Dear Parents, Friends, Staff and Students
Ash Wednesday
Next Wednesday, 2nd March, we commence the Season of Lent with Ash Wednesday. Unfortunately, we cannot attend Mass at the Church, as we normally would. Each class will have a class liturgy where the ashes will be distributed by the teachers. The ashes will be blessed by Fr Joseph prior to us receiving them. The students will be encouraged to think about sacrifices they can make during Lent to help them grow closer to God. Once again, we will be participating in Project Compassion for Caritas and more information will be made available over the coming weeks.
Parents and Friends and Advisory Council Meetings
The online Parents and Friends meeting last week was well attended. It is great to see so many new families connecting with the P&F. The P&F are focusing on friend raising activities for 2022 and have come up with several ideas of family events to explore over the coming months. Please keep a look out for suggestions as they are shared on the parent Facebook pages. Engaging with family activities is such a good way to get to know other families and to feel connected to the school community.
The Catholic School Advisory Council had its first meeting for the year last week. The Advisory Council members met online to commence planning our direction for 2022. Capital planning, marketing and parish connections are all focus areas for the Advisory Council. We are hoping to connect with local Federal Government members, prior to the Federal Election, to explain our local context and ask what they can provide to improve the outcomes for children in our school.
Please note that there has been a change of date for the next P&F and Catholic School Advisory Council Meetings. The meetings will be held on Wednesday 30th March at the usual times.
2022 Collection Notice for Parents/Guardians
The Australian Government Department of Education has made a request to the school for us to provide residential addresses and other information as required under the Australian Education Regulation 2013. Further information about the collection can be found at: 2022 Student Residential Address Collection Notice
Merit Award Recipients
Congratulations to our first Merit Award class recipients for 2022. The students were presented with their awards in class and were congratulated by their classmates and teachers.
Code of Conduct and Friending Teachers
The Matthew Gibney Catholic Primary School Code of Conduct is available for parents to view on our website: https://www.gibney.wa.edu.au/pdf/codeofconduct.pdf
Our staff operate under the code of conduct which states that they maintain professional relationships with students and parents and refrain from social interactions. From time to time our staff may “like” or “comment” on school social media posts. Please do not seek to friend or follow our staff on their personal social media accounts. Thank you for your attention with this code of conduct requirement.
Italian Day
We all need some light-hearted fun during this time of restrictions for school events. We have decided to have an “Italian Day” on Thursday 3rd March for our students and staff to dress up, enjoy ice creams and pizzas and have some fun. Details about the Italian Day can be found in this newsletter.
Making Jesus Real
The Gospel reading from Last Sunday’s Mass reading supports our focus on the Making Jesus Real value of “Friendship.” A friend is compassionate, kind and forgiving. Jesus explained this clearly to his disciples in the following passage from Luke: 6.37
“Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; forgive and you will be forgiven. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves; grant pardon, and you will be pardoned.”
Canteen
Please keep Mrs Honter and her family in your prayers and thoughts. Alison has had to travel to Scotland to care for a family member and will be away for the duration of the term. Lisa Denys will manage the canteen in Alison’s absence. Please direct any queries about canteen to Lisa.
Best wishes for the week ahead. Let us look forward to some cooler weather.
Warmest regards
Therese Hussey
Principal
As parents and family members … Set a good example and be a good friend yourself.
We will be holding an Italian Day on Thursday 3rd March. Signora Davey has organised for a gelato van to visit the school, and every child will be able to have a gelato as a special treat. The children have practising how to ask for their gelato in Italian. We will also have a slice of pizza to go with our lunch. Students are invited to dress in Italian colours on the day and really get into the spirit. 