Dear Families,

Last night we celebrated the Graduation of our 2020 Year 6 Class.  It was a great opportunity to reflect and celebrate this lovely group and we wish them every success for the future.

Last week we shared the 2021 staffing structure.  As is typical with a new school year, the excitement of new opportunities is measured with the sadness of saying goodbye to not only students but staff.  Noreen, Holly, Jess and Christine leave us for a variety of opportunities and we thank them for their contributions to our school.  In particular we say farewell to Noreen who retires after 25 years at Lumen Christi as well as Holly who takes up an exciting role in contributing as a founding staff member of St.Angela's in Warragul.

This week we had the opportunity to offer our students a transition day when they had time in their new 2021 rooms.  We also had a few of the new staff visit on the day, either physically or via video conferencing.  It was such a positive experience with both the staff and students optimistic about 2021.

Can I take this opportunity to thank all the families and friends who have contributed across this school year in different ways. In 2020 being a parent of school aged children took on a new look and although it was certainly challenging, I hope you all have a greater insight into your child as a learner.  I look forward to working with you all again in the new year and during 2021 I am hoping to reach out more to the parent group to harness your interest and skills.

Thanks to the staff of the school who do their jobs so well and I am grateful for their contributions and what they have offered our school community.  As I have mentioned previously, I am fortunate to have such a talented and dedicated staff who embrace every challenge of their role.

To the students of the school, I offer a sincere thank you.  I truly have a wonderful job and the interactions I have with you all gives me great satisfaction and in my visits to your classes I am constantly impressed with your achievements.  2020 will certainly be a story that they will tell their grand kids. To our outgoing student leaders a special thank you, and to the newly announced 2021 student leadership team a big congratulations on your election.

Can I also take the opportunity to mention two events for next week that we warmly invite families to attend.

JUNIOR NATIVITY PLAY: To be held on the monring of MONDAY 14th December.  This event is outside, visitors are asked to please bring a chair with them.  We will start once the students have unpacked, got into costume and are ready to perform.

END OF YEAR ASSEMBLY & CAROLS PERFORMANCE: To be held TUESDAY 15th December, and again will start everyone is here and ready to go.  At this gathering we will take the opportunity to say goodbye to staff that are leaving our school this year. This event is also outside, again it is BYO chair.

2020 has seen us collectively as a school community work diligently to achieve strong outcomes for our children, and it is through this continued shared approach that our school will continue to go from strength to strength - So in 2021 it looks like we will be busy so enjoy a good rest over summer!

ICY-POLES: With the warm weather next week the 2021 School Captains will be selling icy-Poles for 50cents.  If the weather heats up we may decide to sell at both recess and lunch so maybe throw a few coins into the school bags!

I wish everyone a joyous and exciting Christmas.  Stay safe and enjoy the break.

Dave

This week we started Advent, the exciting period of time the Catholic church uses to prepare for Christmas.  Many themes are used during the weekly scripture readings for the next four Sundays.  This past weekend the message of Mark's Gospel was to 'stay awake'. 

Mark wrote:

Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Be on your guard, stay awake, because you never know when the time will come. It is like a man travelling abroad: he has gone from home, and left his servants in charge, each with his own task; and he has told the doorkeeper to stay awake. So stay awake, because you do not know when the master of the house is coming, evening, midnight, cockcrow, dawn; if he comes unexpectedly, he must not find you asleep. And what I say to you I say to all: Stay awake!’

The challenge for us today is to be alert and ready to response as Christians whenever we can.  In a world that is sometimes too cluttered and busy we sometimes miss moments to be Christians, or Christ-like.  We can use Advent, especially this year, to make the lives around us better through our positive behaviour, language and attitude.

Another way of looking at the 'stay awake' message is to think about getting excited for the greatest story to be retold.  Who would have thought that the birth of one man so many years ago would continue to inspire and challenge us.

Congratulations to the Confirmation Group of 2020.

Thanks to Mrs.Colaciello for her leadership and effort in organising this important faith milestone for our soon to be graduating Year 6 children.

We also thank Fr.James and Fr.Solomon for their continued support.

As the excitement builds in preparation of finishing a year so does the nervousness around the beginning of a new year.  The process to organise both staffing and classes for a school year is an extensive one and we take into account many factors.  Below is the structure for our classes and staffing.  As is the nature of workplaces, this year we will bid farewell to some staff.  With goodbyes along come welcomes, and we are excited to announce that we have appointed some outstanding new staff to join us next year. 

2021 STAFFING STRUCTURE

Principal                      DAVE COOPER

Admin Team                REBEKAH ALESI & LAUREN WILSON

YEAR P&1                    MISS ELLY SMITH

YEAR 1&2                    MR BRAD WATSON

Junior School ESOs       HAYLEY LIDDICOAT, JANET SMITH & JULIE WITNISH

YEAR 3                        MR. BRANDON MAHONEY & MRS. JANELLE SZKWAREK

Middle School ESOs      CATHERINE CAMPBELL

YEAR 4&5                     MR. ROD CLARKE & MRS. MARINA DOSEN

YEAR 5&6                     MR. CAMILLO REDI & MRS.LARA SAVIGE

Senior School ESOs       HEATHER MOIR, MAREE NARDINO & CALLUM STEWART

Federation Uni Intern     MISS NEESHA SIMMONS

ART SPECIALIST                  MRS.CATHY COLACIELLO

LANGUAGES SPECIALIST      MRS.CATHY COLACIELLO

LIBRARY SPECIALIST           MRS. LAUREN WILSON

MUSIC SPECIALIST              MRS. JANELLE SZKWAREK

SPORT SPECIALIST              MR. CALLUM STEWART

BUILDINGS & FACILITIES     TANIA WOOKEY

New staff:

