Dear Parents
Do not be afraid’ is one of the most commonly repeated sentences in the Bible. In one form or another, the command to ‘be not afraid’ or ‘fear not’ appears several hundred times throughout the Old and New Testaments. Today’s gospel passage is part of the sending out of the Twelve.. “Do not be afraid” is the catch cry or advice expressed to those whose vocation and mission is to preach the message of Jesus out in our world. Jesus taught the Twelve that the message they bear will not always be well received and there will be those who will seek to silence the Apostles through violent means, hence Jesus’ message “Do not be afraid” This warning was originally intended for the apostles who were sent post Jesus’ death and resurrection to preach the good news! Today’s Gospel passage reminds us to have courage and to have the courage of our convictions, much in the same manner that Jesus challenged the Apostles to trust in their faith and preach the word of the Gospel to the people. We are reminded of the abundant love of God who cares for us all and sees all our efforts as we continue to live out the message and ministry of Jesus, much in the manner in which the apostles did some two thousand years ago. It is the same message for us today. We are called to continue the spread of the gospel message; continuing the work of the church like those early Christian communities before us.
Thank you to the majority of parents who have responded in a positive manner to adhere to the requests to consider the safety protocols in place to insure our drop off and pick up drive through each day remains viable and safe. It is disappointing however that a minority of drivers are ignoring the NO RIGHT HAND TURN out of the driveway onto Statham Ave in the morning and afternoon when I am not at the school entrance monitoring arrival and dismissal traffic. I have been in discussion with the Parramatta City Council Traffic Management department in an attempt to find a solution to resolving the traffic congestion of an afternoon. Traffic Management engineers will be engaged to visit the site and assess what can be done. Thank you again for your support in this matter.
Each student next Friday will receive their first semester report. As reported in our last newsletter, this semester’s report has been modified due to the disruption caused by COVID-19 and the inception of online learning. Your child’s report is a summary of your child’s learning acknowledging their achievements and highlighting their learning challenges for the first half of the year. It is encouraged that you sit down with your child over the weekend and celebrate their achievements and discuss the identified areas for improvement. These challenges for next semester can be best formulated into several short term goals that can be jointly constructed by yourselves and your children. I would like to thank the teachers for the many hours spent over recent weeks in writing student reports. Further details regarding parent teacher interviews will be made available early next term.
It would be greatly appreciated if you could please check at home for any “stray” library books that may have made their way into your children’s bedrooms, toy boxes and bookshelves. We are still missing a considerable number of books from the library that children had borrowed prior to the COVID-19 shut down.
Over the last fortnight with the colder weather approaching we have seen an increase in the number of children presenting at sick bay who are sick. Under the current COVID-19 return to school restrictions children who have symptoms such as headache, nausea or signs of a cold are to be excluded from school. Therefore, if your child has shown any of these symptoms over night please do not send them to school the next day. This will go a long way in reducing the outbreaks of winter flu in our school community and allowing us to be compliant with COVID-19 restrictions.
Have a great weekend
Tony Hughes
Principal
