Dear Parents / Caregivers and families, 

Last Sunday our faith community celebrated the great Feast of Pentecost. The word ‘Pentecost’ means ‘the fiftieth day’. Historically, Pentecost was a Jewish feast that celebrated God’s gift of the Ten Commandments to the people of Israel. This event took place fifty days after their escape from Egypt. As is often the case in the bible, the themes beautifully come together. Fifty days after God saves his chosen people from slavery in Egypt they receive the laws that will define them as a nation and establish them up as God’s chosen people. They commit themselves to living their lives in accordance with these laws and in doing so, they hope to demonstrate to the world that they are indeed worthy of God’s love. And so, just as on the fiftieth day after the Jewish Passover, God gifted His chosen people with the laws of love.  How beautiful to realise that on the fiftieth day after the New Passover, commemorated through Jesus’ death and resurrection, God once again gifted his people with the means to live the law of love faithfully and fearlessly by gifting them with the Holy Spirit. 

At the Ascension, Jesus commissioned his followers to complete the task he came to do. This mission is continued today through the work of his Church. Jesus promised he would not leave us as orphans and that he would send the Holy Spirit to guide and help us to live out the messages of the Gospels. Pentecost demonstrates how the Church should be if it is to be Jesus’ presence and voice in the world. Like the members of early church, the faithful today must be fearless, relentless, and actively striving for justice. 

The usual image of Pentecost is of the ‘tongues of fire’ alighting the heads of the apostles. 

But there’s another, quieter image, that comes from St John’s Gospel and recounts Jesus’ appearance to his disciples on Easter evening. This was the gospel used on Sunday. The disciples were gathered in the familiar Upper Room, the doors being barred, and the windows shut for fear of the Jews. Jesus enters the room, and his presence fills their hearts. “When the disciples saw the Lord, they were filled with joy. ‘Peace be with you’, he said, and he showed them his hands and his side.” The presence of the Spirit of Jesus is the presence of peace and joy. Pentecost is about encounter and receptiveness to the workings of the Holy Spirit.

The meaning of Pentecost is the realisation that all of us have been given the abundance of the Spirit — to communicate peace and joy, to preach compassion and forgiveness. These continue to be the gifts of Pentecost that can be brought to life in each of us individually and collectively as the living Church, now and forever.

May your week ahead be filled be moments where you can encounter the peace, joy, compassion, and forgiveness of the Holy Spirit.

Tina Murray

Principal

PARENT / TEACHER CONFERENCES

These are an important opportunity to formally meet with your child/ren’s teacher and to discuss their report and progress to date. 

Reports are scheduled to be sent home on Monday June 20.

The benefits of attending these learning conferences with your child can never be underestimated. They provide an essential opportunity to set goals and targets for continued learning in Semester 2, as well as, strongly reinforcing the notion of partnership between home and school, which research indicates is a strong indicator of student success. 

EMERGENCY PROCEDURES

The safety of your child and all students in our school as well as the safety of the school, staff and support personnel is very important to us. To maintain a safe environment for our students to study and learn, it is a necessary compliance requirement that we practice our emergency and crisis response plans by having drills designed to exercise our procedures. 

In response to previous parent feedback, we are providing the following information to help parents understand the importance of these practices as well as to understand each type of drill.

The students and staff of our school are required to practice the following emergency drills each year. Each type of drill is explained below.

EVACUATION DRILLS

The school is required to conduct a 'evacuation drill' on an annual basis.  

During an 'Evacuation Drill', students will be safely escorted along a designated evacuation route to our pre-determined evacuation site – the Infants Grass Area.  

At the conclusion of the drill, all students will be escorted back to their classrooms. We want each student to understand and be aware of the importance of this drill and not be afraid when the alarm is sounded.  By practising they will know what to do and how to do it in the event of an actual emergency.

LOCKDOWN DRILLS

The school must conduct at least one 'Lockdown Drill' throughout each school year. This type of drill will secure the school building and safely shelter all students, staff, and visitors inside the building.  The purpose of this drill is to keep the students safe from any danger outside or inside the building.  During a 'lockdown drill' all the perimeter doors to the school building will be locked and will remain locked until the danger or issue outside or inside the building is removed.  To enable everyone to remain safe, no one will be allowed to enter the building or leave the building until the drill is completed.  

In the event of an actual emergency, to maintain the safety of everyone involved and to maintain order, we respectfully ask that you abide by the following:

• Do not come to the school site;
• Do not call the school offices (as we will be busy with the drill or actual emergency);
• Do not contact students or staff members via mobile phone or social media (as they will be busy with the drill or actual emergency);
• Avoid social media posts. Correct information will be disseminated through the Compass system as soon as possible;
• Please make sure that all contact information is current at all times so that you can be reached without delay in the event of an emergency;
• In the event of an actual emergency, you will receive Compass notifications about where to pick up your child as soon as practicable.
• Please remember that these safety practice drills are done to help maintain our schools as a safe place to learn and work.
• Please discuss these procedures with your child as both drills will be undertaken in the coming weeks.

Enjoy your week and the moments of grace that may come your way. 

Tina Murray

Principal

PHOTOGRAPHIC CONSENT

During the enrolment process parents are requested to provide direction regarding consent to use photographs, visuals, audio content and other work relating to their child for promotion and communication within the school and or the Diocese of Wollongong. This information must be updated each year to allow us to update our Compass records. If you believe this information has not been updated recently please return the consent form attached below. Additional information about consent is included on the form.