Principal's Update
Dear Parents and Carers,
This year we celebrate a year of Jubilee, something that happens every 25 years in our church. The theme is “Pilgrims of Hope”, and is a year of hope for a world suffering the impacts of war, the ongoing effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and a climate crisis.
Creator God, as Pilgrims of Hope, we pray for one another along the journey of 2025. With confidence we pray for one another using this reflection;
May you be blessed with good friends.
May you learn to be a good friend to yourself.
May you be able to journey to that place in your soul where
there is great love, warmth, feeling, and forgiveness.
May this change you.
May it transfigure that which is negative, distant, or cold in you.
May you be brought into the real passion, kinship, and affinity of belonging.
May you treasure your friends.
May you be good to them and may you be there for them;
may they bring you all the blessing, challenges, truth,
and light that you need for your journey.
May you never be isolated.
May you always be in the gentle nest of belonging with your anam ċara.
May we all be and find an Anam Cara as we experience everything 2025 brings. In the Celtic tradition, there is a beautiful understanding of love and friendship. One of the fascinating ideas here is the soul-love; the old Gaelic term for this is an anam cara. Anam is the Gaelic word for soul and cara is the word for friend. So anam cara in the Gaelic world was the ‘soul friend.” In the early Celtic church, a person who acted as a teacher, companion, or spiritual guide was called an anam cara
SchoolTV
A beginning of the year reminder of our membership with SchoolTV. The wellbeing of our students is the number priority at St. Mary's, and this is a wonderful resource for both staff and parents offering practical strategies, with a focus to empower confidence when difficulties arise.
We invite you to visit our SchoolTV site and view the wide range of content at;
https://smcolac.catholic.schooltv.me
Beginning of the Year Mass
A reminder to all parents that our beginning of the year Mass will be held next Friday 28th February at 10am. At this Mass we will celebrate the beginning of a new school year. I encourage all families to attend to help make this a special occasion for our school community.
Prep Tours
Already I have begun meeting with prospective 2026 Prep parents. It has been wonderful to meet them and take them on a tour of our beautiful school. If you know of any families who are considering enrolling their children at St. Mary’s, please encourage them to make contact with the office, as doing tours early helps to alleviate the rush in the middle of the year.
Beginning of Year BBQ
Our beginning of the year BBQ will be held next Thursday 27th February at 6pm. This will be a great opportunity to celebrate the beginning of the year and welcome new families to our school. The school will provide sausages and hamburgers and parents will be asked to bring a salad or dessert to be shared. Details will be posted on Class Dojo and we would appreciate a response of your attendance for catering purposes.
Meet the Teacher
Last week and this week Meet the Teacher meetings were held. This was a great opportunity for teachers and parents to meet and share any important information that will support the development of educational goals and expectations for our children. Please read below a poem that is very fitting for this time of the year.
PARENTS AND TEACHERS WORKING TOGETHER
I dreamed I stood in a studio
And watched two sculptors there,
The clay they used was a young child's mind
And they fashioned it with care.
One was a teacher; the tools being used
Were books and music and art,
One a parent with a guiding hand
And a gentle, loving heart.
Day after day the teacher toiled
With touch that was deft and sure,
While the parent labored just as hard
And polished and smoothed it o'er.
When at last their task was done
They were proud of what they had wrought,
For the things they had moulded into the child
Could neither be sold nor bought.
And both agreed they would have failed
If they had worked alone;
For behind the parents stood the school
And behind the teacher, the home.
“Together, learning is our journey.” (a line from St. Mary’s vision statement)
Enjoy the rest of your week.
Michael Mahoney
(Principal)