Compass No. 633 February 2022

If you are familiar with the American film of 1993 called “Groundhog Day”, you might know that it is about an actual event that happens annually in Pennsylvania.  On 2nd February each year, Pennsylvanian locals try to predict the arrival of spring by announcing whether a groundhog/ squirrel sees its shadow after it emerges from its burrow. Based on German folklore, the superstitious idea is that spring will arrive early that year if the animal does not see its shadow because of cloudiness. In the movie, Bill Murray portrays a cynical television weatherman covering the event, who becomes trapped in a time loop, repeatedly forcing him to relive the 2nd February.

As I write this article, it is 2nd February, and it does seem to be a bit like Groundhog Day. Online learning at home, a handful of students and staff onsite, parent information nights, chapels, assemblies, and staff meetings on Teams and Zoom. More time spent behind a screen. Wearing masks. No big gatherings of people. Groundhog Day. Memories come back to mind of the lockdowns last year and the year before. What a way to start a new school year! Not quite what students, parents, and teachers expected.

When we are in “Groundhog Day” as humans, we tend to become a bit pessimistic and lose hope. We start to question ourselves. Will normality happen again? Will things improve? Will I still have that same level of connection with other human beings in the online space? Will I get to know my new teachers, students, colleagues? Such questions in our minds only add to the time loop dilemma and stuck mindset.

The good news is that we will be back together onsite as a school community next week. Relationships will improve face to face. The level of risk will decrease as time goes on, as we look after each other and take care to go about our lives, mindful of staying safe and healthy. As we start a new school year, the other good news is that our college theme is one of hope, “Inspiring Hope, Enhancing Agency”. We do not need to lose hope this year. We are not trapped like Bill Murray’s character in an endless Groundhog Day.

We belong to a community that has great hope. Hope and confidence that things will and do change. We are accompanied through life by a God who raised Jesus from the dead. Who brings about a new creation, a fresh start, a new day.

As we gather as a school community at the start of this year, whether online or in-person, we can be hopeful people of God. As Romans 15:13 puts it, May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace as you trust in him, even in your Groundhog Days.

Mr Tim Jarick, College Pastor

With such an unusual start to the school year, I share in the 2022 College Captains and Vice Captains’ anticipation of welcoming new and returning students and staff back onto campus on Monday 7th February.  Our hope is for another positive and successful year of learning, growing and flourishing. 

Year 11 and 10 Information Evenings

The Year 11 Information Evening on Tuesday 1st February was presented online to students and families. Important information specific to students commencing their final two years at Pacific, including supporting student wellbeing, opportunities for leadership and service, academic and career pathway information, was presented by Ms Leigh Finter (Head of Senior College Students), Ms Anne-Marie Gerlach (Head of Learning Senior College), Ms Narelle Keen (Head of Library) and Ms Wanda Hayes (Head of Careers and Pathways).  For students and families wishing to access the Year 11 Information Evening, please click on this link to view.

The Year 10 Information Evening will be presented online on Tuesday 8th February from 6:00pm.  Further information about how to access this presentation will be communicated to families.

Returning to School – Monday 7th February

Before returning to school, I hope students are excited about putting on their uniforms and proudly walking through the gates to see their peers, teachers, connect with the College community and resume face-to-face learning. 

Students and parents are strongly encouraged to read the communication from Dr Dolling this Friday 4th February in relation to returning to school next Monday 7th February.

God bless to all our students in 2022.

Ms Leigh Finter, Acting Director of Students 

Welcome to Pacific Lutheran College in 2022. We pray that the break has been fruitful and keep in our prayers those who have dealt with the numerous challenges over the holiday. I extend a very warm welcome to the PLC community to new families and students and a welcome back to all families returning.  

Upcoming Events 

As communicated, the events that mark the commencement of the school year have been postponed or diverted to an online space. A recording of relevant parent information sessions has been emailed to families in the past day. ‘The email is titled ‘P-5 Information Evening’. We encourage families to engage with the information contained and contact teachers if further information is required. 

