Dear Parents,

A very warm welcome back to school after what has been a very chilly school holiday (for those of us who stayed in Melbourne). I hope you had time to relax and feel well rested for a busy term ahead. A reminder that students are expected to be in full winter school uniform this term. Please check all items of clothing and lunch boxes for name tags and encourage your child to be responsible for their personal items throughout the Term. 

Protective Behaviours Parent Seminar 22 August, 2019

St Paul’s School Hall 7pm -9pm

              AUSTRALIAN DATA

•  55% of six year olds cannot identify safe vs unsafe touching
•  1 in 5 children will be sexually abused before they turn 18
• The average age of first abuse is 9 years old
•  77% of parents are not confident talking to their children about abuse prevention strategies

This year the School Advisory Board have a focus on supporting parents and families on Child Safety. It was felt there is a disconnect between home and school and how many families are ill equipped to support their children in having conversations about body safety. As you will be aware the statistics are frightening. 

Last term the director of Protective Behaviours Victoria spoke to the School  Board about the work they do in schools and working with families. As a result, a parent Seminar has been booked for 22 August this Term. The challenge is to have all parents attend so that we form strong and supportive links between home and school. 

‘Protective Behaviours is a preventative life skills program which enables people of all ages and abilities – particularly children – to develop skills which promote resilience and which empower them to deal with a range of difficult, unsafe or abusive situations. Children are vulnerable to sexual abuse simply because they trust adults and seek their approval. Education and communication are the best safeguards to protect children, and studies show that children from as young as three years old can be taught about body autonomy, safe and unsafe touch, safety networks, early-warning signs and recognising and naming their feelings. All children should know the problem with adults asking them to keep secrets, and that they must always tell a trusted adult if they are feeling unsafe, unsure or uncomfortable.’

We encourage all families to support this important Seminar as we work together to ensure our children have a voice and that parents feel confident in talking to their children about child safety. This is a parent only event. The cost is $10 per family (plus booking fee).

Please click on the Trybooking link below to secure and pay for your booking. When booking the option is for a family ticket which is for one or two adults per family.

https://www.trybooking.com/BEEVQ

Beginning of Term Liturgy

NAIDOC Week 2019 was held nationally on Sunday 7 July through to Sunday 14 July. NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. Its origins can be traced to the emergence of Aboriginal groups in the 1920′s which sought to increase awareness in the wider community of the status and treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. On Monday 22 July, we held a special Liturgy  to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This Liturgy was also an opportunity to pray for our families and the wider community. 

Curriculum

The Inquiry Unit for Term 3 leads us into the exciting world of Design and Technologies and Physical Sciences. Students in Prep to Year 6 will be challenged to use critical, creative and ethical capabilities to explore their world and to seek out the amazing opportunities to take action.  The students will explore, investigate, question and predict, generate ideas, plan and conduct experiments and produce solutions. Excursions and incursions have been planned to support this very exciting unit of work. Inquiry units will be further outlined in Class Newsletters which will go out in Week 2. 

Concert

During Term 3 the students will be preparing for our bi annual school concert  ‘.The Mysterious Dream”. The concert will be held at St Peter’s School Hall over two nights. This will allow us to open up enough tickets for all families, neighbours and extended families to come along and enjoy what promises to be a great night of entertainment. All students are included in the concert and will have the opportunity to showcase their talents.

Information will be going out to families over the next few weeks about costumes and sale of tickets. 

Concert Dates: Monday 16 September and Wednesday 18 September.

We will have a full dress rehearsal at St Peter’s on Friday 13 September. 

Book Week 19 August-23 August

This Term we will be celebrating Book Week in Week 7. In 1946 the CBCA established annual book awards to promote children's books of high literary and artistic quality. These awards are now the most influential and highly respected in Australia. It’s a wonderful opportunity at school to spend a week celebrating books, and Australian authors and illustrators. The theme this year is ‘Reading is My Secret Power’.  We have many exciting activities planned, including a book fair, a visiting author, a dress up day and lots of art activities and opportunities to engage in reading the short -listed books. 

Communication

A reminder that staff meetings are held every Tuesday and Wednesday afternoons. If you wish to speak to your child’s teacher please send an email to arrange a suitable time. Newsletters will be sent out as a link via email each fortnight with a termly Class Newsletter sent this week via our school app, outlining the curriculum for the term ahead.

