Pakenham Senior School student Baxter Stickland has just been selected for the 2020 Cardinia Shire Youth Council program.

Baxter will spend almost a year participating in the learning and leadership program, and is aiming “to gain some knowledge about how different government levels operate, how funds are allocated, and how different issues are ranked across various government areas and around various parts of Cardinia Shire”. He is also passionate about the topic of climate change.

We wish Baxter all the best for his time on the Council.

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A small village in the remote part of East Timor called Dato Rua now has running water for the first time, all thanks the generosity of Beaconhills College families.

Last year our College raised around $35,000 through church services, sausage sizzles and the inaugural Family Fun Night on 15 November 2019. The much-needed funds went to the water project Dato Rua, one of the villages that our Year 10 Beacon Explorers students visit each year. Now the East Timorese school children have access to flushing toilets, instead of 180 children sharing just one drop toilet.

The project involved building pipes from a spring 5km from the town and construction of a water storage tank.

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A portable bar concept created by former student Tiffany Johnston (Class of 2019) is currently on display as part of the Emergent 2019: VCE Graduate Showcase at Bunjil Place Studio.

Tiffany, who is now studying Architecture at RMIT University, designed the concept and brand identity for her VCE Unit 4 Visual Communication and Design subject.

She is pictured at the Emergent opening night with Beaconhills teachers John Irving and Leanne Peters.  

The showcase features painting, drawing, sculpture, design, photography and film by students undertaking VCE Units 3 & 4 Art, Studio Art, Media, Visual Communication and Design, and Product Design and Technology: Woodwork in 2019.

The free exhibition is open to the public until 15 March 2020.

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Senior Pakenham students have had a busy start to the term, with those studying Unit 3 Legal Studies visiting the Magistrates’ Court, County Court, Supreme Court and the Supreme Court library

This opportunity allowed students to learn about the Victorian court hierarchy in action, witness a high profile murder trial, and partake in the process juries experience when being selected for Jury Duty.

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It’s nearly 40 year ago since Beaconhills College opened its doors. What enormous change the College – and the local community – has witnessed over that time.

I recently had the pleasure of hosting a tour of Pakenham Campus with some of the College founders, including foundation Principal Frank Millett and his wife Joy (also a former staff member).

We hosted four of the five original staff members and six foundation parents, all who played a significant role in those early years. It was fascinating to hear of some of the struggles and sacrifices these pioneers endured to start a new Christian school in Pakenham – without the broader community support or government funding.

• Barb Birch ran a tuckshop at lunchtime once a week for the first few years. Derek Birch looked after maintenance issues from home and at school. Their son Peter took broken furniture home on the bus
• Lynne Tivendale established the uniform shop and ran it as a volunteer with Joel Hosking from 1981 till 1995. Her husband Malcolm built most of our outdoor equipment and seating
• Joy Allan oversaw planting and gardens and led the parent working bees
• Ros Robinson took on all sewing tasks, making the original banner and flag as well as classroom furnishings
• Bill Duncan, with wife Chris, ran most Physical Education and sports events for the students in the first two years. Colin Burns, a current staff member, was the first PE teacher appointed in 1984.

Frank Millett envisaged that Beaconhills would be a “small school”. He regards our development and expansion as nothing short of remarkable. From a block of land bought with a “$50 deposit and a promise to pay the rest later”, it is indeed an incredible success story.

• Yesterday, Frank and Joy returned to meet Millett House staff and students. Frank Millett was also made life member of the Beaconhills College Board, the fourteenth person to earn that acknowledgement.
  

Frank Millett shaking hands with College Deputy Headmaster, Stephen McGinley.

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10 top tips from Beaconhills College Senior Chaplain, The Revd Peggy Kruse, on how to remain hopeful and calm during challenging times.

1. Take a deep breath – and just breathe in calmness and peace.
2. Take time every day to pray or to meditate.
3. Practise spirituality in looking for the meaning in situations and in our relationships.
4. Live more soulfully – recognising what is most important in life – and that is – love.
5. Think of all of the small mercies in our life – that is, all that we have to be thankful for.
6. Keep communication up with our friends and families – even if it is through FaceTime or Skype.
7. Go out into nature (without the crowds) and breathe in the fresh air and really notice the beauty around you.  Listen to the song of the birds, the rustle of the leaves on the tree, sit in the green grass and watch the clouds go by, smell the fragrances around you.
8. Stop and look at a sunset or a sunrise – or even a rainbow.
9. Bake something in the house that smells delicious.
10. Tell all the people who you are close to – that you love them – and why.

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In 2020, Beaconhills College has been working with SchoolTV.me to provide our families with clear, relevant and fact-based information around raising safe, happy and resilient young people. The video linked below offers practical advice for parents to help students manage the stress of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

As the situation develops, it may contribute to anxiety amongst families. Although children are considered to be in a lower risk category, this does not protect them from being exposed to news reports on television, radio or social media. As a parent it is important to reassure your child, dispel any myths or untruths, and help them feel informed, allowing them to focus more on positive messages.

You can find more content from SchoolTV.me on the BeaconNet portal, under the wellbeing tab.

