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Term 2, Week 4
Coming up this week
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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
Before school every morning for our staff, we gather together and begin each day with a short devotion. This week we have heard from different staff members about the importance of showing gratitude, even for the simple things in life. Some of those little things could be:
– Enjoying the view on the way to school – the Autumn colours are beautiful!
– Getting a friendly wave from the crossing man at the school zone near Kildare
– Getting Wordle in three lines (or less)
– Having a coffee and a laugh with a friend
– Putting a smile on the face on an elderly person (I am so grateful for our first visit to Caloola Centre!)
– Riding on the mini train at the Botanic Gardens
– Taking in the sunset
– Sitting in front of a fire
Happiness and gratitude have been studied in positive psychology for many years and researchers have found that gratitude is always strongly associated with happiness.
In my family, whenever we sit down together at the table for dinner we try to do a ‘Top 3’ things of the day. Two things that we’re grateful for on that day and one person we’re grateful for and why. We all enjoy taking the time to reflect and hear from each other as we practice gratitude.
There truly are so many things to be grateful for. On our school website, there is a great resource called School TV. It can be found under the Wellbeing tab and under Family wellbeing. The following link will take you to a short video (1.46minutes) called How do you bring more gratitude into your family’s life? I encourage you to take the time to listen to this short video, but also to explore what else is available to you through this resource.
Blessings for the week ahead.
Hollie Kinning
Principal
From The DEPUTY Principal
Year 3 Bible presentation
Last Friday 16th May the Year 3 students were presented with their bibles by members of Bethlehem Lutheran Church. A big thank you to the church for helping with the presentation and purchase of these Bibles.
National Simultaneous Storytime
Today our students gathered to participate in the 25th Anniversary of National Simultaneous Storytime. Every year a picture book, written and illustrated by an Australian author and illustrator, is read simultaneously in schools around Australia and New Zealand.
This year’s featured book was The Truck Cat by Deborah Frenkel, a touching story about family, belonging, and connection. It follows Tinka, a truck cat, and his human, Yacoub, as they travel across a new country in search of home. The story encouraged students to reflect on identity and community, sparking age-appropriate discussions around inclusion, cultural identity, and the meaning of home.
SRC Fundraiser
On Friday the 13th June the SRC will be holding a Hot Chocolate and Beanie Day for Ronald McDonald House. A $2 donation will allow each student to wear a beanie and receive a drink of Milo at lunchtime (3-6) and at afternoon tea (K-2).
In the spirit of sustainability, we encourage you to bring a reusable cup (non-glass, please) to enjoy a hot drink. A limited number of paper cups will also be available.
Students not feeling well
Just a reminder if your child is feeling unwell and displaying cold/flu like symptoms can you please ensure they stay at home until they start to feel better. It is so important that we all do our part in ensuring we keep our school community fit and healthy. Thank you for your cooperation with this.
Uniform
Please note that Winter Uniform is now in place.
Our school gardens are growing, and we need your help!
Do you have horses or chickens from which our gardens can benefit from your excess mulch/compost? We are currently seeking donations of mulch, horse/chicken manure, or compost to enrich our soil and support healthy plant growth. Please call the office and leave a message for Mr Peck.
Emma Davenport
Deputy Principal
Stage In The Spotlight
Stage 1
Learning to Tell the Time in Year One
In Year One, we are learning to read both analog and digital clocks to the hour and half past. Students are exploring how the shorthand shows the hour and the long hand points to 12 for o’clock or 6 for half past, while also recognising digital times like 3:00 and 2:30. Fun hands-on activities and games are helping to build confidence as they learn this important life skill.
Report Writing in Year Two
This term, our Year 2 students have been excitedly exploring report writing, with a recent focus on Australian animals. Over the past couple of weeks, they’ve researched and written fantastic reports on koalas, dingoes, and this week, kangaroos! Along the way, they’ve discovered how to classify animals, describe their features, explain where they live and what they eat—learning the meaning of big scientific words like herbivore and carnivore—and share some truly fascinating facts. Students have been building their skills in researching, planning, and turning their ideas into well-structured paragraphs. It’s been wonderful to see their curiosity and confidence grow with each report!
