Dear St John the Apostle families,

On Monday we gathered online to celebrate the start of the school year and to present our Year 6 students with their leadership badges.

Using MS Teams, we streamed the liturgy into each classroom, where various groups shared prayers and actions to songs. It was the closest we could get to celebrating together.

All of our Year 6 students received Student Leader badges recognising the important role they play in supporting the entire student body, modelling respect and giving back to the community.

Our elected Peer Leaders and School Captains received additional badges that recognise the extra responsibility they have to support their own peers in the work of leadership and to be the public face of student leadership in the school.

We're very proud of this group of Year 6 students. They have experienced some significant challenges over the years and have matured to become students who enthusiastically want to serve their school community.

Ash Wednesday

Thank you to Mrs Stewart who provided each of our classes with the resources to independently celebrate an Ash Wednesday liturgy. 

Over the course of the day more and more ash crosses were appearing on the foreheads of staff and students as they walked around the school. These Ash Wednesday crosses are such a public symbol of our Catholic identity. So many times I've walked into shops at the the end of the day and people have kindly pointed out the 'dirt' on my forehead that I've forgotten was there.

Growing up it was more common to see ash on foreheads in public on Ash Wednesday. Now less so. I don't despair of this. I love my faith tradition, and that of our Catholic School, to tangibly symbolise the beginning of Lent.

Lent is a time to recognise the ways we have become out of step with being made in the image and likeness of God, a God of Love, and to return to that way, becoming one again with God, with each other and with creation. While it is not common to celebrate Ash Wednesday and Lent across our society anymore, it is still a type of journey that we all take at different times, seeking out to become more fully ourselves, more connected, more whole.

The benefit of taking this journey as part of our Catholic faith tradition is that we undertake it together, regularly and with the knowledge that we are loved unconditionally by God. With this in mind the journey is not so lonely and we are much kinder on ourselves and others. Lent is a journey worth exploring.

Parent Meet and Greets (Parent/Teacher Interviews)

If you haven't already, I encourage you all to take ten minutes to chat with your child's teacher next week. Just checking in is such an easy way to stay connected to your child's education. Relationships between home and school don't have to be onerous and these opportunities make it easy to remain in contact.

Please follow the link provided in COMPASS to make your booking.

Thank you Rotary Belconnen

I would like to thank Rotary Belconnen for their generous donation of $400 to the school to support families who may need assistance. Every year Rotary provide this donation to ease the burden for a family or two in relation to educational costs. 

We continue to keep all those in crisis in our prayers. Those in the Ukraine and their family members here who worry for them. Those whose possessions and lives have been swept away by flood waters. Those families in our community experiencing seemingly insurmountable challenges. Let us join together to offer support where we can and pray for them when we can't stand beside them. 

Kind regards,

Matthew Garton