From the Principal

5 December 2014

Term 4 Issue 8

Newsletter

St Peters Lutheran School Blackwood

Principal: Mr Mark Rathjen

God in all things

“It is known”

There is a line in a current popular book and TV series where, when

people who agree with something someone says, respond almost

liturgically, “it is known.” I was using that phrase (to myself) on Tuesday

night at the most excellent PYP Exhibition when people were commenting

so favorably on the evening and the students’ work. The students are so

knowledgeable – ‘It is known’. They have all worked so hard - ‘It is known’.

You must be proud of your staff and students - ‘It is known’.

At the end of the year, in all its busy-ness, it is gratifying to be part of an

event like Exhibition as it is something of a snap shot of the many, many

things that our school community does so well. So, in response to that, I

would like to express my deep gratitude to all who make our school

function as it does.

To our staff - It is known that we have an incredible staff. They work

long and hard, and always with a heart for the students they care for…no

matter what role they play in the school. They aren’t perfect and there

will have been times this year when they may have disappointed you but I

know that the work they do and the decisions they make, they do so for

the betterment of each one of those entrusted to us - It is known!

To our Parents and Caregivers - This is a special school community

where our parent body works hand in hand with staff to achieve excellent

outcomes for our students. Sometimes as a parent, is hard to know when

to contact a staff member and when to let something go, when to

encourage or when to be critical. Your support and encouragement is

invaluable. We become better at our jobs when we feel your support and

students perform better when staff and parents work well together - It is

known!

To our students - We are all so grateful to you for bringing your best to

school each day. For showing us what it means to inquire, to do our best,

to love, to forgive, to work through issues and disappointments and always

seek to do everything with a sense of fun and enjoyment in mind – It is

known!

To our God – God is the same yesterday, today and always. In the ups

and downs of the year, it is comforting and reassuring to know that God is

a constant. He loves us, he provides for us, he is there for us whether we

appreciate it or not. God is in all things in our school - It is known!

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever – Hebrews 13:8

Thank you for your part in making 2014 a successful and happy one at

St Peters.

Happy Christmas and safe and enjoyable holidays to all!

Mark Rathjen

Principal

Inside this issue... Page Parents & Friends ........... 2 StPetersfest! 2015........... 2

Last Day of Term— Christmas Lunch .......... 2 Casual Clothes Day ........ 2

PYP—Exhibition .............. 3 Report Folder Survey .... 3 2014 Year Books ............ 4

Blackwood Christmas

Parade ............................. 4 For students who are leaving school ................ 4

Lost Property .................. 4 End of Year Service ........ 4 Old Scholar

Congratulations ............ 4 Information for 2015 ..... 5 Class Structures 2015 .... 5

Staffing Changes .............. 5 SPLOSHC News ............. 6 Vacation Care ............... 6

Term 1 2015 ................. 6 OSH Sport News ........... 6

Library News ................... 6 Cricket

Congratulations ............ 6 Novar Music .................... 6 Church News .................. 7

Diary Dates ...................... 7

Attachments: SPLOSHC Term 1 Booking Grid

CapHat Fundraiser

Special points of

interest:

Please refer to the back

page of the newsletter

for the final events of the

2014 school year

Page 2 Newsletter

The St Peters Lutheran Parents & Friends

Association AGM was held last week.

Office bearers elected for 2015 are:

Chair Narelle Adams

Vice Chair Samantha Liddicoat

Secretary Jenna Phillips-Wilkinson

Extra members Reinhardt van den Berg

Melissa Sharrad

Bronwyn Wilson

Nicola Hart

We would like to welcome our new Secretary

Jenna Phillips-Wilkinson to the role and would

also like to thank Lune van Heerden, Chris

and Julia Barry, Cheryl Rollison and Bec

Wade for their service in 2014.

We are currently in need of a Treasurer. If you

have skills in this area we would like to hear from

you! If you would like to join the P&F association

we always need more members. Meetings are

held once a term with our next meeting to be

held in early 2015. Contact Narelle Adams on

0408 089 947 or at stpeterslutheranpandf@gmail.com

for more information.

StPetersfest! 2015 The second meeting of the organising committee

for the 2015 St Petersfest was held this week.

