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Happy Father’s Day for Sunday!
A big shout out to all the Fathers, Grandfathers, Great-Grandfathers and Father figures in our community this weekend.
As we focus on the role of a Father this week, students are planning lovely things in the classroom to do for this special day. Some are making things to take home and some are taking part in prayer services for Fathers. As we gather more momentum with our ability to host big events as a school, we are planning big things for 2023 with regard to Father’s Day, so stay tuned for next year!
The picture above is a powerful representation of Father’s Day. This picture stays clear of the cliché imagery that can swamp these special days of the year. No business ties, no baseballs, no pumping iron, no beer ads. This image depicts a father who likes to spend quality time with the special people in his life. And isn’t this the most important aspect of being a parent? Going for a walk through a forest just oozes ‘being present’ for a child. Playing sports or fixing a motorbike are totally fine activities, but it is the time spent together that matters more than what you do.
St Joseph, we can assume, was a tradie who most likely passed on his trade to his son, Jesus. It doesn’t work that way nowadays (most of the time) but in Jesus’ time, this is how society worked. The father would pass on his trade to his son. Joseph disappeared from the scene fairly early in Jesus’ life, as it is Mary who is spoken of when Jesus takes up his ministry. He would have spent a lot of time with Jesus in those formative years, showing him how to construct things or build things out of stone. We also know that Joseph was a courageous man, who took on a very risky role. Mary was pregnant with Jesus when Joseph was betrothed and this would have been a very tricky situation to navigate in 1st Century Nazareth.
In the 2006 movie, ‘The Nativity Story’, starring Oscar Isaac, there is a beautiful scene where Mary and Joseph are travelling from Nazareth to Bethlehem for the census. One night they make camp along the rocky road and have their dinner by the fire, tired from the long days of travelling. They are short of food; however, Joseph saved his ration for the donkey, waiting for Mary to fall asleep before feeding the precious animal, knowing that she would have insisted that he eat it himself. This scene really illustrates how I imagine St Joseph would have been. Totally dedicated to his family, knowing that he had a special role to play in Jesus’ life. He may have died early in Jesus’ life but his dedication, as a husband and father, still influences us today.
Let us pray together for our Fathers and the special role they have in influencing the lives of the next generation. God bless our Dads!First Communion 2022 Update
Our First Communion candidates continue to prepare for their sacrament during this time. Each week they are devotedly taking their Share Sheets home from Mass and working on the activities. Keep up the great work.
Another part to their preparation is Reconciliation. After Mass each week, Father Denis provides the opportunity for students to go to Reconciliation in the lead up to their First Holy Communion. Last week, this week and next week, have been allocated to our candidates as part of their preparation.
Families have been allocated their First Communion Mass times via communication from the Parish.
Bethlehem Community Mass
Many thanks for our visitors who come to our school Masses. It makes it truly a community event when we have our parents, friends and other parishioners come to the celebration of the Eucharist.
This week, the Bethlehem Community looked at the Good Samaritan parable, in an attempt to find out ‘Who Is Our neighbour?’. Jesus’ famous parable is very hard hitting, when we consider who the audience was. Jesus was telling that story right in front of Pharisees and Scribes, who were essentially leaders of their church back then. It was told in the same style as the jokes we’ve heard before that start with, “There was an Englishman, an American and an Irishman…” But this would not have been taken as a joke by these people of great standing in their community. They would have been shocked and outraged by the assertion that Jesus was making. The lesson is essentially, we are being a good neighbour, not because of our role or title, but because of our actions toward the people who need our help.
Greetings STAPS Families,
I would like to introduce Kylie, my beautiful Australian Shepherd puppy. Kylie started attending school in week one of this term. We have been socialising her to be comfortable around groups of children and adults in preparation for her training as a therapy dog. It has been such a pleasure to witness the joy Kylie brings to students and teachers alike, it is almost worth the damage to all my shoes!
The children in 4A have been wonderful at understanding their responsibility in helping to train Kylie, for example if she barks they will actively stop giving her attention so she learns this is an undesirable behaviour. They have also been fabulous in understanding her need as a puppy to sleep for a good portion of the day, and have left her to her naps when needed.
I've been doing lots of teaching to children about the changing needs of puppies, such as the fact that Kylie doesn't like to be touched on the head at the moment, and that we need to wait for her to lie down to receive pats on the back safely so she won't jump up at us. I'm really looking forward to learning more about how to utilize Kylie's perceptibility and overall cuteness to support students in the future.
Kind regards
Emily O'Kane
Dear Parents,
The Friends of St Thomas (FOST) organise social events, special lunches and other activities throughout the year as well as fundraising events.
Our first event for this Term will be ‘Sports day Subway Lunch’ which will be held on Friday September 16th.
Introducing CDFpay, which is a cash-free solution for our schools’ events or activities.
This solution is an online payment platform offered by the Catholic Development Fund Melbourne (CDF).
We are asking all parents to use this simple, cash-free platform to submit their child's lunch order.
You are able to do this via your mobile if you wish. Please click on the pdf below for the step by step process to access and register for CDFpay
Once registered, click on the link below to access the school website to place your order.
https://cranbourneeast.cdfpay.org.au/All orders for the Subway lunch must be placed by Thursday 1st September via CDFpay