Dear Parents/Caregivers,

How are you going with Lent? Have you given it any thought? Many people often don’t look forward to Lent. Childhood memories of words like “sacrifice,” “discipline,” and “self-denial” mean that some of us see Lent as something to be endured rather than a time of grace and spiritual growth.

The following story from the website Loyola Press (loyolapress.com) provides a different perspective on how Lent can be approached in a family context:

“One of my best Lenten practices was begun when my children were in primary school and I was a working parent. It seemed as though we were struggling to find time to eat dinner as a family and this was greatly disturbing me. I decided that if we were unable to hold the dinner hour sacred due to work schedules and after school activities, I would instead hold the breakfast hour sacred. I made sure to get up each morning during Lent just a little earlier so that I could not only provide breakfast for my family but actually sit together, say grace and begin each day on a happy note. It began in Lent and didn’t end until my children went off to college many years later. I learned that Lenten habits could carry far off into the future with my family. The impact was dramatic in that each day was started with a prayer and positive attitudes.”

Catholic Schools Week

This week marks Catholic Schools Week (CSW) with the theme ‘Embracing our future together’. CSW is about celebrating the diversity and uniqueness of Catholic education and is a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge the achievements of our school community. CSW also marks the beginning of the Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong enrolment period. Please click here to access a school enrolment package. You might also like to watch this video created for the Catholic schools in our diocese. CEDoW video

To help celebrate Catholic Schools Week at St John’s, we will be holding the following on Friday 6 March:

• Liturgy under the COLA at 10.30am
• Following the liturgy, parents are invited to share a BYO morning tea with your children
• From 11.45am, we will have Open Classrooms to give parents and visitors an opportunity to visit your children’s classrooms.

Following open classrooms, children will be able to leave with their parents/carers. We hope that you are able to join us on the day.

Goals for 2020

The final of the goals our school has set for 2020:

• Staff will be kept up to date with new curriculum compliance requirements as set by NESA and the diocese.
• The school will have processes and procedures in place to support a seamless transition to new financial and data entry software.

I hope that you have a great week,

Paul Moroney
Principal