First Eucharist

Congratulations to the following students who have made their first Eucharist. We ask for God’s abundant blessings on each of you and your families:

Will Soderlund, Max Comito, Christian Savva, Leroy Hyland, Archie Hyland, Chris Mayne, Declan McDade, Thomas Savva, Alicja Kwapisz, Isabella McCormick, Ted Bitting, Grace Maguire, Kate Benedek, Ewan MacLennan, Lachie Soderlund, Asha Smith and Ashlyn Sandham.

We are looking forward to a wonderful term of learning, singing, dancing and fun!

Best Wishes,

Catherine

We will only find peace when we know how to forgive.

By now you would have worked out that I am a great admirer and reader of Joan Chittister’s writings.  Her books, articles and other writings make me think and reflect on how I am living life.  95% of the time I can take something she says and use it in everyday life.

Society goes through different phases with every new generation.  My parents thought differently to me.  I am sure one of the reasons for this is that they lived through the Great Depression and World War II.  I have been blessed to have been given a good upbringing and have lived a life through relative peace.

This has its blessings but it also has its detriments.  One of the challenges we face today is the Sin of Entitlement.  Many of my generation and generations to follow believe they are owed something.  My parents’ generation knew they had to work for something.  These are two very different ways of thinking, living and operating. 

The latest Sin in our world is the Sin of Blaming.  Everyone else is to blame but me.

For me, the definition of an “Adult” is a person who no longer blames their parent’s or others for their own problems.

Becoming an adult has nothing to do with age but more to do with how we think, act and operate.  It has a lot to do with forgiveness.

The article below by Joan Chittister is a wonderful piece of writing which allows us to think about the true virtue of being an adult-a person who knows how to forgive. 

We will only find peace when we know how to forgive.

Edward Dooley (Mission and Faith Leader)

The burdens we carry

“I kept my sin secret and my
frame wasted away. Day and night
your hand was heavy upon me.”—Ps. 32

This psalm is a piece of very good psychology about the burdens we carry within us, our unforgiven sins.

When we don’t face our faults, our problems, our weakness, our angers, our sense of inadequacy—worse, when we blame them on others, or deny them, or need to be perfect, or become defensive—we refuse to accept ourselves. Every doctor and psychologist in the country sees the effect of that in their offices every day.

We all have things we need to forgive in ourselves or face in ourselves. We have things we know we ought to ask forgiveness for from someone else, but pride and stubbornness hold us back.

These things become a barrier between us and the community, a hot stone in the pit of the stomach, a block to real happiness. And nothing is going to get better until we face them.

Forgiveness occurs when we don’t need to hold a grudge anymore: when we are strong enough to be independent of whatever, whoever it was that so ruthlessly uncovered the need in us. Forgiveness is not the problem; it’s living till it comes that taxes all the strength we have.

 Some people think that forgiveness is incomplete until things are just as they were before. But the truth is that after great hurt, things are never what they were before: they can only be better or nothing at all. Both of which are acceptable states of life.

“Life is an adventure in forgiveness,” Norman Cousins said. You will, in other words, have lots of opportunity to practice. Don’t wait too long to start or life will have gone by before you ever lived it.

     —from Songs of the Heart: Reflections on the Psalms by Joan Chittister (Twenty-Third Publications)

The second hand uniform shop will be open on Monday 29th July from 3:15 - 3:45pm.

Donations of second hand uniform are most welcome - please drop off at the school office.

Dear Families

An invitation from the Parish 

Holy Trinity Parish, made up of the communities of St. Peter’s, St. Paul’s and St. Catherine’s, strives to respond to people asking questions about Christian faith and spirituality in the context of the Catholic faith.  One way we do this is through the Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults known as the RCIA. It is the process for welcoming and integrating new Christians into the Catholic community.

If you or someone you know has questions about spirituality and the Catholic faith we would love to hear from you or them.  The initial part of the process is called inquiry – it is a time when we listen to your questions, and together explore and deepen our understanding of faith and the way we live as Christians. If you would like to know more please contact us soon, as we have a new group beginning soon.

Contact Holy Trinity Parish Office by ringing 9579 4255 or sending an email to office@holytrinityparish.org.au.  Your name will be given to one of the RCIA team, who will contact you.  You will be warmly welcomed!