Welcome to ‘Sabbath Week.’ The practice of designating one week each term for our staff as a ‘Sabbath Week’ has been a long-standing tradition at Mary Immaculate. It is a week when, as a staff, we acknowledge the business of our lives and take the opportunity to consciously reconnect with our families.

Meetings before or after school are discouraged and staff are encouraged to leave school on time, in order to take advantage of the opportunity to spend some extra time with their families.

In sharing this practice, I encourage each family in our School Community to join with staff in the practice of setting aside some extra, designated family time away from the usual weekly routine.

In future, Sabbath Week each term will be included in the School Calendar and publicised in the hope that the message can be highlighted within our Community.

Our School Community is often likened to a family. Just like the members of a family, it is only by the sharing of life that we really get to know one another. Living closely together we become familiar with each other's thoughts and feelings, how we react and respond in various situations and circumstances. It is often said that it is only through living together that we come to know what is on a person's mind and what is in a person's heart. It is in such ordinary experiences that the doctrine of the Trinity is revealed. In Jesus, God has come to live with us and we have come to know Him. We have been given a glimpse of God's inner being, coming to know what is on God's mind and what is in God's heart. We have come to know the mind and heart of God, the Word and the Spirit, and this has happened because he has shared our life, through the humanity and divinity of Jesus and by dwelling in, with and among us through the gift of the Holy Spirit. 'Sharing life' is necessarily reciprocal: in sharing our life God has taken us into sharing his life and love.

One of the first concepts we are taught about our faith is that God loves us.

The biblical idea of love is different from our Western understanding. In the West, we impart emotive elements to define the word love. In the Middle East the motivating aspect of love is attachment. To love means to remain attached to another. In the Middle East to love means to stay connected to others. When we know that God loves us, we also know that God wants to be connected to us. This is how religion is supposed to work. The word religion is constructed by the prefix “re” (as in repeat) and then “ligeo” (the root of the word ligament). Ligaments are the connective tissues that hold the bones together.

In a theological context then, religion “re-connects” us to God. That is the goal of love, to stay connected. Active participation in a faith community helps to keep us connected to God and to one another.

Wishing you a Lenten week ahead filled with many opportunities to reconnect to God who often appears to us in our interactions with others.

This theme of connection perfectly aligns to our School celebration of Harmony Day, which is officially celebrated around Australia on March 21. As a School Community we will be exploring the continuing message of Harmony Day ‘Everyone Belongs’ next week. Harmony Day calls upon each of us to deal with cultural, racial and religious intolerance by promoting respect, fairness and a sense of belonging for everyone. This day is about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone and recognises the truly multicultural nature of our society. It is an opportunity to celebrate the fact that Australians come from all over the world. Our Australian story is so diverse, and this is reflected in our own School Community, which is blessed by the mix of many cultures.

We come from many countries around the world and each of us contributes to making up the pages of the bigger Australian Story that we all share together today.

All students and staff are invited to wear a T-shirt that contains a colour/s that  from the flag of their family’s country of origin next Friday March 20. We thank Mrs Grados for her leadership in providing resources for this event and the staff for deepening the student’s appreciation for the importance of this day through coverage in classrooms and at morning assemblies next week.

The Mary Immaculate Community is invited to support the following initiative that honours the memory of a past Mary Immaculate student and much-loved Mt Carmel teacher, Peta Willard who we lost to Melanoma in May 2019.

To honour Peta, her family will by participating in the Macarthur Melanoma march on Sunday 15 March 2020. Together the team hopes to raise funds and awareness for the Melanoma Institute to help others who are fighting this deadly illness. For more information please visit https://macarthur.melanomamarch.org.au/page/DoItForPete

HIGH IMPORTANCE: Current Coronavirus (COVID-19) Advice
(as at 7:35pm 7 March 2020)

This information has already been shared yesterday via a separate Compass alert.
You will have seen the news of the Novel Coronavirus (COVID -19) on the news or radio. While this news can be upsetting for many people it is important that we work together to minimize the spread of the virus to protect our community.

Please find below the most current information available from the NSW government regarding exclusion from school.

Students/staff currently excluded from school are those who:

• have been in or transited through China within the last 14 days; 
• have been in or transited though Iran within the last 14 days commencing 1 March    2020;
• have been in or transited through the Republic of Korea (South Korea) commencing    5 March 2020;
• are under medical assessment; or
• have been diagnosed with the COVID-19; or
• have had contact with a confirmed case of COVID-19 infection.

Any confirmed case of COVID-19 will be excluded until they are medically cleared to return.

Students and staff who have returned to Australia and have shown no symptoms during the 14 day self-isolation period are able to return to school or work.

The NSW Ministry of Health has processes in place to identify any close contacts of cases confirmed in Australia. It is advising these close contacts about not attending work, school or early childhood and childcare services.

Catholic Schools NSW continues to work closely with NSW Ministry of Health to monitor and respond to developments and to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students and staff.

Practicing Good Hygiene:

Maintaining good hygiene standards is an important way to reduce the risk of acquiring and spreading respiratory infections. We ask staff, parents and carers and students to promote good hygiene including handwashing with soap, as handwashing is the single most effective way to reduce the spread of germs that cause respiratory disease.

Cough/sneeze etiquette also reduces the spread of airborne particles.

When coughing or sneezing, use a tissue to cover your nose and mouth. Dispose of the tissue afterwards. If you don’t have a tissue, cough or sneeze into your elbow.

Avoiding close contact with people who are ill and avoiding touching your eyes, nose and mouth are sound health practices.

Posters are attached to assist us to communicate a consistent message in teaching our children about these safe practices.