St Peters Lutheran School Newsletter

Term 3 Issue 4 - 5 September 2019

From the Principal - Mr Mark Rathjen

Using our gifts to serve others

There is something special about our musicals at SPLS. Yes, they include all of our school-aged students; something quite unique in itself. Yes, it is a wonderful highlight especially for our Senior students as part of their final year/s at our school. Yes, it brings our whole community together in a way that few other events do. All of these things are special and so much more.

The thing that I really love about the musical each year, is watching certain students shine in ways that perhaps one might not have anticipated. Experiences like this often give opportunities to students that bring out certain gifts but also allow them to overcome inhibitions.

There nothing like seeing a quieter reserved child stand in front of a crowd and bright lights and deliver their lines or sing, dance or ‘ham it up’ in ways that you couldn’t imagine. The musical relies so much on positive collaboration, supportive peers and encouraging staff who provide an environment that allows every child to shine. This is more obvious no doubt with the older students who have the bigger parts but I see it also at all year levels. The confidence that results and the collective joy of achieving something together is a wonderful thing.

There is a certain courage required to step out of one’s comfort zone and perform in front of others. Perhaps a step that some children would not want to take initially but the culture of our school allows for this to happen quite naturally and safely.

God gives everyone gifts. Sometimes it’s hard to know what our gifts are. We all need opportunities for us to see where our gifting lies. The gifts that we are given, can be used for many reasons, but ultimately they should be used to serve others. Standing in front of a crowd of people delivering lines may not mean that one’s giftedness lies in theatre arts, it might, but it might mean that one is developing their gift of courage or grit or to be used in some other way that might serve others and God.

Thank you to the staff, parents and students of our school who support our children to shine and find their giftedness so they can use those God-given gifts to serve and love others.

“Each of you has received a gift to use to serve others. Be good servants of God’s various gifts of grace. Anyone who speaks should speak words from God. Anyone who serves should serve with the strength God gives so that in everything God will be praised through Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 4:10-11

Mark Rathjen
Principal

Father’s Day Breakfast Thanks

What a wonderful way to celebrate Father’s Day with our dads last Friday. Thanks so much to Alex Speed, our P & F and marvellous Room 5 mums for providing a special time for our dads and their children. Hoping that a sunflower will soon be on its way home to remind every family of the importance of dads and men in the life of our kids.

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Musical thanks

Musical is over for another year, and what a triumph it was! On behalf of the whole school community, I want to say thank you to everyone who had a hand in creating the show. From props and painting, to lines learned and costumes made. A mighty thanks to Matt Eldridge and all staff for the amazing efforts they give to make these events so special. Check out Facebook for loads of pics.

CSIRO filming at St Peters

On Wednesday we had a professional film crew on site from the CSIRO. They were filming to create a promotional video for the CSIRO ‘STEM Professionals in Schools Program’. We have been chosen as one of 12 schools nationally who are involved with this program. Our Year 5s have been part of this for the past three terms and they will hopefully feature in the video. When the video is completed sometime next term, we aim to share it with everyone.

As part of our G.R.O.W. focus we are seeking to build ‘R’elationships and partnerships to enhance student learning. It is early days, but we are hopeful that this partnership with CSIRO continues to be a very positive and worthwhile one.

Invacuation Drill - Wednesday 11 September

As part of our policies and procedures to keep our staff and students safe, we regularly practice various emergency drills. Next Wednesday at 10.45am, we will have an invacuation drill which practices for the eventuality of an intruder in site. These can be a little confronting for some of our younger students so teachers talk this through beforehand to help ensure all goes smoothly. Please chat with your child’s teacher if you have any questions about this.

If parents are on site at the time they are expected to follow the instructions of staff and join in the drill procedures.

Staff go out to GROW

On our pupil free day this Friday our staff will not be idle after a busy musical week. All staff have been encouraged to go and visit other schools to see what can be learned to enhance what we do here at St Peters. Each staff member has identified an aspect of our strategic plan (GROW) that is relevant to their role in the school and have sought other schools who might be doing work in this area too. We hope to bring these learnings back together in the afternoon to share and then include in our discussions and decision making. We are attending such schools as Immanuel Primary, Pembroke College and PAC.

The school office will still be open from 8.30am-4.00pm.

