Clare's message........
Good afternoon Families,
It has been a full fortnight since l last wrote my message. Our 2027 Prep children have thoroughly enjoyed their taste of 'big school' and l hear from some parents that after the first orientation session, their child was very surprised that they had to go back to kinder at all! As always, it brings me great joy watching people connect over a cuppa and a chat, finding common things that help that connection. Last year, we had adult cousins who rediscovered each other at the Prep orientation. How incredible.
The past couple of months have been incredibly busy with a lot of work being done in the background for the 2027 school year. I have mentioned in earlier communications a little of this and have informed the School Advisory Council of exactly what these changes will look like at St Luke's. Please look out for some communications coming out this week. One is the 2027 School Fee Structure which follows last year's introduction of tired school fees. The other communication will be our class structure for 2027. There is a noticeable change but l am very positive that our staff, children and families will support any change with a sense of optimism and with that communication, l would like to offer a drop in session for parents at 9 am (in the OSHC room) and at 3 pm (in the staffroom) next Tuesday 17th November.
At a recent P&F meeting, a very productive discussion about how we can promote our school more effectively. Being a one person band limits the creativity and impact so l am very keen to move ahead with one of the ideas. I am calling on anyone in our community who has a marketing background to join a St Luke's MARKETING GROUP. Once l get some volunteers, we can meet before the end of the year to begin putting a plan together. A major focus will be social media. I would like to thank Simon Meehan, Emily Chlebica, Steph Pierce and Katie Pisciotta for their contributions over the past few years to this. We really need to build a presence and a following but there are also many other strategies we can use to help our community have a broader reach. If this is something that you think you can contribute to, please send me an email to: principal@slblackburnsth.catholic.edu.au , along with a preferred weekday evening for meeting for an initial planning session. I'll look forward to hearing from you.
We have the Election Day BBQ and cake stall coming up on Saturday 28th November. Please check out the sign up details on the Community page of this newsletter. Let's not leave this great community day to just a few; we need everyone to give a hand... baking and/or volunteering on the day. I will run a school tour at 10 am on the day. If you know anyone who might be interested, please ask them to register with Debbie in the school office: 9877 4023 or schooloffice@slblackburnsth.catholic.edu.au.
We are still taking enrolments for 2027.
It has been a slow process for parents and for me as MACS has worked towards securing a new OSHC service provider. Thank you to those parents who need to know what is happening in 2027, for your patience. MACS is very confident they will be able to finalise who will be taking over from MACSEYE in 2027 in the next week. I am hoping to bring an update to families as soon as l am informed.
A BIG SHOUTOUT to Cathy Coates and Pete Stilve for fixing the flooded section of the sports court on Saturday- even though it was raining whilst they did it. I really appreciate your time and how great it looks now.
Finally, my apologies for the newsletter being delayed. The short Melbourne Cup week made Friday come far too quickly. Have a lovely week ahead.
Clare