Last Sunday’s Gospel...

We often think of the word Samaritan associated with the man left for dead on the road. In last Sunday’s gospel, Jesus had an encounter with a Samaritan woman. Through speaking to her we all learned that the ‘living’ water Jesus offers us fulfills us totally when wealth, power and ‘things’ actually don’t make us happy.

Did you know...

The Samaritans were hated by the Jews. Jews even preferred Gentiles. The fact that Jesus speaks to a woman as well who has been married many times shows that He is for all of us.

From the Principal...

We gave you a great deal of information about the Corona virus at the beginning of the week. Please feel free to ask for any clarification you need. We will keep you updated if anything changes.

Your children may have told you that they receive assistance in a slightly different way to in the past. We have been very strategic with interventions. School Support Officers (SSOs) are all going to a particular class at the same time. This allows teachers and SSOs to engage in targeted teaching around student goals at the same time. It means students aren’t out of class throughout the day and teachers don’t have to make up for work students missed while they were out. So far, staff are very busy with the intensity of instruction and are making swift changes to cope with the unexpected, but the benefit to students and their learning is very promising. It is also minimizing interruptions to the school day which is always helpful. We will review this next term.

I am getting the Catholic Education Office to assist me with the car park from a Work Health and Safety point of view. The Properties Office has checked it in terms of markings etc. I will keep you posted on what they advise us to do if anything else is needed. Please keep using the car park correctly. The vast majority of you are doing a fantastic job and I thank you very much for keeping our children, and each other, safe.

A quick update on the possibility of a sport shirt or hat to indicate house colour; yes we can do this but according to the contract with Lowes, we need to give two years of notice so they aren’t left with excess stock. So we can start but it isn’t a quick process. More information should be available by the time we have the next P&F meeting.

God Bless,

Michelle Rolfe

Principal

Lenten Penance and Project Compassion

As you may be aware, we are in the season of Lent. Lent and every Friday throughout the year are special times of Penance for Catholics. Bishop Brian Mascord, has reminded us of the importance of Lent. Repentance means the rejection of Sin and it also means trying to reconcile with God. Penance can involve prayer, self-denial and works of charity. During this season of Lent, please try to discuss and observe these common practices:

1. Prayer – for example, while all parishioners are dispensed from the obligation to physically attend Mass, praying silently at home or with your family is highly encouraged.Please join me in praying for those currently impacted by COVID-19 and for all those who care for the sick, including clergy who risk their own wellbeing in the service of others.
2. Self Denial- for example, not eating meat, giving up sweets or entertainment
3. Helping others – for example, giving someone who is poor, sick or elderly special attention.

We have Project Compassion Boxes in every classroom as well as in the front office for your child or your family to contribute. Money raised from Project Compassion goes to various Catholic relief aids throughout the world. If you would like to learn more about Project Compassion, there are several resources including videos on this website: http://www.caritas.org.au

Altar Servers

Students who returned permission notes will participate in Altar Server training with Mrs David and Fr Peter. This is a wonderful opportunity for students in our school to assist in parts of the Mass.

Sacrament of First Holy Communion Parent Information Night

At this stage please save the date for our Parent Information Night for Holy Communion. We are not sure if it will be cancelled yet. At this stage the parent-led weekly sessions will go ahead next term but we will keep you updated. We will let you know as soon as possible about this important sacramental program and Sacrament of First Holy Communion. I am sure many parents and family members are worried about the celebration of this special sacrament in light of recent events.

This Week’s Gospel Reading

Sunday’s Gospel reading was the story of the Samaritan Woman and Jesus at the well. “This beautiful story symbolises the extraordinary relationship that each one of us has with our Heavenly Father. Her physical thirst for water represents, not only for her, but also for us, our search, our thirst for meaning and purpose in our lives. And it is in this journey of discovery for meaning and purpose in our lives that is the journey of Lent” (Wollongong Diocese Lenten Program Grace - Fr Christopher Sarkis).

Deanna David

Religious Education Coordinator

Please keep in your prayers:

Congratulations to all the students who took part in the Regional Swimming Carnival last Tuesday especially the girls team that won the championship for the first time in Holy Family's history. Sean Sullivan was the 11 Years Age Champion. Today Sean along with Emily Brown, Kaylee Attard, Sienna Merlino, Saige Morris, Daisy Robertson and Monique Pleadin took part against the south coast schools to choose representatives for the MacKillop trials on the 25 March. Both Sean and Emily were successful.  We congratulate them and wish them all the best.

Veronique Ferriere was also successful in making the Wollongong Soccer team. A great effort indeed.

So good to see our students continuing to have fun with their sports and improve their skills.

In light of World Health Organisation's declaration of a worldwide pandemic CSNSW Sport has suspended sports events over the next 2 weeks.

CSNSW Sport notes the expert medical advice of the Australian Health Protection Principal Committee, Commonwealth, State and Territory who have provided advice against holding non-essential, organised public gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday 16 March 2020.

Resultantly, CSNSW Sport is cancelling upcoming events. This includes:

• NSWCCC Water Polo selection trials at Ryde - 16 March
• All Schools Cricket at Maitland - 16-19 March
• NSWCPS Swimming at Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre (SOPAC) – 25 March
• NSWCCC Swimming and Diving at SOPAC – 31 March
• NSWCCC Touch Football at Nelson Bay – 8 April

Potentially we may not be able to re-schedule these events, we note SOPAC is closed to the public from Monday 16 March 2020 until further notice.

We thank you for your support during this challenging time.

CSNSW Sport