Yesterday (Thursday 24 November 2022) was a special day for a select group of Year 9 students at Ellenbrook Christian College (ECC) who welcomed the Honourable Mrs Rita Saffioti MLA to their campus along with Mr Nigel Hunt (Principal Project Director Major Projects for the Public Transport Authority).

Mrs Saffioti has many positions within the McGowan Government (including her role as the Minister for Transport and Planning, which brought her to ECC today), but she made it clear to the gathered crowd of twenty Year 9 girls (the select group chosen to be a part of MELConnx’s STEM initiative) and a number of MELConnx workers that the Ellenbrook rail project was a project ‘close to her heart’ – and one that she was very keen to observe in the weeks and months ahead.

After being welcomed by SCEA’s Chief Executive Officer Dr Graeme Cross, Mrs Saffioti addressed the students about her role as minister and the great work that is being done by school and private industry in the Western Australian community to create connections across our suburbs. Mrs Saffioti was joined by College Principal Mr Mike Pitman, who facilitated a Question & Answer session with the Minister. Questions were asked about Mrs Saffioti’s background and her decision to study economics and university, her favourite construction project during her tenure and her reasons for being a politician.

“Fundamentally, you want to be in a job that helps people,” said Mrs Saffioti.

She cited recent letters that she had received from well-wishers about the Airport train line and the positives and negatives of social media posters who may say good or bad things about what you do each day.

“In the end, I say this to my staff, you have to ask: ‘Who is it who is speaking?’ Some people are not willing to identify themselves, only say negative things, and those are the types of opinions that don’t need to be interacted with.”

The Minister also took time to visit the new Mechatronics studio with the Principal and the construction site, which is taking shape adjacent to the school gymnasium. More visits are scheduled for 2023, once the underpass has been completed and the train line begins to take shape for the ECC community.

Yesterday was a wonderful day for Ellenbrook Christian College (ECC), with Principal Mr Mike Pitman welcoming Western Australian Premier Mr Mark McGowan MLA, State Minister for Transport Ms Rita Saffiotti MLA and Ms Jessica Shaw MLA to the Santona Boulevard campus to officially open the Morley-Ellenbrook MetroNET Line.

Student leaders and the gathered politicians lined up to take part in the ceremonial Rail Line Celebration and learn more about the collaboration process that has taken place between SCEA and the WA State Government throughout the project.

Public Transport Authority (PTA) Principal Project Director Major Projects, Mr Nigel Hunt, spoke to the junior students of ECC early in the day saying that ‘the foundations have been laid for something very special that will serve you for many years. That’s essentially what this school seeks to do also – lay a solid foundation for your life for years to come.’

Positive remarks were echoed by both ECC Principal Mr Mike Pitman and SCEA Chief Executive Officer Dr Graeme Cross as they spoke of the excellent work, communication and relationship-building that has taken place over recent years to reach this project milestone.

The day was a joint MetroNET/Ellenbrook Christian College project, designed not only to celebrate the commencement of the construction works, but also to help the College community to visualise the impact of the train line and the construction process slated to last up to two years.

The students enjoyed a ride on a mini-train, posed for photos in the train-themed ‘selfie’ booth and took part in a scavenger hunt that aimed to educate and stimulate learning around the new train line.

The new Morley-Ellenbrook Line is set to connect Ellenbrook to the rest of Perth via train with ECC already receiving phone calls from potential parents who live close to the proposed train line heading south.   

A new pedestrian underpass will allow safe access for students and staff between the College buildings and the oval, with a sports pavilion to be built in the coming months to further aid students and staff on the sporting fields.

The 21-kilometre long Morley-Ellenbrook Line will provide a 30-minute ride to the CBD from Ellenbrook, with five stations being built at a cost of approximately $1.1 billion dollars. 

