Welcome to 2021 at NBCS

Celebrating 40 Years – This year is a milestone in the life of our school.

Forty years ago, Northern Beaches Christian School opened with 39 students and 1 teacher in Vineyard Street Mona Vale. This year, we welcome back 1180 students and 140 staff to a site that was purchased in 1984 and opened in 1986. NBCS is 40 years old and celebrates 35 years at Echunga Road.

This morning, staff had the great privilege of hearing from the founding Principal, Pastor Paul O’Sullivan, who encouraged staff to reflect on the words of the apostle Paul, writing to the church in Philippi, “finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things”. A number of events are planned across this year as we seek to celebrate, recognise and acknowledge our community and those whose vision, drive and determination helped to build it.

Campus Development

One of the six strategic goals that underpins our vision, Love Learning, is Infrastructure. Our goal is that with our infrastructure, we will inspire and invigorate learning. Our strategic plan states that “our state-of-the-art campus reflects the important balance between form and function. It has been shaped by the belief that learning spaces must meet the needs of students and teachers, while inspiring new possibilities for learning. Our facilities exist to help bring our Mission (Excellence in Education, Christianity in Action), and Vision (Love Learning), to life”.

Over the break, the campus was anything but quiet, with the completion of the Horizons room, the gutting and reimagining of the six Zone learning spaces, preparatory works for the four Plaza spaces and significant civil works that form the basis of our site utilisation and playground redevelopment. An astonishing amount of work has been completed, with the work designed to minimise disruption to student learning and term time. Additional joinery elements will finish the Zone learning spaces over coming weekends, and likewise, work in the Plaza and in the playground will be added to across the year. It has been exciting and partly nerve-wracking to get six months’ worth of building done across two months, even with the Northern Beaches lockdown and several weeks of wet weather. It is a testament to the building contractors, and to the planning and integration between the school and external providers on these projects. We look forward to their completion as a celebration and commemoration of our 40th year.

The Year Ahead

We don’t know what the future holds. We do know that we prepare our students for an unknown future by helping them to love learning and to become learners. Learning is, after all, the ability to connect the unknown to the known and to, therefore, make sense of it. This equips them for the world that they inhabit. We look forward to working with our families and our students through the challenges, and they will come, and towards a culture that continues to bring out the best in our students – in their learning, in their character, in the opportunities they take, the friendships that they make, and in understanding the message of the God who loves them. May 2021 be a year of learning and growth for all, and perhaps a little more predictable than 2020.

Kind regards,

Tim Watson
Principal