St Luke the Evangelist School Newsletter

Good afternoon Families,

I hope you have all enjoyed your weekly routines whether that be work, home commitments or other activities a little more with the run of beautiful weather Melbourne has experienced. I’m wondering if l brought it back from Noosa where my family and l enjoyed similar magnificent weather, good food and precious family time. I do count my blessings each day.

This edition of our fortnightly newsletter is a real bumper edition. Please take a little time to read through all the happenings of our learning community here at St Luke’s. We feel so fortunate to have the broad and varied range of opportunities that influence the overall growth of every child.

Two of the highlights on our school calendar are our Senior and Middle School camps. True to form, the feedback has been unanimous that they were both great successes. Coincidentally, the camps were back to back in Weeks Three and Four which made for a busy time for all. 

Our Senior children went to Camp Bindaree (formerly Camp Toolangi) out past Healesville. Different to the Middle School camp. It offers outdoor adventure activities like building bush huts, the flying fox, the giant swing and abseiling to name a few. It was cold but the lodges were cozy and warm and the activities were loads of fun. Our Middle schoolers went to Gembrook where the air was fresh, the skies were blue and the sun shone. Once again, we worked our way around a low rope course, an initiatives course, trampolines, games room and free space for all manner of games. 

Domenic De Leo, as camp co-ordinator organised the camps as well as attended the Seniors camp. My thanks go to Domenic, Julie Inglese, Rosa Phillips, Emily Chlebica and Stephanie Pierce for attending the Senior’s camp, giving up precious time with their own families to do so.

I was privileged to attend the Middle School camp and get to know these incredible young people away from school routines. Again, my thanks to Gabi Carter, Nina Grieve, Pauline Answerth and Ted Morton who attended as well. Your commitment to our children is wonderful. I cannot forget the people who were working hard back at school, making sure everything was running smoothly. School camps would not happen if it weren’t for the flexibility and support of all staff and at St Luke’s, we have an amazing staff team.

What we would love you to do is come and look at the photo displays outside the Senior classrooms and the Middle School classrooms. They’re fantastic and give a great snapshot of the fun had by all.

St Luke the Evangelist 2024 FETE- This coming Thursday 22nd August, there is a fete meeting planned for 7 pm in the hall kitchen. YOU are very warmly invited and welcome to join our band of happy, enthusiastic volunteers. No experience or commitment to a job required.

STORY DOGS has been an absolute success in our Junior School. Margaret Gearon and her lovely young pup, Cammie visit each week and children get to read to Cammie. Next week is Story Dog Giving Week. We will be selling an orange ribbon for a gold coin donation. Please support this very worthwhile cause so we can continue offering such a great initiative to our budding readers. Thanks!

This week is Bullying- No Way! National Week of Action. Overseen by Gabi Carter as our Student Wellbeing Leader, each class has focused on a different element of this most important initiative. Children have had time to reflect on and respond to:

Embracing Diversity, Showing Empathy, Challenging Stereotypes, Fostering Positive Relationships and Providing Support to others.

We are so excited that next week is BOOK WEEK! Julianne Kelly as Literacy Leader has organised a load of fun throughout the week as children explore the nominated, shortlisted books for 2024. On Friday, we have our annual Book Week Parade starting at 9.00 am. Please make sure you join us in the hall, if you can. 

Please keep our Year Four children who are preparing and celebrating for the Sacrament of First Eucharist in your prayers. It’s not long now until they receive Jesus fully into their lives and begin their active service as followers of God.

It’s either sports finals time for some or sports presentation time for others. I am one very happy Hawker here looking with much excitement to finals fever. Regardless, have a lovely weekend, everyone. I look forward to seeing you next week.

Clare

Clare Ryan

Principal 

principal@slblackburnsth.catholic.edu.au

Mason, Maximus, Natasha, Allan (parish),  Jonathan, Rose, Connor, Lucas, Madelyn, Ivy, Georgia, 
Asipelimani (AJ), Alessandro, Janessa, Thomas and Charlie

Please keep them in your prayers at this special time of preparation.

Reminder for all Eucharist students and their parent/s:  the Eucharist Family Workshop is on next Tuesday 20th August from 7pm - 8pm in the Discovery Centre. 

