Dear Parents, Carers and Community Members

This week we celebrated Ash Wednesday which signifies the beginning of Lent.  It is the start of 40 days of prayer, penance and giving as we prepare ourselves to celebrate the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ on Easter Sunday.  But what does this actually look like, how can we be active participants during this period?

Lent is not just about giving up something like chocolate or social media for a short period of time.  It is an opportunity to make positive change in our own lives, making a positive difference in someone else’s life, either it be someone we know, someone we don’t know, someone we don’t like, or someone that lives kilometres away that is simply in need.

Never see a need without doing something about it.” – Mary MacKillop, 1811

This Lenten period I encourage us all to make a difference by getting involved. 

1. Supporting Caritas as we raise funds to help the people of Turkey and Syria devastated by the recent earthquakes.
2. Being kind to others, by simply going out of your way to say something nice to someone every day.
3. Cleaning out your closet and donating used items to St Vincent de Paul.
4. Slowing down and taking time for prayer, meditation or spending quality time with family.
5. Reaching out to someone that may have hurt you and showing forgiveness.
6. Embracing the opportunity for personal growth.

As St Clare’s of Assisi would say,

“Love one another with the charity of Christ, let the love you have in your hearts be shown outwardly in your deeds so that compelled by such an example, the sisters may also grow in the love of God and charity for one another.”

In the previous newsletter I mentioned that at St Clare’s we are committed to providing a high-quality learning environment where all students can learn and achieve ‘Be successful’.  To help us provide this high-quality learning environment, students in Year 7 to 10 will participate in a PAT assessment next week.  The PAT assessment measures a student’s knowledge, skills and understanding in the areas of reading, writing and numeracy and helps the school pinpoint where individual students are in their learning journey – and what they need to progress.  The data collected from the PAT assessments is used to identify starting points for learning, allow the development of high impact and targeted teaching and learning strategies for all students.  These assessments will also be conducted at the end of the year to monitor student growth in 2023 and inform our schools focus for 2024.

Previous analysis of PAT, NAPLAN, HSC and school assessment data has been used to inform our school goal for 2023, which focuses on student writing and assessment, especially where students are required to read, interpret, and answer long response style questions in various situations. e.g. examinations and research tasks.

Parents/Carers can I ask that you encourage your child to fully engage in these assessments to ensure the data collected can be used to improve your child’s learning outcomes.

Please do not hesitate to contact the school if you have any concerns about your child’s learning and/or wellbeing.

‘Together with Christ we serve our community’.

Inspired by GOSPEL VALUES and the practical examples of St Mary of The Cross MacKillop and St Clare of Assisi our Mission is to…

CONNECT LEARN ASPIRE RESPECT ENGAGE

Kind regards

Phillip Gibney
Principal