Last Sunday’s Gospel...

Jesus, after taking some time to pray, went to meet His disciples who were out on a boat in the Sea of Galilee. Remarkably, he walked out to them on the water. Peter went to join Jesus and could also walk on the water until his focus on Jesus wavered and he became distracted and scared by the wind. Jesus responded by taking Peter’s hand to help him up. We too have to try to focus on the one who gives us hope and the things that uplift us when we are battered by bushfires, floods and pandemics. Jesus will always put out His hand to help us through. Sometimes we need to look for it to realise that we are never alone.

Did you know...

The Sea of Galilee is so big that storms and wind can create very dangerous waves on its surface even though it is quite landlocked.

From the Principal...

It has certainly been a blessing to have some rain. I hope it has not proved too much for you though and that the high winds haven’t caused you any damage. It seems we are being called to care for each other in many ways at the moment and I hope you are all well.

The school celebrated the Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop on Friday. Our students and staff participated in prayer and various activities to commemorate and learn about this very significant Australian who also became Australia’s first saint. Her writings were a focus this year with staff and students looking at how relevant her words are to us today. Our country is very luck to have the patronage of both her and Our Lady – Help of Christians.

Our learning focus on Reading is continuing with teachers participating in professional development in their classes under the guidance of our Instructional Coach, Mrs Williamson. One of the good things to come out of Covid is that with less time away from school, Mrs Smith and I have been able to provide some extra reading assistance in some classes as well. It has been very exciting and rewarding to be part of the improvement. I could do it all day! Unfortunately, my meetings are starting again and my reliability has become sporadic but I have been able to employ Jacinta Vella four mornings a week to replace me. I’ll still be checking in when I can.

We are trying our first P&F meeting via Zoom this Friday. I am very much looking forward to having the opportunity to talk to you. I get to chat at the front gate but this will be a good opportunity for those of you who work. I have things to report as well as feedback I’d appreciate from you, and a few more ideas for improving our school. If you would like to join in, just send you email address to our info@hfidow.catholic.edu.au address and we’ll send you the link. It’s at 9am on Friday.

Our Feast Day, the Feast of St Benedict is coming up. Covid is certainly making us more creative in what we do so keep an eye out for what we plan to mark this special occasion.

We are hosting Fr Peter in the school this Friday to celebrate his Golden Jubilee and to say farewell. He will visit each class where he will experience what the students of that class have prepared with their teacher. In addition, each student has also made their own tribute to him and all 350 have been put together in a very large book for him as a keepsake. He will need a bit of energy after that so the staff are providing cake and a cuppa for him in a special morning tea. It is a shame we cannot all be together as a community but I am finding Fr Peter likes things very low key so he is quite happy even though we would have liked to give him a bigger celebration!

God Bless,

Michelle Rolfe

Principal