Dear Parents
Please keep the Year 4 students in your prayers as they will be receiving Holy Communion for the first time this weekend. It is a very special time in their lives, and I am thrilled that we can go ahead with the Masses even though we are still in Phase 4 COVID-19 restrictions. When you look at the word ‘communion’ you will notice that it has the smaller word ‘union’ in it. To me, that is what this Sacrament is all about. It is about us coming together as a community to be in union with God. Once we receive the host, we become like a tabernacle which has the presence of Christ within us so we can go into the community to do good things for one another. I would like to say a huge thank you to the Year 4 teachers, Mrs Robertson, Mrs Carr and Mrs Tucker who have done a fantastic job of preparing the students so well.
Confirmation
Unfortunately, the Premier, Mr McGowan, has announced that the lifting of Phase 4 COVID-19 restrictions has been delayed by two months. This means we will have to delay the Confirmation Masses until November. It is very frustrating, but these decisions have been made in the interests of everyone’s safety.
OSHClub Parent Information Session
All parents who are interested in learning more about our own out of school hours care provider are invited to attend the information session next Monday 24 August at 3.30pm in the meeting room in the hall. The session goes for about forty-five minutes and you will have the opportunity to meet our new provider and ask any questions you like. Please note that the OSHClub is a very different service to the Alex and Flora Club as they are an outside company. The OSHClub is an excellent organisation who professionally run centres like this in many schools. As they are a business, they need to be viable to remain here. Therefore, I ask you to support them in the interests of the whole community. I have worked with them before and have found them excellent to deal with. Don’t worry if you can’t make the information session, as they can forward the details to anyone who would like them.
Social Distancing
Please remember that we are still in Phase 4 restrictions and we must abide by the two square metre rule as well as maintaining one point five metres distance from each other. I have noticed that a number of parents on school grounds are not maintaining this distance. I understand how we all just want to go back to our old lives. However, as you have seen in Melbourne and now New Zealand, this virus is extremely contagious, and it spreads rapidly. We are still on high alert in our schools and understand that things could regress quickly if we are not careful. Please do the right thing in the interests of everyone’s health and safety.
Interschool Winter Carnival
I am really happy that the Year 6 students will get their Winter Carnival this year. Like all things at the moment, changes have been made in order for this to proceed. Our students will be competing against three other schools at Holy Cross College tomorrow. Holy Cross has requested that for health and safety reasons, no parents attend. Whilst this may disappoint some parents, the good news is that the students can still compete in interschool sports. I would like to say a big thank you to Mr Power and the Year 6 teachers who have prepared our students so well for this carnival.
Athletics Faction Carnival
I am also happy to advise that the Athletics Carnival will still be able to go ahead (weather permitting) on Wednesday 9th September. Again we will need to adhere to the social distancing rules, more information will be coming home soon.
Again, I ask you to continue to pray for students around the world who are still in lockdown or are doing remote learning. We only had a brief taste of it and found it very challenging.
Yours sincerely
Laurie Bechelli