Week 11 Term 1 2023

Dear Parents and Friends,

Welcome to Week 11! 

Here we are at the end of term one in a blink of an eye!  The Easter season was celebrated with a whole school liturgy on Tuesday to learn more about the Resurrection of Jesus.  A big thank you to all the students, class teachers and Ms Clark for the serious of liturgies about Easter over the last two weeks.

As the first term reaches its conclusion, I commend all our students for the way they have started the year. This term has been busy and the positive attitude in which the students have worked towards achieving their learning goals, whether in the classroom, in the playground, on the sporting field, or the many other learning opportunities undertaken, have been fabulous to observe.

Thank you so much to our wonderful parent community for your support and involvement throughout the term, especially in attending assemblies, liturgies, Book-a-Chats, and assisting with swimming, class activities, various committees, and excursions.

Pupil Free Day

Last Thursday we had a Pupil Free Day. Mrs Bianco led our teachers who were continuing their professional learning using SEQTA our student management system which will be used to produce our school reports in Term 2. It was a very successful day and staff are very confident using the system moving forward. 

IMPORTANT NOTICE - School Stream Changes

In Term 2, and moving forward at IHM we will no longer be sending home paper permission notes regarding excursions or upcoming events. 

We will be moving all our correspondence online to School Stream.  This is not an easy initiative to undertake and we appreciate your support as we are very mindful of the environmental impact of sending home paper notes, booklets of information and other documents.  This is something the staff, students and parents have been requesting for some time and featured as a heavy topic of conversation at our AGM/Wine and Cheese Parent Forum in March. 

If you would still like a paper permission note as you do not access services online, please contact Julie in the front office to organise this.

Due to new privacy standards and to assist the school in accurately communicating with individuals and groups, School Stream will soon require all app users to create an account. The process is simple and only requires a mobile number or email address.

Some parents have already created an account, you can check this by opening the Account menu item in the top left menu of School Stream. Our school will be requiring all users to have an account by the beginning of Term 2 Tuesday 2^nd May 2023.  After this date, if you have not created an account, you will no longer receive notifications from the school.  Below are the details regarding setting up a School Stream Account. 

School Stream Account Set Up

Please see the instructions below to create an account.

1. Open School Stream on your mobile device
2. Tap the menu (top left)
3. Tap Account in the menu
4. Follow the prompts to create an account using your mobile or email
   • Once you enter your details School Stream will either email or SMS you a 5-digit code
5. Enter the code into School Stream once it is received and add your First and Last Name to the fields

Creating an account will assist our school to efficiently communicate with you directly and as part of a group within School Stream.

Cyber Safe Families - Parent Workshop

We would like to invite all Parents and Caregivers to a Cyber Safety information session which will be held on Tuesday 16^th May 2023 at 6.30pm in our school hall.  The session will be run by Cybersafe Families, a provider endorsed by the eSafety Commissioner, to share the latest research and best practice approaches to online safety education for families. The evening session will provide parents and carers with strategies to help make home environments cyber safe. All Cybersafe Families presentations are delivered by professionals in the field, who have an understanding that all children are at different stages in their online journey.

The parent information session will include:

• Introduction to the most popular and current social media platforms
• Tools to recognise and manage cyber bullying
• Information about online grooming and other risks
• Communication strategies - how to start difficult conversations
• Strategies for supporting positive online behaviour, including tips on managing screen time.

Information for registering for the event will be sent out early in Term 2. We are extremely grateful to the P & F who are sponsoring the event for our parent community. 

Happy Holidays

It has been a long and rewarding term and I would like to wish you all a safe, restful and enjoyable school holiday. Thank you for making my first term as Acting Principal a memorable one.  I hope that you have the opportunity for some quality family time together. May your family and home be blessed with good health, love and joy. 

See you next term!

Annette Diassinas
ACTING PRINCIPAL

Last week we began to explore the story of the Easter Triduum. The children, staff, and parents have had the opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the Easter Story and to start to explore the link this story has to their own life. Thank you to R/1D, R/1M & 5/6L who helped us to explore the events of Palm Sunday and to R/1T & 4/5F who helped us to see the link between the Last Supper and the celebration of the Eucharist. On Tuesday 1/2HW & 3/4P shared with us the very happy story of Jesus Resurrection.

The Easter Triduum, the Period Form Holy Thursday to Easter Sunday Explained

Holy Thursday

Holy Thursday celebrates Jesus’ last supper with the disciples, a celebration of Passover. The Last Supper was Christ's farewell to His assembled disciples, some of whom would betray, desert or deny Him before the sun rose again.

The Holy Thursday liturgy, celebrated in the evening because Passover began at sundown.  Jesus washes the feet of His disciples, and the priest strips and washes the altar. This cleansing gave this day of Holy Week the name Maundy Thursday.  No Mass is celebrated again in the Church until the Easter Vigil for the Resurrection.

Good Friday

On Good Friday, the Church is stripped of its ornaments, the altar is bare, and the door to the empty tabernacle stands open.

Traditionally, there is no music, bells or other instruments used the only music during this period is unaccompanied chant.  Good Friday is a somber day, one to remember the suffering and loss of Jesus and the pain and humiliation he endured. 

Easter Sunday

Easter is the celebration of Christ's resurrection from the dead. It is celebrated on Sunday, and marks the end of Holy Week, the end of Lent, the last day of the Easter Triduum. 

The Gospels tell us that Jesus Christ rose from the dead on the third day following his crucifixion. His resurrection marks the triumph of good over evil, sin and death.

As Easter represents the fulfillment of God's promises to mankind, it is the most important holiday on the Christian calendar.

In the Gospels, the precise details of the Easter narrative vary slightly, but despite the variances, the key aspects of the Easter story all match. Above all, they agree that the tomb of Christ was indeed empty.    The Easter date is movable and always falls on a Sunday between March 22 and April 25. Easter in the Roman Catholic Church is always on the first Sunday after the first full moon after the spring equinox.  Following Easter Sunday, the season of Easter begins and lasts for seven weeks, ending with Pentecost.

Project Compassion Boxes

Could all Project Compassion boxes please be returned to the front office by Friday 14^th April (End of week 11, Term 1) so we can send off all money raised to Caritas Australia. Thank you for your generous support of Caritas Australia.

Southern Cross

The current edition of the Catholic newspaper put out by the Archdiocese called,’ The Southern Cross,’ is available at; www.thesoutherncross.org.au

Thought For The Week:

“Live justly, love tenderly and walk humbly with God” (Micah 6:8)

May each of you have a relaxing and enjoyable holiday break with family and friends.

Paula Clark
ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL - RELIGIOUS IDENTITY AND MISSION

For Science this term the Year 5/6 class has focussed on animal adaptations. Students made posters on their chosen animal and added many pictures to support their writing. They all did an amazing job and their posters are displayed in our classroom.

Easter Raffle Winners

Congratulations to the lucky winners of our Easter Raffle which was drawn last week. These lucky students took home beautiful baskets filled with lots of yummy treats just in time to celebrate Easter:

• Samuel K
• Lam N
• Theo D
• Evie P
• Nathaniel F

Thank you to all our families who supported the raffle by buying and selling tickets.  We raised an amazing $1200.00!