Dear Parents and Carers of Good Samaritan,

As we begin to enter another season of Lent today marking Ash Wednesday, I am reminded of a Lenten message given to us by Emeritus Bishop Peter Ingham where he challenged us with the question - Is Lent a millstone around our necks or a milestone to remember?

In this message, Bishop Peter reminds us of the death and resurrection of Jesus which occurred at  the heart of christianity in what we now know as the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Mrs Shelley & I were fortunate enough to visit the Sepulchre during a Holy Land pilgrimage. It is a place with many layers of meaning for individuals as well as the history of the Church. As you walk up the steep narrow steps to pray at the rock upon which Jesus was crucified the light becomes dark and sombre, yet as you leave this space you come upon a marble slab which marks the area where they lay Jesus as he was taken from the cross.

Not far away from here is the tomb where they took Jesus only to discover three days later that the tomb was empty. This site is one of great jubilation and gladness and you cannot but have an overwhelming sense of joy - of being drawn closer to God.

Many of us are physically healthy - we do go to the gym, run or walk to maintain fitness but what are we doing to ‘workout’ spiritually? Are we allowing time of retreat for ourselves? Time to be drawn closer to God? Time to forgive one another - or even ourselves?

Lent is what we make of it. It can be a burden of almsgiving, fasting and prayer or we can choose for it to be filled with spirit as we look to the benefit of to whom we give, from what we fast or the significance of our prayer. Because God is, and wants to be, present in all of us all of the time.

So what will this Lent be for you - a millstone around your neck or a milestone to remember?

I will be taking Long Service Leave from 9 March through to 10 May. My daughter will be married on 17 March and then I will be travelling with my husband to London where he will participate in the London Marathon. Whilst I am excited to be able to take leave, I know I will miss Good Samaritan whilst I am away.

One of the great traditions of Good Samaritan is the Kindergarten and Year 6 Welcome BBQ. This is an opportunity for all Kindergarten parents to come along and meet more friends whilst also meeting their child’s Year 6 buddy and parents.

The BBQ will be held on Monday 20th March 5:30pm -7:00pm.

Join one of the eSafety Commissioner’s  free webinars for parents and carers.

These live webinars give parents and carers the knowledge, skills and tools to support their children to have safe online experiences.

The 2023 webinars include a broad range of topics that will be delivered by the eSafety Commissioner’s expert education and training team.

As part of our regular safety compliance it is important that we carry out evacuation and lock down drills regularly. The normal practice in schools is to complete these drills once within the school year.  We will be completing the lockdown and  evacuation drills over the coming weeks. These drills will allow us to refine our practices in ensuring that the children and staff are safe in the event of an emergency.

Recently, a review was conducted around the use of Seesaw across the school, particularly in Kindergarten - Year 3. Seesaw gave us great advantages during remote learning as a platform for parents and teachers to build learning together during a very difficult time.

The review found that the use of Seesaw across the school was very inconsistent and also places an additional workload on staff. Therefore, the decision has been made to only use Seesaw in Kindergarten and Amaroo Gold as a transition tool from preschool into the primary school setting.

The review recognised that we have many forms of communication with parents including the newsletters, assemblies and social media platforms of Facebook and Instagram.

We will continue to strive to frequently communicate with parents regarding student learning.

Enjoy the week ahead,

Toni Sillis

Principal