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Term 1, Week 9
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MISSION STATEMENT
To work under God in partnership with parents to provide an inclusive, nurturing and high quality education for every student.
VIsion
Flourishing through faith, belonging and the pursuit of excellence.
From The Principal
Introducing InspirED, a cooperation of Lutheran schools in the Riverina
Lutheran School Wagga Wagga is one of 85 schools and early learning centres across Australia. It is easy to forget that in a regional area such as Wagga.
Whether you attend a Lutheran School here or elsewhere in Australia, you see the same values in action as well as a strong focus on our core business of educational excellence.
Why InspirED?
Historically, the Lutheran Schools in the Riverina (St Pauls Walla Walla, St Pauls Henty, St Johns Jindera and LSWW) have cooperated, meaning we helped one another when needs arose and sharing drafts of policies that we could then contextualise to our various locations.
Since 2021, leaders from our Riverina schools have explored ways that we could collaborate, rather than just cooperate. Our question was this: How might we better work together to even further demonstrate our Lutheran Christian heritage, values and goals? In 2022, a Memorandum of Understanding was developed to launch InspirED. The NSW Riverina schools have worked together on Professional Development, continuing to build academically rigorous, wellbeing-focused Contemporary Learning environments. We partner with regional office (LEVNT) leaders for Spiritual Retreats and other events that align all staff with understanding and teaching of our Lutheran Christian heritage.
The pillars of InspirED
InspirED was officially launched during the 75th Anniversary of St Pauls Walla Walla. At the launch event, we shared our five pillars:
- A seamless P-12 Lutheran education in the Riverina: InspirED is a community of four Riverina-based Lutheran schools providing a seamless educational experience from Pre-school to Year 12. InspirED families can expect a consistent approach underpinned by Lutheran values and a shared understanding of purpose and educational excellence.
- Caring, committed and child-centred: At InspirED schools, we consider the whole person and appreciate each student’s individuality, circumstance, contributions and challenges. We define educational excellence in terms of the support we provide the individual student to be at their best in terms of wellbeing, belonging and community connectedness, and exploring and reaching their academic and personal potential, whatever that may be.
- A safe space for students to grow: We provide a comfortable, positive and safe space for our students to learn and grow as people and lifelong learners in an environment that values diversity, acceptance and inclusivity. We believe that building a strong sense of community makes our schools places of belonging, which benefits everyone.
- Innovative learning and teaching for life beyond the classroom: At InspirED schools, our students learn to learn. Our well-qualified staff value lifelong learning and invest in their own development as well as the development of their students. Our innovative, engaging and rich curriculum challenges students while equipping them to make a positive and meaningful contribution to society. While we value academic excellence, our focus is bigger than the classroom. For us, it’s about expanding minds and possibilities.
- Stronger together: InspirED schools benefit from interdependence. We are a resource to each other. As a community, we are stronger than the sum of our individual parts. Just as our schools are stronger together, we instil in our students and families the understanding that they are part of something larger than themselves.
We hope you are seeing those five pillars at Lutheran School Wagga Wagga as we continue to work toward our mission and vision.
Janet Moeller
Principal
From The DEPUTY Principal
Easter Hat Parade
The K-2 Easter Hat Parade will take place on Monday 3rd April at 12pm in the undercover area. Parents and friends of the school are invited to attend and watch the students parade to music.
I am looking forward to looking at the great array of Easter hat designs the children will be wearing.
There might even be a special visit from someone ……… watch this space!
Thank you to Mrs Forsyth for her organisation of this event. I know the K-2 students are looking forward to it.
Student led conferences
Just a reminder that 3T student led conferences take place this Thursday and Friday.
The rest of the classes will have the student led conferences next Wednesday after school and Thursday morning. This is an opportunity for your child to talk to you about their learning this term and identify some goals in their social, emotional and academic learning for next term.
Just a reminder that Thursday 6th April is a pupil free day while student led conferences are being held.
Uniform change
Please note that we change from summer to winter uniforms between Terms 1 and 2. This week until the end of Week 2 of Term 2 (5 May), students may choose to wear either their full summer uniform or their full winter uniform. We ask, however that the uniforms not be mixed-and-matched. The choice of uniform reflects our knowledge of the unpredictable temperatures at this time of year.
