Dear Parents, Carers, Staff and Students, 

This Sunday will be the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is for the Church, the beginning of a new liturgical year. In the readings of Advent we are reminded to take a moment to share in  the joy of Jesus. To be open to the message that God is with us as we walk with each other. At this time of the year, when everything is moving at a rapid rate and there doesn’t appear to be enough hours in the day, life can be somewhat overwhelming. More so than ever, especially in the year that we have had, we need to take a moment to reflect on the positive aspects of our school community.

One of the key positive aspects of our school community is our connection with the Parish. This Thursday our students in Year Two, and some from our older grades, will celebrate their first Sacrament of Reconciliation. The work of our REC, Mrs Julie Smith, along with our teachers in Year Two, Miss Romeo, Mrs Everton and Mrs Campbell to work with the Parish to support the teaching of our reconciliation program highlights the wonderful connection we have Fr Peter and the Parish Sacramental team led by Mr Paul Whyat.

Another positive aspect of our school community is the coordination of our Kinder Orientation morning. Last Thursday we had the pleasure of welcoming our new Kindergarten students and their families to St Anthony’s. Next year we will have 63 students in our Kinder cohort with 30 new families joining existing families who will be attending St Anthony’s. In a very different world our orientation morning involved parents dropping the new Kinders off at the hall and returning at the end of first break to collect them. Normally our parents would stay for an information session, followed by a cuppa. As a school community we missed the opportunity to come together as a collective community and provide an insight into the very essence of what it means to belong to the St Anthony’s catholic parish community. The Kinder orientation for our new Kinders was such a positive experience and our Kinder teachers were so pleased with the way the students engaged with the teachers and with each other. We look ward to seeing them on their first day next year.

Take Care.

Mr Justin Devlin

Principal