Newsletter Number 7 16th March 2017 St Benedict s Benedict s Catholic Primary School Burwood 3 9 Central Avenue, Burwood 9808 8551 www.sbburwood.catholic.edu.au St Benedict's Primary School Burwood stbenedictsburwood Prep,Year One and Year Two Excursion to the Immigration Museum Open Days Yesterday we held the first of our Open Days. We have already had a number of enquiries about enrolments for our school in 2018. Our School Leaders and Sport Leaders will be our amazing tour guides for all of our Open Days during school time. Our Open Days continue on Sunday 19th March, Tuesday 9th May and Thursday 18th May. Catholic Education Week This week is Catholic Education Week. As a celebration of this week, our local newspapers run a section on Catholic Education and all schools are invited to run advertisements. Our advertisement sits alongside other primary schools in the area and our photo from the St Patrick s Mass last year, with the Archbishop, proudly sits in the centre of the first page of the insert. This is truly free advertising at its best. On Friday, Mary Brooks and I will accompany our School Leaders and Sport Leaders to the St Patrick s Mass at St Patrick s Cathedral. After Mass, we hope to be lucky enough to have our photo taken with the Archbishop again! All schools are then invited to join together for a concert in the Treasury Gardens. This is a wonderful time for everyone to celebrate all of the wonderful things that Catholic Education has to offer.
Australian Mathematics Competition This week, all Year Three to Six students have received a letter in relation to the Australian Mathematics Competition run by the Australian Mathematics Trust. This competition is an opportunity for students with an interest or strength in the Maths area to attempt a range of problem solving tasks on Thursday 27 th July. If you would like your child to participate in the competition, please send $6.50 in an envelope with your child s name and class to school by Tuesday 21 st March. Please feel free to contact Jane Michael or myself if you have any questions. Parent Social Night This Saturday night is our parent social night at Stanley s Place in Hawthorn East. The evening is a great way to catch up with parents you already know and meet some new parents. Tickets for the night can be purchased at www.trybooking.com/256667. End of Term It is hard to believe that we are quickly approaching the end of Term One. At the end of each term, the children will be dismissed at 3:15pm, our normal school finishing time rather than 1:00pm as in previous years. If you have any questions or concerns about this change of time, please feel free to contact me. Party Invitations It is wonderful that our children celebrate their birthdays in a variety of ways. Celebrating each child s birthday is important for our school community and we welcome these celebrations at assembly and in each of our classrooms. Birthday invitations and parties are also a part of these celebrations and I understand that there are only a certain number of children that can be invited to each party. To ensure that a child is not made to feel left out of a party, I ask that any invitations to birthday parties are handed out by your classroom teacher in the classroom and not on the playground. The children who receive an invitation will be asked to put it straight into their school bag and then open it after school. I thank you for your support with this and please feel free to contact me if you have any questions or concerns. Newsletter We are always looking for ways to become a more sustainable school. From Term Two, our newsletter will be emailed to all families and our paper copies will not come through the classroom buckets. All families have received a printout of the current family details that we have to update, so we are confident that we have correct email addresses for all parents/caregivers. If you are unable to access the newsletter through email and require a printed copy, please email Grace Piva at gpiva@sbburwood.catholic.edu.au by Friday 24th March. Approximately 12 copies of the newsletter will be printed each week and can be collected from the display in the office foyer. Meredith Bennett Principal Education in Faith Third Sunday of Lent Year A Gospel: Jn 4:5-15. 19-26. 39-42 Gospel Reflection The encounter between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well is rich in historical and cultural nuance that enhances our understanding and interpretation of this passage. When he asks the woman for a drink, Jesus breaks two cultural taboos: firstly, for a man to speak directly to an unchaperoned woman was somewhat scandalous; secondly, as the woman points out, Jesus is a Jew and directly addresses a Samaritan another scandal. Jesus successfully gains the woman s attention by ignoring these social taboos but she fails to fully understand his reference to living water. The reference to the woman s five husbands has often been construed to suggest that she was either a prostitute or a serial widow. However, it may in fact be a reference to the Samaritans binding themselves (wedding themselves) to the five books of the Torah and ignoring the writings of the prophets and other later writings. This reference is followed by another fact that set Jews and Samaritans apart: the Samaritans worshipped God on a local mountain, Mt Gerazim, whilst the Jews held that true worship could only take place in Jerusalem. Jesus dismisses this major difference between Jews and Samaritans by
