A GRATITUDE PRAYER
There are so many things to be grateful for this year. We have had wonderful new students start at our school, commencing with Kindergarten and then all our other new students across the grades. We have had new staff members join our fantastic staff, to work with our students, supporting their needs and providing guidance in their learning endeavours. We have strengthened our community through the kindness and support our parents, staff and students have given to each other.  These are but a few of the many things we can be grateful for. 

This Grateful Prayer is one I use to guide my own reflections….. It is simple yet very meaningful. I thought I would share it with you.  

Let us take a pause in our day and take this moment to think about all the things we are truly grateful for.

 With gratitude I remember….. 

the people, animals, plants, insects, creatures of the sky and sea, air and water, fire and earth, all whose joyful exertion blesses my life every day.

With gratitude I remember…….

 the care and labour of a thousand generations of elders and ancestors who came before me.

I offer my gratitude for the safety and well-being I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the blessing of this earth I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the measure of health I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the family and friends I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the community I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the teachings and lessons I have been given.

I offer my gratitude for the life I have been given.

Just as we are grateful for our blessings, 

so we can be grateful for the blessings of others.

Amen

SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION
Thank you to all those who helped prepare our students for the Sacrament of Confirmation, especially Fr Sean, the children’s families, sponsors and our supportive teachers. I especially would like to thank Mrs Mitchell and Miss Abotomey for the wonderful Confirmation Liturgy and for co-supporting the staff of St Thomas Aquinas in preparing the students. 

Congratulations to our Year 6 Confirmation Candidates.

WELCOME TO OUR KINDERGARTEN CLASS OF 2021
Next week, we welcome our Kindergarten students for 2021, to our school for Playgroup. The children will be coming to four play sessions over Week 6 and Week 7. I’d like to thank Mrs Bourke-Nash, Mr Tuckwell and Mrs Berrell, for helping get the playgroups organised. Parents involved in these sessions are only able to drop off and pick up their child at the school gate due to COVID 19 restrictions. I am so grateful for their assistance with this. I am very mindful that this is not how we would normally welcome you, however we are thinking of you all and wishing you a wonderful welcome to our school community. Please do not hesitate to contact me if you need any further assistance.  

END OF TERM PLANNING
It is amazing that we are coming close to the end of term! Before we do so, we have many events planned for the students. Can you please have a look at the following dates and keep note of anything that may pertain to your child/children. 

• YEAR 6 END OF YEAR MASS - 8th December. The Year 6 students will celebrate Mass at St Michael’s Church with Fr Sean and their class teachers, Miss Abotomey and I. Unfortunately due to St Michael’s Church having a Covid 19 restriction of 30 people maximum, the rest of the school will be unable to attend. Mr Tuckwell will video the Mass and share it with the parents of Year 6 and the children from K-5 to watch in their classrooms, when the video has been put together - similar to our Online Assemblies. I sincerely thank Mr Tuckwell for enabling our wider community to be able to share this experience with the Year 6 students. 
• END OF YEAR AWARDS KINDER TO YEAR 5- Online Assembly Friday 11 December
• P&F RAFFLE- This is the P&F’s Major Fundraiser for this year, as they have been unable to do some of the activities they had planned due to COVID 19 restrictions (hopefully next year !)

The Raffle is $2.00 a ticket- a bundle of 10 tickets will be given to each student. The P&F are asking for families or businesses to donate a prize. Please bring in donated goods up until the 4th of December.  The raffle tickets will be given out this week (Week 5) and need to be returned to school by Friday 11th December. The raffle will be drawn on Tuesday 15th December.

• TRANSITION TO NEW CLASSES- Monday 14th December at 2pm
• ONLINE CHRISTMAS CONCERT- The students will be watching the online Christmas Concert at school on Tuesday 15th December and we will release it to the school community during that day. 

MESSAGE FROM THE DIRECTOR OF SCHOOLS
Following new advice from NSW Health regarding COVID-19 protocols in schools, our COVID-safe practices have been updated.

This update is intended to provide you with a summary of the major changes. The complete list of directives in place at all Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong schools is available at www.dow.catholic.edu.au/covid19.

Major changes to our COVID-19 protocols:

• Whole-school assemblies and liturgies may be held from 12 November, with students remaining seated within their cohort. Parents and carers are unfortunately still not permitted to attend.
• Masses may now be held for students, subject to the following conditions: 
• The Mass will not exceed 60 minutes
• Attendance will be limited to students and staff only
• All Diocese of Wollongong parish directors will be adhered to.

Reflecting on the COVID-19 pandemic in his recent encyclical, Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis reminds us that “our lives are interwoven with and sustained by ordinary people valiantly shaping the decisive events of our shared history”. With this in mind, we can all play a part in keeping our students and school community safe. You can help by:

• Keeping your child home when they are unwell, even with very mild symptoms.
• Informing the school immediately if your child is self-isolating or undergoing testing, and informing us of the result as soon as possible.
• Following sickness with flu-like symptoms, ensuring your child is free of symptoms AND can present a negative COVID-19 test, which must be sighted by the school, before they return to school.

As we near the end of a very difficult year, we join with Pope Francis in inviting you to renewed hope, for “hope speaks to us of something deeply rooted in every human heart, independently of our circumstances… it can look beyond personal convenience… and can open us up to grand ideals that make life more beautiful and worthwhile”.

Thank you for your ongoing support. We will continue to provide you with timely updates regarding future changes to our COVID-safe practices.

Sincerely,

Peter Hill
Director of Schools
Diocese of Wollongong

Have a wonderful week everyone.

Take care and God Bless
Katrina West