Christ the King School

Dear Parents and Guardians,

As we journey through this season of Lent we might consider the message that Jesus gave and demonstrated to us which was ‘to consider others before Himself.’ The following prayer gives us a focus for doing this.

Dear Lord,

Give me a kind heart that will endure,
One that’s strong and secure.
To help someone along the way,
Make this my goal every day.
Let me lend a helping hand
To someone whose life has not gone as planned,
Reaching out to one in need,
May this be my daily good deed,
To provide a guiding light
For someone lost in the dark of night.
Let me take time to care
For someone experiencing despair.
Whatever I do, everywhere I go,
Your Will,
Dear Lord, let me know

Amen.

This Sunday is the Third Sunday of Lent and the middle point of our journey to Easter. Ash Wednesday signalled the start of the Lenten season, the 40 days that precedes the Easter celebration. It is when Catholics restore their commitment to spiritual observance through fasting, prayer and almsgiving. We believe that these practices help to strip away some of what takes us away from God and are a form of cleansing which improves our spiritual health. So rather than seeing Lent in negative terms, we should see it as a beautiful spiritual experience that will strengthen us and prepare us for the joy of Easter. Here are Pope Francis’ simple tips for fasting this Lent:

1. Fast from hurting words and say kind words.
2. Fast from sadness and be filled with gratitude.
3. Fast from anger and be filled with patience.
4. Fast from pessimism and be filled with hope.
5. Fast from worries and trust in God.
6. Fast from complaints and contemplate simplicity.
7. Fast from pressures and be prayerful.
8. Fast from bitterness and fill your heart with joy.
9. Fast from selfishness and be compassionate to others
10. Fast from grudges and be reconciled.
11. Fast from words and be silent so you can listen.

Some time ago, I came across two cartoon illustrations, the first depicted four appropriately robed gentlemen in earnest discussion. One was saying to the others, “If we put our heads together and go about this the right way, we could end up with a best seller. Well, what about it, will you be in it? What about you, Matthew? How about you, Mark? What do you think, Luke?”

The other illustration showed a traffic intersection where the traffic lights were out of order. Cars from all directions had nosed their way ahead until there was a complete jam; the end result was much hooting of horns and quite a few unnecessary words being exchanged. The caption for this illustration read, “If everyone gets their own way, then no one gets their own way.”

I suppose the world around us gives us many examples of both the above situations. Firstly, through sensible discussion and negotiation, solutions to problems can be found and action plans put into operation. Secondly, through senseless argument and stubbornness, barriers arise, problems become complex and at best a stalemate follows or maybe even a ‘cold war’.

One of the principal aims of a Catholic school should be the creation, by staff and parents, of a climate conducive to the exercise of Gospel values. Hopefully, in such an environment, young people will live the meaning of love, truth, respect, care, justice, service and forgiveness. May we also remember to never take each other for granted and value one another as important people in our lives.

Year 3 Reconciliation

Tonight from 5:30 pm, we have our parent/child workshops for Reconciliation. Mario Borg from 24/7 Youth Ministry is presenting the workshops. Thank you to Mrs Gumina, Mrs Philp and Mrs Reardon for all your hard work in preparing the children.

The topics of focus for our Year 3 students will be: Moral Choices, Sin, Forgiveness, Examination of Conscience, and the Ten Commandments.

The 2023 Lenten Calendar has ideas below for each of the days this week and into next week during Lent. Families can use the newsletter calendar to focus on preparing for Easter.

