A note from Mr Bray - 18 August 2017

Suppose a brother or a sister is without clothes and daily food. If one of you says to them, “Go in peace; keep warm and well fed,” but does nothing about their physical needs, what good is it? In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead. James 2:15-17

It is a wonderful blessing to find yourself belonging to a community where it is a pleasure to come into work each morning. Nowra Christian School is one such community. During the past week I have had the privilege of attending a variety of programs that have, once again, reminded me that NCS is actively engaged in presenting teaching and learning from a sound Biblical perspective.

The first of these occurred on Friday of last week when our school held its first Year 7 ‘Taste ‘N’ See’ Experience Day. This provided all of our current Year 6 students and some of their parents with an opportunity to learn more about our Secondary School which the vast majority will be attending next year. Families from outside NCS were also invited to attend and we were delighted that some nine (9) families accepted our invitations to participate.

One highlight for all of us was when we were able to listen to a video presentation from Aimee Parsons, an alumni member of NCS, as she recounted her experiences as a student of our school. Aimee graduated from NCS in 2013 and went on to attend ADFA (Australian Defence Force Academy). I am confident that many parents who listened to Aimee’s story would have received a great deal of encouragement from what she shared. Aimee affirmed how the staff at NCS had provided a nurturing Christian school environment that had shaped her character and strengthened her faith.You can read more about this event elsewhere in Bytes as well as having the opportunity to view many photos from this day.

So what has been happening this week at NCS? The answer, as always, is that many stimulating events have occurred. However, one of the major initiatives is that Week 4 at NCS has been National Science Week. On the Tuesday afternoon, all secondary students participated in an interactive STEAM-based fair. ‘STEAM’ stands for ‘Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics.’ Mrs Arthur, Mrs Edwards and their team of staff and many students are to be congratulated on the exceptional quality of this event that showcased student learning experiences in these vital areas.

Once again, this edition of NCS Bytes contains a detailed outline of the many activities that occurred, so I will not go into great detail here. However, I would wish to emphasise the clear challenge Mrs Arthur presented to all students and staff at the commencement of this event. This challenge was designed to help us investigate the topic of how we are to share the earth’s resources more fairly with a growing world population. Mrs Arthur presented us with two (2) key questions. These were:

Are we borrowing resources from future generations? (Based on the idea that we keep depleting shared resources like fish stocks, top soil and air quality and that each year we use up a year’s worth of resources faster, and so go into "debt" even more quickly.)
Will there be food in the future? (Based on the idea that for many countries, sea level rise and the frequency and variability of natural disasters, is actually removing their ability to produce food. Countries like Kiribati (pronounced Kirabas) are losing large amounts of productive land each year to changes in sea level.)

Mrs Arthur then asked us to consider ‘What would be a ‘Christian response’ to these two (2) questions? We were reminded that we are called to be the ‘hands’ and ‘feet’ of Christ. God’s word reminds us that we are also called to feed the hungry and clothe the poor. And this challenge clearly includes our neighbours, even if they might be located halfway across the globe.

I would like to mention just one more event that occurred during our busy week at NCS. This was an advertised opportunity for parents and carers to attend a KidsMatter ‘Conflict and Resolution’ Mental Health Workshop held on Tuesday evening. I was delighted to be able to join with a number of our school parents, and some of our students, as we engaged in challenging discussions about this important topic. The workshop was facilitated by a team from Anglicare and they ensured that we had lots of opportunities for sharing and discussions. We were also provided with many helpful strategies and handouts designed to assist us to find godly ways to resolve potentially hurtful conflict situations.

Our students and staff have certainly been engaged in a wide variety of learning tasks throughout this week. I trust that the weekend may bring times of rest and refreshment for our NCS families so that we are ready to explore all that Week 5 has in store for our school community.