Dear Parents & Guardians
At the moment, it is really hard to comprehend the current state of the world. As a Catholic educator who has spent their career building cultures founded on love, peace and justice, I find it very hard to understand how there is so much hate, conflict and division in our world.
As an educator, I am concerned about the impact that this has on young people. I fear that this is a further cause for anxiety in our children and that the constant images of violence towards others can either leave children feeling fearful or desensitized to the suffering of others. Everything we seem to see on the news goes against everything that I understand to be the values that underpin my faith.
I think this does mean that as educators and as parents and guardians, we need to be very vigilant of the images that are children are viewing, either on the TV, through social media outlets or on digital media apps such as You Tube. While I am not sure we can cocoon our children from the world around them, I do believe that what they view must be filtered and, as adults, we need to make careful decisions on what is appropriate for them to watch. Some of the images that I have seen on the news and on You Tube (I like motorcycle videos’!) have been horrifying. I have spent a career looking after children and making sure they feel safe and valued, so to see constant images of distressed or hurt children is very hard to see.
Please be mindful of what your children are viewing at home. I know every one of our parents and guardians loves their children without question and it is vital that we do everything we can to protect them as they grow and develop. I am thankful that we live in a safe country, which while it isn’t always perfect, does allow each person an opportunity to express themselves and be successful.
As a Christian, I pray each day that reason, kindness and consideration of others will at some point prevail and that we can all live in peace with each other to enjoy all that God has provided.
2024 FEES
You should by now have received a letter regarding the school fees for 2024. It is vital that any paperwork you are asked to provide by the admin team at school is completed and returned as soon as possible. If you have any questions about the fees, please make sure you come and ask for assistance.
LEARNING WALKS
Thank you to all those parents who attended our Learning Walks last week and at the end of last term. If you were not able to attend and would like the opportunity to participate again next year, please let me know so that we can organise more of these in 2024.
SACRAMENT OF RECONCILIATION
A reminder that the Information Session for parents and guardians receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation will take place tonight at St Anthony of Padua parish church. If your child is receiving the Sacrament of Reconciliation this term, you must attend this information night.
The commitment mass for the Sacrament of Reconciliation is on Saturday at St Anthony of Brindisi Parish Church at 5.00pm. These children will receive their sacrament on Friday, December 8.
SCHOOL CALENDAR
Just a reminder to make sure that you look at the important dates for Term 4 as there are a number of events that are happening in our school community this term.
SCHOOL CLOSURE DAYS
You should now have the Term Four calendar with this newsletter. Please note that there are two student-free closure days this term, one on Monday, November 6 (the day prior to Melbourne Cup Day) and Friday, November 17. There is no school on these days. The last day of the school year for students is Friday, December 15.
SCHOOL HATS & SUNSCREEN
Just a reminder to all parents and guardians that the children must provide their children with sunscreen to have in their bags. We would ask that this is in roll-on form as this is easier for the children to administer independently. For younger children, they should be coming to school with this already administered by parents. Please note, that due to Child Safety requirements, teachers cannot apply sunscreen to children.
Children must also have hats at school during Term One and Term Four as part of our Sun Smart policy. They are required to wear these when they are outside.
God bless,
Bill Hill.
PRINCIPAL