FROM THE PRINCIPAL'S DESK
This week we celebrated two significant days that are set aside for the spiritual superheroes of our church.The feast days of All Saints Day and All Souls Day celebrate the communion of saints and remind us that we have access to a massive list of prayer partners who pray with us and pray for us. The list includes the official 'greats' of our church history, but it also includes family and friends whose holiness and love directly touched and enriched our lives.
We need both heavenly models of holiness, as well as, earthly models of holiness. Saints are all around us. They are the women and men whose generous spirit reflects the Gospel’s call to love and service. Some do it by making the ordinary holy through a spirit of simplicity and humility. Some do it by showing extraordinary courage in sickness and adversity. Some do it by railing against injustice and working to bring equality and dignity to all.
One of the messages from these feast days is a call to holiness. This sounds overly simplistic and obvious, but it is at the basis of all we do as a church and as the ‘People of God.’
Pope Francis told those gathered in St. Peter's Square on 2 October, 2014 to “Be not be afraid of holiness, do not be afraid to aim high, to be loved and purified by God, do not be afraid to let yourself be guided by the Holy Spirit.” Our God, he said, wants us to be part of a Church “that knows how to open their arms to welcome everyone, which is the home not of a few, but the home of all, where everyone can be renewed, transformed, sanctified by his love,” including “the strongest and the weakest, the sinners, the indifferent, and those who feel discouraged and lost.”
Of course, we all have different ideas of holiness. In the Beatitudes, the wonderful litany of "Blessed are" statements, holiness is equated with being poor in spirit, meek, mourning, hungering for righteousness, merciful, and clean of heart.
“Holiness does not consist in doing extraordinary things,” Pope Francis said, but in leaving it to God. He stressed that “the meeting of our weakness with the strength of his grace,” will give us the confidence to engage in active service to others.
Holiness can be seen all around us in the world and we are surrounded by future saints who are living among us in the messiness that comes from living life within a community.
Today more than ever we need strong and vibrant communities where we can pray and be formed, communities that send us forth, not keep us in. The saints these communities create are women and men whose lives flow seamlessly from prayer to action. We need to hear their stories and be inspired by their witness. The saints provide the Church with a sort of kaleidoscope through which we can see Christ’s splendour from a thousand different angles. The saints, in a thousand bursts of colour, refract some part of Christ’s infinitely brilliant light in their own time and place. The saints help to make known the Christ who has been revealed and yet remains in part hidden.
The invitation for us, our vocation, is to reflect a bit of Christ’s immeasurable light in our own unique hue. What is it in us that can help to make something of Christ visible here and now? Christ in His earthly life was not from Eagle Vale. He was not a School Teacher or an Accountant. He wasn’t a Mother or Father. He wasn’t an Artist or an Engineer. He wasn’t elderly. Although our own unique circumstances are different from the details of Jesus’ own earthly life, as his disciples we are challenged to ask ourselves how Christ’s light can shine through our own lives?
We need our saints. They give us the courage to believe that Christ’s inexhaustible light can also be reflected in some new way through our lives.
Let’s look ahead to a week filled with moments to reflect Christ’s light through our words and actions as we strive to make Christ our way and life.
Tina Murray
Principal
Thank you to all parents and caregivers for your support during our changed dismissal procedures.A reminder that supervision commences in the morning at 8am.
For safety reasons please avoid leaving children unattended at the school gates prior to this time.
Supervision concludes at 2.45pm each day.
Parents who require care for their children outside of these times are encouraged to contact OOSH to discuss onsite options.
It is with great sadness but also a great deal of pride that I share the news that Megan Price and Ally Carter have been successful in gaining permanent positions at St Paul’s, Camden and St Clare’s, Narellan Vale commencing in 2022. St Paul’s and St Clare’s will be enormously blessed by the gifts both Megan and Ally will bring to their communities and the contributions they will make. In turn, both educators will have the opportunity to grow both personally and professionally.
Congratulations to the Nicole Mortimer, Cheryl Irwin, Joshua Holmes, Maryanne Bulfon and Bianca Grasso who will contribute to our staff during 2022.
The following staff will be providing leadership release in 2022 - Bevina Potter, Alison McInerney, and Megan King.
Congratulations to Melanie Keith who will be joining our staff in 2022 in the role of PE teacher.
COVID-19 SYMPTOMS
Students and staff must not attend work or school if unwell, even with mild symptoms of COVID-19. Any person with any COVID-19 symptoms must stay at home and not return to school unless:
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they have a negative COVID-19 test result and are symptom free; or
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they have isolated for 10 school days, when no medical certificate is available.
In circumstances where children have other medical reasons for recurrent symptoms, a letter from their GP is sufficient to negate the requirement for a negative test.
Anyone who is unwell with COVID-19 symptoms (Common and Expanded) MUST get tested and self-isolate until a negative result is received.
SYMPTOMS INCLUDE:
COMMON CORONAVIRUS SYMPTOMS:
- Fever, Coughing, Shortness of breath (difficulty breathing), Sore throat, Loss of smell or taste
EXPANDED CORONAVIRUS SYMPTOMS
- Headache, Muscle or joint pain, Runny nose, Fatigue, Nausea, Vomiting or diarrhoea, Loss of appetite, Conjunctivitis.
TERM 4 P & F ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
The next P & F General Meeting is scheduled for next Tuesday evening, 9 November at 7.00 pm.
Whether you regularly attend, used to attend but haven’t for a while, or have never attended before, I encourage you to come along and help contribute to the educational experience for our students.
The P & F are vital to our school community and your involvement is a concrete way to bring to life the commitment made during the enrolment process. At the General Meeting there will be many opportunities for discussion and your views, opinions and ideas would be greatly encouraged and valued. Please use the link below to register your attendance for the Zoom meeting and to add any General Business agenda items.
https://forms.gle/G3qPGKjZKD3uL9ax7