Values Focus
In the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is speaking with his disciples when he turns to them and asks, “Who do you say I am?”
If I were to ask you that same question “who do you think Jesus is?” how would you respond? Is Jesus a healer, a helper, a teacher, or a leader? Is he a friend, a prophet, a role model, or God?
This term, we’re exploring stories about Jesus to help us understand who he is, and who we are called to be.
In the first week of term, we heard the story of Jesus’ baptism, where we are told that Jesus is beloved by God, reminding us that we, too, are loved by God just as we are. Last week, we listened to a story of Jesus helping others and reflected on how we might be called to help people in our own lives. This week, we heard the story of Zacchaeus and were reminded that even when we make mistakes, we always have the chance to make things right, and, like Jesus, we can choose to show kindness and forgiveness to others.
When we begin to think of Jesus as a “friend,” we try to follow his example – by being kind, listening to others in their times of need, and loving people even when they feel unlovable.
Maybe this term, you could ask one another around the dinner table: “Who do you think Jesus is?” And perhaps you might also explore together how you can show more love, kindness, and patience to each other at home, school and work.
Shalom
Darren Wright
Curriculum Matters
Teacher Professional Learning
This year, our teaching staff are actively engaging in whole school professional learning focused on writing instruction, with a strong commitment to developing a consistent and cohesive approach across all year levels. This journey started at the foundational level, with a clear emphasis on understanding what constitutes a sentence. Teachers explored the different types of sentences and how to construct them accurately, ensuring that students build a solid understanding of sentence structure from the outset. By aligning our teaching practices and language around writing, we are creating a shared framework that supports student progress and continuity in learning as they move through the school.
Here is Year 3 putting our work into action!
Maths Olympiad
We are excited to introduce our 2025 Maths Olympiad team! This year our team includes Liam Bruce, Harry Antrim, Charlie Forsyth, Reena Cheung, Erik Stone, Angus Fennell, Amelia Gooden, Derrick Daniel, Quinnzaarra Sankar, Abel Pothen Thomas, Carlos Wang, Kingsley Cheung and Finn McKee. This group of dedicated and talented mathematicians are set to compete in this year’s competition. Over the coming weeks, they will take on four challenging events, testing their problem-solving skills against students from schools across Australia and New Zealand.
SpellMaster
This week our annual Spellmaster competition will begin with Round 1 taking place in all 2 to 6 classrooms. The next rounds will occur over the coming weeks with the grand final being held on Friday 13th June in the Chapel.
ICAS Assessments
A reminder that Lutheran School will again be participating in the ICAS assessments. Students in Year 2 to Year 6 are eligible to participate in these tests. ICAS will take place in Term 3 and are now available for purchase via the ICAS Parent Portal.
Your school access code is: HZC023
Your parent page link is: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/parent-payment/HZC023
Please be aware that all ICAS assessments at Lutheran School will take place before regular school hours. All students participating in these tests will need to be able to arrive at school by 7.50am to begin the assessments by 8.00am.
Premier’s Reading Challenge
Congratulations to our 6 students who have already completed this year’s Premier’s Reading Challenge. Well done Jonah Keyes, Shanvi Garlapati, Leah Jeong, Fareeha Ayeni, Hugh Lindley and Anaya Singla. What a great achievement!
What is the NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge?
The PRC is a state-wide challenge that encourages students to develop a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students and enables them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition, but a challenge to encourage each student to read, to read more, and to read more widely.
All students who complete the challenge and have their reading record validated by the school’s PRC coordinator will receive a certificate signed by the Premier of NSW.
How many books do students need to read?
