Head of Secondary School 2024

The LCS Board, along with Principal, Stuart Kent, are excited to share that Bonnie Armstrong has been appointed to Head of Secondary School. During her time as our current Acting Head of Middle School, she has proven her strong capabilities to lead, have vision, and guide teachers and students. Bonnie’s passion for Christian Education, care for student wellbeing, and her Christian witness are strengths that we know will benefit all of Secondary School as she leads the team.

Mrs Armstrong has been teaching for over 17 years, and some of her favourite things include sunshine, watching movies, chai lattes, quality time with friends, good food, jigsaw puzzles and travel.

"I strive to be a leader who is encouraging, present and relatable – someone who develops positive and meaningful relationships with staff, students and parents. I value good communication and love working as part of a team."

Congratulations: David Brown

Year 12 student, David, recently sat the International Earth Science Olympiad. We are excited to share with our community that of the three highly competitive exams/competition elements he received 2 Silver medals and a Bronze medal, positioning David in the top echelon of the competition. The National Australian team scored very highly throughout the competition too, and David shared with us that overall, the experience was great.

It was so great to welcome our previous Head of Science, Mrs Janette Boyle to our school yesterday, as she and David mentored our current Science and Engineering Challenge Team who are eagerly awaiting the National competition in Term 4.

Teacher Aide Appreciation Week

These photos show our Aides, Assistants, and Technicians enjoying a special moment of being blessed. They are so often the ones blessing others by their patient, varied, and gifted service to students. Reading these notes gave our TA's a chance to laugh, to be appreciated, to realise that students and staff in the school community notice and are incredibly grateful for their efforts. God has gifted each of these people uniquely to work in our school to support students, and we give thanks to Him for their presence at LCS.

1 Peter 4:10-11 "As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's grace... whoever serves, as one who serves by the strength that God supplies"

Book Week Parade

Our Junior School welcomed family and friends to our annual Book Week Parade. The audience were mesmerized, as our student's favourite characters came to life in unique and incredible ways.

A big thank you to our staff and parents, who go above and beyond to make this event memorable and meaningful to our students.

Guest Authors: Claire van Ryn and Sally Odgers

As we continue to celebrate Book Week, students were blessed to have guest authors Claire van Ryn and Sally Odgers visit our school and ignite inspiration in our own budding storytellers.

Claire van Ryn is part of our alumni and a parent of our school. She has recently published her first novel: The Secrets of the Huon Wren. Claire spoke to our Senior School students about her writing experience, her past as a journalist, and the process to publication. She shared how the process of developing the story in your mind is integral, and students enjoyed asking her questions surrounding her writing journey.

Sally Odgers visited Junior School students in our library and captivated the Year 6 audience as she shared her personal story and books with them. Growing up in Tassie on a dairy farm inspired many of her children's books. Sally has published a huge range of illustrated children's books, poems, and novels.

Thank you, Claire and Sally, for visiting LCS.

Library Spotlight

We would like to take you on a behind the scenes look at our library and share with you the wonderful things our library staff do for our school that enhance our student's love of reading. With a combined 25+ years of experience in this area, our LCS community is thankful to the Lord for the staff members who work in this area of our school.

Library Technician, Mrs Dykman, takes on the mammoth task of managing our library for all students in K-12. This includes assisting teachers with resources and managing the beautiful displays. She reads the texts before placing them on the shelves and takes special consideration in placing fiction in the right age-appropriate places.

Our Library Assistant, Miss Lambie, assists Mrs Dykman with many of the important and time-consuming tasks in our Library. She expertly covers and mends the books, and shelves new and returned items.

Junior School Library Teacher, Mrs Morgan, teaches each Junior School class every week. She organises and celebrates key events (such as Book of the Year) with our students and has a passion for helping them find books to read that they will love.

Thank you, library staff.

Year 3 and 4 Book Week Fun

Year 3 and 4 classes wrapped up the week with their annual Book Week Picnic. Students feasted on delicious book-themed food they had prepared and enjoyed flying kites, toasting marshmallows around the firepit, and playing games on the oval.

Students enjoyed many book related activities during the week, such as a book swap and book 'tasting'.

