RELIGIOUS EDUCATION NEWS

Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Tuesday)- 1st March

Last Tuesday the staff got up early to prepare, cook and serve pancakes to our students and their families. Why do we celebrate Shrove Tuesday? The name Shrove comes from 'shrive', meaning absolution for sins by doing penance. The day gets its name from the tradition of Christians trying to be 'shriven' before Lent. ... Pancake Day itself came much later as a way of using up rich foods, like eggs, milk and sugar before the 40 days of fasting- Lent.

Ash Wednesday- 2nd March

Lent began last Wednesday with the marking of ashes, a sign to remind us to live the way Jesus wants. It is the beginning of our preparation for Easter when Jesus rises from the dead. Lent is a special time when we stop and think about how we can play our part in God’s hope for a world that is fair, just and peaceful. We think about our relationship with God, and how through serving others we can grow closer to him. We also think about the changes we can make in our lives, to be God’s love and mercy in our world, ensuring all people have a just future. 

 Lenten Prayer

God of Justice, 

We come to you today as members of one family.

Teach us how to be your loving presence to others.

Help us understand the challenges others face. 

Be with us as we try to change, to be people who take action for others.

 Help us seek a world where everyone has a just future. 

We ask this in Jesus’ name.  Amen

Last week the season of Lent began with Ash Wednesday, which also marks the beginning of the annual Caritas Australia Project Compassion Appeal. Donations to Project Compassion allows Caritas Australia, the Catholic Agency for International Aid and Development, to work with local communities around the world to alleviate poverty, hunger, oppression and injustice. This years’ theme is ‘For all Future Generations’.

We encourage you to put your compassion into action this Lent through your prayer, fasting and almsgiving by supporting Project Compassion. Each family has  received a Project Compassion box for your donations or you can donate online via the Caritas Australia website at: lent.caritas.org.au  If you choose to collect during Lent, please return the boxes to school so we can add the school donations to St Catherine's Parish Donations.  

SACRAMENT of RECONCILIATION 

 

PRESENTATION TO THE PARISH COMMUNITY AT WEEKEND MASS

10.30am Sunday 6th March & Sunday 20th March

St Catherine’s Church

The Parish Community welcomed the following children to mass yesterday. Father Malcolm (Visiting Priest) presented the children with a purple candle which they will use for the Reconciliation on the 26th March. Many families stayed after mass for a cuppa and hot cross bun.

Kylie Aguilar

Lily Mae Boxer

Lily Casey

Benjamin Castrillon

Leona Cunningham

Cooper Currie

Leila Fitzgerald

Harlan Kennedy

Duke Greskie

Medina Lebdeh

Dominic Slupecki

Maggie Willmott

Isla Wood

Liana Yalda

Lily Casey, Medina Lebdeh & Harlan Kennedy- Will be presented to the Parish Community on 20th March at the 10.30am parish mass.

FAMILY WORKSHOP- RECONCILIATION 

Wednesday 9th March- Online

The Family Workshop for Reconciliation will take place on WEDNESDAY 9th MARCH.

Families and their child must attend (at least one parent/guardian). The link was in the Operoo sent home last week. Your child’s class teacher will also email the link on Wednesday. The students will bring home a bag of resources to use on the night. Please do not do any of the activities as these are to be explained and done, during and after the workshop.

RECONCILIATION REFLECTION DAY

Wednesday 16th March 

St Catherine’s Learning Hub & Church

On Wednesday 16th MARCH ALL of the Year 3 students & Lily (Year 4) students will be involved in the Reconciliation Reflection Day at St Catherine’s. This day will be led by Megan Moore and myself (Religious Education Leader). The day will continue to lead the students to a deeper understanding of Reconciliation.  Miss Jenny Burnett will work with the Year 4 students on the day. 

The students are allowed to wear casual clothes on the day. All students will be required to bring their own  snack (including fruit) and lunch as usual.

  

FIRST INDIVIDUAL RITE  of RECONCILIATION

This will be celebrated at 10am on Saturday 26th March at St Catherine’s Church. More information will be shared at the Family Workshop on Wednesday night.

CONFIRMATION 2022- Thursday 2nd June

The Year 6 students will receive the Sacrament of Confirmation at 7pm on Thursday, 2nd June. Please mark this date in your diaries. More information to follow soon.

Carmel Donlon

Religious Education Leader

carmel.donlon@scmoorabbin.catholic.edu.au

It’s hard to believe we are halfway through Term 1. In the coming weeks we have quite a few events and special days happening that link with our Inquiry concept Health and Wellbeing. 

St John’s First Aid Education Program:

On Tuesday 15th all students will participate in the St John’s First Aid education program. The F-2 classes will learn about D for danger. They will identify if a situation is dangerous around the home or at school. They will learn how to tell if a person is conscious or not and how to make an emergency call and provide all the information needed. The year 3/4 classes will learn how to place a person into the recovery position. They will also practice how to dress a wound. The year 5/6 students will also learn how to check a person for a response and how to open an airway and check the breathing of an unconscious person. The students are encouraged to wear their sports uniform as they will be completing activities on the floor.

National Day Against Bullying and Violence:

On the 18th March we will observe the National Day Against Bullying & Violence. The theme for 2022 is Kindness Culture. The colour for the day is orange.  Our Year 6 school leaders will be making small orange ribbon badges to hand out as they greet students at the gates on this day. By building Kindness Culture together, we can promote inclusion, respect and community belonging for all students. All classes will complete activities throughout the day promoting an awareness of being kind to others in our community and when working online.

