Principal's Report

Dear Parents,

Have you noticed an increasing reluctance on the part of your children to get out of bed in the morning over the last week or two? Well that’s what hard work and a constant routine does to small people (and big people) over the course of a school year. The only known cure for such an ailment is a good dose of Christmas holidays. In the meantime, those wonderful persons known as parents might have to call for understanding and family support.

There is an old review of a Japanese film titled “The story of Jiro”. The summary contained this sentence, “As he matures, Jiro learns the restrictions of the world and the suffering of life”. No doubt all adults can relate to this sentiment, as it has been part of the human experience for all of us. However, children who are full of hope and the excitement and expectation of what life might have in store for them, are sometimes alarmed by the growing realization that life isn’t as easy as it perhaps seemed to be when they were at the infant stage.

Sometimes our children are asked to master learning skills or cope with emotional situations which are beyond their capabilities or maturation levels and as a result, can slowly lose their confidence and self-esteem. If we, as the significant adults in their life are not aware of these difficulties and don’t assist our children to cope then, the children’s development to full potential will never be realized and their lives may not reach that fullness of which it was capable.

If at this time of the year we, as grown people, are feeling the wear and tear of a year’s accumulated happenings, then no doubt, so are our children. The question is, do we regard it as sufficient importance to find some sympathetic time to spend with our children. We shouldn’t attempt to shield our children from the realities of their life or mislead them with false hope. What we can do is to be seen to be understanding as to how they see their life and its difficulties and offer assistance. In this way, they feel as if they are the ones who are finding the solutions and coping with their problems.

Hopefully, self-esteem and personal confidence will soon be on the healthy road to recovery. It is so easy being a parent!!

First Reconciliation

Congratulations to all they Year Three children who received the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time this week. The children and their families participated in a very prayerful and memorable celebration.

The Sacrament of Reconciliation fills us all with the peace and love of Jesus which strengthens us on our faith journey. When children are being prepared to receive the Sacrament of Penance for the first time, much care is taken to present God as an all-loving, all-forgiving God. A variety of images of God are presented to the children such as the Good Shepherd who, though tired at the end of the day, goes out looking for a lost sheep; or the father of the prodigal son, who each day spends time looking down along the road hoping to see his son returning home. When the sheep is found and the son returns there is no punishment or harsh words but plenty of rejoicing.

The story of the Prodigal Son, exemplifies the characteristics of a loving and all forgiving Father and provides a wonderful example to parents and children about the Sacrament of Reconciliation and God's great love for each of us.

We thank the Year Three teachers, Miss Melissa Myles and Miss Yen Wong, as well as the other staff and members of the Parish Sacramental team lead by Mrs Faith Rico, Fr Greg, Fr Tadgh and Fr John for assisting in the preparation of the students and the celebration of this special sacrament.

Congratulations to all the students who receive the Sacrament of Reconcilation for the first time this week.

Thomas Allpike

Chloe Andre

Vanessa Au

Bryant Bao

Christian Bellesini

Kai Blanchard

Alexander Bowran

Sayla Buckley

Anthony Buonocore

Holly Capone

Eva Cecchele

Joseph Celeno

Alexis Chan

Chase Clements

Olivia Colonico

Lucia Cugola

Alissa Dawe

Thu Minh Do

Erin D'Silva

Elijah Erceg

Sebastian Gibson

Maddison Giglia

Tahliah Gonsalves

David Hunter

Zara Ielati

Cooper Innes

Chloe Italiano

Gabriella Jackamarra

Charlie Jackson

Dominic Kosovich

Nicholas Kularatne

Jett Levings

Antonella Mammone

Meghan Marino Dayan

Jean-Paul Marion

Brigitte McMenemy

Sam Napoli

Kaila Newman

Jayden Nguyen

Chloe Nguyen

Robert Nguyen

Trian Nguyen

Jasmine Penwald

Cyara Quartermaine

Estelle Radacic

Jean-Paul Rapy

Jillrey Rico

Jai Ridolfo

Akira Teo

Zara Thaung

Campbell Tonkin

Sang Truong

Austin Tutt

Tayla Waters

Marcus White

Amelia Yates

Ava Zirino

China Here We Come

Next week, myself, Clare Moffat and Melissa Myles will be travelling to China to establish our Sister School Partnership with Changjiang Experimental Primary School in Hangzhou. At the same time, we will be delivering some keynote addresses and conducting some workshops at the Innovation and Technology Forum for Leaders.

