Welcome to the first St Luke's Way Newsletter for Term 4, 2024. Following, you'll find newsletter articles from St Luke's Principal, Matthew Hughes, as well as all main areas of the School.
Please open your newsletter article of choice by clicking on the options below.
Tourist or Pilgrim?
This week I have spent time at the Anglican Schools Australian Conference, and have had the pleasure of listening to The Reverend Dr Daniel Heischman on a number of topics regarding Anglican Identity. One of his messages was about the often discussed concept in theology of “Tourist or Pilgrim?”. A central idea within the message is that while both the tourist and the pilgrim are on a journey, perhaps even the same one, the tourist aims to satisfy their senses, while the pilgrim seeks truth. The tourist hopes to check off a list of experiences, whereas the pilgrim is hoping the experience will change them. Reverend Daniel challenged the Principals in the room to think about the experience of students within their schools, and how we can help them to be more like the pilgrim. Education shouldn’t just be the gathering up of experiences and knowledge. It should be a process by which students allow themselves to be shaped by what they learn, in the pursuit of truth. In the context of an Anglican school, this goes far beyond curriculum mandated by governments and curriculum authorities. At St Luke’s we know many of our families choose a St Luke’s education for the values that lie at the core of The St Luke’s Way. I’ve come away from the conference wondering how many of our students are tourists, and how many are pilgrims? I would encourage families to think about this themselves, and what they are wanting from the education on offer at St Luke’s.
Congratulations Jeff Lennox Builder
Last Saturday evening, for their construction of the St Luke’s Performance Centre, Jeff Lennox Builder received the Master Builders Award in the Education category. The Performance Centre is a sensational facility for the School, and this is a thoroughly deserving win. St Luke’s congratulates Jeff Lennox Builder for this recognition of their work. Construction of the Performance Centre will now be shortlisted for the State finals, and we wish Jeff Lennox Builder all the best for the next stage of the awards.
Community Fair
Given our recent cool weather, I am not at all looking forward to the dunk tank, but I am looking forward to everything else about the Community Fair. It promises to be a fun-filled celebration of our 30 years of operation. From the rides, markets and food trucks, to the exhibition sports, performances and Rock Pop Mime, the day will be filled with excitement. I encourage everyone in our community to come along and join in. I look forward to seeing you at the fair.
Staff updates
I am pleased to announce that the School has appointed Mrs Leisa Ross to the position of Head of Faculty - Performing Arts for 2025 and beyond. Many in our community will know Mrs Ross, as not only has she been active in the Bundaberg Arts scene for many years, but she is also a parent of the School. Mrs Ross has many years of experience teaching Drama and Media Arts, has been a Head of Department for the past 3 years at Gin Gin SHS, and has run her own business in the makeup and special effects space; if you ever watched or participated in the Hinkler Zombie Walk, that was her work. Mrs Ross is very excited to be joining us in 2025, and I know our community will welcome her warmly.
Thank you for your ongoing support of our school.
Mr Matthew Hughes
Principal
Community Helper
Our Kindy children had a visit from the School’s Adopt-A-Cop, Acting Sergeant Luke. The children listened intently as Luke discussed the topic of road safety, how to contact them in an emergency, and importance of Police Officers and their role in the community. Having an incursion like this, not only benefits children educationally but helps them to understand that these local Community Helpers are safe people that we can look to if we are scared or need help in certain situations like being lost.
Ahoy There
This week in Music and Movement, Pre-Kindy children enjoyed engaging their listening skills to follow body movements along to the pirate song, ‘Over the Deep Blue Sea’. Then during outdoor play, they boarded the boat and set off on a pirate adventure through the rugged seas in search of ‘Treasure Island’. As an extension from this role play experience, Pre-Kindy children constructed a boat using donated cardboard boxes. Friends chatted excitedly about the endless adventures they would have aboard the newly dubbed ‘Nacho Boat’.
3, 2, 1 Blast off!
Junior friends have been exploring their current focus—outer space! Children assisted to design and build a ‘rocket ship’ with recycled materials, experiment with sensory moon dust and discovered amazing facts about our solar system, such as the biggest planet is Jupiter and Earth is the only planet known to support life.
St Luke’s Community Fair
Join us for a day of family fun at the 2024 St Luke’s Community Fair on Saturday 3 August, from 12.00 pm. Entry is free. Rides, food trucks and market stalls will operate from 12.00 pm to 4.00 pm. The afternoon will finish with the annual Rock, Pop, Mine performances and a fireworks display. We look forward to seeing you all there!