The P-5 commencement service traditionally would include the presentation of Year 5 badges. We are exploring ways in which this will happen soon and will communicate these plans when finalised. 

Volunteering at Pacific 

One of the rich opportunities the wider community has to engage with the college is volunteering. There will be many chances to give through service schemes like parent reading, excursions, and helping in the tuckshop throughout the year.  

Last year, legislation around volunteering changed, and all volunteers are now required to undergo mandatory training once a year to comply with this change. Volunteers will be unable to engage with students unless this training has occurred.  

As such, Pacific will be providing opportunities to understand these changes and engage in this training. These dates are marked on the school calendar, and the first session will be on the 11th of February. This will be via Zoom and should take approximately an hour. A survey will be distributed to all families to gauge interest and finalise numbers for the training.  

General Housekeeping 

Communication with College Staff 

Often parents need to communicate information to their child’s teachers regarding changes to routine and exemption from participation in sport, specialist lessons or activities due to injury or illness. To avoid confusion and ensure students are where they are meant to be, particularly at the end of the day, we ask that parents put all of these changes in writing. All teachers can be contacted by email. Students in Years 3-5 will also receive a student diary, which has space for notes of this nature. 

Food protocols 

As restrictions remain in place, shared food for student birthdays (such as cupcakes) cannot be brought onto campus and distributed. We understand that celebrating a birthday is an important milestone for a young child.  The tuckshop can provide birthday packs, and these can be ordered through FlexiSchools. 

A reminder to all families that Pacific is a nut-free zone and bringing foods containing any nut products is not allowed. Amongst our student body, we have many students who could have life-threatening anaphylactic reactions toward nut products. We thank you for your co-operation in abiding by this policy. 

Uniforms 

A reminder that the College hat is an essential element of the school uniform. During breaks, students need to wear a hat, or they are required to stay out of the sun. Students should also wear their hats when travelling to and from the College. 

Students in Years 1-5 may only wear their sports uniforms to school on the days they have HPE. Years 4 and 5 students may also wear their HPE uniforms to school on Thursdays. There may also be occasions during the year when students are requested to wear their sports uniform to school for carnivals or excursions. On all other occasions, students should attend school in their formal uniform. 

If, for some reason, your child is unable to wear the correct uniform to school, please send a note to your child’s class teacher. A uniform reminder letter will be forwarded to parents whose children are in the wrong uniform, without a note. 

Car Parks 

A reminder to all parents and students that they are to use the appropriate car park at the beginning and the end of the day. Prep-Year 2 students can use the front car park. Students across Years 3-12 are to use the senior drop off or car park at the western side of the College. 

It has been wonderful to connect with the children of essential workers at the college over the last two weeks, and we look forward to welcoming all students back on campus next Monday. 

Take care, and God bless. 

Mr Damian Davis, Head of Staff and Students P-5

Our 2022 Vision Statement for the Learning Enrichment Centre (LEC) is

Faith Hope and Love.

We pray each student will have faith to try their best, hope for a successful year ahead and experience God’s unfailing love.

The LEC is a safe place:

• where students are encouraged to be themselves, work from their strengths and have faith in the gifts God has given them.
• where students feel valued, loved, and cared for, so that hope will grow.

Welcome from Chantal

Hello! Goeie Dag! Dumela! Bwanji! 안녕하세요! G'day!

I am Chantal McAllister, the new Head of Learning Enrichment. I have lived in five countries from South Africa to Botswana, to Zambia, to South Korea and now call Australia home.

I was Senior Manager of the Differentiation, Gifted and Talented, Students with Additional Needs and English as an Additional Language or Dialect Team, Quality Teaching & Learning, Department of Education NT.

