Principal's News
Journeying Together in Christ
It is great to be back for the final school term. I bet some parents can't believe their little one is near the end of Foundation or the end of their Primary school experience in Year 6. We want to share in a positive end to the year, and the children know what this means. An old saying, treat others how you would like to be treated'. This means, be good and kind to each other.
If any parents are unsure of something, you have a number of avenues depending on the question. E.g. Your child's teacher is usually the first call, followed by the office staff or a member of the leadership team. An email asking to meet is the start of the conversation.
Our new school flagpoles look superb.
Celebrating St Luke’s Feast Day – Saturday 18th October
Tomorrow, we celebrate the Feast Day of St Luke, a moment that invites us to reflect on the story of our school and the spirit that continues to guide us.
As we honour St Luke — the patron saint of artists, physicians, and historians — we also honour the visionaries who laid the foundations of our school. Those who were involved in the purchase of this land and lived through the early days of construction would surely be proud of how far St Luke’s has come. From its humble beginnings to the thriving, faith-filled learning community we are today, their legacy lives on in every classroom, every student, and every act of kindness.
St Luke’s Feast Day reminds us of the importance of compassion, creativity, and service — values that are deeply woven into the fabric of our school. May we continue to grow in faith and purpose, inspired by the example of St Luke and the dedication of those who came before us.
Wishing all members of our community a joyful and meaningful Feast Day.
The BOOK FAIR is done for another year. Thankyou Mrs Keenan and her team of helpers for coordinating and celebrating READING!
Less Screen Time
The media reports regarding less 'screen time' in Victorian Government schools was communicated on Thursday. In the Sandhurst diocese we implemented this at the start of the year. We are seeing the benefits of a rigorous curriculum with less reliance on laptops. KEY achievements for all our schools this year include:
- all CESL staff participated in a three-day professional learning experience with Dr Jared Cooney Horvath on Science of Learning.
- Over 500 staff trained and implementing our whole-of-system structured systemic synthetic phonics program (and the results we share soon are very positive already!)
- knowledge rich, low variance curriculum in Mathematics and English (OCHRE and MultiLit)
- implementation of a consistent and robust Source of Life Religious Education Program
- training and implementation of Classroom Mastery
- Instructional coaching is underway
School Improvement Review
We have visitors Tuesday to Friday next week. The school review by ACER is three days followed by our Catholic Identity Review on Friday. They will talk to our Year 6 leaders and students as they walk through the classrooms. The children should be used to this. We've had visitors from MultiLit, Classroom Mastery and CESL staff this year.
Principal Announcement
I communicated last term via an email (letter from the Executive Director) and in the previous newsletter that my last day will be Friday 31st October. I will be joining St Joseph's Benalla from Monday 3 November. Jen McKillop will be the Principal of St Luke's from Monday 3 November.
REMINDER:
Change in Morning Supervision Time
The gates are opened at 8:30am. We now have the option available for before school care from 7:00am-9:00am. Please contact Uniting for information and costs.
CARPARK
Please be SAFE by using the pedestrian crossings and watching your children as they enter and exit your vehicle. Please DO NOT stop on the road and let children get out or run to the car and jump in. You need to park and stop before your child leaves the supervised area.
ENROLMENTS 2026
If you are leaving St Luke's for any reason, please let the office know. It helps with planning for 2026.
If existing families have someone starting school in 2026 and have not enrolled their child, please ask the office staff for an application pack. We have started interviews. These should not be a stressful time. It helps us with planning for their orientation days and 2026.
Upcoming BUNNINGS BBQ helpers required
Saturday 1st November
Uniform
Keep encouraging your children to look after their uniform as lost property is growing.
Hats are very important. We will continue to remind the children to wear them.
Until next and another great week of learning.
David Keenan
(Principal)