Clare's message........
Good afternoon Families and WELCOME to Term 3.
What a lovely two week break it has been. Winter is being generally kind with more chilly mornings but lots of sunny days to enjoy. It is great to be back here at St Luke's with children who have obviously enjoyed slower days, sleep-ins and time to recharge the batteries. Their joy at being back with friends, getting back into learning and their favourite Specialist classes is always lovely to see. Thanks for looking after them for us!
Over the school break, l read an article about The Mothers' Call for Peace which is a global grassroots movement uniting Palestinian and Israeli mothers demanding an end to violence and the formal inclusion of women in peace negotiations. Spearheaded by Women of the Sun (Palestine) and Women Wage Peace (Israel), the movement champions the principle that no child should be killed or raised to kill. In such uncertain times, this beautiful bipartisan connection between women can have a powerful impact. I encourage all families to give thought to and pray for a resolution not only in Israel but in other regions of the world that face this unthinkable reality.
Yesterday, we had a very exciting day in the Junior School with a film crew, 'Frame for Change' come in to record a promotional video for Bendigo Bank- or Community Bank, Blackburn South who is sponsoring our Story Dog program here at St Luke's. Claudia and her crew recorded Margaret Gearon reading a story to the children as Cammie, the dog, listened in too. Later, some children read individually to Cammie and l would have to say, he listened beautifully. Not only does the Community Bank sponsor this wonderful voluntary program, it is also one of our major sponsors for the school fete. It's mission is to have local people in the Blackburn area invest their money with them so they can give back locally through community programs and initiatives.
Well, we're getting very excited here... our annual Grandparents Day & Special Friends is coming up. Next Friday, 24th July to be exact. Please make sure you invite Grandparents and Special friends to come along. We'll start with a prayer liturgy in the hall followed by a visit to classrooms and finally a scrumptious morning tea back in the hall. Parents and toddlers are most welcome to.
Please keep in your prayers our Year 4 children who are preparing for the Sacrament of First Eucharist. This is a wonderful milestone in their faith journey and we pray that receiving Jesus in the eucharist will help sustain them throughout their lives. This coming Tuesday, 21st July at 7 pm, the candidates will gather with their parents for a Family Workshop Evening. We ask all candidates to attend please. The Sacrament of First Eucharist will be celebrated on Saturday 1st August at 5 pm. Everyone is welcome to attend this parish mass.
This term Emily Chlebica will be taking Long Service Leave along with Nina Grieve. I wish them well as they venture away and hope that precious time spent with their families will create many wonderful forever memories.
Our move to the nForma platform continues to evolve and last term, the school communicated an important upgrade that will directly affect parents interaction with it. Please go to the Bits n Bobs page to see what you need to do to download nForma Connect and be fully up to date with our communications platform.
A reminder that we have a Pupil Free Day on Monday 27th July. The focus of our staff Professional Learning will be Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL). Please note, MACSEYE is offering services on this day, but will require a minimum of 10 children to attend in order for the program to run. Please register early.
I hope the first week back has gone well for your child and for you. Have a lovely weekend enjoying our beautiful Melbourne winter sunshine. Go Hawks!
Clare