Issue 21, 2022

Dear College families,

Last week a special showcase of learning took place with Thrive, Seed Academy’s annual performance showcase. It was extremely well-presented and gave us a window into the development of creativity that is taking place here at Norwest. Clearly, we have some very talented students at the College, but even for those whom music and performing is not a personal passion, opportunities to participate in creative arts lessons are crucial to discovering how you are wired and the person you were designed to become. Just by “giving it a go” our children learn more about themselves, more about others and more about the God who made them.

As we sail towards the end of the year, I encourage you to celebrate the wins with your children in whatever form they come in. For some it will be academic achievement. For others it will be in the sporting arena or in creative arts. For some of our students this year's achievements may be much more personal and private and therefore less likely to be publicly acknowledged. Start a conversation with your child by asking “what have been the things you are most proud of this year?” or “what have you been learning this year?” and share with them the things you have been learning this year. Help them to see that learning is in itself the achievement.

Wherever our children have achieved this year it is our role as parents to surface this for them because sometimes they won’t see it for themselves. Helping them to see how they have been enabled and equipped to learn and therefore achieve this year will assist them in approaching next year with confidence.

Felicity Marlow
Principal

As a model of excellence in the power of feedback and striving for improvement with attention to refining practice, Ron Berger’s lesson on Austin’s Butterfly has become a staple exemplar in teaching circles (https://youtu.be/hqh1MRWZjms for those who would like to learn more!)

Watching the evolution of Austin’s butterfly drawing is a concrete example of how our capacity builds when we attend to deliberately shaping and nurturing our craft. The creative and performing arts continue to be arenas where our students at Norwest Christian College absolutely shine; the recent Thrive showcase by our Seed Academy students last weekend exemplified our College mission to inspire and equip students to build purposeful lives. I am confident that every parent in the room felt immense joy witnessing the growth in their child’s ability to play, sing, dance and create. When our children become proficient in their pursuit it can be easy to lose perspective on how far they have come. The many hours of practice move from staccato one finger keyboard playing, through to two awkward hands trying to coordinate chords through to seamless melody progression in a few short years. It was a delight to have the breadth of experience on display to remind the audience that the simple beats of “I love coffee”, ably accompanied by tutor Jennifer Cheung, could become the accomplished rendition of “High Hopes” by another of her students on the grand piano.

We are so thankful to our team of professional tutors who have been working with our students throughout the year to thrive in the areas of dance, singing, piano, violin, guitar (acoustic, electric and bass), drums, cello, trumpet, flute, clarinet and their art enrichment. The Thrive showcase would not have been possible without the tireless efforts of our administrator and tutor, Mrs Sarah Maleckas, along with the administration support of Mrs Chanelle Gluskie and technical expertise of Mr Michael Ford.

This celebration of excellence and effort amongst our 100+ Seed Academy students kicks off a season of recognising student endeavours and learning, and an opportunity to give thanks to God for what He is doing in the lives of young people at Norwest. We are truly blessed to work and learn in our college where God’s abundance is ubiquitous, and we give Him thanks and praise for His work in our students.

Linda Hogan
Director, Teaching and Learning (K-12)

Many students have difficulty with anxiety and using a fidget toy or calming strategy can really help them. When students come to counselling, they come into a room that is colourful, soft music is playing in the background, and it has a relaxing atmosphere. Counsellors try and make their space as peaceful, inviting and relaxing as possible so that students can wind down and engage in a conversation to assist them with their problems. There are fidget toys, therapy cards and games to assist the student in talking about their issues or problems.

The Grounding Exercise assists students to focus on the present moment, and while they are doing that they are not focusing on the future where anxiety lives. The exercise uses the five senses and gets students to look at 5 things they can see around them, 4 things that they can feel around them, 3 things that they can hear with their eyes shut, 2 things that they can smell like a tic tac or a mint, and an essential oil and 1 thing that they can taste, so put the mint or tic tac in their mouth at the end of the exercise.