tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:18:34 +0000An insight into the thoughts and experiences of leaders of the Adventist Church in the South Pacific.http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/noreply@blogger.com (Adventist Church Leaders)Blogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-6533996314101177700Thu, 03 Dec 2009 04:00:00 +00002009-12-03T15:18:34.194+11:00Two Union Education Directors leave Adventist education this year. They areOwen Ellis and John Hammond. Owen Ellis Owen Ellis joined Adventist education in 1993 as a science and maths teacher and assistant principal at Auckland Adventist High School. Before that he was a volunteer in the Solomon Islands. He leaves us early next year after 16 years of service to pursue further study. Seven of http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/12/farewell-to-union-directors.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Hill)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-8194019985955491935Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:32:00 +00002009-11-20T12:44:53.664+11:00When I visit schools I love to get around and see teachers in action. As they teach they also create a certain learning environment in their room, both in their relationships and by the visible appearance of the room. Last week I had the pleasure of visiting Tweed Valley College and saw numerous excellent visual room displays, both at primary and secondary level. With some difficulty experienced http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/11/classroom-displays.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Hill)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-5611932287993256831Thu, 12 Nov 2009 23:59:00 +00002009-11-13T11:05:04.600+11:00Two weeks back I went down to that part of the SPD grounds where the Church houses supplies that get sent to the Pacific. There I saw a team of volunteers sorting, boxing, carrying and stacking equipment in a 20 foot container bound for our schools in Tonga. It was time to ship the container so it was “all hands on deck”. The photo shows the team celebrating a finished task before the container http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/11/volunteers-contribute-to-education.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Hill)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-952775515672225446Tue, 20 Oct 2009 22:45:00 +00002009-10-21T09:53:43.194+11:00Ken Weslake (Education)Dear Colleagues,From time to time Barry and I and a few others receive newsletters from around our Pacific schools. Last week David Rogers, Principal of Aore Adventist Academy, managed to get one off after trying many times to get it finished. The problem wasn’t technical as much as time. He related that he had had five fly-and-builds from around Australia this year and that had kept him fairly http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/10/challenge-of-ongoing-support.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ken Weslake)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-4227364124364897579Tue, 20 Oct 2009 21:45:00 +00002009-10-21T09:01:02.636+11:00Back in August I spent half a day in Prescott Primary – Southern School in Adelaide. I will jot down a few points from my conversation with the Principal Christine Clark. She is shown here with teacher Tamara Rosenberg. The other picture shows some school values on display. Here is part of our conversation.BH How long have you been here Christine?CC I came here in 1987 and became principal in http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/10/prescott-primary-southern.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Hill)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-1349141327073165803Mon, 28 Sep 2009 06:29:00 +00002009-09-28T16:58:09.828+10:00 Although Tweed Valley College was featured on the front page of the Record in the special education edition back in August 15, I want to comment on Australian school visits to Fiji from my perspective. It so happened that I was in Fiji when Tweed Valley College and Kempsey Adventist School visited, and then I chaired accreditation teams that went into both Suva Adventist College and Navesau http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/09/north-new-south-wales-schools-in-fiji.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Hill)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-2260429226594162333Tue, 08 Sep 2009 23:17:00 +00002009-09-09T09:27:48.979+10:00On Wednesday August 19 I joined the Adventist Schools Australia Education Directors who were meeting at Carmel College Primary School for the day. I enjoyed the experience and I was impressed with the appearance, learning and tone of the school. Then the following day we all went to Carmel College Secondary to join other members of the ASA Board of Education for a meeting. While there I caught uphttp://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/09/carmel-adventist-college.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Hill)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-3062256140358200030Thu, 20 Aug 2009 10:19:00 +00002009-08-20T20:29:03.971+10:00On Friday morning July 14 I visited Prescott Northern School in Adelaide. Pictured here are Principal Shane Blake and Deputy Tim Borgas. I asked them what the bottom line was for them. They quickly responded that the school’s focus was to make a difference to people’s lives. A strong line for parents was “your kids matter and you matter”, and they noted how “people say we love the vibes of this http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/08/prescott-northern-school.