Dear Parents and Caregivers
Welcome back to Term 2. I look forward to serving the community in my interim role as Acting Assistant Principal RIM over the coming 5 weeks. Already, Term 2 is shaping up to be a very full term, filled with many significant school, system and national events.
Catholic Education Week
This week, we celebrate Catholic Education Week. The theme for Catholic Education Week in 2021 is Raising Hearts and Minds to the wonder and awe of God’s creation. With a focus on creation, our school has been invited to engage in dialogue around ways God’s creation inspires wonder and awe within us, whilst also calling us to action as caretakers of each other and our world. “A true ecological approach always becomes a social approach” (Pope Francis, 2015, Laudato si’ encyclical letter, page 35). Together we celebrate our teaching and learning experiences and what it means to be part of a Catholic school community.
Mother’s Day
On Sunday, we celebrate our loving mothers who have shaped us to be the people we are today. Today we welcomed mothers, grandmothers, aunties and friends in our community for morning tea and a student lead liturgy, it was a wonderful celebration.
200 Years of Catholic Education Mass
In 2021, Catholic Education is celebrating 200 years in Australia, marking the bicentenary of the first Catholic school which was established in Parramatta in October 1820, initially providing education for just over 30 students. Over 200 years, Catholic schools have grown to become the largest of schooling in Australia (outside government) with one in five school age students attending a Catholic school.
To commemorate the bicentenary, a National Mass will be held on 24 May in Week 5. The National Mass will be celebrated within the Solemnity of Our Lady Help of Christians. In our own context; this will involve coordinating a whole school celebration:
8:20 - 8:45 William Street drop off
9:15 Mass at St Ignatius Church
10:15 Recess play
10:45 Buddy activity
Sacrament of Confirmation (Year 4-6)
Last term, those wishing to be confirmed within the Family Faith Formation Program, attended the first of two meetings on Tuesday 6 April, in Week 11. Baptism, Confirmation and First Eucharist are called Sacraments of Initiation and each initiation invites recipients and their families to become even more closely united with Jesus. The second meeting and combined rehearsal on Tuesday 18 May in Week 5, will follow Pentecost Sunday. Pentecost, is the time leading up to Jesus’ ascension into heaven, when he asked his disciples to wait in Jerusalem so that they could be baptised by the Holy Spirit (Acts of the Apostles 1:5). The students will celebrate the Sacrament of Confirmation on Tuesday 25 May.
Sacrament of First Reconciliation (Year 3)
The first meeting for those wishing to receive their First Reconciliation within the Family Faith Formation Program will be in the first week of Term 3 on Tuesday 20 July. Reconciliation and Anointing of the Sick are called Sacraments of Peace and Healing. Both Sacraments invite recipients and their families into a deeper encounter with Jesus that focuses on forgiveness and restoring their relationship with God and with others.
For further information regarding the Sacraments within the Family Faith Formation Program please contact the Norwood Parish on 8332 0600.
Yours sincerely
Matthew Harrison
Acting APRIM