Save the Date! Wednesday 30 October

‘Restorative Practices at St Peters – What’s it all about’ - with Bill Hansberry

We are most fortunate to be able to have Mr Bill Hansberry come to our school next term to lead a parent workshop on the topic of Restorative Practices. He will lead a 1-2hr session for any interested parents on Wednesday 30 October at 6.45pm here in our chapel. Bill ran sessions with all staff early this term and this is a terrific opportunity to hear from an expert in this field about Restorative Practices. We are able to engage Bill for this session thanks mostly to a ‘Parents in Education’ (PIE) grant the P & F received this year for a focus on Well-being in our school (It’s the ‘W’ in G.R.O.W.). More information on this will be forthcoming on Skoolbag in the weeks ahead.

It is regrettable that this clashes with the Southern Music Festival that evening but we were unable to find another time this year to have him come and speak with us. We apologise to any families to whom this will be a conflict.

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Future Enrolments

Planning for the 2020 school year is already well in progress. In order to assist with this planning, it is essential that we have details of current students' intentions to continue at St Peters in 2020.

The School enrolment policy states: "Where a student is to be withdrawn from the school, parents are required to give the Principal one term's notice, in writing, before the withdrawal date, otherwise parents will be liable for an additional term's fees".

Therefore, if your child is not returning in 2020, and you have not already advised the Principal, notification must be received in writing, addressed to the Principal, by the end of Term 3 (Thursday 26 September 2019).

In some cases, it may not be possible to give a clear commitment for next year but, bearing in mind the policy stated above, it is important for us to have as clear a forecast as possible.

If you would like to discuss your enrolment situation for 2020, please contact the Principal.

Sibling Enrolments

A reminder to parents of siblings to please ensure you have completed and submitted to the office a Preliminary Application for Enrolment form for your child, along with the $50 application fee, even if the ELC or school enrolment relates to future years. This is an important part of our enrolment process for siblings and greatly assists us in our future planning. We want to do the best we can to ensure that there are places for siblings.

From the PYP Coordinator - Bronwyn Wilson

Student Led Conferences

On Thursday 26 September and Friday 27 September 2019 (Week 10), students and parents will take part in the Student Led Conferences. Having quality one-on-one time with your child and providing them with the opportunity to give you a 'child's eye' view of their learning is invaluable. During the conferences the following goals for this form of reporting will be demonstrated:

Students taking greater responsibility for their learning
Students engaging in the process of self-evaluation
Students demonstrating their ability to communicate their learning
Students demonstrating the qualities of the Learner Profile
Students developing organisational skills
Students developing greater self-confidence
Students involved in selection of work to show parents and to identify points of strength as well as areas for further development
Students and parents engaging in open, honest and learning focused discussions
The implementation of a reporting format, which more comprehensively reflects the learning taking place
Parents provided with a clear insight into the kind of work their child is engaged in and an opportunity for them to discuss it with them.

Specialist areas are also incorporated in Student Led Conferences.

*Specialist areas*	*Room numbers*
PE	Reception, Year 1 and Year 2
Indonesian	Years 5, 6 and 7
Media Arts Dance Drama	Years 3 and 4

The teacher is present in the room for student led conferences, but the learning conversation is mostly between you and your child. Please be ready to show interest in and ask questions about your child as a learner. There will be up to three other student led conferences occurring at your nominated time.

The children have spent classroom time preparing their student led conferences by reflecting on their learning. This is extremely valuable learning and also covers some aspects of the oral communication strand in PYP Language and the English Learning area for the ACARA documents.

As per previous years, a link will be sent to families via email to book your Student Led Conferences for ELC-7 through the online booking system. Please keep an eye on your inbox for this email.

Bronwyn Wilson
PYP Coordinator

Internet Safety

The next information sheet in our series about apps currently popular with children, kindly provided to us by the Carly Ryan Foundation, relates to Fortnite (download via the link below).

App Fact Sheet - Fortnite (c/- the Carly Ryan Foundation)

Download

Library News

Scholastic Book Club Issue 6

ORDERS DUE: Tuesday 10 September 2019

Every purchase from Scholastic Book Club helps the school to buy extra resources.

Scholastic Book Club Issue 6 orders are now open and orders will close on 10 September 2019.