My qualifications include:

• Masters in Inclusive Education, Charles Sturt University, New South Wales, Australia.
• Bachelor of Arts Degree, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa 
• Higher Diploma in Education 4 Year Diploma, Pretoria College of Education, Pretoria, South Africa.
• NRCT Neuro-Cognitive Reconstruction Therapy, Pretoria, South Africa.

I have taught in the many schools, including Marrara Christian College (NT, Australia); Tajeon Christian International School (South Korea); Westwood International School (Gabrone Botswana); Lusaka International School, (Lusaka, Zambia); John MacKenzie Mission School (Francistown, Botswana) and Oom Paul Special School (Rustenburg, South Africa) and I have been teaching and working in education for 31 years.

I am looking forward to getting to know the students, staff and parents of pacific and supporting young people to optimize their learning and growth.

Mrs Chantal McAllister, Head of Learning Enrichment P-12

Welcome back to a new and exciting year of Music at Pacific Lutheran College. I would like to welcome Mrs Carlie Purkis (Head of Music) and Mr Paul Cusick (P-12 Music teacher) to the PLC Music department and look forward to working with them to strengthen and extend PLC music.

Whilst the musical year hasn’t started exactly the way we wanted it to, with the cancellation of our annual music camp at Watson Park, we are already working on new dates for the camp to take place – watch this space!

This year we have the following Instrumental Music tutors at PLC:

• Strings – Helen Williams/Alison George/Franziska Frank
• Brass – Scott Browne/David Cribb
• Woodwind – Lindsay Macdonald-Clow/Noeleen Eden
• Piano – Danni Hingston/Lindsay Macdonald-Clow/Noeleen Eden
• Percussion – Daniel Salmon
• Vocals – Piri Broughton
• Guitar – Joe Murphy

The places are filling up very fast but if you would like to enrol for any of the above lessons, please get in touch with me at helenw@pacluth.qld.edu.au

Ensembles

We are currently planning for when our Music Ensembles will be able to commence again and will let students know via student notices. Hopefully this will be soon. Some of the rehearsal times have changed this year especially with the introduction of the Intermediate Concert band – again this will be distributed via student notices once we have definite start dates.

If there are any budding musicians amongst you who are either new to the school or interested in joining one of our many ensembles, then please do not hesitate to get in contact with me at helenw@pacluth.qld.edu.au or pop by to see me up at the music room next week. We are especially looking to build our choir members, so if you love to sing get in touch!

With the postponement of the Music information evening, if anybody has any questions then please feel free to get in touch with myself helenw@pacluth.qld.edu.au or Carlie cpurkis@pacluth.qld.edu.au and we can answer any queries you may have.

We are looking forward to the many fantastic opportunities in music that await us in 2022!

Mrs Helen Williams – Head of Instrumental Music

Kym Tabulo is the March Artist-in-Residence at the Maroochy Regional Bushland Botanic Garden’s Arts and Ecology Centre. She will create and display her artworks over a four-week period, 1 - 27 March, each day from 10 am to 3 pm. During the residency she will host Wednesday Workshops in an area of the gallery set aside for guests to create their own Butterfly Haiku Artwork. This activity is free and is based on a ‘drop-in-and-create’ format, during opening times each Wednesday.

It is an exciting time to be visiting the gardens because the annual Butterfly and Moth Survey and associated events will be held there from 12 - 20 March. This is an important scientific public activity. Therefore, Kym will showcase artworks and projects inspired by butterflies, and a class of Year 8 Art students from Pacific Lutheran College will exhibit their butterfly designs with her.

Also, while at the Centre, Kym will be part of the Open Studio Sunshine Coast Art Trail, 19 – 20 March, and she hopes this brings many visitors to see her creating digital art specifically for this event. So, come visit Kym to enjoy the artworks and walk through the beautiful gardens.

Please see below for the studio roster of the work Kym will be creating.