I hope everyone has an enjoyable Easter break and gets to spend some quality time with their family.
Students return next term on Wednesday 26 April.
Dylan Evans
Deputy Principal
Values Focus
In the Bluey episode “Copycat” (Season 1, Episode 38) Bluey and Bandit find an injured bird and take it to the vet. Unfortunately, the vet couldn’t save the bird and it dies.
When Bluey arrives home she engages with the death of the bird with her sister and mum through imaginative play. Bingo plays the part of the injured bird, Bluey the part of her father and Chilli the part of the vet and we watch her perform the day’s events from her memory.
When the vet comes out to deliver the news, Chilli understandably wants to change the story, to protect her child from the grief, telling her the bird will be ok. Bluey, wanting to confront the death and her feelings tells her mum that this isn’t how she wants the game to be played out and insists that she tell her the bird died.
At the centre of the Easter experience is the death of Jesus. It’s a hard story that invites tough questions, it gives space to talk about death, grief, loss and pain.
Death and grief aren’t things we face only on Good Friday, and sometimes, much like Chilli, we adults often want to rewrite the story, jump over the awkwardness, the grief and the hard questions associated with the story of Easter and land immediately on the story of the resurrection.
As adults we underestimate the resilience of our kids far too often. Perhaps Easter can give us, as a community, as parents and carers, a time to not sugar coat the story and instead play and pray through our sadness together.
Much like in the episode of Bluey our children will imitate us; if we avoid confronting grief and loss and sharing our feelings they may learn to do that too.
Some questions that could help you, and your family talk through the story of Jesus’ death together:
• When are you sad or scared, what do people say or do to comfort you?
• Do you have a story of someone who you miss that you would like to remember together?
• Write a note or draw a picture for someone who is sad, what colours do you use to show sadness?
• If you had been in the crowd on the day of Jesus’ death, what do you think you would have seen and heard?
Curriculum Matters
As term one comes to an end, classroom teachers are looking forward to sharing your child’s valuable learning experiences in the Student-led Conference (SLC).
The Student-led Conference allows for your child to have a voice, a sense of responsibility and to gain a deeper understanding of themselves as a learner.
A Student-led conference is a conference wherein the students lead their parents/caregivers through a journey of their learning. It is a time when the teachers step aside and allow the students and parents to share a close educational experience together.
What are the benefits of Student Led Conferences (SLCs)?
- The SLC is an important opportunity for students to self-evaluate, reflect and monitor their own learning.
- The SLC engages families in richer, more transparent conversations about student progress.
- Students show parents what they know and are learning in school.
- Parents are exposed to materials and activities that students engaged in during the school day.
- Teachers can observe interactions, comment, offer suggestions, and model strategies.
- Students, parents, and the teacher are all active participants in the conference.
How can you be involved in the SLC?
Below is a list of questions that can be adapted that you may ask your child as you sit down and review his/her portfolio of work together:
- Why did you plot yourself here on the rubric?
- How much time did you devote to this learning experience?
- What would you say is your favourite/ least favourite subject?
- What do you enjoy the most/least about this subject?
- Do you participate in class discussions and activities?
- Is there something you wish your teacher knew about you?
- Do you work well with a partner? Are there times when you prefer to work alone?
- What strengths or weaknesses do you bring to group projects?
Who do you sit with at lunch? - Is there someone in your class that you wish you knew better
Conversation after the conference might start these ways:
- I am pleased to see your effort in…
- I am proud of your improvement in…
- I know you sometimes have difficulty with…, however… I would like you to focus on…
- I can help you by…
We look forward to catching up with you next week.
TERM 2 Curriculum Events
Spellmaster – Years 2 – 6
Maths Explorer – Stage 2
Emma Grant
Learning Innovation Coordinator
________________________________________________________
Dear Parents and Carers,
Well done to you all on getting through a very full term of school and extra curricular activities. We know that many of you (including the children) are very much looking forward to a sleep-in on Good Friday and a well-earned rest with family and friends.
