The most recent Sunday Gospel really spoke to our work within education and broadly with young people. We heard about how some people used talents (payments) to invest, working hard and growing talents, then one other who kept their talent safe, out of fear, and handed it back.

This person played it safe. They weren’t trying to be disrespectful, they were trying to ensure they didn’t lose. The challenge is, if we aren’t prepared to fail, we will never do anything worthwhile! This serves as a call that we are living our lives to fulfil God’s mission, and use the gifts we’ve been given to serve others and make the world a better place.

I have been quite strong on this during PE classes with the students. I want our students to be challenged and embrace some struggle. I want them to embrace being uncomfortable, not always, but understand this is where growth occurs. The challenge with this, we always must consider their experiences, and do they have the trust in those challenging them?

I have learned to be comfortable with being uncomfortable. However, this is not an easy state to be in… and will always be challenged with a negative comment, or criticism. I reflected recently: Do I push myself in areas I struggle, like learning a new language? Probably not, so am I living what I preach. What I and we all need to embrace is the effort our students put in to try and advance themselves. Failure is a certainty, and if it is not happening, learning is not happening.

Our challenge as parents and educators is to demonstrate the things we find challenging, embrace our own imperfections and do what we are not good at. What our kids then see is that facing a challenge is worthwhile, getting it wrong is certain, but the love and support is unconditional.

If we can create this environment, all of our students' talents will multiply year on year…. And who knows where that might lead!

Graduation

Our graduation ceremony will be held on the 14th of December, starting with a 5pm mass and then some dinner and a short ceremony. Our graduation and Year 6 students final days will be student-led, allowing them to decide how they want to celebrate and recognising their growth. As a group of students, we are incredibly proud of them. A month ago, I put some challenges to them, and on Wednesday I witnessed first hand how they have learned to exhibit my favourite motto ‘we not me’. Their collegiality, their understanding of differences, their joy in the ‘other’ was truly inspiring! I am proud of you all!

Carols and End of Year celebration

All families are invited to a special celebration of carols, music and fun on the 13th of December from 4pm to 5:30pm. Our students will sing, and our dance crew will perform. There will be a free sausage sizzle to say thank you to all our families for an amazing year.

Thank a Teacher Campaign

I believe our teachers at Holy Family are wonderful. The Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools want to acknowledge our teachers by giving children a chance to thank them. How to do this is included in this newsletter, but I would love to see a contribution from our school make it to this campaign. So if you would like to, please work with your child to give a shout out to your child’s teacher, go to www.macsbiggestthanks.com

Classes

Our 2024 classes will be finalised within the next week, and we will communicate this to you. It was finalised, however, we have seen a number of enrolment requests in the last couple weeks, which has just provided us with some further consideration.

School Fees

We have prepared a detailed document that covers our school fees for 2024. This will be sent out in the next week. This is an area we want to provide more clarity about next year. Our fees remain low compared to other Catholic schools.

Father Prince Visit

Thanks for our Parish Priest, Father Prince, who has visited multiple times lately, including a Q and A with our Year 5 and 6 students, and our Prep Ones taught him how to sign the Hail Mary. This speaks to our commitment to build a strong connection with our Parish.

Dance Crew on Tour

Our dance crew will be performing at a number of kinders over the next week. We are so excited and proud at how this group spreads joy and their talent around the community. Thanks to Mrs LG for her tireless work in this space!

Something New

There are some very exciting things happening in the background, almost ready to be launched. These projects will provide the platform to share the great things that your children do, and the message of joy and inclusiveness, right throughout the community. I can’t wait to share it with you! Stay tuned!

Leap into Learning

Friday Morning Playgroup