Warmest regards,
Mrs Bree Kaufusi
Acting Director of Early Learning Centre
100 Days of School Celebration for Prep and Year 1 Students
The Preps and Year 1 students had a wonderful morning celebrating 100 days of school. The children dressed up as something starting with their favorite letter. We had a fireman, princesses, zookeepers, cats, police officers, and many more exciting dress-ups.
The children loved exploring 100-day activities both inside the classrooms and outside in the playground.
We look forward to our next 100 days of Prep and Year 1!
Teddy Bears Picnic
On Tuesday 23 July, Kindy students celebrated the beginning of their Prep transition with a special Teddy Bears Picnic. Each Kindy child was presented with their very own St Luke's teddy bear to mark the start of their school journey at St Luke’s.
Joining in the festivities, our current Prep students had the honour of acting as 'big buddies' for the Kindy students throughout the morning. The Preps took their job as official guides very seriously, proudly showing their buddies various activities and supporting them in participating.
It was a fun morning full of learning, play, crafts and delicious teddy bear treats! We look forward to our next transition session and seeing our 2025 Prep students again soon.
STEMPunks Innovation Sports Team
On Friday 26 July, St Luke's had the honour of hosting the 2024 Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEMPunks) Tournament. This was the culminating event of 13 weeks of preparation and practise, during which our students honed their skills working in groups to navigate complex challenges and solve real-world problems. Alongside other participating schools, our St Luke's teams were tasked with designing and creating environments that included entertainment parks for people of all ages and abilities, and a rehabilitation centre for wildlife, whilst creating an enjoyable experience for tourists. All our teams demonstrated excellent sportsmanship, cooperation and perseverance, as well as grace in defeat and humility in success. We congratulate all our STEMPunks participants for their conscientious commitment to our weekly training sessions and their efforts on tournament day. A special congratulations goes to our Year 7/8 team for earning first place and becoming tournament champions!
Gardiner Chess Competition
Our St Luke’s Primary Chess Teams competed in the final Gardiner Chess Competition 2024, and the students did the School and themselves proud. This year has brought tremendous improvements in our Chess skills and we achieved outstanding results in this competition. Year 6 students, Dishanth and Hayden, were awarded second and third places, respectively. St Luke’s Team Blue (Dishanth, Hayden, Matthew and Neil) received first place in teams and St Luke’s Green (Tarik, Jaxx, Nathan and Nikhil) finished in third place. In addition, we had a record number of merit ribbons with nine students achieving at least 4.5 out of 7 points. Well done to all our students who have shown commitment to our Thursday afternoon Chess Club and who demonstrated sportsmanship and skill in these competitions.
We’re skipping through the term!
Jump Rope for Heart is well underway in our Primary School and it’s great to see so many children out in the playground skipping with smiles on their faces. We have already raised an incredible $12,000, and have 180 plus students registered!
We are also very excited to announce that in Week 10, we have AGAIN secured Australian skipping legend, Luke Boon, to come and conduct a full week's worth of workshops with all of our Primary students. Luke has won more than 70 team/individual World Championships and has a passion for sharing his knowledge with the next generation of jumpers. You can read more about Luke here Jump Force International. Luke was also featured on Australia’s Got Talent, and you can watch his VERY impressive audition here: Luke Boon is an AMAZING Skipper! | Auditions | Australia's Got Talent. This year Luke will bring with him another up-and-coming skipper, Maverick Larkin. ‘Mav’ is Australia’s next big skipping superstar, and is excited to meet and work with our students.
It’s not too late to sign your child up online!! It’s really easy - just follow this link and enter your details: www.jumprope.org.au/parents. Don’t forget to share your online fundraising page with friends and family to raise money for a great cause! Also, don’t forget to join our special Facebook group page for this event. Search for St Luke’s Jump Rope for Heart, 2024 or click the following link and request to join St Luke's Jump Rope for Heart, 2024 | Facebook.
Thank you for your continued support of this wonderful program!
Mrs Hayley Russo
Jump Rope for Heart Coordinator
Bundaberg Eisteddfod
Our St Luke's Primary students performed amazingly at the recent Bundaberg Eisteddfod. We had a full week of solos and duets with many students receiving places. Congratulations to all who competed!
