Dear Families,
We are heading into the final weeks of school – that is Term 1 nearly over. I think I say this every term, but it has flown by so quickly!

Our NAPLAN tests are finishing up this week, children who have missed their NAPLAN tests will need to do make up tests here at school this week when they return.

We have Parent Teacher Interviews this week, this is a great opportunity to get to know your child’s teacher for this year and let them know anything important about your child. Your child’s teacher will definitely be able to comment about their progress throughout the term, however formal assessments will take next term in preparation for Report Writing.

Our Whole School Mass is on this Thursday in the church at 9:30am. We love seeing out parents, grandparents and any other friends of family come along to our masses. This is the final mass of the term. Next week we will have our Passion Play performed by our Year 6 students and we will draw the Easter Raffle also. All are welcome to attend these important school and Parish events.

On Monday, the children will attend Yinnar and District Sports in Yinnar. A permission form will be posted on PAM so please make sure that all children have consent. Children with Asthma, must have their Asthma pumps at school on the day. We hope this will be a fantastic day for everyone and that our children represent our school demonstrating our School Wide Expectations: Respect,Responsibility and Resilience.

On Sunday, as a Catholic Community, we begin Holy Week with Palm Sunday. This marks the final week in Lent as we journey towards Easter Sunday when we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus. Although many people may believe that Christmas is the most important date in the Catholic Calendar, it is actually Easter that is at the heart of what we believe. The Easter Egg is a symbol of
the new life that we experience through the death and resurrection of Jesus.

So we pray as a Catholic school community:
Lead us on our journey
From who we are to who you want us to be;
So that patience is built into us,
Kindness is assumed in us,
Gentleness is part of us,
Compassion flows from us,
And the commitment of love is part of us.
Let us go gladly on the journey towards Easter –
The journey towards death and resurrection.
Let us journey in the peace and power of the Spirit. Amen

Have a wonderful week ahead,
Sally

Please take note of these dates for your family calendar

TERM 1 2024

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

Week 11: 28th June-Last day Term 2 

This Thursday the 21st of March, We have a Whole School Mass at 9:30 in the Church. Families are welcome to join. We look foward to seeing you there!

We will be attending this as a whole school on Monday.

Please ensure you give consent on PAM by Friday.

If you are not on PAM, please speak with Janelle in the office or your child's teacher and we can arrange a paper permission slip for you.

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

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

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!

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

In the event that families have an issue with a teacher or the school in general, I would like to advise families of the Complaints and Grievances Policy that we use within DOSCEL schools.

There is a helpful flowchart at the end to help with who to approach in the event that there is an issue that needs to be addressed.

We prise ourselves on our relationships with our families at Lumen Christi and we hope that we can always resolve issues in the event that something should be brought to our attention.

Policies are made available on our website also.