Weekes' Weekly News

Dear Sacred Heart Kew Families,

Next Wednesday we mark the beginning of the Season of Lent, when we will all attend our morning Parish Mass at 9.15am for Ash Wednesday. This will be our first official Mass with Father Michael. All families and parents are welcome to attend if available. 

As we all know, Ash Wednesday is an expression of our faith and a sign that we are asking God for his forgiveness. It is a time of prayer, fasting and giving to others. When we pray, we come closer to God so that we are better able to realise our baptismal promise to live justly as Jesus teaches us. Fasting helps us remember the needs of the poor, who often have no choice but to go without basic needs such as food, water and shelter. Giving to the poor, or ‘almsgiving’, is a sign of our commitment to justice. It reminds us of our blessings and allows us to give thanks for all that God has given us. 

Lent is a special time, where we examine our inward relationship with Jesus and attempt to walk more closely with him. Each year, Lent provides us with an opportunity to leave the past behind, to start anew, to wipe the slate clean. This beautiful and transformational season allows us all to not only think of others, but asks us to prioritise what is really important in our lives.  

At school, as we do each year, we will be participating in ‘Project Compassion (Caritas Australia)’ and thinking of those who are less fortunate than ourselves. The theme for Project Compassion in 2025 is ‘Unite Against Poverty this Lent’. Alongside this, we will also participate in our annual Lenten program and activities, which will be led by different classes and year levels throughout this period. On Monday 17 March we will celebrate St Patrick’s Day with all children and staff wearing a touch of green for the day. The Year 3's will be selling some goodies on St Patrick's Day (50 cents a bag) and also handing out specially made St Patrick’s bookmarks. All proceeds will go towards Project Compassion. Please see the lists and descriptions of our other Lenten program activities, later in the newsletter. 

Tomorrow night, we celebrate our Prep and New Families Welcome Dinner. This is always a wonderful evening. Thank you to our Year 1 families for all their organisation. Next week our staff will participate in professional development activities on Thursday and Friday (School Closure days) as previously outlined in our newsletter, late last year and early this year. These two days will include our annual staff CPR, First Aid and Anaphylaxis Training, and will also focus on Mental Health and Wellbeing professional learning. 

The following week we will hold our annual Prep- 2 Classroom Helper course, led by Danielle Gerecke and Courtney Drough. This will take place on Tuesday 11 March (after the Labour Day Long weekend). This is always well attended, please place this date in your diaries. Towards the end of that week, our Year 3 and 5 children will participate in NAPLAN. 

The 2025 school year is certainly gathering momentum as we enter the month of March tomorrow, saying goodbye to Summer, and hello to Autumn. Transformation all around us, everywhere we look.  

Wishing all school community members a lovely weekend.

Kind Regards,

Ed Weekes

School Principal