St Paul's Bentleigh eNewsletter

Catherine's News

Dear Parents,

Together with a culture of work, there must be a culture of leisure as gratification. To put it another way: people who work must take the time to relax, to be with their families, to enjoy themselves, read, listen to music, play a sport.

Pope Francis

What a beautiful quote from Pope Francis as we all move into the busiest time of the year.

Advent began on Sunday and marks the start of a season of preparation that looks forward to the celebration of Christmas and the second coming of Christ. It is a time of reflection in preparing our hearts for the coming of Christ—we remember how our Savior humbled Himself to be born as a baby and live among those He would save. We remember the perfect life He lived doing the will of His Father, His sacrificial death on the cross, and how He was raised from the dead three days later, having paid the penalty in order to save all who would believe. Christians remember Jesus' promise to return again one day and restore everything fully. This season invokes feelings of expectation and hope! This week the Advent wreath will be placed in each of the classrooms and together we will pray for Hope, Faith, Joy, Peace and Light as we prepare for this special celebration.

Congratulations to the students in Year 4 who received the Sacrament of Holy Eucharist last week. Fr Jacob welcomed families to celebrate together at St Paul’s in a very moving ceremony.

Building update

This Tuesday afternoon, the newly renovated Prep and Year 1 classrooms will be handed back to the school as Stage 1 of the refurbishment is completed. Stage 2 will see the Year 2 and Year 3 classrooms vacated as work continues. The Year 3 students will be relocated to the Hall, Yr 2B to the ICT lab and 2H to the Library.

New desks and furniture that will promote flexible learning spaces as well as opportunities for outdoor learning, are all part of the much anticipated reveal! I look forward to welcoming all parents back into classrooms at the beginning of next year.

Carols

The students are busy practicing their carols and the excitement of preparing for Christmas is mounting. This morning the P-2 students danced through the gates wearing Santa hats and reindeer ears ready to record Jingle Bells in Japanese.

This year the Carols will be recorded and sent as a Christmas gift to all our families. As we continue with safe Covid practices at school, I believe that gathering as a whole school community is not prudent with only 13 days of school remaining before we break for the summer holidays. Today you will receive an email from your child’s teacher with instructions on what day the recording will take place next week and what the students need to wear.

With the easing of restrictions, parents are now welcome to come onto the school grounds for drop off and pick up. We ask that parents do not come into classrooms. If you need to call into the Office, you will need to show proof of vaccination and check in.

Thank you for your support in keeping our school safe. Students will all be dismissed at 3.30pm foer the remainder of the Term.

Christmas Prayers and Wishes from the Prep Students