Greetings to our HTLC community.

As we come to the end of the week I look back with a thankful heart for how blessed we are to have such a wonderful school community. There is no doubt that the past few days have been challenging for some and with the recent flood waters now receding I give thanks for the support of students, staff and families as we had to enact precautionary measures during this uncertain time. We do have such a caring college. I also acknowledge the disappointment associated with the cancellation of the Spring Fair but it is pleasing to announce that the PTFA is currently discussing an alternate date for the fair to take place. We look forward to sharing further details in the coming weeks.   

At the beginning of the week, we farewelled our Year 12 students as they commenced preparations for their final examinations. Due to the school closure days at the start of the week it was pleasing to see that they were still able to attend their activities trip to Warrnambool on Tuesday, with their planned farewell breakfast and student-led chapel postponed for a time once exams are complete. From all reports it was a wonderful time spent as a group. On behalf of the HTLC community I would like to congratulate our graduating class of 2022 for completing their studies and wish them God’s richest blessing as they prepare for their final weeks of their secondary schooling. I pray that the days ahead are both productive and rewarding for them all.

In a little over a week’s time, all Lutheran schools and churches across Australia will take the time to recognise Reformation Day – Monday 31 October. Reformation Day honours the day when Martin Luther posted his statement of faith, known as the 95 Theses, on the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany, in 1517. His actions on this day began the Protestant Reformation and proclaimed that the Bible is the central authority of God’s word and that individuals may reach salvation only by their faith and not by their deeds. Our Lutheran schools are still guided by this understanding of the Gospel and strive to be a place of grace, love and forgiveness. As a school we look forward to recognising Reformation Day, and that through faith we receive the saving and forgiving love of Jesus Christ.

With the Melbourne Cup only a little over a week away I make note that the college will only be closed on the day of the public holiday (Tuesday 1 November), with school as usual for the remaining days of that week. We have been informed that buses will also continue as normal during that week.

I wish you all a joy filled week.

Mr Daniel Weller, College Principal

by Pastor Fraser Pearce

Devote yourselves to prayer, keeping alert in it with thanksgiving. At the same time pray for us as well that God will open to us a door for the word (Colossians 4:2,3a).

In life, when we think only about our own needs and concerns, we can become blind to the fact that we share the world with people made in the image of God. This blindness can show itself in simple, everyday things. Like what can happen when we are being served in a shop by an assistant – we are concerned only with ourselves that we can go through a transaction barely acknowledging or speaking with the person who serves us.

One thing that can open our eyes to others and bring us more deeply into reality is the simple act of saying thank you to the one who serves us. By showing our gratitude with these simple words, we acknowledge that we are dealing with another human being rather than a slave or machine. We grow in our understanding of our place in the world and status in God’s creation.

St Paul encourages us in Colossians to stay alert in prayer and do this ‘with thanksgiving’. St Paul wants us to understand that God serves us in many ways: with his word and sacraments, by giving us our daily bread, and by giving opportunities for his good news to be proclaimed. As we thank God for his gracious service to us, we stay alert and watchful to his presence and grow in humility as we honour others with our gracious conversation with them.

Not only are we free to thank God and grow in spiritual maturity through this, but we are also free to ask God to open doors to the word spoken by those who are especially called by him to proclaim the good news. As we pray in this way, we promote the gospel together with them and mature as people who are loved by God and love each other.

Heavenly Father, thank you for your gracious service to us. Thank you for all the good gifts you give – for the word and sacraments, our daily bread, and the opportunity to speak graciously with others. Open doors to the word spoken by those you have called to preach and grow us together in love with them and all your holy people. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

How different Week 3 of Term 4 has been to what we expected! Thank you to everyone for your support and flexibility as we moved back into remote learning earlier this week due to the flood event in Horsham. We were very pleased to welcome students back to school on Thursday morning.

