From The Principal
Dear parents, students, families and friends,
On Wednesday 13th February as a school community, we came together to mark the beginning of an important journey in our faith—the season of Lent. The crosses of ash that are marked on our foreheads are an outward sign of the inward journey we can make during Lent. All religions/faiths have times of reflection and renewal built into their calendars. Even the seasons and the life of the world has times of death, destruction and waste followed by rebrith, regrowth and renewal. Lent is a special time for fasting, prayer, and reflection, leading us towards the holy celebration of Easter. Let us use this time during Lent to fast not only from food but from harmful words and actions; to pray, not just in words but in deeds of kindness; and to reflect, not only on our own lives but on how we can contribute to the well-being of those around us. Ultimaetly we use Lent as a time to try to be more like Jesus as we follow him on His journey to the cross and beyond to the Resurrection.
May this Ash Wednesday Mass inspire us on a meaningful Lenten journey, filled with growth and spiritual renewal. Let us open our hearts to the power of this season, embracing its challenges and opportunities with faith and courage.
On Wednesday and Thursday of this week I had the privilege of joining with the the Prep to Year 2 teachers and Ms Loretta as part of our professional development and involvement in Teaching For Impact in Mathematics initiative funded by MACS (Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools). The initiative will provide a structured curriculum and resources to allow teachers to deliver a more rigorous and developmental mathematics program through a variety of hands on, visual and digital activities and strategies. Initially we will introduce this at the Prep and Year 1/2 Level, however, the aim will be to extend it to the whole school in the near future once MACS has developed these resources.
Following this I then headed down to Geelong where I spent Thursday evening and Friday on a Retreat with other principals from the Western Zone. We celebrated mass together and were then guided through revisioning our Vision and Mission for the Western Zone Primary Principals' Network.
Fr Trac will be leaving our parish as of the weekend of the 2nd March and Fr Werner will join our parish on the same weekend. We will welcome Fr Werner to our school and parish communities on Wednesday 6th March at the 3 Schools Combined Mass and Fun Day. We are going to farewell Fr Trac at our whole school mass this Thursday 29th February at 9.00am. All families are invited to attend this mass with us. Later that evening the school staff will gather at the presbytery to have dinner with Fr Trac.
Youngpreneur Program
An exciting and unique opportunity has been offered to our school. There is a new program starting called the Youngpreneur Program. We will be one of the first schools to take part in this program. Students from Year 1 to Year 6 will be given the opportunity to develop their own business ideas. It will run for 10 sessions during Term 2, after school at 3.30pm to 4.30pm on Thursdays. Please read the attached flier below to find out more information and use the QR Code to register. I believe the program will interest many of our students who have made attempts or established business ideas in the past. Alexa, who runs the program will be visting classrooms on Monday to speak to the students about Youngpreneur.
A reminder for parents to not park in the extension of Avoca St, the 'laneway' along the side of the senior playground or to park across the driveway. The laneway is effectively a driveway and a right of way that must be kept clear at all times.
A very big thank you to all parents who have prepared meals for the English family while Rachel is undergoing Chemotherapy.
During this week we will be sending out a few emails requesting volunteers for a few upcoming events:
- Open Day volunteers
- Working Bee to clean up school in preparation for Open Day
- 3 Schools Mass and Fun Day - volunteers to cook and serve the sausage sizzle
- Garden Maintenance Group
I look forward to receiving as many volunteers as possible across these events and thank you all in advance for giving generously of your time to support our school.
Kind regards,
Matthew Stead
