Welcome Back

Welcome to Pacific Lutheran College in 2023. It was lovely to unite with many continuing families as well as new families during the week at the P-5 Information session and to begin the year as a connected community. Thank you to those who were able to attend. 

Parent Engagement 

A great strength of the Pacific community has always been the willingness of parents and families to support the College community by being involved in activities that strengthen relationships and foster opportunities for our students.

Parents and guardians also have the opportunity to be involved as parent connectors across the College. The role of a Parent Connector will be to serve as a link between the College and our community through a range of activities such as welcoming new families and providing social opportunities within year levels. 

At times, Parent Connectors will also be called upon to support the various functions and events held by the College and Friends of Pacific. We are hoping that we may have several connectors per year level to provide support for each other and the wider community. An expression of interest will be emailed home this week.

Another rich opportunity the wider community can engage within the College is volunteering. There will be many chances to give service through schemes like parent reading, excursions, and helping in the tuckshop during the year. 

Recently, 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 8^th of February via Zoom and a second, in-person session will be offered in the library the following day, the 9^th of Feb. 

Registration can be made through this link Volunteering at Pacific 2023  

General Housekeeping

Communication with College Staff

Often parents need to communicate information to their child’s teachers regarding changes in routine and exemption from participation in sports, 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.

Uniforms

A reminder that the College hat is an essential element of the College 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. 

Families are reminded that at present there is construction occurring in the College in an area adjacent to the Red Cedar Drive access point. Families are asked to use alternative access points as using this entrance has the potential to place students into an unsafe environment.

Additionally, parents are asked to use designated drop-off spots within the College as concerns have been raised within the community regarding the dropping off of students near Kawana Way. The lights that mark the intersection of Woodlands Blvd and Kawana way are particularly busy at the beginning and end of the days and in the interest of student safety, we ask that families use the P-2 carpark and 3-12 drop-off spaces during these times. 

Take care, and God bless.

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