Orders and payments for Book Club are to be made online using the Scholastic LOOP platform. This will ensure that students get their orders, which are delivered to school for free, and that the correct payment is received. Please use the link to register and start your order www.scholastic.com.au/loop

LOOP is also available as an app, for both apple and Android devices.

If you do not want your order to be delivered VIA your child please process as a GIFT ORDER when using the Scholastic LOOP and email the school to inform them of your wishes. Mrs Sharon Smith will contact you when your order is available for collection.

Families who order via LOOP receive a free reusable book bag with their second order for the year, and a poster and bookmark for their third order.

Cash payments are no longer available at St Peters. This makes the ordering process a lot smoother and ensures that all orders are submitted to Scholastic in a timely manner.

Thank you to everyone who has already ordered from Book Club in 2019. 20% of what you spend goes back to St Peters. Your support, in ordering from Book Club, has allowed the school to buy additional library books and teaching resources.

Overdue or Missing Items

If your child is unable to locate a missing item please speak to their class teacher first as the missing item could be a classroom reader. If it is a library book the teacher will redirect you to Mrs Smith in the library.

The Premier's Reading Challenge

THE PREMIER'S READING CHALLENGE IS CLOSING TOMORROW.

All students who have completed THE CHALLENGE must have their forms in to Mrs "Library" Smith no later than Tuesday 17 September 2019. The data entry website closes at the end of week 9 and no late entries are accepted by the Reading Challenge office after this date. Please use the RED box located on the circulation desk.

The 2019 Australian Reading Hour

On Thursday 19 September 2019, rediscover or introduce yourselves to the benefits of reading. Take the time to learn, escape and relax.

The reading hour is about people stopping what they're doing for one hour and take the time to pick up a book.

"In children, reading has been shown to help with identity formation, setting them up for success in the future. In adults, reading has been shown to reduce stress by 68% more than listening to music, going for a walk, or having a cup of tea."

Quoted from the Australian Reading Hour website; https://readinghour.org.au September 4, 2019

OSH Sport News

Term 4 2019 OSH Sport Nominations

The online nomination form for Term 4 Out of School Hours Sport is now closed.

ALL STUDENTS MUST RENOMINATE FOR THE SUMMER SEASON.

Not all students who are currently participating in Out of School Sport, have renominated for their sport of choice for Term 4. Please email Sharon as soon as possible and let her know if your child is continuing with school sport during Term 4.

Thank you to the parents who have already done this.

Parents and Friends

Father's Day Breakfast

It was great to see so many dads, stepdads and granddads enjoying breakfast with their children. A big thank you to everyone who helped with organisation, set up, preparation and serving - Mark Rathjen, Alex Speed and other school staff, senior students, and volunteers from Room 5 - Tala Juma, Dianne Carr, Daiana Bickley, Angela Pike, Tania Sodomka, Jane Mellen, Kylie Weymouth, Heidi Rangai, Sarah McNicol, Heather Stevens, Narelle Adams and anyone else I missed. We couldn't have done it without you :) The breakfast was proudly funded by the P&F. There are still a few spare aprons available for sale at the front office for $20 each - cash only. We have sold over 100 aprons and raised approximately $800 for the new nature play space. Thank you for your support.

We just found out that because we returned our artwork for the aprons by the deadline, we have won a Kitchen Starter Recycling Pack, which includes a kitchen caddy and compostable bin liners. A big thank you to Expressions Australia for making the aprons fundraiser so easy to run and for giving us this wonderful prize to help us in our sustainability program.

Silver September

Silver September has begun! Please bring in your silver 5c, 10c, 20c and 50c coins and place them in the collection tins in your classrooms. We will be collecting silver coins until the end of term, when we will make a giant 20 out of the coins as part of our school's 20th anniversary celebrations. The more coins we collect, the bigger the 20 will be!

Cake Stall

The last cake stall for the term/year will be after the musical performance tonight. Thank you to parents from Room 1 for organising cake stalls for both evening performances.

Deb Smith Photography family photo sessions

Deb Smith Photography, a local photography studio, has kindly offered family photo sessions for school families for $50, which Deb will donate back to the school for up to 40 families - a potential total of $2000 towards our new nature play space. Sessions will be available from the beginning of the October school holidays. Further information coming soon.

School Disco - Save the Date!

