Dear Parents and Carers,
We continue our fast and furious race to the end of the school year with the days and weeks ticking by very quickly. Thank you for being so understanding of the limits to numbers attending various end of year events that we need to impse at this stage. We prefer to do things safely with smaller numbers rather than risk the health (and break the rules) just to keep people happy. Over the past few weeks we have
Participated in SOCKTOBER Day to raise funds for Catholic Mission. Thank you to everyone for your generosity as it seems we have raised nearly $1000.
We welcomed Emily Connors from Australian Catholic Mission to our Week 4 Assembly. Emily shared with the students her experiences visiting Cambodia earlier this year and the work of Catholic Mission. Emily will return to SSPS in Week 7 to talk further with our Year 4-6 students.
Raised awareness of Child Safety through Day 4 Daniel with staff coming dressed in red.
BIRTHDAY BUDDIES: Ann- Maree Ward (Yr 6 Teacher) and Fr Peter Dorfield share a birthday and we were delighted to share a morning tea with them.
OCTOBER- The Month of the Rosary.
We have a tradition now at SSPS of incorporating the Rosary into our daily prayer throughout October, which, in Catholic tradition, is the month of the rosary. This year, I have asked some teachers for feedback...
1. We really enjoyed participating in the rosary in our classroom this year. They all participated in saying the Our Father, Glory to Be and the Hail Marys. The students were very grateful for the rosary beads that were given to them. It was very meaningful for the students to focus on the one mystery when saying the rosary. Students said they enjoyed the processes and having that reflective time each day.
2.In our class we have really enjoyed our focus on Mary and the Rosary these last few weeks. As we have been learning about special events in Mary's life, it has been lovely to then make connections and focus on her during our prayer time. I think these connections have really helped students appreciate and understand the important role Mary plays in all our lives as our heavenly mother and coming together to pray every day has been a calming way to begin our middle session of learning.
3.I found it very valuable and worthwhile. It gave the students a focus and they did get into a rhythm or "meditative" type state and saw the benefits of sitting still while doing so. I liked how we related the mysteries to challenges that they may be facing.
4. My class enjoyed the rosary and were focused and committed each day. They liked hearing about each of the mysteries. Most of them had rosary beads which I believe helped their focus and made them feel a part of it. I'd be happy to do it again and believe the kids would too.
I would be very happy to get any feedback from parents or grandparents about this as well. Did our saying the Rosary at school, have any impact (or promote discussion) at home? I did hear of one Year 6 student who was saying a decade of the rosary over the phone with her grandfather!!
All the best for the coming week,
Judy