Aerobics

Last Saturday three Junior School Aerobics teams travelled to Melbourne to compete in the School Aerobics Spring Challenge. All teams performed extremely well, and we are very proud of all the girls, especially Supergetix and Littlegetix as this was their first time performing. The Littlegetix took out 1st place, The Energetix placed 2nd and the Supergetix competed very well in their first competition. Thank you to Mrs Wik, Mrs McDonald, Miss McDonald, Miss Burke and families for their time and commitment to make this opportunity available to our students. 

Welcome Foundation 2023 students!

Next Tuesday our 2023 Foundation students will be engaging in their second transition session and visiting HTLC for their first face-to-face Story Time session. These will be held over three session times in small groups. Please contact Erin Drummond, our Enrolments Officer, if you would like to confirm your child’s session time. We are looking forward to welcoming our 2023 students to school.

Spring Fair

Unfortunately our HTLC Spring Fair was postponed last weekend due to the rising flood waters. We are currently looking for a new date to hold the Spring Fair.

Class Lists 

Class lists will be distributed to students in a sealed envelope on Monday 5 December. Please remember that teachers are very careful and deliberate in their allocation of students to classes and many factors are taken into account when preparing class lists. Class lists for Foundation 2023 will be distributed at our final transition session on Tuesday 6 December, once students have moved to classrooms.

School Uniform

All students are required to wear their summer uniform from 1 November. Please ensure students wear white (girls) or grey (boys) socks with their formal summer uniform, and HTLC sports socks on their sports days. Anything worn under uniforms, such as singlets or t-shirts, should not be visible. The Uniform Shop will be open Tuesday (9:00 am until 4:00 pm) and Friday (9:00am until 2:00pm) if you require items.

Chapel

This morning 6M led our Junior School worship, with a message based on James 1:19. Next week 5H will be leading our Chapel. Students are encouraged to bring a small offering each Friday morning, which will be donated to the Christian Emergency Food Centre. We hope you can join us for worship.

Blessings,

Mrs Fiona Friberg, Head of Junior School

Return from Remote Learning

This week saw a return to remote learning with the threat of flooding closing the school down for 3 days. Whilst this was not an ideal situation to encounter, the response from the school community enabled us to navigate the situation with a sense of clarity and calmness. The staff and students once again showed that they are ready and able to move into remote learning when required. Staff were able to implement meaningful tasks for students to complete from home and the students responded with a great deal of maturity and responsibility for their learning. It was great to welcome students back to school on Thursday after their short break. Our thoughts and prayers go out to anybody who has been impacted by the floods in Horsham or other parts of Victoria as they go through this difficult time.

Central Australia Learning Tour – Parent Information Night

Next Tuesday 25 October there will be an Information Night for all current Year 6, 7 and 8 parents who are interested in finding out more information about a proposed Learning Tour to Central Australia in 2023. As we emerge from the last few years of interruptions experienced because of the Pandemic, Holy Trinity Lutheran College is committed to offering students educational experiences through Learning and Service Tours.

By participating in a Tour like this, students will be given the opportunity to: 

• Gain a better understanding of Australia and our diverse culture
• Explore new environments as they go beyond their familiar comfort zone
• Develop life skills that increase their independence, maturity and confidence
• Create lifelong memories

Key Details
Location: Central Australia (Alice Springs, Coober Pedy, Uluru)
Dates: 14-23 June, 2023
Activities: 

• Opal mine tour
• Underground home visit
• Aboriginal Cultural experiences
• Royal Flying Doctor Service guided visit
• Hermannsburg Historic Precinct
• Reptile Centre
• MacDonnell Ranges visit and walk
• Desert camel rides
• Uluru
• National Park and Waterhole visit and more

Cost: TBC (depends on number of participants, will be discussed on the night)
Company: WorldStrides Educational Travel and Experiences

If you would like to find out more information about this tour, please login to the Zoom presentation at 7:30pm next Tuesday 25 October. The link was emailed to you earlier this week but please get in contact with me at jason.przibilla@htlc.vic.edu.au if you would like to receive this again.

