ST PETER S CATHOLIC PARISH PRIMARY SCHOOL Thursday 14th September 2017 Week 9 To the St Peter s community, On Tuesday evening and again tonight, our year three students participated in the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time and came to understand that it is a gift to be treasured. The peace of mind and soul which this sacrament imparts to us is one that has no substitute. It is a peace that flows from a certainty, rather than from an unsure hope, that our sins have been forgiven and that we are once again right with God. The sacrament by which sins could be forgiven was started by Jesus on the very day he rose from the dead. On Easter Sunday Jesus appeared to his Apostles where they were gathered together in the Upper Room. In their mixture of fear and dawning hope, Jesus spoke to them reassuringly. Jesus came and stood in the midst and said to them, Peace be to you! As the Father has sent Me, I also send you. When he had said this, he breathed upon them, and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit; whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them; and whose sins you shall retain, they are retained. The power which Jesus conferred upon his Apostles to forgive sin, like the power to change bread and wine into his Body and Blood, has been passed on through every priest when he raises his hand over the sorry sinner and says the words of absolution. This gift is available to us all, Jesus did not live and die just to save a few, He came to save everybody who was willing to be saved, down to the end of time. Forgiveness is at the heart of the Gospels. Firstly God forgives us of all our sin. Then he expects us to live out the same grace in our daily lives. To harbour resentment, bitterness and not forgive is to show that we have not allowed the grace of God to deeply penetrate our hearts. Forgiving other people is hard work. It goes against our human nature to do this. Most of us want to keep a record of wrongs to justify ourselves. The deeper the hurt we have suffered the longer it will take to move to the place of letting go. In the Gospel (Matthew 18:21-35) this Sunday Peter and Jesus have a revealing dialogue about forgiveness. Whatever its form, however trivial, however serious, there is a time for hating to stop in every life, in all our relationships, and throughout our world. This may not always be easy; it might not come quickly, but we are called to recapture the fact that we live our lives for the Lord, not merely for ourselves. Hating will only stop when forgiveness begins. How often must we forgive? Always. Why? Because God has forgiven us in Christ. God s commandment is that we must love our enemies, and His kind of love keeps no record of wrongs. We Pray Father please help me to respond to your forgiving grace by forgiving those who sin against me. Rescue me from all forms of bitterness, hatred and revenge; let me show your love to others. Amen. This Sunday we also celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation with our year six students. Please keep them in your prayers as they finalise their preparations. Have a wonderful weekend, Kerry Miller Principal DATES TO REMEMBER Student Led Learning Conversation - Wednesday 20th September Footy Colours Day - Thursday 21st September Whole School Green Day - Friday 22nd September End of Term 3 - Friday 22nd September 3.25pm Sacrament of Reconciliation - Thursday 14th September Sacrament of Confirmation - Sunday 17th September Term 4 Begins - Monday 9th October School Production- November 15th & 16th
EDUCATION IN FAITH Congratulations to the students who received their Sacrament of First Eucharist Valentina Baglieri, Jaxon Bartolo, Joshua Bawden, Kareen Blandar, Luka Bonacci, Claudia Bowie, Jack Campbell, Marcus Chiaramonte, Alanna Ciano, Baylie Day, Juana Estandarte, Seth Fiteni, Matthew Fitzgerald, Desmond Fitzgerald, Alisha Geremia, Briya Gilbert, Jake Grammenos, Zoe Hatzindinas, Connor Henss, Jianna Jimenez, Darcy Kewish, Natasha Kristanto, Harrison Lawrence, Patricia Martin, Emily Matti, Salbi Matti, Jasmine Murphy, Fiona Nguyen, Bonnie O'Neill, Luke Quevedo, Charlotte Riego, Oliver Samuel, Melissa Scali, Christian Schnell, Johnathan Sciberras, Niko Shibata, Stephanie Smith, Pasidhu Suraweera, Bailey Taylor, Mark Uluakiahoia, Divine Uluakiahoia, Harrison Uniacke, Natasha Xavier, Congratulations to the students who have received their Sacrament of First Reconciliation Massimo Assaf, Rihanna Balzan, Kareen Blandar, Julien Bonacci, Emma Bosco, Sarah Camilleri, Zara Campbell, Cruz Charles, Gisele Ciarma-Gueli, Xavier Cipollone, Andre' Colosimo, Alessia Di Berardino, Jada Di Fabio, Lucas Dib, Sarah Didone, Hayley Diza, Jessica Fernandez, Belinda Fiore, Isabel Geremia, Gemma Herbert, Sarah Jacobs, Abilene Joseph, Riley Kalz, Harrison Lawrence, Zac McGrotty, Nyah Merrett, Aaliyah Nanov, Davide Nardo, Marlee Parnis, Samuel Perra, Shanessa Quinn, Aidan Roshin, Sienna Rossi, Dominic Smith, Dion Sparano, Brett Ssebuufu, Jordon Suckling, Anthony Surace, Jenna