Ensembles week was a huge success with our Primary Ensembles receiving the following awards:
1st Place (String Ensemble B Level) - Beginner Strings
1st Place (String Ensemble C Level) - Year 3 Strings
3rd Place (String Ensemble A Level Primary) - Junior String Ensemble
3rd Place (Concert Band B Level) - Junior Concert Band
3rd Place (Concert Band C Level) - Beginner Concert Band
3rd Place (Choral Group B Level Intermediate) - Junior Singers
Special mention to Benett for the Excellence Award for Junior Woodwind presented to him at the Gala Concert.
No parking allowed on Meilene Grounds
As previously communicated, we kindly request that families refrain from parking on the Meilene land near our Lower Primary Carpark. For everyone's safety, please do not use this area for parking. Please use the car parks allocated near the Lower Primary Entrance, next to the Tennis Courts, or delay your arrival until more parking spaces become available.
Community Fair
A reminder the St Luke’s Community Fair will take place on Saturday, August 3. We appreciate all the donations from parents to date for the varied activities being offered and look forward to sharing this exciting event with the members of our community.
Date Claimers
3 August St Luke’s Community Fair
8 & 9 August Bundaberg Primary School District Athletics
19 August Book Character Parade and Grandparent’s Day
30 August Student Free Day
2 September Father’s Day Celebrations
Kind regards,
Ms Tonia Lassman
Head of Primary School
Dear Middle School Parents and Caregivers,
The St Luke's Middle School newsletter is recorded as a video by myself and Head of Senior School, Mrs Robyn Deer, and then uploaded to YouTube. For this fortnight's newsletter content please visit the following YouTube link.
Alternatively, you may wish to jump ahead to specific topics within the same video. If so, please go to the following category links.
Kind regards,
Mr Mark Fancourt
Head of Middle School
Welcome to the Senior School newsletter for this fortnight. Head of Middle School, Mr Mark Fancourt and I have recorded a video update and uploaded it to YouTube for your convenience. To watch this fortnight's newsletter content for Middle and Senior School, please visit the following YouTube link.
Alternatively, you may wish to jump ahead to specific topics within the same video. If so, please go to the following category links.
Kind regards,
Ms Robyn Deer
Head of Senior School
There is no update this fortnight from the Chaplain.
Reverend Erika Williams
Chaplain
Representative Selections for 2024.
Congratulations to our Sports Representatives for 2024. To view the full list of students, please click here.
Chess Tournament
On Wednesday 31 July, St Luke’s sent 18 students from the Middle and Senior Schools to the Gardiner Chess Competition. Students displayed great maturity, independence and sportsmanship throughout the day. Our Secondary Team C, with Sasmitha, Lachlan, Eligh and Rael tied for 3rd place in the Secondary A division, coming in 4th after a tie-break. Sasmitha also won an individual merit award for this division, winning five of seven games. In the Secondary Premier category, Marko and Haiden won individual merit awards, and Guru won a medal for being the top Board 4 player. Well done and congratulations to all participants!
Mr Len Kirchner
Director of Co-curricular (Sport)
Bundaberg Eisteddfod 2024
St Luke’s was a force to be reckoned with at the recent Bundaberg Eisteddfod. With two jam-packed weeks of competition, our school was well represented in all categories and all students performed to a very high standard. Congratulations to all competitors for your hard work in the lead up to the competition
The second week was the ensembles competition and St Luke’s came away with some great results:
Large Instrumental Groups
1st Place (Concert Band A Level) - Senior Concert Band
1st Place (String Ensemble B Level) - Beginner Strings
1st Place (String Ensemble C Level) - Year 3 Strings
2nd Place (Orchestra A Level) - Senior Orchestra
2nd Place (String Ensemble A Level Secondary) - Senior String Ensemble
3nd Place (String Ensemble A Level Primary) - Junior String Ensemble
3rd Place (Jazz/Stage Band A Level) - Stage Band
3nd Place (Concert Band B Level) - Junior Concert Band
3rd Place (Concert Band C Level) - Beginner Concert Band
Choirs
2nd Place (Vocal Ensemble Secondary) - Lacov Elbmesne
2nd Place (Choral Group A Level Advanced) - Senior Choir
3rd Place (Choral Group B Level Intermediate) - Junior Singers
Small Ensembles
1st Place (School to Year 12) - Brass Ensemble
2nd Place (School to Year 9) - Middle School Woodwind Ensemble
2nd Place (School to Year 12) - Senior Woodwind Ensemble
Highly Commended (School to Year 12) - Senior String Quintet
Gala Concert
The culmination of the Eisteddfod is the Gala Concert, held on the Thursday evening of Ensembles Week at the Moncrieff Theatre. The adjudicators chose a selection of their favourite items from the two weeks and these students were invited to perform. This year, Ruby-Rose (solo piano), and Poppy and Julie (flute and saxophone duet) performed at the Gala Concert and we were extremely proud of their accomplished performances.