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Hill)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-3727097106211639906Mon, 13 Jul 2009 04:50:00 +00002009-07-13T14:54:23.500+10:00Last week was intense for me. For 2009 I have undertaken to teach an Avondale MA course entitled Value Issues and Moral Development in Education. Suddenly it was July 6-9 Winter School and time to deliver 16 hours of teaching to 18 discerning learners in just 4 days. This diverse group of learners included Australian housewives, Pacific Island administrators and teachers, and Australian and New http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/07/ed50200-course.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Hill)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-7682777542476916400Mon, 29 Jun 2009 23:10:00 +00002009-06-30T09:16:14.259+10:00Ken Weslake (Education)I thought I would milk the PNG Education Directors trip to Brisbane SDA Schools just one more week, if you don’t mind. Towards the end of the trip I saw a great little display that for me stood out in its simplicity. The room was a prep room and it was a piece of art work as you can see below.It was with dye and painted pasta bits. I like it for a number of reasons. First it stood out, as should http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/06/great-little-display.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ken Weslake)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-2319725740626858785Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:42:00 +00002009-06-16T13:58:19.740+10:00Barry Hill (Education) Last Wednesday afternoon the education directors of PNGUM (Joe Ponduk and Jim Yawane) and Morobe Mission (Lamech Sokoripa) took me to see two contrasting primary schools in Morobe Mission whose office is in Lae. One school, Ragiampun, was needy and poorly resourced while the other, Gabensis was comparatively well resourced. It was a fast ride in the mission van because the poor school, Ragiampunhttp://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/06/ragiampun-school-june-16.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Hill)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-1744949236560215669Tue, 16 Jun 2009 03:13:00 +00002009-06-16T13:19:50.493+10:00Ken Weslake (Education) One of the aspects of my work that I really love is the opportunity to take groups on tours, showcasing our Seventh-day Adventist Schools. I have done this on a number of occasions through New Zealand with a special character emphasis. Last week I had the privilege of hosting a week’s tour for 12 Education Directors from Papua New Guinea Union Mission and the Head of Teacher Training from Sonomahttp://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/06/most-enjoyable-week.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ken Weslake)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-3839674198138909930Thu, 28 May 2009 22:57:00 +00002009-05-29T09:03:06.175+10:00Barry Hill (Education) This week I cannot help recording a few impressions of my last 12 days of my “work”. On May 17-18 I was fortunate to attend the first principals’ conference jointly planned and hosted by AUC and NZPUC. The event was entitled Hidden Springs. Tapping into God’s Reserves. It was well named. Over 110 administrators attended, and all accounts indicate that like me they really enjoyed the conference. http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/05/out-and-about_29.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Hill)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-8119797839240001325Wed, 20 May 2009 00:04:00 +00002009-05-20T10:07:42.124+10:00Ken Weslake (Education)Some of you will know that we have sold our house in Bonnells Bay and are in the process of downsizing, preparing for retirement is the plan. Don’t worry, it is still a few years off yet. In the process of settling the sale we had to get a building inspection and pest inspection as well. As it happened the two companies turned up at the same time and had worked with each other on many previoushttp://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/05/someone-is-always-watching.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ken Weslake)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-9151697493032632037Wed, 13 May 2009 01:45:00 +00002009-05-13T11:49:56.374+10:00Barry Hill (Education)Last week I got out of the office for three days and visited four NNSW schools with Ralph Luchow, Conference Education Director. On Wednesday morning we shared morning worship and children’s stories with the Taree school, then we drove on to eat an appetising lunch provided by the staff at Port Macquarie before dropping in on the afternoon staff meeting at Kempsey. After another day observing sixhttp://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/05/out-and-about.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Hill)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-3747547200579864635Thu, 07 May 2009 00:08:00 +00002009-05-07T10:51:03.014+10:00Ken Weslake (Education)Now just in case you thought that I was taking it easy writing up the blog for this week let me assure you that that is not the case. A couple of weeks ago I received this e-zine from Robyn Pearce of Time Management fame and a past presenter at one of our principals’ conferences. I subscribe to her monthly e-zine and enjoy the material. This one though was, I thought, a real gem and worth sharinghttp://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/05/we-need-this-recession.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ken Weslake)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-3166896222048217834Fri, 01 May 2009 00:01:00 +00002009-05-01T10:02:41.257+10:00Barry Hill (Education)On Friday April 3 Rob Boehm and I spent over an hour with Rick Piercy, CEO of the Lewis Center for Educational Research, (fancy name for a school) in Apple Valley near Los Angeles. Rob is a former teacher of both Avondale High and Central Coast Adventist School. And Rick is the most innovative school principal I have met. His K-12 school of about 1000 students, called the Academy for Academic http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/05/lewis-centre.