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Term 3, Week 3
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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
Appreciation of Parent Partnerships: Communication through "seasons"
It wasn’t until I was older that I connected the words of the The Byrds’ song “Turn! Turn! Turn!” with the Bible text of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8:
For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance… a time to keep silence, and a time to speak…
As partners with you in the education of our young people, we acknowledge that we are partnering through various “seasons” of life. Children mourn changes in friendships. They break down at times – this is normal. Our school-parent partnership is strongest when we speak with one another about the struggles we see in children so that we can support them together.
How we can partner
The laughter and dancing of our students is fun to see. But what about the times that we see them mourning, weeping of in the silence of withdrawal? It’s hard to watch. We can’t always take away their pain.
Through these natural “seasons” of childhood struggles, our partnership with you means we don’t want you to get to a point of frustration. When we know that a child might come home upset, teachers will reach out to let you know. We ask that, in return, you let us know if your child comes home upset – it might have slipped past us. If it did, we want to know about it. Really.
Even if something seems little, we want to know about it so that the problem stays small and the sadness quickly returns to joy. A common example of partnership is when parents inform us that their child is upset about being called a name at school. We appreciate parents’ efforts of letting us know. Not only do we move on it quickly, we ensure that the mean comment is not replicated with the same student or with other students. We help the student who said something unkind understand how the words can affect someone’s belief about themselves – it becomes a learning experience for the student (with the understanding of the consequences if the behaviour were repeated as per our Behaviour Learning Policy). We regularly check in with the person who was harmed to ensure the actions haven’t been repeated and that they feel safe at school. The parent communication about a seemingly small incident helps us keep the name-calling from becoming ongoing and targeted (which we then define as ‘bullying’).
Partnering through seasons
We partner together by letting one another know about smaller incidents. We also partner when we know about incidents that are longer-term for children:
- death of a pet, grandparent or other loved one
- worrying that something is “wrong” with them if their brains work differently than others (they are just as smart if not smarter!) or if they have other struggles that they don’t see in others
- changing friendships – which are natural throughout a school year
Should your child or children be experiencing some of these longer-term “seasons” of grief or anxiety, please reach out to your child’s teacher or to our Wellbeing Coordinator. In this way, the words of our Mission Statement come to life.
Janet Moeller
Principal
From The DEPUTY Principal
Book Parade
A reminder for you to save the date for our Book Parade Day on Tuesday 22 August at 12pm in the Chapel. Each grade will dress up following a book theme. Your class teachers will let you what your theme will be. I am looking forward to seeing a range of book character dress-ups. If you need dress-up ideas or support please message your teacher.
Social Emotional Learning focus: How to be an upstander
The attached link is from the eSafety Commissioner website and is an excellent read, giving students and parents advice about calling out poor online behaviour.
In short they advise that the student should try the following:
- Reach out to the person being bullied or abused
- Call out the bad stuff online
- Say something to the person being mean
- Call in other support
When something has happened
Below is a scenario about an online incident that has occurred. Maybe share it with your child and see what suggestions they come up with to deal with the online issue.
A player from a rival team shared a meme of my friend missing a goal and they’re telling others to leave nasty comments. How can I help?’
How do their ideas compare with the suggestions here: https://www.esafety.gov.au/young-people/be-an-upstander?
Dylan Evans
Deputy Principal
Values Focus
Over the course of the first part of the term we’ll be hearing the story of the “Sermon on the Mount” from the Gospel of Matthew, giving space to hear the beatitudes and wondering what they might be inviting us to consider. This week we were invited to ponder the words
Blessed are those who mourn
When I hear these words, I’m reminded that “to mourn” something means you care for it deeply, you love it. Dave Andrews suggests that this line could be read as “Blessed are those who grieve over the injustice in the world,” inviting me to ponder the things that I care deeply about, whether they be my family, the environment, the world, poverty or hunger. The things that we care about are often the same things that really motivate us. Perhaps this week your household might be able to enter into conversation about the things that you each care deeply about, and find some small way to live out that passion, that concern together.
Shalom
Darren Wright
Blank Section
P&F News
Father’s Day stall
Father’s Day is fast approaching!
The much loved opportunity for children to choose something for their fathers returns on Wednesday 30 August.
There will be $5 and $10 presents for purchase on the day, so please send your children with money that day if they would like to partake.
In order to make this possible, if you have an hour or so to spare, we would love your support to help with the stall.
The stall with run between 9am – 2pm. Please email [email protected] if you are able to help.
From The Sports Desk
SNOWSPORTS CHAMPIONSHIP
Two weeks ago, LSWW sent a team of skiers to the Southern NSW/ACT Snowsports Championships at Perisher. This team consisted of Euan Nicholas (KM), Cara Metcalfe (2B), Jack Nicholas (2S), Brodie Metcalfe (3W), Charlie Ward (5R), Max Gaynor & Callum Metcalfe (5T) and Charlotte Croker (6G).
They competed across the disciplines of Alpine, Skier X and Moguls. Against some tough competition from some schools across the state, our students all recorded times and results that they should be extremely proud of.
Subsequently, Jack Nicholas, Euan Nicholas and Cara Metcalfe have each been invited to attend the upcoming combined NSW/ACT/QLD State titles in three weeks’ time.
A huge thank you to Naomi Stuart for coordinating the team whilst away. Congratulations to all of our competitors and best of luck to our students attending the upcoming state titles.
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.
