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LAC School Newsletter

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In Christ, we educate, encourage and empower

Friday, 10 May

Principal's Message

"Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends."

John 15:13 (NIV)

This is the Bible verse that can be found on the stone monument for the fallen soldiers of LAC. I am not sure of the circumstances around the deaths of the different individuals who died, it is hard to know if they were putting their friend first and taking a bullet on their behalf. As parents there are times when we would love to take that bullet for one of our children, perhaps it’s an illness, a silly choice they had made, maybe even a choice we made, the truth is that often we simply don’t have that opportunity, but Christ did. It always overwhelms me when I consider that Christ paid that price for each one of us. Even more difficult to swallow, not just each one of us, but for me, to think that I was on His mind is difficult to comprehend all the more because it’s true.

As we journey through life, there are occasions where our love for others may well lead us to sacrifice something. In a world where we as a people are encouraged, and expected, to focus more and more on ourselves, we as believers in Christ are called to do the opposite. How strange and foolish we must look when we deny ourselves. Ultimately if all of this is simply to save one, how would you measure that?

Lest we Forget

ANZAC Day

On Thursday the 25th April the country celebrated ANZAC Day. Members of the Senior Leadership team and two student representatives Tuivulvula Unua and Amelia Tyrrell attended the ANZAC service in Palmerston North. It was there that we had the opportunity to lay a wreath on behalf of the school and its extended community. No doubt there will be many families connected to LAC who have lost loved ones through the ravages of war.

In the LAC grounds, there is a commemoration stone to the five ex-LAC students who died in World War 1 and two in World War 2 and you are more than welcome to take the time to read the monument and reflect on what must have been an incredibly traumatic time for so many people. We are truly blessed to be in a country that does not find itself ‘having to fight a war’.

Celebration is an interesting word to use for Anzac day and it goes without saying that war in and of itself is nothing to celebrate, perhaps the celebration is around the comradery and love for your brother or sister. I doubt when the bullets were flying that soldiers were considering discussing political philosophy, instead I’m pretty sure they would have been looking after the guy that was next to them and praying that they, in turn, were looking after him, after all putting the other person first is what love is, the perfect example being Christ who died on the cross. Taking a bullet for your mate.

A Thank You To All Volunteers

We appreciate our Volunteers. LAC has a wide range of volunteer’s who do a wide range of things, simply to support the school. This includes coaches, sometimes helpers in the classroom or people who give their time to an event or fundraiser, such as the recent delivering of telephone directories. For them, it is often just the enjoyment of seeing others being happy.

Mrs Diana Dyer is one of those people, and recently she and Mrs Kimberley van Oostveen (the one wearing shorts) planted a number of feijoa trees near the hospitality suite. No doubt in years to come, students and teachers may not know how the trees got there but will be enjoying the fruit of someone’s good deed.

A big thank you to all those who serve others and put others before themselves.

Brendan van Oostveen, Principal

Board of Trustees Election 2019

Nominations are invited for the election of 5 parent representatives to the Board of Trustees.

A nomination form and a notice calling for nominations will be posted to all eligible voters. You can nominate another person to stand as a candidate or you can nominate yourself (make sure you sign both parts of the form). Additional nomination forms can be obtained from the school office.

Nominations close at noon on Friday, 24th May 2019 and may be accompanied by signed candidates’ statements. The voting roll is open for inspection at the school and can be viewed during normal school hours. There will also be a list of candidates’ names as they come to hand for inspection at the school.

Voting closes at noon on Friday 7 June 2019.

Junior School, Y7&8

The Junior School Year 7&8 are working on a Literacy contract this term. Each student has a variety of tasks to complete. We are encouraging student ownership of their work so we will be focussing on self and time management with lots of teacher input along the way.

We have also started a “Walking with a Soldier’ unit where each student has been assigned a New Zealand soldier who fought in the War and given a personal effect to begin their research. There are photos, pages of diaries, buttons and other personal items that tell a story about their person.