Also at the Gala Concert, outstanding students are selected to receive awards. This year, the St Luke’s students who were recognised with awards were:
Encouragement Award Junior Brass - Hamish
Encouragement Award Senior Brass - Jackson
Encouragement Award Junior Piano - Christian
Encouragement Award Senior Drumkit - Jade
Excellence Award Junior Woodwind - Benett
Excellence Award Senior Woodwind - Poppy
Excellence Award Senior Piano - Marko
Excellence Award Junior Drumkit - Hamish
Scene Project
On Thursday 1 August, our Year 9 Drama students accompanied by Mrs Butler attended The Scene Project Performance Day at the Moncrieff Theatre. This was the final performance after the Queensland Theatre Company actors had done a workshop at school with our students earlier in the year.
Congratulations to all of our amazing students for the huge efforts they have put in, and thank you to our wonderful Performing Arts Department staff who nurture our young musicians to be the best that they can be.
Mrs Nicole Strohfeldt
Director of Co-curricular (Culture)
Flexischools Orders
Just a reminder that the cut-off time for Flexischools orders is 9.00 am each morning. If you have placed an order prior to this time and, for some reason, your child is going to be absent, you can cancel your order on Flexischools online before the daily cut-off time.
You can view our current Turtle Cafe menu here.
Yours in Nutrition,
Mrs Kylie Johnson
Turtle Café Convenor
Shop Hours
Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from 7.45 am to 11.00 am and 2.30 pm to 3.30 pm (with the exception of Public Holidays).
Student Fittings for 2025
We are currently fitting students and placing orders for the 2025 school year. Please book your appointment via the Parent Portal to have your fitting completed. Please ensure all fittings are booked prior to the September holidays. No payment is required at these fittings. Unfortunately, no guarantee of stock can be given if you have not placed an order for 2025.
Online Ordering
Online ordering from the Uniform Shop is available and can be placed via Flexischools. To find out more information, please click here.
Mrs Fiona McCartney
Shop Supervisor
There is no update this fortnight from the Learning Hub.
Ms Peggy Labenski
Learning Hub Manager
School Fees
All school fee accounts for term 3 have been emailed out to families and are due for payment by Wednesday 7 August 2024. Family statements can also be viewed on the Parent Portal under Accounts and Payments.
Overdue accounts will be considered acceptable if a regular payment arrangement is in place and being honoured, otherwise a $25 per month Administration Levy Late Fee is applicable.
The School offers various payment methods for your convenience. Please do not hesitate to contact Mrs Susan Browne or Mrs Michelle Prickett on 4132 7555 if you would like to set up a payment plan or have any queries regarding your account.
Notice of Enrolment Termination
The Notes to the Schedule of Fees lists the following requirements for withdrawal of enrolment:
If the student is to leave the School the parent agrees to give at least one term’s written notice to the School. This notice should be received:
not later than the first day of term at the end of which it is intended that the student should leave, or
if it is intended that the student should leave during a term, not later than the first day of the immediately preceding term.
If the parent intends to cancel or (with the School’s agreement) postpone or otherwise vary the student’s enrolment, the parent will give notice to that effect to the School no later than the first day of the term immediately preceding the date of entry.
If the parent fails to comply with either of the above paragraphs, the parent will pay or forfeit (as the case may be) to the School one term’s fees and charges in lieu of notice unless the Business Manager, in his/her sole discretion, agrees to remit payment of those fees wholly or partially.
2024 Non-Government Schools Census collection notice
The Australian Government Department of Education (the department) would like to advise you that it will collect certain information about your school, its staff and student body as part of the 2024 Non-Government School Census collection (the Census).
Information about how and what is collected for the Census can be found in the link below.
4 Mezger Street, Bundaberg QLD 4670, Australia
© 2024 St Luke's Anglican School. All Rights Reserved.
ABN 11 262 640 922 CRICOS No. 01317D
