Dear Parents,
In Sundays Gospel Jesus speaks in terms of a marriage feast and warns us to be ready ‘for you do not know either the day or the hour’ (Matthew 25:13). When we get behind the imagery, what do we mean when we say that we believe that Jesus is coming again in glory? What are we waiting for? Fr Michael Tate explains “The Catholic Church is the new Bride of Christ. We are the attendants to the Bride and the imperative applies to us also: Be alert, be vigilant, be prepared. We are always waiting for God’s coming and God is constantly entering our world and our lives in a million graced ways. When one speaks about the coming of the Lord, the coming of the saviour the coming of the “Chosen One” to community of God who are looking forward to a new beginning. Hence the onset of Advent in the coming weeks as we prepare for the birth of Christ at Christmas.
This year many of our school events and activities have either been modified or cancelled due to the pandemic. As we move into the final weeks of the year, several of our usual end of year events will be disrupted. Our Christmas concert has been cancelled with our End of Year Thanksgiving mass, presentation ceremony and year 6 farewells modified so that we remain COVID-19 safe and compliant. On the last day of school [December 16th] we will hold three separate liturgies / presentations for each stage in the hall. The ceremonies will be attended by the children, their teachers, Fr Ian and myself. Unfortunately parents will not be able to attend due to the restrictions in place at the moment. The Year 6 graduation mass will be held during the day on Thursday 19th December. Father Ian will celebrate the liturgy with the children, their teachers and myself. Unfortunately due to the current COVID restrictions parents will be unable to attend. Please note that these arrangements for both events may change if the NSW Health Commission relaxes crowds. We are currently looking into the prospect of streaming both events via zoom so parents can view both events. More details regarding these events will be communicated in the coming weeks. Thank you for your understanding in these matters
Over the next fortnight our year 3 children will be making their first Reconciliation. Please keep these children and their families in your prayers as they prepare to share in Gods unconditional gifts of love and forgiveness.
In recent weeks our 2021 Kindergarten parents gathered on Zoom for their initial information evening as we prepare for the 2021 cohort to commence primary school at CTK in early February next year. Over the last fortnight our 2021 kindergarten students attended transition and orientation session. It was announced at the meeting that Mrs Marie Louise Tcherkezian and Mr Ben Horne will be teaching Kindergarten in 2021. We welcome many new families to the CTK school community and wish them a successful transition into primary school over the next few months.
Our teachers at present are assisting their students to complete their final assessments for the year. Reports are currently being written for each student. These reports will be distributed to parents during week nine of this term.
Just a reminder that supervision of a morning commences at 8:15am each day. In recent weeks, children are being dropped off as early as 7:30am and have been left unsupervised in the playground. Our CTK COHSC is available for parents who need to drop off children to school prior to 8:15am with casual vacancies available. This does not apply to children who arrive earlier for band and various extra curricular morning clubs. Your co-operation in this well being and safety matter is most appreciated and expected. Thank you.
Have great weekend!
Tony Hughes
Principal
