APRE NEWS
Dear Parents and Carers,
With the start of September, comes the start of many new beginnings! Spring is very much welcomed, with the warmer weather, the longer days and of course the new life we see around us, in our gardens and parks. Certainly a time to appreciate our "Garden City" and to actually "stop and smell the roses". I share with you today two themes or messages from Pope Francis which are quite relevant for us at this time.
Season of Creation:
The Youtube clip, Lovesong to the Earth has been shared and discussed in some classes and will be a part of our final assembly for this term, next Thursday, 8:45am. You might like to listen to it again with your children.
At this assembly we will be presenting our Cornerstone Value Awards and Encouragement Awards for Term 3.
Grandparents' Day: More information will follow, however we are planning on incorporating our postponed Grandparents' Day into our Socktober Event Day on Wednesday (October 27) in Week 4 of next term. This is dependent on there being no COVID restrictions in place, however things are looking pretty positive at the moment.
A message from Pope Francis to all Grandparents.....
“I am with you always” are also the words that I, as Bishop of Rome and an elderly person like yourselves, would like to address to you on this first World Day of Grandparents and the Elderly. The whole Church is close to you – to us – and cares about you, loves you and does not want to leave you alone!
We sincerely hope that we can "be with" our parents and grandparents next term!
Children's Mass this Sunday: We are eagerly looking forward to our first Children's Sunday Mass for over 18months, with students eagerly practising the hymns and special readings and prayers. For some of our students, this will be a new experience for them which we hope and pray we will be able to continue again next term.
For those of our older students (Yrs 3 and up) who are helping with the singing or readings, if possible we ask you to arrive between 8:30 and 8:45 for a 'warm up' or run through.
Please note that the 9am Mass is livestreamed and there is every chance that some of the children will appear on the screen at some time, so if you are attending Mass but not comfortable with your child being videoed, please let me know by the start of Mass.
CTJ (Consistence of Teacher Judgement) Day: Last Friday, our teaching staff gathered with the teachers at Holy Name for a day of discussion, moderation and professional development. With the focus being on how we are teaching RE, particularly how things have changed and developed with SSPS and Holy Name both being part of the Illuminate Program.
Feedback for our teachers was very positive, particularly with regards to the ways we are now planning, the resources being utilised, the strategies or ways that our teachers are engaging students in RE. The assessment in RE was an area that our teachers were keen to share and get new ideas on and again the feedback on what is already happening at SSPS was most encouraging, with descriptions of: clear- creative- rigorous-varied- visual- opportunities for all needs.
I hope that you get to enjoy some extra time relaxing with your children over the coming weeks.
Regards,
Judy