Vinnies Christmas Appeal 2024

Here is a copy of the presentation made by our RE School Leaders at Monday's Assembly.

Good morning teachers and students. This year the RE Leaders would like the whole school to get involved in supporting the St Vincent de Paul Christmas Appeal. This is often just shortened to the Vinnies Christmas Appeal.

This Christmas, more families are experiencing poverty and are on the brink of homelessness due to the relentless rising cost-of-living in Australia. The crisis has been an ongoing issue impacting Australians for over two years with no sign of reprieve. As the crisis deepens, so does the amount of people turning to Vinnies for support.

The St Vincent de Paul Society in Australia has more than 60,000 members and volunteers, who work hard to assist people in need and combat social injustice across Australia. Internationally, the Society operates in 153 countries and has over 800,000 members.

There are three ways we will be supporting the work of Vinnies. The first option is to bring in Christmas presents for school aged children whose families are not able to provide them with a Christmas gift

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It would be appreciated if these presents came gift wrapped with a label stating whether it is for a boy or girl (or both) and the age/s it is suitable for (eg. Boy 5-7). These can be left under the Christmas Tree in the office which we will be putting up soon.

The second option is to bring in non perishable food items, especially those with a Christmas theme. This will help provide food for a family to celebrate Christmas with a meal together. These can be left in your classroom and we will collect them before the end of term

Finally, for the rest of the year the RE/Social Justice Team will be selling Zooper Dooper icy poles for 50c after school on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 3:15 - 3:30pm at the tuckshop window.

If anybody would like to donate a pack (or more) of Zooper Doopers please bring them to the office. We can look after the freezing for you‼ We have no school next Monday and Tuesday so Thursday of next week (7/11) will be the first day of selling zooper doopers. Also, don’t forget about donating a present or some non-perishable food items. Thank you.

A snapshot of RE Learning in 1/2GC

In 1/2GC we have been learning about people of great faith from the Bible. These are our recollections.

In the Old Testament, I like the story about Zacharias and Elizabeth. He lost his voice because he didn’t believe the Angel Gabriel that he would have a son. Stella
Jacob had twelve sons and his favourite was Benjamin. Sienna
I remember Jacob had 12 sons. Juliette
My favourite is Noah’s Ark because he made the Ark for all the animals to save them from the flood. Jack
Noah’s story is really interesting to me because I like how the family and all the animals are included. Audrey
I remember the story of Noah and the Ark because my favourite animal, the giraffe, is included. Isla
I like Abraham’s story because he is a man of great faith and it is exciting. I was happy when God said, “Stop” to Abraham, who was going to sacrifice his son, Isaac. Summer
I like the story when Mary visits Elizabeth because the baby moved in Elizabeth’s tummy. Louis
I remember the story of Joseph because he told people what their dreams meant and he ended up second in charge of Egypt. Pela
My favourite story is about Moses. I like the story because he was really magical to me. Nora
I remember when Gabriel visited Mary and told her she would have a baby boy. God told her to name him Jesus. Charlotte
My favourite story is Noah’s Ark because he saved all the animals. Thomas
I remember that the angel Gabriel told Mary she was going to have a baby named Jesus. Mary was confused. Oscar H
I like the story of Joseph because his brothers were jealous and sold him as a slave to Egyptians. Sebastian
My favourite story is when Moses opens the Red Sea for the Israelites to escape. Freddie
My favourite story is Joseph’s story because his dream came true about his brothers bowing down to him. Will
I remember that Noah built a boat called an Ark and his friends said to Noah “You are silly”. Jaden
I like the story about Noah because he made an Ark and saved all the animals from the flood. Lucas
My favourite story is about Noah’s big Ark. Oscar Y
I remember the story about Zacharias who lost his voice because he didn’t believe the angel Gabriel. Harvey
My favourite story was when Isaac was about to be killed. God said to Abraham, “STOP!” Hamish

We drew pictures of our favourite stories.

Sunday Gospel

The liturgy of the Catholic Church provides a framework for reflection which is used by Catholics throughout the world. Each week in the Newsletter, you will find the Sunday Gospel as well as some discussion questions to have with your child/ren.

A reading from the holy Gospel according to Mark

One of the scribes came up to Jesus and put a question to him, ‘Which is the first of all the commandments?’ Jesus replied, ‘This is the first: Listen, Israel, the Lord our God is the one Lord, and you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength. The second is this: You must love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these.’ The scribe said to him, ‘Well spoken, Master; what you have said is true: that he is one and there is no other. To love him with all your heart, with all your understanding and strength, and to love your neighbour as yourself, this is far more important than any holocaust or sacrifice.’ Jesus, seeing how wisely he had spoken, said, ‘You are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And after that no one dared to question him any more.

Discussion Questions

1. What does Jesus say is the most important commandment?

2. What is his second commandment of love?

3. Jesus asks us to love our friends as ourselves. How do we show love for ourselves?

4. What can we do to show others that we love them as much as we love ourselves?

Nick Byrne

RE Leader

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