Dear Parents & Caregivers,

On Sunday, we celebrated one of the most important Feast days of our Church, the great Feast of Pentecost. The word ‘Pentecost’ in Greek means, the ‘fiftieth day’. It marks the 50th day after Easter Sunday and the end of the Easter Season. In the Jewish tradition, Pentecost occurred fifty days after Passover and was a time of celebration after the harvest. After Jesus’ death the people he had been intimately connected with on a daily basis for the three years of his public ministry, his disciples, returned to their normal lives. Fear and the absence of a clear understanding of the mission ahead sent them back to the default safety of the lives they led before they met Jesus. They became people frozen by fear and uncertainty. On the day of Pentecost, all this changed when the Holy Spirit descended on them as they were gathered together in Jerusalem. This gathering was the beginning of the first Christian church. The Holy Spirit gave to these frozen disciples the gifts of courage, wisdom, understanding and knowledge so they could finally understand their role in continuing the mission of Jesus. The Feast of Pentecost is a celebration of the harvest of the seeds of faith, because the disciples finally came to understand the significance of Jesus teaching. As a teacher, this can be liked to the moment when our students finally put the pieces of learning together and are able to transfer this learning to a new situation. Jesus understood the fragility of his followers and they knew that would need these gifts if they were to be able to go out to all the nations and spread the good news. New believers in Jesus were baptised as they joined this church. They, along with the first followers of Jesus, shared life together, focusing on teaching, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayer. They shared their belongings so that no one was hungry or needy. All this was done to keep alive the memory and mission of Jesus. Jesus began his work of mission and after Pentecost he had a church to continue the mission, he had begun ~ to make present in the here and now, the Kingdom of God.

The church, planted on that first Pentecost, started small. We can learn from their experience, especially given our current circumstances. We can learn that numbers are not important. Money is not important. Buildings are not important. But enthusiasm is. Wherever people come to God in prayer, wherever compassion and caring are shared, wherever the love of Christ is proclaimed as the overriding and all-consuming purpose in life, there is God's Church. This is a Spirit-led church.

Pentecost invites us to consider our own participation in the fellowship, worship, and mission of the church. It is a time to renew our commitment to live as a member of the body of Christ and to use our gifts to build the church and share the love and justice of Christ with the world.

The church of Jesus Christ is a place where every single person matters, where every member contributes to the health and mission of the church Pentecost presents us with an opportunity to consider how we are living each day.

I pray that the gifts of Wisdom, Understanding, Right Judgment,

Courage, Knowledge, Reverence, Wonder and Awe are

present in our lives and the lives of our children and that through

the power of the Holy Spirit, we can all play our part transforming

the world into a better place. This begins in the here and now and

is played out through our interactions with our family, friends and

community, especially our community here at Mary Immaculate.

Let us be ‘tongues of fire’, the identifiable sign of God’s presence in all we say and all we do.

Let Christ be our way and life.

Mrs Tina Murray

Principal

PICK UP ARRANGEMENTS / MOBILE PHONES

All changes to pick up arrangements should be communicated via the Office so that we are able to monitor student movement and safety each day. As a result, parents are requested to reconsider the need for their child to bring a mobile phone to school. Currently students are not permitted to have mobile phones during the school day and are required to deliver the phone to the Office upon arrival each day and they are responsible for collecting phones at the end of the day. In order to establish clear and transparent expectations parents who continue to request that their child bring a mobile phone to school are required to complete a Mobile Phone / Electronic Device Agreement. Please ensure that that all parties have read, signed and returned their agreement to the conditions of the school Mobile Phone / Electronic Device Policy. In order to support privacy and responsible use, any student found with a mobile phone in the future will have the phone confiscated and parents will be notified to collect it. Students are never permitted to take unauthorised photos with phones / electronic devices.

ARRIVAL AT SCHOOL

As a school community it is our goal to ensure learning can effectively take place for every student. Thank you for the wonderful efforts that have been made to ensure students arrive at school prior to the bell. Teachers have noted that students who are at school are much better placed to commence their learning in a more settled and focused way.

Please ensure your morning routine takes into account the busyness and possible congestion at peak times. Please ensure you attend to signage regarding Bus, Kiss and Drop and Parking Zones around the school site and model safe behaviour for your children by always crossing the road at the designated crossing. Parents are not allowed to use the Church carpark or turning circle as a drop off point. Families who have issues getting their children to school on time are asked to make contact so that we can discuss possible supports we may be able to offer.

Let’s work together to lower the rate of late arrivals each week.

OVERDUE LIBRARY BOOKS

We have currently suspended the loaning of Library books and are focusing on ensuring all books that are overdue are returned for processing.

We are seeking support in reducing the total number of Library resources that are currently missing. Please encourage your children to search for any school Library books that have not yet been returned so that we can reduce this total. We will be providing an update each week and thank you in advance for your support.