In the weekend gospel Jesus, the preacher transitioned to Jesus the teacher as he continued the Sermon on the Plain. Jesus began by giving a new command to anyone who wanted to be one of his disciples. They were required to love their enemies and do good to those who hate them. In Biblical times love was demonstrated by remaining attached and in a relationship with others, typically the members of your own family group.

Jesus demands that his disciples not judge, not condemn, and not withhold forgiveness - from family members, from those we don’t get along with, from those who are different and from those we consider to be our enemies. 

That was his calling, and as his followers, it becomes ours as well. 

It can be easy to fall into a habit of judgement and condemnation. When we judge and condemn we shut out the Holy Spirit and deprive the same Holy Spirit of an opportunity to break through old barriers and shine a new light in the world. 

In Christ our one-time enemies can become our new brothers, sisters and friends. We are challenged to try to see others as God sees them, remembering that God’s kindness and mercy is boundless.

We can learn from our Jewish brothers and sisters who teach that faith is brought to life when our deeds surpass our creeds. Authentic Christians strive to be recognised by the way they act around others.  So, what is Jesus’ challenge for us this week? Simply put, it is the challenge to try to put our faith into action this week. 

We pray that Jesus will show us people in need. When they are revealed we are called to give generously. This active expression of faith blesses others but will also be a blessing for us too.

Our response this week is beautifully summarised by the Peace Prayer of St Francis of Assisi. Wishing you many moments to bring the message of Christ alive through your way and life.

Tina Murray

Principal

SPECIALIST REPORTS

At times, parents seek advice and expertise from external health professionals to support their child’s learning or wellbeing needs. To provide students with consistent support we request that copies of any reports or suggestions provided by these external professionals be provided directly to the Office either as a hard copy or via email. 

The school has a process to disseminate this information to all staff involved in your child’s learning. 

School staff are unable to liaise with external professionals until a Consent to Exchange Information has been completed by parents. Please contact your child’s teacher if this type of communication is required. 

NATIONALLY CONSISTENT COLLECTION OF DATA ON STUDENTS WITH DISABILITY (NCCD)

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019). 

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

• year of schooling;
• category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social / emotional;
• level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

• formally recognise the support and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools; 
• consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools;
• develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

The NCCD provides state and federal governments with the information they need to plan more broadly for the support of students with disability.

The NCCD will have no direct impact on your child and your child will not be involved in any testing process. The school will provide data to the Australian Government in such a way that no individual student will be able to be identified – the privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information. To find out more about these matters, please refer to the Australian Government’s Privacy Policy(https://www.dese.gov.au/about-us/resources/department-education-skills-and-employment-complete-privacy-policy-0).

Further information about the NCCD can be found on the NCCD Portal (https://www.nccd.edu.au).

If you have any questions about the NCCD, please contact the school to discuss this with a member of the Diverse Learning Team or a member of the School Leadership Team. 

An easy to read booklet is included with the newsletter to provide additional information to parents.

Congratulations to K Blue, the first class to come close to earning a Gold Star for the year!! Many other classes are also close, it is looking better this week! Again  - a reminder of Library days for each grade:

This week

Thursday – Year 3

Friday – Year 2

Next week 

Tuesday – Year 4

Wednesday – Year 1 

Thursday – Kinder

Please remind your children to bring their Library bags on the day of their lesson. A Library bag is essential to protect the books while in transit, so they cannot borrow without a bag. We have already had one book damaged because it was returned to school in the school bag without being protected by the Library bag. Thank you for your support in this matter.

PREMIERS' READING CHALLENGE

Even though we can’t register yet for the PRC you can start reading the books. It is an easy challenge – students in Years 3 - 6 only need to read 20 books from the PRC list, and students in K, 1 and 2 are required to read 30. The booklists are found at:

https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html

If you would like a record sheet it can be printed from the website, or the students can collect one from the Library.

You can search our Library catalogue to see all the available books on the list – go to oliver.dow.catholic.edu.au/miev, and type ‘premier’ in the search box. You can then select the required level, either K - 2, 3 - 4, or 5 - 6.

TECHNOLOGY

Many thanks to all the parents who have read and signed the Diocesan Agreement for Students’ Responsible Use of Technology at school. Kinder students will be issued theirs for parents to read through, and in our Library lessons we will be going through what is expected of even our Kinder students in relation to use of technology.

DAILY READING

Please remember to try to read with your children for at least ten minutes a day, and encourage your children to read themselves. February 2  was World Read Aloud Day, a day when all around the world people are encouraged to read aloud to each other to focus on the importance of reading aloud and sharing stories. Around the world parents and teachers recognise the value of reading aloud to your children, no matter how old they are. Have a look at the website,

http://www.litworld.org/wrad, and even download a book to share with your children.