Principal's Message

Dear Parents

Last Monday the whole school attended Mass for the Feast of the Assumption of Mary, which is a designated Holy Day in the church. The Assumption signals the end of Mary’s earthly life and marks her return to Heaven to be reunited with her son, Jesus. Whilst this is not referred to in the Bible there are lots of references in ancient church documents about Mary returning to Heaven. Catholics have always had a special devotion to Mary the mother of Jesus and hold her in high esteem as someone we can also turn to in times of need. Monday’s Mass was very special for everyone, especially the special hymns to Mary we sing on her feast days.

We had a marvellous display of experiments and scientific learning on show yesterday in the hall with our Science Fair. It was great to see students from across all grades get involved and showcase their work, and to be able to discuss why they chose to do what they did and what they learned. I must admit that there was much that I learned myself that I was unaware of before. Well done to all the students who put in the time and effort to make the fair such a huge success. Many thanks to Mrs Kirstie Hawkins who organised the fair and inspired the children. Thank you to Fr Paul and parishioners Mr Denny and Mrs Wilson who judged the projects. It was great to see lots of parents, grandparents and even a great-grandparent drop by to see what the children had done. Congratulations to Koa Markgraaf in Year 1 and Lily-Rose McCann in Year 5 who were judged as the overall winners.

On Monday, students will be placed in groups and move through a number of readings of books to begin Book Week celebrations. There will be lots of activities in classrooms throughout the week. We will have a Book Fair next term.

We have two teams of seven students entered in Tournament of Minds this year. There is an ARTS team and a STEM team. They have to solve some very complicated problems and share their findings in a ten-minute public presentation which will be held on Competition day, Sunday 28th August at Lindisfarne College. We wish them all the very best as they head into their last week of planning and practising. Many thanks to all the teachers who have helped out by facilitating the teams and encouraging them to keep going.

Some Year 6 students are taking part in an entrepreneurial program developing their skills in many enterprising ways. We look forward to hearing about their projects during the coming weeks.

I hope everyone was able to listen to the most recent podcast “Days at St A’s” done by the Year 6 students. Here is the link to access it:  https://www.buzzsprout.com/1967869/11138863

As you can see, we are endeavouring to give our students lots of opportunities to try things in many different spheres, learning new skills along the way.

It is Fr Paul’s 40th Anniversary of being a priest later this month. This will be celebrated at our next School hosted Mass on Sunday 28th August followed by a bar-b-que near the Surf Club to which everyone is invited. We would particularly encourage families to join with us at Mass on this day and then afterwards for the celebrations. Everyone is welcome.

I will be taking some Long Service Leave for the remainder of the term. Mr Kennedy will be Acting Principal in my absence and Mrs Julianne Barlogio will assume the Acting Assistant Principal role. I am going to Europe to experience the Passion Play in Oberammergau in Germany. This event is only held every ten years. Unfortunately, the pandemic prevented it from going ahead in 2020 when I had planned to go, so it is being held this year. It is a very moving, spiritual occasion and I look forward to sharing about this and my other experiences on my return next term.

Say a prayer today. From the heart. Do not worry about the words. God knows what you need.

God bless

Lynne