Once again Nicky Hart (Indiana – Rm 7) has

agreed to be our convenor for our major

fundraiser for 2015. Other committee members

include Mel Russell, Paula Griffiths,

Janine Brodie, Monique Gray,

Cheryl Rollison, Anna van den Berg,

Bec Wade and Narelle Adams. But we

need your help! If you have any ideas or stall

suggestions for next year’s school fete we would

love to hear from you. Contact Nicky Hart on

0402 422 832, email the Parent and Friends

Association at stpeterslutheranpandf@gmail.com

or speak with any one of the above committee

members.

Parents and Friends

Chicken and Chips lunch

Our last day of term special food day lunch is

fast approaching. Thanks to all who have

ordered yummy chicken and chips for next

Tuesday 9 December. Please note: all those

who have not ordered will need to provide their

own lunch from home on the day. We are after

some parent helpers to help serve the food on

the day from 12 noon. Please contact Narelle

Adams at stpeterslutheranpandf@gmail.com or

on 0408 089 947 if you are able to assist.

We will begin serving lunch at 12:15pm with an

approximate timetable as follows:

12:15pm Room 7 & 8

Mrs Derrington/ Mrs Rathjen

12:25pm Room 9 & 10

Mrs Jakube & Mrs Holmes/

Miss Davies

12:35pm Room 5 & 6

Mr Burmeister/ Miss Schutz

12:45pm Room 1 & 2

Miss Geue/ Mr Eldridge

Parents who have ordered lunch are welcome

to collect their food with their child so they can

have a shared lunch together. We look forward

to seeing many parents and caregivers there and

hope you will stay for carol singing in the chapel

following lunchtime.

Next Tuesday, the last day of school, we are

inviting people to dress in school uniform;

school uniform with something Christmassy;

or 'Christmas Colours' with something extra

Christmassy. Please bring along a gold coin

donation, to go towards Christmas Hampers for

clients of the Royal District Nursing Service

(also where our Chapel offerings are going this

term).

Casual Clothes Day

End of Year Christmas

Celebration We are looking forward to our special lunch

next Tuesday to celebrate the end of the

school year!

Lunch will be followed by Christmas carols in

the Chapel from 2pm.

All welcome, as we finish the year together.

5 December 2014 Page 3

IB Learners

strive to be

Inquirers Knowledgeable Thinkers Communicators Principled Open-minded Caring Risk-takers Balanced Reflective

IB Learner Profile

Primary Years Programme (PYP)

PYP Exhibition 2014

It was great to see so many people in

attendance at this year’s PYP exhibition. The

students worked hard presenting an engaging,

collaborative inquiry identifying, investigating

and offering solutions to real-life issues and

problems.

To begin the evening, the Year 7 students

explained the purpose of the PYP Exhibition

from the “soap box” -

for students to engage in an in depth, collaborative inquiry;

to provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate independence and

responsibility for their own learning;

to provide students with an opportunity to explore multiple perspectives;

for students to synthesize and apply their learning of previous years and to reflect

upon their journey through the PYP;

to provide an authentic process for assessing student understanding;

to demonstrate how students can take action as a result of their learning;

to unite the students, teachers, parents and other members of the school

community in a collaborative experience that incorporates the essential elements

of the PYP;

to celebrate the transition of learners from primary to middle/secondary

education.

Our school mission states that we as a school

encourage global consciousness, responsible action

and lifelong learning and that is exactly what we

saw on Tuesday night as the students unpacked

many issues that are important and relevant to

themselves and the society we live in. As we are all

lifelong learners, I do hope that the presentations

left you compelled to take some action of your

own on an issue that you are passionate about.

Well done to all the students, teachers, mentors

and families involved in this process.

Bronwyn Wilson

PYP Coordinator

Page 4 Newsletter

If you have any medications stored in the first

aid cupboard and are leaving St Peters at the

end of 2014, could you please collect them on

Tuesday 9 December from the front office.

Thank you.

For students who are

leaving school...

End of Year Service Our End of Year Service is planned for next

Tuesday 9 December at 7pm.

An End of Year Service in a Lutheran Primary

School serves a number of purposes. First and

foremost, it is a time to thank and praise God

for all the blessings he has given us and to

celebrate the birth of our Lord and Saviour Jesus

Christ. Every student in our school will play an

important part in that worship service in a

presentation we are making during the service.

At the End of Year Service, we farewell staff

members who are leaving us, as well as

farewelling our graduating Year 7 students. The

Principal also gives a brief report.