Harmony Day:

Harmony day will be held on 21st March. The colour to represent Harmony Day is also orange so we will encourage the students to wear their ribbons again on Monday 21st. The theme for Harmony Day is ‘Everyone Belongs.’ The students will explore  some of the ways that people can be different from each other and what things make us the same? Classes will celebrate the diversity of Australia with stories and activities throughout the week.

Lastly, this week I have included some resources you may find helpful when talking with your children about the devastating events that we are seeing and hearing on the news around Australia and around the world. At the moment it is challenging when we are seeing the lives of so many people experiencing hardship, to filter the information. Often children can start to ask questions about what is happening and they can begin to worry about their own safety. It’s important to remind children that good things are happening all around them.

Take care and stay safe,

Maree

ABC report: How to help children cope with shocking news coverage

On Wednesday 2nd March the school participated in the Hour of Code. The Hour of Code is a global computer science initiative that creates a fun and creative environment for students to be introduced to the concepts of computer programming. 

In our Religion and Inquiry lessons we have been learning about how we grow and change during Lent. We have followed a procedure to sow our own little pots of cress. We are discussing how we grow and change as we get older.

The class read the story about the Rainbow Fish. We talked about how we want to be more like the Rainbow Fish by learning to share and listen to our friends when we are in class and on the playground. We had lots of fun using water colours to paint a background and a picture of the Rainbow Fish. 

We have been learning about Jesus the Good Shepherd. The shepherd who knows each of his sheep by name and looks after his sheep. We have explored what we can see around inside the church. The students enjoyed attending Mass on Ash Wednesday with their Year 5 and 6 buddies.

In Grade 1 we have been learning about Scripture and Jesus, in particular interpreting images of God and explaining his relationship with people. Students made a connection to their own lives by thinking about something they believe in, but can’t see. They came up with ideas such as Santa, love, the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy. We then talked about how we can’t see God, but we know that he is always there for us when we need help or guidance. Students then drew a picture of what they think God looks like and wrote adjectives around the picture to describe him. Have a look at some of our excellent drawings below!

In Year 2 RE we have been learning about the season of Lent, last week we celebrated Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday. After mass on Wednesday we spent time with our buddies in 3/4 MD, sharing what we know about this special season and then drawing our buddies including the ashes on our foreheads as we had just received at mass. Year 2 students have also enjoyed being creative with watercolour paints to decorate our classroom for Lent.

In Year 3/4MD we have started learning about Lent. This is a special time that we use to show our devotion to God, and prepare for Easter. 

Shrove Tuesday is the day before Lent. We were able to eat pancakes at school, first thing in the morning. Lent officially begins on Ash Wednesday. We attended Mass and received ashes on our forehead, to remember Jesus’ sacrifice. 

In our classroom we have also been learning about prayer. Every morning we pray and meditate. Our class has worked hard to complete our Prayer Cloth. 

People make Lenten Promises to give something up or try something new, in celebration of Jesus' 40 days in the desert where he ate nothing, and resisted temptation. People used to make large promises, like fasting. But now-adays we make promises to help others and do random acts of kindness, which are still as important.

By Jackson

On Friday, St Catherine’s students and staff participated in the Clean Up Australia Day School’s Clean Up. Each class had the chance to safely clean up rubbish around the school. School clean ups are a great way to inspire students to learn about the impact of rubbish on their local environment while playing an active role in their community. We cleaned up the oval, playground, asphalt and courtyard. The foundation students also went to the veggie garden to water all the plants! We are always really good at putting our rubbish in the bin, but we still managed to find lots of rubbish hidden in bushes and plants! 

Each class then went back to their classroom to complete a Clean Up Australia Day Activity. We learnt about the importance of reducing, reusing and recycling. It is also important to rethink how we see waste by asking ourselves the following questions:

-Can I buy packaging that can be used more than once?

-Can I rethink the amount of energy I use daily?

-Can I think about the impact I am having on the planet?

-Can I rethink the way I dispose of waste?

Some students also did a sorting activity where they sorted different types of waste into the correct bins. 

We had lots of fun on Friday challenging ourselves to find the most pieces of rubbish, but most importantly we helped our environment and community!

Some of our year 6 students are warming up their bikes for Ride 2 school day on March 25th

At HFC, we're very excited to share that AFL Victoria and Highett JFC will be hosting an Auskick Come & Try Event for all kids aged 5-12.

This event will cater for all kids, whether they’ve had experience playing football or not. Footy 4 Fun ‘Come & Try’ is an opportunity for kids to experience an introduction to the basics of football through fun activities and games in a completely safe and inclusive environment.

This event is FREE!!!

Scan the QR Code to register

To organize a refund you will need to action the following:

• Log into your QuickCliq account and navigate to your profile page.
• Scroll to the bottom of the page and locate the Account Closure/Refund Request box.
• Input refund information i.e. omit '$' for the amount.
• Funds should return within 1-5 business days depending on financial institution.

Please do not hesitate to contact us if you have any questions

Free to a good home. 

Desk with rollaway shelf. 

Dimensions: W 90cm x H72cm x D59cm

Pick up from school Learning Hub

Contact Kath at: kath.barca@scmoorabbin.catholic.edu.au