Dear Parents and Guardians,
First Holy Communion
Congratulations to all our First Holy Communion recipients last weekend. We were very fortunate to have two beautiful days to celebrate these very special masses. The children were really excited about their opportunity to receive the ‘Blessed Eucharist’ for the very first time.
A very BIG Thank You to Fr Isidore and Father Pius for celebrating the masses with the children and making it such a meaningful occasion for the children and their families. Thank you also to Mrs McKenna (Parish Sacramental Coordinator) and Mrs Lisa Allegretta (Parish Sacramental Team), our Year 4 Teachers, Miss Sophie Marshall and Mrs Lisa Tilzey as well as all the staff of Christ the King School for their support at these masses over the weekend.
The generosity and commitment shown by staff by attending these masses over the weekend was wonderful. Thank you!
Semester One Reports
Times like this could be quite stressful for children and for parents. We all want to see our children achieve the very best they are capable of achieving. Our aim is to ensure that children are motivated to learn and achieve to their potential, then accept what they can do, because the important thing is for them to be happy, carefree and enjoying their learning.
I would like to acknowledge the professional efforts of our staff, who have put in many hours to assess the children’s learning and to ensure that the reporting to you, the parents, is as meaningful as it can be. I thank them for their professionalism, hard work and commitment in producing reports that clearly demonstrate the children’s learning.
I think it is always important to put the written report in context, focusing on the child and noting that:
Teachers and Parents can never
know all that a child knows.
A Report Card is merely a snapshot –
A tiny slice of a child’s learning over
a given period of time.
It is through talking with a child,
looking at what the child creates,
and watching the child in action
that we gain a clearer,
more comprehensive understanding
of a child’s progress.
Fortunate is the Child . . . A Checklist for Parents
Believe it or not but in two weeks the school will break for holidays and one-half of the school year will have been completed. Over the past two terms what growth we have witnessed in our children! How quickly they seem to be developing and maturing. Coupled with the witnessing of this growth is the sometimes thrilling, sometimes worrying evidence before us in the persons of our children, that the persons we see are almost entirely the product of our effort, care and philosophy towards life. As the semester reaches its final stage, it is appropriate to perhaps take a pause and have a quiet think about our role as the most important persons in the lives of our children.
Time management experts tell us that, if we wish to achieve the maximum benefit from the way in which we use our time, we need to have a strong element of forward planning such as a schedule or checklist. Also, they suggest, that at the end of the time period, the plan should be appraised to see how successful it has been, and areas needed for improvement.
Maybe it could be of some benefit to us if we had a checklist directed towards our role as parents. We can cast an eye over the list and take encouragement from our successes and perhaps on occasion admit, “Yes, I need to do something about this one”. Anyway, see how you go:
Fortunate is the Child who has someone who believes in him/her and has high hopes for him/her.
Fortunate is the Child who has someone to whom he/she can carry some problems unafraid.
Fortunate is the Child who is allowed to pursue his/her curiosity into every worthwhile field of information.
Fortunate is the Child who has someone who understands that childhood’s grievances are real and bitter and so call for understanding and sympathy.
Fortunate is the Child who is led gently by the hand along the pathway of life by someone who is guide, companion and inspiration.
Fortunate is the Child whose love of the true, the beautiful and the good has been nourished through the years.
Fortunate is the Child whose efforts to achieve have found encouragement.
Fortunate is the Child who has learned freedom from selfishness through responsibility and cooperation.
Fortunate is the Child who is encouraged to look beyond the material things of life, to see the spiritual strand which adds eternal meaning to reality.
Well, how did you make out? If you got a perfect score, go straight to heaven! If you are like the rest of us, then I guess we might try to pick up on a point or two during the next semester.
“Lord, parenthood is a very responsible role I share with you as co-creator of my children.
Help me to remember the preciousness of this role that has been given to me.
Help me to realise how fortunate I am to have you as my unseen partner.”
Amen
Did you Know?
One penny (cent) doubled every day becomes over 5 million dollars in just 30 days.
It takes 17 muscles to smile and 43 to frown.
You can’t fold a piece of paper in half more than seven times.
“Dreamt” is the only English word that ends in the letters “mt”!
There are ‘great things’ happening in our school due to the efforts of so many people; seek to be one of those people in the coming week!
Keep smiling and let’s do great things together!
Andrew Kelly
Principal