A short media report from Channel 7’s 6pm News last night can be found here: https://vimeo.com/759863938

A recent audit in our TASS software revealed that approximately 20% of families across SCEA attend church on a regular basis. Using that metric, we could surmise that 80% of students that populate our SCEA classrooms, sporting halls and canteens each day are from homes that do not attend church or hold to Christian religious faith.

How does a young Christian teacher let his students know about Christ in his Physical Education and Christian Living classes at Ellenbrook Christian College (ECC)?

Introducing Mr Lewis McKerney – a young man that grew up with the gospel and has a heart to see young people come to know Jesus.

“Christian Living is a balance: you don’t want kids to like Jesus solely because they had just had fun in class, but you also don’t want pure boredom due to me droning on with talking and listening to me lecturing all the time. I have to show the gospel and what it is – but do it in a way that uses methods that the students can understand. You can’t change the gospel, but you can present it in an engaging, relevant and intentional way.”  

Lewis’ father runs the Christian Union at Murdoch University, and his mother is a teacher, so gospel teaching seems to run in the family for the McKerney’s.

A degree in Sports Science followed by a Master’s degree in Education prepared Lewis for life in the classroom, and he managed to fit courtship, marriage and leading numerous Bible study groups into his time at university! The early completion of his Masters’s degree allowed Lewis the opportunity to begin teaching at Swan Christian College in mid-2019, and it began in quite a flurry of activity:

“I got married, finished my last assignment, the next Monday started work, and graduated a few weeks later!” says Lewis in the gymnasium at ECC as students shoot basketball shots at recess on a Tuesday morning.

Eighteen months of the Physical Education/Christian Living teaching combination opened up a position at Ellenbrook Christian College for Lewis, now known around ECC as the “Jesus-loving, sport-a-holic teacher” who combines faith with fitness for his students.

But how do young people see Jesus in this soccer-playing, clean-cut young chap?

“For me, I look around at the Earth and see a Creator who designed it. I see myself as a broken person, and God presents an actual solution for that. He paid for all my wrongdoings; I can’t pay for them myself. In response, I want to live for Christ, have Him as Lord and serve Him.”

Lewis explains that bringing the Gospel to his students and helping them see the beauty of our Creator is something he loves doing as part of his classes, but he is careful not to be seen as ‘preaching’ to them.  

“Teaching Physical Education allows me to show the students how well-designed our bodies are. We run a Fitness unit that shows the amazing physical capabilities of the human body. Our bodies are these awesome soul-carrying machines, and it is so great to encourage the students to consider their bodies as more than just flesh and bones. We are created and designed beings, made with a purpose.”

“In Year 7, we are looking at Bible stories and showing how they build up to focus on Jesus, but in Year 11 and 12, we look deeper into other world religions and how Christianity fits into the world today.”

Along with the challenge of keeping students engaged, Lewis is very aware that students may bring their own perceptions to the Christian Living class, such as “I’m not a Christian, so why should I care?”

“The discussions and talking are important to get students thinking. And it needs to be done in a way that isn’t attacking but helping them be open to new ideas.  Being able to present that in a way that they can understand and relate to is the key for me.”

Final words from the young teacher who needs to go and teach a class of Year 9 students?

“Working at Ellenbrook, seeing all of these different students and teachers, with different demographics and backgrounds –  we interact with so many different people all the time. Every one of us needs Jesus.”

We are proud to unveil the new Ellenbrook Christian College website which has been put together by the team at Helium Digital – a Christian website company that has assisted SCEA on some recent projects.

“We wanted to ensure that our ECC Executive Team had a guiding hand in this website refresh, right from the start,” said Mr Mike Pitman, “but John Igglesden and Marisa Streeton were the hands and feet of the operation when we needed to make things happen.”

John Igglesden, ECC’s Marketing Officer and resident worship guitarist completed the work in consultation with Helium Digital and is happy that the site is now considered ‘LIVE’.

“School sites have two main roles: to show off the school and to quickly provide relevant information. This site does both very well,” said John this week.

