Dear Parents and Carers,

MJR Conference

I’m writing this newsletter from Melbourne where I am attending the MJR, or Make Jesus Real, National Conference. There are teachers and school leaders in attendance from all states, and it is inspiring to hear the great things that schools are putting in place to support the social and emotional development, as well as the faith journey, of their students, staff and families through this wonderful program. MJR has many benefits including the development of resilience, self-awareness, compassion and perseverance. Today, the conference delegates are visiting Melbourne schools which have MJR in place and I’m looking forward to seeing the sorts of things they are doing, and then sharing this with our staff when I return next week. In a few weeks, our staff will be attending a day in Albany with the original author of MJR, Peter Mitchell, who will tell the story of how MJR came about, and how it can benefit school communities today. We will work with staff from St Joseph’s College in Albany which is implementing MJR throughout its campus this year.

Commissioning Mass

It was lovely to be joined for Mass by a number of families on Sunday for our Commissioning Mass. New staff members, Ms Esther Kerr and Miss Sarah Wright – and myself – were commissioned by Father Francis, and existing staff were confirmed in their ongoing roles. Thank you to those who did attend – your support means a great deal to our staff. The Commissioning Mass supports links between Catholic Schools and local parishes, and it was lovely to be joined by our parishioners at the morning tea after the mass.

K/PP Playground Opening

There were some very excited children at the official opening of our Kindy/Pre-Primary playground on Sunday after the Commissioning Mass. Father Francis was able to join us for a blessing of the playground before he had to leave for Mass at St Patrick’s in Katanning and, after morning tea, the children cut the streamer ribbon to officially open the playground. There was lots of exploration of all the different features in the playground, most being the circular bike track and the water feature. A sausage sizzle lunch, cooked by our Board Chairperson, James Eyres, finished off the morning.

View our gallery of images from the K/PP Playground Opening

Oral Language Presentations

I’m very excited to attend the Oral Language Presentations in classrooms next week. Please check out the timetable below and come along to listen if you are able. Public speaking is always daunting, and I’m always so impressed with the courage and ability our students demonstrate when taking part in these presentations.

• Monday 25^th March – Years 3 & 4 – Yr 3 at 1.45pm, Yr 4 from 2.15pm
• Tuesday 26^th March – Years 5 & 6 – 2.10pm
• Wednesday 27^th March – Year PP
• Thursday 28^th March – Years 1 & 2

God Bless,
Mrs Sharon Marino
Principal