Principal's Message 

From the Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

We are approaching the end of the Church’s year as this Sunday marks the Church’s season of Advent.  Advent ushers in a challenging period, where we are asked to take time for quiet prayer and reflection in the midst of one of the most hectic times in the school year. But when we make it a priority to find that quiet space, we find the rich fruits of opening ourselves to God and to life and love.

We re-orient ourselves to what is true and deep in the human condition. We are reminded that God loves us and keeps his promise to be with us in the coming of Jesus. We are reminded that the greatest commandment is love. This Advent season, may we all be more open to the possibilities of God working in us to bring hope and love to the world.

In the final weeks of the year the children will lead us in an Advent prayer service each Monday morning at assembly. Parents are welcome to join us.

In this season of Advent, inspire us to be people of hope.

Encourage us not to be greedy for material possessions, but for justice and truth.

Enflame us with a love for others, which crosses boundaries of race, religion and nationality.

Stir within us a desire to fight for the integrity of creation and appreciate the immense beauty of the earth.

Be with us, Lord, at this time, that we may be people of hope.

Amen

2022 FETE

WOW! What a sensational Fete! This year’s Fete was another example of a strong community working together. The weather certainly helped to bring the crowds out to enjoy the fun, atmosphere and bargains here at COHR. It was amazing to see such a large crowd and that there was such a ‘buzz’ around the place. I realise it is a major fundraiser at this school but this activity also works in building strong relationships within the community and it has been wonderful to see so many parents working together in the lead up to this year’s Fete. 

Thank you to those parents who responded to the post Fete survey. The responses were overwhelmingly positive along with a number of suggestions and considerations for our 2024 Fete. 

A special mention must go to our Fete Coordinator, Sarah Arnott and all parents who assisted in making this year’s event such a huge success. Thank you.

School Sports

Congratulations to GREEN Team on winning the 2022 COHR School Sports. This was a terrific team effort. 

The children appeared to be having a fun night, getting into the competitive spirit of the event.

A special thanks to Sue Tobin, our PE teacher, for her organisation of this year's sports.

State Election and Catholic School Funding

Please find attached a letter regarding funding for Catholic education in Victoria ahead of the upcoming state election tomorrow.

Graduation

Plans are in place for a lovely evening for the students to celebrate and be acknowledged as a class. This event will take place on Wednesday 7th December commencing with mass at 7pm. This will be followed by a formal Graduation Ceremony in the hall.

Water Watchers Incursion

Next Wednesday 30th November Students from Prep to Year 4 will participate in a wide range of fun activities, experiments and games, designed to build their water saving knowledge. 

Linking directly to the Victorian Curriculum, the Water Watchers incursion will aim to teach primary school students about where water comes from, how people consume it, and why we all have a role to play in saving it.  

It’s our hope that students leave the session with an increased knowledge and understanding around water use, and a desire to join the Water Watchers in their mission to save the Earth’s supply.  

School Uniform Proposal

We are currently looking into the possibility of changing our grey tunic and grey pants to a maroon/blue check tunic and blue pants. These will be on display in the school foyer for the next fortnight and we would appreciate your thoughts and feedback on this proposal. Please pass any reflections onto Rachel, Sandra, Jo or Brendan. You can also email office@cohroakeast.catholic.edu.au with your feedback.

Please keep in mind that any change would not be immediate and would involve a transition process.

Review of Religious Education Curriculum

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools is seeking input into a review currently being undertaken on the Religious Education (RE) Curriculum in Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne. The Review is being led by Ms Netina Giacco, Professor John Haldane and Professor Gerard O’Shea.

A crucial part of this review is learning from the perspectives of school parents. To gather that input, I warmly encourage you to complete a survey on RE in Catholic schools.

The survey can be accessed and completed via this link: https://onlinesurvey.cecv.catholic.edu.au/surveys/2022-RE-Curriculum-Review-Survey

The survey questions are broad and open-ended, in order to allow you to provide as much or as little input as you feel appropriate. You can complete it with any, and varying, level of detail - as you see fit. 

Contribution to the survey will be anonymous, although the survey does request some demographic information about you, in order to contextualise results.

In acknowledging the challenges and pressures on everyone at this time of year, the deadline for responses has been set to 20 December 2022.

Take care and keep safe everyone

Brendan Welsford

Principal