From The APRIM
Dear Nativity families,
I have put together a schedule of Parish Hosted School Masses for you to put into your diaries. It would be lovely to see as many families as possible coming along to share in these celebrations and join us for morning tea afterward.
Schedule of school hosted Parish Masses
Next week is the Whole School Mass for the Feast Day of St Mary Mackillop. Mary is an extremely important part of who we are as a Josephite School. Mary wanted to serve Jesus in the poor. Whoever they were, whatever their needs, it was the poor who called her into service. Mary was moved by the lack of education, medical care and social services amongst the poor she saw around her. She worked tirelessly to make a difference, to uphold the dignity of the most marginalised, dejected and deprived. As a school with a focus on Catholic Social Teaching, may we follow in Mary’s footsteps.
On the 15th August (Week 4) we celebrate the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. The Blessed Virgin Mary was “assumed”, body and soul, into heavenly glory when she died. Mary’s greatness comes from her participation in God’s plan and she is portrayed as an image of the Church. The Assumption feast day is celebrated as a holy day when Catholics are obliged to attend Mass in Mary’s honour.
There will be no school-hosted Masses during Weeks 9 & 10 due to planning and rehearsals for Grandparents Day.
Sacramental Retreat Day
On September 12th, alongside the Mass hosted by 3/4C, we will hold a Sacramental Retreat Day. This is an important occasion for our students and members of the Parish who are undertaking the Sacramental Program.
2025 School Theme
I have begun working with the Year 5 students on our Theme for next year. This year’s Theme is “Charging Hearts to Care for Our World”. The students will help come up with a theme and then create a design around that idea. The design that best represents this theme will then be placed on our Senior 2025 Jumpers, on staff emails and it will also be the focus of the Year 6 Retreat in 2025.
Student wellbeing
I have included the following website which is an excellent resource for all things parenting: https://raisingchildren.net.au There are pre-recorded webinars on anxiety in a family, videos on development and information about children at all different stages of their life, children with disabilities and information about how to tackle media and technology, just to name a few things. This is a great resource for anything as a parent you are unsure about or just need some information about.
Grace and peace,
Rachel Baulderstone
