Term 4, 2024
Letter from the Deputy Principal
A word from Jason Reed
It has been another huge year here at MCCC. I am both proud and humbled to work here. I know that sounds like a paradox, but I am proud of our amazing staff and students and humbled that God has called me to be a part of this wonderful College community. This year has certainly been one of enormous highs and heartbreaking lows. I think that what has pulled us all through is having a loving and dependable God and a united and caring College community. It is a community in which I hope we all feel we belong. It’s certainly nice to finish the year with positive students, encouraging teachers and grateful parents.
As we go into the break, I encourage you to enjoy time together as a family but also to help your child prepare for the new year ahead. Some will be starting school for the first time, others will be transitioning to Secondary School or starting their HSC, but all students will know that there will be change in the new year. Often, after a long end-of-year holiday break, students struggle to readjust to school routines in the new year.
This break can be a setback for their learning. The good news is, there are plenty of things that can be done during the break to prevent this from happening. Maintaining some healthy routines, like daily reading, may assist. In the week or two before school resumes, try to reestablish routines to help with your child’s transition back to school. If you head away on a holiday over the break, use this time as a learning experience. Talk to your children about the geography and history of the places you visit. Talk about the distances between places and enjoy having fun learning together. It’s always nice to switch off and have a break, but it’s also good to keep our children active and their brains stimulated. Constantly playing computer games and frequently staying up late are not helpful in keeping young minds healthy. Having family time is.
Research has found that students who have parents who are actively involved, interested and supportive in their learning do better than those who don’t, so when you also get time off, enjoy the spontaneous learning during your family fun.
Thank you for the support and trust you have shown us this year. We look forward to partnering with you again in 2025.
God bless
Upcoming Dates for Your Calendar
| Date | Event |
| Wednesday 4 December | Christmas Carols at MCCC Commencing at 6:00pm |
| Thursday 5 December | Last Day of Term for Pre-K to Year 12 |
| Monday 3 February | First day of School for Years 1-12 |
| Tuesday 4 February | First day of School for Kindergarten |
| Wednesday 5 February | First day for Pre-K |
| Secondary Swimming Carnival | |
| Thursday 6 February | Primary Swimming Carnival |
Student Leadership
Introducing our Year 11 Leadership Team for 2025
Letter from the Head of Secondary
A word from Wayne Green
As we approach the end of another year, I find myself reflecting on my 18 years at MidCoast Christian College. I genuinely believe the school is in its strongest position yet. Most memories from previous years are cherished, but our current student body and incredible staff stand out. Witnessing our new Leadership team lead the Remembrance Day Ceremony filled me with confidence that our college is in great hands.
During enrolment interviews, I emphasise the foundation of our school: Christ. We discuss our values and the significance of understanding the biblical principles that guide us. It’s reassuring to see how these values influence our decision-making processes. By consistently showing compassion, humility, and integrity, we can contribute to making our world a better place. However, maintaining self-control and trustworthiness can be challenging, as our nature often leads us to prioritise ourselves.
MCCC strives to instill in students the importance of making a difference for Christ. Our recent exam period showcased our students’ remarkable self-control and trustworthiness. They demonstrated respect for their peers, particularly the HSC students, by completing their exams in silence and adhering to instructions. We are truly blessed to have such an outstanding student body, along with dedicated staff and excellent facilities.
This term has offered numerous opportunities for our students, including The Duke of Edinburgh Award hikes, Commerce Market Day, and various field excursions for Senior English, Agriculture, and Geography classes. As we wrap up the year with Super 8’s Cricket in sports, I wish all students, parents, and staff a safe and restful holiday break.
Thank You, Mr Green!
By Jason Reed
He loves creating special opportunities that give every student a sense of engagement and belonging.
Mr Green has devoted 18 years to serving us at MidCoast Christian College. During this time, Mr Green has been our Agriculture and PDHPE teacher, our Sports Coordinator and our Head of Secondary. In all his various roles, he has always put our students’ best interests first. Mr Green has gone above and beyond in everything he has done for the students at the College. His career has been one of generosity, self-sacrifice and service. He has developed so many of the programs that help our students feel connected, supported, challenged, safe and engaged here at the College. He has spent countless lunchtimes coaching students and giving them opportunities they would otherwise go without. Even this year, Mr Green initiated the lunchtime rugby competitions and gym sessions. He loves creating special opportunities that give every student a sense of engagement and belonging. Fortunately, Mr Green has also trained other staff to take over these lunchtime initiatives next year.
