Student Convention

Report on Preparation for Convention (PFC) Camp – 2012

PFC 2012 was hosted by Home Schooling NZ (HSNZ) and held on 16 – 20 April, at the Manurewa Bible Church, Manurewa.

Represented were: Otamatea Christian School, Tyndale Park Christian School, Lake Taupo Christian School, CHECH, HENZ and HSNZ.

Staff from all those schools who attended, mostly part-time, were:
Mrs Lynette Bell (principal, OCS) & Mr Mark Bell (supervisor, OCS)
Miss Jenny Smith (supervisor, TPCS)
Mr Kevin Short (principal, LTCS)
Mrs Michelle Pearse (principal, CHECH) & Mr Graham Pearse
Mrs Lynelle Steedman (principal, HENZ)
Mr Todd Roughton (principal, HSNZ)
Also attending part-time were Mr Robert Steedman (SCEE, NZ), Mr Roy Savage & Mrs Kathy Fisher (SCEE, Australia).

It was a blessing for me to be able to hand over the MC role to Joel McGeorge and all the sound engineering to Caleb McDonnell. Between them, and with the help and support of a wonderful team of graduate volunteers, PFC ran pretty smoothly! The graduates who helped were:
Ruth Watts (HENZ, Christchurch)
Hannah Allen (HSNZ)
Julian Baker (HSNZ)
Tiffany Baker (HSNZ)
Hayley Beagrie (HSNZ)
Hannah Jenkinson (HSNZ)
Deborah Middleton (HSNZ)
Jaksone Wallbank (HSNZ)
Emma & Tessa McGeorge (HSNZ)

Devotions were given by the following students:
Greg Blythen (OCS)
Jacob Dawson (HSNZ)
Joel Falconer (CHECH)
Aaron Kirkpatrick (HSNZ).

Altogether, an average of 95 people attended PFC each day, with about 65 of those being from HSNZ.

General PFC Programme

It is important to mention here my gratitude to my family, other parents, ACE staff and graduates who gave so selflessly of their time and resources. They all helped to make PFC happen!

The programme incorporated a few informative and inspirational sessions, with the emphasis being on good communication, striving for high standards, checking our heart attitudes, and the purpose of Student Convention. Students were challenged to consider that their God given gifts and talents should be discovered, developed and dedicated to God, for His glory.

There were time-slots called Alternative Activities (AA) for individual schools to work on their own events. During this time HSNZ had choir practices, and anyone who was keen to join in and learn how to sing in a choir was invited to do so. This included parents, younger siblings and those from other schools. Subsequently, the extra singers were also invited to join the HSNZ choir’s performance for the PFC concert. Mrs Catherine Duxfield and Emma McGeorge each led one choir song. (It was agreed to have only one HSNZ choir this year, which would be open only to students who attended PFC, thus avoiding the probability of one or both choirs becoming unviable to proceed to Student Convention due to last minute drop-outs.)

During AA, people also had the opportunity to seek out those with Convention experience in various areas. A list of experienced people was handed out and students & sponsors were encouraged to be pro-active in seeking help and advice. Some people made the most of utilizing these times to gain as much information and coaching as possible.

Workshops were offered during AA time-slots too, namely, Puppets, Tambourines, Preaching, Illustrated Storytelling, Scrapbooking and Mime.  As always, the availability of workshops depends both on what is requested, and on experienced people being able and willing to present them... This system is mentioned early on in the PFC notices so people can be prepared, however, some workshops may also be offered spontaneously at PFC.

For the first time at a North Island PFC, a simulated Student Convention experience was offered. This included “A Morning in the Music Room” and “A Morning in the Platform Room.” The auditorium was set up as for Convention, and willing, prepared students presented their items just as they do at Convention. (That is, the room coordinator calls them up to be prayed for by the judges and then welcomes them onto the stage/platform; the students introduce themselves then present their item, etc.) Both these sessions were well received, giving many new students the opportunity to see a broad variety of events being presented to a high standard... It’s important for students to see from the beginning what they are striving for, and the positive feedback confirmed this. The room coordinators and judges (Mrs Jenny Allen, Mrs Catherine Duxfield & Emma McGeorge - Music; Mrs Vicki McGeorge - Platform) each gave a brief presentation highlighting points for students to be aware of when preparing for Convention.

Art, Craft and Academic work was labeled and displayed as it is done at Student Convention, for people to look at and enjoy during the week. Although there was a fair amount of written work, such as essays, poems, etc. for display, there was, disappointingly, only one Social Studies exhibit and none for Science. Again, the area coordinators (Mrs Jill Beagrie - Art & Craft; Mr Kevin Short - Academics) shared some important information relating to these categories.

Athletics practice took place in a field and this was coordinated by Mrs Angela Jenkinson, Mr Kevin Short and many helpers. Due to the time required to have “stage & sound” rehearsals for the concert, the athletics time was fairly short. This covered various field events and volleyball coaching. Unfortunately, the students were unable to play basketball due to the SCEE training sessions being held next-door to the indoor basketball court; the students accepted this unexpected turn of events very graciously. Athletics is an area which is difficult to cover comprehensively at PFC, mainly due to time limits; students are encouraged to seek coaching and practice at their local schools/home-schools or sports clubs.

Evening Rally
Because Mr Savage and Mrs Fisher were coming to run a SCEE Convention Training seminar, I asked if we could take the opportunity to hold an evening rally at PFC to further give the new students a taste of Student Convention. They were happy to oblige and Mr & Mrs Steedman were able to join in for that too. (People expressed appreciation for having SCEE staff from NZ and Australia at PFC.) The rally made for a successful evening, and God touched many hearts through the usual, challenging, student-friendly preaching from Mr Savage.

