Dear Families,

I’d like to thank all of the parents, grandparents, families and carers who came along to support our Athletics Day on Thursday. I don’t think we could have been luckier with the weather and it was a terrific day all around. Thanks to those who helped set up or pack away equipment, cookingbarbeques and any other jobs that were don in the day. A HUGE congratulations to Ms Ensor on theorganisation of the day and to all of our staff who helped and supported Ms Ensor with thepreparations for the day. And lastly a HUGE congratulations to Green House who were the winnerson the day! Well done! All of our children should be commended on their participation and for their Respectful, Responsible and Resilient behaviour. We are incredibly proud.

We also had a lovely evening on Wednesday night for those children preparing to make their First Eucharist and the other Year 4 children also. We held our Eucharist Family night and we had a beautiful gathering celebrating this important part of our Catholic Tradition and sharing a meal together. Thank you to Mrs Szkwarek for the organisation that went into this evening, it was wonderful.

Next week, we will have Parent Teacher Interviews. These will be set up today I hope and ready for families to book a time with their child’s teacher on PAM. Remember to try and space them out with 10 minutes between just to allow for any teachers who are running overtime slightly.

I have included in this newsletter some information about our Whole School Approach to Positive Behaviour Support. This is the language and expectations that children are being held to in our school yard and in our classrooms. You can see the behaviour flowcharts and expectations for all children. It is important that families understand this approach – all teachers and all children understand these expectations and the consequences flowchart also. This is used across the school.

As we draw closer to Easter, as a Catholic Community we are still in the season of Lent. During this time at mass, you may notice that Father James wears a purple cloak which signifies this season in the Church Calendar. In other times, which we call “Ordinary Time”, he wears a green cloak. I have included a Prayer for those of us observing the Lenten Season – a time for fasting and almsgiving and social justice. Here at Lumen Christi, our almsgiving and social justice is the Project Compassion
initiative, where we give to those in need in poorer communities in other countries around the world. Later on in the year, we focus on our local community – give a can, give a damn and our Bethlehem Bazaar supports those in our local Churchill Community who are in need.

A Lenten Prayer
Heavenly Father,
As I enter another week of my Lenten journey, guide me to the path that leads to
you. Fill my heart with gratitude, patience, strength, and peace as I strive to become
the best version of myself, honestly admitting my shortcomings and sins. As I renew
my resolve each day to become a better person, let me hear your voice in the
deepest reaches of my heart. Give me rest in you.

Help me to accept others, showing them your great love instead of casting judgment.
Stay with me through the busy days this week and remind me that when I need
comfort, solitude, wisdom, or guidance, I can always turn to you. Help me develop
discipline and generosity through fasting and almsgiving, and come closer to you
through prayer this Lent. In your name I pray,
Amen

Have a wonderful week ahead,
Sally

Please take note of these dates for your family calendar

TERM 1 2024

Week 7: 11th March- Labour day weekend

              12th March - Foundation Students Full Time     

               13th March - NAPLAN window opens for Year 3 and 5 students

Week 8: 20th & 21st March - Parent Teacher Interviews  (Not Grade 4/5 Miss E                       Smith)

Week 9: 25th March- Yinnar and distract athletics day 

             28th March - Last Day Term 1 12:30 finish

             29th March- Good Friday 

TERM 2 2024

Week 1: 15th April - Back to School for all students

Week 2: 22 - 24 April - Grade 5/6 Camp Rumbug

              25th April - ANZAC Day Public Holiday

              26th April - School Closure Day 

Week 4: 9th May - School Photos

Week 6: 23rd May- Yinnar and Distract Soccer

                             Confirmation Night

              24th May- Pupil Free Day

Week 8:  7th June- Pupil Free Day

Week 9: 10th June- Kings Birthday Public Holiday

Our wonderful award winners from last week! Well done to these super Lumen Christi learners!

We had a wonderful day for our school athletics last Thursday. Congratulations to Green House “Nazareth Angels” who won the day! Thank you to all of the staff for their hard work and to our wonderful families who helped on the day and for cheering on all of our children.

Families might notice that as a school our messaging talks about being Respectful, Responsible and Resilient. These are our School Wide Expectations which all children are being explicitly taught in classrooms. When children forget to follow the expectations, we then refer to the behaviour charts for classrooms and the yard to identify the correct consequence for the behaviour. We use these expectation and behaviour charts to ensure that we have a consistent approach to managing behaviour in our school.

Parents are welcome to look through our expectations and consequences chart. If there is any feedback in relation to any of this, please let myself or Miss Elly Smith know.

principal@churchill.catholic.edu.au

esmith@churchill.catholic.edu.au

The Lumen Christi School and Parish Community pray for the following students who are now preparing for the Sacrament of First Eucharist.

Abigail Jurdison

Ayra Riess

Pippa Harder

Nate Wookey

Lucy Lui Saville

Ashley Sheary

The Parents and Friends commitee would like to remind everyone about their facebook page. On this page you can find all the information about upcoming PnF events at the school, as well as second hand uniform information. 

 Our P&F have organised to sell Zooper Doopers again at school this term.

They will be available on Tuesdays and Thursdays at lunchtimes. Icy poles will also be available on Fridays when the weather is hot. 

The cost will be 50c. each. 

A friendly to all of our families that we are asking for each family to bring to school one box of tissues per child.

This will help us during the winter months as sneezes and colds become more present in classrooms.

This is an item that we ususally request that families provide which was unfortunately left off of our back to school items last year.

We thank you for your cooperation.

We have a wonderful group of parents who meet once a term as the School Advisory Committeee.

The purpose of this group is to provide parent perspective to school decisions made by myself as the Principal.

We usually meet once a term on a Tuesday night at 7pm for an hour.

It's a great way for working parents to be involved if they aren't able to support in other ways during the day.

If this might interest you as a parent, I'd love to hear from you!

Please email me directly at: sdarby@churchill.catholic.edu.au

Or phone the office to speak with me on 51 222231

Did you know we have a Facebook and an Instagram page?

Find us here:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lumenchristips

Instagram: instagram.com/lumenchristiprimary

The online world can be tricky to navigate as a parent. It's hard to know how much is too much screen time, when your child might be ready for their first phone or whether they can use Social Media and online gaming responsibly. 

Here is a link from the esafety Commissioner with lots of basic information for parents who might be needing some practical tips and advice for parenting in the digital age:

https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents/issues-and-advice/online-safety-basics

Last Friday all families were given a project compassion box to take home. During Lent in the Catholic Church we are encouraged to almsgive, or give to those who are less fortunate than ourselves. Caritas are an international aid and development organisation of the Catholic Church in Australia and project compassion invites people across Australia to help them raise funds. Students will be learning about Project compassion this term and the many ways they help people all over the world. Each classroom has a project compassion box and we encourage you at home to try and find some loose change to pop in your box, maybe go without that all-important coffee from the shop for 1 day and pop the money in the box instead, or your children might like to think of ways they can give something up (like a treat) and put the money in their project compassion box instead. We will collect the boxes at the end of the term. 

The theme of Project Compassion 2024 is ‘For All Future Generations’. It is an expression of hope and reminds us that the good that we do today will extend and impact the lives of generations to come. It invites us to make the world a better place by working together now and finding longterm solutions to global issues.

Project Compassion acts as a timely reminder during Lent that by putting our faith and compassion in action today, we have the power to create lasting change for generations to come.

We will have a Whole School Project Compassion fundraiser at the end of the term, keep your eyes out in the newsletter for more information.

Happy coin collecting!