We acknowledge that Mr Green put his own interests last at the start of the year when he agreed to return as Head of Secondary. We sincerely thank him for giving us a year full of passion, energy, vision, wisdom, humility and grace. We also thank Mrs Green for her faithful years of service to our College and all the time and love she invested in educating our students as both a Maths and Food Technology teacher and also in supporting our Duke of Edinburgh students. As a couple, we say thank you to you both. We will all miss you very much but are also grateful that you will both be back to do some casual teaching!
Our New Head of Secondary
Mr Colin Mitchell
Commencing Term 1, 2025
Where are you currently living and what is
your role there?
Geography/Commerce/Studies of Religion teacher at Nowra Anglican College for the last 11 years – and Head of the HSIE (Social Sciences) Department for the last 8 years.
Tell us a little about your family:
I have been married to Liesl for 28 years and we have three adult daughters; Bree, Georgie and Jemima; a Paediatric Nurse, Beginning English Teacher and a Vet Nurse in training! We have been part of the Nowra Baptist Church family since 2000. My in-laws live in Harrington and owned the Manning/Great Lakes Skin Cancer Clinic in Taree until retiring a few years ago. We also have a Cavoodle dog that is very cute and rather stupid.
How long have you been a teacher?
I became a teacher almost 20 years ago after a decade-long career in Environmental Management (Landcare) on the Mid North Coast, Northern Tablelands (Glen Innes) and South Coast.
What are you looking forward to in this new role?
I love Christian Education and I can’t wait to join the MCCC Community. I thrive by investing in the lives of both staff and students, encouraging and equipping them to love God and to love caring for and serving each other.
What are your hobbies/interests outside of teaching?
ANY form of fishing except beach fishing! Bass fishing is probably my greatest passion, but chasing dolphin fish or kingfish off Crowdy Head is going to be a close second.
What do you find most rewarding about being a teacher?
I am amazed at the enduring impact little kindnesses have on both students and teachers. A genuine compliment or encouragement, a shared moment of fun on an excursion or camp – these incidental moments stay with people. What a privilege it is to know you have brought hope and joy into someone’s life. The stories of impact really do begin to add up over the years.
What’s your favourite way to spend a Saturday?
I love to paddle my hobie kayak in rivers, or along the shoreline of Jervis Bay. Alternatively, I like walking with my wife along the beach and catching up on each other’s lives and thoughts. My daughters love it when we have dinner together and I spontaneously break into trivia quiz master.
Do you have any favourite movies/types of movies?
Many! My all time favourite was ‘Castaway’, but either ‘Ready Player One’ or ‘The Martian’ may now be in top spot. The Bourne Identity series and Pirates of the Caribbean are still top shelf, let alone the original Star Wars films. You will never out-quote me on Harry Potter films either.
How can we as a community be praying for you?
Moving is a big deal, especially after 24 years in Nowra. Please pray for me and my wife as we farewell our adult daughters and leave them behind! Pray I will be a leader who loves and serves faithfully, who listens to good advice and seeks assistance as needed. Please rejoice with us that we will finally be near our ageing parents and can give them greater support.
Looking forward to meeting you all in 2025!
Christmas Carols
At MidCoast Christian College
You are invited to join us for our annual Christmas Carols, to be held at MidCoast Christian College, on Wednesday 4 December, from 6pm.
O Come let us adore him, Christ the Lord!
We would love you to join us as we celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus! We look forward to an evening connecting with our community, enjoying Christmas items performed by our students, and singing carols to beautiful live music.
Please bring your friends and a picnic rug to sit on. There will also be food stalls (prices range from $5-10), face painting, lolly store, Christmas nails, and lots of other fun!
Letter from the Head of Primary
A word from Rob Storrie
It is the time of year when schools everywhere look to celebrate student achievement and hard work. We are a school that loves learning and a school that cares about each individual. When we celebrate learning, we recognise the continuous growth and progress that individuals make throughout the year. Whether it’s mastering a new skill, solving a complex problem, or gaining a deeper understanding of the world, learning represents the foundation of personal and collective development. The process of learning requires curiosity, resilience, and an open mind. When we celebrate learning, we honour the effort it takes to push through challenges, the perseverance to overcome setbacks, and the courage to try new things. So well done to all our hard working students this year.
Hard work is the engine that drives success. In a culture that often emphasises instant gratification, it’s essential to recognise and celebrate the value of sustained effort. The results of hard work are often the culmination of invisible hours, sacrifices, and setbacks that lead to breakthroughs, growth, and achievement. Celebrating hard work reminds us that success is rarely an accident but the outcome of persistent, focused effort.