‘Navigation was a key part of this project. We wanted prospective parents to be able to flow through the site intuitively. We also wanted current parents to be able to find the information they wanted with a minimum of fuss.”

A quick scan of the new site highlights a few of ECC’s trademark qualities: a rolling video loop that demonstrates the College in action, each section of the College showcases its offering as part of a collective Christian community and a strong sense of welcoming to all parts of society. The College boasts students from more than 30 different nations and has worked hard to infuse a Christian sense of ‘loving thy neighbour’ into everything they do.

For the millennial, tech-driven youngsters amongst us, John tells us that there is a new part of website technology known as a ‘mega menu’. He assures us that it will be a hit with the ‘Boomer’ crowd – or indeed anyone who likes websites to be straightforward and easy to navigate.

These new definitions are a bit much to take in. ‘Mega’ and ‘menu’ make me think of a restaurant, not a website.

“That is indeed their real name,” says John.

Hmmm….

“It’s called ‘mega’ because it is large. It’s a ‘menu’ because you can choose where you want to go on the site,” he continues.

I love how these young minds educate us on the important things in life…..!

Despite Perth being in the midst of COVID cases and school being highly disrupted this term, Ellenbrook Christian College (ECC) paused this week to celebrate an enrolment milestone –  600 students!

College Principal Mr Mike Pitman was deferential this week, attributing the pleasing results to his hard-working enrolments team and educators:

“It’s encouraging to know that there is a level of trust in the community for what we are offering at Ellenbrook Christian College. As Christian educators, we value unity within our team and there is a high level of competence which makes our work very enjoyable,” said Mr Pitman.

Enrolments officer and Personal Assistant to the Principal, Mrs Marisa Streeton, has been present for almost every enrolment interview and tour since Mr Pitman began in late 2019. She is constantly taking calls from members of the community who have heard good things about the College.

“I feel like the phone doesn’t leave my ear some days! But I’m so glad that I can be a part of the growth of such a great school,” said Mrs Streeton.

When Mr Pitman isn’t busy welcoming new students to the campus, he is a father to his four grown-up children and grandfather to fifteen grandchildren. Prior to joining Ellenbrook Christian College, Mr Pitman spent time at Swan Christian College Junior School, Kalamunda Christian School, Southern Hills Christian College and Scots College in Sydney.

“Working with a team of enthusiastic and competent people makes all the difference. ECC has a fantastic team of people who care a great deal about what they do and they care for each other. Having that core group of people who are committed gives me a sense of purpose and optimism for the future,” said Mr Pitman.

A quick trip around Ellenbrook’s campus demonstrates the multicultural aspects of the schooling community, with more than 40 different ethnicities represented in the enrolment figures.

“There is a lot to like about what is happening in our classrooms,” said Mr Pitman, “and our teachers are cohesive and coming together really well during this period of online learning and separation due to COVID regulations.”

Well done to Mr Pitman and his team!

Can staff from across SCEA work together and achieve success?

A recent initiative involving young men from Swan Christian College and Ellenbrook Christian College may be a good demonstration of the ‘interdependence’ that SCEA schools are working towards.

Mr Lewis McKerney (Ellenbrook Christian College) and Mr Nathan Schepemaker (Swan Christian College) have taken the opportunity to present a Professional Development (PD) session which highlights the different challenges presented in each of year of secondary education for teenagers, with a single word encapsulating the learning outcomes being presented for Christian Living classes.

A example of the whiteboarding exercise provides some clarity :

Mr McKerney elaborated on why there was a need to closely define the progression needed for teachers and students in this subject:

“Christian Living can sometimes seem like a time-table filler, plugging the gaps where required. Our College Principal Mr Mike Pitman’s goal was for us to create Kindergarten to Year 12  Scope and Sequence Plan for Christian Living that seeks to match content with the stage of the student’s life. “

Mr McKerney called on his Swan buddy, Nathan Schepemaker to help out with this massive task.

