NEWSLETTER NO.40 WED 18TH DEC 2013 NEWSLETTER NO.39

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1 NEWSLETTER NO.40 WED 18TH DEC 2013 January th Teachers Return Office Open for Fee & Levy Payment 29 th Grade 1 6 Students Return 30 th Prep Students begin February 2 nd Parish School s Staff Commissioning Mass 10:00am St Anne s Church All Families Welcome The school finally comes to a close for the 2013 school year. We stop now to celebrate the birth of Christ and to take that well-earned rest. May this Christmas bring you the joy of family, the laughter of children and the blessing of peace within your lives. Don t let the first chance to enjoy Christmas be when you ve finally cleaned up, after family and friends have gone home, or to bed. Make yourself stop and see the smiles of your children, listen to the laughter of stories told about days and experiences shared while sitting around a table, or when those small arms wrap around you to give you a hug that says that you are the most special person in the whole world. Enjoy the Spirit and this Season of Christmas. May Christmas renew the child in you so that you can experience the awe and wonder of Christmas through the eyes of the child that is within you. On behalf of all the staff I wish you a peaceful and Holy Christmas. You Made a Difference. St Joachim s & St Anne s are two very unique schools. Although so different in size, facility structure and character, they share together a common vision; to do the very best we possibly can for every child in our care - each child requiring a different approach, a different way of bringing out the best in them. This year has seen both schools excel. St Anne s is now in a wonderful place. Its growing enrolment trend, excellent NAPLAN data, financial stability and amazing staff have ensured that next year will continue to be a school of choice for the families of Seaford. So too is St Joachim s. St Joachim s continues to refine and improve on the strategies, planning and implementation of its vision and to ensure that our efforts truly make a positive difference and improvement to student outcomes. The leadership shown this year by our Curriculum & Level Coordinators has ensured that each school has done incredibly well; however it is the daily administrative & organisational leadership shown by Mrs Irene Stewart and Mrs Sally Thomas that has driven school improvement to an all time high for both schools. Congratulations to you both and to the staff that support you in your efforts. You truly make a difference to our community. Desmond Noack Coordinating Principal NEWSLETTER NO Broderick Road, Carrum Downs 3201 PO Box 8199 Carrum Downs 3201 Phone Fax principal@sjcarrumdowns.catholic.edu.au The school newsletter is available on the school website every Friday. Parents are encouraged to view it online or it can be sent via , this will help reduce paper usage and cost to the school.

2 Goodbye... We also say goodbye and farewell to all of the following families leaving us, we wish them well for the future and thank them for being part of our school community: From Mrs From MrsStewart... Grade 6 Graduation. Congratulations to our Grade 6s who celebrated their Graduation yesterday! The evening began with some formalities including two touching speeches presented by Tracey Carter (Hailey's mum) and Loyola Peres (Melanie's dad) and an entertaining photo presentation. Entertaining because we had forgotten how cute these children were back in 2007 when they were in prep. After the presentation of graduation candles and graduation photo it was time to eat! The students then had a sit down meal which was eaten in no time and then it was on to the dance floor for a disco hosted by Tash and Sarah from Sash Entertainment! A great night was had by all including the parents who sat in the staffroom wondering where the last seven years had gone! We wish our Grade 6s every success in the future. Jose Family Abel Spratt Family Darcy & Heidi Molnar Family Ruby Aresti Family Luke Perera Family Oshini Reynolds Family Alan Pratt Family Makayla Pambid Family Christian-Kyle O Sullivan Family Laura Fletcher Family Jack Bence Collin Family Jackson Brack Family Ryan Cummins Family Hailey Baptista Family Sophie White Family Hunter Brown Family Sarah Brown Family Jarrod Binghay Family Linus Bacon Family Emily Wilson Family Jamie Rajasekharan Family Bharath Vulic Family Sheridan Raukura Family Karen Iskander Family Michael Cerda-Lizama Family Dylan Peres Family Melanie Fergus Family Darcy Watson Family - Harry As we break for the summer holidays and having completed very minimal Christmas shopping I reflect on the following... "It is a gift when we spend quality time with our children, when we care enough about our friends to just be there for them, or when we get together for our family to celebrate our love and connection with each other!" Catholic Education Today. Have a safe and happy Christmas and I look forward to working with you again next year! Irene Stewart, Assistant Principal

