Newsletter Number 1 1 st February 2018

Transcription

1 Newsletter Number 1 1 st February 2018 As we begin this school year, let us pray. Open our minds to know, think and understand. Open our hearts to love, appreciate and belong. Open our hands to serve, create and lead. Amen Welcome back to 2018! It only seems like yesterday that I was writing the final newsletter for 2017 and thanking everyone for an amazing year. I hope that everyone had a wonderful break with their families and took some time to relax. This year, we have many exciting things happening which we will share with you throughout the year. ST BENEDICT S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL 3 9 CENTRAL AVENUE BURWOOD St Benedict s Primary School Burwood Congratulations and Welcome Over our Summer break, we have some families who have celebrated the arrival of new members to their families. Congratulations to Jenny, Mark, Hana (Five/Six PN), Zoe (Three/Four B) and Emma (One/Two P) on the safe arrival of Charles on December 19. Congratulations also to Katarina, Michael, Maria, Chiara, Anthony and Leonard Anderson on the birth of Elena on January 1. We look forward to seeing these two beautiful new babies growing and becoming part of our school community. Our further congratulations goes to Grace Fuge who married Adrian over the Summer break and is now Mrs Parker. We wish Grace and Adrian a lifetime of happiness together.

2 As a community, we also welcome Melanie Norton. Melanie will be job sharing in Five/Six with Tanya Petersen on a Thursday and Friday. I know that Melanie is enjoying meeting everyone in our community and I know that she will share her amazing skills and talents with us as the year develops. New Preps On Tuesday, we welcomed our new Preps for It is always wonderful to see the energy and excitement that these new learners bring to our new year. All of our Preps settled in easily and there were only a few tears, which were from our parents. Two of our Preps, Bettina and Massimo, were lucky enough to be featured in the Monash Leader this week. Thank you to their mum Vanessa for organising this article and photo, it is a great way to show off our beautiful school! Information Nights This year, our Information Evenings will be held on Thursday 15th February. Our evenings will run in the same manner as last year, with all sessions being held on the one night, one after each other in the same classroom. This year all sessions with be held in Five/Six PN, one of our upstairs classrooms. Our Juniors will begin our evening at 6:30pm and conclude at 7:10pm. Our Three/Fours will then run their session from 7:15pm to 7:55pm. Our Year Five/Six teachers will then conclude our evening with their session from 8:00pm to 8:40pm. If you are unable to attend your child s session, please your child s classroom teacher so any information can be shared with you. Uniform During our Information Sessions, timetables and expectations will be discussed for each class. However, our PE and Sport lessons will begin next week and so we wanted to ensure that all families were aware of when each child should wear his/her sport uniform. All children are required to wear their sport uniform on Tuesday as all classes will have a PE lesson with Jo Golds. Each class will then have a Sport lesson with their classroom teacher at other time during the week. Sport lessons, which also require the children to wear their sport uniform, for each class will be held on: Prep F Wednesday One/Two P Monday Three/Four B Thursday Three/Four C Friday Five/Six O Friday Five/Six PN Friday As we are a SunSmart school, all children must also wear a school hat whilst participating in a PE or Sport lesson and during recess and lunch times. Our school rule of No hat no play, no fun today will re-commence from Monday next week. Please ensure that your child or children have hats in their bags from Monday next week. Child/Parent/Teacher Conversations This year, instead of our traditional Parent/Teacher Interviews, we will be holding Child/Parent/Teacher Conversations, where each child will lead the conversation with the learning goal that he or she has set in consultation with his/her classroom teacher. During the conversation, there will be an opportunity for parents to identify how they can support their child with this goal and also identify any additional areas that may require focus. The move to these three way conversations, is to ensure that our children are part of the learning

3 process and are able to identify their areas of strength and areas to focus on. The goals that are set during these conversations will be monitored and evaluated throughout Semester One and work samples relating to them will be included in your child s learning folio. Our conversations will be held on Wednesday 14th March and information regarding how to make a booking will be sent home in the next few weeks. Beginning of School Year Mass Our first school Mass for 2018 will be held next Friday morning at 9am. Father Dan will lead us is prayer and our 2018 School Captains and Sport Leaders will be presented with their badges and blessed. All parents and families are welcome to join us. Meredith Bennett Principal

4 TERM ONE Diary Dates January 29 th Staff return January 30 th Students return Prep to Year Six Preps do not attend school on Wednesdays for the month of February. First full week of school commences Monday, 5 th March February 5 th P&F Meeting 8:00pm in staffroom February 6 th Safer Internet Day February 9 th Opening School Year Mass 9:00am February 15 th Information Evening Jnrs 6:30pm, Middle 7:15pm, Seniors 8:00pm February 22 nd Whole School Photos February 24 th P&F Welcome Evening TBA March 4 th Open Morning 10:00am 1:00pm March 5 th Preps commence fulltime March 5 th P&F AGM 8:00pm in hall March 14 th Child/Parent/Teacher 2:00 8:00pm Conversations March 11 th -18 th Catholic Education Week Open days see below March 12 th Labour Day No school March 13 th & 14 th Open Day 9:00am 3:00pm March 17 th St. Benedict s Fair 3:00 8:00pm March 19 th -21 st Year Five/Six Camp The Briars, Mount Martha March 29 th Term 1 concludes 3:15pm March 30 th April 2 nd April 16 th Easter Term 2 commences FRIDAY ASSEMBLY held at 2.45pm alternate Fridays Week One 2 nd February General Assembly Week Three 16 th February Year Five/Six PN Week Five 2 nd March Year Five/Six O Week Seven 16 th March Year Three/Four B TUCKSHOP CLOSED TOMORROW

