Issue 06 / 10 May 2013
Middle & Senior School News Lutheran Schools Week This week is National Lutheran School’s Week and the theme is Forgiveness – the door to peace. “Forgiveness is one of the ten core values for living in community that is described in the values statement of ‘A vision for learners and learning in Lutheran schools’. Forgiveness is as much about the future as it is the past. The journey of forgiveness lies constantly before us and an attitude of forgiveness is inextricably linked to love and joy. St Andrews is a place where the joy and practice of forgiveness is lived out on a daily basis, where the life-changing effects of forgiveness can be experienced, and where reconciliation, made possible by the love of God through the cross of Jesus Christ, enables everyone to be a peacemaker. Parents might wish to take this opportunity to discuss the value of ‘forgiveness’ with their children, and what it looks and sounds like in the home setting and beyond. The College Fete The countdown is on and there are only 2 Weeks to go until our College Fete. The Fete is a special time in our College calendar and I hope to see all our families there along with their friends and relatives. It will be a great day to connect as a whole community and to raise funds in support of our P&F and ultimately the students at the College. Social Media Last week we emailed a letter home with some important facts and cautionary notes about ask.fm a social media site. As a College we continue to assist our students to become good digital citizens and to embrace the positive aspects of technology. One of the best preventions for cyber-bullying is open dialogue. I encourage parents to continue to be involved in their children’s on-line world and to notify the College either through Moodle by clicking on asafeplace@ standrews or email if they or their child are in need of support in this area. Thank you to the parents who sent in replies and thank you notes. They were appreciated. If you did not receive the letter, please call or email the College so we can update your details. Junior Chamber of Commerce Congratulations to John Hamstra who was recently ap-
pointed to the executive team of the Junior Chamber of Council. The Junior Chamber meets once a term at the Gold Coast City Council to discuss and implement initiatives to support the Gold Coast residents. John has been a member of the council since 2011 and we are delighted that he has been elected to the executive!
NAPLAN Testing Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 students will sit the National Literacy and Numeracy Tests next week (Tuesday 14 May - Thursday 16 May). Preparation for these tests has been ongoing and we are confident that each student will achieve their personal best results. The work done to prepare our students for the testing has been embedded in our regular teaching programs; focusing on literacy and numeracy skills as key elements, vital to academic success. As a College, our focus remains on assisting our students to achieve their full potential and developing the students under our care as confident learners, critical thinkers and good citizens. The word test conjures up many definitions and emotions and it is important that we encourage our students to keep these benchmark tests in context, they are simply a means by which students and schools across Australia can be compared in order to identify areas of excellence and need. Tests of this nature can be stressful and tiring. St Andrews holds to the view that while we are keen to see students reflect their true ability through such testing programs, we are not keen to see students exposed to undue stress and fear of ‘failure’. Parents play an important role in supporting their children through this week and ensuring optimal performance levels for testing. Parents are encouraged to: • Keep a positive, stress free approach to the week and a ‘do your best effort’ approach to their children’s