Good News Lutheran College Principal, Mr Simon Hughes

Transcription

1 Good News Lutheran College Principal, Mr Simon Hughes Term one Week 2 Thursday 12 February 2015 Calendar Dates Friday 13 February Scholastic book club due Wednesday 18 February Yr 9 & 10 Boys Cricket Thursday 19 February Yr 9,10 & 11 Dance Excursion Melb. Recital Centre Parents as Partners Course 2-3:30pm Friday 20 February Twilight Family Picnic 5-8pm Monday 23 -Friday 27 February Yr 6 Camp Canberra Friday 27 February District Swim Carnival selected Yr 3-6 Student's Tuesday 3 March Division Swim Carnival Selected Yr 7-11 Students Wednesday 4 6 March Yr 9 Camp-CYC City Good News Lutheran College 580 Tarneit Road, Tarneit, Victoria 3029 PO Box 2193, Werribee, Victoria 3030 Phone Absentee line Fax Web admin@goodnews.vic.edu.au

2 P A G E 2 Principal s Report Welcome back to all our students and families for the 2015 School Year over 670 of you! In particular, we would like to extend a very warm welcome to our new students and families; and once again there are many of them. I pray that your association with the College is a very blessed and rewarding one. Please don t forget that next Friday night (Friday 20 February) from 5pm 8pm we have our Twilight Family BBQ to welcome the new students and families, catch up with the old ones and spend a bit of time together as a community. I m sure the weather will behave itself and it would be great to see as many of you there as possible! As seems to be the regular first-newsletter article to write, we begin 2015 with quite a number of new staff: Daniela Boehme (German) Stephanie Murdoch (Year 2) Jennifer Grixti (Support) Glenda Guy (Food Tech. Assistant) Laura Brokenshire (Year 6) Lisa McCarthy (Support) Hayley McDonald (Year 8) Catherine Gerada (Canteen) Rovaun Alexander (Technology) Christine Jolly (Resource) Katrina Montgomery (English) Heinz Pfister (German) Sarah Smith (Maths/Science) Emily Leske (Prep) Thalia Wesselingh (Prep) This Sunday at 9am the St Philip s congregation will hold an Affirmation Service for these and all returning staff. All new staff will be installed next week at one of our Monday, Wednesday or Thursday Chapels including several staff who joined us midlast year. It would be great to have as many people at those events as possible to support and welcome them. Settling in to School For new students who have commenced at the College and, in fact for continuing students who may be undertaking new subjects or have different teachers, the new year can create a degree of anxiety and uncertainty. If you feel your child is experiencing difficulty with settling in this year, I encourage you to contact your child s Class or Pastoral Care teacher. The sooner we can respond to any concerns, the less anxious a child will be. Please remember also, that this teacher should always be your first point of contact with the College for any concerns you may have during the year. Car Park My thanks again to everybody for learning the updated car park usage and altering pickup routines, as necessary, at the end of the day to cater for the additional families at the College and the new car park. Thank you especially to those who are moving right to the front of the pickup zone as space becomes available and remembering to turn left out of the College onto Caraleena Drive. These measures have gone a long way to keeping the car park a safe place for everybody and pickups flowing smoothly. Simon Hughes Principal Chaplain s Chat Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. This is a greeting that is used in the bible numerous times in the New Testament. These words immediately show a trust and a foundation of faith in God. This term has started so well for the majority of staff and students. We hope and pray that it continues through the Grace and peace we receive through God. We, as a College, believe and trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and that he should be at the centre of all we do and say. This term we have already seen this shine through and we are all so happy and excited about the year ahead Already this term we have had the Year 7 Camp, the Swimming Carnival and some fantastic chapels with the Heads of Junior, Middle and Senior School leading the messages. In the coming weeks, we will have multiple camps and sporting trips and it is such a positive start to the term and I commend not only the staff and students but to all the families also. Thank you for making this term such a great start. I would also like to offer my services to any and all students and families. If there is anything that you need, or worries or concerns you have this year, please do not hesitate to call or or visit me. So may the Grace and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ be with you this year. Yours In Faith, Joshua Hauser College Chaplain

