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On my return from my renewal leave I wish to thank Des as Acting Principal, James Lloyd, Vanessa Dibbens and Kylie McMillan for taking on extra leadership roles. Thanks also to Susan Trimboli, Julie Parsons and the whole staff for their support of school and community in my absence. So I’m guessing you might ask... ‘What is renewal leave and what did you do?'
Over a 10 year tenure of leadership in a Catholic school, Deputies and Principals are offered opportunities to take on learning experiences to nourish faith, spirit, mind and body to enable them to build their faith communities. This experience can be shaped by the leader but of course must meet strict criteria. Last year I developed a plan for my renewal leave (as this was my first as a leader in schools for 16 years) and this was a focus on the spiritual and physical with opportunities for theological study into the life of our Parish founder, St Eugene de Mazenod. My plan was to bring all of these together as I wanted to learn more about our Oblate origins as a school whose founder, St Eugene de Mazenod shaped entire faith communities across the continents.
Physical and Spiritual - I had the great pleasure (and challenge) to walk the Portuguese Camino (Way of St James) for 170 kilometres from the North of Portugal to Northern Spain (Santiago de Compostela). This is a pilgrimage that follows the route of St James as an early Christian as he walked and spoke about Jesus of Nazareth and gained thousands of followers as one of the first Christian communities in Europe. During this walk I followed his path, visited many sacred sites, ancient churches, chapels on pathways and routes well worn by millions of pilgrims before me. All on their way to Santiago.
On a personal note, I had the great pleasure of joining with my son, Oliver, on this part of the journey. It is an incredible privilege to be with a 28 year old for an extended time, with little technology, walking 25 kms per day. Then sharing the stories of the pain in our legs and feet each night!
I now look forward to a busy and exciting Term 4!
Welcome to Term 4! I hope you are refreshed and ready for the last term of 2019. This term, we have several liturgical celebrations which you are invited to participate in.
On Friday 1st November, we celebrate the Feast of All Saints with a prayer service at 9:15am in the hall. We venerate the saints and look to them for good examples of how we can live holy lives. On this day, we remember all those holy men and women who offered their lives in service of others.
On the 2nd of November each year, the Church remembers All Souls. This is traditionally a day when we pray for all those who have died – members of our families, friendship circle and those who have no one to pray for them.
On Tuesday 5th November, we will gather as a whole school to celebrate All Souls Day. This will be a time of prayer, reflection and silence, as we hold those we love close in prayer. You are invited to share in this special time with us at a prayer service commencing at 9:15am in the hall.
Memories are important. One special way we keep the memory alive of those we have loved who are in heaven, is through photos. If you have one small framed photograph of a loved member of your family, please send it to school for us to include in our Sacred Space for this prayer service. Please ensure you have your child’s name and class clearly labelled on the back of the framed photograph. All photos would need to be sent to school by Friday 1st November. Please give these directly to your child’s teacher. Photos will be returned to your child’s class after the prayer service.
I hope you will be able to join us on Tuesday 5th November for this special time.
Wishing you blessings for the week ahead.
The following students received excellent results in their recent AMEB ‘Singing for Leisure’ exams:
Giorgia of 3T – gained Honours (A) for Grade 1
Yvy of 3B/F – gained credit (B) for Grade 1
Sophie of 4M – gained a High Credit (B+) for Grade 2
Tahlia of 4M – gained Honours (A) for Grade 3
Well done, all of you, for the hard work you have put in to achieve these results, and the skills you have thereby gained! Bravi!
Virginia Rawlinson, Singing Teacher
ASIC recently announced that is is seeking the public's views of school banking programes to help inform its review. ASIC would like to hear from you via the survey - consultation.asic.gov.au/financial-capability/review-school-banking-programs/. The survey closes on 31st October 2019.