Term 2, Week 6 Bulletin
Dear Parents & Guardians
This week, some of our Grade 3 children will receive the Sacrament of Eucharist for the first time. This marks an important milestone in the faith life of these children as they fully enter communion with Jesus during mass.
The receiving of the blessed sacrament during mass is one of the core parts of the Catholic faith; a recognition that we choose to be part of God’s family and live by the teachings of his son, Jesus Christ.
As a Catholic school, this is also a core part of our work, preparing these young people to not only receive the sacrament but to have a growing understanding of why this is important and how this impact on our daily lives. I hope that you keep these children in your thoughts and prayers as they prepare for this very special day.
On a related note, tomorrow also marks the first time that Fr. Alex Clemente, our new parish priest, visits St Lawrence of Brindisi. We have invited Fr. Alex and Fr. Wilford, his assistant priest, for a morning tea to meet the staff but also to meet the children afterwards. Like Fr. Fabian before him, Fr. Alex will be a very important member of our school community.
Lastly, tomorrow will be the first time we gather as a school for a school assembly when our Challenge (Grade 5/6) Learning Community celebrate their first assembly. Last year, with all the COVID restrictions, these provided impossible to organise, and, as a new school, I have taken the time for the staff to settle before adding another job to their list of expectations.
Assemblies are an important way we can gather as a school community, and along with our Learning Community Expo’s, celebrate the learning of the children at St Lawrence of Brindisi. The goal will be for each Learning Community to organise one assembly a term and one expo a semester. I would also like to aim for our Learning Community assemblies to be led by our student school leaders as way of giving them a leadership role in the school.
In my experience, what tends to happen is that lots of parents turn up for a Prep assembly but rather fewer for those of the older children. Ideally, I would like our school to be different and make sure our assemblies are an event the whole community can celebrate. As our routines and structures become embedded, we will aim to have assemblies booked in for regular times each term, probably on a Friday afternoon, so that parents and guardians have some idea of when these will occur.
SCHOOL PHOTOS
A reminder that the school photo’s day is next week on Tuesday, June 6. Children will need to wear their winter uniform. Please refer to the Opereo note emailed to you this week or click on the Uniform section of the newletter for further details.
SCHOOL REPORTS & THREE-WAY LEARNING CONFERENCES (STUDENT-PARENT-TEACHER MEETINGS)
The reports for Semester One 2023 (barring an unforeseen technical issues) should be sent home on Friday, June 16.
The three-way conferences, will take place on Tuesday, June 20 and Wednesday, June 21 from 12.30pm, As noted to the relevant parents and guardians, due to prior medical appointments, this will not involve Discovery 1 (Grace) and Discovery 2 (Kandi) on June 20 and Curiosity 3 (Rachel Wilson’s class) on both June 20 and 21. Any missed meetings for these classes will be rescheduled for the beginning of Term Three.
Please note that school will finish at 12.30pm on June 20 & 21 to accommodate these meetings. Parents and guardians requiring supervision for their children can contact Kelly Club. These details can be provided by the school administration office staff.
It is an expectation of our St Lawrence of Brindisi that all parents and guardians make an appointment to meet their child’s teacher. If there is a reason that you cannot make one of the scheduled times, it is important that you make another time to meet with your child’s teacher, ideally this term.
God bless,
Bill Hill.
PRINCIPAL