Dear Parents and Carers of Good Samaritan,

It is great to be back at Good Samaritan ready to work through another term with staff, students and parents. At the end of last term I took some leave to travel to both China and North Korea (DPRK) with my husband. This was certainly an interesting trip and one that allowed me a renewed appreciation for the freedoms we enjoy in Australia.

One of these is our freedom to hold a faith and believe in an all forgiving God who sent His son to save us. On Easter Sunday I was fortunate enough to attend mass, said in Chinese, in Shanghai. What struck me throughout the mass was that the celebration was recognisable - I knew where the Liturgy of the Word finished and when the Liturgy of the Eucharist began. This partly helped to overcome the language barrier.

What fascinated me about this experience was that whilst the language was so totally foreign to me there was one word that was clearly recognisable: ALLELUIA! Here I was, thousands of miles from my home parish, in a country that is officially aetheist (although the Chinese people are quite religious following Buddhism, Chinese folklore, Taoism and Confucianism) at St Francis Catholic Cathedral built in 1716, celebrating the resurrection of Jesus with a people who also understood the importance of Alleluia. 

I was struck by the fact that christianity was introduced to China in the 8th Century Tang Dynasty and Catholicism was then expelled from the country following the World War II and the takeover of the Communist Party of China in 1949. Catholicism certainly has a complicated history in China, where it still rejects the authority of Rome and appoints its own Bishops. However, the faith of those in the congregation was contagious. Many had obviously not been fully initiated into the faith as they received a blessing rather than Communion but they clearly demonstrated a need to be there on Easter Sunday and to celebrate what Jesus did for all of us.

Alleluia - the Hebrew term of great joy that means Praise Yahweh! We don’t say Alleluia throughout Lent because it is that word that demonstrates our welcome of the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. What we do need to remember is that the joy of Easter Sunday cannot be had without the darkness and suffering of Good Friday. The faithful of China have shown that their Good Fridays are followed by Easter Sunday. The fact that the religion was expelled from the country is evidence of that.

I wonder whether we think of those hard times in our lives as Good Fridays - those times of separation, death, hurt and disappointment. These are our Good Friday moments but the Alleluia is that these times are followed by an Easter Sunday - it is up to us to recognise them as such.

Theologian Richard Rohr writes: Great love and great suffering bring us back to God, and I believe this is how Jesus himself walked humanity back to God. It is not just a path of resurrection rewards but a path that includes death and woundedness.

Death and life are two sides of the same coin; you cannot have one without the other. Each time you surrender, each time you trust the dying, your faith is led to a deeper level and you discover a Larger Self underneath.

As we continue through this Easter season let us recognise the love and the suffering that bring us back to God.

Until next time, may we journey together with Jesus,

Toni Sillis  

Principal

SAFETY IS EVERYONE’S BUSINESS AT GOOD SAMARITAN

CAR LINE PICK UP Morning and Afternoon changes:

Thank you to all our parents and students for accommodating the changes to afternoon  pick up and morning drop off procedures so graciously. The process has run very smoothly over the last couple of days.

If you haven’t been aware of the procedures they are outlined below.

From this term, afternoon and morning supervising staff will not be opening and/or closing car doors. Their duty will be to ensure that the student/s reach or exit the car safely. This will mean that students will need to be able to independently open the car door, put their bag into or take it out of the car, climb into or out of the car and close the door before the driver safely leaves the car park. Parents will not be able to get out of the car to assist as it will slow the process down and create a further hazard out into the traffic of Cabbage Tree Lane.

The school will be placing markings and signage to identify the safest areas for drop off each morning and pick up each afternoon.

Thank you for your understanding that everyone’s safety needs to be considered at Good Samaritan.

Parent Action: Parents are asked to ensure that their child/ren can independently open and close the car door, put their bag into the car before entering the car and closing the door. Please ensure your child exits the car safely by exiting the car on the school side of the car. Make sure that you leave the carpark slowly and safely.

If your child may experience difficulty doing this then you will need to consider alternative pick up arrangements.

Completion of New School Fence:

The new replacement fence is now complete. The aim of this replacement is to ensure the consistent safety of all students by ensuring that the school can be secured all day and, if necessary, effectively lock down.

The completion of the new fence now means that the school will only be able to be accessed via the administration building throughout the school day. Gates will be locked following assembly at approximately   9am following morning assembly and re-opened at 2:45pm ready for dismissal.

School Uniform:

The students have begun the term wearing their uniform with pride. Thank you to all our parents who consistently support Good Samaritan’s School Uniform Policy. The policy is attached for your reference.

When do students start to wear Winter uniform?

As the weather starts to cool over the next couple of weeks, parents may be use their discretion in having students wear the Winter uniform. However, all students will be expected to wear their full Winter uniform from the week beginning 13 May 2019.

Parent Action: Parents are asked to ensure that students are dressed in the full Winter uniform from the week beginning 13 May 2019.

SPB4L:

This week we are remembering to value:

Kindness and compassion

We can do this by:

• Showing care for ourselves
• Showing kindness towards others through actions and/or words
• Random acts of kindness

Our Focus for this week is:                                        Wearing our school uniform with respect and pride
What can our students do to support this focus?	What can our teachers do to support this focus?	What can our parents & carers do to support this focus?
We can make sure we are wearing the correct uniform, including the correct socks, white sports sneakers, black school shoes and hair neatly tied up with a school ribbon.   Remember to always wear our school hat on the playground. Sports caps can be worn on sport days.   We can all wear our school uniform with pride by making sure that our uniform is nice and tidy.	Teachers can remind students who are not wearing the correct uniform. This includes wearing the correct hat, jacket, shoes and jewellery.   Hand out tokens to students who are wearing the correct uniform with respect and pride.	Parents can help us by making sure that we have everything we need to wear the correct uniform for the day.   Know what days are sport days and uniform days.

Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong: Release of Social Media Policy

Last term CEDoW released the Diocesan Social Media Policy. Mrs Smithers and I attended along with our parent representative and Good Samaritan P&F president Erin Bradley, and Year 4 teacher Miss Mangos. As a systemic primary school of the Wollongong Diocese we will be working throughout the year to implement the policy at Good Samaritan. The policy presents a comprehensive set of expectations and associated procedures for all involved in school communities across the Diocese.

Over the course of the year the Good Samaritan school newsletter will help parents to come to understand this policy. At next week’s P&F meeting, the policy will be presented. You are able to view the policy by clicking here.

In addition the following statement regarding the context of the use of social media is included for your information.

NAPLAN 2019:

NAPLAN will begin in week 3. Some important information about NAPLAN is attached. Please take some time to read this so as to be informed of the procedures and expectations around NAPLAN.  There has been 1 change in the NAPLAN dates previously advised due to school photos being held on Monday 20 May.  NAPLAN Language Convention will now be on Tuesday 21 May Week 4.

A big thank you to the P&F for our wonderful Easter Raffle.  It was such a great success.

Click on the following to view document

Online safety guide

The wearing of correct school uniform is very important at Good Samaritan Catholic Primary School as it creates a greater sense of equality among the student population despite the diverse socio-economic backgrounds of their families.

The following are some basic guidelines for following the expectations associated with wearing the correct school uniform at Good Samaritan:

1. All students are to wear the full, correct  uniform at all times.
2. Uniforms are to be labelled, cleaned, pressed, properly repaired and worn neatly at all times.
3. Damaged or shabby items of uniform are to be replaced.
4. School uniform regulations apply equally to hair, jewellery, make-up, hats and shoes.
5. Classroom teachers are responsible for checking uniform on a daily basis.
6. Where a uniform breach occurs a verbal reminder/warning is given.
7. If a repetition of uniform breaches occurs, parents will be contacted by way of letter.
8. Students out of uniform, who have a valid reason, should have a note to this effect, signed by their parents. This is to be counter-signed by the classroom teacher.
9. For extreme breaches of the uniform code, a student may be isolated from the rest of the school.
10. Where genuine financial difficulties hamper a student in fully meeting all uniform requirements, the Principal may supply items of uniform at the school’s expense.

All items of uniform must be purchased from the Good Samaritan Uniform Shop.

Basis of Discretion

• Discretion may be used when a student is out of uniform on the first occasion.
• The Principal has the right to waver uniform requirements in special circumstances.

Confirmation:

Students who are eligible to participate in the sacrament of Confirmation this year (Year 6) will be confirmed on the weekend of 7 June. Please be advised that this is the June Long Weekend

Mark your calendar!

STUDENT FREE DAY

Monday 13 May

Students will not attend school on this day

Staff will be working with the Mathematics curriculum

STUDENT FREE DAY

Monday 16 September

Students will not attend school on this day

Staff will be on a Spiritual Formation Retreat & off site on this day

Thursday 9 May 10:15am

Mother's Day Liturgy and Morning Tea

Thursday 29 August 7:30am

Father's Day Breakfast BBQ and Prayer

Grandparents & Great Friends Day Liturgy & Open Day

Friday 1 November

Parent Action: Mark your calendar with these important dates.

When is the next P&F Meeting?

Next Monday 6 May the P&F will meet at 7pm in the school Library.

All parents are welcome.

Kinder to Year 2 will be celebrating National Simultaneous Storytime on Wednesday, 22nd May again this year.  The book that has been chosen is “Alpacas With Maracas” by Matt Cosgrove. It is a story about friendship and the fact that not all competitions will be won but the process of taking part and not giving up can be lots of fun.  It fits in nicely with one of our school values, that being persistence. In preparation for this event we need each student from Kinder, Year 1, Year 2 and Amaroo to bring a CLEAN, recyclable container such as a takeaway coffee cup with lid or a small clear plastic bottle with lid for their Week 2 library lesson so that we can make some maracas.  Please label your child’s container with a Sharpie showing their full name and class.

P&F Meeting

The next P&F Meeting is on Monday 6 May 2019 at 7pm in the school library.  Preperations will be finalised for Term 2 and the planning of the Term 3 fundraiser events will begin.  All are welcome!

Easter Raffle

The Easter Raffle was a huge hit and great success with 67 lucky raffle winners!  Congratulations to those that won a basket of chocolate goodies for Easter and a massive THANK YOU to everyone who donated prizes, purchased raffle tickets and helped put the fundraiser together.  Our efforts raised almost $3,000.00 which will go towards air conditioning for class rooms.

Mother’s Day Stall

The Mother’s Day Stall will be held on Friday 10 May 2019 at school.  The kids love taking the time to choose something special to gift to their someone special for Mother’s Day.   Gifts available will range from $2 to $20. 

 As always these events are successful because of the volunteers and helpers, and your assistance is needed to run the stall.  If you are available to help on Friday 10 May 2019 please contact our P&F President, Erin BRADLEY, on 0413 452 838.

 Entertainment Book 2019/2020

The Entertainment Book contains hundreds of dollars of savings and is being offered to the school community as a Fundraiser again this year.  The school receives 20% of each Book or Online Membership sold, it’s a great way to support the school and receive lots of great savings at the same time!!

 A link to order online can be found on our Facebook Page @GSFM or by going to: https://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/orderbooks/280836r