During the evening rally, Mr Savage also presented Julian Baker with a very special Athletics Award for his outstanding achievement in the 800m race, at ISC 2011. Julian broke a 29 year old ISC record. Mr Savage (and all of us at HSNZ, especially Julian’s fellow ISC students) felt this was worthy of honouring as Julian represented not only HSNZ and New Zealand, but also the South Pacific region.

SCEE Convention Training
This is an initiative following the Convention Summit which was held in 2011. The need for judges, students & coaches to be on the same page was highlighted and agreed on by all the summit attendees. As a result, Mr Savage & Mrs Fisher have put together a very comprehensive and informative training seminar to equip not only Convention judges, but also Convention parents, sponsors and coaches. This is now available to all regions in the South Pacific rim which are involved with Student Conventions.

It was agreed that PFC would be a good time to run the Convention training in NZ as there were likely to be the most people at one place at the same time! The Convention training was well attended, and very successful and beneficial for both old and new Convention attendees. The idea is to do everything possible to help Student Convention run smoothly as a top quality educational experience which is both life-changing and committed to bringing glory to God.

The PFC Fundraising Concert  
PFC has had concerts since our family began attending Student Conventions in 1999, and probably long before that. In the past few years we have noted the importance of using the PFC concert for the following:

• To bring glory to God
• To minister to the audience through Christ-centered “entertainment”
• To promote Home Schooling NZ
• To promote ACE
• To promote Student Convention
• To demonstrate Convention items to new Convention students
• To allow the choir to have the opportunity to perform in front of an audience before Student Convention – for some students this is the first time to do so
• To raise funds

This is the 6th concert we’ve had with those particular goals in mind but the second with such a large attendance and fund-raising included. This time, funds were raised for the Vanuatu Fund which is for ACE students in Vanuatu who cannot easily afford to gain school certificates.

Although the concert items were presented by HSNZ students and graduates, some students & parents from CHECH and HENZ joined in with the choir. As with the last concert, there were many accounts of people being deeply touched by the content of the concert items, by the professional standards, by the cheerful and friendly attitudes of all the students in attendance, and by the fact that God was glorified.

The HSNZ students and graduates raised $1273.10 for the NiVan students, and I am grateful for their willingness and efforts in working hard to bring their previous Convention entries back up to an excellent standard; this is a big responsibility, especially when presenting items to a large, public audience. Home Schooling NZ has gained good publicity through the last two PFC concerts - people are sitting up and taking notice, and already expressing their anticipation for the next one!

All in all, PFC was positive and productive and enjoyed by most of the attendees. It served to confirm for me and others that Student Convention is ultimately only a means to an end… The concert demonstrated to us how the excellent training which Student Convention offers can be used for missions - to reach out to others and impact communities for Christ.

Thank you for your prayerful support.

Yours in Christ,

Vicki

 

 If you are interested to be on the PFC and Student Convention mailing lists, please contact Vicki McGeorge with your contact details.
Email: vincenza.mcgeorge@gmail.comPhone: (09) 298 1980

 

STUDENT CONVENTION 2012 UPDATE…

Student Convention 2012 will be held 17 – 21 September, at Willow Park Christian Camp & Convention Centre, Auckland. The address is: 1 Hostel Access Road, Eastern Beach, Auckland. You can find directions and more details on Google.

WHAT IS STUDENT CONVENTION?

 (Apologies to Jane Austen) It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single student in possession of a good curriculum, such as ACE, must be in want of participating at a Student Convention!
Student Convention is an annual, week-long event which is a vital part of the ACE curriculum. PACEs alone are considered to constitute only half of the curriculum!
The “competition” aspect of Student Convention promotes high standards, but it is entirely different to secular competitions. Students are encouraged to discover, develop and dedicate their God-given gifts and talents for God’s glory.
The unique thing about Student Convention is that it not only builds and promotes life-skills, leadership skills and life-long friends, it is also instrumental in training young people for ministry, thereby equipping them for Christian service – whether that is in overseas missions or in their own communities.
Students have the opportunity to choose up to 20, out of 150, events to take part in. These events are divided into 8 different categories, namely, Academics, Art, Athletics, Craft, Music (Instrumental & Vocal), Photography and Platform.
For more information please go to http://www.scee.edu.au/ On the top right hand side point the cursor/pointer on Schools Dept.
Look at: Student Conventions, Convention Guidelines and Sceelerator. They are all helpful, and the Sceelerator always has a Convention page.
Some events are worth starting early. These include: Art, Craft, Photography, Social Studies and Science Collections & Exhibits, Power Point Presentations, Web Site Development and Scripture Awards.
Most Convention events are judged on site, by 3 judges, but some are submitted early. The judges’ positive, constructive feedback is intended to enable students to improve their work from year to year.
NZ Student Convention costs around NZ$240.00 per person. There are reduced (or no) costs for babies and toddlers. Also factor in transport costs and a small hiring fee ($5.00 per student) for the HSNZ uniform accessories. The combined family fees are not so overwhelming if students (and maybe older siblings) can try and save or raise funds towards their own costs. A special "Convention" money jar works wonders!
One of the saddest things is to hear from parents and students who wished they had gotten involved sooner…
Eliminate any opportunity for regrets and give Student Convention some serious consideration as part of your 2012 school curriculum!

 

CONVENTION PERFORMANCES ON YOUTUBE

Check out the YouTube video of some of the awesome performances from last year's Convention in Rotorua.

 Female Quartet                                      Northern Choir