For the third week of Lent:                                                      

Parent/Teacher Interviews – Wednesday, 5 April

Parent Interviews will be held in week 10 of this term on Wednesday, 5 April. Our school will be closing early at 12.00 pm on to help facilitate these meetings. Information about how to book an interview time will be mentioned in the next fortnight’s newsletter. I encourage all parents to select a ten-minute time slot and meet with their child’s teacher to discuss your child’s progress. It is very important that parents make time to meet with the class teacher to ensure the school and home continue the important partnership of jointly working together for the well-being of the child. The only way we can do this is by talking together, working together and consistently supporting the children to grow in their love of learning and in their love of life. I ask you to ensure that you are working in partnership with your class teacher for the well-being and development of your child. If you have met prior to this day, then there is no need to book an appointment. If any child cannot be picked up by 12pm, we will have designated areas where children will be supervised by specialist teaching staff. You are very welcome to collect your child after your interview time if it is before 3:00 pm then the normal pick-up time will occur.

Did you know. . . ?

• An apple, potato and onion all taste the same if you eat them with your nose plugged.
• The human heart pumps 5.6 million litres of blood a year.
• On average, when asked for a colour, 3 out of 5 people will say red.

Andrew Kelly
Principal

Wellness Week

Wellness Week at Christ the King was a huge success among students and staff. Students loved going ‘homework free’ and it was wonderful to hear the stories of how students used their time otherwise, such as visiting neighbours, cooking with family and playing board games with family and friends. The students thoroughly enjoyed our whole school morning workout on Wednesday and enjoyed the funky music playing throughout the school on ‘feel good’ Friday. It was great to have the opportunity to relax with mindfulness activities throughout the week too! Thank you to our dedicated staff wellness team, for coordinating Wellness Week for our whole school.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN is a National Literacy and Numeracy assessment that students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 sit each year. NAPLAN information for parents and caregivers was sent out via students in Years 3 and 5 a few weeks ago. The NAPLAN test window starts on Wednesday 15 March and finishes on Monday 27 March 2023. For more information about NAPLAN – https://nap.edu.au/. We encourage parents and caregivers to keep conversations about NAPLAN as relaxed and reassuring as possible to minimise any nervousness.

Crunch and Sip

Our students are really enjoying Crunch and Sip throughout our school, and our fabulous Year 2 class have registered for March Munch where the class has been issued with a special pack of stickers, rewards and classroom activities for the month of March. We hope to have our whole school certified as a Crunch and Sip School soon!

P&F Guidelines

A gentle reminder of the role of the Parent Representative – this is a central point of communication between families, the P&F Committee, teachers, and the school administration office in order to support the teacher/s and parents in building a strong sense of community at Christ the King School. The role involves the following actions:

1. Attend all P&F Meetings to represent the views of their year group. There are two P&F meetings per term
2. Be prepared to fully support and promote the events of the P&F which may include some of the following: distribution of flyers, reaching out to the class for parent volunteers, asking for donations of baked goods for an event, collection of money or distribution of tickets
3. Contact the parents of new children in the class to make them feel welcome in the School Community. You may like to arrange a coffee catch-up and provide relevant information to them about the class and school
4. Organising class social events to help create a good community feeling, such as morning teas, meals out, group family activities etc
5. Communicate with parents of merit award recipients prior to assembly
6. If the Parent Representative hears of a family in special need, they may offer some pastoral care for that family – either through the parent network or by letting the school know of the need.
7. Assist the class teacher by coordinating parent help in the classroom (where the teacher sees this as desirable). If parents who are rostered to help in a classroom are unable to attend, a phone call to the Parent Representative may result in a substitute being found rather than the class having to suspend that part of the program for that day.
8. Parents who are unsure of how to proceed with a particular concern may contact the Parent Representative for advice.

The Parent Representative will be given the contact details of all parents in the class who are willing to have their details listed. This contact list should only be used for the purposes of communication about school and P&F matters; it is not to be used for business purposes or promotion about non-school-related matters. It also serves to assist other parents to build social networks and provide support at various times to other class parents. (Please be aware that at times, for various reasons, there may be a family who wishes not to distribute their details. We can work out alternative means of communication for this.)

It is important that all parents are following the guidelines outlined above, in order to maintain the safety and respect of each individual, with the dignity of each person being honoured.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend!

Mrs Sabrina Reardon

Fathering Project News