3 Important Notices, Dates & Times For 2014 Grade 1 to Grade 6 Students Return to school on Wednesday 29 th January, Prep Students Begin on Monday 3 rd February Prep testing (by appointment) will occur on Thursday 30 th, Friday 31 st January and Wednesday 5 th February. Parish School s Staff Commissioning Mass The staff Commissioning Mass will occur on Sunday 2 nd February, 10.00am at St Anne s Church. Uniform Shop: The Uniform Shop is open on Wednesdays from 8.30am till 9.00am and Thursdays from 2.45 till 3.30pm. The Uniform Shop will open especially on Tuesday 28 th January, prior to students commencing, from 10am till 12.00pm. The name behind the smile of our wonderful Uniform Shop Coordinator is Tracey. Beginning Of The Year School Mass: The Beginning of the Year School Mass is to be held on Thursday 6 th February at 9.00am in our school hall. All families are invited to attend. Parent / Teacher Interviews (Grade 1 to 6) Wednesday 12 th February & Thursday 13 th February, 3.30pm onward. Notices will be sent home on the Friday of the first week of next year requesting a suitable time for you to meet with your child s classroom teacher. It is essential that you please make and attend this appointment time as it provides the teacher with an invaluable insight into your child s needs and any further information necessary for them to have a successful year. Our Sun Smart Policy requires that all students are to wear a wide brimmed school hat no later than the start of Week 2 of Term 1. Grade 5 & 6 Camp Next year s school camp will be held in Melbourne. The dates of the camp are from 3 rd to 5 th March. A MATTER OF SAFETY & SUPERVISION I wish to bring to your attention specific matters concerning the safety of our students that relates directly to the actions of you as parents. The first is that of supervision. St Joachim s school takes great care to ensure that your child is supervised at all times by an adult. This supervision begins at 8.15am and concludes at 3.30pm. After 3.30pm, it is the schools expectation that any student that remain on the school property is enrolled in the Out Of Hours School Care Program or is participating in an Extra Curricular Program that again provides supervision of your child. It is unacceptable to leave your child unsupervised after 3.30pm given that the school provides an OHSC program. Please ensure that your child is collected prior to 3.30pm. We ask that whilst on the school grounds with your child, you please assist the school by ensuring that your child is playing safely and within the rules of the school s expectations. A further reminder of this will occur at the start of next year. The second area of concern relates once more to parents encouraging their child/ren to jump into their car whilst waiting in the pick up queue outside the school grounds. The school provides an extremely safe pick up and drop off zone with excellent supervision to provide safety for all pedestrians and drivers within the school. It is our expectation that students who do not walk or ride home are collected from the school grounds, not the footpaths immediately outside the school. This negligent behavior puts not only our students at risk but also creates an additional hazard to drivers. And the Winners are.. Blue House! A School Closure Day will occur on Friday 21 st March No students are to attend school on this day. Specialist Classes will begin as of Week 2 of Term 1. Please ensure that your child brings an art smock to school prior to this.

4 Liturgy of the Word Christmas Mass Times Christmas Eve Tuesday 24th December 6.30pm Paraliturgy St. Anne s Church Please note that this is a Liturgy not Mass and is suitable for families with young children up to school year level 1. We need children to participate in this Liturgy and ask that children dress up as Mary, Joseph, Shepherds, Angels or Kings. 8.00pm Mass St. Anne s Church (Family Mass) Midnight Mass St. Anne s Church (Preceded by carols at 11.30pm) Christmas Day Wed 25th Dec 8.30am Mass St. Anne s Church 10.00am Mass St. Anne s Church Sacrament of Reconciliation Saturday 21st December 9.00am until 11.00am Tuesday 24th December 9.00am until 11.00am spel Each week, our students learn about the coming weekends Gospel. It provides for them an insight into their journey of faith and the opportunity to understand the faith story of their family and parish community. First Reading Is 7:10-14 A reading from the prophet Isaiah The virgin will conceive. The Lord spoke to Ahaz and said, Ask the Lord your God for a sign for yourself coming either from the depths of Sheol or from the heights above. No, Ahaz answered I will not put the Lord to the test. Then Isaiah said: Listen now, House of David: are you not satisfied with trying the patience of men without trying the patience of my God, too? The Lord himself, therefore, will give you a sign. It is this: the maiden is with child and will soon give birth to a son whom she will call Immanuel, a name which means God-is-with-us. Responsorial Psalm Ps 23:1-6. R. see vv (R.) Let the Lord enter; he is king of glory. 1. The Lord s is the earth and its fullness, the world and all its peoples. It is he who set it on the seas; on the waters he made it firm. (R.) 2. Who shall climb the mountain of the Lord? Who shall stand in his holy place? The man with clean hands and pure heart, who desires not worthless things. (R.) 3. He shall receive blessings from the Lord and reward from the God who saves him. Such are the men who seek him, seek the face of the God of Jacob. (R.)

