The Primary students at Cornerstone Christian College have given a great final performance at their end of year Presentation Night.

With a theme of ‘The Heavens Declare the Glory of God’, students in Years 2 to 6 let the story of Christmas unfold – from the viewpoint of the Angels who watched the birth of Jesus.

The clever use of dance, drama, music and song, brought about a truly spine-tingling performance.

Staff worked hard to see the students bring the night together – and to teachers and aids, we very much appreciate the skills and time you have spent to bring us such a special event.  To the students – you shone.  A truly beautiful event that explored the truths at the heart of Christmas.  Well done.

During the evening, Mrs Bev Hartley presented Pania Kara with the Primary Literacy Award, and the Hon. Troy Buswell, presented the Numeracy Award to Bianca Gervasi.  Congratulations to both young ladies on their academic endeavours.

College Principal, Bruce Douglas, addressed the audience and outlined future plans for the College, which include a Dunsborough Campus commencing in 2014, and a second Busselton campus being explored at this time.  He also outlined the desire to help each of the College’s students to discover their God-given gifts and talents, and for their educational experience to be an adventure.  He also wove through his address the message of Christmas, and the hope that Jesus brings.

A moving and brilliantly executed performance.  Well done to everyone who helped bring it all together.

The Early Learning Centre & Year 1 students have wowed parents and family members with their 2011 Christmas presentation.

With a theme of Christmas around the World, students from each class represented a different nation and shared with the audience some of the traditions their country of choice holds over the Christmas season.  Other than the giving of helpful information, a traditional dance or song was also presented, which had many parents wiping away a tear or two in pride.

The beauty of the Philippine Christmas lanterns in the dark of the auditorium, the Russian Story of Babushka, the dance of the people in the Caribbean and the African dancers, all made for a colourful and interesting presentation.

The children closed their performance by entering the stage en-mass with candles in hand, to lead the audience in some Christmas Carols.

During the address of both Principal, Bruce Douglas and Deputy of Primary, Edie Strutt – staff were congratulated profusely on their ability to bring such a beautiful night together.  The students themselves were simply delightful to watch, and even the youngest amongst the performers was mesmerising to see.  The personalities and characters  of these young actors and actresses was clear, with many leaving the audience laughing in delight.

Well done to everyone involved in the evening.  A wonderful celebration of the message of Christmas, as well as a tribute to the 2011 school year at Cornerstone Christian College.

The Busselton Community will benefit from a recent free dress day at Cornerstone, when uniforms were swapped for the opportunity to help those less fortunate.

As part of the Busselton Christmas Hamper Appeal, College students were encouraged to bring to school non-perishable food items over the course of a week, with a final collection made last Friday.  Every student who wished to put aside their uniform for the day, was required to bring a cash donation, or a food item for that privilege.  The result was an enormous amount of food and close to $270 in cash.  All of the proceeds have been passed along to Cornerstone Church of Christ, who are one of the 6 church groups who are participating in the Hamper Appeal this Christmas.

An assembly held early on Friday gave the students the opportunity to present their donations to Rick Paget, the community pastor at Cornerstone.  He was delighted in the support that the students have made towards this worthy cause.

The Year 10 students, along with Mrs Lisa Smith were responsible for promoting the event amongst students and have every reason to be pleased with the results of their labour.  They made posters, visited classrooms, collected food items, and were a significant reason behind their peer’s enthusiasm in the project.

The Busselton Christmas Hamper Appeal will distribute food parcels to struggling local families during December, and donations of further items can be made through Cornerstone Church of Christ, or any of the other participating church groups.

Operation Christmas Child is an initiative of The Samaritan’s Purse, which aims to bring joy and hope to children in desperate situations around the world through gift-filled shoe boxes.  This week, students from Cornerstone Christian College presented their donations.

Samaritan’s Purse has changed the lives of children through Operation Christmas Child since 1993.  In 2009, teams in Australia and New Zealand delivered over 300,000 gift-filled shoe boxes to South East Asia and the South Pacific. Globally, Samaritan’s Purse distributed an estimated 8.5 million shoe boxes to children in 105 countries.

It provides an opportunity for people of all ages to be involved in a simple but hands-on project that has the power to transform children’s lives.

Each year, families from Cornerstone are encouraged to take on the opportunity to fill a small shoebox with simple gifts, such as clothing, small toys and personal items, and deliver it to the College on a set day.  These shoe boxes are then delivered to another part of the world, often being the first gift a child has ever received on Christmas day.

Those students who took up the challenge, were asked to bring their boxes forward this week at an assembly, where the region’s organiser, Mrs Helen Baker was able to accept the gifts and explain the journey they will now make.

For more details on the project and the heart warming stories that have been derived from it, take a look at their website at www.operationchristmaschild.org.au. 

A special thank you to the families who took this opportunity to bless others less fortunate than themselves.

The meaning behind Christmas was well and truly exhibited in the recent  Kindy & Pre-primary Concert night.  A stage full of angels, wise men, camels and biblical characters came to life in a singing and dancing tribute to the birth of Jesus.

Mary and Joseph entered to the voices of angels, and made their way to the stable.  The wise men followed the star and discovered where the baby Jesus lay.  The costumes were beautiful, the voices angelic and the students performed well.

Thanks must go to our incredibly talented and extremely patient teaching team in the Early Learning Centre.  A wonderful performance that parents and grandparents are likely to remember for years to come.