Year 9 Student Achievement

Recently Year 9 student Tom Urquhart participated in the Country Swimming Championships in Darwin, performing exceptionally well, taking home 7 medals and achieving personal best times in multiple events. These results are a testament to Tom and the dedication and commitment he demonstrates each week to his chosen sport. Tom will spend hours at the pool and is doing everything he can to achieve his full potential. The HTLC community is exceptionally proud of Tom and what he is achieving. He is a credit to himself and his family and is a great role model for others to follow. Keep up the great work Tom.

Term 4 Key Dates:

Mr Jason Przibilla, Head of Middle School

This week we returned once again to remote learning for a few days, due to the flood waters that, moving ever so slowly, covered parts of our school grounds and threatened to prevent access. Fortunately, despite forecasts and predictions, the impact on our school has been minimal and we were pleased to welcome the return of our Senior students to the Senior Centre on Thursday.

Farewell to our Year 12 students

The beginning of this week was also a significant time of celebration for our Year 12 students who enjoyed a relaxing day at the beach in Warrnambool before returning home to commence study and exam preparation on Tuesday.
All Year 12 students are strongly encouraged to find the place that is most effective for their study. The private study rooms in the Senior Centre are available for those students who would like to come in to school to work. Uniform is not required at these times but students are asked to sign in at Main Administration and out on departure. All Year 12 staff will be available to run revision sessions or provide support to students during usual lesson times, until their subject exam is completed.

The Year 12 Breakfast and final Chapel originally scheduled for Tuesday 18 October has been postponed to a later date.

VET/SWL and Induction Day

Students who have applied to undertake a VET course in 2023 have received confirmation of their enrolment and details regarding course commencement.
All new students are required to attend Induction Day next Wednesday 26 October. Further information will be forwarded to those students.
Students commencing a Vocational Major course next year are reminded of the need to arrange their Structured Work Placement. Students needing assistance in locating a suitable employer are asked to speak with their teachers.

Early Completion

Students seeking to leave school prior to the conclusion of programs should apply in writing to the Principal for an exemption. The Education Act requires young people under the age of 17 to be in full-time employment or education or a combination of employment and training.

Student leadership for 2023

Thank you to the Year 11 students who have submitted their applications and expressed an interest in undertaking a leadership role within the College next year. Over the coming days, interviews will be completed and selected students will then present to the student body. College Captains for 2023 will be announced at Closing Service at the end of the school year.

Important dates

Mrs Sally Kuchel, Head of Senior School

Congratulations to Seb Le Roux, Rhianna Williams and Jiedan Young who travelled down to Melbourne on Monday to compete in the State Track and Field Championships. 
Seb and Jiedan both competed in Shot Put, both managing to place in the top 6 for their age in the state. This is a massive effort and the HTLC would like to give their congratulations to all three students who competed!

Greater Western Volleyball has been rescheduled for Thursday 27th October.

Term 4

October
27 - Greater Western Volleyball

Mr Jesse Kuchel, Head of Sport and Coaching

Being exposed to a natural disaster, either directly through lived experience or indirectly through the media, stirs up various feelings of sadness, depression, anxiety, and frustration. Communities and families around Australia have been touched by the recent floods with many still coming to terms with what has happened, while others are rallying together to provide much-needed moral and financial support.

As the clean-up continues, families are faced with the real presence of the disaster. Dealing with their emotions and providing support to their children and teenagers. How well young people cope, or manage any trauma, will depend on specific risk factors in existence before, during, and after the event. It is vital to talk and listen to them to help them process their feelings.

Parents and caregivers need to remain vigilant in monitoring their children during this time and check in with them regularly. They may be distressed by images they have seen either physically or through social media and news reports. Young people may exhibit or experience a wide range of emotional reactions and it is therefore important to reassure them that what they are feeling is considered normal.

This Special Report offers a number of strategies to help support families during this time of recovery.

We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this Special Report, and as always, we welcome your feedback.

If you do have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the College Wellbeing Team for further information or seek medical or professional help.

Here is the link to your special report:

https://htlc.vic.schooltv.me/w...

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