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News from Northern Beaches Christian School
Term 1, 2025
Tim Watson, Principal
From the Principal
Modelling and teaching antifragility
Nassim Taleb writes of three categories of things – fragile, resilient, and antifragile. Antifragile things are those like political systems, economies, ecosystems, and the human body, each of which needs stresses to build and maintain strength.
We want more for our students than resilience, the ability to bounce back to how things were. We want for them antifragility, the ability to grow, even in and sometimes through times of difficulty.
Not that we should seek out difficulty. Difficulties will find us anyway, we don’t need to chase them. But we do need to face them with a mindset that helps us avoid bitterness, that tilts us towards success and a stronger, brighter future.
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Our attitude is not everything. But the way we view the world shapes the world that we inhabit.
Days after being sentenced as a political prisoner, with an eye to the years ahead, Czech poet Vaclav Havel outlined his spiritual strategy for survival:
“I find myself in a radically new existential situation, and the first thing I have to do is learn to live with it, which means finding a completely new structure of values and a new perspective on everything — other hopes, other aims, other interests, other joys. I have to create a new concept of time for myself and ultimately a new concept of life.”
Within a decade of his release, Havel became the Czech President. What a powerful retort to those who imprisoned him unjustly. Like Nelson Mandela, he managed to be bigger than his difficulties and injustices. His circumstances did not diminish him; they enabled him to grow.
By talking about the concept of antifragility at NBCS, and by introducing these mindset changes, we are building in our students the ability to grow and get better when they face challenges.
Tim Watson
Principal
Enrolments for Pre-K in 2026 are open. Join us for an Explore Pre-K morning to learn more.
Pre-K is coming!
NBCS Little Learners is a three-day Pre-K early learning and school readiness program for four- and five-year-olds, beginning in 2026.
Head of Primary, Julie Smith, can’t hide her excitement about the new offering. “This is something we’ve been hoping to do for a while at NBCS because it makes such a difference to children’s learning,” she said.
“Pre-K is a great early learning program, but its real strength is school readiness. It takes away parents’ uncertainty about whether their child is ready to start school or not – and it makes for a very smooth, calm transition to NBCS Kindy.”
At the helm of Little Learners is Hayley Jacobs, an experienced teacher across preschool, infants and primary. A focus of her Bachelor of Education (Birth to Twelve) was child development and learning, particularly in the transition from preschool to Kindergarten and Infants.
Having access to wider school facilities means children will benefit from specialist curriculum teachers in Art, Music, Dance, Drama, PE and French. One day per week, as weather permits, children will make the most of a ‘bush kindy’ program, in the neighbouring Ku-ring-gai Chase National Park.
Little Learners will run from 8:45am – 3:05pm, Monday to Wednesday in school terms. Families will also be able to make separate arrangements to access the independently provided before- and after-school care onsite at NBCS.
Applications for enrolment for Little Learners are open now. The usual NBCS Enrolment Fee of $1,000 will be waived for 2026 Pre-K starters, and any children continuing on to Kindergarten at NBCS in 2027 will not be charged an Enrolment Fee.
Families with children aged 0-5 are now invited to an Explore Pre-K and Kindy Morning. Join us for a tour, meet our educators and take part in Little Learners activities.
Explore Kindy & Pre-K Mornings
- Wednesday 7 May 2025, 5:00pm
- Wednesday 21 May 2025, 9:45am
- Wednesday 18 June 2025, 9:45am
Book your tickets for NBCS performances of Mary Poppins.
Step in time with Mary Poppins
Our amazing cast and crew are creating a production that is truly supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
Mary Poppins thinks she is ‘practically perfect in every way’ – and we think the audience will agree when NBCS brings Mary Poppins the Broadway Musical to the stage in April.
Director Isaac Owen is excited about the upcoming performances. “The show has talent, it has wit, it is original and creative and clever, and it showcases so many of our wonderful students from every grade in high school,” he says. “There are also a few surprises and secrets in store for the audience!”
The twice-weekly rehearsal schedule might be hard work but ‘in every job that must be done, there is an element of fun’. The resilient cast and crew are singing and dancing, taking it all with a ‘spoonful of sugar’ and looking forward to a fabulous end result.
Check out the video for a peek into Mary Poppins’ world and book your tickets now.
Performance Times:
- Thursday 10 April, 7:00pm
- Friday 11 April, 7:00pm
- Saturday 12 April, 12:00pm and 7:00pm
Explicit teaching is part of our Learning Framework.
Our approach to education at NBCS
We have built a very deliberate framework to teaching and learning.
The summary below of our focus areas provides an overview of our learning approach and direction. Our actions over the past five years are cumulative, and we continue to build on the platform that our points of focus have put in place in previous years. We will continue to work hard to be the best fit for our students, staff, and families.
2019: Alignment towards learning. We focused on aligning resources, roles, and structures, so that everything that we did and everything that we had, was dedicated towards the main point of school: learning.
2020: High expectations. Our focus on embedding high expectations was based on the Centre for Education Statistics and Evaluation publication, What Works Best.
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2021: Explicit instruction, and the NBCS Learning Framework. To develop the framework, we continued with What Works Best. We incorporated Barak Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction, which include specific steps and practices for successful teaching and learning.