declaring that soon true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. He is indicating the much more personal relationship with God that he models; not bound up by ritual, place and law. Having set the scene for breaking down the walls between Jews and Samaritans, Jesus then reveals to the woman unequivocally that he is the promised Messiah. The woman rushes back to the town to spread the good news about Jesus. She becomes a missionary for him; and a remarkably effective one. The people are convinced by her testimony and flock to Jesus where they have their own personal faith encounter with him. Gospel Focus Transformation The woman has obviously come to the well to draw water for herself. Her encounter with Jesus is a moment of transformation for her. At first, she fails to comprehend his reference to living water and never being thirsty again. However, in the end the woman put down her water jar and hurried back to the town. Leaving her water jar behind was a sign of the transformation that had taken place within her. She had indeed drunk of the living water of Jesus and no longer paid attention to the need for water that had brought her to the well. Living the Gospel Personal encounter The Samaritan woman s personal encounter with Jesus compels her to start spreading the good news about the amazing man she has met. She meets Jesus face to face and feels compelled to act on what she has felt. Lent is a time for each of us to again or for the first time seek out a face to face encounter with Jesus. Through prayer, contemplation on scripture or reflection on encountering Jesus in the face of others, we build a one to one relationship with Jesus. When we acknowledge this relationship, like the Samaritan woman, we are compelled to act on it Greg Sunter Weekday Mass and Adoration Week Day & Date Mass Adoration School Events 7 15/03/17 5/6SP P/1 & 1/2 classes 1/2O 10:30, P/1 11:30, 1/2B 12:15 8 22/03/17 3/4GL 9 29/03/17 3/4C Gr 5/6 Camp Holy Week liturgy Friday 2:30pm, March 31st Ms Mary Brooks Religious Education Leader Learning and Teaching Prep Year 2 We hope you all enjoyed the long weekend with your children and the opportunity to spend a little extra time together! Thank you all for ensuring that the children were ready to go nice and early for our excursion last Thursday, having everyone here right on time ensured that we were able to make the most of our time at the Immigration Museum. We have reflected with the children and are so proud of their active involvement at the museum and know that they all learnt an incredible amount whilst out for the day - we have loved listening to and reading all their reflections about the day, it s great to see their learning! The excursion was an important part of our history unit focusing on Journeys as we are learning about different cultures and where we all come from. We will be continuing with this unit of work until the end of term. On Friday, all the Junior School children will be participating in Adoration. The times are as follows: 10:20 1/2O 11:30 Prep/1 12:15 1/2B Just a reminder that all parents and family members are invited to attend Adoration with the children at your classes allotted time. We look forward to sharing the experience with you. In Religion, our focus at the moment is Lent and all children will be learning about the Holy Week story as we explore what Lent means to us. As always, please feel free to contact us if you have any questions or concerns. We look forward to the rest of term! Mary, Ro and Jess (Junior Team)
