“Live as children of the Light”
Loving God, loving others, loving learning
Issue 18| Friday 25th November 2016
From the Principal
‘In the last days...the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be
established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted
above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples
will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the
Lord, to the temple of the God of Jacob... He will teach us his
ways so that we may walk in his paths....Nation will not take
up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.
Come...let us walk in the light of the Lord.’
Isaiah 2:1-5
Calendar Dates
Monday 5th December
Grade 5/6 Portfolio Afternoon Tea
Tuesday 6th December
Whole school transition day
Thursday 8th December
7pm Thanksgiving and Graduation
Service
Friday 9th December
Last day of term 12.15 finish
Wednesday 1st February 2017
First day of school Grades 1-6
Sunday 5th February
Staff installation service at St
Matthews Church
6th
Monday
February
Prep students’ first day of school
__________________________
Wow…the end of the year is upon us and Christmas is at
hand! We have lit the first candle of Advent and we are
looking forward to celebrating the birth of our Saviour.
We’ve also got our present purchasing under control, have our celebratory meals organized and
are feeling very much on top of the month that is to come…right?
I don’t know about you, but I’m not ready to welcome the birth of Jesus. My office is a mess, my
home needs a good clean, my to do list grows ever longer and as a result, I’m not feeling very
merry, peaceful or joyful. I’m feeling rather cranky and tired to be honest!
Reflecting on our reading from Isaiah this week, I can see such refreshing, wonderful imagery
and richness of thought. The church can easily get caught in the trap of not giving much time to
the Old Testament and it is a big mistake to do so. What a lovely vision – all the people of the
Lord streaming to worship God in peace.
I exhort us all to turn our eyes at this time to see the mountain of the Lord which is a constant
presence in our lives. For some of us there may be clouds of frustration, for others mists of
uncertainty or perhaps we are so busy looking at the ground that we forget to look up at all.
Regardless, Jesus is a constant and immovable force for peace, comfort and joy in our lives.
As we move into the ‘silly season’ of Christmas, receiving encouragement from every angle to
take our eyes off celebrating the birth of our savior, let us steadfastly keep to our course. Let us
walk in the light of God and proclaim his love, mercy and compassion this Christmas.
Blessings, Tom
St Matthew’s Lutheran Church
Our supporting church worships at
9.30am each Sunday at 362 Barkly
St Footscray.
All families and friends are
welcome to join our worship.
Featured artwork is by Solomon, Grade 5.
Prayer Points
 We give thanks for the appointment of our new principal Mr Paul Familari and
hold him in our prayers as he moves to a new school
 We pray for all schools across Australia as students and staff finish up for the
year and plan for the next
 We give thanks for our Grade 6 students and pray for them as they transition to
high school
 We pray for our national and world leaders
 We pray for the Vu, Vuong, Walters, Wibowo and Zathang families
Issue 18 | Friday 25 November 2016
What we are learning this week and next
What we are learning:
P/1
Maths:
English/Christian Studies:
1/2
Maths:
English:
Science:
3/4
Maths:
English:
Humanities:
5/6
Maths:
English:
Humanities:
What parents and friends can do to help
We are revisiting pattern, data collection, grouping, capacity and place
value over the next two weeks. Ask your child to group objects
according to attributes of their choice.
In English our theme will be Christmas. We will be reading from the
Bible and children’s literature. We will be writing lists as well as
sequencing stories and events.
We are learning about measuring length. Help your child to measure
the length of items in centimetres or metres. Continue to help them
read analogue time.
Ask your child to write an interesting story and share it with you. Ensure
they starts their sentences with capital letters, use full stops and use
exclamation marks.
We are learning about forces. Ask your child to explain to you what a
force is. Have fun together using forces of gravity, magnetism and
muscular force.
We are finishing off the year by revisiting measurement, looking
particularly at area and volume. Have your child explain to you how
they measure area and volume and ask them to do some cooking with
you.
We have started working on diamante poems, looking at both antonym
and synonym diamante poems. Ask your child to write one for you!
We are using Microsoft PowerPoint to create a presentation about
aspects of Aboriginal culture. Ask your child about what their topic is
and what they have learned.
We have been using Microsoft Excel to improve our data analysis skills.
If you have this program at home, have your child show you how it can
be used to analyse basic data.
We have been working hard on finishing up our poetry work. Ask your
child to share their poems with you – they have all written at least one!
We have been looking at electricity and circuits. Ask your child to
explain how electric trains and trams work.
End of Year Graduation Service
Please note that our Graduation
Service will take place from
7pm – 8pm on Thursday 8th
December at Sunshine
Presbyterian Church, 120
Anderson Rd, Sunshine.
As all students play a role in the
service, the school wishes to
see all students and their
families present at this important event in the school
calendar. Students are to wear full school uniform unless
their performance requires a costume.
Staffing news
The school recently received news that Mrs Nicole
Stickland will be concluding her service with us at the end
of this year. We thank Mrs Stickland for her work as a
Student Support Officer and Community Wellbeing
Facilitator, serving both inside and outside the classroom.
We will formally recognise her service at the upcoming
graduation service.
New benches
The school thanks our parents and friends group who have
raised funds to help purchase lovely new benches. We
hope you enjoy them!
Issue 18 | Friday 25 November 2016
Science in 5/6
In Science we have
been learning about
electricity and
circuits. Have a look
at the models we
built to demonstrate
how electric trams
and trains work.
Issue 18 | Friday 25 November 2016
3/4 and 5/6 Tennis