Principal's Report
Dear Parents/Carers,
God of goodness and mercy,
Hear my prayer as I begin this Lenten journey with you. Let me be honest with myself as I look into my heart and soul, noticing the times I turn away from you. Guide me as I humbly seek to repent and return to your love. May humility guide my efforts to be reconciled with you and live forever in your abundant grace. Transform me this Lent, heavenly Father. Give me the strength to commit myself to grow closer to you each day.
Amen.
Today, Ash Wednesday, begins the season of Lent—the 40 days of preparation for Easter.
The word “Lent” comes from Old English and German words that describe spring and the lengthening of days. The practice of dedicating 40 days to prepare for Easter has been a practice of the Church since the fourth century. Jesus himself, before he began his public ministry, spent 40 days in prayer and fasting in the desert.
Easter is the greatest feast we have as Christians because it celebrates the new life that comes to us from the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Dedicating ourselves to preparing for this feast during Lent with self-denial and conversion of heart helps us experience Easter joy and new life more fully.
Three practices have always defined the Lenten season of preparation: prayer, fasting and giving to the poor. The three practices touch on all of the ways in which we relate: prayer is about our relationship with God; fasting is about our relationship with ourselves; and giving to the poor is about our relationship with others, especially those who are in need.
Whole School Beginning Year Mass and Presentation of Leadership Badges
All parents and carers are welcome to join us in celebrating Mass to ask God for His blessing on our school year, next Tuesday 20 February. Following Mass we will present our Year 6 student leaders with their leadership badges. Mass will commence at 10.00am and will be held under the COLA.
Meet & Greet sessions
An important aspect of ensuring we are meeting your child's needs is to maintain positive communication with you, as parents and carers. 'Meet & Greet' sessions between yourselves and your child's classroom teacher will be held next week (12-16 February). This will give you an opprtunity to share with the teacher information about your child which would be valuable in knowing in order to support their learning and faith development. Details about booking a session were made available via Compass - please contact the office if you need assistance. There was also a form sent home for you to complete which will assist in directing the conversation that you have.
Parent-School Partnership Framework
Our diocesan system of schools has developed this framework to support the positive connections that exist bewteen home, school and parish. Together, we are all striving to provide a school environment for the children to find meaning and purpose through continual growth in faith and learning. I encourage you to read through this framework.
At times during the year, you may need to raise an issue or concern about your child's learning or social and emotional wellbeing. In the first instance, we ask you to contact your child's teacher. Please be mindful that their teacher will be on class and supervision duty for most of the day, so they may not be able to contact you until the afternoon or the next day. After this initial contact, it may be considered that support from one of our Leadership Team members is required. Our Leadership Team members are:
Principal: Mr Paul Moroney
Assistant Principal: Mr Trevor Williams
Religious Education Coordinator: Miss Emily Costello
Middle Leaders: Mrs Helen Libro, Mrs Alicia Sinfield, Miss Hannah Witheridge
If your concern is related to school procedures, please refer these to Mr Williams or myself.
Staff Professional Development Days (Pupil Free days)
Each year our staff have access to whole-of-staff Professional Development Days. The dates for this year are listed in our "Important Dates to Remember" section of this Newsletter. We hope this will assist you in arranging care for your children as needed.
Wishing you a safe and rewarding week,
Principal