Welcome back for another busy term. I hope everyone had a wonderful break and have returned refreshed and ready for another term of learning.
St. Vinnies – Winter Appeal – Clothing Donations and Canned Goods
A very big thank you to everyone who has donated clothing for the St Vincent de Paul Winter Appeal, and for your participation in the Canned Food Drive as part of the Crazy Hair/Crazy Sock fundraiser last week.
The cans were collected on Wednesday, and the bins were collected on Thursday – and will be redistributed to those families and individuals in need. Sister Catherine Seward, a local parishioner who works within St Vincent de Paul, in particular wanted me to share the organisations heartfelt gratitude for our schools community support.
Action Hour – Monday 7th of August
To celebrate the Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop we will be holding our annual Action Hour fundraiser on Monday the 7th of August between 1:45pm and 2:45pm.
On this day all classes/units organise stalls, with each stall being priced between 20c and a dollar for a turn. Students during this hour then go from stall to stall to play the games. So please raid your money boxes and go break those notes ready to participate in another fun action hour.
This year, all money raised will be going to support a Mary Mackillop foundation project for those in need.
Parents and grandparents are welcome to attend and participate in our Action Hour activities.
Whole School Mass – Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop – Tuesday the 8th of August
Tuesday the 8th of August is the Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop – Australia’s First Saint.
Mary MacKillop was an Australian who co-founded the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart in 1866. The Order grew because it was needed. There were 750 Sisters in the Order when she died. Even in her dying she was deemed to be a saint. Today there are over a thousand Sisters, who live the charism of Mary MacKillop, to do the will of God with love and gratitude, in their day to day lives.
St Mary Mackillop was a prolific writer and there is so much wisdom in her words; wisdom for all time.
Mary MacKillop reminds us to slow down in our minds and be in peace there. If only we could keep our mind in peace, we would not miss the ordinary. Slowing down offers the opportunity to take in more of the ‘ordinary’ things in our lives, that in busyness we can overlook. The ordinary has so much to offer if we are in tune and have a feeling for what is going on around us. St Mary MacKillop was always aware of the presence of God hidden in the ordinary things of life. She knew that she was called to bear her cross.
Mary MacKillop died on 8th August 1909 in the Josephite convent in North Sydney. She was beatified in 1995 and was canonised on 17th October 2010. This year marks the 10th Anniversary of her Canonisation.
We will be having a Whole School Mass at 9:30am in the Mary MacKillop Hall on Tuesday the 8th of August to celebrate Mary Mackillop’s feast day. To make this occasion more special, the music and sung responses will be led by Andrew Chinn, one of Australia’s most prolific religious musicians.
Andrew will be with us for the day – and will also work with the students across all year levels culminating in a Whole School concert from 1:45pm in the Mary MacKillop Hall – Parents and Caregivers are invited to attend both celebrations.
National School Improvement Partnership Survey (Living Learning Leading Surveys) – Parent/Community responses
Catholic Education South Australia (CESA) through National School Improvement Partnerships (NSIP) are asking parents/caregivers to participate in a survey regarding Whitefriars Catholic School.
This survey is being offered to Catholic schools across South Australia. When you access the survey and enter the specific code for our school community (details below), all the relevant information will be sent to our
school. Staff and Year 2-6 students are participating in a similar survey, and like the parent/caregiver survey, all responses are confidential.
We would like as many parents/caregivers of our school to complete the survey to provide feedback across the various domains of the survey. The information provided is used to affirm the strengths of the school, whilst also providing information to identify areas of opportunity to improve the school. This data can be useful to inform decision making when planning the schools Strategic Goals for the short and long term.
This year – all families who complete the survey will go into the draw (random selected) to win a $100 Coles Myer gift card – to enter the draw – please take a screenshot of your completed survey and email to jpage@whitefriars.catholic.edu.au
If you would like to complete the survey please click on the following link https://www.nsipartnerships.com.au/
and enter the unique school code when asked: WSLLLP The survey closes on Friday the 25th August 2023 (end of Week 5). Further information about the survey is available via the attached document.
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions regarding the survey
Made in the Image of God (MITIOG) Human Sexuality Curriculum – taught in Term 3
This Friday a letter will be sent home via Seesaw and Audiri regarding the MITIOG Human Sexuality curriculum that will be taught to all students by the end of Term 3. Classes will begin the curriculum from Week 7 onwards. The letter will detail the outcomes being taught for each year level. As we work in partnership with you as parents, being the first educators of your child, this is one area of our curriculum that you do have the option of removing your child from the lessons, if you would prefer to teach these concepts yourself. I encourage you to read the letter to gain an understanding of the content being taught and to ask any questions that you have. If you do wish to remove your child from the lessons, please speak with either Mr. Frank Congedi or Mr. Josh Page.
I will be running a parent information session which will provide further context to the curriculum and the purpose of the curriculum. This will provide further opportunities to ask questions (this is the same session that I have run over the previous few years). This session will be held at 9am on Wednesday the 30th of August (Week 6) upstairs in the Caritas Building. To RSVP please email jpage@whitefriars.catholic.edu.au
If you are unable to attend the parent information session but would like to know more about the curriculum please do not hesitate to contact me via email
Josh Page
APRIM