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Dear Parents and Carers,
We are currently celebrating Refugee Week in Australia. This week provides a platform where positive images of refugees can be promoted in order to create a culture of welcome throughout the country. The ultimate aim of the celebration is to create better understanding between different communities and to encourage successful integration enabling refugees to live in safety and to continue making a valuable contribution to Australia. There are three main aims of Refugee Week. They are to:
- educate the Australian public about who refugees are and why they have come to Australia
- help people understand the many challenges refugees face coming to Australia
- celebrate the contribution refugees make to our community.
Our school vision of “Reverence the Story of all People” is closely linked to the principles of Refugee Week as we are challenged to be people of acceptance and welcome, following Jesus’ example in our relationships with others.
PRAYER FOR REFUGEES
God, no one is a stranger to you and no one is ever far from your loving care.
In your kindness watch over migrants, refugees and those separated from their loved ones.
Bring them safely to the place where they long to be, and help us always to show your kindness to strangers and those in need.
We ask this through Christ our Lord, who too was a refugee and migrant who travelled to another land searching for a home.
Amen
FRIDAY AWARD ASSEMBLIES
Parents are warmly invited to join us each Friday afternoon at 1.55pm for our Awards Assembly. It provides the opportunity to recognise those students who recently have celebrated birthdays as well as those who receive Merit Certificates and Gold Awards, acknowledging their hard work. 
THANK YOU
I would like to thank our parents and grandparents for their continued support of the measures that we currently have in place at the moment. The morning drop off arrangements and the afternoon pick up are generally working well with the majority of parents understanding the importance of following school directives so that all members of our school community are kept safe and well.
MORNING PROCEDURES
Parents are reminded that on the second morning bell at 8.30am, all gates are locked as the students have commenced their class learning. Any students who arrive after this time, must be signed in by a parent at the front office. Everyone is asked to consider the importance of arriving punctually at school.
PARENT/TEACHER CONVERSATIONS
We are looking forward to the Parent/Teacher Conversations, which will be held during Weeks 9 and 10 following the Semester 1 Interim Student Reports going live on Compass (Friday June 19). Parents were to book a time on School Interviews by midday yesterday.
STUDENTS WITH FLU-LIKE SYMPTOMS
We have been following NSW Government and Health Authorities directives by sending home any child who presents with flu-like symptoms such as a runny nose, sore throat or cough. Quite often this is occurring at the start of the day, when it becomes obvious that the child is unwell. Parents are asked to keep their children at home if there are any of these symptoms present as we cannot run the risk of jeopardising the health of others. Children who are absent, sick with these symptoms must obtain a medical clearance certificate before returning to school.
PARENT- SCHOOL PARTNERSHIPS
At the centre of the Catholic Education Office’s Parent/School Partnership Framework are five principles that we are urged to implement in order to establish and sustain meaningful, respectful relationships. This week we will look at the first and most important principle: Authentic Catholicity, whereby we co-create a Catholic Community. We live this in our communities by:
- Valuing and respecting the Catholic identity of the school, being connected to our Parish and Diocese and expressing our tradition through prayer, liturgy and Catholic teachings.
- Being welcoming, inclusive and compassionate.
- Respecting the dignity of all.
- Acknowledging that the wellbeing of the individual is balanced with the common good.
- Living the Catholic faith through the principles of Catholic Social Teaching.
- Supporting social justice initiatives that give witness to the Catholic faith in action.
This Sunday’s Gospel
Mt 10:26-33
Those who acknowledge Christ will be known to the Father.
LIVE STREAMING OF WEEKDAY MASSES
via our parish Facebook page by Fr Joe
Weekday Mass at 7:00am
YOU CAN FIND THE ALL SAINTS PARISH BULLETIN ONLINE
On the All Saints parish website: www.allsaintscatholic.org.au
Click on the link at the bottom of the page where it says Bulletin.PDF
Gospel
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew
Do not fear those who can kill the body.
Jesus instructed the Twelve as follows: ‘Do not be afraid. For everything that is now covered will be uncovered, and everything now hidden will be made clear. What I say to you in the dark, tell in the daylight; what you hear in whispers, proclaim from the house-tops.
‘Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; fear him rather who can destroy both body and soul in hell. Can you not buy two sparrows for a penny? And yet not one falls to the ground without your Father knowing. Why, every hair on your head has been counted. So there is no need to be afraid; you are worth more than hundreds of sparrows.
‘So if anyone declares himself for me in the presence of men, I will declare myself for him in the presence of my Father in heaven. But the one who disowns me in the presence of men, I will disown in the presence of my Father in heaven.’
This is the Gospel of the Lord.
Please keep Father Joe in your prayers as his sister passed away after an illness early in June. The loss comes closely after the loss of his mother, and is a second sad loss at this time when families are so distanced physically.
We offer our prayers and support to Father Joe and his family at this sad time.
Refugee Week
The theme of Refugee Week 2020 is celebrating the year of welcome. A more welcoming country doesn’t start with politicians, it starts with us. Welcome is a posture and attitude towards all people, including people from refugee backgrounds.
14 - 20 June 2020 is Refugee Week. This week only comes around once a year. It is a unique opportunity to make time to learn about the experiences of people from refugee backgrounds and to celebrate the valuable contributions made by refugees to the world.
Refugee Week is a reminder that we are all responsible for creating a welcoming country.
Prayer from A Just Cause
Loving God,
We pray for the world’s refugees,
They have experienced trauma beyond our imagining.
God of healing, bring them healing.
They endure the most trying of circumstances.
God of strength, bring them strength.
They face an uncertain future.
God of hope, bring them hope.
We pray for the countries from which refugees come,
They are experiencing conflict.
God of healing, bring them healing.
Their people are torn apart by violence & other types of persecution.
God of strength, bring them strength.
They face a difficult future.
God of hope, bring them hope.
We pray for refugees who have resettled in Australia.
They have experienced great loss.
God of healing, bring them healing.
They are building new lives in a foreign land.
God of strength, bring them strength.
They are courageously carving out a future.
God of hope, bring them hope.
We pray for asylum seekers living in Australia.
They have experienced great loss.
God of healing, bring them healing.
They may never see their families again.
God of strength, bring them strength.
They have no certainty about their future.
God of hope, bring them hope.
We pray for asylum seekers detained on Manus Island & Nauru
They are experiencing great pain
God of healing, bring them healing.
They live in harsh and difficult conditions
God of strength, bring them strength.
They are losing hope.
God of hope, bring them hope.
We pray for our nation
We have hardened our hearts against refugees
God of healing, bring us healing
We have grown weary of caring
God of strength, give us strength
We need to find a better way forward,
God of hope, bring us hope.
Year 1
Year 1 are currently focusing on the Sunday celebration of the Mass. It introduces students to Sunday as the special day when Catholics gather at Mass to listen, remember and give thanks to God, receive Holy Communion and go out to love and serve the Lord.
Year 3
Year 3 are currently exploring the presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It focuses on the Holy Spirit as the source of strength enabling us to continue the mission of Jesus. The unit looks at the Holy Spirit as the fulfilment of Jesus’ promise not to leave us alone after he had ascended into Heaven.
Julie Hopkins
Acting Religious Education Coordinator
Canteen News
We are a school run canteen and rely on volunteers to operate.
Canteen is open Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays to make and prepare lunch orders and serve the children over the counter.
Online orders can be made via the My School Connect app - www.myschoolconnect.com.au/stellamarisps click on create account.