On Sunday we celebrated the beginning of Advent as well as the Feast of St Francis Xavier. 

St Francis Xavier was a great friend of the very famous Jesuit St Ignatius of Loyola. Ignatian spirituality challenges us to encounter God in all things, witnessing to the joy of the Gospel. We go forth into the world as contemplatives in action, discerning God’s desire for our lives here, now, and acting on God’s invitation. We are women and men for and with others, hearing both the cry of the earth and the cry of the poor—and responding. And we do all for the greater glory of God.

I wonder if we are drawn to remembering St Francis Xavier at this time of Advent because of the good work that he did for others. It is at this time that we, too, are called to reach out for others as we approach the Christmas season. Our Mini Vinnies group led the school in the collection of items so that others enjoy a Christmas just as we do. We are led to consider giving at the Wishing Tree of stores like K-Mart and Target. We are also invited to contribute to St Vincent de Paul and other organisations that reach out to those less fortunate.

In our own modern way, we are doing what Christ asks us to do. We are seeing Jesus in the eyes of those we speak to, work with, play with. We understand the need to give and we don’t hesitate to do so - willingly and without question. That is what makes us a community.

I leave you with this short video clip about Xavier and Ignatius - reflect and contemplate on this as you move through this first week of Advent.

Together, we are moved to compassion,

Toni Sillis

Principal

Good Samaritan Donations arrive in Samoa!

After a few delays, the container for St Peter’s, Falefa arrived in Samoa on Friday, 24 November. Father Feleki flew to Samoa to organise clearance of the container, transportation and distribution of the donations. Thanks to the generosity of MSC: Mission, local schools, St John’s Parish Campbelltown, companies and individuals donating funds, furniture, teaching resources, computers and sporting equipment, Father Feleki was able to deliver donations to St Peter’s and also the Samusu Primary School.

Father Feleki and the community extend their thanks for your support and generosity to help the communities in Falefa and Samusu.

Good Samaritan was able to donate the older desks that were recently replaced in Year 3.

2024 Classes and Transition to the New School Year:

The last couple of weeks have certainly been filled with much end of year ‘busyness’. Amongst all of the work that goes on to have a successful end of year for the students is the important task of recruitment and employment of teachers and support staff for the new school year. This task is becoming increasingly complex with the lower number of applications being received by schools and schools competing for teachers across the Diocese. In addition, staff changes have been happening right up until today.

Whilst we have not yet finalised all classes and confirmed all teaching positions, I am pleased to be able to share the following with you for 2024. 

Please note that this is subject to change as the full process for recruitment is not yet complete.

Next Wednesday the students will meet their new class and their teacher for 2024. This is a part of the transition process that we conduct at Good Samaritan.

Nearing the End of Year:

As we approach the final week of school for the year, it is important to recognise that the children are becoming tired and do start to ‘get on each others’ nerves’. Just like all human beings, children do not always agree with each other and this can look like a conflict. It is really important to allow your child to process what may not have gone their way or what may have occurred where they feel they have been treated unfairly by their peers. Some questions to work through these times with your child might be:

• Tell me what happened
• I can see that has made you feel (sad/angry/frustrated/nervous). What else can you tell me about it?
• What did you do at the time?
• What can you do to help this situation?
• Let’s give it some time and see how you feel about this (tomorrow/in a couple of days/next week).

Sometimes our children can just feel overwhelmed when they are preparing for the end of the year and many unknown factors are coming into play for them. It is really important that we allow them time to process, look at ways they can solve their problem and not jump to an immediate solution for them.