Welcome Back!

Dear Parents and Friends

I hope you had an enjoyable holiday. It is great to see all students arrive back at school safely ready for another great term of learning at St Fidelis’. We have another busy term ahead with many events including: Preps 100 days at school celebration, Special Food Days and some exciting incursions and excursions.

It's great to be back at St Fidelis' (Although I am not coping with the cold weather!) I have had a wonderful time in Italy and feel very privileged to have spent three weeks studying in Rome with principals and ACU students from around Australia. The focus was on Catholic Education - Mission, Culture & Spirituality. We covered a lot of content though lectures but also Rome was our ‘classroom’ with visits to many churches and Vatican agencies.

This is a brief summary of some of the content:

Unpacking many recent Vatican documents around Catholic Education, Catholic Social Teaching and exploring Laudato Si’
We explored the History & Development of Religious Orders: Marian Spirituality, Benedictine spirituality which included a visit to Subiaco to Benedictine Monastery, Franciscan Spirituality including a visit to Assisi, and Ignatius Spirituality.
We were very fortunate to have a Papal audience which was the highlight to see Pope Francis!
A visit to the apostolic palace at the Vatican for an audience with His Eminence Cardinal Parolin, Secretary of State – another highlight.
Visits to - the Congregation for Catholic Education, the Pontifical Academy for Life, the Diacastery for Human Development, the Vatican Centre Arabic and Islamic Studies, the Jewish Museum and Ghetto. Ambassador of Australia to the Holy See, Melisa Hitchman and also a visit and lecture from General Sir Peter John Cosgrove, Governor General of Australia.
We were fortunate to celebrate mass every day on many wonderful locations including; St Mary Major Basilica, St Paul Outside the Walls, Mass St Francis tomb, Mass at Hermitage outdoor chapel in Assisi, St John Lateran and on the last day at the Vatican with Mass near St Peter’s tomb.

New Attendance Requirements

Thank you to all parents for your support with the new Government requirements for student attendance. If your child is sick or absent, please notify the school as soon as possible on the day of absence. Notifying the school of your child’s absence either prior to, or on the day that they will be away, helps ensure the safety and wellbeing of children and will fulfil your legal responsibility.

Parents/guardians are responsible for contacting the school on that day of an expected absence to inform them and to provide an explanation for their absence.
This must be done prior to the commencement of the school day.
This may be done by contacting the school on 9383 3600 directly, email: fidelis@sfmoreland.catholic.edu.au or via our Skoolbag App.

All Victorian schools are required to contact parents/carers as soon as practicable on the same day of an unexplained student absence. If your child is absent on a particular day and you have not contacted the school to explain why, the absence will be marked as unexplained. The school will then contact parents to inform you of this absence.

Student Learning

I continue to be so impressed by the hard work of our staff and the great learning that takes place in all classes. An overview of this terms learning is included in today's newsletter. Our Level Coordinators also include a brief update in each newsletter so parents are informed about classroom news.

Thank you to our teachers and students for all their hard work in preparing for Parent Teacher Interviews and Student Led Conversations in the last week of Term Two. It was terrific to have such positive feedback about our SLC. I know that teachers and parents are very proud of our student in Years 3 to 6 who were so confidently able to discuss themselves as learners, their learning achievements and future goals. I would also like to congratulate all students on their achievements in the first Semester and look forward to continued success for the remainder of the year.

Sacrament of Confirmation

Thank you to our Year Six parents and students for attending our Confirmation evening last week. Please keep these students in you prayers as they prepare to to be confirmed by our new Arichbishop, Most Rev Peter Comensoli on Friday August 17.

School Fees

All school fees are due to be finalised by the end of term three. Invoices were sent home today. If you have any concerns about your school fees, please make an appointment to see me.

Assembly - Farewell Mrs D'Amato

This Friday 3/4KO will lead our assembly. At our assembly we will also take the opportunity as a community to farewell to Mrs D'Amato, as this Friday is her last day before she commences her new position as Deputy Principal at St Matthew's Fawkner. Parents and friends are always welcome at our assemblies to share and celebrate the great learning and student achievement at St Fidelis’.

I’m looking forward to another great term of learning… “learning about who we are, our God and our world.” At St Fidelis’ – ‘We love to learn!”

I hope you have a great week - stay warm!

Kevin Gleeson.

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