5 Second Reading Rom 1:1-7 A reading from the letter of St Paul to the Romans Jesus Christ, a descendant of David, is the Son of God. From Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus who has been called to be an apostle, and specially chosen to preach the Good News that God promised long ago through his prophets in the scriptures. This news is about the Son of God, who, according to the human nature he took, was a descendant of David: it is about Jesus Christ our Lord who, in the order of the spirit, the spirit of holiness that was in him, was proclaimed Son of God in all his power through his resurrection from the dead. Through him we received grace and our apostolic mission to preach the obedience of faith to all pagan nations in honour of his name. You are one of these nations, and by his call belong to Jesus Christ. To you all, then, who are God s beloved in Rome, called to be saints, may God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ send grace and peace. Gospel Acclamation Mt 1:23 Alleluia, alleluia! A virgin will give birth to a son; his name will be Emmanuel: God is with us. Alleluia! Gospel Mt 1:18-24 A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew Jesus was born of Mary, the betrothed of Joseph, a son of David. This is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a man of honour and wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, Joseph son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to save his people from their sins. Now all this took place to fulfil the words spoken by the Lord through the prophet: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son and they will call him Emmanuel, a name which means God-is-with-us. When Joseph woke up he did what the angel of the Lord had told him to do: he took his wife to his home. Food for the Soul Today s Gospel announces that God is with us. In this final week of Advent the following story reminds us that God comes to us in unpredictable ways often with unsettling messages. I hurried into the shop to grab some last minute Christmas gifts. I looked at all the people and grumbled to myself. I would be in here forever. I hurried to the toy department and wondered if the grandkids would even play with my gifts. My eye caught a little boy holding a doll. He kept touching her hair and he held her so gently. I watched him turn and ask, Aunty Jane, are you sure I don t have enough money? Gently, the woman replied, Emily doesn t need a doll David. The woman went to another aisle. The boy continued to hold the doll. David looked so sad that I couldn t resist asking who the doll was for. My sister wanted it so badly for Christmas. I told him that maybe Santa was going to bring it. He said No, Santa can't go where my sister is...i have to give the doll to Mummy to take to her. I asked him where his sister was. He looked at me with the tear-filled eyes, She has gone to be with Jesus. Daddy says that Mummy is going to have to go to be with both of them soon too. My heart nearly stopped beating. David went on, I told Daddy to make sure Mummy goes nowhere until I got back from the store. I want Mum to take this doll to Emily. While he wasn t looking I reached into my purse and pulled out some cash. David how about we count that money again? He grew excited, I asked Jesus to give me enough money. I just know I have enough. I slipped

6 my money in with his and we began to count it. He looked up from the count and exclaimed, Jesus has given me enough money for Emily s doll. In a few minutes his aunty came back and I wheeled my cart away. I could not keep from thinking about the little boy as I finished my shopping in a totally different spirit than when I had started. On the way home I remembered a story in the newspaper several days earlier about a drunk driver hitting a car and killing a little girl and that the mother was left on life support. Two days before Christmas I read in the paper where the family had turned the machine off. The day before Christmas there was a funeral notice saying that a Requiem Mass would be celebrated on St Stephen s Day for Julia Norris and her daughter Emily. Michael was their husband and father, and their son and brother was David. As I gathered with my family in front of an overblown meal which none of us could finish, holding expensive gifts we didn t need and drinking more alcohol than was necessary, I thought we ve lost the plot with Christmas. God-with-us arrives as a simple child in need of love; and in the honour of that day we spend money, eat too much and get drunk. I left the table went to my desk and wrote a card for each member of my family. I told them what I d never been able to say: I want you to know I love you. When they read those cards, my family thought I was losing it, but through David and that doll, God visited me in the last week of Advent and Christmas will never be the same again.. Richard Leonard SJ. Wishing All St Joachim s Families, A Safe, Healthy & Happy Christmas From the Staff of St Joachim s! Ho Ho Ho