Good afternoon Families,

I thought l would do it simply today and leave you with my message of welcome at this morning's Welcome Mass. Thank you to those who made it to celebrate the wonderful community of faith filled learners and families we have here at St Luke's. We missed those who couldn't make it. This year, we look forward to building our community; make sure you don't miss out on any opportunities to do so. I know l am all the richer and feel so grateful every day for being embraced by the people- young and old- here within our beautiful parish- school community.

Good morning everyone.

May your day be one of peace and grace for you. Pope Leo XIV has declared this year a Special Jubilee Year of St. Francis. Additionally, the 2026 World Day of Peace theme is "Peace be with you all: Towards an 'unarmed and disarming' peace". What a beautiful sentiment it is to wish each other peace; one that goes back to the New Testament with the Judaic word, Shalom. Welcome back to the school year. We are thrilled so many can join us today as we gather together for the first time as a community, to give thanks to our loving God for our richest blessing… our children.Thank you to our parishioners who so generously embrace us when we join them for mass and to our families who are here to share in this morning’s liturgy.

This year, our Lukan theme is, We are companions on the journey. If we truly embrace this as a school community, as family and in our own individual way, imagine the sense of belonging, acceptance, empathy and joy WE will grow this year. I ask that you talk to your child and as a family to ensure each day you take an opportunity to be a companion to each other and in doing so, bring a sense of joy to those around you. Thank you to Desi and Natasha, two of our Year 6 children for creating a most beautiful visual representation of being companions; we are lucky to have such talent amongst our children.

Today is about welcome and community. It’s about celebrating our three main pillars that, l believe, provide a sound foundation for who we are and how we do things here at St Luke’s. In the past two weeks we have welcomed many new families to our community and children to Prep. We also have welcomed Zoe Bolge, Michelle Boyce and Gen Underhill to our staff team, along with Steph Pierce to the Junior School teaching team. We know they are already known and loved by the staff and peers here at St Luke’s. With these new families, we all make strong connections with each other through the diverse personal stories we share. This helps us bring such richness to ensure our learning is dynamic and engaging.

I would also like to acknowledge and thank our members of the 2026 School Advisory Council with Clinton Connane as Chair this year as well as Dani Fusca and the Parents and Friends Association who are already busy for the year ahead.

After mass today, families, parishioners and our Year 6 children are invited to share some morning tea in our Discovery Centre. Please join us as a way of us being hospitable to you. We hope to do this after each whole school mass.

Have a wonderful weekend ahead and we can't wait to see you next week.

Clare

The Lukan Loop

Known and Loved, Dynamic and Engaging, Connected through Diversity

Issue 1 · 06 Feb 2026

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