The season of Advent is now upon us which means that Christmas is fast approaching. At this weekend’s masses the Gospel warned us to ‘Stay Alert, for we do not know when the time will come!’. In the 21st Century, during the busyness of life we probably don’t relate as easily to a sense of waiting, we want, and usually expect everything to be done as quickly as possible. Perhaps this week, we are being asked by God to stay alert to the godly moments, the holy moments that we will experience during this period of preparation for the birth of Christ.
The Parish have had a number of gatherings during the past few week’s beginning with the Parish Fair and the Healing Mass and then last night we gathered again to celebrate, remember and farewell the priestly career of Fr Frank. It was a mass of great pomp and ceremony, concelebrated by Bishops Mark Edwards and Terry Curtin as well as many of Fr Frank’s fellow priests. As Fr Frank has always encouraged, the mass was followed by a great experience of fellowship in the School Sport Centre. It was great to see a number of our families in attendance.
On Friday night a small gathering of parent volunteers gathered in the Sports Centre Foyer for the Parents & Friends Appreciation Dinner. Although there were many who couldn’t make the evening it was a great opportunity to gather in a social way to celebrate the end of another successful year of parental involvement in Parents & Friends activities at the school. Thank you to this year’s committee and volunteers for working with the staff for the benefit of the children in our care. I especially wish to thank Karina Rickard, the outgoing president, for the driving force she has been during her time on the committee.
This time of the year also brings about changes to staff and I’d like to share with you those teachers who are leaving at the end of 2017 and thank them for their time at St Andrew’s.
· Signora Rosaria La Motta will leave after having taught at St Andrew’s since 2000.
· Bianca Wallis will leave to work closer to home after arriving at St Andrew’s in 2014
· Jacqui Beasley will also leave to work closer to home having been at St Andrew’s since 2014
· Chris Perrett has finished her 12 month contract at St Andrew’s
We wish these teachers all the very best and thank them for their service to St Andrew’s School community.
Last week I received notification that St Andrew’s has been successful in receiving a Victorian Government Capital Grant of $1.65 million to put towards a $3 million refurbishment to begin next year. 2018 will see the building of a new Administration, staff and junior learning area. This is news that is great for our school community and a time of much excitement.
Although it may not seem so with the weather as soggy as it has been over the weekend, but summer has started. With that we experience more warmer, sunny days and as a result it is time to get Sunsmart. A few weeks ago some of our students attended some outdoor events and a few ended up badly sunburnt, as a result we looked over our policy.
We ask that you supply your child with sunscreen so that it can be applied at school. Teachers will not apply sunscreen to a child but will remind them to apply it before going outside. On days that students might be participating in outdoor activities such as excursions, sports, etc., we ask that they apply sunscreen before coming to school and they will be reminded to re-apply throughout the day.
· Sunscreen will be included in first aid cases as a backup.
· Children should always be wearing a hat, where appropriate, when outdoors.
· When participating in outdoor activities we would always look to be in shade, where possible
We hope that this reduces the risk of students being sunburnt when participating in outdoor activities.
Friday 8 December is our Jingle & Mingle Night from 6.00pm - everyone is welcome!
Thursday December 21 will be the last day for students. School finishes at 12.30pm on this day
