Welcome to Term 3

Welcome back to all for the beginning of Term 3, and a particular welcome to the 22 new students and their families who have joined us at Prince of Peace.  We are incredibly excited to have you here with us and look forward to you becoming part of the PoP community.

Across the break and into Term 3, several exciting things have been happening around the College.  The Middle/Senior Campus opened its Pavilion last term, but plenty of landscaping work is currently underway to retain the embankment down to the oval and create additional seating space, as well as some upgrades to the seating in the outdoor chapel and through the Worship Walk.  On the Junior Campus, work will begin very soon on a new play space for the younger students.  This work should happen in early August and will take several weeks to complete.  I’m sure your children will keep you updated with the progress once it gets underway!

While it feels like the news has been more than saturated with COVID for far too long now, the reality is that we are still right in the middle of a marathon, and we must continue to stay focused and wary.  For the second time this year, schools right across Melbourne—including five Lutheran schools (such as Good News Lutheran College, my previous school) are back to learning from home. We must still be prepared for the fact that at any time there is the potential to have a case connected to the College, and may need to shut down quickly. We certainly hope and pray not, but we must remain proactive.  To that end, our cleaning will remain heightened.

We will continue to have only minimal adult visitors on site, and car (not classroom) drop off and pick up will remain for now.  Some of our larger events will unfortunately be cancelled, or run very differently this year.  As we mentioned at the end Term 2, Grandparents Day will unfortunately not proceed at the end of this term.  Our annual Thanksgiving Service at the end of the year will not be taking place in its standard format because it has been determined that the chance of being able to run a service with hundreds of people in attendance is still very slim.  Rather than put in countless hours of effort to prepare for a single event that may not be able to occur, we will instead run smaller events at the end of the year for the presentation of awards—these will not change.  We hope that you can continue to support us though the duration of these changes for 2020.

Blessings

Simon Hughes
Head of College

All it Takes is Thank You!

During the past week the staff and students have been focusing on the value of APPRECIATION. Teachers have been looking carefully for students who have shown appreciation towards others, their peers, parents and teachers.

The Webster Dictionary defines Appreciation as, ‘a feeling or expression of admiration, approval, or gratitude’, and I really like how we promote this Lutheran Education Australia value. Not only does it tie in beautifully with our social-emotional well-being program—Growing with Gratitude (GWG)—but in this word I hear God’s still small voice. Let me explain.

So often people think that they need large, grand gestures when gift giving, or saying thank you. Sometimes you see this in workplaces when farewelling long serving staff members. The longer their years of service, the larger the value of the gift. But I would like to suggest that often, even the smallest gift can mean the most.

One of the most special gifts I ever received from a student, occurred in my final year of pre-service teaching (university). I was in a small country school with only 68 students. I was teaching a Year 4/5 composite class and we were in a farming area where drought had hit hard. I adored these kids. I laughed when they told me I would look good in jeans and chaps, I bush-danced with them, held lizards and climbed on chairs when the snake alarm went off. We were very close and I still think of them fondly. Now there was one student in particular who really made an impression on me. His name was Jack.

Jack had endured a difficult childhood. His mother had passed away when he was young, and his father had been in jail for a short period of time and had only recently been released. Jack had very poor literacy skills and his father, who loved him dearly, couldn’t read. After supporting Jack for six weeks, and working with his father on his literacy too, the time came for me to finish my time with the class.

Bless their little cotton socks, the class threw me a lovely farewell lunch. Several students had brought in gifts which were very special, but there was one gift that truly stood out. This gift was wrapped very differently to the rest. This gift was from Jack—and I will never forget it.

You see, Jack had wrapped my present in one of his old, worn, baby wraps because that was all he could find at home. Inside the wrap, was a half-used bottle of perfume, a chipped terracotta plate, and a gold chain with a knot in it. I knew immediately what I was looking at… these items had all belonged to Jack’s mum. The half used perfume smelled like her, the terracotta plate had come from the back of one of her cupboards, and the gold chain had come from her jewellery box. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. It was one of the most beautiful gifts I had ever received.

Later that day, I sat with Jack and his dad to say goodbye. With big hugs I returned the perfume. I explained to Jack, as I sprayed some on my wrist, that this was a very special part of his mum, and now I had a little part of her too, but I wanted him to keep the rest to remember both of us. Next I gave Jack his wrap back and reminded him that this was a very special memory of when his mum used to wrap him up and hold him tight. Finally, I handed the gold chain to Jack’s dad to keep hold of for Jack when he got a little bigger.

That afternoon as I left with chocolates, baskets and one terracotta plate with a chip in it, I felt so blessed and appreciated. It was more than I could have hoped for and yet it cost so little. You see this gift was heartfelt in the moment and chosen with care. It did not cost very much, it was not the prettiest on the table, but it truly showed Jack’s appreciation to me.

