Dear Parents & Parishioners,

Half a world away from the dawn service at the Shrine of Remembrance, a small group of dignitaries will meet in Malta this Anzac Day among the neat rows of headstones at sunbaked Pieta Military Cemetery just outside Valetta to commemorate a moving but largely forgotten chapter of Gallipoli lore.

It is the story of how a tiny, ancient, impoverished nation in the centre of the Mediterranean opened its arms to care for thousands of wounded, traumatised and sick young Anzacs, many of them still teenagers, who arrived aboard a flotilla of hospital ships from the battlefields of Gallipoli.

While most of the 57,950 soldiers evacuated to Malta recovered and eventually left, some 202 Australians and 72 New Zealanders did not, and are in war cemeteries across the archipelago.

The tragedy is writ large over their graves - they were the sons, husbands, fathers, brothers and sweethearts who never came home. Two-thirds of the Anzacs buried there are below the age of 26; the oldest is 46.

Malta, home to the crusading Knights of St John in the 16th century, was dubbed "the nurse of the Mediterranean" during the disastrous Gallipoli campaign.

"It is an extraordinary and proud history we Maltese share with Australia and the Anzacs, but it is one I don't think is widely known across Australia ... even though it truly deserves to be, " Maltese historian John Portelli told The Age from Valetta.

The voyage across the eastern Mediterranean in these makeshift hospital ships from the Gallipoli Peninsula to Malta was not an easy one.

At the beginning of April 1915, there were 824 military hospital beds in Malta. At the end of May 1915, there were more than 6,000 in 14 hospitals spread all over the island. At its peak there were 25,522 beds in 28 hospitals, with the highest number of patients on any one day a staggering 16,004.

The Maltese compassion and hospitality did not go unnoticed back in Australia. Inside Andrews Scots Church in Valetta are two stained-glass windonws representing Christ the Light and Christ the Good Shepherd, commissioned by the Vasey family from Malvern.

According to the 2021 census, Australia is home to 234,402 people either born in Malta or claiming Maltese ancestory, about half the current population of Malta itself.

Abridged from an article written by Andrew Hornery that appeared in The Sunday Age, 7 April 2024.

OHR ANZAC Day Memorial Service

This Wednesday 24 April at 2.30pm we will gather as a whole school community to participate in the OHR ANZAC Day Memorial Service. We warmly welcome all parents and extended family members to join us in the hall.

During this time we will take the opportunity to recognise ANZAC Day and remember all Australians and New Zealanders who have died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations and the contribution and suffering of all those who have served.

ANZAC Day Dawn Service

The Mont Albert and Surrey Hills Rotary Club & Surrey Hills Neighbourhood Centre are pleased to announce that the 2024 ANZAC Day Dawn Service will take place in Surrey Gardens at 5.45am arrival for a 6am start on 25 April.

Our Holy Redeemer is one of three schools invited to send students to participate in the service. Our School Captains, Poppy T and Art T, will read during the service. Our three Vice Captains - Matisse M, Hugo H and James G - will lay a wreath on behalf of the school.

All families are invited to attend the service.

Address: Surrey Gardens, 88 – 90 Union Rd Surrey Hills

Senior School Passion Play: Part II

During the last week of the school term the students in Years 5 & 6 presented the annual Passion Plays in the school grounds where they enacted seven scenes depicting the events of Holy Week. The students in every other year level were joined by parents and relatives as they journeyed through each scene.

On Monday afternoon, we gathered as a school community in the hall to revisit those scenes which Mr Byrne presented in a slideshow. To conclude, a group of senior students enacted the final scene depcting Christ's Resurrection.

I would like to extend my thanks to the senior students who analysed Mark's gospel, wrote the scripts and acted out each scene. Thank you to the senior school teachers for their guidance and support.

Science Talent Search

Registrations are open once again for the annual Science Talent Search (STS). Students in Years 2-6 are warmly invited to enter with entry costs covered by the school. OHR students have been involved in this competition for many years and many of our students have achieved great success with their entries being awarded a Bursary, a Certificate of Distinction or a Certificate of Merit.

Mrs Axon regularly meets with entrants to support them on their journey.

Registrations for this year's STS are closing soon. For further details, refer to the Science and STEM page further in this newsletter.

OHR Public Speaking Competition

Refer to the Learning & Teaching News page for details of next term's whole school Public Speaking Competition.

Winter Uniform

The first few weeks of Term 2 can offer temperamental weather with a mixture of warmer and cooler days. Therefore, the children are allowed to wear either summer or winter uniform for the first three weeks. Commencing Monday 6 May, however, all children are required to be dressed in full winter uniform.

Note: The students are required to wear their hats until the end of April.

Open Mornings

Our next Open Morning will be held at 9:00am this Wednesday 24 April.

If you know of anyone considering a school for their child, please encourage them to come along to our next Open Morning or, alternatively, arrange a personal school tour. Our parents are our greatest advocates. Research clearly shows that word of mouth is the strongest form of marketing.

It would be gratefully appreciated that all existing school families who have a child commencing school in 2025 complete an enrolment form and submit it to Heather.

If you are available to assist by meeting and greeting prospective new families at the end of the school tours, your help would be greatly appreciated. You would be required to be available in the hall foyer between 10.00 and 10.30am. Please notify me by email if you can help out.

Wishing everyone a great weekend,

Frank Dame

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