Welcome to week 8! The Fete has come and gone and it was a resounding success. Thank you to all the committee members, parents, staff and students who contributed to make the biannual event such a success. It was so lovely to see so many members of our school community coming together to enjoy the autumn evening and all the culinary delights and stalls on offer. At the time or writing this we are hopeful of generating funds in excess of $10,000. This is an amazing effort and one that will go a long way to providing excellent resources and opportunities for our students. A special thank you to Mrs Nancy Smith and her assistant Mrs Sharon Williams for their dedicated efforts in leading the Fete planning. Also to our wonderful and generous businesses who supported our prizes and raffle with their kind donations. A full list of sponsors will appear in subsequent newsletters. We could not run a successful fete without their support. Thank you to the parents who also generously donated items for the different stalls. It is greatly appreciated by our school.

As the term draws to a close we are busy organising the “catch ups” with parents in the form of parent/teacher/student interviews for our Primary and Secondary students (Our Infants students have already had the option to “catch up” with parents earlier in the term. You will find attached to the newsletter and in subsequent schoolzine messages the links to log onto the Sessionkeeper platform to book an interview. If the times are not suitable then please contact the school and we will try and arrange an alternative time. Please remember that these are only very short interviews to allow all parents the opportunity to meet with teachers. If you require a longer interview then please make an additional appointment at a later date to meet to discuss any important lengthy issues.

Secondary Parent/Teacher Interviews:   https://shcscootamundra.schoolzineplus.com/view-session/21

Primary Parent/Teacher interviews:        https://shcscootamundra.schoolzineplus.com/view-session/22

Our Year 9 students are in the throes of preparing for the annual Passion Play presentation. Please join us on Friday 2 April at 11am to participate in this prayerful presentation of the Lord’s Passion and to remind us of the foundation of our Faith and beliefs.

Tomorrow we will host our annual Cross Country Carnival at the Cootamundra Country Club. This is an event for ALL students from Years 3 to 10. It is a compulsory day of school and it is mandatory that students attend. This is not a flexible school day where students who are not keen to compete take a long weekend. The secondary classes will be completing ALL of their normal Friday lessons when they return, albeit a bit shorter than normal, and they will be expected to be present unless there are legitimate documented reasons. This hard line is in keeping with our goal this year to strengthen student engagement by encouraging students to be present at school as much as possible. If students do not wish to be competitive in the event they can still assist or walk the course at a brisk pace to promote physical and mental wellbeing. This is genuinely a lovely day to spend together. There will be a BBQ lunch available at the course and the canteen will be open on their return. Any student who does not present will be required to have a note from their parent or guardian explaining the reason for their absence. This is not only a school requirement but is also a legal requirement that is regularly audited by the Department and Catholic Education.

It was a lovely celebration for our Year 4 students who chose to make their First Reconciliation and Eucharist last week. Thank you to Mrs Maxwell, Mrs Niddrie and Ms Van Kerk Oerle for their dedication in preparing the students and coordinating the celebrations. It was impressive to note the reverence and solemnity that the children brought to this significant event in their Faith journey. Congratulations to these students.

Remember our mantra of being extraordinarily kind as we are commanded in Ephesians 4:32”Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you”. We have no better example of how to be kind than the person of Jesus Christ.

Go gently was the parting message from Fr Kevin every time I saw him. It is sage advice for us all!

Mrs Nicky Trinder

Prinicipal