During 2009, a number of students have had the benefit of musical tuition during College hours.

Thanks to the musical talent of a number of teachers on staff, some students have elected to learn piano, flute, violin or guitar. 

Today, Tom enjoyed a private lesson with one of the very versatile and talented College teachers.   Tom is an impressive young musician who plays a total of four instruments.  He has enjoyed the past year during which he has added violin to his repertoire - thanks to Cornerstone.

According to Mr David van der Tang – who takes students for violin classes – the College is looking to develop this area in 2010.  In particular, his eyes are set on establishing an ensemble of young musicians who can perform together. 

Mr van der Tang is excited about the growth in the musical areas of Cornerstone in 2010. 

If you have any queries about the tuition opportunities that are available, please direct your queries to the Administration.

Young Scientific and Engineering minds from Cornerstone Christian College recently participated in the Science and Engineering Challenge.

Students from a number of schools as far away as Margaret River and Katanning participated in the annual event that is presented by the University of Newcastle and organised by WA Engineers Australia.  The Challenge is designed to inspire young people, through fun and practical hands on activities, about the opportunities available in the science and engineering fields.   The event is often labelled as Engineering Sports for students.

Students were able to build a hovercraft, make and test a bridge, design an eco-house or build an efficient sailboat.  A total of 8 activities were on offer, which saw each school’s team of students competing for engineering glory. 

Points were awarded for each activity, with Cornerstone Students performing particularly well in the ‘Hover frenzy’ event.  Bec, Bruce, Hannah and WJ came out with a first placing which was a great result.

According to Mr Will Meyer, one of the school’s organising teachers, the event has had a positive effect on his students.

‘The students really entered into the event with great enthusiasm.  The win for the hovercraft team was terrific, and our sailing boat challenge team only missed out on a win by 2 seconds’, Mr Meyer said.

According to the creators of the Challenge at the University of Newcastle, it has been shown that participation in the event has significant positive and lasting effects on the students’ approach to science and technology when they return to school.

It has been previously reported that in the name of charity, our very own Mr Geoffrey Howes would be prepared to shave off his hair and beloved beard.

Thanks to some clever underwriting by senior staff, a designated total has been reached, and today, Mr Howes had a close encounter with a pair of clippers.

The money will be sent to the Mercy Ships charity, which has ships that travel to trouble-spots globally and provides medical care to those who desperately need it.  Mr Howes believes this is a worthy cause, having had his own son performing nursing duties with the organisation.

Most of the students were united in their belief that the new look actually suited Mr Howes – and all agreed that his willingness to make this sacrifice was a great act.

Mr Taylor’s students in Wood and Metal Work are creating some terrific items that are practical as well as beautiful.

The Metal Work students have been making something for use in their after-school hobbies.  Several boys have made stands to hold up their motobikes.

Over in the Woodworking area, some very beautiful mirrors are being created from wood and iron, with each mirror needing to incorporate a shelf of some kind.  Some students have elected to make drawers, some have shelves with wrought iron as part of the design, and others have CD racks included.

All the students have been responsible for the design, preparation and manufacture of their elected pieces.  Some really clever and creative ideas have come from this class, and Mr Taylor is pleased with the results.

Great work!

The Iluka Art Prize is an annual event on the calendar for young artists around the South West.  Cornerstone has an enormous record of success in this prize, and the latest student to have work selected for display in the Bunbury Regional Art Gallery is Emily and her watercolour work ”The Breaching”.

Emily is in Year 8, and was one of 700 entries in this year’s event.  Only 163 of the very best items were chosen for display, and so the College is very proud of Emily and her accomplishment.  Emily attended the Gallery recently to view her art on display and discussions with the Gallery attendant highlighted the honour this event is for any student.

Water-colour work at Cornerstone is well known.  For the past two years, Cornerstone students have taken out the overall win for the Iluka Art Prize.    Under the guidance of College art teacher, Mr Brian Tink, skills are competently passed on and Emily has had the benefit of his tuition during this past year. 

Congratulations Emily on your great work!

Today saw the students at the College brushing up on all things Mathematical, at the annual Marvellous Maths Day.

Primary students from Years 1-6 were involved in a number of activities, and parents and grandparents were invited to be a part of the fun.

From Smarty Maths and Six Shooter, to Shopping and Snakes & Ladders - it was surprising to see how many games were on offer that involved numeracy in some form or another.  Each class divided into teams and rotated through the activities with their guests in tow.  Prizes were on offer and parents were seen to be quite competitive!

A large number of visitors came along for the fun, which was especially appreciated by the students.

The day was a tremendous success and thanks goes to Mrs Strutt and the Primary teaching team, who organised and co-ordinated  the event.

Miss Jo Needham is a woman on a mission.  She is a teacher at Cornerstone, and also a member of the ‘Be Active Busselton Jetty Swim’ Committee.  With a crop of energetic teens before her in the classroom each day, it is inevitable that she is promoting this classic Busselton event as much as possible.

