Faith Matters

Dear St Francis Xavier Families,

My sincere thanks for your generosity last term with regard to grocery donations.  During the school holiday break I delivered all the items to Community Support Frankston who were very grateful for the volume of goods donated by our school. Projects such as this enable our children to develop their understanding of service to others which is a feature of our Catholic Social Teaching. It was also apparent how delighted many of the children were to bring in groceries to help others. This term the Peninsula Zone Catholic Schools are combining and working towards sending a donation to a school which was significantly affected by the recent floods and storms in New South Wales.  More information about that coming soon.

At St Francis Xavier, the Faith Education teaching and learning aims to integrate our Catholicity in a meaningful and worthwhile way. We make specific connections with the Inquiry units and support the children to understand what being Catholic means in the 21st century. 

It's very rewarding for the staff when the children share insights and experiences or have those 'light bulb moments' demonstrating their understanding of how Gospel values permeate our lives and enhance our relationships with others.  I was recently chatting with a student from the Junior School who told me he had been reading about how the ash from volcanoes can help plants grow. He went on to explain it reminded him about receiving the ashes on Ash Wednesday and that they are a reminder of how we can grow in the spirit. You can imagine how impressed I was.  This term our Faith/Inquiry will be focusing on Social Justice.

This Sunday is World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly. I know from our morning chats at the green gate, that many of our children have a close relationship with their grandparents and enjoy spending time with them or communicating through Face time or Zoom if they live a distance away.

Yours in faith,

Marion O'Brien

Education in Faith Leader