Together, they carefully considered the nature of the Ellenbrook community and how this document could inform staff in teaching Christian Living in the secondary years of education. “The goal of the PD was to simply help staff share Christ with their students, regardless of the subject they are teaching. We want to encourage staff to bring Jesus into their classrooms through story.”

When Darren Peakall joined Ellenbrook in early 2015 as an ICT site representative, not many staff knew that he was a qualified pilot, a skilled aviator and had the heart of a pastor who was keen to serve.

“The role within SCEA certainly changed quickly, and I am thankful to the amazing people I have been fortunate enough to meet and spend time with over the last seven years. This has been an absolutely awesome journey and one of the highlights of my life,” said Darren this week as he put the finishing touches on his final Chaplain’s message – a video recorded down in Albany in which he speaks of the near-death experience of Steven Matthews and the parallels between Steven’s story and the Christian gospel’s saving grace.

The onset of COVID-19 in early 2020 saw many teachers, principals and chaplains across the country preparing video posts regularly, but it was Mr Peakall’s periodic messages to the community of Ellenbrook Community College (ECC) that saw him dressing up, driving around and finding remote locations to enhance his messages of hope, love and salvation to an ever-growing online audience.

“For me, the joy of being a Chaplain is that I am a part of people’s lives on a day-to-day basis. When COVID stopped that, we had to find ways to connect with students and families again. Thankfully the videos were a success in allowing us to speak into people’s lives.”

Darren took over the role of Chaplain in 2016 and proceeded to log the ‘frequent flyer’ miles in the Toyota Coaster bus, taking Year 9’s to Meekatharra on camps that can only be described as ‘character-building’.

Counselling young people at 2 am in the morning was the exhausting introduction that allowed Darren the opportunity to grow and experience teenagers at their most vulnerable, and perhaps most insufferable state.

The students, who had metamorphosized into ‘butterflies’ by the time they returned to the ECC community as a result of Darren’s patience, presented as much brighter versions of themselves and it seems certain that their parents are forever grateful for his perseverance and kind leading during these times.

“I have the fondest memories of those camps and trips. They are the times when we are stretched and grow and learn so much about ourselves.”

Darren has been stretched in his time at ECC, too.

Four funerals, numerous counselling sessions with students and continued discipleship of staff have been opportunities for Darren over the years to shine a light at times that can seem hopeless and raise questions about our existence in this world.

“How we help people is sometimes the most important part of the process. It is an absolute privilege to serve people at these times. When we are outside of our comfort zones, the most amazing things can happen.”

During his time at SCEA, one of Darren’s most memorable moments came as a cross-school success that saw God’s hand at work amid unusual circumstances. The 2018 Leavers2Leaders trip allowed Darren to partner with Greg Beacham and his group of students from Swan Christian College (SCC).

The SCC team were unable to visit their usual community due to a local conflict, and Darren’s ECC crew partnered with Greg’s team as they served in Cabacungan in a remote part of the Philippines. A Swan student was introduced to the Bible by Darren, and throughout the trip, came to a point of faith. That same student returned to Darren two years later as a 20-year-old and asked Darren if he would carry out the baptism as part of a public profession. Even today, this student and others are part of a regular discipleship program that continues the faith journey that has begun during Darren’s time in SCEA.

At the end of this month, Darren starts a new journey – as a Pastor to the Indigenous for the Seventh-Day Adventist (SDA) Church of Australia. He will assist in Perth churches and travel the length and breadth of the state, helping pastors in their towns of Wiluna, Esperance, Derby, Port Hedland and Jigalong as part of his calling to Australia’s first peoples.

“I thank God for every day I had in SCEA. The people are amazing—true missionaries as teachers and workers in Christ. I hope to come back and meet with staff and leaders in the future as my new role permits. But I’m just so thankful for the opportunity over the last seven years.”