Lent
On this fourth week of Lent, the gospel readings are about sight and blindness.
In this week’s scripture, Jesus heals the man born blind, but he is also granted spiritual insight about the person of Jesus. In this moment, the man born blind shows himself to be a man of faith and worships Jesus. Jesus replies, “Those who are blind will now see, and those who think they now see will be found to be blind”. This story of the healing of the man born blind invites us to consider the importance of sight, both physical and spiritual.
During the period of Lent, we are asked to support ‘Project Compassion’, with donation boxes being held in every class. All donations, big and small, will be greatly appreciated by Caritas Australia. Some classes have started filling their ‘Project Compassion’ boxes with coins, which is greatly appreciated.
St Patrick's Day Free Dress
This Friday 17 March, all students are invited to celebrate ‘St Patrick’s Day’, by having a free dress day, wearing something green. This is a free event for the students, who can dress up in casual clothes to celebrate the day.
Farewell, Mrs Bunce
This week, Mrs Chloe Bunce finished her time at St Damien’s after 10 years of wonderful service, working as an education Assistant in the school. We thank Mrs Bunce for all she has done for the school and we wish her the very best as she prepares to welcome her new bundle of joy into the world.
NAPLAN
The NAPLAN assessments begun this week, with students in Years 3 and 5 beginning them on Wednesday, with a Writing assessment. The NAPLAN Assessment program will run throughout this week, with some catch up sessions being allocated next week for any students who have been absent during the testing period.
League Tag
Congratulations to the selected students from Year 5 and 6 who represented the school in the PSSA League Tag Competition last Friday. Both teams played extremely well and finished 3rd in their respective divisions. The students are to be commended for their fantastic efforts and fair play throughout the day. A special thank you to Miss Sanders for all of her work organising and training the teams leading up to the event. Also, a big thanks to all of the parents who were able to come along and support the teams throughout the day.
Easter Egg Raffle
Today, tickets to the P&F Easter Raffle have been sent home with the eldest child in each family. Like every year, there are some fantastic Easter hampers to be won, so please be sure to return all ticket booklets to the school, when sold.
Swimming Lessons
Swimming Lesson permission notes have been sent home to students in Year 1B and Year 2 Blue and Gold on Wednesday. Please complete these and return them to school as soon as possible, in readiness for the swimming lessons beginning for these classes in week 1 of next term.
Friday Morning Assembly
There is a whole school assembly this Friday, 17 March, beginning at 8:45am in the hall. During the assembly, the Year 2 class will be presenting an item. During the assembly, Principal Awards will be presented to the deserved students. All parents and friends of the school are welcome to come along and enjoy the assembly.
Barefoot Bowls Night
A reminder invite has been sent out today inviting all dads and male role models of the St Damien’s school community to join us for a ‘Barefoot Bowls Night’, on Friday 24 March. Please take the time to read the flyer and register your participation for this event.
Beach Sports
This Friday 17 March, our Year 2, 3 and 4 classes will be heading to the beach for their ‘Beach Sports’ program. We hope they enjoy the experience.
Footy Tipping
The P&F’s AFL footy tipping season starts tonight. Best of luck to all tipsters who have entered the competition. Weekly updates will be provided as we progress through the season. Go The Blues!
School Calendar
Parents are encouraged to visit the school’s term planner on a regular basis to ensure you are informed about upcoming events during the year. The term planner can be accessed by clicking on the following link: School Events Calendar
Principal Awards
Over the past week some students have been sent to my office to receive a Principal’s Award for completing some exceptional work. I congratulate Kyran Tapper and Ruby Gillard, from Year 3 Gold, for their great work in Spelling; Jackson Yarran and Mason Reeves, from Year 4 Gold, for thier great work in Italian, and Ellarose Caspani and Amber Moulten-Smith, from Year 6 Blue, for their great work in Art . Well done and keep up the great work!
God Bless,
Daniel Gooch
Principal