Tarzia, Bailey Taylor, Christopher Vanderleest Sacramental Season First Eucharist reflection On Sunday I made my First Holy Communion. My day began at 9.00am as I got dressed ready for the big day. I felt nervous because all of the people were staring at me as I walked in. As mass went on I felt calmer because it was getting closer to my turn to receive the bread and wine. Now I feel blessed because I am one step closer to God. By Natasha Xavier First Reconciliation reflection On Tuesday I made my First Reconciliation, at the beginning I felt nervous and afterwards I felt happy because I made my second sacrament. There were 6 priests on Tuesday night as well as some other students from the parish and St Peter s students. I am looking forward to making my Eucharist next year. By Andre Colosimo Certificate Masses These are opportunities for the students to receive their certificates and celebrate with the community at the weekend Masses. Students are to wear their stoles to this Mass. Please choose one Mass for this purpose, the dates are below: Saturdays : - 7/10, 14/10, 21/10, 28/10. St Peter s Church @ 7:15 pm. SMCM Sacred Space @ 5:30 pm Sundays : - 8/10, 15/10, 22/10, 29/10. St Peter s Church @ 9 am & 10:30 am Reconciliation We are looking forward to celebrating our Sacrament of First Reconciliation this evening in our Church. The Liturgy begins at 6:30 pm and the doors to the Church will open from 6:15pm. Confirmation Being Confirmed Bishop Terry Curtin will be presiding our Liturgy. St Peter s staff will be present to direct the students and sponsors up to the altar as to where they will be Confirmed. Sponsors need to pass the white card to Father Minh. The Confirmandi will stand in front of Bishop Curtin. The sponsor stands behind their student who is kneeling and places their right hand on their Confirmandi s right shoulder. At this time the students will receive their Sacrament of Confirmation and the professional photographer will take a photo. Practicing at St Monica s The students and staff will be walking to St Monica s on Friday 15th September between 9-11 am to familiarise themselves with the space and to have a quick run through so that they know what to expect. The 2 km walking permission will cover this. Emily de Kort. Director of Faith and Mission edekort@stprepp.catholic.edu.au
LEARNING & TEACHING Student Led Learning Conversations All children in Prep, Junior, Middle and Senior are looking forward to sharing their learning goals, achievements and challenges with their parents at the Student Led Learning Conversations (SLLC) which will take place on Wednesday 20th September between 8:30 am - 7 pm. Students have a 15 minute appointment time to meet with their parents and contact teacher to share and discuss their personal learning. The students are documenting their learning in a variety of ways in excited anticipation of sharing the learning. Children only need to attend school on Wednesday 20th September for their scheduled appointment time. The booking form will close on Monday 18th September at 6 pm. Click on the link below and use the code: t8u9x to book your Student Led Learning Conversation - https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code To make the conversation a rich experience for all, below are some prompts to ask your child during their SLLC: Tell me more about... Tell me about a time when you were in the learning pit... If you had your time over again what would you change? How will your goal help you in the future? How did you identify your goal? What have you learnt about yourself as a learner so far this year? What will your goal/s be for term 4? How will you challenge yourself in term 4? How do you think I can support you in your learning? Donations required: STEAM require art smocks. If you have any old shirts or smocks you are able to donate please send them in with your child. Art smocks are shared by all students so your kind donation will benefit all children in the school. Outdoor Learning Day Outdoor Learning Day is a day to celebrate and inspire outdoor learning and play. On Thursday 7 September 2017, thousands of schools around the world took learning outside and prioritised playtime. Why? Outdoor learning improves children s health, engages them with learning and leads to a greater connection with nature. Play not only teaches critical life skills such as resilience, teamwork and creativity, but is central to children s enjoyment of childhood. Last Thursday the students and teachers at St Peter s school celebrated International Outdoor Learning Day. Each level as well as STEAM took the opportunity to take learning outside. Some of the experiences included: Senior - Reading stamina in the great outdoors. Exploring personal safety in outdoor environments. Middle - 3D shape hunt in our outdoor spaces. Junior - Read to Someone on the hills of St Peters Prep Spirit - National Ryder Day- exploring the fun of mud. STEAM - explored Jeannie Baker books and collected natural materials from outdoors to create environments.
