Dear parents, students and families,

Well I am thankfully back after an extended period of medical leave. I would like to thank all those who stepped up in my absence to ensure I have returned to the beautiful community that is our school and for those who prayed for my return to health. In particular I would like to acknowledge the efforts of Mrs Thomas, Mrs Winduss, Mr Sullivan and Mrs Chiodo who lead the school in my absence. It has been a great pleasure catching up with many parents and our great kids and feeling so warmly welcomed back.

It has been a very busy first week back but most weeks in a school are fairly busy. On Monday we had a further school tour for 4 families. Between our 12 siblings and expressions of interest from local families we have had just shy of 60 families consider our school for their family to join. We certainly are looking forward to another 2 full Foundation classes in 2025. It is such a joy to take these families on a tour of our school as it is such a focused place of learning.

On Tuesday our Year 1/ 2 classes had an excursion to Scienceworks. I'm sure it was beneficial to their inquiry learning but it also sounded like a whole lot of fun. Thanks to the staff and parents who accompanied the students to make this day happen.

On Wednesday we had our Mother's Day Stall. It is a very exciting day for the students as they pick out 'just the right gift' for their mum or special person. It would not be possible for this day to happen without the behind the scenes organisation of the P & F lead for this event by Michelle Haggarty and the parents who of course helped on the day staffing the stalls.

Today Mr Sullivan has taken the Marine Ambassadors to another school to discuss strategies on helping their peers learn from the ambassadors' experiences. We have also hosted students from local childcare centre "Nido" as part of our community outreach programs. This enables our older students to develop their skills in caring for younger children as well as allowing the Nido students the opportunity to experience how Primary Schools function. It may lead to future enrolments as well.

Besides this Sunday celebrating the Ascension as Easter time starts to draw to a close, it is of course Mother's Day. As we prepare to celebrate Mother's Day, let us briefly reflect on our Mums, wives and other special women in our lives. Pope Francis exhorts us to treasure the contribution of women and mothers:

"Every human person owes his or her life to a mother, and almost always owes much of what follows in life, both human and spiritual formation, to her. Mothers are the strongest antidote to the spread of self-centred individualism. "Individual" means "what cannot be divided". Mothers, instead, "divide themselves, from the moment they bear a child to give him/her to the world."

Scripture reminds us to honour women: they are comforters (Isaiah 66:13) and teachers of kindness and wisdom (Proverbs 31:26). According to Ravinder Kaur Nijjar, Chair of Religions for Peace: UK Women of Faith Network, women are also peacemakers:

"Women are guardians of a spiritual and peaceful society. They are always using their mediation skills, negotiating skills, for conflict resolution in the family, skills that can be transferred from a family situation to society. A society that does not value its women cannot achieve prosperity and peace."

In our Catholic Schools – and, indeed, in the world – where respectful communication as well as a certain vulnerability is required, may we make use of our strong, wise women!

May we honour those women in our families and schools who are busy "forging justice and peace in an antagonistic world" (Elizabeth Johnson, She Who Is).

As Pope Francis suggests in the aforementioned speech, we pray that all women enjoy their special day on Sunday.

MOTHER'S DAY MORNING TEA 14 May

Don't forget to RSVP for catering purposes.

NEXT WEEK

On Monday the Principal of Kilreda, Mrs Nicole Mangelsdorf will meet with our Year 5 girls to let them know a bit more about Secondary Schooling and in particular Kilbreda.

On Tuesday we are of course holding the Mothers' Day Celebration.

On Thursday the Foundation classes are going on their excursion to Zoo and we hope they have a wonderful day.

Next Friday we will hold our termly Emergency Drill.

God Bless

Rod Shaw

Principal

School Attendance and Unexplained Absence

Please contact the school if your child is going to be absent by leaving a message on 9786 4736 and press 1. Please give details of your child’s name and class with a reason for their absence such as: unwell, appointment, holiday or family reasons. Alternatively an email can be sent to office@saseaford.catholic.edu.au with cc to the child’s teacher.

If you are running late, (after 9:00 am) please attend the office to sign your child into school and collect a late pass.

If you are picking up your child early you will need to collect them and sign them out from the office.

As per our policy this will be our morning routine for absences:

Parents will be contacted as soon as practicable on the morning a student is absent via a text message.

If parent does not contact the school after receiving the text message, the school will contact the parent by phone. If the parent is unreachable the emergency contacts will be contacted by the school.

If there is still no response, and the school feels that the child is in danger, the police will be contacted.

Ongoing unexplained absences or lack of cooperation regarding student attendance will result in a formal conference being organized. Unresolved attendance issues will be referred to D.H.H.S.

This is a legal requirement.

Democratic Principles

The six (6) principles of Australian democracy include:

(a) elected government; and

(b) the rule of law; and

(c) equal rights for all before the law; and

(d) freedom of religion; and

(e) freedom of speech and association; and

(f) the values of openness and tolerance

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