Over the last few weeks, the Mary Immaculate Community has had many public opportunities to come together and be thankful -The Grandparents / Great People Day, Mr Spencer’s farewell, Confirmation last weekend.

Thankfulness is a major part of wellbeing. It creates inner wellbeing, an inner harmony and when our inner harmony goes missing, we are miserable.

Within our lives, thankfulness can be a kind of superglue, as it gives a strong sense of hope and confidence about the future. With life as busy as it is, we don’t seem to take time to count our blessings, to be thankful for our life, our friends, our family, for insights into our purpose for existence, for the ability to love and be loved. 

As parents we might hope that our children will learn to be thankful for the way we live our lives before them. We can tell them how thankful we are to have them in our lives. We can spend more time with them instead of buying them more toys and games and so teach them the value of relationships over material gifts. We can tell our children that we like it when they say 'thank you'. We can tell our children to be thankful for the inspiration that surrounds them: to marvel at the power of the wind, the immensity of the ocean, the perfection of the night sky, the rugged beauty of the Australian landscape. We can be sure that there is no place for feeling miserable in a thankful heart. 

God, our Father, we give thanks for the gift of life. We are grateful that, as intelligent beings, we can reflect upon the many gifts and blessings we have been given and be thankful for them.  Amen. 

CONFIRMATION – Last weekend 61 children from the Eagle Vale Parish received the Sacrament of Confirmation. It was a wonderful opportunity for the candidates to join with their families and friends and celebrate the next step in their Catholic faith journey. I would like to thank Bishop Brian, Fr Slawek and Fr Basti for the spiritual guidance they have given the candidates during this time. Our Year 6 Confirmation candidates have been assisted in their preparation for Confirmation through the commitment of Mrs McGinnity, Miss Price, Mrs Simpson, Mrs Irwin, Mrs Boss, Miss Carter, and the members of the Parish Sacramental Team. On behalf of the candidates I thank them for their readiness to live out their faith commitment.

CONGRATULATIONS – On behalf of our School Community I would like to congratulate Parker C from Year 5, on being selected to represent New South Wales in Softball in the NSWPSSA tournament. Well Done, Parker. 

UNIFORM – With the changes in weather conditions, children may wear either their full winter uniform or full summer uniform, not a combination of both. Tab ties for girls and ties for boys are part of our winter uniform and are not optional. All children will be expected to wear their summer uniform after the Term 3 pupil vacation. 

STUDENT LED CONFERENCES – Next week, most classes will be holding Student Led Conferences. A separate note went home last week in relation to this. If you wish to attend these conferences could you please complete the note and return it to school. We hope these conferences provide you with another opportunity to discuss your child’s learning with them. 

ART DISPLAY - Once again this year we will be showcasing the fabulous work the children in Years 5 and 6 produced as part of the Wollongong Diocese Christmas Art Competition. This will occur on Monday 23 and Tuesday 24 September from 2.00pm until 4.00pm. A ‘People’s Choice Award’ will be awarded to one Year 5 student and one Year 6 student. I hope all families will have the opportunity to view the display. 

BASKETBALL - We wish the children who will be representing our school at the Western Region Basketball Gala days on Thursday and Friday, the best of luck. As usual, I am sure the children will do themselves and our school proud.