Religious Education News
The term is flying by and so is the season of Lent leading us closer to Easter. Today we had a beautiful celebration for our Beginning of Year Mass which included our special Buddy Blessing with the Preps and their Grade 6 buddies. Thank you to all who were involved today including both staff and students and all those family and friends who were able to come and celebrate with us; it was such a reverent and respectful celebration.
In weeks 9 and 10 of this term the students will be participating in Holy Week activities that will cover the events of Holy Week and help students reflect on how the stories and events are still relevant and impactful in our lives today. It is really wonderful to see our classroom Project Compassion boxes starting to fill up with coins that go towards impoverished people from all parts of the world led by Caritas. In week 10, we conclude this campaign with our coin line run by the Social Justice group, on Wednesday the 1st of April which will also be a bring-a-gold-coin and wear casual clothes day to celebrate.
Next week, Prayer Gatherings will begin with the Grade 6s leading us first in Week 7 (Friday the 14th of March) and this Prayer Gathering involves handing out leadership badges to those students in leadership positions. Prayer Gatherings are a really meaningful and special way for the students to learn and teach others about the traditional aspects of our faith, the meanings and relevance of sacred scripture stories, important holy days, Catholic Social Teachings etc. A reminder, as we do address each year, of the sanctity of the Church and of the reverence required to be in this sacred space. We are so fortunate to be allowed to access the Church for our Prayer Gatherings, so in this regard, we do ask that parents and friends refrain from bringing in beverages eg. coffees, unnecessary chat throughout the liturgy and taking photos and videos where you might be distracting away from the reverence of the celebration. The teachers and staff plan, practise and celebrate their Prayer Gatherings really thoroughly and respectfully and we ask that all who come to be a part of these celebrations, do the same. Your support with this is really appreciated. The rest of the Prayer Gatherings are as follows for the remainder of Term 1 and Term 2:
Term 1:
Week 7 13/3 Combined Gr 6s - Leadership badges
Week 8 20/3: Combined Grade 5s
Week 9 27/3: Combined Grade 4s - this will be a reflection on Palm Sunday
Week 10: No Prayer Gatherings due to Holy Week reflections
Term 2:
Week 1 Alleluia Day - No Prayer Gathering
Week 2 1/4: Grade 3s
Week 3 8/5: Combined Grade 2s
Week 4 15/5: Combined Grade 1s
Week 5 22/5: Catholic Education Week = No Prayer Gathering
Week 6 29/5: Prep combined
Week 7 5/6: Gr 6MP/JH
Week 8 12/5 Gr 5RD
Week 9 19/5 Gr 4AD/PP
Week 10 26/5 Gr 2DH
Wishing everyone a relaxing and safe Labour Holiday Long Weekend!
Rachel Downard
Religious Education Leader