There are a lot of lessons we learn in life through playing and watching sport. These include how to persist when the scoreboard is not going your way, the benefits of focused practice, the importance of having good peripheral vision that can provide a broader perspective, the importance of teamwork and being committed to play our best and get the best from our team mates. Over the September break, we saw two grand final matches where both teams gave their very best effort right to the end. A ‘wow’ moment for me was straight after the match when Cameron Smith, captain of the losing Melbourne Storm team, had an informal chat to the television crew on the ground. He commented that no rugby league supporter could be disappointed that Cronulla had won. Later, he went on to deliver what was described as one of the best losing speeches.
Accomplishment is not just about winning, it is about knowing that we have given our best and supported others to do the same. It is having the capacity in those final moments of the game, when we are tired, to lift ourselves and others to higher levels that makes all the difference. In our spiritual lives we are also encouraged to run a good race to the end and to keep the faith as we read in Timothy, “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith”. Keeping faith in a loving gracious God enables us to run the good race right to the end in all aspects of life.
This week, we announced the College, Pacific Action Group and House Captains for 2017. We congratulate the following students and pray that they might grow in wisdom as they serve the needs of those around them.
On Monday night, our senior girls water polo team played with good spirit and tenacity to come back from 4-0 down in the first half to lose to Matthew Flinders 6-5 in the last few minutes of the grand final. The girls are to be congratulated on the high levels of sportsmanship, spirit, teamwork and skill on display on the night. Well done to the girls and coach Mr Brett Jones for a great season and thank you to parents, students and staff for their support.
When the Year 6 students were told the places we would be visiting in Canberra, I thought the Royal Australian Mint would be one of the least interesting parts of the trip. When we arrived we instantly thought, why do we need a place this big to make the little coins we use in our everyday lives? But when we walked into the Mint, we saw the history of currency in Australia. For example, when the Dutch were coming to our country, one of their ships washed ashore. Later the English discovered it and found a lot of Spanish coins. These coins were then cut with a hole in the middle to make a ring called the ‘holy dollar’ and the smaller circle was called the ‘dump’. This was Australia’s first currency. At the Mint there was a series of robots. One robot was minting coins and one was lifting barrels of coins that weighed up to three tonnes! Another robot was carrying the barrels around the centre and another one sorted all of the coins and put them into bags, which were then packed into trucks and taken to banks around Australia. During our visit, we also got to mint our own coins to take home as a souvenir. All up, I think everyone enjoyed learning about the history of Australian coins and how the Mint makes our coins today. – Liam Russell
In Canberra we visited the AIS, which stands for the Australian Institute of Sport. This is where our Olympians train. The tour started at the souvenir shop where we spent our money on sporting equipment. This was then followed by a tour around the facility where we visited the volleyball courts. We learnt that you had to be a minimum height of 6.5ft to join the Australian volleyball team. Another interesting fact: the tallest Australian volleyball player, Captain Tom Edgar, reaches a height of 212cm tall or 7ft. We then visited the gym to see where the Olympians trained, stretched and tested their abilities. Next, we visited the Olympian swimming pool, which cost $17 million to build. There is a glass-viewing platform under the ground for the coaches to watch and improve the Olympic swimmers techniques. It also had lots of cameras so the Olympians could watch themselves and try to perfect a particular technique. – William Swindles
remains of organic life. At the end of our visit, we simulated an earthquake on the seismograph by jumping up and down. Our experience at Geoscience Australia will last us a lifetime. – Eliza Bryan and Charles Box
During our time in Canberra, we visited the new and old Parliament House. At the old Parliament House, we saw many interesting features including the mace, the English Coat of Arms and many flags. Another feature we saw was the original chair the speaker sat in. Overall, Old Parliament was one of the most beautiful places we visited. Outside New Parliament House was huge! We had to go through security to get into Parliament. When we finally got in, we did some role-playing before going into the House of Representatives and the Senate. Luckily, we came when it was question time. We got to see Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten argue, which was really fun. Then we went into the Senate. There weren’t a lot of people at the Senate but it was still fun to watch. Just as we were about to have afternoon tea, our local member Andrew Wallace came in, which was really cool. New Parliament House was by far the best! – Grace Whitelaw and Amie Hague
Pacific Lutheran College students competed in a number of national Mathematics competitions throughout 2016. We would like to congratulate the following students who achieved a very high standard.
