13th August 2021
Principal News
Father in heaven, all creation rightly gives you praise, for all life and all holiness come from you. In the plan of your wisdom she who bore the Christ in her womb was raised body and soul in glory to be with him in heaven. May we follow her example in reflecting your holiness and join in her hymn of endless love and praise. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Dear Parents and Carers,
Next Sunday is the Feast of the Assumption of Mary into Heaven and due to lockdown, masses are not able to happen. Please take time to pray the prayer above as we strive to follow in the example of Mary.
We are in our second week of lockdown across many LGAs and it has been a week of many challenges for us all. There are also some terrific news as well where our students are engaging well in their Home Learning and sharing that with their teachers via SeeSaw or with the daily Zoom lesson for Kindergarten. The daily zooms have been lots of fun and have helped our Kinders to stay connected and keep learning. Thank you to the parents sending kind messages of thanks to our teachers, they really are trying to do all they can to make Home Learning fun, interesting and engaging.
Next week we will offer some zoom session for Year 1 and also Year 2 students and we will do our best with our timetabling of these.
ZOOM LESSONS: A link will be shared via Compass. Copy and paste the link into your browser. Zoom opens. Click to video. Click MUTE to listen. Your teacher will guide you. Enjoy!!
TIMES | MONDAY 16/8 | TUESDAY 17/8 | WEDNESDAY 18/8 | THURSDAY 19/8 |
9.30am -10am | KW Mrs Edwards KB Mrs Porter | KW Mrs Edwards KB Mrs Porter | KW Mrs Edwards KB Ms Orrett | KW Ms Orrett KB Mrs Porter |
10.30am -11am | Year 2 with Mrs Collingwood | 1W with Mrs PK 1B with Mrs Cook | 1W with Mrs PK 1B with Ms De Lyall | Year 2 with Mrs Kreutzer |
Teachers will also record these and upload for you as we are very aware that some parents can only help with learning at times that suit your family’s schedule eg in the afternoon or evening. The recorded sessions are not interactive however will enable your child to be a part of the online learning/connecting.
May I once again be very clear – do not allow Home learning to add stress to your family life. Do what you can. Find what it is your child loves to do eg play in the backyard; ride their bike as part of daily exercise; play with their pet. Let them do these things as they bring your child joy in a rather anxious world at the moment.
We are here to support you and we are trying to meet the needs of all our diverse families as best we can. We are all working together.
This link below is for you. It’s a link to some webinars which you can listen to whenever you like on mindfulness. I truly hope they are helpful.
Screenshot of what is on offer for all parents/carers. Click on the hyperlink above to go to this website resource.
Below is a screen shot of what is available to you…the link is not active below as it’s a screen shot.
Thank you for keeping children at home as requested by our Premier during the extended lockdown. The statistics around the Delta strain and children catching it are very concerning. Already there have been several school closures as you are aware which leads to great anxiety in any community. Our Director Gerard Mowbray has today reiterated the importance of keeping children AT HOME. If you are an essential worker (and you are working) our school is open however children who are unwell may not attend. Staff who are unwell are also unable to attend and currently we have several. Our school is operating with a skeleton staff as I’m trying to protect our staff and their families as well and I know you can appreciate that.
I am here and happy to help if you have questions or any difficulties with the children’s Home Learning. Again, your efforts are appreciated as we work together to stop the spread of covid19.
We miss your beautiful children very much!
Kind Regards and stay safe!
Diane Murphy
Kinder Interviews for 2022
Our Kinder Interviews for 2022 will now take place virtually via a Zoom call. We have found this successful to date. If you had an interview time, this will now be swapped to a virtual chat on the Zoom platform. Kindly check your inbox the day before your previously scheduled interview for the link and password that I will send. If there are difficulties, don't stress, we are here to help. 49304361 School Number.
Thank you for your understanding during this interesting time! Diane Murphy
Acting Assistant Principal News
What a big week we’ve had! We cannot thank you enough for your support surrounding this very challenging time.
Play
Research tells us that play is crucial for a child's development, learning and well-being. During your time at home, we encourage a focus on relationships and connection. Nature has a profound ability to bring people closer and focus on living more mindfully. We acknowledge the importance of play in our curriculum. You may like to set aside a moment to share some bonding time through play with your child outside. Below are examples of simple word prompts to help guide you, however, don’t feel restricted by the word.
Home Learning
Thank you to all of the wonderful parents, grandparents, big brothers and sisters and anyone else who have supported the students accessing technology to complete some of their online learning tasks. The teachers love seeing your progress on Reading Eggs and seeing all your work on SeeSaw. Keep posting, we love it!
Keep safe and God Bless you,
Courtney Porter, Acting Assistant Principal
Acting REC News
For all whose day starts with anxiety, as they leave the security of home worrying about the risk of infection; particularly those whose health or age classifies them as vulnerable. Loving God, be close, keep them safe, along with all whose tasks today includes the care of frail and elderly. And for all of us, grant wisdom to make sensible choices, not just for ourselves, but for everybody.
Feast of St Mary of The Cross- 8th August
Mary MacKillop dreamed of being a Sister, she really wanted to help and teach poor children and wanted them to know of God’s love for them.
Together with a young priest Julian Tenison Woods, she began to do something about her dream. They began a congregation called the Sisters of St Joseph. The Sisters went out to isolated bush places to educate the poor children wherever they were. They went across Australia and New Zealand, not only for education but they also cared for the sick, homeless and orphans.
Holy Spirit Infants, Abermain was established by the Sisters of St Joseph.
Mary Mackillop faced many difficulties but through it all she had faith in God and worked to bring God’s word to the poor people. Wherever there were poor children or a need to be met the Sisters were there for them. Mary believed wherever there was a need you did something about it.
The story of Mary’s life reminds us that there are people throughout our world and in our own community for whom life is not easy.
It also reminds us that taking up the challenge to help others can be difficult, but in helping the disadvantaged, we are following in the footsteps of Jesus. Mary MacKillop was the first Australian to be recognised by the Church as a Saint.
Last Thursday all classes celebrated the feast of Saint Mary of the Cross by joining in a Zoom liturgy hosted by KW. Each class shared a famous saying of Mary Mackillop and spent time reflecting on how they could be more like Saint Mary of the Cross.
Feast of The Assumption- 15th August
August 15 is the Feast of the Assumption of the Virgin Mary. It is a Holy Day of Obligation and is a day to celebrate the day Mary was taken up into Heaven. We celebrate Mary’s passing over, body and soul, from this world into heaven with Jesus, her son. We remember that Mary was especially chosen by God to be the mother of Jesus. Mary was a holy and prayerful woman who showed great trust and love for God.
Loving father,
We ask that we learn from Mary and live our lives always saying “yes” to whatever God wants from us.
Help us to be strong in our hearts, like Mary was and show others our belief in God.
Amen
Parish Mass Times
Due to COVID Lockdown all Masses will NOT be celebrated. Please note Sunday Mass will be livestreamed from Cessnock on Sunday 22nd August at 10:30am.
