Dear Parents, Friends, Staff and Students
On Sunday the students in Year 4, along with Parish Catechist Program children, will be receiving the Sacrament of the Eucharist for the first time. This is such a special and memorable day for the students and their families. I am sure that we can all recall our First Communion Day with fond memories. I encourage the Matthew Gibney Catholic Primary School Community to join us at St Francis of Assisi Church for the First Eucharist Mass at 11.00am on Sunday morning. I ask you to join me in praying for all the Year 4 students who are about to receive the Eucharist for the first time. May they know Christ’s love and joy everyday of their lives and may the light of Christ always shine upon them and their families. Many thanks to Mrs Jo Brescacin, Mrs Anni Schelfhout and Mrs Karen Keddie for preparing the students to receive the Sacrament and for preparing and organising the ceremony. I extend thanks to Mrs Thiessera, Parish Catechist, and Fr Joseph Rathnaraj, Parish Priest, for their support of the students and their families during this period of Sacramental preparation.
First Eucharist Prayer
Lord Jesus Christ, in the Sacrament of the Eucharist You left us the outstanding manifestation of your limitless love for us.
Thank You for giving our children the opportunity to experience this love in receiving the Sacrament for the first time.
May your Eucharist presence keep them ever free from sin, fortified in faith, pervaded by love for God and neighbour, and fruitful in virtue, that they may continue to receive You throughout life.
Amen.
200 Years of Catholic Education
On Monday, the Feast of Mary Help of Christians, Mrs Diane Scriven and I were privileged to accompany Year 6 student leaders, Romeo and Amelia, to Mass at St Mary’s Cathedral. We joined with school representatives from throughout Western Australia to offer thanksgiving and to celebrate 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia. Masses were held in all states and dioceses around the country on the same day. The first Catholic school was founded in October 1820 in Parramatta with an enrolment of 31 students. By 1833, there were 10 Catholic schools in the colony. Over the past 200 years, Catholic schools have grown to become the largest provider of schooling in Australia (outside government) with one in five school age students attending a Catholic school.
This represents 777,000 students in 1,755 schools across the country. Here in Western Australia we are one of 163 Catholic schools, from Wyndham in the north to Esperance in the south. You can view a message from the Prime Minister, Mr Scott Morrison, offering his thanks and congratulations to all involved in Catholic education via the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-cwcIDLbVI
Busy Bee
The busy bee on the weekend was very well attended with a group of dedicated Dads (and a Mum and an older brother) who worked hard to complete a number of jobs around the school grounds. We were blessed with fine weather and the busy bee workers were able to complete jobs including; painting the boat, cleaning up the sand pits, removing old logs and filling sand pits with fresh new sand. Sincerest thanks to all who came along and gave up their Saturday morning for the school.
Cross Country Inter School Carnival
Congratulations to the Inter School Cross Country team who participated in the carnival on a cold and wet Monday. Cross country skills were certainly put to the test on such a challenging wet weather day. All students gave of their best and supported each other with the usual Matthew Gibney spirit. Sincerest thanks to Mr Battistessa for preparing the students to compete and to Miss Zurzolo and Mrs Swaby for accompanying the students during the day.
Walk and Wave Wednesday
Walk and Wave Wednesday commenced this week. Thank you to our parents for supporting this initiative to assist our students with their confidence and independence. The initiative will not be extended beyond Wednesday mornings. It is our intention, if all goes well during the trial, to keep the initiative to one morning a week only.
P&F 30th Anniversary Quiz Night 19th June
A number of tables continue to be available for the Quiz Night. We encourage all families to come along. Family and friends who not members of the school community are most welcome to come along and enjoy the fun of the night. The P&F would dearly like to sell all tickets to make the Quiz Night a success as they raise money for our nature playgrounds.
Best wishes to Mrs Nickels and the Year 2 class as they present their assembly to the school community tomorrow morning at 9.00am. Please join us if you can.
Warm regards
Therese Hussey
Principal