Happy New Year Families and Friends,
Welcome back to the new school year and a special mention to those in our community who are currently celebrating the Lunar New Year- enjoy the festivities. What an amazing Summer it has been here in Melbourne. It takes me back to when l was a child and my recollection is of long, leisurely holidays with great weather, visits to the beach and local swimming pools, some nights were hard to sleep through because of a heatwave or due to sunburn but the memories remain vivid.
I trust you all had a restful January in one way or another. I was very fortunate to get up to Noosa for a couple of weeks sharing walks with friends and family, daily swims at the beach and lots of good food.
What a joy to see our children return this week. Fresh haircuts, smiles, uniforms and squeaky new shoes along with loads of smiles, lots of nerves but a lovely energy have made our first days of the school year very special. I think l saw (and heard) many sighs of relief as parents dropped their children off. We love having your child back with us again.
Welcome to our new families and new Prep class! It has been lovely to have Ria, Leo and Daniel in other classes join us this week along with a group of energetic, bright and bubbly Preplings. We feel so fortunate to have you and your families joining our communities.
Our calendar is filling fast and next week will be an exciting but very hot one. Our planned Welcome Picnic will be postponed until Thursday 13th February due to the extremely hot weather forecast for next week. We want to give families good notice of the change so please plot the new date on your calendars. We want YOUR FAMILY there.
Next Friday is a most special day when we gather together as a faith filled community to welcome the new school year in. We do this by celebrating together in a whole school mass. Our staff will be commissioned and our new Year 6 Student Leadership Team will also receive their badges. Please make sure you join us to help create a very memorable start to our year. Morning tea will be served after mass for families and parishioners in the Discovery centre or the hall- whichever one is cooler!
Today, the ICT User Agreement for Students will be sent out for you to read through and discuss with your child. We ask every child from Prep through to Year 6 to sign this agreement. As our Year 3s begin a new learning pathway with a new device that they will be responsible for over the next four years, we would like parents to take the time to really unpack the agreement. For children who are older, the need to refresh the guidelines and expectations is very important. Each year, a number of parents raise concerns around social and emotional issues their child is experiencing and it is not uncommon to hear that on-line behaviour has sometimes created real conflict between children. I have attached a child friendly version of the agreement that teachers will be using in class to reinforce positive digital citizenship.
Please make sure your child really understands that:
School email accounts are not to be used for private chats- both at school or at home
At all times, being SAFE, RESPECTFUL and RESPONSIBLE are important.
Parents- please note that at no time should a parent ever use their child’s school gmail account to send messages to other students or people. This is a severe breach of the Parent Code of Conduct and contravenes our Child Safety Policy.
Over the holidays, we had a few jobs ticked off the neverending list of things to do. One was the new carpet in the Middle and Senior school rooms as well as the Art-LOTE room and the Community-OSHC room. We’re thrilled with the result. We had a small band of helpers returning furniture to classrooms in the third week of January. Our thanks to them.
Another job that was done was to install a rod on each toilet door to the boys and girls toilets so we can lock the doors back during school hours. This means the heavy doors are not a difficulty for many of the younger children to open. The privacy of any child using the toilet remains and hopefully the temptation for shenanigans in the toilet will be reduced.
Pope Francis has declared this jubilee year a Year of Hope. It is such a wonderful thing to focus on and aspire to. This community, here at St Luke the Evangelist, is one full of hope. It is a community where we are proud that every person is known and loved, where teachers, children and our learning is dynamic and engaging, and where we bring our own story to share and ensure that we connect through our diversity. I can’t wait to share the year ahead with you.
Enjoy your weekend.
Clare