The seniors had the opportunity to talk with the Mayor of Whitehorse. Her name was Denise Massoud, and she was a joy to listen to. She seemed very passionate about her job and the Council of Whitehorse. She took us through all the responsibilities of her job as well as the leadership she has to take on being Mayor. She gave us a better understanding of what goes on behind the scenes in our council and what needs to be planned in order to benefit our community. We thought it was a great insight into local government and hope it will help us to better understand our PLT topic in the next few weeks.  

By Grace & Camilla

5/6 Ochre

As families would know, in weekly SEL specialist lessons students participate in the Smiling Mind Primary Program. Each week a new topic is explored and we practise mindfulness through guided meditation. The meditations are then practised in classrooms throughout the week as well.

Each lesson consists of five parts: Learn, Practice, Debrief, Integrate and Solidify. 

The Integrate activity is where you can become involved in your child's learning at home with a printable worksheet optional home activity sent home for Years 1-6 via Audiri each week.

The activities and reflection questions are designed to integrate student learning on each topic and engage them in mindfulness-based social and emotional learning beyond the classroom. You may wish to adapt the activities to suit your child’s needs or they may simply prompt a chat with your child about the topic. 

Upcoming topics this term for Years 1-6 are: Empathy, Acts of Kindness, Positive Relationships, Positive Communication and A Curious Mind.

Upcoming topics this term for Year Prep are: Movement, Self-Compassion, Recognising Emotions, Managing Emotions, and Building Optimism.

Look out for the weekly Audiri messages and I hope you and your family find some benefit in the Smiling Mind Integrate activities at home.

Pauline Answerth 

SEL specialist teacher

The Australian Girls Choir will be holding an assessment workshop here at St Luke's on Monday 19 August.  Girls from all year levels are invited to attend with parents permission.  A flyer has been sent home to families, if you are interested in having your daughter(s) attend, please register online at ausgirlschoir.com.au/schoolworkshop. 

On Friday 9 August, the Technology Leaders - Joe, Lachie and Henry- met up at Our Lady Of The Pines school and competed for most of the day against 20 other schools. We competed in 5 activities with food supplied. First we had the opening ceremony, then we had coding with robots. Up next we had another fun activity called Gaming, we got to eat and play, we then had designing and problem solving.  After that we had another play outside, then we had data transfer. After that we had communication, then the closing ceremony which was the end of the day.

Joseph: I really liked the Technology Olympics because they had pretty good and fun activities and breaks. Also when we entered we got these bags with stuff like bouncy balls and other stuff. 

Lachlan: I thought that the day ran really smoothly and that it was all planned out really well. The activities were fun and we tried our best to place Gold, Silver or Bronze in the activities. The other schools were nice and they let us play down ball with them. Overall it was a 10/10 experience.

On Friday, 9 August all the juniors went on an excursion to Como House and Garden. Como is a historic mansion, presented as a family home, with interiors reflecting the tastes and style of the Armytage family, who lived there for 95 years. Everyone dressed up and had a fun day exploring the atmospheric property.

1/2 Coral

Evelyn: I dressed up as an olden day girl. I wore a dress,
socks and a wide brim hat.

Maddie: I learned that the Armytage family had 15 servants and they had to wash about 400 pieces of clothing by hand per week.

Ayden: My favourite game was the garden mystery because my group guessed it was Anne and John who broke the doll at the party.

Dylan Sm: I enjoyed the mansion tour because everything
inside the house was really old.

Jimmy: I learned that the mansion at Como House was really big.

William: I discovered that they used a pot as a toilet and it was kept in the bedroom until the servants cleaned it.

Arthur & Jamie: I enjoyed dancing with girls in the mansion ballroom. 

Archie: I enjoyed playing the old fashion games, in particular croquet. 

Eliza: I enjoyed servant training because we got to
wash clothes the old fashion way.

Ilaria: I discovered that the tweenie (youngest child) had to
collect the toilet from the bedrooms.

Alexandros: I discovered that the servants had to wake up at sunrise.

Alexander: I enjoyed doing the washing.

Chloe: I learned that the kids did a lot of work to help around the house.

