Principal's Comments

1 Kings 8:61 (NIV) "And may your hearts be fully committed to the LORD our God, to live by His decrees and obey His commands, as at this time.”

Commitment - A state of personal dedication to something or someone

When I read 1 Kings 8:61 the obvious message is to follow God’s instruction, which is ‘rock solid’ advice. What I was intrigued by though, was the idea of our hearts being fully committed. Why not simply call for ‘full commitment’, or to use your brain and make the right choices?

Peter declared his full commitment to Jesus only to repeatedly ‘disown’ Him.

Luke 22:61 (NIV) "The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.”

There are times we simply do things that are ‘calculated’ in the moment. Only for us to reflect later on our heartfelt regret. Perhaps being fully committed to Him with our heart is more around our true desire. In the busy world, we live in we are constantly being caught in the moment. Make time for Him in prayer and allow yourself to be honest with Him and yourself. God simply wants you to want Him. Rest assured He has paid the price for your regrets.

A Big ‘Thank You’ Staff who are Leaving

At the end of Term Two, three staff members will be leaving. 

Firstly Miss Leach who is our Hospitality and Home Economics teacher. After here and a half years she is returning home to Brisbane. Miss Leach has been a dedicated teacher who has had the sole responsibility of the Hospitality and Home Economics area. She has done additional studies while at LAC to meet the requirements of teaching Hospitality in senior school. This showed real commitment and dedication to her students and we are deeply thankful for the improvements she has made to LAC.

As you would expect the position has been advertised and there have been a number of strong candidates who have applied for the position. We are expecting a decision to be made on Miss Leach before the end of the Term.

Two of our volunteer Boarding Deans are will also be leaving at the end of term two. Sarah Fandrich and Daniel Braun have worked in the dorms for a year. I know that for all involved it is a bittersweet time. Bitter in the sense that we do not want them to go but sweet that they are now part of the LAC Fabric. I know that Mr and Mrs Henry have a long list of places in the world they can go and visit to meet their past colleagues. Sarah will return to the United States to complete her university studies and Daniel’s adventure continues as he goes to volunteer his time in India. 

Tori Miyashiro, from Lincoln Nebraska, USA, will be arriving to take up a volunteer Dean’s position in the Girls’ Dorm. A replacement for the Boys’ Dorm is yet to be confirmed.

To each of the three staff leaving, LAC is so thankful for your willingness to be there for your students and colleagues. You are always welcome back and you will always be part of LAC. 

Welcome to Mrs Strauss

Recently Mrs Lynette Strauss was appointed to the position of Principal’s Assistant; she comes to us from South Africa with a background of being a legal secretary. Lynette is married to Justin who is a local pastor at the Seventh-day Adventist Central Church. They have two delightful and energetic children, and we have learnt that they love chocolate amongst other things. Mrs Strauss can be contacted via email: pa@lac.school.nz 

Brendan van Oostveen, Principal

Board of Trustee Election Results

Thank you for offering your time and services to help support LAC over the next year. Congratulations to the following people:

2019 Elections for Parent Representatives

Julene Duerksen-Kapao

Stephanie Horne

Nilo Miado

Robyn Joy van Klink

2019 Staff Representative

Francis Aiono

World Vision Fundraising Concert - Saturday 22 June, from 7 pm at LAC's Chapel

Pasifika Fusion - Wed. & Thurs. 26-27 June

PB4L Celebration Day - Monday 1 July

Japan Art Trip - 2-12 July

Performing Arts Evening Concert - Thursday 4 July

BoT Meeting - from 5.30pm, Thursday 4 July

Last Day of Term 2 - Friday 5 July

School Holidays - Saturday 6 July to Sunday 21 July

On Wednesday, 31 July, LAC will be open for visitors to tour the campus during the day and evening. If you have any family, friends or church members who you think may be interested, please share this evet with them. 

LAC appreciates the support of you all as a community and there is no better advertisement than word of mouth.

More details on the Open Day can be found by clicking on the button below. 

NCEA Corner

You will notice that we recently emailed out the mid-year reports for the senior students. We also went through an interviewing process where each senior Year level dean talked with their individual students about their academic goals. This process will begin in Week 9 for the junior students as well. 

We are halfway through the academic school year and it is a good time to stop and take stock of where each senior student is academically. Tracking their progress early is one of the ways in which we ensure that students are positively progressing towards their goals of achieving NCEA for that level. Ways in which you can check in with your child is to:

1) Access their portal and view their grades

2) Encourage them to log in to their NZQA Profile account as well

3) Praise their progress

4) Have the necessary conversations around achievement

5) Ask the question - ‘What’s next and how are you getting there?’ 

6) Contact their teacher for any queries you may have regarding a particular subject area

7) Contact the Dean for any questions regarding their overall progress

Year 11s should be working towards 10 credits of Numeracy and 10 credits of Literacy as part of their 80 credits required to gain Level 1. The Year 13s should have established by now, the subject areas they want to gain University Entrance with and checked that they have gained UE literacy, which comprises of 5 credits of Reading and 5 credits of Writing. Students may already have established what they will be doing in 2019 - a trade, work or a tertiary program - and they need to check to ensure that they have taken the appropriate actions to gain NCEA level 3 by the end of this year.  

NZQA Fees

Many of you have been following the news regarding the review of the NCEA education system. One of the areas that have been reviewed is NZQA fees. As of this year, domestic students do not need to pay NZQA fees however International students will continue to pay NZQA fees. Financial assistance also does not apply to international students. We will continue to keep you updated with NCEA changes as they roll out over the next few years.

Tamar Aiono, Assistant Principal

Wow!!! What a wonderful Week of Worship. We were blessed to have Josh Goss, Chaplain at Macquarie College in Australia as our guest speaker. The theme for the week was “Hi(s)-Story” wherein all areas of the daily programs, the focus was on the character of Jesus Christ.

Josh shared the purpose of Christ’s visit - is not just to redeem us, but for us then to share 'His Story' with others. Josh highlighted the idea that even though we may not see Jesus at work, He is - and His purpose is to establish a relationship with each of us. Josh’s humour and personality connected him readily with students and staff alike.

Working through Josh, the Holy Spirit challenged our students and 22 accepted the invitation to accept Christ as Saviour, 15 requested Bible Studies, 15 requested Baptism and 13 re-committed their lives to Christ (Amen)!

We praise God for His love and impact in the lives of our students.

Kevin Gredig, Chaplain

"Students always look forward to Week of Worship because of the features that are not included in weekly chapel programs. We had daily special items, videos, and a prayer room with six stations, set up for students and teachers to visit during break times and after school. The main reason week of worship is a highlight for students is because it's a whole week dedicated to spiritual connection and expression."

Rachel Jaboon, Head Girl

LAC has a new sports website, where fixtures results and reports can be found. There is also a growing photo gallery.

Thank you to all the volunteers who make all the sports happen, we are consistently amazed by your commitment and dedication.

LAC's PB4L Celebration Day on Monday 1 July is proudly sponsored by Domino's.