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Beaconhills College is committed to doing its utmost to help combat the COVID-19 pandemic and support our community.

As we finalise our Home Learning Program for next week, we will now offer limited spaces on our campuses for students whose parents are on the frontline in medical, emergency or allied health services and don’t have care arrangements in place.

These parents have a critical role in supporting the COVID-19 emergency response. The Prime Minister has made it clear he wants these health professionals to continue their vital work. We hope this new arrangement gives families further flexibility.

During our three home learning days planned for next week – 25 through to 27 March – we will provide limited learning spaces at both of our campuses for Junior and Middle School students who have parents working in the health care frontline.

I hope this can help alleviate some of the pressures on those parents who are at the coalface of this pandemic.

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Tomorrow marks the start of the Beaconhills College home learning program. It’s a new endeavour for our College. We are all adjusting to a very different routine in a bid to collectively fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Here are just a few starter tips from Beaconhills eLearning staff and the Australian Government’s eSafety Commissioner.

Mental and physical health

• Current circumstances are not just about physical health, there are social and emotional impacts as well. Students may be feeling isolated or anxious, or observing family members in distressed states. Ensure students know that they can still contact teachers and other support people at the College.
• Remember it is not healthy to sit at a computer, or use a tablet, for extended periods of time without a break.
• Although the College will ask students to attend their scheduled virtual classes, the lessons are likely to be much shorter than at school and work may be set to be completed later
• Encourage children to enjoy physical exercise and play while at home and to interact with family members.

Chat about expectations and boundaries

• It’s not possible to be at your child’s side every second of the day, so it’s important to talk with them about online safety issues to help develop their critical thinking and ability to make good choices. Set boundaries about when they can use devices

Parental controls

• Parental controls can help block your child from accessing specific websites, apps or functions. But beware! You can’t always rely on them and they should be used in combination with other online safety strategies.

Be alert – know the signs

• It’s important to keep an eye out for cyberbullying. It can include mean posts, comments and messages, as well as being left out of online group activities.

Some handy links with many resources for parents:

https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/blog/covid-19-online-safety-kit-parents-and-carers

https://www.esafety.gov.au/about-us/blog/covid-19-keeping-schools-and-learning-safe-online

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Today Beaconhills College launched its first day of home learning in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We asked parents to submit some photographs of students in action and we were overwhelmed by the response. It was a busy day for students, parents and teachers but there were plenty of smiling faces at the end of it.

Congratulations to the Beaconhills community for a great team effort.

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Pets are not only our loyal companions, but we also know that they can greatly help us through challenging times.

One of the best parts of home learning (apart from being able to wear your pyjamas) is having furry study buddies around to keep motivation high! Our College counsellors and pawrents to friendly therapy dogs, Smudgy and Kai, have explained the benefits of keeping pets close by:

“Let pets be your GEM (gratitude, empathy, mindfulness) and help you in resilience training. Be grateful for their love and companionship, and let them help you practice 30 minutes of mindfulness a day by brushing, patting and walking them” – Jane Negus

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This produce from the College vegetable gardens went to the Salvation Army in Pakenham and the Vinnies Soup Van in Berwick last week for distribution to those in need.

With high demand for fresh produce, our organically grown veggies were welcome donations. More news to come soon on an exciting new initiative we are preparing to launch – the Beacon of Hope Community Garden.

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Could you do a thoughtful act for someone else every day, for 21 days?

Beaconhills College’s Citizenship and Service Program is launching a new activity for students and families over the school holidays and beyond – the 21 Day Challenge.

The idea is simple. Do a small act of kindness for someone else every day. Record it, if you wish take a photo (we would love to see what you are doing), but most of all, do it because you want to help grow a ‘culture of kindness’.

You might write a card for someone, plant a tree, clean the windows at home or just email a friend and tell them how much you appreciate them. Some more ideas are below.

Our Year 8 Certificate of Excellence students are already taking up the challenge, documenting their actions each day which will be formally recognised as part of their certificate.

The concept was also trialled for a week with great success amongst our Year 2s at the Pakenham Campus (see photos).

You can click here to read about the original 21 Day Challenge and how it all works.

Beaconhills’ Citizenship and Service Program is based on the ‘benefit mindset’ philosophy, which in turn builds on ‘growth mindset’. A benefit mindset, developed by researcher and consultant Ash Buchanan, seeks to not only fulfil our own potential, but do it way that serves the wellbeing of all.

We would love to see some photos showing some of the ways you are meeting the challenge, so we can post them for others! Email to news@beaconhills.vic.edu.au

A few starter ideas

Beaconhills’ Head of Citizenship and Service, Clare Tuohy, has a few ideas to get you started:

• Start a Gratefulness Journal. At dinner each night, encourage family members to highlight what they have been grateful for that day
• Cook dinner
• Make a batch of cookies for your family
• Write a poem about one of your family members and give it to them
• Plan a small veggie garden and put steps into place to make this happen
• Offer to clean the bathroom
• Make a card or write a letter of kindness to a neighbor and leave it in their letter box or on the front door

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The new Beacon of Hope Community Garden is about to come to life.

