Global Connections and Care for Our Community
Last week our Year 6 students participated in an online exchange with Japanese students from Yutaka Elementary School, in Kashiwa Japan. Both schools asked their students to prepare a list of questions to ask each other ahead of time. This gave the Japanese students time to prepare asking and answering questions in English. On the day, each of our Year 6 classes joined a Zoom with one of the elementary classes from Yutaka. For around 30 min, the students asked and answered each other’s questions. It was an interesting time of finding out what schooling looks like in another country. We are hoping to grow this opportunity next year to be able to include more students.
Privacy and Safety at OPAC
As we continue to enjoy the events and busy routines across our Junior School in Term 1, we ask all parents and carers to be mindful of our shared responsibility to protect the privacy and safety of every child in our community.
We understand that capturing special moments of your child’s school experience is important. During the past four weeks my Facebook feed has been filled with proud parental and grandparental posts of photos about start of the school year and associated events. I wanted to share some helpful guidelines in the interest of keeping our children safe.
- Please only photograph or film your own child during College events.
- Be aware that other children may be close by, so please avoid including other students in the background where possible.
- Respect the privacy wishes of other families, as not all parents consent to their child appearing in others’ photos.
- Avoid capturing identifying information such as classroom labels, name tags, or uniform logos in close‑up images.
Before posting photos of your child on social media, please consider how those images may be shared or accessed. The eSafety Commissioner recommends:
- Reviewing your privacy settings so posts are only visible to people you trust.
- Avoiding personal details such as full names, school names/logos, or identifiable locations.
- Choosing private or closed groups rather than public posting.
- Speaking to your child about how they feel regarding photos of themselves being posted (building early habits of digital consent).
- Remembering that once posted, content can be copied, shared or stored by others.
Further helpful parent resources can be found at: https://www.esafety.gov.au. In addition to this, next Tuesday night we are hosting a seminar for parents of Stage 3 and Stage 4 students about Positive Online Behaviour. Please refer to the flyer for details.
Important Term 1 Reminders
We are well into the term and many of our routines in the playground have been established and are working well. I just wanted to mention a couple of reminders:
Morning play: For safety and supervision reasons, students who arrive before 8:20am may only play in the area outside the Staff Centre, where the teacher on duty can supervise. At 8:20 am, when the additional duty teachers come outside, children may then move to the play equipment, the sensory garden or the main concrete play area. Your support in reinforcing this routine helps us keep all children safely and appropriately supervised in the morning.
Afternoon departure: In the afternoons, families who need to head to Central Avenue must exit the College via the Prep pedestrian gate, rather than walking through the Junior School carpark driveway. This helps us maintain a safe and predictable pedestrian flow and allows for clear separation between cars and walking families. Thank you to all those parents who consistently model road safety to their children as they enter and leave the College each day.
Meet The Teacher Nights
Thank you to those parents who attended our Meet the Teacher nights last week. It was a great opportunity for our classroom teachers to meet you, and we are looking forward to continued partnership with you as the term unfolds, as we walk together in the learning journey of your child.
Student Leaders Badged
We recently had the privilege of badging our 2026 Junior School Leaders. In front of peers, staff and families, these students committed to serve with courage, compassion and integrity. We are proud of the way they are already modelling Christ-shaped leadership within our College community.
God bless,
Mrs Jenny Squire
Deputy Principal – Head of Junior School
Sport
Share Student Achievements
We are always pleased to hear about outstanding student achievements in sport. If your child has recently achieved success at a representative, state or national level, whether through the College or externally, please contact Mr Cleur at jcleur@opac.nsw.edu.au with a brief summary and, if applicable, a photo for consideration in the newsletter.
Celebrating Student Success
It has been a wonderful start to the year, with many of our students achieving outstanding success across a range of sporting and co-curricular pursuits. Whether representing clubs, associations or competition teams, they have demonstrated dedication, courage and commitment in their chosen fields. Here are some of the recent achievements shared with us.
Excellence in Contemporary and Classical Ballet
A big congratulations to Victoria G who recently competed in a four-day national dance competition featuring competitors from across Australia. Victoria performed exceptionally well, reaching the semi-finals in Contemporary Dance and the finals in Classical Ballet. She also placed in the Top 15 out of 100 competitors aged 8–10 years — an incredible achievement in such a highly competitive event. Well done Victoria!
A Dance National Age Champion
We also congratulate Liliana for her remarkable achievements in dance. In January 2026, Liliana competed at the National Dance Championships on the Gold Coast, where she placed:
- 1st – Lyrical Solo
- 1st – Musical Theatre Solo
- 1st – Lyrical
- 1st – Musical Theatre
- 2nd – Overall Highest Scoring Routine
- 1st – Title Award Winner
Success on the Football Field
Congratulations to Alexander for his recent success in football. In 2025, his team achieved excellent results, including winning the Premier Invitational Cup (Gold Coast) and the IFA Summer Competition Division 1 in December. These are fantastic achievements and reflect Alexander’s hard work, commitment, and growth in the sport.
College Sport
Our College Sport program continues to provide students with valuable opportunities to learn, develop skills, and enjoy a wide range of sporting experiences. This term, students have been participating in AUSISO (Australian International Sports Organisation) sessions, including AFL and Softball/T-Ball. It has been great to see students building confidence, learning new skills, and demonstrating excellent sportsmanship throughout these activities.
IPSSO Sport Program
Our Wednesday IPSSO Sport Competition continues to provide students with great opportunities to represent the College and develop teamwork, resilience, skill and sportsmanship.
Week 5 – Wednesday 4 March (Away Match)
- Opponent: Wollondilly Anglican College
- Venue: Wollondilly Anglican College, 3000 Remembrance Driveway, Bargo
- Juniors: 11:35am
- Seniors: 12:30pm
Week 6 – Wednesday 11 March (Home Match)
- Opponent: Mount Annan Christian College
- Venue: OPAC (Home)
- Juniors: 11:40am
- Seniors: 12:30pm
Representative Sport Pathways
From time to time, the College is able to nominate some of our exceptional athletes to trial for CSSA or CIS representative teams. These teams are selected for high level representative competitions, drawing from almost 100 schools across NSW. If you would like the College to nominate your child for one of these events, please follow the procedure below:
- Go to CSSA website to see the list and dates of these trials (cssa.net.au)
- Email Mr Cleur’s email jcleur@opac.nsw.edu.au, expressing your child’s interest, background and skills in the sport
- If they fit the requirements of the trials, they will be nominated to attend
- Attend the trials with your child
Note: if your child is currently a representative-level player in any sport and wishes to nominate themselves to represent Oran Park Anglican College, please get in touch with Mr Cleur (jcleur@opac.nsw.edu.au) to discuss the next steps.
God bless,
Mr Judah Cleur
JS Sports Coordinator