Dylan Sp: I learned the Armytage family lived in the mansion
and had 15 servants and 10 children.

1/2 Emerald

Samantha: I discovered that in the 1850’s they used wee to wash the clothes because it made their clothes whiter.
They even used their number two’s to fertilise their gardens!

Poppy: My favourite part was when we had to follow the clues
to work out who broke the doll.

Alexandra: My favourite part was playing games that the children would have played in the olden days. My favourite game was ‘Drop the Hanky’.

Amalia: My favourite part was having a tour around the house. I liked the mum and dads room because they had a potty in their room
that a person had to empty each night.

Aubrey: My favourite part was  answering questions to work out who broke the doll. We had to walk around the gardens to find clues.

Thomas: My favourite part was when we got to go outside and the person who was guiding us pretended that we were servants (she even changed our names if they were too fancy) and she made us do the washing. Doing the washing was hard work.

Maxwell: I enjoyed playing games from the 1850’s. I learnt that the parents were not very nice to their children. My favourite bit was when we did the washing. We used a mangle to wring out the water.

Reuben: I learnt what it was like living in the olden days. I enjoyed looking into the house and I enjoyed servant training and learning
how to do the washing.

Lachlan: My favourite part was when we had to answer questions to find out who broke the doll. I liked it when they revealed the
answer at the end. Some groups had different answers.

Ryan: My favourite part was that we got to learn who broke the doll by solving the questions. We had to walk around the garden
and find the clues.

Emiliana: I enjoyed walking through the mansion. I liked the ballroom the best. We learnt how to do a dance from the 1850’s.

Louis: I liked servant training. My name was changed to ‘Herb’. I was good at doing the washing so I was told to be at the front gate by 6am. 

Bella: I enjoyed the ‘Mystery Hunt’ and  looking for the clues
to find out who broke the doll.

Aurora

The year fives visited the Aurora kids on Monday 12 August. This was not our first visit but it sure was a fun one. Aurora is a preschool and Foundation school for kids that can’t hear. So as you can imagine we have all really enjoyed learning Auslan and communicating with them, although most of the kids have hearing aids or cochlear implants so they can hear simple things if you speak loud and clear. At Aurora we have allocated buddies who we play with and do activities with. Monday was their 100 days of Foundation, we really enjoyed celebrating this achievement with them. First we learnt how to count to 100 in Auslan, then made necklaces and crowns for their 100 days. Afterwards, we got some fresh air by playing outside with our buddies. We helped them climb on the climbing structures, some of us helped them build forts with the big building blocks, while some of us played games like tag and hide and seek. These visits are really fun and we all enjoy them. When it is over we sadly have to leave but we will always look forward to our next visit.  

Indra

The Indra kids visited the year 5's on Tuesday 13 August. We all found cute little buddies to hang out with during their time with us. We played around with our buddies on the playgrounds, field and grass. A lot of us played hide and seek or even played soccer. All the Indra kids are fun to play with because they have lots of personality and excitement. After we had a little fun we went and sat on the hill to eat our lunch. When we were eating we stayed sitting and spoke to each other for a while. They sadly had to leave when we were all done but we look forward to next time. 

Written by Lizzie and Violet

Year 5 Magenta

We are very keen to accept enrolments now and don’t want anyone missing out. If you know someone who is looking to enrol their child in Prep for 2025 or in other year levels, please encourage them to book a tour and have a chat with me. 

Clare Ryan: principal@slblackburnsth.catholic.edu.au or Phone: 9877 4023

LOST PROPERTY:

Please check the lost property cupboard in the office foyer if you are missing uniform or food containers.  

Term 2 and 3 WINTER UNIFORMS:

Winter uniform -  In these cooler months please make sure your child has his/her school jumper EVERY day. Rain jackets should not be worn in place of a school jumper and are for outside use only.

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.

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 2024:

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.

RIDING TO AND FROM SCHOOL SAFELY

Children are vulnerable to head injuries and should wear a standard approved bicycle helmet whenever they ride a bike or scooter.

In Victoria, children under the age of 12 may ride on footpaths. They are required to give way to pedestrians and to wheel their bicycles over pedestrian and children’s crossings.

Children aged 12 years or older are required by law to ride on the road.

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. 

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.