APMI News
….experiencing FAITH in the Mercy Tradition
Dear families
Congratulations to a number of our students who completed the Sacramental Program by receiving their First Eucharist last weekend. Through dedication, prayer and the support of their families and parish community, these young people have taken meaningful steps in their faith journey, receiving the Holy sacraments of Reconciliation, Confirmation and First Eucharist. In the Catholic church, the sacraments are sacred signs instituted by Christ to give grace. They mark important moments in our spiritual lives, drawing us closer to God and more deeply into the life of the Church. By participating in these sacraments, these children are growing in their relationship with Jesus and becoming more fully part of our Catholic community. We thank all the parents and Fr Michael who played a vital role in preparing and guiding our students. Please continue to keep our newly sacramented children in your prayers as they continue to grow in faith
“Let the little children come to me…..for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” – Mark 10:14
As part of the HPE curriculum, classroom teachers will be teaching students about respectful relationships which includes conversations about protective behaviours and puberty, self-worth, respectful flourishing relationships and safety and wisdom in the online space. Respectful Relationships Education (RRE) is focussed on students learning through the curriculum and living their learning in everyday life. The Australian Curriculum (2022) requires the integration of RRE in Health and Physical Education, and across other Learning Areas using the General Capabilities to make meaningful curriculum connections.
When teaching students about respectful relationships, the Real Talk program will be used. It is a personal approach that educates, equips and empowers students with the skills necessary to navigate these sensitive and difficult areas. Entitled Sprout (Prep – Yr 4) and Flourish (Year 5 -7), these programs will discuss the following topics in an age appropriate way: Personal identity, Relationships, Media and Technology, and Puberty.
Real Talk Education – School Community Access for Parent & Caregivers:
As part of our school’s subscription to Real Talk Education, the Real Talk team have given our school community FREE basic access to their Real Talk Parents site.
The site includes quick reference guides, conversation starters, printable resources, videos and curated links for parenting on the tough topics to do with relationships and eSafety.
The Real Talk for Parent Short Video Series currently provides short accessible videos on keeping your kids safe online, family tech agreements and phone access. The Primary and Secondary Aged Resources Portal provided links to a range of useful sites, guides and video links to further explore issues of relationships and online safety.
We invite you to explore the available content as we partner in forming respectful young people that understand their dignity and worth.
Sign up here: www.realtalkeducation.org/parents
If you’ve any questions or concerns, please contact your child’s teacher.
Please join us for our whole school Mass on Wednesday 30th July - All welcome! Following Mass which begins at 9.30am, Morning Tea for Grandparents will be held in the Mercy Centre and open classrooms (focussing on STEM) from 11.30am finishing at 12.45pm.
Term 3 Special Awards Assembly
Congratulations to the students who were awarded the Mercy Value and Progress awards for Term 2.
Whole school/community Service activities
Profession Schindler Primary School in PNG book donations:
To continue this whole school Service activity to our friends in PNG, we are accepting donations of reading Books for the school – all types of reading books are gratefully accepted; Fiction, Non-Fiction books for all ages from Toddler to young adult. They are in need of quality texts. If you’ve ANY readers at home that are no longer being used, please drop them into the Primary school office at any time. This will be an ongoing need and the donations will be transported to PNG in September. Thank you for your support.
Winter Shelter :
For the past two years, St Theresa’s Parish and St Thomas More’s Parish have been participating in the Toowoomba Winter Shelter program. Last year, they opened the doors providing up to 10 guests an opportunity for a meal, a hot shower and a warm place to sleep for the night.
This year, they will be hosting guests every Friday night for 13 weeks, alternating between the two locations. This is an opportunity for, adults only, in the wider Catholic community to participate and provide support. Listed below are the various roles and times required for volunteering. Please consider offering your support by contacting Brendan Doherty directly on Bedoherty14@gmail.com
At this time these are the particular areas of need:
*Set up for the night (2.30pm-3.30pm)
*Catering to be dropped at Church before 5pm (preparing the food and dropping to church)
*Serving food (5pm-7pm)
*Companionship (5pm-10pm) - socialising with guests, meals, games, chats
*Night duty (1st shift 10pm-2am, 2nd shift 2am - 6am) - staying awake through the night to provide help should guests need it.
*Breakfast (6am-8am)
*Clean up (7am-9am)
Thank you in advance for considering these opportunities.
TERM 3 DATE CLAIMERS
Week 1 – Monday 14 July: Student free day
Week 3 - Catholic Education week celebrations
Wednesday 30th July – Whole school Mass celebrating Mercy day including our Grandparent’s day with open classrooms with a STEM focus
Friday 1st August – Student free day while staff attend Bishop’s Inservice Day
I hope you have a warm and restful holiday with your families. Stay safe and we look forward to welcoming you all back after the holidays.
Thanks for reading,
Ann-Maree Ward (Assistant Principal – Mission & Identity)