy socks or tights.
• Alternatively, boys can wear the blue short sleeved shirt with grey shorts or grey long pants worn with ankle length grey socks.

Years 3 to 6

• Girls can wear either the winter pinafore and blue long-sleeve blouse with ankle length navy socks or tights or the blue short sleeved blouse with either navy pants or shorts worn with ankle length navy socks.
• Boys continue wearing the blue short sleeved shirt and grey shorts or grey long pants worn with ankle length grey socks.

Years 7 to 9

• Girls can wear either the navy skirt with blue short sleeved blouse, navy socks or black stockings or navy pants or navy tailored shorts worn with blue short sleeved blouse with ankle length navy socks.
• Boys continue wearing the blue short sleeved shirt and grey shorts or grey long pants worn with ankle length grey socks.

Years 10 to 12

• Girls continue to wear the white short sleeved blouse with navy skirt or navy pants with ankle length navy socks and blazer.
• Boys continue to wear the white short sleeved shirt with grey trousers, ankle length grey socks, school tie and blazer.

Uniform Shop

The uniform shop is open:

• Monday 2.15-3.15pm during term dates.
• Wednesday 8.00-9.30pm during term dates.
• The Uniform Shop will open on Monday 28 April from 9.00am-12.00pm. No appointment necessary, just walk in. This is a staff professional development day. Students return on Tuesday 29 April.

'Australia My Country' Writing Competition (Years 3 to 6)

What? A writing competition sponsored by Forestville RSL sub-branch. The topic is either 'Commemorating 100 years of Anzac - an enduring Legend' or 'August 1945 - Victory in the Pacific and Returning Home from War'.

Prize monies awarded by Forestville RSL sub-branch for each section will be: 1st place - $200 | 2nd place - $150 | 3rd place - $100

When? It will take place at lunchtime on Wednesday 9 April (Week 11) in the Junior Library.

What does your child need to do? Students who wish to enter must sign up with Mrs Watson. Permission notes will need to be signed in order for the child to enter.

Mrs Chapman will also be conducting a question and answer session from 12.50-1.10pm on Tuesday 8 April.

For more information please speak to Mrs Watson or click here.

Covie Holiday Program