As we know, screen time use with TV, gaming, digital tablets and smartphones tends to increase for our children in the holidays. The Australian Institute for Family Studies suggest no more than 2 hours of inactive recreational screen time per day for children aged between 5 and 17 years of age (school work not included). While this may seem difficult to manage, excessive screen use has been linked to adverse changes in behaviour (anxiety, attention, psychosocial health, hyperactivity, emotional health and self-esteem), weight and diet.
So what can we do when it is difficult to manage the time our children are on a screen? One suggestion is to move beyond the screen ‘time’ and focus on the screen ‘quality’ through engaging with your child in what they are watching. The idea is to use what the children are doing as a talking point; for example, if a child was watching ‘Bluey’ episodes, you may ask them ‘What did you notice?’, ‘What did you find interesting?’ and possibly even use TV to teach children how to be critical of what they are watching (i.e. if violence is a common theme in a show, maybe there is a better way to sort an argument).
Selecting the content and making an active choice in what your children are watching may enable you to support their learning to help them grow and develop their skills. Of course, not all screen time needs to be educational; but if we do make a conscious choice to promote quality shows or games (e.g. Bluey is good at promoting emotional well-being and self-regulation and Nintendo Mario can be good for developing fine motor skills), we can limit the ‘mind numbing’ screen time in order to benefit children.
Below are some links to information that may be helpful in establishing routines around screen time and what you can do to set parental controls. And, if all else fails, change your WIFI password.
https://lpsww.nsw.schooltv.me/newsletter/managing-screen-time
https://www.schn.health.nsw.gov.au/fact-sheets/screen-time-and-children
We hope that you enjoy your Easter holiday break. Be kind, Be Safe. 😊
Sara Durning
Wellbeing Coordinator
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From The Sports Desk
NSWCIS Swimming Championships.
| Name(s) | Event | Time | Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| Liam Bruce | Junior 50m Breaststroke | 58.16 | 27th |
| 10 Years 50m Freestyle | 43.93 | 30th | |
| Ben Bull | Senior 50m Backstroke | 46.08 | 31st |
| Tom Bull, Liam Bruce, Charlie Forsyth & Huxley Simond | Junior 4 x 50m Freestyle Relay | 3:06.54 | 25th |
On Wednesday 22 March, the RAS Swimming Team travelled to Sydney for the New South Wales (NSW) Combined Independent Schools (CIS) Primary Swimming Championships.
Our school was represented by Tom Bull, Liam Bruce, Charlie Forsyth, Huxley Simond (Year 4) and Ben Bull (Year 6).
The boys performed very well, recording personal best (PB) times and placings. They are to be congratulated on their enthusiasm, dedication, sportsmanship and 2023 swimming achievements.
A big thank you to our parents for your transporting and supporting the boys in Sydney.
Caroline Stewart
PE Teacher/Sports Coordinator
OSHC
Over the last week at OSHC, we have taken advantage of the cooler weather and been able to spend some more time outside. The children have chosen boomerangs and Frisbees to decorate and then we have had lots of fun throwing them on the oval. Children collaborated with others as they shared ideas and created designs together. The students then showed respect and fairness as they took turns while doing these activities. This week we have also played lots of soccer, chess, marble runs, cricket, Jenga, handball and tennis.
This week as part of a sensory play activity, we spent the afternoon playing, molding and creating with play dough. Some children made characters with the play dough, some children made play dough cakes and biscuits and other children just spent the time rolling the play dough around and squishing the play dough through their fingers.
Term 1 has been a great term at OSHC and we look forward to more activities in the school holidays and term two.
Melanie Elmer
Other Information
Families leaving the school
Please note that one full term’s written notice is required if you are withdrawing your child from Lutheran School. We purchase learning materials based on projected enrolment numbers at least one term in advance. Hence, the enrolment contract you signed specifies that failure to provide a term’s notice will result in you being charged for the subsequent term.
Uniform Shop Orders
If you would like to purchase uniforms from the Uniform Shop, please email [email protected]
We will email you once the order is ready to be picked up from the office. Thank you.