Drama Performance: The Importance of Being Earnest

On Friday 25th August, the year 11 and 12 Drama students (Chloe Collings, Erin Ross, Matilda Shorter, Joshua Dean, Isabella Geskus, Samantha Dijkstra) along with two student support actors (Serena Hawkins and Joshua Phelps) performed in their mid-year performance of “The Importance of Being Earnest”. The students worked hard for four months, developing their characters, memorising lines and rehearsing to present an entertaining performance for the school community. It was a great night enjoyed by many where our students got to show their many gifts and skills!

Sporting Spotlight: NSATIS Volleyball

For the first time, LCS has entered a Volleyball team into the Division 1 NSATIS competition, and they enjoyed some awesome wins already this season. As the school looks to build an outdoor court with the assistance of funding from the PiC, we look forward to seeing this sport continue to grow in popularity.

Team members and Year 10 students Eli Hill and Riley Bosveld are heading off to the National Competition very soon and will represent Tasmania. Congratulations, Eli and Riley! We wish you all the best and may God bless you and keep you safe as you travel to the competition.

The Celebration of Independence Day at LCS

In August, grades 7 and 8 celebrated the Independence of Indonesia. This is celebrated on the 17th of August, the day in 1945 when Indonesia was proclaimed independent from the Dutch and Japanese.

In the lead to Independence Day, people clean their streets and houses and decorate them with Indonesian red and white flags and balloons. Every morning of August 17th, the declaration of Independence is read aloud at the presidential palace. The reading is followed by a flag-raising ceremony which is also carried out by high school students across the country. Finally, on brightly decorated streets, people play traditional games that symbolize their experiences of servitude during colonization and freedom after Independence was gained.

At LCS, the students decorated the Indonesian classroom and played different traditional Indonesian games.

Employment Opportunities

Employment | Launceston Christian School (lcs.tas.edu.au)

From the Office

Did you know that Launceston Christian School has an Association Scholarship?

The Association of the Launceston Christian School (Inc.) have kindly set aside their annual membership fees to provide a discretionary Scholarship to a new or existing family who is committed to Christian Education, who can demonstrate a practicing Christian faith and who might otherwise not be able to afford Christian education for their children.

The Scholarship will provide $2,000 per year for a period of 2 years towards the successful applicant’s total Tuition Fees.

Application forms are available our website: Board & Association | Launceston Christian School (lcs.tas.edu.au)

The deadline for applications is the 29th of September 2023.

If you would like any further information, please contact Keryl Robinson via our school office:

Ph: 6327 2854 Email: RobinsonK@lcs.tas.edu.au

________________________________________________________________________________

Notices of Intended Withdrawal of Enrolment

At this time of the year we are processing a significant number of enrolment enquires. Term 4 is also the time when we begin the process of organising classes for 2024.

To assist us in this process, we ask that families intending to withdraw a student at the end of 2023 provide the required one term (10 school weeks’) notice in writing to Mr Stuart Kent ASAP, stating when the student will be withdrawn and where they are to be educated.

Please be aware that end of year withdrawal notices received after the start of Term 4 will be considered insufficient notice, and a penalty of 5 weeks’ tuition fees may apply, which may be deducted from the family’s Fee Deposit paid on enrolment.

A reminder that we are an Allergy Aware school - no nuts or nut products are to be brought on to campus.

Car Parking

Please familiarise yourself with our Parking Policy that can be found on our website or by clicking this link - PolicyConnect

We do have parking available on site however there are a few things to be noted :

Visitors carpark is available for short term parking, if you are going to be at school for longer than 2hours, we suggest you park in the main carpark or on West Tamar Road.
Please be aware that the first six carpark on left hand side of carpark are reserved staff parking and parents are asked to keep these clear during 8am-4pm.

Illnesses

If you child has any flu-like symptoms such as a cough, sore throat, runny nose, or fever they should be kept at home. If your child experiences Gastro or Gastro type symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhoea, Students should remain home until they've had no vomiting or diarrhoea for at least 24 hours.