As we head deeper into 2020, with all of the twists and turns of an excellent mystery novel, I pray that you are able to find small, simple ways to show those you love how much you appreciate them. Be blessed and know that you are appreciated!

Semester 2 Event Updates

Extra-Curricular Photos Cancelled

Due to the circumstances of 2020, the decision has been made to cancel the Extra-Curricular photos set down for 3 August 2020. The College will endeavour to capture any photos necessary for the remainder of the year.

Interschool Sport Cancelled

The decision has been made across the College to withdraw Prince of Peace from interschool sport days for 2020. On the Junior Campus, we will be looking to develop a form of ‘House Games’ for Term 4, to provide opportunities for all students in Year 4-6 to gainfully and safely participate in sport, while also providing our Year 6 House leaders with some meaningful activities to plan and lead during their leadership year.

Awards—Acknowledging the Good

On Monday, the School Captains helped to hand out the Lutheran Education Values and Growing with Gratitude awards for some students in Years 3 to Year 6.  It was exciting to be able to acknowledge students as they showed appreciation (LEA value) and worked hard to encourage (GWG award) this week. Prep to Year 2 will have their awards later in the week. Next week we will begin our Positive Play awards and acknowledge the good behaviour that is happening in the playground.

It is unfortunate that we can’t invite parents to share in the excitement of the awards due to social distancing restrictions. But remember to encourage and celebrate the many positive things that your child does each and every day.  And keep an eye out in your child’s bag for any awards that may come their way.

Anne-Marie Schmidt
Deputy Head of Junior Campus P-6

Welcome to Semester 2

Welcome back to all of our students and families. During the holidays, I came across the above prayer and quote, and they both resonated with me.

As Mrs Grimes described in our closing worship, 2020 has been a “Topsy Turvy” year thus far.  Our imperative now is that we must accept that there will be more challenges, and while we will still be able to do most things, we will need to approach some of our College events and traditions a little differently this year.

• Last week, we had a small group engage in live worship, it is our intention to be able to stream worship—but this is still a work in progress. We have been able to increase our seating in the outdoor worship space, and weekly small groups of students will worship there.
• We engaged in Parent/Teacher/Student Conferences again this week via Zoom. We thank the students and parents for their commitment to powerful partnerships.
• In Semester 2, we will not engage in interschool sport. The decision was made due to restrictions that were placed on the competition, such that the experience may not have been worthwhile.  Instead, Year 7-9 will engage in sporting activities on site.
• During Week 3, instead of our normal Academic Awards Assembly to acknowledge those students who received Academic Awards in Semester 1, we will hold a number of smaller assemblies. Unfortunately, we are not yet in a position to invite parents to join us for those celebrations.
• Stay tuned, Subject Selection will also need to occur in a different format. This will involve some video content to support the subject selection booklet, plus an opportunity to ask the teachers questions.

As we continue to navigate events for Terms 3 and 4, we will work to find COVID-safe solutions.

Michelle Nisbet
Head of Senior Campus

Worship

We regret that regular service times have been suspended as a precautionary measure due to the COVID-19 virus.

Uniform Shop News

Shop Hours: The shop will continue to remain open for reduced hours: 8.00am to 10.00am Tuesdays and Thursdays during Term 3.  Please be aware that school needs can be purchased at The School Locker Northlakes, open 8.30am to 5.00pm Monday to Friday and Saturdays 9.00am to 3.00pm. Orders can be placed by email through the College website using the link on the Uniform Shop Page, or at anytime from The School Locker Website. Home delivery is available or collection from Northlakes store 4-6 Burke Crescent, Northlakes. Note: If you wish to avoid home delivery fees during term times, nominate delivery to your child’s campus and provide your child’s name and class.  Junior Campus orders will be delivered to your child’s class. Senior Campus orders will be delivered to reception for your child to collect the next day.

No-sew Hemming Tape: We have black and white 20mm wide iron-on hemming tape available to do no-sew repairs on dress, skirt and pant hems for $4.90.

Junior: We now have more silicone pencil grips – green, red, orange, pink, blue – $3.65 each.

Senior Campus: Protect your investments against wet weather—use silicone water proofing spray $9.95 on white sport shoes, Senior blazers, formal hats (top only as it can irritate skin), ties, and aprons, as well as handbags, purses and duffle bags.  Many applications in the one can—great value!

Food Technology Students: Now available—Navy full-front aprons with adjustable neck, and front pocket, available for $15.00.

Second Hand: If you wish to buy or sell second hand uniforms, please visit our very active PoP Second Hand Uniform Buy & Sell Facebook group

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