The End of Year Service is a very special event in

the school calendar and we want the whole

school community to be a part of it. The

Congregation next Tuesday evening will be

school parents and any other members of the

extended family you choose to invite, staff and

their families and School Council Members and

their families. Other friends of our school

community are also welcome to attend. Please

note—the front pews on each side of the

Church will be reserved for parents of

graduating Year 7 students, their families and

teaching staff.

Reception students are required to meet in their

classrooms at 6.30pm. All other students should

arrive and meet in their classrooms by 6.45pm.

There is a Duty of Care for this school function,

so students are under the supervision of their

teachers from when parents deliver them to the

classroom until parents collect them from the

classroom as soon as the Service is over

(approximately 8pm). This means there will be

no unsupervised children outside at any time.

We look forward to seeing you all there.

The 2014 Year Books have arrived and will be

distributed to each family (in an envelope via

your eldest child) next week. Please look out

for these.

We sincerely thank Felicity Evans for her

tireless work in pulling this wonderful

publication together for us again.

We trust that you and your children will enjoy

looking through the Year Book and reflecting

on the many exciting events that have taken

place during 2014.

2014 Year Books

Blackwood

Christmas Parade A reminder to those involved that the

Blackwood Christmas Parade will be held

tonight—Friday 5 December.

Participants—please note, St Peters Lutheran

School is in position number 39.

Information regarding where to be and when

has been provided to those involved (Year 7s,

Skipping Squad and ELC students). The Parade

commences at 6.30pm. If you are going, be

sure to look out for our students!

Please note—the following items (un-named)

have been handed in to the office following the

Yr 4-7 Surf Life Saving this week:

Size 12 PE Shorts

Size 10 PE Top

Any clothing items remaining in the lost

property box at the end of the school year will

be placed either into the second hand uniform

shop or donated to charity. Other items

remaining will also be donated.

Lost Property

Old Scholar

Congratulations We were excited to learn that former St Peters

Year 7 graduate, Dempsey Charlton, was

awarded the Year 11 Dux at Blackwood High

School at their presentation day this week. She

also achieved the highest academic awards in:

Child Studies

English Communications

Mathematical Studies

Psychology

Congratulations Dempsey!

Page 5 Newsletter

Staffing Changes for

2015 Just wanted to inform you all of a number of

staff changes for next year.

I am happy to announce the following inclusions

and changes:

Welcome to:

Mrs Karen Noble - Business Manager (from St

John’s Grammar).

Mrs Noble has worked in the role of Business

Manager in a primary school setting for eight

years. She is currently working in the finance

department at St John’s Grammar, Belair.

She will commence her employment with us

from mid January.

Mrs Megan Thomas - Indonesian (from St

John’s Grammar).

Mrs Thomas comes to us with an excellent track

record of teaching Indonesian in two previous

schools. She is currently on maternity leave

from St John’s Grammar, Belair.

Miss Abby Zimmermann - PE (ALC

graduate teacher) 6 month contract for

Mrs Rawinski.

Some of you will remember Miss Zimmermann

as a student teacher here earlier this year

working with Miss Davies and the Year 1/2s.

Abby is a PE major from Flinders University and

is also a graduate of Australian Lutheran College.

Mrs Michelle Holmes – Mrs Holmes will take

on the newly created class for 2015.

One further change will see Mrs Nicolle

Jakube and Mrs Belinda Fox working

together as a team-teaching partnership. Mrs

Fox is currently on maternity leave and has

worked at St Peters for over ten years.

I trust that everyone will welcome and support

our new staff as they begin, and support those

staff with changes to their roles. Please pray for

them and all our staff as we refresh and

recuperate over a well-deserved break.

Information regarding your child’s placement in

2015, classroom orientation evening details,

and other important information will be posted

home later next week. Included in this package

will be your Family Database, which contains

very important information that will need to be

checked and re-checked by you, completed/

updated as appropriate, signed and returned to

school on or before the first day of school in

2015.

Information regarding ordering of books and

stationery for 2015 (from Lighthouse Books)

was sent home with the newsletter in Week 6.

Hard copies of lists can be requested from the

school office if you have difficulty accessing a

computer. Remember—families have until 23

December 2014 to order and still attract a 10%

discount off most stationery items. Details

regarding labelling of books will be included in

the information sent home at the end of this

year.

School begins on Wednesday 28 January 2015

at 8.45am with our opening Chapel Service.

Information for 2015

Class Structures

for 2015 We have been putting our finishing touches to

our class groupings and class lists for 2015. As

we have recently added an additional class, this

has taken a little longer this year, as we have

only just finished the appointments process.