Diary Dates TERM ONE March17 th St Patrick s School Mass St Patrick s Cathedral School Leaders March 17 th Adoration Prep/One F, Parish Church One/Two O, One/Two B March 18 th P & F Social Night 7:00pm, Stanley s Place March 19th Open Morning 11:00am 1:00pm March 27th Instalment Two of Fees due March 27 th P&F Meeting 8.00pm March 27 th Year Five and Six Camp Mount Evelyn Recreational Camp March 29th March 31st Term One Concludes 3:15pm April 14th Good Friday April 16th Easter Sunday TERM TWO April 18th Term Two Commences 8:45am April 25th ANZAC Day April 27th Instalment Three of Fees due April 29 th Commitment Mass for Year Six Confirmation students (all St Benedict weekend Mass times) April 30 th Commitment Mass for Year Six Confirmation students (all St Benedict weekend Mass times) May 4th School Photos Staff at 8:30am, students throughout the day May 9th Open Morning 9:00am 11:00am May 9 th 11th NAPLAN Years Three and Five May 18th Opening Morning 9:00am 11:00am May 18 th School Nurse visit May 25 th Soccer Clinic Year Three to Six May 26 th District Cross Country May 27th Instalment Four of Fees due June 1 st Soccer Clinic Year Three to Six June 2nd Year Five & Six Excursion to 8:45 3:15pm Immigration Museum June 7th School Wide Positive 9:00am 3:30pm, Catholic Leadership Centre Behaviour Support Professional Learning June 8 th Soccer Clinic Year Three to Six June 12th Queen s Birthday Holiday June 14th Confirmation Faith Night 7:00pm 8:30pm, School Hall June 15 th Soccer Clinic Year Three to Six June 16th Confirmation Reflection Day 8:45am 3:15pm June 25th Confirmation 2:00pm, Parish Church June 30 th Term Two Concludes TERM THREE July 17 th Term Three Commences July 27 th Italian Day August 2 nd First Eucharist 7:00pm September 11 th Italian Poetry Competition September 14 th Art Expo 2:30pm September 15 th Art Expo Open Day 9:00am 3:00pm FRIDAY MORNING ASSEMBLY Week Seven 17 th March Year Five/Six SP Week Eight 24 th March Year Three/Four GL Week Nine 31 st March Year One/Two B TUCKSHOP FRIDAY 17th March Shift One J.Turner,P.Huynh,C.Coomans,K.Sutherland Shift Two J.Turner,P.Huynh,A.Baccini,D.LaCaria,G.Borgese Tuckshop bags are available from the school office, $4 per pack. Please send correct money in an envelope marked with your eldest child s name and class. CHICKEN DUTY 18 th &19 th March Cossar family 25 th &26 th March Mitsios family New volunteers are always welcome for weekends and school holidays. Please contact Lorraine Walker if you would like to be a volunteer.
School Community P&F Committee Thank you to the following people who have volunteered to take on the following roles in P&F for 2017: President: Annmaree Hoy Vice president: Gen Walton Treasure: Dave Blenkhorn Secretary: Jenny Lau Fundraising and Social Coordinator: Gen Walton and Lou Hedley Tuckshop coordinator: Kate Pearson Tuckshop bookkeeper: Justine Percey Uniform shop coordinator: Carolyn Peters and Leanne Shane (jointly) Our next P&F meeting will be held on Monday 27 March at 8pm in the staff room. All welcome! Class reps Huge thanks also to the following parents who have offered to be a class rep this year: Prep/1F Sarah P 1/2O Kate P and Sarah W 1/2B Justine P and Ivy T 3/4C Cas C and Vanessa T 3/4GL Shona D and Kaz P 5/6PS Angelina C 5/6T Cassie L and Kate S 2017 promises to be a busy year. Apart from various functions to help raise funds for the school and bring people together, we have started to plan for our Twilight Market in 2018! Stay tuned! We are looking forward to seeing many of you at the Parents Social Night at Stanley s Place this Saturday!
School Community cont d Extend After School Care at St Benedict s School AUTUMN HOLIDAY PROGRAM BOOKINGS ARE OPEN AT A SCHOOL NEAR YOU! Book 14 days in advance to receive the lowest rate. New booking terms: Great news! In response to parent feedback we are pleased to announce that our Holiday Program booking terms have now changed to provide greater flexibility for families. See Terms and Conditions on our website for further information. We have heaps of fun activities planned these school holidays and can t wait for you to attend! Have fun with science experiments, participate in a bunch of craft activities with access to a plethora of art media, and get active with a variety of sports and team games. Join in on all this and more at Extend s Autumn Holiday Program. To check out what s on and where your local program is, visit our website at extend.com.au and book via the Parent Portal. PARENT PORTAL: extend.com.au Tiqbiz App 2017 We still have a number of families who have not registered for the free Tiqbiz App, or have not selected the appropriate classes (Boxes) for 2017. To register, download Tiqbiz from your App or Play Store, search for St Benedict s Primary School, then select the classes (referred to as Boxes) relevant to you. If you already have the app and just need to select the classes (Boxes) for 2017, please follow the instructions below. If you have any problems please feel free to contact Maryann Hamilton (mhamilton@sbburwood.catholic.edu.au).
Student Awards Congratulations to the following students Prep/One F Owen T. Joseph O. Year One/Two B Kobe J. Chiara S. Year One/Two O Isaac A. Harriet Q. Year Three/Four C Madeline O. Jordan T. Year Three/Four GL Hana S. Nathaniel G. Year Five/Six SP Teagan H. Giordano G. Year Five/Six T Sam D. Alesia T. Captain s Award Finlay S.
P&F News