Dear God,

We come to you with hearts full of love and concern for our dear Pope Francis.

During this special time of jubilee, we ask for your healing touch to be upon him as he faces illness.

Please give him strength, comfort, and peace. Help him to feel your presence and know that he is surrounded by your love.

Bless the doctors and nurses who are caring for him, and guide them with your wisdom.

We ask this in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Dear Parents and Friends,

Welcome to week 4 of term one and a very refreshing break from the extreme heat of the last two weeks.

This week we pray for Pope Francis who is in hospital with a respiratory tract infection. During the year of Jubilee, he has demonstrated inspiring leadership emphasizing themes of hope, renewal, and compassion, speaking of the Jubilee as a time for a new beginning, encouraging everyone to start anew with God’s grace.

In his many addresses, Pope Francis has highlighted the importance of hope, describing it as a gift from God that empowers us to begin again on our life’s journey. He has also called for a renewed commitment to togetherness, service, and responsibility for our common home, the Earth.

You may find these quotes from Pope Francis' speeches to the gathered faithful which reflect his deep commitment to hope, compassion, and the well-being of all people and the planet, inspiring and encouraging.

On Hope and Renewal:
- "Hope is a gift from God that empowers us to begin again on our life’s journey."
On Compassion and Service:
- "To change the world, we must be good to those who cannot repay us."
On Love and Humanity:
- "Love is more powerful, love gives life, love makes hope blossom in the wilderness."
On Protecting Creation:
- "Let us protect Christ in our lives, so that we can protect others, so that we can protect creation!"

Opening of the year Mass

This Thursday in our school hall we gather at 9.30 to celebrate Eucharist.

Everyone is welcome to join us.

Digital User Agreements.

All children will bring home a Digital user agreement, we ask you to read this with your child, discuss with your child the content of the agreement and ensure they understand and agree to abide by it.

The child and the parent then sign the agreement. Once signed please return the form to school.

Children are not able to access their digital devices at school until the user agreement has been signed and returned to school.

We thank you for your support in assisting us to help your child be a responsible user of their device.

On Monday evening our staff participated in a zoom session with Kirra Pendergast from Safe on Social to engage in professional learning about being safe and responsible users of technology.

The parent meeting which needed to be cancelled due to Kirra's inability to attend will be offered in the coming months.

Get to Know You Interviews

The Get to Know You interviews will be conducted over the next three weeks for children in Grades 1-6.

Interviews with your child's teacher can be booked via PAM.

The Get to Know You interviews are an important way for the teacher to build a relationship with you which enhances the learning experience for your child.

It is a great opportunity for you to share information about your child enabling your child's teacher to know them and all their many facets that make them the beautifully unique child that they are.

Please don't miss this important opportunity.

Upcoming Events.

Upcoming special events at school are the Pancake Breakfast for Shrove Tuesday on March 4th.

Ash Wednesday Liturgies on Wednesday March 5th marking the beginning of Lent.

Monday 10th March Labour Day holiday marks the beginning of our Foundation children attending school on Wednesdays.

Magnify

Our classes are now all busily working reflecting our diocesan new initiative

Every student

Every teacher

Every school

Every day

Magnify Sandhurst is our evidence-informed science of learning school improvement initiative focusing on how the brain learns, how literacy is effectively taught, uses a low variance, knowledge-rich curriculum, and the creation of positive classrooms.

Our practice is calm, predictable, and repeatable to maximise learning time in all classrooms. This calmness has been witnessed and positively commented upon by several visitors to our school this year.

We are excited by the responses of our children, and we look forward to continued success and potential of this initiative.

Have a great week

Patricia Boak

Principal

Wellbeing