Students in Kindergarten to Year 2 are challenged to read or experience 30 books. 20 of these books must be from the relevant Challenge booklists, and up to 10 books can be personal choice books. Books can be read with a parent, carer, teacher or another student.
Students in Year 3 to Year 6 are challenged to read 20 books. At least 10 of these books must be from the relevant Challenge booklists, and up to 10 books can be personal choice books.
If a book is from an approved PRC series, students can enter up to 5 books as Challenge books and can read up to 10 other books from the same series as Personal Choice books. More information on the rules of the Challenge can be found at https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html.
How do students log their reading?
Students can access the PRC’s Student Experience site using their PRC username and password. All login information was sent home to all students in last term. Please contact your class teacher if there are any problems logging into the site.
Jane Antrim
Learning Innovation Coordinator
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P&F News
A message from Ketura –
The Mother’s Day stall was a great success and we hope you all enjoyed the gifts and had a relaxing day. Each class displayed such wonderful manners.
It could not have happened without our parent volunteers. Thank you very much to Tori Phillips, Lisa Price, Jenna Lamont, Sarah Gregor, Emma Bruckner, Elyce Lyons, Nakita Saxon and Alice Jack.
Next meeting
Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday, 17 June 2025 at 7pm in the staffroom.
We would love to see as many parents and carers as possible. If you cannot attend in person, please feel free to join in via zoom. A link will be distributed in the next newsletter.
Jodie Graham
P&F Chair
From The Sports Desk
Riverina Schools Orienteering Day
The Riverina Schools Orienteering Day was held on Tuesday 13 May at the Botanic Gardens. There were 130 students from local primary schools competing against one another in individual and relay events. Our students performed extremely well with many orienteering competitively for the first time.
A big thank you to Briohny Seaman and the Wagga Orienteering volunteers for coordinating this event. Thank you to Mrs Nicole Wadley, Miss Georgia Tilyard, Mrs Renee McLachlan and our parent spectators for managing our team and supporting the students. It was great to see the students having fun, developing their orienteering skills, and encouraging one another throughout the day.
Soccer Gala Day
In Week 3 our Year 3 and Year 5 students participated in the Mini Matildas and Mini Socceroos Gala Days at Rawlings Park. We entered four Year 5 teams and six Year 3 teams in this modified event. Our teams played 4 x 30-minute games against schools from Wagga and surrounding towns. The students demonstrated impressive skills, terrific teamwork and fantastic sportsmanship. A big thank you to Liam Dedini for organising this event, the staff who assisted throughout the week and our parent spectators for your support.
Girls AFL
On Friday the 9th of May, the stage 3 girls team competed at Jubilee Park in the Girls AFL non-competitive pool for Paul Kelly cup. It was a beautiful day spent in the sunshine and completed the day with 4 from 4 wins. The girls demonstrated impressive sportsmanship and developed their skills immensely across the day. There was incredible talent shown across the field, and many large or small successes were celebrated. The girls thoroughly enjoyed the day and had plenty of fun, off and on the field.
Paul Kelly Cup Gala Day – AFL
On Friday 9 May our Stage 3 AFL teams participated in the Paul Kelly Cup Gala Day at Jubilee Park. We entered one boys’ team in the competitive draw and one girls’ team in the non-competitive draw.
Our boys started the day well, defeating both St Joseph’s and TRAC. Unfortunately, we were defeated by Henschke and missed qualifying for the finals. Jordan Tracey was a strong competitor all day, while our captain Charlie Forsyth led the team well.
Our girls team had an amazing day, winning 4/4 games. The girls recorded wins against Turvey Park, Forest Hill, Mater Dei and St Marys. Matilda Mercer was voted best player for her impressive skills in the ruck.
Our students are to be commended on their tremendous sportsmanship towards the opposition and umpires throughout the day. A big thank you to Mr Cal Gardner and Miss Georgia Tilyard for coaching our teams and our parent spectators for their support.
