Principal's Message
Dear parents, students and families,
As we begin Holy Week with Palm Sunday this weekend, I pray that we can gaze with amazement upon the self-sacrifice of Jesus and ask ourselves where in our lives to we serve others. I was moved by the simplicity of the message of the refection below.
‘Let us ask for the grace to be amazed’, reflects Pope Francis. ‘A Christian life without amazement’, he warns, ‘becomes drab and dreary’. Palm Sunday is about so much more than an annual waving of branches.
Whether our faith has become what the Pope styled ‘dull from habit’, or we find ourselves ‘trapped in our regrets’, or ‘crippled by our disappointments’, or easily inclined to ‘take refuge in legalisms’, the Pope suggests we return our gaze to Jesus’ self-sacrifice and allow ourselves to be amazed.
‘To admire Jesus is not enough’, the Pope declares. ‘We have to follow in his footsteps, to let ourselves be challenged by him; to pass from admiration to amazement.’ This, he says, enables us to really ‘know that we are not alone: God is at our side in every affliction, in every fear; no evil, no sin will ever have the final word.’
‘And with the grace of amazement’, the Pope adds, ‘we come to realise that in welcoming the dismissed and discarded, in drawing close to those ill-treated by life, we are loving Jesus.’
REFLECTION by Nick Brodie https://liturgyhelp.com/calendar/date/2024Mar24/0/RefNickB
NAPLAN
This week we have continued to complete NAPLAN testing for the Grade 3 and Grade 5 children this week and it is running very smoothly . Our thanks to Mr Sullivan, teachers and our amazing LSO staff for making this process as easy as possible for our kids.
WELLBEING
Mrs Winduss and Mrs Canavan have been taking the girls in grade 3/4 together to continue to talk about strategies to support each other and to learn to navigate relationships with others as they move into their teen years. Thanks to Mrs. Winduss for filling this need with in our community and for allowing the space for these children to grow.
Mr. Sullivan and Mrs. Winduss hosted a wonderful afternoon this week discussing the ways that our children learn to read and offering strategies to families to work on reading at home.
Thank you to the families who supported this event.
NEXT WEEK
Tomorrow we have House Sports and the P& F are hosting a Disco party on Friday night.
Next week, the children will participate in the Stations of the Cross with their classes. Each class has prepared a prayers space for the grades to reflect on this very important time in the life our our faith.
Our four marine ambassadors will have the opportunity to swim with the Dolphins in Sorrento as part of their learning about sustainability and the sea.
A reminder that school finishes on Thursday for the holidays and children return to school for Alleluia day and the Easter Bonnet parade on Monday 15th April.
Call for small businesses
We are calling out to any small businesses within our school community who would like to advertise their business in the news letter during the last week of term. Please send information to
office@saseaford.catholic.edu.au with the subject small business for newsletter.
Please keep Rod in your prayers as he recovers from surgery.
God bless
Sally Thomas
Acting Principal
School Attendance and Unexplained Absence
Please contact the school if your child is going to be absent by leaving a message on 9786 4736 and press 1. Please give details of your child’s name and class with areason for their absence such as: unwell, appointment, holiday or family reasons. Alternatively an email can be sent to office@saseaford.catholic.edu.au with cc to the child’s teacher.
If you are running late, (after 9:00 am) please attend the office to sign your child into school and collect a late pass.
If you are picking up your child early you will need to collect them and sign them out from the office.
As per our policy this will be our morning routine for absences:
Parents will be contacted as soon as practicable on the morning a student is absent via a text message.
If parent does not contact the school after receiving the text message, the school will contact the parent by phone. If the parent is unreachable the emergency contacts will be contacted by the school.
If there is still no response, and the school feels that the child is in danger, the police will be contacted.
Ongoing unexplained absences or lack of cooperation regarding student attendance will result in a formal conference being organized. Unresolved attendance issues will be referred to D.H.H.S.
This is a legal requirement.
Democratic Principles
The six (6) principles of Australian democracy include:
(a) elected government; and
(b) the rule of law; and
(c) equal rights for all before the law; and
(d) freedom of religion; and
(e) freedom of speech and association; and
(f) the values of openness and tolerance