As we finish up another massive year at MCCC, I want to thank you once again for supporting and working with us to grow the young minds in our care. We pray you have a safe, relaxing and rewarding holiday. See you in 2025!
Primary Leadership Team
Developing and Encouraging Excellent Teachers
“Teaching is”, according to St. John the Baptist, “a divine vocation, for it is God’s way of transforming hearts and minds through the gift of knowledge.” Unfortunately, we are all very aware and mindful that as a school we find ourselves in the midst of a global teacher crisis.
According to research conducted by AirTeachr, the teacher shortage is a reflection of increasing dissatisfaction amongst teachers due to factors such as challenging workloads, unrealistic expectations and lack of respect, leaving many teachers feeling unsupported and unappreciated. This has resulted in a large number of experienced teachers leaving and fewer teachers joining our profession. For regional schools, like us, the ability to recruit excellent teachers to our marvelous Manning Valley in the midst of such a shortage, is just that little bit harder.
we now have sixteen teachers across Primary and Secondary staff trained and ready to support each other across our learning community in 2025.
My role here is to not only ensure that we ensure a sustainable supply of quality Christian educators as our college continues to grow and flourish but also ensure that we support and retain the highly dedicated and inspirational teaching staff already here.
One initiative that I shared earlier this year is our college’s participation in the Newcastle University’s Quality Teaching Rounds. This program develops teacher morale as teachers get alongside each other by regularly observing the teaching taking place in each other’s classroom. This establishes a common expectation of what quality learning looks like here and honours what our teachers are doing that so easily goes unnoticed by their peers. From our initial pilot of four secondary teachers, we now have sixteen teachers across Primary and Secondary staff trained and ready to support each other across our learning community in 2025.
We are looking forward to 2025. Not only do we have excellent educators here but we are so very excited by the new staff who will be joining us, as we celebrate our college’s 40th birthday. We look forward to being joined by Mr. Colin Mitchell from Nowra Anglican College as our new Head of Secondary. We also welcome the following new teachers to MidCoast Christian College: Mr. Chris Lewis (PDHPE), Mr. Adam Parsons (HSIE), Mr. Jeffrey Keith and Stephen Pinkney (Maths), Mrs. Jess Bootes (English) and Mr. Chris Bernays (Biblical Studies & Outdoor Recreation). Sophie France and Claire Downie will be joining us in Learning Support.
Thank you for the support and appreciation you give your child’s teachers. We look forward to continue partnering with you next year in your child’s learning as they continue to grow in character, their understanding of our world and their place in it.
Meet the Teacher
Mr Frank Jones, Secondary Teacher
What classes do you teach?
Year 7 History/ Geography, English, Yr 7&8 PDHPE, Yr 10 Devotions
How long have you been a teacher?
30 Years
Where were you teaching before MCCC?
Over the past 14 years I have been the Principal of three different schools on the NSW North Coast. During the 16 years previous to this I was an Assistant Principal/teacher across NSW, in Brisbane and in India.
Tell us a little about your family:
God has blessed me with the most precious gifts in Tarnya my wife and Clancy my son. My wife is a dedicated and brilliant teacher and my son is into all sports, particularly soccer.
What are your hobbies/interests outside of teaching?
My family. Now that I am not as busy, I love spending as much time as possible with my family, camping, fishing, and touring. After recent adventures to Europe, we have caught the travel bug! We missed out on our planned visit to the Holy Land last October due to the hostilities but we have plans to try again.
Do you have any favourite movies/types of movies?
The Sting (showing my age here!), Shawshank Redemption, true crime and historical pieces, and nature documentaries.
What do you find most rewarding about being a teacher?
Improving and enhancing student outcomes through thoughtful and inclusive instruction, and learning from students; they have so much to offer.
What has been the highlight of teaching at MCCC in 2024:
Exactly that, teaching at MCCC! I have led or taught in faith-based schools my whole career and feel justified in my belief that MCCC is of high quality. I have relished the opportunity to return to the classroom, and along with a wonderful group of likeminded Christian educators, have a direct and positive impact on student outcomes. With the Grace of God, long may it continue!
Obento Day for Japanese Students
As we welcomed in the beginning of spring, our school’s Japanese students got to experience Ohanami. Ohanami is held in spring where traditionally people go outside picnicking with friends, eating Japanese obento, which are Japanese style lunchboxes, whilst admiring the cherry blossoms. Students had studied this in class in preparation for the big day.
