Welcome to our very first newsletter for the 2020 school year. A special welcome to those new students and their families who have joined us this year. We are glad that you have come to Bethany Christian School. We have a lovely community of staff, parents and students and we look forward to getting to know you and your child. Every second year, we hold an Autumn Fair on a Saturday. This year we have Autumn Fair on Saturday 21st March between 10am and 2pm. We provide rides, stalls and also invite our community to participate through volunteering, renting a stall for their business or coming along to enjoy the day. This is our largest fundraiser for the school and we look forward to your support.
Next Wednesday night, February 12 is our annual Meet the Teacher night. This is a time that our teachers share with parents the classroom expectations, management and operations which vary from class to class. It is also a time that you can hear about some of the broader aspects of the school. At 6:00pm the classrooms will be open for a half hour session with your child’s class teacher. At 6:45pm all parents meet together in the Performing Arts Centre for school information. At 7.30pm the classrooms will be open again for a half hour session with your child’s class teacher for those parents who were not able to attend the 6pm session. Please choose whether you attend the 6:00pm or 7.30pm session. If you have 2 children you will be able to attend both sessions in the different classes. The classroom teacher will run the same session at 6:00pm and 7.30pm. Please only attend one session.
I hope that you have had the opportunity to walk in to the school grounds and see the new building facilities in operation. It has been wonderful to finally see students using these lovely spaces. We are continuing to develop what will become a new play space where our transportable buildings used to be. I am encouraging our teachers and students to participate in the future development of this space. Can we please ask that when you are waiting for your child at the end of the school day, that you wait until 3:10pm until you enter the building or classrooms? The end of day is a busy time and it is helpful for teachers to ensure that all communication occurs without the distractions of parents looking through windows at this time. This also includes siblings from Temple. All Temple students are to wait until 3:10 to move across onto the Bethany property to collect younger siblings. Please remind your older children to stay on the Temple property until 3:10pm.
This term there a number of events and we have included a Term 1 Timetable of Events for you to keep at home. Our Year 6, Reception and Year 1 students have swimming lessons this term. Our Year 2, 3, 4, 5 & 6 Athletics days and Cross Country days, our Year 5 camp as well as other representative sporting events all occur this term. Please refer to the calendar and mark them in your diary.
This term finishes on Thursday 9th April the day before Good Friday. School always finishes at 12:10pm preceding Easter. You may like to take advantage of heading off early for this long weekend. We begin Term 2 with a Pupil Free day on Monday 27th April so school returns on Tuesday 28th April.
I pray that you have a lovely weekend and that this year is full of learning and growth for all of us. I look forward to sharing this with you in 2020.
God bless
Wendy Matear
Memory Verse
Love God and love each other.
And he has given us this command. Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
1 John 4: 21
We are excited to announce that our new Bethany Christian School Mobile App is live!
Some of the features are:
Parents and caregivers have been emailed their setup details for the App, if you have not recieved the email yet please check your junk mail first and then call the office to make sure they have your latest email details.
We hope you enjoy using the App!
Welcome back to school for 2020! It was wonderful to see familiar smiling faces and the brand new students starting school this week. It was also so great to see our students coming into school anticipating a great start to the school year, and being able to manage their nerves as they started in a new class with a new teacher.
Over the past few months it has been a challenging time for Australia, our state and for the world. With increasing media coverage of the bushfires and coronavirus, we are bombarded with information about traumatic events. I know that with my own children, I have had to deliberately make time to discuss the events such as the bushfires of Cudlee Creek and Kangaroo Island, and to dispel any misleading information about the coronavirus. Children are great at hearing and absorbing information around them, but often they are not old enough to process this information at the same level an adult will, leading them to become unduly fearful of the world around them.
The article from ‘Healthy Families - Beyond Blue’ has a terrific article about how you can talk about the ‘scary stuff’ our children will either see or hear on the news. Please also remember, if your family was affected by a traumatic event over the school break, we have support systems at school to help. Come in and let the office know if you would like to access some support and they will direct you to the correct person.
I do wish you and your family a very safe and successful start to the school year!
God bless you,
Deb Clifford
Digital media means we increasingly witness wars, terrorist attacks, accidents and natural disasters as they happen – through our phones, TVs and social media feeds. And while this coverage helps us stay informed about what’s going on, it can be distressing – especially for kids.
It’s pretty much impossible to shield children completely from upsetting news. And keeping things secret can mean kids get snippets of information, adding to their sense of anxiety.
Your best option is to monitor what kids are seeing and reading, and support them to understand what’s happening.
5 tips for parents and guardians
You don't need to be directly involved in a tragedy to feel its effects. It's important to take care of yourself so you can continue to support your family.
Children often learn how to feel about something by watching and modelling adults’ reactions. Share your feelings, but show that you’re managing them. If you’re feeling upset or distressed, talk privately with another adult you trust or a health professional.
When children are confronted with something stressful, like news of a traumatic event, they’re not always able to express their feelings in the same way adults can. Instead, kids show how they’re feeling through their behaviour.
Common reactions include:
If your child is acting differently and you’re worried about their reaction to distressing news, seek support from a health professional or contact the Beyond Blue Support Service.
