Today is Shrove Tuesday, so it is fitting that we take time to give thanks for the traditions we celebrate. It marks the beginning of Lent when we start our preparation for Easter.  We pray that we use this time to get ready for the most important Christian event of the year – the death of Jesus and His rising from the dead, and may we always remember the importance of this time.

We marked today with our first community breakfast of pancakes and toppings. It was lovely to see so many families join us from 8am on such a beautiful summer morning. We will have one community breakfast each term so that they become a significant and important feature on our calendar. 

Tomorrow begins the Lenten period and we celebrate it with Ash Wednesday Mass at 10am. This is to be followed by Rice Day, where we try to restrict ourselves to eating only one bowl of rice for the day and share the experience that many children around the world live every day.

Taking pride of place in our front office is an outstanding piece of artwork by an ex-colleague and valued staff member, the late Tina Holihan.  Tina completed this contemplative painting during her latter months of treatment when she reflected on her faith and the guidance of our Mother Mary. We thank Marianne McInerney for the generous donation to our school history and community. It is well worth a closer look to recognise the talent, faith and hope of Mrs Holihan.

Over the past months  Catholic Education has conducted and safety Risk review where our posts and connections have been assessed providing us  with a comprehensive knowledge of the current level of social media exposure, about information controlled and generated by the school and originating from others.  We strive to present a positive, harmonious image on social media that focuses on the wellbeing of students and staff across social media. They made many recommendation to be considered and implemented as a foundation to continue developing a positive social media presence.  Issues of privacy and reputation management are areas of concern. This also supports our insistence that students are not taking and posting photos and content of school. Over the coming weeks Leadership will be involved in education around device usage, privacy and settings. Stay tuned for parent information as well because it is of paramount importance that parents are aware and informed about risks and what their child is doing on social media at all times. This is doubly important for students and their messenger groups. Many of our students are online late at night, talking to people they do not know and are unaware of the risks that these habits pose.

Next Thursday 5^th March and Tuesday 10^th March Primary staff will host the parent/teacher/student conversations for the early weeks of 2020. This is an important opportunity to meet ‘up close and personal’ with the Primary staff to identify how the year has started for each child and to be informed about where their child currently is and where they plan to take them in the coming weeks of the year. Keep an eye out for session times and bookings and don’t miss out on an invaluable forum to support your child.

Don’t forget the important Community Working bee on 21 March at 10am. This is in anticipation of lots of parent helpers to get our school yards and gardens ready for registration at the end of March. There are so many jobs that we can do around the school, with the help of parents, that will make the school experience for our students even better. We will be shovelling soft fall for the climbing equipment, manicuring garden beds and mulching new plantings, pressure washing eating areas and the outside of buildings to remove caked on dust and dirt, small repair jobs and some general maintenance. We would so love to see as many parents as possible spare a few hours to help us tidy up the school grounds and buildings. We will provide a BBQ lunch and refreshments for the helpers.

This week, like every other week, we strive to ‘Learn, Lead and Live ‘  in all we do at school, to give our very best to rise by lifting others.

Remember if you have to choose between being exceptional or kind, be exceptionally kind!

God bless

Mrs Nicky Trinder

Principal