Week 1: Haiku Butterfly Artworks

Week 2: Notan Butterfly Artworks

Week 3: Art Nouveau Butterfly Artworks

Week 4: Digital Butterfly Artworks

Mrs Denise McMahon, Head of Visual Art

The school gate farewell can be as emotional for parents and carers as it is children. While some families sail through the transition to school with all parties excited and enthusiastic, others have reluctance, anxiety, or floods of tears as the start of school approaches.

Psychologist Dr Joann Lukins said many of our emotions around the return to school stem from our fear of change.

"Change is something that humans typically react to ... we don't always love change when it comes along," Dr Lukins said.

Click on the link below for more information

https://www.abc.net.au/

Mrs Annie Williams College Counsellor 

Due to the current COVID situation and subsequent changes to the College calendar, we have decided to cancel the February FoP meeting.

We are still hoping to hold the March meeting but will advise in the coming weeks.

Click here to follow our Friends of Pacific Facebook page.

Mrs Jenny Lee, Friends of Pacific Chairperson

Welcome to 2022! 

The Uniform Shop is open from Wednesday to Friday from 8am to 11am, by appointment. 

Appointments can be made via the Main Reception.  Flexischool orders are also available for your Uniform needs.  If you have ordered uniforms via Flexischools over the holidays, they will be delivered to the students’ classrooms across P-6 and to the PCG pigeonholes in the Well Being Centre for Year 7-12 students after noon on Monday 7th February.

Please be patient as we are experiencing delays on stock across all areas.  Stock will be refilled as quickly as possible.  Thank you for your understanding.

Mrs Peta King, Uniform Shop

The library provides resources – both physical and online – to support students’ reading, research needs, and well-being. This week students have been supported in their learning through the provision of online resources such as LibGuides. All students should bookmark the library homepage to access the full suite of our library resources. I look forward to speaking to you about our library resources during the parent information evenings.

Junior College Library https://library.pacluth.qld.edu.au/oliver/junior.do

Middle/Senior College Library https://library.pacluth.qld.edu.au/oliver/home/news

Next week we hope to welcome students back to the library in person. The library will be open from 8am until 4pm, with a range of activities available at lunchtime. Students who have not yet collected their textbooks can pick them up from the library.

Ms Narelle Keen, Head of Library

A big welcome from the Sport Department to our 2022 school year and we hope to see many of our students enjoying all the sport opportunities on offer at PLC this year.

A lot of our initial sport information has been sent out this week via Operoo. This would have included an introduction letter with lots of information regarding sport at PLC, as well as some further correspondence about representative sport. Throughout the year, a lot of information will be passed through Operoo to parents, particularly when students are involved in competitive sport. If you have any issues with receiving information from the sport department, please don’t hesitate to contact me at cwestmcinnes@pacluth.qld.edu.au

The weekly Compass will also be used to pass on information regarding upcoming sporting opportunities and events, as well as competitive sport results, updates, and celebrations of student sporting achievements. Please don’t hesitate to also let us know if your student has achieved highly in an outside school sport event and we will endeavour to acknowledge them in the weekly Compass.

Competitive Sport

Students will have the opportunity to sign up and participate in several competitive sport teams throughout the year. These teams play outside of school hours, generally on a weekday afternoon/early evening. We encourage all students to play in at least one competitive sport team per semester to maximise their engagement (and enjoyment) within the school community (as a plus, they will have a lot of fun too). All competitive sport sign-ups are done online through NAV. Students will be told in advance about signing up and it is a very quick procedure to access a sign-up portal and then answer a few quick questions.

Students in competitive teams will be provided with playing shirts/singlets/jerseys throughout the year. It is important to note that these are provided to students just for the duration of the season and need to be returned at the conclusion of the season. There will be a fee charged for any unreturned items.

Weekly Friday Sport

Each week students from Years 7-12 will participate in sporting activities on a Friday afternoon. These activities range from competitive sport training, sport development sessions for upcoming competitive sports, and sport for life options, which provide students with a variety of physical activity and movement opportunities. The schedule for Friday sport has changed to maximise the use of facilities and resources we have with our ever-growing student group.