Beaconhills is delighted to announce this charity initiative, aimed at helping battle food insecurity in our local community.

The College is now fast-tracking the garden project, a 75m x 25m plot at the Pakenham Campus. The garden will produce fresh vegetables to donate to Casey and Cardinia welfare organisations for local families in need.

Beaconhills currently has five thriving vegetable gardens with produce already donated and turned into meals for charity, used in food technology classes and for College menus.

When COVID-19 restrictions ease, Beaconhills will continue to tend to this garden and invite members of the community be involved in the project.

We would welcome donations such as unwanted large containers like old bathtubs to store chicken manure, sleepers and vegetable seeds and seedlings. Contact Jack.Donkers@beaconhills.vic.edu.au for more details.

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I would like to begin by thanking all those who have sent messages of support following the recent launch of our Online Learning Program – in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This was new ground for us all, but the spirit of collaboration has been truly heart-warming.

This afternoon, we emailed our families to announce the plans for term 2 programs, so that they might consider the most suitable option.

At this stage, we will continue with the Online Learning Program introduced at the end of term 1 for all Prep – Year 12 students. Staff have done a significant amount of work behind the scenes to deliver this program and we received positive feedback from many families. However, we appreciate there are still many challenges and we all need to work together to ensure the best possible learning outcomes for our students.

Along with places on-campus for children of front-line workers, Beaconhills will also offer limited places for Prep – Year 12 students at both campuses to support families who are unable to provide home-based learning for their children. This may include vulnerable children who need extra support.

Little Beacons programs at both campuses will be ongoing. As the Australian Government recently announced, these services will be delivered at no cost to families at this time.

It is important that children do not attend the College if they are unwell. School-aged children will have their temperature checked at the start of each day and social distancing procedures will in place for all children in the Prep-12 and Little Beacons programs.

On behalf of the College staff and board I wish you a safe and peaceful Easter. We continue to pray for those hit hardest across the world by this pandemic and have faith that a path to a healthier future can be found.

– Headmaster, Tony Sheumack

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We are living history, right at this moment.

For junior school aged children in particular, taking time to create a time capsule will help them in the future to remember and reflect on this time of great social change.

We’ve uploaded a fantastic template below, created by LONG Creations:
COVID-19 Time Capsule

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I think we know that school is going to look very different for us all in term 2. COVID-19 has certainly thrown us all a major challenge.

I am inordinately proud of our College staff who have worked so hard to prepare our online learning program. Today the program begins in earnest, after it was introduced three days before the end of term. We have had some very positive feedback from families so far. It’s early days, but I feel confident we can continue to deliver the high calibre of education our community has come to expect.

How does an online learning program look for, say, the average Middle School student? We have tried to keep as much structure in the school day as possible. Led by our teaching staff, Middle School students will continue to use apps such as Showbie for their learning resources, our App4 to set and track tasks and Zoom for instructions and video conferencing.

Beaconhills is delivering on-campus learning for children of front line workers, along with places for students in Prep-Year 12 to support families who cannot provide home-based learning. Our two Little Beacons centres are open and continue to deliver early learning programs.

I believe we are firmly on the front foot with our online learning programs. Let’s keep up the great work – and get the most out of term 2.

Suggested Middle School student routine:
• wake: do some exercise
• breakfast and change for school
• 8.45am: tutor check-in on Zoom
• 9am: classes start as per my timetable with video meet check-ins with my teachers. Start working through my tasks on App4 using Learning Resources
• 11am: stop for a break, have some food, do some stretches
• 11.30am: classes start up again with more video check-ins with my teachers
• 1:30pm: stop for lunch, catch up with some friends online (no television, need some off-screen time)
• 2.20pm: final class with a video meet check-in with my teacher
• 3.30-4.30pm: have a break, get some exercise, music practice
• 4.30pm: start your home learning
• 6.30pm: dinner.

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COVID-19 may have thrown our Beacon of Hope Relay For Life campaign a curve ball this year, but hope still lives on.

Despite the cancellation of the Casey event last term, the College community still raised over $30,000 to help fight cancer.

This included more than $11,000 raised from the Cardinia event and $20,000 raised by our Berwick Campus team before the Casey Relay For Life was cancelled.

Cardinia’s $11,000 effort earned a research award (named the Beacon of Hope), which will go towards leukemia and lymphoma research in honour of a current student battling cancer.

That $20,000, plus all of the registrations, will be transferred to Casey’s Relay For Life 2021. Congratulations to the team organisers at both campuses and all of our students, staff and families for their outstanding fundraising efforts.

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Audiobook and ebook borrowing is booming at Beaconhills College – and it’s not just due to COVID-19.

While the temporary closure of our College libraries has unsurprisingly seen a strong shift to digital borrowings, figures show the interest in ebooks and audiobooks was already thriving.

Head of Library at the Berwick Campus, Carmel Byrne, compared borrowing figures across the College for term 1 2020 against the same time last year. She found while physical book loans grew by five 5 per cent, digital loans jumped by a huge 67 per cent.

Mrs Byrne said she was optimistic that the College’s reading culture would continue to grow. Library staff were committed to building the digital collection and promoting it to students and families.

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