A gigantic thank you to Mrs Day, Mrs Dach, Mrs Coleman and all the Year 11 Hospitality students for preparing 125 obento boxes. In the lead up to Obento Day several days were spent prepping the food and then all-day Friday cooking and setting up the obento boxes. Much of the food needed acute attention to detail, such as carefully placing two sesame seed eyes on 125 egg faces, cutting legs in the frankfurts to make them look like octopuses, cutting out 600 small circles out of ham for flower petals or cutting out 200 cheese stars, just to name a few. The outcome was very professional looking obentos.
Our expectation for a beautiful spring day for going outside was not met and instead students huddled together in the very fresh wind and rain to munch through their obento. The feedback from the Obento Day was that the torikatsu (chicken schnitzel) was the favourite part with many students expressing how much they enjoyed it and wondering if they could have it again next year. Year 8 students have since written a review in Japanese to express which foods they liked and which one was their favourite.
A special thanks to my elective 9/10 Japanese class who helped clean up after lunch including helping recycle the food scraps, chopsticks and boxes. A little bit of help goes a long way, so in finishing the day and the term with this class was a real privilege.
What’s on in our Community
Local Churches
Come and join us to make a gingerbread house! A great festive way to end the term with your kids.
Taree Presbyterian on Saturday 7th December! Build a gingerbread house and share in some festive fun.
We will also be sharing in morning tea and hearing how Jesus makes a difference at Christmas.
Original, gluten free and chocolate kits available.
Gingerbread by Gingerbread Folk. Cost includes the gingerbread, icing, lollies, presentation board and wrapping.
To book, go to www.taree.church/gingerbread
Our Carols Service is on 22nd Dec 4pm at Forster Public School.
Our Christmas service is on 24th Dec 5pm at Forster Public School (no Christmas Day service).
Sunday services:9am at Wingham Presbyterian Church/ 11am at Krambach Bible church/ 4pm at Old bar Bible church
Christmas carols:Friday 20 December-7pm at Wingham/ Sunday 22 December 4pm at old bar Bible church and 7pm at Krambach Bible church
Kids Christmas play “a stable Christmas” Sunday 15 December- 9am at Wingham/ 4pm at Old Bar
Christmas Day services – 9am at Wingham/ 11am at Old Bar
Our “Faith Family Carols” on the 15th December from 5pm onwards. Address: 147 Cowper St, Taree. There will be camel rides, food vans, coffee van, face painting, jumping castle, sausage sizzle, carols, popcorn, and more.
This year MBC will hold our Christmas Eve service from 6pm at the PCYC.
We are praying many come to hear the good news of our precious Saviour’s birth and the hope that His life, death and resurrection offer us.
Christmas Services @ St Matthews
7 Bent St Wingham
Christmas Eve
5.30pm: Faith & Fellowship @ St Matthews.
10.15pm: Drinks and nibbles
11.00pm: Holy Communion
Christmas Day
10:00am: Holy Communion
Getting to School by Bus in 2025
Applications are now open for a Bus Travel Pass
- All students catching the bus in 2025 will need a school travel pass.
- Under the School Student Transport Scheme (SSTS), eligible students can apply for free or subsided travel between home and school.
- For more information about the School Student Transport Scheme and how to apply for a school travel pass, visit https://apps.transport.nsw.gov.au/ssts/#/ from a desktop computer.
The Cost of Sport
Barriers to participating in sport
The Australian Sports Commission (ASC) and Federation University are conducting a study to understand the costs associated with delivering and participating in community sport.
To gather valuable insights, they would like to invite parents to complete a short online survey about their total expenses related to sports participation.
The results of this project will be used to make recommendations to inform the ASC sport policies and strategies to minimise the cost of playing sport.
Survey closes at 5pm (AEDT) on Tuesday 31 December.
Please click here to complete the survey
Letter from the Business Manager
A word from Adam Birkefeld
As we head towards the end of another year, we are already looking forward to welcoming all our families back in 2025.
College fee information for the 2025 year has now been published. As with previous years, fees have inevitably had to increase with rising cost of living and sector wage growth in 2024. This isn’t a decision made lightly, but necessary to maintain the quality and standards you have become accustomed to with the college.
We are delighted to share an exciting development for the upcoming academic year at our college. Starting in 2025, we will be piloting a managed devices program for our Year 7 students.
This initiative will involve issuing laptops to all families with children commencing Year 7, ensuring that our students have access to the latest technology and resources to support their learning. The cost of the devices will be incorporated into the school fees.
Our goal is to enhance the educational experience of our students by integrating technology into the classroom in a meaningful and effective way. We believe that providing managed devices will not only support our students’ academic growth but also prepare them for the technological demands of the future.
Thank you for your continued support and partnership. Enjoy your Christmas holiday break as we remember the birth of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.