Staff Professional Learning On Thursday 31 August staff at St Peter s participated in choice outdoor/indoor professional learning opportunities to identify and explore learning environments that challenges, engages and empowers all students to be confident and achieving learners in and beyond the indoor learning space. These included the Royal Melbourne Zoo, the National Art Gallery, the Botanical Gardens and the Journeys into Discovery Conference. Each team prepared a presentation of learning to share with the staff and identified actions to support animated learners that will be implemented to further support engagement of students. Julie Percy - Director of Learning & Teaching juliep@stprepp.catholic.edu.au SCHOOL COMMUNITY St Peter s Official Facebook Page We are excited to announce we will soon be launching the official St Peter s Facebook Page. We are aware that there are other unofficial pages carrying the St Peter s name, however this will be a school administered page. The purpose of the page will be to promote our school and activities within our local and global community and celebrate the learning and teaching taking place at St Peter s. The page will go live prior to the end of term, with the link being shared with families in a letter to be sent home soon regarding communication at St Peter s. Loose Change Challenge The Loose Change Challenge is an initiative that asks students to bring in as much loose change as they wish to raise funds for the school. Each contact group will have a container to keep their coins in. There will be a reward for the group that collects the most money in this period. The challenge is already underway and will conclude on Friday 13th October (the end of Week 1). Earn and Learn Woolworths Earn and Learn is coming to a conclusion soon. Please ensure you are collecting stickers when shopping at woolworths and all stickers are sent to school by the end of the term. Footy Day Footy Day will take place on Thursday 21st September. Students are invited to wear their footy colours (or team colours their favourite sporting code) for a gold coin donation. The day will commence with a whole school parade and include fun activities. Don t forget to get your footy day lunch orders in no later than Friday 15th September. Green Day As previously advised, Green Day will take place on Friday 22nd September. For the first time, we will be going off site. As this is a whole school excursion, all students will be required to be at school on time, as the last bus will be departing St Peter s at 9:15am and there will be no teachers left at school to supervise students. Thank you to all the parents who have volunteered to help on the day, contact teachers will be in touch this week to inform parents who are attending. Council s Bundled branches collection Bundle your branches and prunings with string and book a bundled branches collection by phoning 9217 2170. For more information see Bundled-branch-collection https://www.whittlesea.vic.gov.au/waste-environment/bins-and-waste-collection/bundled-branch-collection/ STUDENT WELLBEING Our learning environment is built around collaborative learning. This is vital skill in developing social/emotional skills in our children, As you can see here are a few examples of children working together. This can look different in all areas.
Working together to reach a common goal of a joint artpiece. Working on a creation using the ideas of both children. Working on different activities but assisting and supporting each other These senior school children are working and sharing ideas about their projects. Its great to see the development and the outcomes of children who work and learn together. Junior News This week the Junior students have been focusing on resilience and what it looks like in their learning and their relationships. They watched a video about Michael Jordan, showing how failure leads to success. They discussed the importance of persistence and resilience in gaining success. https://youtu.be/ja7g7av-lt8 Jackie Fleischmann - Director of Student Wellbeing jfleischmann@stprepp.catholic.edu.au Certificate III in Education Support (Teacher's Aide) -CHC30213 - October 2017 This qualification will give you the skills and knowledge to provide assistance and support to teachers and students in a range of educational settings. This includes early childhood education, as well as Primary, Secondary and Special schools. Graduates work as education assistants/teacher aides and support workers (working with children with disabilities) Location: Merrilands Community Centre, Reservoir Days & Times: Monday Starts 16th October 2017, 9.15am 3.15pm Duration: 24 sessions, 2 workshops + 100 hour practical placement. (Excludes Public & School Holidays) Cost: Concession: $180, Full: $900, Fee For Service Conc.: $2,685 (limited places) + Service & Amenities Fee Ring PRACE on 9462 6077 or visit our website: www.prace.vic.edu.au