Principal's Message 

Dear Families,

Last night, some of our Grade 6 children, past Holy Saviour students, and children from St Christopher's formally received the power of the Holy Spirit in the Sacrament of Confirmation. The word means strengthening or deepening one's relationship with God. It enables a baptised person to confirm the promises made on their behalf at baptism.  It is also a sign of full membership to the Catholic community, an opportunity for the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit to shine through in each and every person, to be Christ for others. St Teresa of Avila adequately sums up for us what it means to be 'Christ for others...' in her well known poem, Christ Has No Body. As Christ offered himself to God his father, so we too are called to follow his example of self-offering to give life to others.

Christ Has No Body 

By St Teresa of Avila (1515–1582)

Christ has no body but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

Compassion on this world,

Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,

Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,

Yours are the eyes, you are his body.

Christ has no body now but yours,

No hands, no feet on earth but yours,

Yours are the eyes with which he looks

compassion on this world.

Christ has no body now on earth but yours.

Congratulations to the following children who received the Sacrament of Confirmation last night:

Thank you to all the families who came along to the ceremony and to Rebecca Taylor and Jenni Kilkenny for preparing the children. Thank you also to Rose Wray McCann for arranging the Confirmation Choir. Well done to Bethany De Silva, Kataleya D'Lima, Katie Hooi, Indy Hudson, Liam Kandamudali, Harry Mitchell, Zahra Nagra, Nicky Nguyen, Julia Rogers, Zoe Saville, Thomas Tassioulas, Alyssa Theodoratos, Charlie Wolf and Dominic Zhang for singing so beautifully.

A Confirmation Prayer for your Child.

Lord God, I ask you to keep in your loving care our children who will receive the gift of your Spirit this year.

Bless us too and help us to grow in faith, love and understanding of your great gift.

May your Holy Spirit burn brightly in their heart, and may they be a temple of your glory.

I ask you Lord, to support them through every trial that may come their way, and by their love build up the Church in holiness and joy.

Grant this through Christ our Lord.

Amen.

Father’s Day Breakfast

On Friday 2nd September, we are inviting all children to celebrate Father’s/Special Friends Day by having breakfast and being involved in some fun outdoor activities at school with their dad/special friend. If for some reason the children’s father cannot attend the breakfast, then we encourage them to invite a significant other male such as their grandfather, uncle or a family friend etc. Breakfast will begin at 7:30am and run through until approximately 8:40am. In order to assist with catering, we ask you to complete this formby Monday 29th August. 

Cybersafety

Digital Technology is an integral part of the learning and teaching process at Holy Saviour. In our increasing technological society it is important for children to see technology as a practical tool which aids their life learning and which performs worthwhile and beneficial functions. While we educate the children about the importance of being safe when online, it is important for you as parents to continue this education at home. Your guidance can help them be aware of the risks and understand what is expected of them. And let them know you are always there to support them. I strongly encourage you to take some time to visit the eSafety Commissioner website which is full of information to assist schools, parents and children in learning how to stay safe online. I have included a link to the Online Safety Basics: Advice for parents and carerswhich is easy to read and is a great place to start.

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools - School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS)

Throughout each year, we pause to listen to our students, families and staff to gauge how our learning community is travelling. This feedback is invaluable to our progress as effective school communities and is backed by evidence-based research and best practices. I invite you to read the following letter which outlines the process for 2022.

School Advertising

We have some new posters & flyers, and we’d love some more people to help distribute these and/or have them displayed in a prominent position! If you can help, please email office@hsvs.catholic.edu.au and we can get some to you.

School Tours and 2023 Enrolments 

 We ask that any parents who have a younger child who turns 5 before 30 April 2023, and are wishing to enrol them into Prep at Holy Saviour for 2023, to please submit an enrolment form to the school office by Friday 27th May. This will assist with our planning and organisation for next year. You can access the forms via this link, or you may collect an enrolment pack from the school office. Once complete, it can be given in or emailed to office@hsvs.catholic.edu.au.  

Catholic Secondary School Enrolment Applications

I take this opportunity to remind parents of children in grade 5, that you must have your Catholic Secondary College application for Year 7, 2024 submitted directly to the college of your choice. It is essential that you have your application submitted by the due date. The following dates will be used by catholic secondary schools for Year 5 students in 2021 who will be enrolling in Year 7 for 2024. These are:

• 28 January 2022 – Applications will open for Year 5 students commencing Year 7 in 2024.
• 19 August 2022 – Applications will close.
• 21 October 2022 – Offers will be posted to prospective Year 7 applicants.
• 11 November 2022 – Final date for parents/carers to accept an offer made by a school.

Final Thoughts ~ Raising resilient, capable girls

The following article comes from Maggie Dent, who is an author, educator, and parenting and resilience specialist with a particular interest in the early years and adolescence. I encourage you to read the full article which is linked at the bottom, but here is a snippet of what Maggie offers readers.

We mustn’t raise our girls to believe that this unpredictable ride called life will always be a peaceful field of daisies without any prickles and that there will always be a safe grown-up to help them. That is simply not true. We need to prepare our girls for getting the odd prickles and teach them how to find where the daisies grow.

If resilience – which is the process of growing in one’s ability to manage life experiences and to adapt to stressful events and adversity – is equally as important for all children, then we need to challenge the unhelpful conditioning that exists around our girls’ ability to be resilient and capable…

Raising resilient, capable girls -  Maggie Dent, 27 July 2022

Kind regards,

Steve Evans

Principal