Principal's Report
Dear Parents, Friends and Students,
Last Friday Mrs Thomas and myself attended a Spirituality Day conducted by the Catholic Education Office of Melbourne. We heard from Fr Noel Connolly who is a Columban Priest . His focus was on who is Pope Francis? We then heard from Phil Billington who has had a long history in Catholic Education, most recently as Director of Catholic Education Sandhurst. She spoke to the mixture of Principals, Deputy Principals and Religious Education Leaders on "Who are we as leaders in Catholic Education?" It was a day well spent in reflecting on our current Pope and discerning what it is to be an authentic faith leader for our schools in light of this.
I often speak of community and how important it is to our school. However community, on its own, should be important to all schools and I am sure that Seaford, Seaford North, Seaford Park and Belvedere schools all have a strong focus on community too. The one crucial ingredient that sets us apart is our faith. Joan Chittister writes " We exist to be miracle workers to one another. It is in community that we are called to grow. It is in community that we come to see God in one another. It is in community that we see our own emptiness filled up. It is community that calls me beyond the horizons of my own life and gives me the gifts I do not have within me....the function of community is to enable us to be about something greater than ourselves". Building community is not always easy but I do see the spirit working every day in our interactions with one another and am proud to be part of the St Anne's community.
On Monday we began with our annual Book Week parade which I feel might have been our best one yet over the past 4 years. The students also enjoyed hearing from storyteller Kym Lardner. Tuesday morning Miss Holmes' class attended Woolworths as part of the learning program and it was evidently a very enjoyable experience. Thank you to the parents who supported the Fathers' Day stall on Tuesday. On Wednesday some of our students participated in a Hoop Time basketball tournament and i would like to thank Mrs Ary for her organisation of this. Thursday morning thank you to the many adults who joined our staff for our Annual Fathers' Day and Special Friend's Breakfast. It provided a great opportunity for fathers and some grandfathers to mingle with one another as well as spend some time with their children. Special thanks to our wonderful staff who were here from 6.30am to prepare the breakfast. Congratulations to Year 6 student Chloe W who attended a function at local State MP Sonia Kilkenny's office today to celebrate her excellent essay writing skills.
Thank you for making arrangements for the early finish today and for the School Closure Day tomorrow so we can hold our annual Retreat. Our focus is Wellbeing as we are reviewing the strategies used by our school to see if we can better meet the needs of our students.
Next week we will have our trial Foundation to Year 4 swimming program. This week will give us an idea as to whether it is an effective of the student's time in terms of benefit. It is also E-Smart week so we will have an extra focus on the digital curriculum. The week will conclude next Friday with our senior students representing our school at the Seaford District Lightning Premiership which is always a wonderful day.
A further reminder that I am looking at doing a small renovation project in the senior block involving the installation of a couple of glass concertina doors in Mr Sullivan's and the current Music room. If there are any builders in our community that would like to quote and discuss this project please call the office.
We wish all our dads a fantastic day on Sunday.
God Bless
Rod Shaw- Principal
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