God of love,

May we always see the world through the eyes of the Good Samaritan and be filled with your deep compassion. Help us to be merciful neighbours even when it is inconvenient, when we don’t have time, or when we have other responsibilities to attend to.

Grant us the insight to see the need in those around us, the wisdom to know how to respond, and the strength to do so willingly. We pray for those we might cross the road to avoid - the poor, the vulnerable and the marginalised. Those, who in many and various ways, have been stripped, beaten and left for dead.

We pray for all who call from us more than we feel we have to give. Open our eyes, that we might not cross the road from human need. May our love of you and love of our neighbour call us to be people of peace and justice in the world.

And may we, like the Good Samaritan, always ‘go and do likewise’. Amen.

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Monday our staff participated in our annual Spiritual Formation Day. This year we travelled to Glebe at the Good Samaritan Sisters head office. The building itself is steeped in history, having been built in the 1830s and the sisters having used it since 1901.

The focus of the day was for our staff to be immersed in the history and the charism of the Sisters who were foundational in the establishment of our school. It provided us with the opportunity to make links between our school's Mission and Vision and that of the Sisters. We certainly came away with a renewed sense of the challenges the sisters faced in establishing a school in challenging circumstances.

St John's Church Renovations and School's Drop Off Zone

Fr John is excited to announce that the St John's Church will be undergoing some extensive renovations commencing early 2025. You can look at the proposed works on the parish's website - they are worth a look.

The implication for everyone in the parish and school is that the Parish carpark will need to be either fully closed or to have limited access. This obviously impacts on our current 'drop off zone.' In working with some parent representatives and the Road Safety Officer at Campbelltown Council, we will trial a different option for the 'drop off' on the asphalt are of the playground. More details to come. We are also investigating the option of an afternoon pick up procedure for 2025, following parent responses to a previous survey. Once again, more details to come.

Christmas Carols

As has been mentioned in our Newsletter, the Carols for this year is scheduled as a daytime event on December 18. Organising it for the daytime for this year only was in response to the uncertainty with the building project and whether we would have full and safe access to the COLA site. We understand that this may make it difficult for larger numbers to attend, however we are pleased that the children will still get an opportunity to join together in the spirit of Christmas. 

God bless, 

Paul Moroney
Principal

TERM 4 CLASS CAPTAINS

Congratulations to our Term 4 Class Captains who received their badges and were acknowledged at our morning assembly on Tuesday, 29 October. We thank our Class Captains in anticipation of their leadership for the remainder of this year. There names are listed below: 

Class Captains for Term 4 2024

YEAR 5 LEADERSHIP CAMP

The Year 5 overnight excursion to Wedderburn Christian Campsite has been organised for this week on Thursday 31 October-Friday 1 November 2024.

The excursion will allow the children to participate in a range of activities such as rockwall climbing, archery, water skirmish, a giant swing, mini olympics, campfire and nightwalk. All activities will be supervised and led by qualified instructors. These activities require students to challenge themselves and work together. It will also help to develop leadership skills, such as teamwork, while encouraging self-worth and analytical thinking. 

We thank our teachers and SSO’s in anticipation of their dedication and time away from their families to support the Year 5 students with this overnight excursion.

FIRST RECONCILIATION

Many of our Year 2 students will be preparing to make their First Reconciliation on Tuesday, 26 November. The children commenced the sacramental program this week on a Monday or Tuesday.

Thank you in anticipation to many of our staff members and the Parish Sacramental Team for their hard work in preparing the children at the workshops, alongside their parents and carers.

Please keep these children and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Happy Birthday to the following students and staff who are celebrating their birthday this week  : 27th October - 2nd November

The process of class formation for 2024 has now commenced. This process involves the current class teachers preparing draft lists for next year's classes. This process takes into consideration the academic, social, emotional and physical needs of each individual student. Decisions are made to establish balanced, equitable class groups with the potential to work well together. As the teachers know the students within the school environment exceptionally well, the best interests of each individual student is always considered during the discernment process.

Parents are invited annually to contribute to the process of class formation. Even if you have made similar requests in the past, we ask that you submit a request again. All requests need to be made by Friday 15th November 2024.

It is important to note that whilst parent requests are considered, there is never a guarantee that these requests will be granted. Please be aware that there may be circumstances surrounding such requests that may prevent it from being granted.

Requests are to be made using this link.

Well done to all the students who participated in the recent ICAS competition. Certificates will be handed out at this Fridays assembly for the year 2 participants and next Friday 8th November for the primary participiants. Here are all those receiving certificates

Abbey P        Benji S

Ebenezer B    Gabriela C

Vincent F       Leo J

Eashan S       Belen G

Isaac J          Ethan T

Emma K        Francesca M

Lucy M          Catherine P

Nichelle T      YeSung K

Javier E         Rajbir B

Hermione K   Gabriel G

Emma K        Amelia N