Warm greetings to all at HTLC.

Since last semester, students and staff have been busily rehearsing for the Wakakirri performance that occurred in Melbourne last week. I would like to applaud the efforts of everyone involved and for their dedication and energy in making it happen. There has been a considerable amount of time go into rehearsals and set and costume design, and for that I congratulate those involved. Well done and thank you. As an educator I see regularly how the performing arts has the capacity to engage, inspire and enrich communities. It gives students the opportunity to explore their creative and expressive potential while acquiring particular skills that develop critical understanding, informs decision-making and supports artistic choices. Through the arts, students learn to express these ideas, thoughts and opinions as they discover and interpret different situations. Let us rejoice in the performing arts and how it plays a major role in the development of expression within our college community. 

Today, an email was sent to families from the College Board indicating I have been offered and accepted the position of Principal at Good Shepherd Lutheran Primary School, Croydon Hills, Melbourne – commencing January 1st, 2023. Can I say that this was not an easy decision. It is with sadness that my time at HTLC will come to an end but rejoice in the many blessings that my family and I have received during my time as Principal. It has been (and continues to be) an absolute privilege to lead staff, the students, and families and will be forever grateful for the support and encouragement I have received. With many months still to go in 2022 we still have a lot of work to do and I look forward to the continuing growth of our college where we strengthen our college to be a place of future focused education and quality Christian care for many individuals in Western Victoria – HTLC is truly a special place.

Please click here to read the letter from Holy Trinity Lutheran College's Chair of the Board, Mr Bryan Matuschka.

Wishing you a blessed week.

Mr Daniel Weller, College Principal

by Pastor Peter Bean

Ask, and receive, so that your joy will be the fullest possible joy (John 16:24b).

The fullest possible joy! Sounds good. As do other translations: your joy may be complete; abundant joy, overflowing. And all we have to do is ask!

So ask, ask and ask again. But interestingly, Jesus does not tell the disciples or us what to ask for. He simply says ask in my name, and the Father will provide.

Ask in Jesus’ name! Don’t just add it to your prayer as if it is a magic formula. But add it to your prayer, knowing who Jesus is and what he has done for each one of us. Broken down barriers (between God and us, between us and others); provided healing (physical, mental and spiritual); changed society totally; invited us to live humbly and practise justice; to have the fullest possible joy.

When we pray, it is not actually about us; it is about being open to God’s working in our lives, living in his forgiveness and grace and blessing, so we can forgive and be gracious and bless. Mmm, prayer is even beginning to sound exciting!

And when our focus is on God and what he wants to do for us, when we pray in Jesus’ name, it is exciting and full of promise, hope and joy. It’s not about getting what we want. It is about opening up to the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives. And looking forward to the fullest possible joy overflowing into all areas of our life.

Lord Jesus, thank you! Thank you for your gracious love. Thank you for the joy and peace that surpasses understanding. Help our focus to remain on you. In your precious name. Amen.

Grandparents Day, Book Fair and Book Week Dress Up Day

What a day! It was exciting to see students arriving this morning dressed as their favourite book characters. So much colour and creativity on display! Today we were thrilled to welcome grandparents and special friends, and have them join us for worship and visit our classrooms. Thank you to everyone who spent time with us today.

Student Conferences

Information and booking details for Student Conferences were sent home this week. Please log onto the School Interviews website and book a time for your child’s conference using the code: dptgc.

Wakakirri

Congratulations to everyone involved in Wakakirri last Friday. The children had a wonderful time and enjoyed the experience of performing their dance story. The comments from the adjudicator sum it up:

• A performance full of energy
• A performance full of excitement
• 100% commitment by everyone
• No one ever dropped character
• So fun to watch
• Everyone was so committed to the performance
• Everyone had a face to perform

Thanks to everyone who was involved and or helped out in any way.

Father’s Day / Footy Day

On Friday 2 September HTLC will be celebrating Father’s Day and having our Football Day. Students are invited to come dressed in their favourite football colours. Students will be involved in football activities, led by our Year 6 students. Students in Foundation to Year 2 will have their football activities from 11:20am until 12:30pm, and students in Year 3 to 6 from 1:30 until 3:00pm. VCAL students will be preparing a Meat Pie Lunch, which will be available for pre-order and served at 12:30pm. 

Energetix 

Only one more week of rehearsals for our Energetix team, before they fly to the Gold Coast to compete in the National School Aerobics Championships. Anyone wanting to see their routine can attend the display at lunchtime (1pm) on Monday 15 August in the MPC.

Foundation to Year 3 Concert

Students in Foundation to Year 3 are currently preparing a Concert titled “All Aboard”. This will be a free concert at 11:30am on Thursday 15 September. Family and friends are welcome to attend, please add this date to your diaries. The performance will be recorded for those who cannot attend the live performance.

