Religious Education News
Well what a big term and semester we have had R.E. wise so far this year! We began the year with our Opening Mass, then moved into Lent, we commemorated Holy Week, celebrated Catholic Education week and the Easter season, several students celebrated the sacrament of Reconciliation and of course we celebrated our weekly Prayer Gatherings; R.E. and our Catholic identity has certainly been at the forefront of all we have done at St. Mary’s so far this year. There have also been many R.E. related things happening behind the scenes including staff formation sessions with Sarah Page regarding our Laudato Si Action Plan, Justin McInerney also assisted our planning teams in developing rich, holistic R.E. units for this term and Jim Waight and Bernadette Tolan walked us through the diocese’s ‘Fullness of Life For All’ program in a whole school professional development day this term. We are so fortunate to have access to all these R.E. experts, particularly Justin who has been a tremendous support to me upon taking up the REL role this year.
Over the holidays, NAIDOC week will be happening from the 5th to the 12th of July which is the annual celebration that honours the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Matt’s Grade 3 class will be sharing their Prayer Gathering in Week 1 on this important event. Also next term, Judy Carr and I will be attending a 4 day intensive course on ECSI (Enhancing Catholic School Identity) which is a research based project developed by the Catholic University in Leuven in Europe, that helps schools understand, celebrate, and actively strengthen their unique Catholic Identity. We are looking forward to bringing back all our learning and knowledge and using this to continue to enhance the Catholic Identity of our school.
Congratulations to Dylan Lumagod in Grade 3, who also celebrated his First Reconciliation on the 9th of June; congratulations Dylan on this important step in your faith journey!
Finally, a big thank you all for the ongoing support of your children and the school R.E. wise and I pray everyone has a restful, unchaotic and enjoyable holiday period!
Term 3 Prayer Gatherings:
Week 1: 17/7 Grade 3
Week 2: 24/7 6JD
Week 3: 31/7 5RC
Week 4: 7/8 4BG
Week 5: 14/8 1LM
Week 6: 21/8 2MO
Week 7: 28/8 1AH
Week 8: 4/9 Preps
Week 9: 11/9 6MP/JH
Week 10: 18/9 4AD/MK
Rachel Downard
Religious Education Leader