Dear Parents and Carers,

As we come into the final 3 weeks of the 2023 calendar year, we look forward to the beginning of Advent, a time for us to prepare for the birth of Jesus into the world and the hope and peace that his arrival accompanies. This Advent I am able to reflect on my visit to Bethlehem; the place of Jesus of birth, knowing how special it was that I got to visit there in light of the continuing war that is waging there now.

Advent is a time of waiting and preparing in hope for Jesus. Often in our lives, we are waiting and preparing for many things. The gospel value of Hope is one that can carry us through these times. Currently our staff are waiting and preparing in hope for 2024 and the opportunities next year will bring the St Mary’s community.

My family is waiting and preparing for our move into our new house which will occur just after school finishes for the year. We are all very excited to have this moment come, it’s been a long wait!

Galilee (Tiberius)

Galilee is the place where much of Jesus' ministry, teaching and miracles occurred. It is the setting for many Gospel stories where we learn about how Jesus interacted, helped and served his community. This made our visit here a very special experience. I feel very connected to this place and could imagine Jesus walking the banks of the sea of Galilee and enacting his mission, building the precursors for the early Christian church.

There is a beautiful chapel built here by Mexican Catholics called Duc in Altum: Go in Deeper. This comes from the story where Jesus is with Peter who is fishing on the sea of Galilee but is not able to catch any fish. Jesus says to Peter “Go in deeper,”. Peter does, and his nets are so filled with fish that they are bursting at the seams.

This message has stuck with me since my trip earlier this year and it is a reflection that I have shared with staff. What times in life are we called to go in deeper? To hold onto our faith and hope in a situation and walk towards a challenge or opportunity, even though we may be reluctant to do so? What times are we called to move forward into a space where we may be uncomfortable or unwilling but know deep down that it is what we are called to do?

Will you be there to answer that call when it comes?

Police Visit - Bullying and Cyberbullying

Across the year there have been a number of instances that our students have made poor choices while online and also a number where they have resorted to being physical in a conflict/disagreement situation, rather than being able to talk it out. We have implemented numerous strategies to work through these situations with our students and one of these was to have the Proactive Policing unit from Brunswick police station come out to speak to our students about these issues.

We were fortunate to have Jo and Meredith from Brunswick Police station come down to speak to some of our senior students and cover off on a range of topics. They spoke about the different types of bullying and what bullying is. They role played some scenarios and how to appropriately act and seek help should our students find themselves in them. They discussed the nature of bullying being repeated in nature and the use of power to intimidate others. They clarified the difference between this and arguments, disagreements and conflict that occur once or twice.

Meredith and Jo also worked through a Cyber Safety presentation with the students created by the Federal Police - Think You Know. They looked at the appropriate use of technology, that social media had at least a 13+ age limit and their advice to not have children using technology in their bedrooms. Police advice is to have children using all devices in a shared family space for supervision purposes.

They shared a video of students posting to Tik Tok unaware of the plethora of personal information they had shared out to the public with the message: young people like to share; be aware!

We will look to further this partnership next year and continue to educate our students on appropriate ways to interact with each other in person and online.

Stay safe, stay healthy, stay connected,

Denis Johnstone

Principal

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