Rugby Union 10’s Championship
Our Stage 2 and 3 Rugby Union teams recently competed at the SIRU Rugby 10’s day here in Wagga. Both teams enjoyed great success on the day and as a result have both qualified for the finals to be held in Canberra at the end of the month.
Our Stage 2 team won each of their pool games to qualify top of their group for the finals. This was made all the more impressive by the fact that they did not have any points scored against them. In the Semi-Final they had a comprehensive victory over Griffith North by three tries to one. Unfortunately in the Grand Final, our Stage 2 team went down to Mater Dei by two tries. The boys should be extremely proud of the effort they applied throughout the day.
Our Stage 3 boys also went through their pool matches undefeated scoring an impressive twelve tries across three games. In their Semi-Final, they had a hard-fought battle against Murrumburrah and ultimately won their way through to the Grand-Final against Temora. Here, the boys went behind to an early Temora try but worked hard as a team and came back to score the next two tries to win the Stage 3 event.
A huge thank you to the parents coaches, Mick Davis & Tim Sheather, for their efforts managing and coaching the boys on the day. We wish both teams the very best for their upcoming matches in Canberra on the 30th.
Caroline Stewart
PE Teacher/Sports Coordinator
WELLBEING
DIGITAL DRAMAS ....Managing Screen Time
Screens are a big part of modern life, and young children are growing up surrounded by them. While technology can be fun and even educational, too much screen time can affect a child’s development, behaviour, and overall well-being.
Research (some links attached) shows that too much time on screens can lead to problems like shorter attention spans, restlessness, sleeplessness and difficulty managing emotions. Fast-moving apps and videos can overstimulate young brains, making it harder for kids to focus on everyday tasks. Screens also trigger the brain’s reward system (dopamine), making children want to keep coming back for more, sometimes at the expense of creative play and sleep.
Screen time can also interfere with learning social and emotional skills. Face-to-face interactions help children learn empathy, cooperation, and communication—skills they can’t fully develop through digital interactions. Too much screen use, especially near bedtime, can disrupt sleep and lead to mood swings or irritability.
As parents and caregivers, we can help by setting healthy boundaries. Creating screen-free times (like during meals or before bed) and screen-free zones (such as bedrooms) encourages better habits. It’s also helpful to model healthy screen use and offer fun, non-digital activities like outdoor play, reading, or crafts and catching up with friends.
Joining in your child’s screen time—watching shows or playing games together—can turn it into a learning opportunity and a chance to talk about what they see. With a balanced approach, children can enjoy the benefits of technology while still growing, learning, and connecting in meaningful ways.
In addition, you may have heard that in NSW, there is a new mandate that social media platforms restrict access to social media to users under the age of 16 years. The aim is to protect young people from potential harm, but also to provide support to parents.
We urge you to look at the below self-imposed restrictions required, and act in the best interests of your child.
Social App/Game | Age Limit | Notes |
13 years | 14+ and 18+ content restrictions, age verification by uploading an ID | |
13 years | age verification by entering your birthday | |
YouTube | 13 years | 18+ content restrictions and age verification, you may be asked to verify your age with an ID or credit card in the EU, EEA, Switzerland, the UK, and Australia |
13 years | 18+ age verification by uploading ID, recording a selfie, or asking mutual friends | |
TikTok | 13 years | facial age estimation by a third party or a selfie with an ID |
Snapchat | 13 years | age verification by entering your birthday |
X | 13 years | age verification by entering your birthday, ID verification for Premium users to get the “Verified” label |
13 years | age verification by entering your birthday, changing your age to 18+ requires uploading a birth certificate or ID | |
Minecraft | 7 years |
|
Fortnite | 12 years |
|
Overwatch 2 | 12 years |
|
Roblox | 9+ years | 13+ years for more mature content |
Lutheran Legends Awards
Congratulations to the students that received Lutheran Legends Awards at last Friday’s assembly.
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.