The result of her enthusiasm  is that as the annual Jetty Swim approaches, students at the College have commenced training to ensure they have the required fitness levels to complete this challenge.  As an extension to the Physical Education program at Cornerstone, regular time in the pool has been scheduled.

In February next year over 1000 swimmers will gather at the beachfront and participate in one of the two possible distance swims.  The full event, comprising of a 3.6 km swim around the length of the jetty together with the shorter distanced 1km race will have a total of 20 students from the College at the starting lines.

Jo is excited about the students’ participation and is encouraged that she has such an enthusiastic group to work with.

”Already their fitness levels have dramatically improved and we hope that will continue right up to the event”, she said.

Jo’s ultimate aim is to have students attempting the more challenging Geo Bay Swim event later in 2010.  A recent finish in that event by the College’s 15 year-old David Hill has no doubt inspired further commitment to training.  This 20km swim will require considerable preparation, but success in the Jetty Swim will be an incentive for the students to continue towards this goal.

The Be Active Busselton Jetty Swim will occur on the 7th February 2010.

The Year 12 students for 2009 participated in their final event last night.

As a celebration of the end of TEE, as well as marking the end of their Secondary Education, students, parents and teachers gathered together for a formal graduation dinner.

The event was held at Abbey Beach Resort, and was a terrific time of remembering the past year at Cornerstone.  As part of the reflections, the participants where treated to one of Mr van der Tang’s media presentations.

During the course of the evening, awards were presented to students for excellence in their subjects and recognition of their contributions in other fields.  The recipients were:

Caltex All Rounder -Emma French           

ECU Personal Excellence -Kayley Bergsma

Dux- Rebekah Blennerhassett

ADF Leadership - JP Jordaan

CORNERSTONE SUBJECT AWARDS

Chemistry -Rebekah Blennerhassett               

Maths - Emma French        

Human Biology – Rebekah Blennerhassett                                    

Phys. Ed. Studies - Emily Hague

English - Grace Gayton

Outdoor Ed. - Danelle Spencer

Visual Arts - Kayley Bergsma

History - Grace Gayton &  Emily Hague

Applied Information Technology (AIT) - Cody Dykstra

Media Production & Analysis (MPA) - Grace Gayton

Materials, Design & Technology/Wood - Cody Dykstra                                     

Make a Difference Awards were presented by form teacher David van der Tang to the following students:

JP Jordaan
Ashleigh Norman
Rebekah Blennerhassett
Emma French
Kayley Bergsma
Melissa Harrison
Danelle Spencer

Marilyn Smoker also made special presentation awards to students that reflected the character of each recipient.  The ”Little Miss” and “‘Little Mister”  Awards were well received.

The evening was a wonderful tribute to these remarkable students who now move on to a new phase in their lives.

For most of the year, the College teachers’ greatest efforts and fun lie in the classroom.  However, in celebration of another terrific year at Cornerstone, the staff at the College gathered together for the ”Cornerstone Collegial Carry-on”.

The ”C” theme managed to inspire a number of great costumes.  From Convicts and Clowns, to Cooks and Construction workers – the colourful efforts were a whole lot of fun.

One participant (who will remain un-named) came along as ”Caleb” – who is a student at the College.  The likeness was uncanny.

Thanks to those who organised the event.  It was a Cool and Casual Collection of Creative College Coaches. 

The Year 7 class at Cornerstone Christian College has successfully investigated the ‘theft’ of cheese from the College fridge as part of their Forensic Science Studies.  As a result, an ‘arrest’ was made earlier today.

The aforementioned crime has been previously reported, and it is now, with great satisfaction, that Mr Howes and his class of detectives-in-training can put the matter to rest.

According to students, three forms of evidence confirmed that their suspect was responsible for this heinous crime.  Dental evidence, footprints left at the scene and fingerprinting technologies all led to today’s successful apprehension.

Police Psychologists believed that Mrs Penny Ravenscroft may have been guilty, as her behaviour had been deeply suspicious during questioning; however, no further evidence corroborated this belief.  She was therefore dropped from the list of suspects.

The defendant, who cannot be named until he is officially charged (we will call him Mr VDT, or Tang), has also added  ’Resisting Arrest’ and ‘Assaulting a Police Officer’ to his list of crimes.

When police arrived at the College today, the suspect made an attempt at escape, but Constable Sam was quick to throw on the cuffs and lead him away.  A throng of waiting media and interested parties gathered to watch him be placed in the police vehicle.  Gemma -who is a journalist for the Year 7 Times - repeatedly called out to the suspect for a comment but he declined to answer.  

Whilst investigative skills in this case have been exemplary, police neglected to lock the doors of the car and the suspect made another brief escape before being finally apprehended.

Well done Year 7 class for solving the crime.  Hopefully Mr Howes’ lunch is now safe from thieving hands!