So far, the students are fascinated with the fact that these soldiers were real people just like them. We are doing homework a bit differently this term. The expectations are: 15 minutes of Lexia each night (online Literacy program where students work independently at their own level to develop critical reading and language skills) 15 minutes of Mathletics (online Math program aligned to the Curriculum) 15 minutes of reading

Rachel Paki, Y7&8 Learning Leader

ASPIRE (PB4L) Celebration Day

"The celebration day was such a great way to end the term, for the students that had shown the school values. These values are leading with integrity, acting with respect, and cultivating resilience. I enjoyed the new idea of getting Domino's pizza for 10 tokens, but my favourite treats out of all of them were the scrolls and the candy floss. I also enjoyed seeing the excitement of the new junior students who had never experienced LAC celebration day before. Overall I had a really good day and enjoyed watching all my hard work pay off." Emmanuel Madembo, Y12

"Term 1 Celebration day was an amazing start to introducing new rewards this year. The PB4L team came up with recent improvements on how we could make Celebration day more interesting for students. This included pre-ordering pizza flavours from Dominos using the tokens given and receiving them on Celebration Day. This proved to be an effective way in handling orders that students placed - students were able to combine their tokens with friends and purchase pizza together, it made it easier and quicker to receive rewards and there was no worry about the pizza running out!" Tywana Wong, Y12

Upcoming Dates

Untitled Creative Futures Conference - Friday 24 May (see below)
BOT Elections Nominations Close - Friday 24 May
Week of Worship - Monday 27 May - Friday 30 May
5 Weekly Review - Wednesday 29 May
Queen's Birthday Holiday - Monday 3 June
BOT Elections Voting Closes - Friday 7 June
Big Sing Competition - Thursday 13 June
World Vision Fundraising Concert - Saturday 22 June
Year 11 Mini Concert - Monday 24 June
Year 12/13 Mini Concert - Tuesday 25 June
Pasifika Fusion - Wed. & Thurs. 26-27 June
Japan Art Trip - 2-12 July
Performing Arts Evening Concert - Thursday 4 July
Last Day of Term 2 - Friday 5 July
School Holidays - Saturday 6 July to Sunday 21 July

School Calendar

Untitled Creative Futures Conference for Year 12 and Year 13 visual arts students (Photography, Design and Painting).

Cost: $50.00 and runs for the whole day. Please see Mrs Paul or Mrs Bain if you are interested.

For more information visit: http://www.untitledcreativefutures.co.nz/

Community Notices

Women's' Retreat entitled Journey Free - and invites women to:

PAUSE - be still and know God in new ways

EXPLORE - faith, personal spiritual journey, needs and hopes

TUNE IN - to God’s voice, His Spirit and the personal messages He wants to impart during the weekend

RECEIVE - blessing, strength, hope, inspiration and spiritual tools to help deepen connection with God

Details:

Venue - St Albans Presbyterian Church

Dates - Friday and Saturday 17th/18th May

Time - 9am - 9pm

Cost - $145 p/p (morning, afternoon tea and lunch provided. As well as a small gift bag and surprises!)

Contact for more info - Keryn 021342318, keryn@potential.org.nz

We believe it will be a highlight of the year for many women - and want to encourage people to come and bring a friend, or life/connect group to go deeper together!

To register, visit Eventbrite:JourneyFreeNZ

To check out Sharon’s speaking engagements in NZ visit our Facebook page Journey Free with Sharon Garlough Brown

Feel free to Click Here to check out Sharon’s website and learn more about her books and ministry

Changes to Disability Support Services

From 1 October last year, there have been positive changes to the support available for people with disabilities in the Mid Central region.

Some of the changes include:

new ways of taking a break (respite)
greater flexibility for support at home, and when getting out and about
greater opportunity to recruit the help you need set terms and conditions for your support team, and direct what they do for you
the ability to purchase items for your individual disability support needs
Support available for children under 8 years of age with no diagnosis.

As the Transformation Delivery Manager for NZCare Disability, I am available to talk to anyone who would like to hear more about these changes and how to access them. I can also work with you on a tailor-made support service. Alternatively, you can speak to a connector from the Mana Whaikaha team and talk through the changes with them.

They can be reached through their website – www.manawhaikaha.co.nz – or you can get hold of me on 0800 114 496 or mysupport@nzcaregroup.co.nz

Damiel Barr

Transformation Delivery Manager – Mid Central

A fun event for kids who just love being out on their bikes

Sunday May 19th, 2019. Victoria Esplanade, Palmerston North

Enter Online - www.ibike4kids.co.nz OPEN NOW

COST Only $15.00! All participants get a medal and a goody bag too!

Events Start at 9:45 am

All ages up to 15 years. If you can ride a bike, you can enter. Easy, medium and long courses and a ‘Balance bike/16in wheels for 3-5 year olds’ section on a shorter course, for only $10 (and they get a medal and goodie bag too).

T-SHIRTS and BEANIES available to order at time of entry

Loads of cool spot prizes up for grabs.

Schools participation prizes up for grabs

More info at www.ibike4kids.co.nz or www.facebook.com/IBike4kids

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