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Dear Parents,

 

10 years ago this month I sent a Year 11 student to Rome for the canonisation of Blessed Mary MacKillop. An outstanding pupil and national-level public speaker, he is the only student I’ve encountered who devoutly practised the Faith, while his parents did not. No doubt assisted by the intercession of St Mary, the student in question was ordained to the priesthood in 2019. Of him, all I can say is watch this space. There is hope!

 

Another space to watch with hope is the example and intercession of Carlo Acutis, who was beatified in Assisi just two weeks ago. He too practised the Faith, a daily communicant and Rosary-prayer, while his parents had lapsed and then reverted on the strength of Carlo’s witness.

 

Saints and sanctity are not as far away as we might think. Nor is it unattainable. For example, the first suggestion made to me by our new College captains Anna Bell and Josh Wright was to hold a holy hour for young people. I am proud of our new College leaders and inspired by their faith and vision.

 

May the upcoming feasts of All Saints and All Souls inspire us all to embrace the witness of the saints and make sanctity our mission. (Yes, mums, I’m afraid it also means another opportunity for primary students to dress up.)

 

Warm regards,

Ian Smith

Principal

2021 Enrolments

For those families who have submitted a 2021 enrolment application form and have received a letter of offer, please remember to return a signed copy of the letter of offer before the end of this term to secure your child’s place.  Thank you.

 

All Saints Day

This year All Saints Day falls on a Sunday.  There will be a dress up parade at school on Monday 2nd November for Primary students to dress up as their favourite Saint.  Students are asked to come to school in their uniform and bring their saint dress-up/accessories with them.

Cross Country Run

The SMMC Annual Cross Country Run is being held later this year due to COVID-19 restrictions and will take place on Friday 6th November at the Jindera Golf Course, Drumwood Road, Jindera.  This year the event will only be for year 3 to 12 students and parents will need to indicate permission for their children to attend through their PAM account.  Any student that is not able to run will need a note from parents and will still need permission to attend as a spectator.  Students will be transported to and from the golf course by bus leaving at 11am and returning back to school by 12.30pm, in time for lunch.  Students are to wear their full sports uniform, including their hat and will need to bring a bottle of water and their recess.  Sunscreen will be provided by the school, but please feel free to provide your child with sunscreen from home if you prefer.  We will need some parents to help out as ‘Checkpoint Charlies’ to assist students to stay on the track and not venture off the course.  Parents are able to indicate their availability to help out through a questionnaire on the PAM permission. We hope to see you there!

 

Voluntary Vaccination Program

Nurses from the NSW government School Vaccination Program will be visiting the school again on Thursday 29th  October to give boosters to those year 10 students who received an initial vaccination earlier this year.  This program is voluntary, requiring parental permission.  If your year 7 or 10 child did not receive an initial vaccination earlier this year and you would now like them to, please email the school by Monday 26th October to request a Consent Form.

 

Book Week

Congratulations to the winners for this year’s book week competitions: Alice Wright (yr. 1) and Sophia Griffin (yr. 2) for the colouring competition, Elora Blood (Yr. 3), Malachi Price (Yr. 4), Mathew Gillespie ( Yr. 5), Clare O’Brien (Yr.6) and Patrick Chandrasegaran (High School) for the ‘Create your own creature’ competition. Well done to the Jindera Garratt family and the Tocher family who won this year’s family guessing competition.  Our primary students all looked amazing in their Book Week outfits.  A photo page is attached.