2022: Literacy. With a focus on two works, The Writing Revolution and Closing the Writing Gap, we acknowledged the enormous significance of literacy as a driver to academic success and worked hard on explicit teaching around how to write.
2023: Behaviour. In Running the Room, Tom Bennett argues that just as content and skills need to be taught, so does behaviour. By teaching clearly what is expected and how to behave, we reduce student uncertainty and ensure that the needs of all are not diminished by the actions of the few.
2024: Teaching. The focus for staff in 2024 was The Teaching Delusion by Bruce Robertson, which poses a central question: what can we do to improve the quality of our teaching? The answer begins with having a shared understanding of what good teaching looks like.
2025: Clarity and consistency (CLEAR) in learning behaviours. Learning behaviours summarised by CLEAR – concentrate, listen, engage, ask, and answer questions, respect self and others are posted in every classroom, and are part of the actions in each lesson, so students know what it looks like to be a learner.
At the same time, we have continued to make improvements in other areas of the school.
In our Christian education we have worked hard to develop an open, non-defensive and invitational approach to the Christian life of the school, where our goal is to live and share the beauty of faith in Jesus.
In our co-curricular offerings we have expanded the range and the quality of the activities that happen beyond the classroom, in clubs, co-curricular activities, sport, music and the annual Broadway musical. I love that more and more students are taking up these opportunities and it is a key part of our holistic learning journey.
In student wellbeing we have honed our approach to wellbeing so that we meet students where they are at, and provide them with the support that they need, but with the underpinning philosophy that we prepare the child for the road, not the road for the child. We won’t ‘pave the jungle’ but we will help them put on their boots.
In our campus infrastructure we have had the privilege of refurbishing and reconfiguring 50 classrooms to better support learning, building the Library and the expansive Primary exploration playground, reinvigorating the MPC (our performing arts centre) and just recently completing the three-storey STEM building, all of which stimulate student learning every day.
Tim Watson
Principal
Learning in the new STEM Building which opened this term.
Outstanding student achievements
NBCS students continually amaze us with their achievements, great and small. The recent successes of Gaby, Gemma and Josh are worth a special mention.
Keep up to date with Northern Beaches Christian School as we celebrate all our student achievements and activities on social media. Follow us on Facebook and Instagram.
World award finalist
NBCS Year 7 student Gabriella Dias is a finalist in two categories of the Women Changing the World Awards 2025.
At just 12 years old, Gaby is the author and creator of the Light of Luna book series — a passion she’s been pursuing since she was eight. Her books have sold across Australia and the world.
Gaby says NBCS has been very supportive of her writing ambitions since starting in Year 5: “It’s a school that encourages kids to follow what they want to do and try out their passions.”
Whether or not she takes home the award, Gaby is already an inspiration. “When I started writing, I was just having fun, but it’s nice to be recognised as someone who could change the world,” she says.
Diving champion
Year 12 student Josh Lee was recently awarded the prestigious NSW Combined Independent Schools Blue Award with Honours at the CIS Awards Ceremony.
Josh was praised as “an outstanding competitor, commended not only for his superior diving but also for his sportsmanship and teamwork”.
After being named best Male Diver of the NSW All Schools Meet, he went on to claim first place in all events at last year’s School Sport Australia competition, with a spectacular display of diving grace and skill.
Young Scientist winner
Year 8 student Gemma Maggs was named Winner in her category of Year 7-8 Technological Investigation, in the 2025 Young Scientist Competition.
This annual event celebrates student inquiry, innovation, and creativity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Gemma’s project involved researching, designing and building a sensor that both limits and alerts children and parents to night-time accidents. Her prize-winning device included circuitry to connect a water sensor to an alarm and a flashing LED.
School Tours
School tours provide a great opportunity to view our world-class facilities, experience our unique learning environment, meet students and staff and ask any questions you may have about NBCS.
Join us for Explore Kindy & Pre-K Mornings
- Wednesday 7 May 2025, 5:00pm
- Wednesday 21 May 2025, 9:45am
- Wednesday 18 June 2025, 9:45am
Join us for Primary and Secondary School Tours
- Thursday 15th May 2025, 9:45am
Enrolments Update
PRIMARY
2025 and beyond
Applications welcome for all Primary year groups, however we have very limited vacancies for Years 4-6 in 2025. Please call our Registrar before submitting an application for a start in 2025.
Secondary
2026
Year 7 – Enrolments are almost complete with limited remaining places.
2027
Year 7 – Lengthy waitlist is in place, with interviews and places offered to waitlisted applicants throughout 2025. Those submitting an application in 2025 are unlikely to be offered a place for a start in 2027.
2028 and beyond
Year 7 – Applications open.
Years 11 and 12
Year 11 Applications – Please contact the Registrar before submitting an application.
Year 12 Applications – We do not accept new enrolments for Year 12.
We may have limited vacancies in other year groups in addition to those noted above. Please contact the Registrar at enrol@nbcs.nsw.edu.au for further information.
Contact Us
Northern Beaches Christian School
www.nbcs.nsw.edu.au/contact