Fr Damien will lead our school masses each fortnight, usually on a Friday however our final mass for the term will be a bit of a change:

Masses

Our next mass will be Thursday 19 March, 10am - St Joseph's feast day mass (on the front lawn). This will be our final mass for this term.

Mini Vinnies team will be charged with planning and organising this mass where they will make their commitment and receive their badges for 2026. All most welcome to this special celebration.

Please note that everyone is most welcome to join us for all our masses. As a special treat, we encourage children to sit with their families during mass (if they have a job at mass we usually wait for this to be complete before sending them to you).

A special thanks to our fabulous Stage 1 students and Mrs Harris for the amazing planning and participation in the beautiful mass today!

Mission Team visit

We were blessed with a visit last week from the Mission and Learning team from Armidale Catholic Schools. It was wonderful to show Mr Darryl Martin and Mrs Renee Dunst (Subject Matter Experts for Catholic Identity and Faith Formation) through our wonderful school and they both commented on how much they enjoyed visiting the classrooms and meeting the students and staff. Both visitors also took time to discuss our school Annual Improvement Plan and how they can support our school with our goals for 2026. It was a return to familiar grounds for Mr Martin who was a teacher here at St Joseph's in the past and has also been acting principal for St Joseph's so he was excited to be back!

Sacraments

This year we will celebrate both Confirmation (stage 3) and First Holy Communion (Year 3).

Please note these dates are are now confirmed and are in the calendar:

Confirmation, Sunday 26 July at 10am

First Holy Communion, Sunday 31st May at 10am

More details will be sent out closer to these dates.

Lenten Groups

A reminder that we are meeting together in prayer and discussion each Tuesday at 4pm during Lent in the school library. We are using a hybrid of the 'Sycamore' and 'Compassio' programs this year which keeps things different and fresh! Everyone is most welcome to join this group which usually goes for an hour. Come for one, some or all! No RSVP necessary; "Come as you are".

Around the classrooms

Religion lessons are part of our uninterrupted learning times along with English and Maths. It is always a pleasure to visit each classroom and see the wonderful learning taking place in all our learning spaces.

If you have any questions regarding masses, Religion, or general queries please be in contact with me; no question is too small or too hard and I am only a phone call or email away! I am only too happy to try and be of help.

God bless,

Deb McDouall

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