The Wellbeing Unit

Uniform Matters

The uniform shop is open:

Monday to Friday

8:30 am - 9:30 am

Wednesday

1:30 pm - 3:30 pm

If you have any inquiries regarding uniforms, please get in touch with our Uniform Coordinator, Anne Rixon, at 0400573902

A REMINDER: LCS Uniform Policy - Shoes

Designated sports shoes only

Itinerant Music Teachers 2023

LCS has a number of instrument teachers who take students for individual lessons at school during school hours. This is an excellent way to learn an instrument and can help students make much faster progress on their instrument. It is recommended that student’s seriously contemplating studying music from grades 9 onwards definitely consider having some private instrument tuition to further their overall music advancement. Any student in grades 5 – 8 who are serious about starting an instrument should also have lessons in order to learn crucial proper technique early in their playing life.

Students continuing lessons from last year will be individually contacted by their teachers to organise lessons for the year.

If you would like your child to start having lessons this year, please email Mr Stewart (stewartp@lcs.tas.edu.au ) and include the following details.

Students name:
Class:
Instrument to have lessons on:
Contact phone number:
Your contact details (phone and email)

This will be passed on to a relevant teacher who will contact you for further details.

We currently have teachers available for the following instruments:

Piano/keyboard
Clarinet/saxophone and Flute
Guitar
Bass
Brass (trumpet etc)
Voice
Drums

LCS Volunteer Application Form

At LCS, we believe in the importance of fostering a positive, supportive community. We believe that parents and community members are essential partners in achieving this goal, and we would like to invite you to consider volunteering at LCS. We welcome your involvement if you have a specific skill or talent to share or simply want to lend a helping hand.

If you are interested in volunteering, please fill out the form below and return it to the Office/email it to kibbelm@lcs.tas.edu.au together with the required documentation.

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to seeing you.

Notice From Food Technology Department

The Food Technology Department would like to encourage anyone with excess produce in their gardens or orchards to consider donating them to our Food Preservation Unit.

Donating your excess produce not only helps reduce waste, but also provides a valuable learning opportunity for our students.

Infectious Illnesses update

Student Bus Travel Expectations

Student Office Passes Information

ABSENCES/ATTENDANCE

Communication regarding a student’s absence needs to come via the school office. This information will then be passed on to the student’s teachers. Parents are asked where possible to telephone the school or email the office in advance when a student will be absent. If you subscribe to the mobile app, The Hub you can also lodge an electronic absentee form which will reach the office immediately. The school telephone number is (03) 6327 2854 and email is office@lcs.tas.edu.au

Students who are late must sign in at the school office. Students will be issued a ‘late pass’ that must be presented to their teacher. Students who sign in ‘late’ must have a note of explanation from home. Three unexplained late arrivals will result in a detention.

Yr11/12 students that have a study period in the morning and do not attend Class Teacher must sign in at the office as soon as they arrive at school, if students have not signed in whole day absences will be on their record. Yr 11/12 students may leave the school grounds during study periods, however they are required to sign out and back in at the office. This is important, particularly in the case of an emergency, so students can be accounted for by the staff and emergency services.

Written permission is required to leave the school grounds during school hours (except Year 11 & 12). Students are to meet parents at the office. All students must use the sign out folder at the student counter in the main office. When students return to school, they should report to the student counter in the main office and sign in.

If families intend to be absent from school due to extended holidays (3 days or more), parents need to fill out in advance an Application for Extended Leave for Travel form, found under the Parents and Students/Downloads & Policies tab on our website: www.lcs.tas.edu.au (Please see Extended Leave Policy on next pages)

MEDICATION

Should your child need to take prescribed medication at school please inform the school office. All medication, both prescription and over the counter medication, needs to be in original packaging and labelled with clear dosage instructions (prescription medication needs dosage instructions from a registered medical practitioner) and must be administered at the school office and students are not permitted to carry medication at school. Medical forms are sent home at the beginning of each school year and parents are able to indicate whether they give permission for paracetamol to be administered if required.

UNIFORM

Students who are not in correct uniform, wrong jacket or coloured socks etc must get a uniform pass from the office. A note of explanation should be provided by parents. Three uniform non compliances, without parent explanation, will result in a detention.

Parking Policy

Events

R U OK? Day

LCS Rock Challenge Concert