As you would have heard, Bethany Christian School's canteen has set up an online system for lunch orders. Please read the instructions below to set up an account if you would like to take advantage of online ordering.
Open SAVE TIME with our ONLINE CANTEEN - Bethany Christian College SA.pdf (142.82 KB)
This year there have been many changes in the Uniform Shop. The Uniform Shop is now located next to the Indonesian classroom and will have new opening times. From Monday the opening times will be:
| Monday | 8.00 to 11.00 am |
| Tuesday | Closed |
| Wednesday | 1.15 to 4.15 pm |
| Thursday | Closed |
| Friday | 8.00 to 11.00 am |
Online orders are now available via the School Locker app or website which is www.theschoollocker.com.au or you can email your orders to bethany.christians@theschoollocker.com.au
If you have any questions about the online process please feel free to speak to one of the friendly staff in the Uniform Shop.
Open Autumn fair Flyer.pdf (159.46 KB)
The SA Department of Education has updated its advice with regards to the Novel Coronavirus. Please see below:
- Children or staff who travelled to mainland China must isolate themselves in their home for 14 days after leaving mainland China if they left mainland China on or after 1 February 2020.
- Children or staff who have been in close contact with a confirmed case must isolate themselves in their homes for 14 days after last contact.
- Children or staff who have returned from Hubei Province, China must isolate themselves in their home for 14 days after leaving Hubei Province.
- Staff and students in these circumstances must not attend schools, preschools or early childhood centres and should not engage with other students.
If you require more information, the Australian Government has updated the fact sheets regarding Novel Coronavirus. Please click on this click to access those fact sheets - https://education.govcms.gov.au/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov
Please remember that Bethany Christian School is a Nut Aware school. We would like to remind parents not to pack nut products in lunch boxes including Nutella and satay sauces. Please check the labels on food products. Products with traces of nuts are OK. If in doubt please talk to your child's teacher. Alternatives to nuts are: fruit, dried fruit, vegemite, jam, popcorn, muesli bars, yogurt, rice crackers, pretzels and savoury biscuits.
Bethany Christian School is excited to offer the Commonwealth Bank School Banking program to all students.
School Banking is a fun, interactive and engaging way for young Australians to learn about money and develop good savings habits. Children who deposit money into their Youthsaver account through School Banking earn Dollarmites tokens, which they can save up and redeem for exciting rewards.
The rewards available during 2020 are:
School Banking is also a great fundraiser for our school. Our school receives a Regular Savers Contribution of $5 for every 10 deposits processed per student as well as an Annual Contribution which is based on the number of students who made at least one School Banking deposit in the prior year.
Getting involved in School Banking is easy!
All you need to get involved in the School Banking program is a Commonwealth Bank Youthsaver account. You can open an account for your child in one of two ways:
1. Online
Visit commbank.com.au/schoolbanking and click on the link to open a Youthsaver account.
2. In branch
Visit a Commonwealth Bank branch with identification for yourself and your child, like a driver’s licence and birth certificate.
If your child has an existing Commonwealth Bank Youthsaver account they can start banking straight away. They just need to bring their deposit in every week on School Banking day using their Dollarmites deposit wallet.
School Banking day is Tuesday. Each week you need to bring in your deposit wallet to the front office or hand it into child's teacher.
If you would like to know more about School Banking, please ask for a 2020 School Banking program information pack from the school office or visit www.commbank.com.au/schoolbanking
School commences at 8.40 am and students are expected to line up at the front of their classroom doors if the teacher has not opened the classroom. School dismissal time is 3.10 pm. Recess is at 10.30 am and lunch 1 pm with eating time starting 12.50 pm. Play time is between 1 pm to 1.35 pm.
The school office is open at 8.00 am each morning and closes at 4.00 pm each afternoon.
Children who are not collected by 3.30 pm can wait in the front office until picked up by a parent. However, if this happens on a regular basis, children will be taken to Camp Australia at the parents expense.
A parent information session will be held on:
Wednesday February 12th 2020
6:00 pm Classrooms will be open for a half hour session with your child’s class teacher.
6:45 pm All parents meet in the Performing Arts Centre for school information.
7.30 pm Classrooms will be open for a half hour session with your child’s class teacher.
Please choose whether you attend the 6:00 pm or 7.30 pm session. If you have 2 children you will be able to attend both sessions in the different classes.
(The classroom teacher will run the same session at 6:00 and 7.30 pm. Please only attend one session).
This year the free Adult English classes will continue for those who are interested in improving and developing confidence in conversational English. Classes will commence later this term and this year be run by Juliet Schultz.
My name is Anette and I work in Administration here at Bethany. Last year my husband and I had the privilege of travelling to Kenya to see our friends get married in a traditional Kenyan wedding. After travelling through Kenya, our eyes were opened to the severe poverty that a large number of these people live in. I felt so strongly about the injustice of the situation these people were in that I couldn’t see it, leave, and do nothing about it. My husband and I decided that we wanted to do something practical to help these beautiful people. After conversing with our friend on what would be the best way to start helping, we developed a plan to build toilets and a septic system on their property. Access to a working western toilet in this village is non-existent. As such, the facilities built on this property would be available for the whole village to use. We then began to think of a way to raise the money to start this project. We decided that we are going to do a can and bottle drive!