Chapel

This morning Year 4B led Chapel with a focus on resilience, based on Matthew 7:24-27. It was wonderful to have so many grandparents, parents and friends of the college join us for worship. Next week Year 4R will be leading our Junior School Chapel. We encourage students to bring a small offering.  We hope you can join us for worship.

Blessings,

Mrs Fiona Friberg, Head of Junior School

Halfway Point of Term

The end of this week signifies the halfway point of Term 3. It is generally at this point of the term where expectations on students increase as assessment tasks start to become due. This also coincides with outside activities such as sporting finals, meaning that students can start to feel under pressure. As parents and educators, it is important that we respond to our adolescents by providing encouragement, support, structure and firm but fair guidance. All too often we see the emotional response of an adolescent who is feeling under pressure, and this may be represented in behaviours which are out of character. How we respond at these times can determine if a minor issue or worry will develop into a much bigger concern. I encourage parents and carers to communicate with the support networks offered by the College, including House/Year Level Coordinators, the Wellbeing team and subject/Home Room teachers. Often, with guidance and support, we can quickly redirect the focus, provide solutions and work out a plan to progress forward. The partnership between home and school is never more vital than the challenging but rewarding adolescent years.

School Photos

Families are reminded that school photos will be taken next Tuesday 16 August, with the following schedule applying to Middle School students:

• 9:00am – 9:40am: Home Room photos
• 12:40pm: Year 7s
• 2:00pm: Year 8s
• 2:10pm: Year 9s
• 3:00pm: SRC, Ambassadors and Captains

Students will be required to be in full winter uniform on this day. If they have PE or Sport and Rec they will need to change into their sports uniform after their photos are taken.

National Science Week

Next week is National Science week. To celebrate Science week, students in Years 7-9 will be showcasing some of their work, as an interactive Showcase evening. The evening will run from 5:30-6:30pm on Wednesday 17 August. There will also be daily videos posted on the school’s Facebook page which will demonstrate different science experiments.

ICAS

2022 ICAS Competitions will be held at the following times:

• ICAS English: Week 6 Term 3
• ICAS Science: Week 7 Term 3
• ICAS Maths: Week 8 Term 3

Students will complete their tests online at school.

Mr Jason Przibilla, Head of Middle School

Youth Allowance presentation – planning for the future

On Wednesday 24 August, Gavin Simmons of Simmons Advisory Service will be conducting an information session for our parents of students in Years 10 -12. Gavin specialises in Youth Allowance and guiding parents to understand the financial support that may be available through Centrelink to support their child through their tertiary years. Further information will be forwarded to parents shortly.

School Photos

School photos will be taken on Tuesday 16 August. All students are required to wear full formal winter uniform.

VET enrolments

VET enrolments for 2023 opened on Wednesday. Students are encouraged to enrol as soon as possible to increase their chances of securing a position in their course of preference. Further information is available from the College regarding the VET courses that will be running next year.

VTAC applications – Year 12 students

Students are now well underway with their VTAC accounts. Support has also been provided for those student wishing to create UAC, QTAC and SATAC accounts for entry applications to other states.

Information has been provided to students regarding SEAS and scholarship applications. Please do not hesitate to contact the College with any questions or queries regarding course applications, SEAS, course information, preferences and scholarships. Students seeking statements of support from staff are reminded to ensure they request these as soon as possible and no later than the last week of Term 3.

VTAC Dates

• 1 August – VTAC applications open
• 29 September – timely applications close
• 7 October – SEAS applications, supporting documentation and scholarships applications
• close
• 12 December – Victorian ATAR released

VCE Important dates

• GAT (General Achievement Test) - Wednesday 7 September
• VCE Trial Exams (HTLC campus) – Monday 26 September to Friday 3 October
• Year 12s last day – Tuesday 18 October
• VCE written exams (English) – Wednesday 26 October, from 9:00am to 12:15pm
• Year 12 Valedictory Service and Dinner – Friday 18 November
• Final day of 2022 classes for Year 10 and 11 students – Friday 9 December

Mrs Sally Kuchel, Head of Senior School

Please find the upcoming sporting dates below for your calendar;

• Year 5/6 Golf - Fridays weekly until 9 September
• Little Desert Volleyball at Horsham 298 Primary School - Wednesday 17 August
• HCPSSA Badminton at Horsham 298 Primary School - Wednesday 31 August
• Father's Day AFL Football Day - Friday 2 September
• Little Desert Athletics Carnival at Dudley Cornell Park - Friday 9 September
• Greater Western Athletics in Ballarat - Friday 7 October
• Hoop Time Basketball (Year 4 Girls) in Hamilton - Tuesday 18 October
• Greater Western Volleyball in Warrnambool - Tuesday 31 October

Father's Day AFL Football Day

A call out for all fathers and father figures to place lunchtime (12:30pm to 1:30pm) on your calendars for Father's Day AFL Football Day on Friday 2 September. This day will see the whole of the Junior School involved in football-related activities throughout the day, with an opportunity to pre-order a pie for lunch to enjoy with their special ones! Students, teachers and families are encouraged to dress in their favourite AFL football colours to celebrate the day in true form!

