Dear Lord,

We thank You and praise You for giving us the sacrament of confession. We ask You to bless and prepare all who will soon make their First Confession.

Preparation to receive the sacrament of confession for the first time can be a very significant time in one’s life. As children prepare to make their First Confession, they are in great need of Your grace to be able to begin a lifelong habit of frequent confession and of returning to You at each instance of sin.

Please help all people who are preparing to make their First Confession, and we particularly ask today that You bless all children who will soon make this sacrament for the first time.

Help us to grow in union with You each day of our lives. Give us the grace to seek deeper holiness at every opportunity.

On Sunday we celebrated our Family Faith Focus (FFF) program in the Church. How lovely it was to have over 30 children attend this session where together, we were able to break open the Gospel and for the children to share their thoughts and words through hands-on activities and prayer.

Last night some of our students received the Sacrament of Reconciliation and our second group will make their Reconciliation on Wednesday at 7pm. The Sacrament of First Reconciliation for Children is a wonderful gift God has given to us. We are very blessed to be able to come to the sacrament of confession for forgiveness whenever we have sinned and repented.

The occasion of First Confession can be a very significant event in one’s spiritual life. A person’s first encounter with Jesus in the confessional can help set one on the path of frequent confession and of turning to God in repentance at every instance of sin. 

One’s First Confession can also be a time of great anxiety and fear. Many children and even adults who are preparing to make their First Confession are afraid of saying their sins aloud in front of a priest or are fearful of forgetting the proper way to do so.

Father Tom does a wonderful job of preparing our children and ensuring they feel safe and comfortable in their confession.

This weekend our first group of students will make their First Eucharist. We continue to keep these children in our prayers as they embark on this sacred Sacrament of receiving Christ.

My thanks to Father Tom, Joe McGrath our Religious Education Coordinator and our Year 4 teachers for their continued support and guidance of our students.

Next Monday we will be holding a ribbon ceremony for the 8s and 9s Field events from the Athletics carnival. We will also be presenting our regional Athletics athletes. It will be a great opportunity to recognise those who have excelled in their sport this year.

We wish our Year 5 students all the very best as they attend their Year 5 camp at Warrambui next Wednesday. My sincere thanks to our Year 5 teachers for their additional time away from their own families and for their care and support of our students. Camp is such a wonderful opportunity for our students to grow and learn with each other.

I look forward to hearing all about the adventures when the students return next Friday.

Next Thursday 19 September, our Director of Catholic Education Ross Fox will be visiting our school and meeting with me to discuss our plans and progress for 2025.

Consent and online boundaries: how to support your primary-aged child

As children begin to navigate the online world, they need to know how to make decisions around consent and boundaries. A valuable webinar from the office of the eSafety Commissioner is available for all parents and carers to register for at no cost is being held this Wednesday 11 September. The webinar will outline strategies for parents and carers, as well as support those hard-to-have conversations. You can register via this link:

https://register.gotowebinar.com/rt/6170129837390503000

Seeking interest: Term 4 social gathering 

Our school community council met last week, and part of the discussion involved a proposal for an opportunity for families to gather informally in a social setting e.g. a park. Part of the discussion involved families who may be living with neurodiversity, challenging behaviours and/or learning difficulties or disability.  

The School Community Council are interested in knowing whether your family would like the opportunity once a term to gather for a few hours one Sunday afternoon to chat, eat and let kids play and/or hear from guest speakers once a semester to learn more about childhood challenges and how we can better support our STA children to flourish.

We have created a form to collect your ideas on this initiative, which you are invited to complete by Monday 23 September https://forms.office.com/r/6QtbXrkrvq

2024 Fete Funds

We are excited to announce that we have been able to put forward the funds raised from the fete to contribute to school and playground improvements. These include the purchase of new table and chair settings for the junior eating area, seeking quotes for new bench seating around the kitchen garden area and oval as well as an upgrade of our bubblers! We look forward to sharing with you when these projects are completed. Thank you all for your continued support to make these improvements happen.

Save the dates:

• Wednesday 11 September. First Reconciliation 7pm @ the church
• Thursday 12 September. RUOKDay
• Friday 13 September. 3P prayer focus assembly at 12pm
• Saturday 14 September @ 5pm. Sacrament of First Eucharist
• Sunday 15 September @ 9am. Sacrament of First Eucharist
• Tuesday 17 September. Year 2 Excursion to Questacon 9:15am -12:30pm
• Wednesday 18 September to Friday 20 September. Year 5 camp to Warrambui
• Friday 20 September. Kinder Whole Grade Assembly @12pm and Culture Corroboree Day @ University of Canberra
• Saturday 21 September. Clothing Pool open 9.30-11am
• Saturday 21 September @ 5pm. Sacrament of First Eucharist
• Sunday 22 September @ 9am. Sacrament of First Eucharist
• Wednesday 25 September. Kinder excursion to the Zoo and Aquarium
• Wednesday 25 September. In-school chess tournament (date changed from Thursday 12 September
• Friday 27 September. Year 1 whole grade assembly @12pm
• Friday 27 September. Last day of Term 3
• Monday 14 October. Students return to school for Term 4

Have a wonderful week,

Erin