Dear Families and Friends,

Today we held our Annual Athletics Day and although the sun wasn't shining, the weather was just perfect for our young super athletes.  I've included a report as part of this newsletter but can I take the opportunity to thank those who contributed to the event as well as congratulation to the Bethlehem Stars who were the overall champions on the day.

Over the past few years we have added to our Learning Enrichment Curriculum with the addition of Performing Arts:Music and Physical Education.  Providing a depth of experiences for all our children is so important and it is always interesting to which students bloom in different subjects.  Sport is the perfect opportunity to learn about having a Growth Mindset, and learning the lesson of being both a good winner as well as a good loser.  Watching our students today attempting events like High Jump clearly shows the critical importance of challenging our students in a safe and secure environment.  

Our Sports Day always gave me the opportunity to sit back and watch our staff and students interact in a different learning environment.  We are blessed to have such a highly competent staff but also a staff who are highly engaged in wanting to be a part of the school community, as well as being a staff that importantly also have a good sense of fun.  You may also claim they are also a tad competitive if you happened to watch the Staff Tug-of-War event.  We also had many staff attend today who don't normally work on a Friday which is such a positive indicator to me as their 'boss' in regards to their commitment and energy that they bring to their jobs - so to the staff I say thank you.

Finally, we have a few exciting things up ahead including School Photos, LRG Excursion and District Sports.  Please keep an eye on the newsletter and other notices etc for important information.

Wishing everyone a restful long weekend,

Dave

Congratulations to Bethlehem Stars for being crowned winners of the 2021 Lumen Christi Athletics Day.

We thank all the students for their participation, the staff for their coordination and for our families for their attendance.  Can we also take this opportunity to acknowledge Mr.Watson for his behind the scenes leadership in getting the day organised as well as those individuals who assisted with the setting up and the packing up.

We now set our sights on the Inter-school District Athletic Sports to be held at the Yinnar Recreation Reserve on Thursday 18th March.  This is an exciting, busy and exhaustive day but is a highlight of our annual calendar as we head off as a whole school to compete in the same rotations that the students completed today.

Please take note of these dates for your family calendar

12th March: School Photos Day

16th March: Whole School Trip to Morwell Art Gallery

25th March: District Athletics (All students) at Yinnar (Back-up date 31/3)

The preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation has commenced.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Family Workshop 2 Wednesday 10th of March at 5pm in the school Library.  

The Sacrament of Reconciliation will be celebrated on Wednesday 17th of March at Lumen Christi Church, at 5pm.  (An alternative date is Thursday 18th of March at Sacred Heart Primary School if the Wednesday is not suitable)

In addition to the workshops, it is encouraged that candidates for Reconciliation will celebrate the Mass each weekend after making their commitment.  During the Sunday Mass at 9am there will be Children’s Liturgy which allows the children to discuss the Gospel and complete activities designed to help children to understand the Gospel message.  Candidates may prefer to attend Mass on Saturday night at 6pm or at Yinnar, Boolarra or one of the Morwell Masses.

If you require any further information please contact Mrs.Colaciello or Mrs.Campbell

School Photos are scheduled for Friday 12th March with John Ansell Photography so polish those shoes and book in that haircut!

This week individual photo forms were sent home with each child, with family photo forms attached to the eldest child's photo envelope.

Even though Photo Day is a Friday we ask that all children come to school in their FULL SUMMER UNIFORM.

We ask for your support in ensuring your child is in the correct uniform, including school shoes.  Please make use of the Uniform Shop during the week if you require any items.

If you have any difficulties please contact Mr.Cooper or Mrs.Campbell.

On Tuesday 16th March we have organised for the whole school to visit the Latrobe Regional Gallery in Morwell.  We are thrilled that Latrobe City were able to reschedule the Da Vinci Machines exhibition that was initially planned to arrive in April 2020 to build on the content covered in Art and Italian last year prior to Remote Learning.  This week we had some staff attend a teacher professional development tour at the Gallery and we are looking forward to taking the children over.

The exhibition asks us to 'step inside the mind of the world's most famous artist and inventor' providing models and replicas of Leonardo's works.

The mental health benefits of having children actively involved in their local community are well known, as well as added health advantages of being involved in physical activity.  

We are extremely fortunate in Churchill with the collaboration of the different sport and recreation groups to operate under the banner of Active Kids Churchill.  If I had a magical wand it would be to do a magical swish to have every family involved in at least one of these groups, if not multiple connections.

I have personally experienced and interacted with many of these groups and clubs and cannot speak more highly of them.  If you would like further information please reach out to me or follow 'Active Kids Churchill' on Facebook as they regularly post updates and information from all the great clubs in Churchill.

Do your children a tremendous favour and get them involved and active ..... and I'm sure the parents and extended families would enjoy the social engagement that happens along the way.

Be a Blue Devil, Brave, Cobra, Cougar, Ram, Tennis or Hockey star this year!