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Dear Families,
I was considering the concept of not writing anything for this week’s newsletter editorial - leaving it blank on purpose. The reason is to make a point about leaving space for nothingness in our lives. But read on and I’ll try to achieve this with words…
A famous monk by the name of Thích Nhất Hạnh, has written a lot on the topic of meditation and mindfulness. His writing has been very helpful to me and one of the things that he suggests is that human beings have a deep need for having time where you do nothing but pay attention to your own body and the present moment. We find this very difficult to do. We lead very scheduled lives. In fact, many of us lead OVERLY scheduled lives. Society in general has become very busy. So much so that we look down upon the idea of doing nothing for any amount of time. We praise hard work, which is a good thing, but do we praise downtime?
It is part of the reason why there are more cases of anxiety and depression, especially in the western world. I avoid naming it the developed world, because this sort of behaviour is not necessarily a development or an improvement at all. If left unchecked, it is quite unhealthy.
This is why mindfulness and prayer are so helpful. A good mindfulness practice improves health and our ability to function. Humans have known this for thousands of years, but in our busyness, we forget, or put aside, this wisdom.
Many of our students are exposed to ideas of mindfulness at school. Just like knowledge of other aspects of health (good sleep, nutrition, playfulness, connectedness) mindfulness is a very important piece of the puzzle. Every Wednesday at 3pm, the whole school stops for a minute of prayerful silence to pay attention to the present moment and be grateful. But there are many ways to enter into mindfulness. We can mindfully eat, pray, walk, do simple chores and the ultimate is to mindfully breathe.
I invite everyone to explore mindfulness and not let it be a fad or passing meme so we can be the creation that our creator intended!
First Communion
The First Communion program continues next week with workshops for parents and their candidates. We don’t have unlimited space, so it would be helpful if just one parent attends with their child. Only attend ONE of the sessions.
Venue: Jericho Community, St Thomas the Apostle PS (upstairs)
Dates: 9th & 10th August (each family should know which one they attend from the Parish email)
Time: 7:00pm
Sacrament Dates 2022
Information Night - opportunity for adult formation as well as details around the preparation and celebration of the sacrament.
Parent/Child Workshop - opportunity for students to learn about the sacrament with parent participation
Reconciliation - opportunity to see the priest individually, ‘reset’ their relationship with God before the celebration of Confirmation or First Communion.
Confirmation
Date |
Event |
Time |
16 August |
Retreat Day |
|
10 & 17 August 13 August (catechism group) |
Reconciliation |
|
20 August |
Confirmation Masses |
11am 2pm |
First Holy Communion
Date |
Event |
|
19 July |
Parent Formation Night 1 |
7pm |
23/24 July |
Enrolment Masses |
|
26 July |
Parent Formation Night 2 |
7pm |
30/31 July |
Enrolment Masses |
|
9 August |
Parent/Child Workshop 1 |
7pm |
10 August |
Parent/Child Workshop 2 |
7pm |
7 September 3 September (catechism group) |
Reconciliation |
|
10 & 11 September |
First Holy Communion Masses |
6pm 9am 10:45am |
17 & 18 September |
First Holy Communion Masses |
6pm 9am 10:45am |
On Thursday 28th July the Year Ones celebrated 101 days of Year One and the fact there are 101 of them!
The Safe Around Schools program visits finished up last term, but our commitment to road safety continues. We ask parents to PLEASE complete the post-program survey to provide feedback and further direction for City of Casey and our school.
conversations.casey.vic.gov.au/safe-around-schools
Please complete the survey titled ‘Ramlegh Park Primary School and St Thomas the Apostle POST-program survey’.
We will continue to communicate road safety messages to our families and students, and we look forward to the report from Safe Around Schools that will give recommendations for continuing our school road safety journey.
The City of Casey asked us to thank the many parents & students they met over the course of the program. They were encouraged by the positive behaviour they observed, conversations held and feedback they have received. They hope to see even more parents following the road & parking rules and keeping our children safe. They would also like to recognise and thank our school leadership and staff for partnering in this pilot program.
Our actions as drivers & parents is one of the most important ways for children to be safe around our school. We can all work together to:
- Reduce car trips
- Keep the pick-up zone moving
- Be courteous and aware
- Follow the signs
Getting children to school safely is everyone’s job. Think before you park, drive, drop off and pick up! All children deserve to get to school safely.
Home Reading Information Session
Another great home reading information session in Foundation with many parents attending this morning.
We worked with letter cards and decodable books, building words and reading together.
School TV – Special Report on Vaping and E-Cigarettes
Last term we advertised our new resource for our parent community, called School TV. We hope this
becomes a well utilised resource that supports us in dealing with current issues that affect families.
A topic that should be on everyone’s radar right now is Vaping and E-Cigarettes. Click here to access
this informative School TV video and find out about this growing concern.