3 P A G E 3 Junior School Report The year has gotten off to a wonderful start. Many of you have shared with me how happy your children are when they get home from school. One of the reasons children are so happy is that they know the teachers and the parents are working together. At Wednesday s Parent Information Night, classroom teachers shared ways you can help your children at home. Over the past two years, regular parent volunteer help has more than doubled. If you haven t yet volunteered at Good News, we have many opportunities beginning soon. We have already held two Parents as Partners sessions that inform you of ways you can help out around the College. Prep Classrooms: Teachers use parent volunteers to help test students on their spelling homework. They also have parents that work with tables of children as they do their daily maths and literacy activities. Even if you can t come in to school, Prep teachers have items they can send home with you to sort, cut and paste. Simply let the Prep teachers know when and how you can help you can write it in the diary. Years 1 through 5: Last year we successfully ran multiple small reading groups every day. This meant that almost every Junior School student participated in intensive, small group reading at least four days per week. We couldn t do that without parent help. This year, we d like to do similar small group work in maths. If you have a full morning you can share with Junior School, hojs@goodnews.vic.edu.au and let me know. We will make you a timetable and put your talents to good use. Library: Our new library/resource room teacher, Mrs Jolly, has wonderful plans for the resource room. She d love to meet you and use your expertise to help organise and create the ideal space for children to learn and grow with books. Simply go to the library, introduce yourself, and let her know your availability. Canteen: As our student population increases, so does the traffic at the canteen. You may leave a message at the College office if you d like to volunteer. Your message will go to the Canteen Manager who will get back to you to organise times and find ways to volunteer. Swimming: Years 4 and 5 swim every Wednesday in Term 1. It s great to have parents along to help students before and after swim lessons. Let your classroom teacher know if you can help and they will tell you the term they swim. All lessons are on Wednesdays. We will run our two more Parents as Partners sessions on Thursday, 19 February. One will be at 2 pm and one will be at 6:30 pm. Those will be the last sessions for Term 1. Parents as Partners is required by Lutheran Schools Australia for any parents who volunteer in the college. We d love to see you volunteer! Janet Abercrombie Head of Junior School Middle School Report Welcome back to 2015! Holidays are fantastic aren t they! They provide us with an opportunity to relax and recharge after a busy year. Some people are lucky enough to travel, others perhaps spend time with family and some will simply enjoy the time to themselves. Coming back from these holidays to start a new year is always difficult; however, it is made so much easier when you are greeted by passionate and enthusiastic students who can t wait to get back into the swing of things. This is what I have found in these first weeks. Our students have come back and they are smiling, they are cheerful and they are ready to learn again. Despite all the changes with new buildings and new staff this year, we have all been amazed at just how smooth the start to the year has been. We are also very excited to have a third Year 7 class this year as well as a number of new students in other year levels. For those who are new to our Middle School, I welcome you and look forward to meeting you throughout the year. It is important for everyone to understand that in order for our College to be effective in providing the best education for our students, there needs to be a strong triangular relationship between the College, students and parents. We all need to be working together in all aspects of the College and we must ensure that we are all starting off on the same page. This starts with communication. There should always be an open and honest line of communication between home and College. Phone calls are a great way to personally discuss any issues; however, with the busy schedules of our staff and parents, these are not always going to be the most efficient communication method. s direct to the teachers concerned or a note in the diary are other possible methods that can be used. Sometimes a personal meeting will be required to discuss an issue in more depth. We will also begin to use the parent portal in our new Learning Management System called Seqta. If you were with us last year, you would be aware of its introduction in Term 4. You will hear and learn more about Seqta as the year progresses. As with all forms of communication, your initial point of contact should be with your child s Pastoral Care teacher.