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Hill)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-6957599895773024978Sun, 22 Mar 2009 23:25:00 +00002009-03-23T10:30:14.238+11:00Barry Hill (Education)It is Friday morning and Ken Weslake and I are driving back to Sydney from the ASA Consultation of the last two days, March 18-19. For both of us, this was a most significant and highly successful event.The consultation started with an inspirational address on DVD by Barry Oliver. Barry powerfully affirmed Adventist education as a core ministry of the Church. Then after a historical overview of http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/03/asa-consultation_9424.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Hill)3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-1965135034936862095Wed, 04 Mar 2009 22:32:00 +00002009-03-23T10:40:29.095+11:00Ken Weslake (Education)I am back in the office again after working in Lae, PNG last week. Nine principals from high and secondary schools attended a four day workshop on principal effectiveness, leadership styles, Adventist distinctiveness and managing change. I always enjoy working with the folks up there.PNG is a land of contrasts. That is really an understatement. While there I read in the local papers of cults and http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/03/roll-increases-of-50-and-brother-yun.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ken Weslake)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-8804276122325958525Tue, 03 Mar 2009 00:38:00 +00002009-03-03T11:57:13.718+11:00News about the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the South Pacific.Hi Everyone, What a Year we have ahead of us, We have had many changes in our office, We have two new instructors Boli as a Correspondence Instructor as well as Emma who will tackle our online Marking. Sharon has stepped into the senior instructor position. Dial A Prayer has been launched! For those of you who are unsure what Dial http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/03/welcome-year-2009.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Annali)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-9057268922248260218Mon, 16 Feb 2009 04:11:00 +00002009-03-23T10:36:59.075+11:00Barry Hill (Education)On the weekend of February 6-9 the SPD sponsored a Faith and Science Conference at Avondale College. One aim of the Geoscience Committee was to demonstrate how a person of faith can maintain a view that is faithful to the Bible and the teachings of our Church, while at the same time being aware of the challenges from science, and our own limitations in dealing with them. About 80 people http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/02/geoscience-conference-february-6-9.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Hill)1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-4098606630379370049Sun, 01 Feb 2009 23:19:00 +00002009-03-23T10:40:56.109+11:00Ken Weslake (Education)First of all, Welcome back to the 2009 school year. I trust that it will all go well with you and that you are aware of God’s rich blessings on each of your ministries.Not all schools are back yet. Spare a thought for a number of Adventist schools in Fiji. The Education Director Master Save Ramokosoi sent the following note in this last week.“Luckily, we do not have a school in Nadi. However, thehttp://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2009/02/holiday-conversation.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ken Weslake)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-5889216701582260261Wed, 10 Dec 2008 22:43:00 +00002009-03-23T10:38:18.678+11:00Barry Hill (Education)In the last few days I have attended three school closing evenings and a college graduation. Last week on Thursday afternoon I made a frenetic start to my visits by handing out awards for all students completing Prep to Grade 1 classes in the lower primary school program at Wahroonga. Then followed Wahroonga senior primary school speech night, and on Monday night this week I enjoyed the speech http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2008/12/endings.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Hill)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-2333940688319770456Sun, 30 Nov 2008 22:44:00 +00002008-12-01T09:45:26.111+11:00Ken Weslake (Education)I received the following by e-mail just the other day. The message brought me a few smiles and a lot of joy.Hi Mr.Ken!This is Nylinda Thomas Rau from Vila SDA Primary School.I bring you warm greetings from Vanuatu to you all out there. How is the weather out in Austraila? were as in Vanuatu it is warm out here.Sir, just let you know that the program that we carrying out i mean the new Bible http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2008/12/does-pacific-have-more-opportunities.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Ken Weslake)0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5666022215348225581.post-6950337311902737413Tue, 25 Nov 2008 23:03:00 +00002008-11-26T10:11:17.845+11:00Barry Hill (Education)About three months ago Georges Deligny the new principal of College Adventist Tiarama asked Owen Ellis, Director of Education for the NZPUC to define what an Adventist school is. Of course the same question also interested Camelia Flohr, principal of the Tiarama Primary School. How would you fare with this question? In response Owen and I decided that we would spend a scheduled professional http://adventistchurch.blogspot.com/2008/11/visit-to-tiarama-schools.htmlnoreply@blogger.com (Barry Hill)0