St Luke the Evangelist School Newsletter

Good afternoon Families,

We have had another wonderful fortnight where our children have continued to settle into their new classes. Our new staff are also looking like they are becoming part of our furniture, adding to the comfy, relaxed nature of our school. I would like to thank you all for stepping your child/ren through what can be the anxious, new and unknown first weeks of a school year.

Last Friday we celebrated as a faith community to Welcome in the new school year. It was a real joy to see four of our Year 6 children be of service to us as they served on the altar. Our Year 6 children all had a role to play in the liturgy before receiving their leadership badges and joined their parents or grandparents for morning tea afterwards. Yesterday, they completed the third part of their initiation into the Year 6 leadership program when they were presented with their Year 6 graduation jackets. This year, we have selected a different style and the children are thrilled! Next Friday, we will keep the Year 6 children in our thoughts and prayers as they explore leadership during their dedicated Leadership Day.

At our first School Advisory Council meeting for the year we welcomed Lisa Lander and Clinton Connane to our council. We also had a really good discussion around how we can all learn together. Whilst our children are learning through new pedagogical approaches and our teachers are engaging in really purposeful professional learning, our families might be unaware of what and why we are doing the things we are doing. So over the course of this year, you may find from time to time, a communication from one of our SAC members outlining an upcoming Professional Learning day that requires the school to close. This Monday, whilst the school is open, classes will not be running. The particular assessment tool teachers will be using is called DIBELS- Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. It gives very good data for teachers to work with to ensure optimum learning for every child. One of the requirements stated very clearly is that schools administer the test(s) in Week 4 of the new school year to ensure the data is ‘clean’ (and is therefore, authentic and purposeful). This explains why we did not have assessment days in the first two days of the school year.

Some children are starting to come to school with ‘smart watches’ or similar. Whilst this is fun for them, it can become a distraction in class and if school filters are not switched on, children can be found taking photos or recordings. This can put them and other children and members of the community in a compromised position. Please monitor what your child is taking or wearing to school. Any ‘smart watch’ will be required to be handed in at the office each morning and collected at the end of the day. Thanks for your attention to this.

WE NEED YOUR HELP…the council has informed the school it cannot accommodate our request to display a board in a prominent community position for our upcoming School Tour Week in the first week of March. If YOU or someone you know, lives in a prominent position, near our school (Canterbury/Middleborough or Blackburn Roads) and would be happy to have a display board erected on your front fence/in your front garden, please ring Debbie in the office. This would be for approximately 4-5 weeks. Thank you.

Enjoy the much cooler weather over the weekend. We will look forward to seeing you next week.

Clare

• Every child to bring in a set of working headphones, labelled please

• Every child to bring in one large box of tissues please.

All due next week.  Thank you.

My family is special  BECAUSE…

I am excited to introduce all things STEM to our enthusiastic learners at St. Luke’s!

STEM is an area of learning that incorporates science, technology, engineering and mathematics. STEM provides opportunities to develop thinking skills through a variety of challenges and tasks that aim to foster creativity, teamwork, communication, critical analysis and communication.   

STEM activities can also promote a growth mindset where students embrace mistakes and believe in their own ability to solve problems to become lifelong learners.

This term we will look at the Engineering Design Process (EDP) where students are encouraged to ask questions, think critically and work together to come up with a solution to a problem.

I look forward to a term of creativity and collaboration!

Fiona Pirperis 

SMART WATCHES & MOBILE PHONES

If a child wears a smart watch to school, it must be de-activated so the child is not receiving or sending messages etc...

Mobile Phones and smart watches are requested to be left at the office in the morning and collected at the end of the day. 

FOOD ALLERGIES:

Allergic reactions to food… can be harmful to our children. For that reason we ask parents to think carefully about what they are packing in their child’s lunch boxes. Occasionally, something might slip through and once aware, we take precautions to ensure the safety of every child. As stated in the Family Handbook 2025:

We are an EGG and NUT free school due to the allergies of children within our community.  We ask that parents respect this request and the potential harm this could do to children if brought to school.

Thank you for your care and attention to this.

CHILDREN ARRIVING AFTER THE BELL OR LEAVING EARLY:

As part of our wellbeing care of children at St Luke's, every class engages in a morning routine at 8.50 am.  This quiet, calm time allows children to gather together in a circle, to greet each other by name, to pray and/or enter into some Christian meditation and get ready for the day.  Please make sure you allow enough time to get your child to school BEFORE 8.50 am.

If children arrive after the gate and student entry doors are locked, parents/carers are required to walk their child/ren to the school office and sign them in on the VPass iPad.

If leaving early (before the end of the day), parents/carers are required to sign their child/ren out on the VPASS iPad.

BUY/SELL SECONDHAND UNIFORM:

Join the St Luke's Primary School Blackburn South Buy/Sell Uniform group on Facebook to buy/sell uniform with other parents.