If you would like to help us in achieving our goal we will be collecting bottles and cans at Bethany this term. There will be a grey bin outside the administration area near the JP playground exit. If you have cans and bottles that you aren’t going to recycle, please bring them to school and place them in this bin! All of the money raised will go directly to building the first western toilet in small village in Homer Bay County, Kenya!
Open COSP Flyer_.pdf (164.51 KB)
Open Business Card.pdf (646.30 KB)
Open Bethany Christian School.pdf (2.22 MB)
Open 1 Welcome to 2020 - Generic-1.pdf (672.25 KB)
| Sport | Team | Opposition | Coaches Pick | Score |
| Basketball | U8 Blazers | GGLPS Giants | Tobiasz T Isaleli T-F | 14 . 10 |
| U10 Bucks | Heccies U10B Yellow | Lucas H Elijah R | 14 . 14 | |
| U10 Raptors | AFCBC Dynamite | Joash S Elijah Y | 16 . 17 | |
| U12 Rockets | Tyndale Hurricanes | Jaiden K Ethan G | 49 . 31 | |
| Netball | U8 Bright Stars | No Game | ||
Open _Weekly_Flyer_Fitness_Club.pdf (1.25 MB)
Open _Weekly_Flyer_Tennis.pdf (874.08 KB)
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Friday 29th January 2021 | Reception Orientation |
| Monday 1st February 2021 | First day of school for Year 1 to 6 |
| Tuesday 2nd February 2021 | First day of school for Reception students |
| 2021 Term Dates | |
|---|---|
| Term 1 | Monday 1st February to Friday 9th April |
| Term 2 | Tuesday 27th April to Friday 2nd July |
| Term 3 | Wednesday 21st July to Friday 24th September |
| Term 4 | Monday 11th October to Wednesday 8th December |
PO Box 2125
Salisbury Downs SA 5108
37 Countess St
Paralowie, SA, 5108
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Friday 29th January 2021 | Reception Orientation |
| Monday 1st February 2021 | First day of school for Year 1 to 6 |
| Tuesday 2nd February 2021 | First day of school for Reception students |
| 2021 Term Dates | |
|---|---|
| Term 1 | Monday 1st February to Friday 9th April |
| Term 2 | Tuesday 27th April to Friday 2nd July |
| Term 3 | Wednesday 21st July to Friday 24th September |
| Term 4 | Monday 11th October to Wednesday 8th December |
PO Box 2125
Salisbury Downs SA 5108
37 Countess St
Paralowie, SA, 5108
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| Wednesday 12th February | Meet the Teacher Evening |
| Wednesday 12th February | Reception Rest Day |
| Wednesday 19th February | Reception Rest Day |
| Monday 24th to Friday 28th February | Year 6 Swimming Lessons |
| Wednesday 26th February | Reception Rest Day |
| Wednesday 26th to Friday 28th February | Year 5 Camp |
| Monday 2nd March | School Tour |
| Wednesday 4th March | Reception Rest Day |
| Thursday 5th March | Senior Athletics Day |
| Friday 6th March | Junior Athletics Day |
| 2020 Term Dates | |
|---|---|
| Term 1 | Term 2 |
| Monday 3rd February to Thursday 9th April | Tuesday 28th April to 3rd July |
| Term 3 | Term 4 |
| Tuesday 21st July to 25th September | Monday 12th October to Wednesday 9th December |
| Monday | 8.00 to 11.00 am |
| Tuesday | Closed |
| Wednesday | 1.15 to 4.15 pm |
| Thursdy | Closed |
| Friday | 8.00 to 11.00 am |
Primary Chapel (Years 3 - 6)
10.50 to 11.30 am on Wednesdays
Junior Primary Chapel (Reception - Year 2)
12.10 to 12.50 pm on Wednesdays
Whole school worship
10 - 10.30 am Monday mornings
PO Box 2125
Salisbury Downs SA 5108
37 Countess St
Paralowie, SA, 5108
| Class | Days |
|---|---|
| ELC | Monday to Friday |
| RD | Tuesday and Friday |
| RH | Wednesday and Friday |
| RHW | Tuesday and Wednesday |
| 1C | Wednesday and Friday |
| 1D | Tuesday and Friday |
| 1P | Tuesday and Wednesday |
| 2HS | Monday and Thursday |
| 2R | Monday and Thursday |
| 2Z | Tuesday and Thursday |
| 3L | Monday and Thursday |
| 3K | Monday and Thursday |
| 3T | Monday and Thursday |
| 4G | Monday and Friday |
| 4P | Monday and Friday |
| 4W | Monday and Friday |
| 5R | Tuesday and Friday |
| 5S | Tuesday and Friday |
| 5T | Tuesday and Friday |
| 6S | Monday and Wednesday |
| 6T | Monday and Wednesday |
| 6W | Monday and Wednesday |
Newsletter published: Friday, February 7 2020
< Back to newsletters