4 P A G E 4 On another note, if you have attended either our Chapel or assemblies in the past, you would realise that finding space for all our students is becoming more difficult. With the addition of an extra 100 students across the College, we have reached the point where we now need to have separate assemblies and Chapels for Middle and Senior School. The new details are outlined below: Monday: Thursday: Friday: Middle School Chapel Senior School Chapel Middle School (gym), Senior School (Chapel) Once a term, at the start, we will have a combined MS/SS Assembly (gym) All parents are more than welcome to attend any of these chapels or assemblies throughout the year. We would love to see you there. Nathan Shrowder Head of Middle School Senior School Senior School Report 2015 has started with a bang in the Senior School. This is going to be a year of firsts and will be very exciting for all. Distance Education The Year 11 students have embraced their Distance Education subjects and are all on track. The first few days were a little confusing but a routine is now in place and all are working very well. Just a reminder, all work has to be sent in on a weekly basis. All Distance Education students will be attending an Orientation Day on Friday 27 February. Details will follow in a letter. Senior Uniform Most students are wearing their uniform well. If a student is unable to wear their full uniform for any reason, they are supposed to get a note in their diary for that day. Please note: The cotton dress is NOT part of the summer uniform for girls Boys do not have to wear shorts as part of their summer uniform. ICT All Senior School students will be receiving training in Evernote. Evernote is a closed source freemium suite of software and services, designed for note-taking and archiving. A "note" can be a piece of formatted text, a full webpage or webpage excerpt, a photograph, a voice memo, or a handwritten "ink" note. Notes can also have file attachments. Hopefully this will aid students in the organisation of note-taking in class. Here s to a great term! Christine Taylor Head of Senior School

5 P A G E 5 Changes to Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) Information about changes to Education Maintenance Allowance as a result of the School Reform Agreement made between the Victorian Government and Commonwealth Government. What is changing? In the recent School Reform Agreement signed with the Commonwealth, the Victorian Government has changed the way it helps low income families with education expenses. From 2015, the Government will distribute the funds previously used for the EMA directly to schools. DEECD will develop the arrangements to be used to distribute these funds to schools consultation will occur with stakeholders about this. Why? Under the recent School Funding Reform an additional $12.2 billion will be allocated to Victorian schools. Will my child be worse off? No. Education funding for children will increase but will be delivered to your child in a new way through their school. The new agreement provides that schools with the most vulnerable students will receive the funding they need. The students who will benefit the most from this funding agreement are those who are the most vulnerable. For more information please visit: LLL Matching Deposits The accounts that benefit you. And the projects you want to support. Matching deposits are unique to the LLL. They are a way for you to ensure that your LLL deposit account helps support a particular project of the Lutheran Church of Australia, be that a congregation, school or care organisation etc. By supporting your project in this way, you are not affecting the status of your account, your funds are still secure and available at call. You can continue to make deposits and withdrawals as normal. You advise us which project you wish to support and we will note that against your account. Your funds will then become matching deposits for that project. Approved projects can borrow funds from the LLL for the equivalent amount of total matching deposits for that project. Loans have a low interest rate of 5% p.a. with no application fees nor any ongoing fees. When compared with the interest rates and fees imposed by commercial financial institutions, you can see your support will result in significant savings to the project. At any time your matching deposit instruction can be changed to support another project and/or multiple projects, simply by writing to the LLL Office: 175 Archer Street, North Adelaide, SA 5006 Postal: Reply Paid 45, North Adelaide, SA 5006, Toll Free Tel Fax lll@lll.org.au ABN LLL Student Banking Day Please note that student banking is every Tuesday. Please do not drop your bank books off prior to Tuesday. The College cannot hold bank books or money.

