There is always hope….good news!

We would like to thank our families and students for their absolute support during the challenges and changes that COVID has again thrown our way to start this school year. We have become so accustomed to talking about restrictions and conditions we are operating under, that it feels that is what life has become about. We have appreciated families communicating with us around their need to isolate, while our continuity of learning at school has been smooth with a great staff who have adapted to what needs to happen each day. Thankfully there are lots of great things going on at school that can take the focus in the coming weeks and we look forward to sharing this with you.

We have finally received details of how things are about to change in our schools around the loosening of restrictions. From Monday 28th February, there will be significant changes that we are sure you will be happy to see. Spoiler alert……we are getting excited about welcoming our families back into the school! Before Monday, you will receive a letter emailed to you, outlining the changes to our practices. Please be assured that at all stages of planning, we will keep the health, safety and care of our students, staff and families at the forefront. We appreciate your continuing support in keeping each other safe.

Incitare Retreat - an Opportunity for Faith, Friendship and Fun

Incitāre is a one-day retreat experience for Year 6 students from Catholic Primary Schools based in regions of the Diocese to celebrate their faith. The retreat is a chance to bring students together to meet like-minded peers and to celebrate with other young people who practice their faith.

Nine Year 6 students have nominated themselves to participate in this great retreat experience. They will meet up with like-minded Year 6 students from around the Hastings region. They will be led by some secondary school students who are part of the Catholic Schools Youth Ministry classes at our local high schools and other teachers from our Primary schools. 

The activities will be a mixture of large and small sharing groups as well as celebrating a liturgy together. The program focuses on the needs of the participants. The experience allows attendees to build relationships with other students in their region and invites the participants to talk about and share their faith journey.

Sacrament of Penance Workshop - Year 4 

Notes were emailed this week to our eligible candidates from Year 4 to 6 with Sacrament of Penance Workshop information. St Joseph’s will hold a workshop for these families from 3:30 - 4:30pm on Thursday 10th March 2022. 

This workshop will be designed to be a collaborative sacramental preparation moment  for students and their parents. Looking forward to seeing all our Penance Candidates at our workshops. 

Preparing for the Sacrament of Penance is a St Agnes’ Parish process. Thank you to the coordinators for their work in ensuring this Celebration occurs. 

Ash Wednesday

Next week we begin the Season of Lent with Ash Wednesday. This Season brings many opportunities to reflect and grow to be the person we can be; grow in our relationships with God, with others, our awareness of the needs of others and where we can build strong habits that have positive outcomes. 

We will hold an Ash Wednesday Liturgy at school at 1:00pm for our students and staff.

Here is a short video that was used by some classes to support their understanding of Lent and Ash Wednesday. 

Premier's Reading Challenge

On Monday 28th February the 2022 NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge will begin. The Challenge aims to encourage a love of reading for leisure and pleasure in students, and to enable them to experience quality literature. It is not a competition but a challenge to each student to read, to read more and to read more widely. 

A note has been emailed to all parents of children in Year 1 to 6 with more information about how to engage in this wonderful initiative.  You can also access more information from https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html.