New Friday Sport Schedule

Year 11-12 Sport: 12:15-1:15pm

Year 7-10 Sport: 1:45-3:15pm

Please note that this means that all students will be finishing at 3.15pm on Friday afternoons this year.

Swimming Carnival

The decision has been made to move the PLC 7-12 Interhouse Swimming Carnival from Term 1. It will now be held on the 16th of September (the last day of Term 3). More information regarding this event will be provided closer to the date. Information regarding representative swimming opportunities for high level swimmers has been emailed out via Operoo. Please don’t hesitate to contact myself or Mrs. Natalie Campbell at ncampbell@pacluth.qld.edu.au if you have further questions regarding this.

Representative Sport Trials

All students are given the opportunity to trial for various sporting teams for the District (Independent Zone) and if successful, will participate in Sunshine Coast Regional selection trials. Students wishing to trial must be able to show a high level of skill and ability in the sport.

Any student who would like to trial must advise the Sports Aide, Mrs Campbell, (ncampbell@pacluth.qld.edu.au) to nominate their expression of interest, prior to the listed closing date.

Parents of students who are approved to trial will receive information by email including a nomination QR code.  Students registering without prior school approval may not be eligible. Parents must register (and pay – Regional only) the student registration by the cut off timeframes.  Any student not registered through this system prior to cut off will not be eligible to trial.  Regional and District Administrators have advised there are no exceptions. 

Please see below a number of upcoming trials with the cut off dates for expressions of interest.

Sport	Age	PLC EOI Close
Aust Football	13-15 Yrs B	10-Feb-22
Aust Football	13-15 Yrs G	10-Feb-22
Aust Football	10-12 Yrs B	9-Feb-22
Aust Football	10-12 Yrs G	9-Feb-22
Basketball	16-18 Yrs B	8-Feb-22
Basketball	16-18 Yrs G	22-Feb-22
Basketball	10-12 Yrs B	7-Feb-22
Basketball	10-12 Yrs G	7-Feb-22
Cricket	16-19 Yrs G	7-Feb-22
Football	13-15 Yrs G	4-Feb-22
Football	16-19 Yrs G	4-Feb-22
Football	10-12 Yrs B	15-Feb-22
Football	10-12 Yrs G	22-Feb-22
Golf	10-19 Yrs*	7-Feb-22
Hockey	13-19 Yrs G	23-Feb-22
Hockey Brett K	13-19 Yrs B	22-Feb-22
Netball	13-15 Yrs	4-Feb-22
Netball	16-19 Yrs	4-Feb-22
Netball	10-11 Yrs	8-Feb-22
Netball	10-12 Yrs	8-Feb-22
Rugby League	14-15 Yrs G	8-Feb-22
Rugby League	16-18 Yrs G	8-Feb-22
Rugby League	14-15 Yrs B	17-Feb-22
Rugby League	16-18 Yrs B	16-Feb-22
Rugby Union  SCGS	17-18 Yrs B*	23-Feb-22
Rugby Union 7s  SCGS	15-16 Yrs G	22-Feb-22
Softball	13-19 Yrs B	7-Feb-22
Softball	13-19 Yrs G	7-Feb-22
Tennis	13-19 Yrs	7-Feb-22
Touch	10-12 Yrs B	10-Feb-22
Touch	10-12 Yrs G	10-Feb-22
Touch	13-15 Yrs B	4-Feb-22
Touch	13-15 Yrs G	4-Feb-22
Touch	16-18 Yrs B	4-Feb-22
Touch	16-18 Yrs G	4-Feb-22
Volleyball	12-15 Yrs B	17-Feb-22
Volleyball	12-15 Yrs G	17-Feb-22
Volleyball	16-19 Yrs B	17-Feb-22
Volleyball	16-19 Yrs G	17-Feb-22
Water Polo	13-19 Yrs B	7-Feb-22
Water Polo	13-19 Yrs G	7-Feb-22

Junior Sport

Welcome back to all returning families and a warm welcome to any new families starting at PLC this year. It has been a different start to the school year, but we are looking forward to the return of all students next week for face to face learning.

