St Peters Lutheran School Newsletter

Most people love gifts. As a child I would write a list, remind Mum and Dad constantly of my list and be sure to put the list in a place where they were sure to see it every single day. Then the countdown would start… the days waiting for birthdays and Christmas’ to come around would feel like an age waiting for the expected gifts to arrive.

This is exactly how the disciples felt as they waited for the special gift that was promised to help them share about the news of the Gospel.  And they were not disappointed! What a wonderful celebration it was. With mighty rushing winds, tongues of fire and many different languages spoken, the Holy Spirit came majestically.

The day of Pentecost brought with it a special gift from heaven given by a loving father to teach, guide, comfort and intercede for his children. The account of The Coming of the Holy Spirit is found in Acts 2:38. After the action, Peter speaks to the crowd that had gathered.

 “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.”

This passage shows that our faith is a repentant faith. It’s about turning from your old ways, resting and trusting in Christ, and making him your only hope in life and death.

When you repent and believe, the Holy Spirit comes in as a gift. Your repentance and your faith do not earn the Spirit; it is a gift. What a blessing to know that the gift of the Holy Spirit is not dependent on how much we repent or how much we believe…that it is not earnt.

Easter is the culmination of the Gospel story, the fulfilment of all that the prophets spoke about the Messiah. With Pentecost, the third person of the Trinity is given to carry the church into its next phase. The Holy Spirit enables God’s people to spread the Gospel and to establish the church.

The disciples had to wait for this gift to arrive. We don’t have to wait…all we need to do is repent and believe, and we can all do that right now.

Bronwyn Wilson, Principal

Lately I have really been missing my Friday morning coffee and chats with parents after Chapel. It is such a warm way to start the day. But I have been able to spend my time in other wonderful ways. I have loved dropping into the ELC and Room 10 in the mornings, seeing them learn and play and getting to play a bit myself. I am constantly blown away by the imaginations of small children – last week I joined a young boy on his adventure through space looking for the space dragons!

I have also been able to spend some more one on one time with students – reading stories, colouring in, talking through different things, reflecting on the world, praying, and just catching up on life. It is such a privilege that I can share this precious time with them.

A new venture for me this year has been taking on a Special Interest Group – Meet Praise Love (Chapel group). Each Friday lunch time I meet with around a dozen students and we explore ways that we can be showing love and gratitude in the St Peters community, and practise creative ways of demonstrating service in our weekly chapels and beyond. We have a lot of fun together!

This week we will be endeavouring to live-stream our chapel service – I know many parents have been missing coming to chapel. If you would like to join us please follow this link and we will be there at 8:45 Friday morning.
https://us04web.zoom.us/j/73731717496?pwd=ejlrYlFncG9wRm9Cc1AyNlBQc25sUT09
Meeting ID: 737 3171 7496
Password: 9qTN0Z

I’d also love to take this opportunity to remind you of the wonderful group of parents who are our Class Support Coordinators (CSC’s) for this year. Usually you would see our CSC’s hard at work preparing for events such as Mother’s Day Breakfast, but in this brave new COVID-19 world, many of our normal gatherings and expressions of support are not yet able to go ahead.

Nevertheless, our CSC’s are still here to support our St Peters families.
ELC – Eva Gill-Minero & Crizaan Oosthuizen
Room 10 – Karyn Sullivan & Sofie Cocci
Room 9 – Dianne Carr & Bec Golding
Room 6 – Annie Taverner & Rachelle Miller
Room 5 – Neusa Georgiou
Room 2 – Heidi Rangai
Room 1 – Dy McCue & Kylie Weymouth

If you have questions about things happening at school, or if your family needs a bit of extra support, or if you would like someone to talk to, I’d encourage you to get in touch with your CSC’s. And as always, I am here too if you ever would like prayer or someone to talk to.

Alex Heberle, Chaplain

While driving to the office this morning I saw kangaroos around the reservoir, cockatoos in the trees and people walking their dogs in the misty hue of a wet winter’s day. It was beautiful. It was flooded with peace and made me feel so thankful that I live here even amongst the restrictions necessary because of COVID.

But in and through this peaceful feeling the images that I witnessed on the television before leaving home troubled me to prayer. Protests, petition and people in pain flashed across the screen because of the treatment of a fellow human being prompting a residual rage that has been festering for aeons.

In today’s world we are more of a global family than we ever were but the yearn to succeed is still human, it is still broken. Not one of us are free of this and it shows itself daily in many different ways. Each of us have had those times when emotion overtakes us because of a circumstance or happening. A time when we don’t know which way to turn. It is in these times that we need each other and perspective is everything. How we see our neighbour will govern how we care and deep down we all know that the essence of a person is not the package they come in. The statement, ‘God has made us all in His image’ isn’t about our outside appearance but that we are all created equal. We are all spiritual beings together, respected, accepted and embraced. This is God’s will for us all and I thank Him for those who have listened to the pain of the protesters and stood with them in solidarity for the respect of all humanity. Peace be with you.

I’d like to also extend an invitation to anyone who would like to have a chat, or be prayed for, or for whatever other reason to get together. My door is always open and I’m in my office at St Peters on Wednesdays and Fridays.

Every blessing, Pastor Kevin (0401248544).

Inquiry is critical to our learning and growth and at St Peters, and we are committed to inquiry as a teaching and learning process. As learners we are always making sense of our world by exploring, testing and evaluation. You only need to spend a little time in our classrooms to witness inquiry – as students explore ideas, theories and beliefs and ask questions wanting to find out more.

 

Why Inquiry at St Peters?

• Students are more motivated as they are genuinely interested and curious about what they are learning about
• It strengthens transferable skills (thinking, communication, self-management, research and social skills)
• It develops agency (student ownership through voice, choice and action)
• It sharpens digital literacy skills as students gather, critique and collect data
• Students make choice about their learning based on exploring their own interests, questions, passions and questions (eg iTime)
• Students are setting and working towards personal goals
• Students learn to learn using higher-level thinking skills and strategies
• Students tackle real world problems in authentic local and global contexts
• Students are actively engaged in their own learning and are required to take responsibility for their learning

Inquiry is a continuous cycle. In the classrooms at St Peters, the inquiry cycle is supported by the following words and symbols. At each part of the cycle students are making connections and growing skills and dispositions.

Ways you can support inquiry at home

• Demonstrate your thinking out loud as you solve problems eg ‘I wonder why…?’
• Share fascinating objects, images, movies, stories
• Help your child to make choices about learning and activities
• Ask questions rather than telling answers eg ‘What does this make you wonder?’, What are you thinking…?’, ‘How could we find out…’
• Take time to observe things, even if it means sitting and looking at a stick insect for some time!

 

One of the most powerful ways we can nurture learning is for us to show our delight in discovery, interest, willingness to find out more, fascination in the world, and the ability to add and adapt our thinking. As teachers, parents and caregivers it is nice to pause and remember that we are learners too and we are constantly inquiring.

Nicolle Jakube, PYP Coordinator