We are planning a school disco for the end of Week 2 in Term 4 - Friday 25 October, which will include a silent auction. We are looking for donations for prizes, eg vouchers for products/services, hampers, homewares, bottles of wine etc. If you have a small business and would like to donate, or know someone who might be able to help, please contact Heather Stevens at stpeterslutheranpandf@gmail.com.

Make sure you stay up to date with P&F happenings on Facebook - www.facebook.com/stpeterslutheranpandf and Instagram - @stpeterslutheranpandf

Heather Stevens
Chairperson, St Peters Lutheran P&F

General Information

From the LLL

No debit card, no worries. The benefits of targeted saving.

When you look at your purse or wallet, does it bulge with loyalty cards, gift cards, debit cards and credit cards?

It seems that every time you sign up to a new membership or reward program these days you get another card to add to your collection of plastic.

Here at the LLL, we don’t produce plastic cards.

Specifically, we don’t offer debit cards linking to LLL Savings Accounts, and we do this quite deliberately for a number of reasons:

Targeted savings

There’s a fine balance between being able to access your funds whenever you need them and feeling like your funds are locked away. At the LLL, we think we have struck the right balance.

Without being able to withdraw your funds from a debit card on a whim, your LLL Savings Account really does serve as a targeted savings account.

Without a debit card to constantly tempt you, your LLL Savings Account can grow and not be diminished by incidental day-to-day purchases.

And when you do need to access your funds, all you need to do is simply log in to Internet Banking or contact the LLL to transfer whatever you need, whether that be to another LLL account, a separate financial institution (with a debit card) via Faster Payments or BPAY.

Significantly, targeted savings help you meet your financial goals sooner, whether they are big or small, thanks to the LLL’s great interest rate. View other ways to access your funds.

Teaching your kids not to rely on cards

Similarly, for children, the LLL aims to instill the mindset of ‘learning to save before they learn to spend’.

Not having a debit card teaches kids that funds can be put away for long and/or short-term goals. The funds are always available, but because there’s no debit card, the temptation to make impulse purchases is largely removed.

Indeed, teaching children the value of their savings account will help them become successful savers in the future.

And remember, when your school-aged child receives cash from a gift or earnings, depositing the funds is easy with school banking; simply present their LLL passbook with the cash deposit to their participating Lutheran school and the funds will be promptly added to their account.

Online savings

You should treat your LLL Savings Account as an online-only account.

In an increasingly cashless society, transacting on your or your child’s account digitally gives you full control over the funds in the account, such as when and where the funds are moved, a full history of transactions with payee details in a secure online environment, with no fees or charges – at all.

100% fraud-free!

It’s simple, without a debit card you can’t be a victim of debit card fraud. Your funds are securely tucked away in your LLL account, happily earning interest every single day!

No fees

The LLL charges no fees at all. We even cover the fees of some third-party providers, but offering debit cards would mean the LLL would no longer be able to offer a fee-free environment.

Saves the planet

Loyalty and expired debit cards are difficult to recycle, even when a card is cut up into little pieces it is hard to recycle the hard PVC plastic and separate it from the data strip on the back.

And even though loyalty and debit cards are somewhat recyclable, most end up in landfill adding to the world’s plastic pollution.

So there you have it – who needs a debit card when you have the LLL!

For information on LLL Savings Accounts please visit our website.

This is general advice only. You should consider if this product is right for you.

Click here to complete the LLL Survey

Adelaide Thunderbirds - School Holiday Clinics

Click here for Adelaide Thunderbirds - School Holiday Clinics

Don't miss out on your chance to secure an Early Bird Discount for October's clinics

School Holiday Coding Camp

Novar Music - at St Peters

Public Safety - Parking Control around Schools, Kindergartens & Child Care Centres

City of Mitcham has forwarded to us some information regarding their enforcement of parking restrictions around schools and kindergartens. To inform drivers about public safety and provide for student safety around roadways at school drop off and pick up times, any breaches of the Australian Road Rules 1999 observed by Community Safety Officers may result in the issue of an expiation notice.

Please click on below link for brochure provided by the City of Mitcham regarding parking regulations.

City of Mitcham - Children, Schools & Traffic

Download

Diary Dates

For important dates and information regarding upcoming events, please go to the Events page of our Skoolbag app.