College Vice Captains 2024

It is an honour to introduce ourselves as the College Vice Captains of 2024. For the majority of our years, we have both been here at Lighthouse together and so we are familiar with the directions we plan to take together to further enhance the experiences that students are able to have here at Lighthouse. By supporting each other, our main priority is to serve the needs of the students, whether it be with the smallest changes or by implementing the breakfast club once again so that students are able to attend their classes never hungry and fully energised! 

As a two who are respectively beginning to experience the New Life God has in store for us, we are keen to work alongside the other students leaders of 2024, to wholeheartedly share this with the students here at Lighthouse.

Gabriella Tam: 

To those in the community of Lighthouse Christian College, it is a pleasure to introduce myself. My name is Gabriella Tam and I will work alongside Melwin To, this year. I have been attending Lighthouse since kindergarden and am blessed to have gone through various experiences which led me closer to God. 

For as long as I can remember, I have given my life to God due to the teachings of my family. However, occasionally I did find myself wondering whether it was my trust in the Lord that kept me close with God, or merely the teachings that have been ingrained in me since I was young. As I progressed in life, I have steadily built a personal foundation in my faith with the Lord and am anticipating the new life that God has in store for me. 

Melwin To:

I’ve been a part of Lighthouse Christian College since Prep, now I’m in Year 12 and also College Vice Captain of 2024, oh boy how time flies. I am passionate in worship for the Lord, I’ve been going to church since I was born and the church is like a family to me, hence why we are brothers and sisters in Christ with the same Father in Heaven, The Lord God. I am looking forward in what God has planned for our school and student leadership team and where the Holy Spirit will lead us, for the father knows what’s best for his children, and his timing is precise in a way that we can’t understand. No matter the hardships and difficulty we may face, the Lord will build onto us strength we never knew we had, for iron sharpens iron so does one another. 

Stay safe & God bless.

College Vice Captains

Melwin To & Gabriella Tam

Stuck in the pit!

A big shout out to all those new parents and students who have joined the Secondary space for 2024. It is great to have you on board. If you are still feeling new and things are not yet familiar, don't worry it is all about the learning journey! Further to this, you are not the only one! I am very new to the school too and what I can share with you so far is I am very impressed with how the students and staff embody the HEART values of the school and their willingness to express their faith. So, you are in good hands!

I was asked to write an article to introduce myself which, honestly, seems such an enormous task. Hence, instead I thought I would focus on sharing how as an educator, I see learning....

Have you ever fallen into a pit? I hope you have not, but imagine you have. What would it be like? Would you be scared, would it be dark, would it be cold, could you see out, how steep are the walls, would you try to climb out or would you just sit at the bottom and wait?

James Nottingham uses this idea of a pit to describe learning. Through doing this, James is able to give an abstract process of learning, a concrete language that learners can easily use to talk about their learning journey. James Nottingham is an accomplished educator, and his concept of the Learning Pit is a well-used model for educators.

What we often miss is that learning is difficult. It is like dropping into an unknown pit.... The learning pit. You need to have courage. You need to reassure yourself that when you drop in, you will be able to work your way out. It is an unfamiliar environment, and you are going to be challenged. I am wondering if you have experienced this before. Have you had to reassure your young person as they learn new, challenging, unfamiliar things?

When in a pit, how do you get out? Could you take some things with you that might be of use? What about a torch for the darkness, a rope to climb out, some trusty boots or a ladder!? Just as it would be useful to take certain equipment into a real pit we can equip our young person with ways to approach learning, a toolkit for learning so to speak. For instance, we could:

• Remind them that God is with us. That he is able to help carry our burdens and provide for us in times of need.

• Help them know that challenges are opportunities for growth and be stretched as a learner. We can have them take an approach of courage and curiosity to

the new situation.

• We can talk to them about the value of deliberate practice and that it is important to do things over and over again, so we become better at them. This is how we

wire our brain to do new things. As they say "If it fires, it wires"! Learning new things is difficult and with practice they become easier, sometimes so easy, we

don't even think about how to do them anymore.

• We can help equip them with ways of attaining the knowledge or skill information they need in order to

overcome a given learning challenge.

Hence, we can guide our young person on how to climb out of the learning pit. We can help them gain confidence in their toolkit and to prepare them for the next learning pit! How great would it be to see our young person, strong in faith, dive with enthusiasm into new learning pits, knowing they are going to climb out as better, more accomplished learners and are not afraid of making a difference in the world around them.

Simon Taylor

Deputy Principal Secondary