Next year our classes will be:

Reception

Reception/ Year 1

Year 1/ Year 2

Year 2

Year 3/4

Year 3/4

Year 5

Year 5/6

Year 7

The teaching staff for each of these classes (and

the classroom locations) will be shared with

everyone at the end of next week when we

send home our package of information for the

New Year. This will also include which class

your child/ren will be allocated.

Learning Support Meetings with

Sarah Smith and your child's 2015 class teacher

will be booked via the online booking system

(similar to the process used for the Student Led

Conferences at the end of September this year).

Information regarding this and the link to access

the online booking system will be forwarded to

families with children involved in the Learning

Support Program during the week commencing

Monday 15 December. Please look out for this

email.

Page 6 Newsletter

OSH Sport News

Outstanding Sport Fees and

Participation Trophies There are still a few outstanding sport fees for

the year. Unfortunately this will mean that

your child will not receive their End of Year

Participation Trophy with their team mates.

Please see Sharon Smith if your child is one of

these children. Or, alternatively, if you have

paid, please bring in your receipt issued by the

front office.

Returning of Basketball Tops

and Sport Equipment

(except Netball) The end of 2014 is fast approaching and all

equipment and sport tops must be returned to

school by Monday 8 December.

PLEASE MAKE SURE ALL TOPS ARE CLEAN!!

Any equipment or tops missing after Monday

will be invoiced for.

Invoices will be posted home on Tuesday

9 December.

The only exceptions are ALL Summer Netball

teams. Your competition continues over the

Summer with games up to 12 December and

games starting on or before school

recommences for 2015.

SPLOSHC News

Vacation Care

SPLOSHC will be offering vacation care from

Monday 12 January 2015 through to Friday

23 January 2015.

Booking grids are required to be returned by

today. Further bookings or changes can be

made by emailing

holidaycare@stpeterslutheran.sa.edu.au or by

phoning 0450 499 550 during the Vacation

Care period.

Term 1 2015

A SPLOSHC booking grid for Term 1 2015 is

attached to this newsletter.

The SPLOSHC Team

Library News Stocktaking is now nearly over!!

Now that the stocktake is nearly complete if you

find ANY school books or resources please

return them directly to the Library. Readers

should have all been returned by now but if you

find any at home please bring them to the

Library also.

The only exceptions to this are the Card packs

used by all Reception and Year 1 students. They

must be returned to the classroom.

Overdue notices have been coming home

weekly since the beginning of November. Please

note as the stocktake ends any items found to

be overdue will be classified as missing stock.

These items will then be charged for. Invoices

will be posted next Monday 8 December.

Thank you everyone for your wonderful

cooperation and understanding at what is

definitely one of the busiest times of the year for

all.

Sharon Smith

Congratulations to Nik Gacic and Henry

Smith who were selected last

week in the Southern Districts

Cricket Club U12 Statewide Cup

team. Well done boys!!

Find us on Facebook and Twitter—for all the

latest on what’s happening around

St Peters Lutheran School Blackwood

St Peters Lutheran @StPBlackwood

School Blackwood

St Peters Lutheran School,

where the message of Jesus Christ

is communicated and celebrated,

is a caring, supportive learning

community

that encourages global

consciousness, responsible action

and life-long learning.

Diary Dates Term 4

(for your calendar!)

71 Cumming Street

BLACKWOOD SA 5051

St Peters Lutheran School Blackwood

Week 9 (Monday 8/12)

Mon 8/12 Room 1 & 2 Excursion

ELC Christmas Service

Tue 9/12 Last day of Term 4 for all students

(ELC—Year 7)

Playgroup

End of Year Service—7pm

Wed 10/12 Staff PD

- Fri 12/12

Thu 11/12 School Council Meeting—7pm

Phone: 8278 0800

Fax: 8370 0414

Email:

admin@stpeterslutheran.sa.edu.au

We’re on the web…

www.stpeterslutheran.sa.edu.au

These dates are subject to change so please make sure you check them each week.

St Peters Lutheran Church

Services each Sunday at 10.00am

ALL WELCOME!

Coming up…

24/12 Christmas Eve carols service with children’s

nativity play 7pm

25/12 Christmas Day service with Holy

Communion 9am

Any enquiries please contact Pastor Ben:

82782322 or pfeiffer241@gmail.com

“Comfort, O comfort my people,”

says your God.

(Isaiah 40:1)