• Foundation to Year 2 – Football activities on Junior School oval, 11:20am until 12:30pm
• Year 3 to Year 5 - Football activities on Junior School oval from 1:30pm until 3:00pm

Keep an eye out for communications relative to lunchtime pie pre-orders for those wanting to place an order for the day.

Little Desert Athletics Carnival

We have a huge 27 students eligible to represent us at the upcoming Little Desert Athletics Carnival, held at Dudley Cornell on Friday 9 September. Communication to parents of those involved has been sent home via students recently. Thank you to those that have returned the appropriate permission forms, we appreciate your early response. Students successfully placed at this event will have an opportunity to attend the Greater Western Athletics, to be held in Ballarat on Friday 7 October.

Winter Sports - Year 5/6

Our final session of our Winter Sports Program for Year 5 and 6 students took place on Friday this week. It was a successful carnival for all students in developing and refining match play skills within their chosen winter sports. A huge thank you to parents, staff and volunteers that were involved in any way. From umpiring, coaching, set up – it really does take an army and we appreciate those that offered their time and ensured we have the desired numbers to run such great sporting initiatives for our students.

A special thanks to Cameron Pickering and his Year 10 Sports Science Students that were involved in this program on a weekly basis, assisting with umpiring, scoring, time keeping, coaching, statistics, and being hands-on in any capacity needed at each of the sporting locations.

Little Desert Volleyball

We have two Girls and two Boys teams who have been training over the last 3 weeks in preparation for next week's Little Desert competition. The event will be held on Wednesday 17 August from 1pm to 3pm at the Horsham 298 Primary School gymnasium. Thank you to Logan Young who has assisted staff in training and coaching this large group and best of luck to players involved in the day.

HCPSSA Badminton

We will commence training and selection trials this coming week (Wednesday at lunch time) for the Year 5 and 6 students that have expressed interest in competing in the HCPSSA Badminton competition. The event will take place at Horsham 298 Primary School on Wednesday 31 August for a 2-hour period, from 11am to 1pm.

We have entered two Girls and two Boys teams in the event respectively. There will be a selection process purely due to the number of expressions for the Boys teams and Girls teams. Letters with all details have been sent home with those students who are eager to be involved in this event. Please return permission approvals when you have the opportunity. Thank you to those who have already returned theirs, this is amazing!

Hoop Time Progression

Training for those involved in our Year 4 Girls Hoop Time Basketball team will occur during lunchtimes in preparation for Hamilton on Tuesday 18 October. A letter with details has been sent home to the parents of students' involved.

Yours in Sport!

Hayley Thomas, Junior School Sports Coordinator

There's a quiet few weeks of interschool sport coming up for HTLC, with our next Black Ranges event not until Monday the 29th of August.

Victorian State Short Course Championships

HTLC have been well represented in the pool as of late, with Tom Urquhart and Jacob Matuschka producing some outstanding results at the Victorian State Short Course Championships.

Tom had a busy meet, competing in 11 events across 3 days. Swimming in finals in the 800m Freestyle, 400m Freestyle, 400 Individual Medley, and 200m Freestyle, achieving a Bronze medal in the 800m Freestyle.

Jacob had only qualified for the State Age Championships the week before at the Victorian Country Championships, and it was his first experience at a State level competition. Jacob swam the 50m Free, 100m Free and 100m IM, achieving yet another PB in the 50m Freestyle, dropping his time to 26.8 seconds.

Tom and Jacob have qualified for the National Country Long Course Championships in October to be held in Darwin.

Term 3 Dates

August
29 - Black Ranges Year 7 Boys & Girls Basketball

September
6 - Black Ranges Year 8 Boys & Girls Basketball
14 - Black Ranges Year 7/8 Boys & Girls Volleyball

Mr Jesse Kuchel, Head of Sport and Coaching

A reminder that this year's School Photo Day is being held Tuesday 16 August. Students are required to wear full winter uniform, not sports uniform. If students have sport on the day, they are advised to bring their sports uniform to change into. Please contact admin@htlc.vic.edu.au with any queries regarding school photos.