Dear Parents and Families,

This weekend we celebrate the gift of motherhood.

Motherhood across the centuries and across cultures evokes feelings of compassion, love, healing and sacrifices.  We have images of Mary's crying at the foot of the cross, in agony after witnessing the brutal death faced by her son while dining room tables across Churchill everyday during the pandemic have mothers being absolutely stretched but continuing to have their children's needs as their focus.  I would like to take the opportunity this week to acknowledge and thank all the special women who nurture, love and support the beautiful children of Lumen Christi.

Last week I received in the mail some lovely prayer cards with a picture of Mary, Help of Christians the Patroness of Australia on the front.  Initially I only glanced at the image but this week I had time to look at the finer details of the illustration.  The creative image depicts not only the guidance of Mary, but also the complexity of motherhood.

This week we have seen more learning opportunities across the Google Meets platform and as a staff we are finding more ways to use this video conferencing feature.  Last week we had our first whole school assembly on Google Meet which was both chaos and joyful!  Classes will be using Meets to support their regular morning messages on Google Classroom.  As all students become more independent with their online learning it is important for parents to keep checking in on your children's Google Classroom posts so you are connected to their learning, even if you think your child has things under control.

This newsletter has a wide variety of items and advertisements of some upcoming events that we invite your participation in.

Have a lovely weekend and Happy Mother's Day!

Take care,

Dave 

We offer of prayers for those who have died, their families and the sick.  We also give thanks for the skills and knowledge of those leaders and scientists who guide us in this time, especially those leading the medical research to deal with this crisis.  We pray for those who offer care and comfort to others.

Our Lady Help of Christians, Patroness of Australia:  Pray for Us

Saint Mary MacKillop: Pray for Us

Saint Luke, Patron Saint of Doctors:Pray for Us

Saint Agatha, Patron Saints of Nurses: Pray for Us

Lumen Christi Pastoral Council and Liturgy Committee have embraced the opportunities to look for ways to connect our community during the closure of churches across the globe.  As a parish we offer different Zoom sessions.

Currently as we head into 'May:The Month of Mary' we invite everyone to join in our Saturday morning Rosary Sessions, while on Mother's Day we agan will join together in fellowship.

To receive the access details to this and future events please feel very welcome to contact Michael Dyson via email at:

dyson.mike.d@gmail.com

Every year Lumen Christi proudly supports the social justice efforts of Caritas, with the Project Compassion boxes a familar sight in Catholic schools for decades.  This weekend Caritas are presenting a spectacular music event called 'Loungeroom Sessions with Gary Pinto' this Saturday 9th May.

The staff will probably chuckle as Mr.Cooper has a small claim to fame as he went to ACU:Christ College for his undergraduate teaching degree with Gary Pinto.  Gary went on to be a superstar with CDB and collaborating with artists such as Guy Sebastian, and well Mr.Cooper didn't really get much traction on his quest for stardom.

Further details about logging in to share the night with Gary Pinto, Diesel, Reece Mastin, Malila Barnes but not Mr.Cooper can be found here:

Finance Statements have been emailed out to families during this past fortnight.

If you have any questions please make contact with Bek via finance@churchill.catholic.edu.au

What is the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data?

Schools must now complete the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) every year. It counts the number of students who receive additional adjustments or “help” at school because of a disability. The NCCD helps governments plan for the needs of students with disability. 

Please read the attached Parent Information Sheet for more details:

If you have further questions please feel free to contact Mrs.Peterson

Dear Year 6 Families - Please take the time to read the following letter from Mr.John Freeman the Principal of Lavalla Cathiolic College, Traralgon regarding the changed Enrolment conditions for Year 7 2021.  if you require further information please either contact Lavalla directly, or feel welcome to speak to Mr.Cooper or Mrs.Dosen.

Thank you to parents for their cooperation in the collection of the Week 5&6 Learning Packs yesterday, as well as to Mrs.Campbell and Mrs.Moir who generously came in early to coordinate this and to meet parents.

Last week we asked for parent feedback regarding how you were going with Remote Learning.  We were interested to note the varied amount of hours families were able to commit to learning in their homes, while we also received an overwhelming amount of parents who felt the amount of work was 'just right'.  With close to 95% of families reporting a typical day having a 'just right' workload we again would like to remind parents that they are the drivers of the day, the boots on the ground, that have the power to add, modify, combine or remove tasks to ensure each child is able to complete the maximum amount of high quality work - without harm to their or anyone else's mental health!

The provision of learning adjustments (and extensions) is a regular feature of the way Lumen Christi teachers plan to cater to the wide variety of needs and interests in a typical classroom.  As parents become more familar with their children as a learner we encouarge you to be flexible and think about taking advantage of the additional prompts and other online resources like the ABC TV programming, Behind the News and kidsnews products.  The newly purchased online Reading platforms www.raz-plus.com and www.myon.com also are good sources to direct students towards.

It is critical that parents continue to follow the Attendance procedures.  Staff have to follow normal school attendance legislation even during remote learning and therefore all unexplained absences are recorded when children fail to check-in, complete work or parents are not in contact with the classroom teachers.

On Thursday 14th May at 8.00pm we are proud to have secured positions for Lumen Christi parents and guardians to attend the live webinar titled "CYBER SAFETY-RAISING KIDS IN A DIGITAL WORLD".  

The presenters Carly and Martin are extremely popular and in normal circumstances due to our location and size, country schools like Lumen Christi often miss out on these opportunities.  We strongly encourage everyone to consider checking in for the live presentation, or at least watching the recorded session at another time.

The session is password protected to only schools who have purchased access rights - this information is contained on the below flyer.  We would like to reach out and thank our colleagues at the Diocese of Sale:Catholic Education Office for their efforts in coordinating this learning opportunities that I hope a majority of our families and staff take advantage of.

We continue to encourage parents to access the resources on the eSafety Commisioner website CLICK HERE

Please make sure you spend some time sharing the Kids Page with your child.