MR. CAMILLO REDI joins us directly from St.Monica’s Moonee Ponds.  Camillo is a Morwell local who has also taught at St.Vincents, Lumen Christi and St.Gabriels over his career, developing a reputation as an outstanding classroom teacher.  He has completed his Masters through Melbourne University recently and has worked extensively in the area of student wellbeing.  

MR. RODNEY CLARKE will arrive at Lumen Christi in 2021 after his recent appointment as Deputy Principal at Murrupurtiyanuwu Catholic Primary School on Bathurst Island (Tiwi Islands).  Rod has worked through Gippsland in senior leadership roles including work specifically in teacher development.  He has completed Post-Graduate studies in School Leadership, with his diverse experiences in education sure to make an impact on both staff and students.

MRS. MAREE NARDINO currently works as an Education Support Officer in another local Catholic Primary School.  Maree is a long term community volunteer and we look forward to seeing how we can tap into her interests in music and sport.

MRS. JANET SMITH has previously worked as a relief Education Support Officer at Lumen Christi briefly last year before resuming work in Latrobe City Pre-Schools.  Janet has a diverse background in different educational settings and will be a great asset to the students, staff and families in our junior classrooms.

Staff Farewells:

MRS.NOREEN WEBSTER is retiring after working at Lumen Christi for the past 25 years.  Noreen over the journey has been a key contributor in many roles, though she will be fondly remembered for her many years in the junior school.  Noreen will be sadly missed in both our classrooms and staffroom, and we wish her all the best for the exciting years ahead.

MRS. HOLLY PETERSON arrived as Miss.Jennings 13 years ago, growing as both a teacher and a leader in that time.  Holly’s role in the past few years has seen her work successfully in the area of Learning Adjustment, with many families often commenting on her ability to assist both students and families.  Holly takes up an exciting role as a staff member at St.Angela’s when it opens in Warragul next year.

MISS JESS HUTCHINSON leaves us to head off to university.  We wish Jess all the best for the future and the challenges ahead in her tertiary studies.

MRS.CHRISTINE RUITER leaves after only joining us at the start of the year with the key responsibility of sharing a classroom space with Mrs.Webster.  Due to the nature of 2020 we feel like we have only just met Chris, so we are disappointed to see her leave.

Earlier in the term we were contacted by Rotary for our junior students to produce some simple, generic letters to be included in the care packages being distributed by Rotary and Latrobe city.  These packages were for vulnerable and isolated people for whom the COVID lock-down was proving to be particularly challenging for a variety of reasons.  

These simple letters of hope and goodwill took the children such a short amount of time, however from the feedback we received the impact of receiving them was significant.

We thank the staff and students for their time and effort, as well as Rotary for the opportunity for Lumen Christi to be chosen to lead this project.  It certainly showcases our students being the 'Light of Christ' to others.

Congratulations everyone!

At the start of term, upon our return to onsite learning, we gave some reminders about our 'Before and After School' procedures.  We would like to take the opportunity to thank families for their support in addressing some of the issues that had previously popped up, and in some cases we appear to have in fact eliminated them.

Just a few reminders:

- A huge thank you for not parking in the bus zone on Williams Avenue.  Latrobe City appreciated our efforts to ensure we kept this area clear and safe.  We are also glad no one has been issued with a fine!

- Please use the KISS & GO Zone on Williams Avenue for drop offs instead of pausing in the car park driving lane as this creates dangerous (and annoying) congestion.

-The yard is supervised from 8.10am.  With the warmer weather some children are walking or riding to school and arriving earlier than that.  Please be aware of the supervision times.

Again we thank you for your support in ensuring our school environment is safe and efficient for the benefit of all our children.

We are now stocking Summer School Dresses onsite. Purchases can be made via CDFpay $36. 

We have a few of each size in the Uniform Shop, with the turnaround for ordering in more stock now much quicker than in the past.

As always we welcome your donations of second hand uniform items for the Uniform shop that we can then re-sell which then helps us continue to provide low cost second hand uniforms to everyone in our school community.

All new uniform items can be ordered through the CDF Online App with the items then sent home with the children.

At the moment we have a display rack in the foyer for families to try for sizes, with this also available during our Prep Transition sessions.

Come play tennis at the Churchill Tennis Club!

Manning Drive - Churchill

“HOTSHOTS Tennis”

A program teaching children aged  4 – 12 the basics of the game.

“Let’s Play Tennis”

A program for children aged 12 and above.  Groups available for those that have never played before and for those that want to improve on their current skills.

FREE ‘Come and Try’ Session

Call for times

FREE trial lesson available for all programs. 

FREE junior racquet and Hotshots t-shirt for new players

SENIOR and JUNIOR competitions starting in October

Glen: 0408762679

Sally: 0403282630