We believe establishing this sister school partnership with Sports Park Campus of Changjiang Experimental Primary School is a great way to motivate our students and provide opportunities to learn more about China. We believe that effective sister school partnerships can have a profound and positive impact on a range of areas of education. This includes:

Student learning.
Teacher capability.
Curriculum, including language learning and intercultural understanding.
Whole school improvement.
Community Engagement.

The benefits for our students include:

Development of intercultural understanding and sensitivity.
An appreciation of different points of view.
Development of 21st-century skills to enable critical thinking.
Cross-cultural collaboration.
A positive attitude to diversity.
Greater competence and confidence in language learning.
Communication skills and renewed enthusiasm for language learning.
Enhanced information communication and technology skills as students interact through wikis, blogs, and Skype.
Tangible illustration of the concept of global interconnectedness incorporating authentic collaborative learning activities.
Development of cross-cultural communication.
Development of international friendships and networks.
Increasing awareness of and comfort level with different styles of teaching.

We look forward to our partnership growing from strength to strength over the years. We are really excited by the opportunities that this relationship will potentially provide our students and our staff. We believe that this Sister school partnership will have a significant positive effect on the global awareness and attitudes of our students.

Remembrance Day

On the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month in 1918 an armistice was signed that stopped the fighting in World War I. Since then, and after World War II, this day of remembrance became known as ‘Remembrance Day’ so we can remember the people who have died in all wars.

As a school we will recognise this important occasion with a special ceremony at 11.00am. The school community will come together to participate in a Remembrance Day prayer service which will be held in the piazza area. Parents and community members are most welcome to attend.

Volunteers Mass & Morning Tea

As parents would be aware, Thursday 23 November, there is a Volunteers Mass at Infant Jesus School followed by a morning tea in the Hall to say ‘thank you’ to all the parents who have assisted with school activities throughout year. We recognise that parents are a very important link between home and school and we greatly value and appreciate the support they have provided the staff and students of Infant Jesus School.

Volunteers at Infant Jesus School have assisted in many ways during 2017 both in classes and in many other areas of the school. We recognise that the involvement of volunteers has many benefits including

teachers and parents working together
better communication between home and school
greater understanding by parents of their children’s schooling
greater understanding of the role of teachers and the planning and organization required within a classroom
more goodwill and mutual respect between parents, teachers and staff
children seeing their parents and teachers sharing common beliefs, attitudes and goals.
more opportunity to see adults, both teachers and parents, as role models.

It is tremendous to have this level of interest displayed in the development of both the children and the school as a whole. Many activities could not be planned without their involvement and generous commitment of time and energy generously given by all our volunteers. To all our parent helpers and volunteers - THANK YOU.

Attached is an invitation to everyone who has volunteered at Infant Jesus School during 2017. To assist with catering please RSVP to the school office by 17 November, 2017.

Volunteers Morning Tea Celebration.pdf

Kindergarten Information Evening 2018

KINDERGARTEN INFORMATION NIGHT

This will be held on Thursday 23 November in the hall commencing at 6.00pm. This is for all parents of children attending Kindergarten in 2018.

Prayer for the Week

God of love,

as I come to recognise You in the faces of people You place

into my life,

May I grow as the loving person You call me to be.

Help us to befriend those beyond our comfort zones,

open our hearts to those who are different to ourselves and help us to be bearers of reconciliation.

When love is needed,

send us as Your instruments.

Remind us each day that of all of the gifts You give us,

the greatest is love.

It is not enough to share that love only with those we hold dear.

Open our hearts to all humanity,

let us be slow to judge,

quick to forgive and generous to love.

Amen

Did You Know

The silk that is produced by spiders is stronger than steel.
The chances of an exact duplication of fingerprints are about 64 billion to 1.
Most of the world’s people must walk at least 3 hours to fetch water.

Last Word . . . .

As I will be away next week, Mr Frank Colangelo will be responsible for steering the ship. If there are any concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact him. Hopefully, I will be able to send some pictures through from China for next week’s newsletter.

Thought for the Week

It is not how much we do in this life that is important, but rather,

how much Love we put into what we do.

God Bless,

Paul Hille

Principal

#ExpectGreatThings