6 P A G E Confirmed Term Dates Term 1 Monday 2 February to Thursday 2 April (9 weeks) (Term Break: 6/4 17/4) (2 weeks) Term 2 Tuesday 21 April to Friday 26 June (10 weeks) (Term Break: 29/6 10/7 (2 weeks) Term 3 Tuesday 14 July to Friday 18 September (10 weeks) (Term Break: 21/9 2 Oct (2 weeks) Term 4 Tuesday 6 October to Wednesday 9 December (10 weeks) (Term Break: from 10 Dec) Public Holidays for 2015 New Year s Day Thursday 1 January Australia Day Monday 26 January Labour Day Monday 9 March (Term 1) Good Friday Friday 3 April (Term 1 break) Easter Monday Monday 6 April (Term 1 break) Pupil Free Day Monday 20 April ANZAC Day Saturday 25 April (Term 2) Queen's Birthday Monday 8 June (Term 2) Pupil Free Day Monday 13 July Pupil Free Day Monday 5 October Melbourne Cup Tuesday 3 November (Term 4) Christmas Day Friday 25 December Boxing Day Saturday 26 December (& Monday 28 December, additional day) Tuition Fees & GNLC Bank Account Details Term One tuition fees and annual fees are due by Friday 13 February 2015 or late fees will apply. Good News Lutheran College now has BPAY: Biller Code: Reference: Your unique College account number found on your statement Please remember when making deposits into GNLC bank account, you need to quote either your child s surname or your College account number to identify the payee. For payment plans please see the Bursar

7 P A G E 7 It is that time of year again!!! We invite you to consider joining our Good News Lutheran College team this year for the Annual Wyndham Rotary Fun Run. This event raises much needed funds towards the Good Friday Appeal. ( Royal Children s Hospital Fundraiser ) Our College has participated and won the School s Challenge for the past several years! This fun event will not only raise awareness and funds for the Good Friday appeal, but is a great way for our College staff and students to get together and form a team and enjoy a great family day out together. Please see Mr Greenhough or Mrs Belani for registration details or use the link below. Educational Challenge (for primary and secondary schools) * Prizes will be awarded to the schools (primary and secondary) with the most participants * 2 perpetual trophies will be awarded to the primary and secondary schools with the most participants * Any school with at least 20 competitors will be allowed to set up a marquee on the day to promote their school. Good News has a Facebook group for College families to buy, swap & sell second hand uniform. The group name is Good News Lutheran College Uniform Buy, Swap & Sell. Please request to join, as this is a private group. This is an opportunity for families to sell & buy college uniforms from each other. Reminder. GNLC strives to be A NUT FREE zone. In the interest of students health and safety, please do not send nuts or nut products with your child. DO NOT park in the College bus zone on Caraleena Drive. Please ensure you are using the College crossings to enter and exit the College grounds

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9 P A G E 9 COMMUNITY NOTICES Issue#3 of Kids Nation mag: onissue3janfeb2015 In this issue: Inspire: Help your kids prepare for the school year Tips: Goal setting for children Recipe: Chinese-inspired crispy prawns with lime mayonnaise Interview with Leslie Spencer (a mum and advocate for dwarfism): Dream big little one Special Needs: 12 things I wish I d known about being a special needs parent Lookbook: Kid s room Colour me happy Fatherhood: First hero, First love Craft: Valentine Kaleidoscope Service Time: Where: St Philips Church 9am Sunday Weekly Worship am Sunday School (school terms) 9am First Sunday of month - family/ youth service 580 Tarneit Road, Tarneit (College site) Pastor: Mark Winter : Service time: Where: CHURCH SERVICES & TIMES Martin Luther Lutheran Church 4pm Sunday 27 The Broadway, Altona North Pastor: Mark Winter Daily Devotion Discoveries - Psalm 111 How wonderful are the things the LORD does! All who are delighted with them want to understand them. All he does is full of honour and majesty; his righteousness is eternal. The LORD does not let us forget his wonderful actions; he is kind and merciful. Christ The Lord Service Time: 10am Sunday (Slovak) Where: Point Cook Road, Seabrook Pastor: Jan Havjar St. Philips Church Playgroup Friday mornings: 9.30am-11.30am during school terms. Bring a piece of fruit and $2. New families welcome..