5 Education in Faith We hope that Christmas was a time of joyous celebration and peace for all our St Benedict families. Our liturgical year is already racing along. Our Beginning Year Mass is next Friday (February 9th) at 9am in the Church. All are welcome. This is always a joy filled Mass. Lent begins with Ash Wednesday, February 14th. We will all be going to Mass and receiving the symbolic ashes. All are welcome to join us at the 9am Mass in the Church. Adoration Helpers: Are there any parents interested in being a helper for Adoration? If so, please contact Sr Majella at majellabollen@gmail.com Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B Gospel: Mark 1: Gospel Reflection This week s gospel follows directly on from last week s reading and, as is typical with Mark s gospel, the events occur on the very same day. The urgency of the gospel is obvious in this week s reading; Jesus had a very busy 24 hours! Having launched his public ministry in the synagogue earlier that day, Jesus accompanies his new disciples to meet some of their family and have a meal. However, on arriving at the home of Simon and Andrew, they find Simon s mother-in-law is sick. Unlike the public displays of his healing power that preceded and will follow this episode, Jesus does not say anything but simply takes the woman by the hand and helps her up. Her response of beginning to wait on Jesus and his disciples is a faith response and a recognition of who Jesus is. A theme that runs through this gospel is that the disciples never fully understand who Jesus is. Here, a woman who has just met him recognises him as the Messiah and begins to serve him. Still on the same day, we see the expansion of Jesus healing ministry. On this one day he has cast an unclean spirit out of a possessed man in the synagogue, healed Peter s mother-in-law of a fever and then healed the crowds of people who came to the door. The next morning he announces that they will take the ministry to the whole region of Galilee. In a very simple way, the gospel of Mark has described the growth of Jesus ministry from very humble isolated examples to a deliberate reaching out to the people of an entire region. Historical Context Capernaum Jesus appears to have made Capernaum his base after leaving Nazareth. He may, in fact, have based himself at Simon Peter s house. There are many references in the gospels to Jesus actions in Capernaum. Archaeologists have identified the house in Capernaum that they believe to be Simon Peter s house less than 100 metres from the Capernaum synagogue. Evidence reveals carved inscriptions and symbols that identify both Jesus and Peter. The house appears to have been used as a house-church until a church was built on the site in the 5th Century. Excavations of the site can be seen today. Have you thought? Simon s Wife? In this week s reading, it is Simon s mother-in-law who is healed. This obviously means that Simon is married. However, there is no mention whatsoever about his wife. Is she alive or dead? Do they have children? We have no indication. It is not until the writings of Paul (1 Cor 9:5) that we learn Simon Peter was indeed married and that his wife accompanied him on his travels. Perhaps this visit to his family home was to announce to his wife and family that he had decided to follow Jesus and give up fishing. Living the Gospel Prayer In the midst of an extremely hectic 24 hours where Jesus effectively launches his public ministry, Jesus takes time to go aside to a lonely place and pray. The passage tells us that it was long before dawn that he did this. It may have been his usual practice to pray early in the morning or he may have been restless after the events of the previous day and the thought of what lay ahead. Nevertheless, Jesus provides us with a model of using prayer to reflect on events and to prepare ourselves for the day ahead. Greg Sunter Weekday Mass and Adoration Week Day & Date Mass Adoration School Events 2 Friday, Feb 9th Whole School, 9am 3 Wed, Feb 14th Whole School Ash Wednesday Ms Mary Brooks Religious Education Leader Shrove Tuesday, February 13th

6 Learning and Teaching Digital Technologies News CREATE, CONNECT AND SHARE RESPECT On 6 February 2018 we re celebrating Safer Internet Day! Safer Internet Day is an opportunity to raise awareness of the safe and positive use of digital technology and to explore the role we can all play in creating a better and safer online community. Coordinated nationally by the Office of the esafety Commissioner and celebrated in 130 countries, this year s theme is: Create, Connect and Share Respect: A better internet starts with you. St Benedict s is supporting Safer Internet Day by participating in a Virtual Classroom, beginning the ClassAct 50 Task Challenge and focussing on respect both online and off. To see what others are doing, or to find out how you can get involved on the day visit esafety.gov.au/saferinternetday

7 School Community WANTED A good home for Rosie! We are looking for a new home for Rosie. If you are happy to adopt Rosie, please let us know. CHICKEN DUTY February 3 rd & 4 th February 10 th & 11 th February 17 th & 18 th February 24 th & 25 th March 3 rd & 4th March 10 th,11 th, 12 th March 17 th & 18th March 24 th & 25th Zarro family Kelly family Thompson (V) family Palma family Oddy family Cossar family Peters family Brown family

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9 School Community cont d P&F AGM 2018 The 2018 P&F AGM will be held on Monday 5 March 2018 at 8pm at the School Hall. Please save the date! We invite all parents to come and hear about what we have achieved this year and what we plan to do next year - including about our upcoming Twilight Market (to be held on 17 March 2018)! As with past traditions, there will be some cheese, crackers and wine once the formality of the AGM has ended. Please also consider joining the P&F committee and supporting our great school community. We are always in need of new ideas and new energies! Further details about the AGM will be provided in the new year. Thank you for all of your contributions this year! We couldn't have done it without you!

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12 CHRISTMAS HAMPER APPEAL THANK YOU Due to the generosity of parishioners and the community of the St. Benedict s Primary School we were able to distribute 40 Christmas Hampers and children s presents to families in need. You have brought a smile to many faces. A heartfelt thank you to you all. Also, thank you for your prayers and support during You have made a difference, for the better, to many people. St Benedict s Parishioners-Small Home Oddjobs for free (or donation to Vinnies). Please ring Mark Free Furniture Pickup Donations

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