Dear Parents

This is the final newsletter for what has been a short and intense term. However, despite the early disruption, I believe that we have achieved a lot and it is a great joy to be a part of such a supportive community. This Sunday is Palm Sunday and next week we finish the term on Holy Thursday with a beautiful Stations of the Cross reflection in the Church. All parents and grandparents are most welcome to attend. It will start at 8.45am.  As we reflect about the importance of Easter, we often hear the word ‘repent’ used during Lent. Most people think this means to stop sinning. However, the word ‘repent’ comes from the Greek word ‘metanoia’, which actually means ‘change your mind’. When Jesus tells us to repent in the Bible, he is telling us to open our minds and hearts to a loving and forgiving God. We live in a world of retribution and division where ‘tit for tat’ seems to be the order of the day. We often see this in the playground where someone gets pushed over. The natural reaction is to push them back harder and so on. Please remember, as Jesus was dying on the cross, there was no retribution. Some of his last words were, “Father forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” God did not punish the people who killed Jesus. Instead, he offered forgiveness, mercy and the promise of eternal life. This certainly shows a change of mind to what was expected.

Gratitude Reflection Always do what is right. It will gratify half of mankind and astound the other. Mark Twain

EduDance Assembly We will be finishing the term on a high note with our first ever EduDance concert next Wednesday 31 March at 6pm in the hall. All the Blue classes from Pre Primary to Year 6 as well as 6 Orange will be showing off the amazing new dance moves they have been learning all term. It will be a high impact and exciting performance which I’m sure you will love. All students in these classes are asked to meet in their classrooms at 5.30pm. The teachers will send home all the details you need.

Holiday Works As usual, there will be plenty happening over the holidays. After thirty years, it is time to refurbish the staffroom and interior offices of our administration block to make them more functionable work spaces. The staffroom won’t be finished by the time we return to school next term, so the teachers will need to relocate to the Ngarla Room in the hall for a few weeks. As well as this, the roof over both Pre Primary classes and the Science room will be replaced as it currently leaks. I am also hoping that the next stage of our Nature Playground will be completed. It will include a new rock pond water play area at the front of the school by the main gate which the Year 1 and 2 students will use. It will be similar to the one the Kindergarten and Pre Primary students had installed last year. Again, I would like to thank the P&F who are kindly donating half of the cost of this play area for the students to benefit.

Dates Term 1 finishes next Thursday 1 April and the students will return to school on Wednesday 21 April. The staff have two days of professional development at the start of next term. The first day is based around our focus on gratitude where they will be doing some community service at organisations such as Wheelchairs for Kids and the Salvation Army. They will also have a day learning more about the Making Jesus Real programme. All of this contributes to our Catholic Identity and our sense of service. I wish you a safe and holy Easter and I know Fr John and Fr Mark would love to see you at Mass this Easter. A number of our students will be doing the traditional Stations of the Cross re-enactment on Good Friday at 3pm. I encourage you to attend this if you can.

Yours sincerely

Laurie Bechelli