Representative Sport Trials

The dates listed above are for both senior and junior students, so any student who would like to trial must advise the Sports Aide, Mrs Campbell, (ncampbell@pacluth.qld.edu.au) to nominate their expression of interest to trial, prior to the listed closing expression of interest date.

Swimming

As mentioned earlier this week in our Junior Sport welcome letter to parents, our 3-6 PLC Swimming Carnival has been postponed to later this year. A new date for the carnival will be announced once we confirm an alternate date with the pool.

In regard to District and Regional Swimming, we are still awaiting confirmation from Queensland School Sport as to how and if these events will run. Communication will be provided to families once this is confirmed.

4-6 SCISSA

SCISSA sport will begin next Thursday 10th February for all students in Years 4-6.

Class teachers will ask students to select two sports early next week that they would like to try during the next two Thursday sessions. Students will finalise their sport choice at the end of Thursday sport in Week Four.

Please open the link to view the sport choices available to students.

Mr Cameron West-McInnes, Head of Sport 

Prep to Year 9 (including Year 9) Online Flexischools ordering only.

Preference is Year 10, 11, 12 and Staff order online via Flexischools as well.

However, Counter Sales only for Years 10, 11, 12 and Staff.

Individual class boxes for Prep to Year 6 collected from the Tuckshop.

Years 7-9 will be delivered to the Wellbeing Centre.

Years 10-12 available on tables located at the Tuckshop.

We will serve Counter Sales via 3 windows being Years 10, 11 and 12.

Contact details for Flexischools for Parents/Guardians is as follows:-

Phone: 1300 361 769 AEDST) 8.00am to 12pm

https://community.flexischools.com.au/s/parent-contact

Online ordering is our preferred method and we will continue to not take Cash.

Flexischools Contact Details

(Online): Any time, at our supplier contact form which can be found here (https://community.flexischools.com.au/s/schools-and-suppliers-contact).

(Phone): Between 8am- 4pm (AEDST) on Weekdays, at our supplier phone line (1300 590 044).

Similarly, please feel free to share with your parents the below contact details: 

(Online): Any time, at our parent contact form which can be found here (https://community.flexischools.com.au/s/parent-contact). 

(Phone): Between 8am - 12pm (AEDST) on Weekdays, at our parent phone line (1300 361 769). 

Step-by-Step Guide for Parents

We've spent some time over the holidays developing some quick how-to guides for your parents which are perfect for you to post on your Facebook page, add to your website or include in a newsletter. If you'd like to see these, please click here.

They include: 

Introduction to Flexischools;

How to Register; 

How to Top-Up;

How to Place an Order. 

Sharing a common mission and ministry with Pacific Lutheran College

“Growing in faith and sharing God’s love with others”

Weekly worship services are held at 14 Bombala Terrace Caloundra at 9.00am. We are thankful that we are able to meet together each week for worship. As we do this, there are still physical distancing, signing in, and hygiene requirements we need to follow in order to ensure the health and safety of everyone in our community.

Our worship services are intergenerational with a blend of traditional and contemporary.

You’re welcome to follow us on Facebook and visit our Church webpage.

All are welcome at any of our services.

Pastor Ray Morris, St Mark’s Lutheran Church (0429 856 532 or lutherancaloundra@gmail.com)

11        Training for Volunteers

14        Year 9 Rite Journey Departure (5pm)

15        Middle College Information Evening (6pm)

21        Yr 4-6 SCISSA Training (3.15 – 4.14pm)

            SCSchools Netball Commences

24        Voices on the Coast – Yrs 7-12

25        Voices on the Coast – Yrs 4-6