Last Sunday’s Gospel…  Jesus healed a leper in the reading from last Sunday’s gospel. He took pity on the way the man was forced to live apart and responded with compassion. After he healed the leper Jesus told him to go to the temple so he could be declared clean. This was to follow the law of the time and also to show that His miracle of healing was verified by the authorities. We need to look to the outcasts of society today and look for how we can be kind and bring them back to be included. 

Did you know…  Lepers were outcasts in biblical times because there was no cure for the disease so keeping the lepers apart was their way of trying to reduce infection. Leprosy is treatable and curable with modern medicine. 

News…

It was lovely to see parents at our Ash Wednesday liturgy today – thank you for coming! I hope the students enjoyed their pancakes yesterday too. I did learn that in previous years parents have come and helped with Shrove Tuesday. We are still learning about how things have been done in the past at Mary Immaculate but please know that we are trying to make sure the students don’t miss out on anything even if things are a little different now. A kind parent is going to give me a list of what used to happen and when. We may change things around a bit but will let you know. A number of parents came into the office and gave us money towards the pancakes for the student yesterday unasked. It was a very touching gesture and shows what a beautiful community Mary Immaculate is – thank you!

We are conducting a review of the Class Leaders introduced last year. We have no intention of cancelling it but are holding off just for this term so we can look at some organisational things. For example, if a student had a turn last year, can they have another this year?  Do we need to look at behaviour records before allowing students to be leaders? What is the role of the class leader? Do we start a Student Representative Council (SRC) and the class leaders are members of that council? Is there a better way of hearing student voice than SRC? We want to consult with the students, staff and also with you now that we have had it in place for a year to make sure we have a system that serves the students well. We will keep you posted on how we are going with it and please look out for opportunities for you to have your say.

We have been speaking to some students about uniforms. We tell them they aren’t in trouble – and they aren’t, but are trying to make sure we are complying with the policy which is in the Information Book. It is important that we get the little things right so we can get the big things right too. That’s the message we are giving the students. Please support them by making sure they have the correct shoes, earrings and all hair is tied back if it is long enough to do so. Any jewellery must be WHS compliant and we are happy to explain that to you. If you have any troubles getting the correct uniform, please just ask us. If your child won’t believe you and says they are allowed to wear certain things, let us know that too and we will back you up! We are happy to help.

I had the great pleasure of going to the launch of Project Compassion yesterday with Ms Ahern and our school captains. Please feel free to send money in at any time during Lent for Project Compassion and we will be doing some fundraising events in the coming weeks as well.

Our Blessing and Opening is next Wednesday at 9.30am. It will be on the basketball court. You are warmly invited to attend the liturgy, which will be conducted by Bishop Brian Mascord with Fr Leo in attendance too along with Mr Peter Hill, our Director of Schools. You may also see some special guests – Mrs Murray and Mr Spencer.

God Bless, 

Ms Michelle Rolfe, Mr Lindsay Burns and Ms Emilia Ahern

Principal and Acting Assistant Principals