Dear Families
End of Year Thanksgiving Mass
Just a gentle reminder that this will take place on Tuesday 5 December at 6.30pm. Students are expected to attend, and we hope all families will join us to give thanks for a productive year. We will also farewell our Year 6 students. Families will be notified by their child’s class teacher where to meet beforehand.
ReLAT (Religious Literacy Assessment Tool)
The ReLAT results have been published and Nativity‘s average is 3.5% above the state average. Our year 4 students who undertook the test, performed particularly well in the ‘Moral Life’ and ‘Sacramentality and Prayer’ knowledge strands, the latter being well above the state average.
St Vinnies Christmas Food Appeal
The collection of donations in the classrooms is slowly growing. All your donations will be used to make hampers for families in our own neighbourhood who are finding life tough. As interest rates and the cost-of-living increase, more and more people are reaching out to Vinnies for help. As we sit down to lunch on Christmas Day, it is a nice feeling to know that by donating to Vinnies, we have helped other families celebrate as well.
Years ago, anthropologist Margaret Mead was asked by a student what she considered to be the first sign of civilization in a culture. The student expected Mead to talk about fishhooks, clay pots or grinding stones.
But no. Mead said that the first sign of civilization in an ancient culture was a femur (thighbone) that had been broken and then healed. Mead explained that in the animal kingdom, if you break your leg, you die. You cannot run from danger, get to the river or hunt for food. You are meat for prowling beasts. No animal survives a broken leg long enough to heal.
A broken femur that has healed is evidence that someone has taken time to stay with the one who fell, has bound up the wound, has carried the person to safety and has tended the person through recovery. Helping someone else through difficulty is where civilization starts, Mead said. We are at our best when we serve others.
“Whenever you did it for any of my people, no matter how unimportant they seemed, you did it for me.” Matthew 25:40
Blessings to you all
Sharyn Black
Assistant Principal Religious Identity and Mission
