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Dear Families,
October is recognised by Catholics as Mission Month but also a month to focus on the importance of Mary and the Rosary prayer. And the two themes are very compatible.
In last week’s newsletter, Socktober was fleshed out as being an excellent way primary schools can engage in Mission. Mission, for Christians, is really taking up Jesus’ call for us to think outside of our own world and ‘love’ our neighbour. A strong held belief is that all people are created in God’s image. If this is true then all people are deserving of love. When we see that others in the world are suffering, we can use a process called Head, Heart and Hands to address the problem.
We use our Heads to first get our minds around the issue. We find out about a social justice issue. We use our Hearts by feeling compassion for the people in the issue. Naturally by being immersed in the problem, we feel a sense of love for our neighbour and we can feel ourselves walking in their shoes. We use our Hands by actually doing something about the problem in a very practical way. The Head, Heart and Hands approach is a great teaching model for children to understand Catholic Social Justice.
Now let’s get back to Mary. Many people remember the famous story of the Wedding at Cana. If you read the detail in this story, you’ll see that it is Mary who calls on Jesus to begin his mission. Jesus actually argues that it’s too early for him to make a start on his mission but Mary, being the strong mother that she is, forces Jesus to act. Mary used the Head, Heart and Hands process on Jesus! She saw there was a problem of the wine running out, she felt compassion for the bridal party and the potential for embarrassment and she made sure Jesus’ instructions would be listened to (ignoring Jesus’ plea that he wasn’t ready). Mary is shown here to be a champion for Mission. She is the one who kickstarted Jesus’ mission! Pictured above is the wedding at Cana, depicted in ‘The Chosen’, a great series about Jesus’ mission, that’s free on the Internet.
During Mission Month, see if you can help the poor in Ethiopia by visiting the school Socktober website and donating some funds. It’s very easy using the link below…
https://www.socktober.org.au/fundraisers/stthomastheapostlepscranbourneeast
Sacraments 2023
If you would like a sacrament for your child next year, whether it be Reconciliation, First Communion or Confirmation, please read on. This is the message that went out to all families last week…
Near the end of each year, the Parish of St Thomas the Apostle gathers information from all interested families regarding Sacraments for the following year. You will see a link below that takes you to a survey that asks a few simple questions about this. Essentially, the Parish office needs to know your email address and the sacrament you intend for your child in 2023. This allows the Sacramental Team to anticipate how many candidates there are in each program and importantly, who to communicate with.
Reconciliation (usually for year 3 students) - must be baptised Catholic
First Holy Communion (usually for year 4 students) - must be baptised and have celebrated Reconciliation
Confirmation (usually for year 6 students) - must be baptised, celebrated Reconciliation and First Communion
Link to the intentions survey: https://forms.gle/Dh7jC6ewhpwWgCww5
Grade 1 Excusrion - Pevan & Sarah
On Tuesday the Grade 1's went on an excursion to Bunjil Place. We saw a performance by Pevan and Sarah. It was very exciting to go on a bus and into a theatre. During the performance we got to sing and dance along with Pevan and Sarah. Miss Saltis, Mrs Peterson, Adrey and Ann Rose even got to go on stage and play the guitar! We practised how to be audience members by showing respect to the performers and participating in the performance. We had so much fun..
From this week onwards we (Sustainability group) are collecting plastic bread tags for the website,Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs.
We will put jars in each classroom, then every Tuesday the sustainability team will collect the jars and empty them into a jar in the sustainability room.When it is full Mr.D will send them to the Aussie bread tags for wheelchairs.Then they will recycle them.
The wheelchairs are for the people in South Africa who can't walk or have a disability.
Thanks for your cooperation from the year 6 sustainability leaders!
Second Hand Uniform Sale
LOST PROPERTY
The lost property box is currently overflowing with items. If your child/ren is missing an item please remind them to check the lost property box. All unclaimed items will be donated to the second hand uniform sale to be held on Thursday 27th October.
GR 6 GRADUATION PHOTO REMINDER
Grade 6 Graduation photos will be taken on Friday 21st October.
Students are to wear their Grade 6 polo shirts and school sports shorts.
Congratulations!! Lucas Crowley
SELECTED FOR SCHOOL SPORT VICTORIA
St Thomas the Apostle Primary School student Lucas Crowley has been selected in the School Sport Victoria Team 10-12 years Track and Field team to compete in the School Sport Australia Track and Field Championships to be held in Brisbane, QLD from 17 to 21 November 2022.
It has been a great performance by Lucas at the selection trial in September to make the team. Lucas has been selected to represent Team Vic in 5 events. The team compromises students from all over Victoria.
Many past School Sport Victoria team members have gone onto compete at national and international competitions including Olympic games, World Championships and Commonwealth Games.
The cost to each student and/or their family is approximately $2000 which includes flights, accomodation, uniform, host state competition fees, insurance, team photo and administration charges.
If you would like to support Lucas , SSV has partnered with the Australian Sports Foundation to provide team members with a tax deductible crowd funding platform that you may consider donating directly to https://asf.org.au/projects/
School sport Victoria place an emphasis on participation being more than purely a sporting competition with educational, social and cultural experiences being provided.
Further information is available from School Sport Victoria .
Thank you for your support. We wish Lucas and his Victorian team all the best in the competition.