Dear Parents and Carers

I hope everyone has had a lovely long weekend. It was certainly a mixed blessing to see the cars snaking into Milton on Friday. I hope all of our local business owners have benefited from brisk trade and that everyone remains vigilant and safe in our community. We are all pleased to see the gradual lifting of many of the COVID restrictions, as our lives get back to a little bit of normality. As you will be aware we are inviting all parents and carers to Parent/ Teacher Interviews in two weeks from Monday, 22nd June till Wednesday 24th June. These conversations between teachers and parents are crucial in continuing the partnership between home and school which has been made stronger through the remote learning experience. If you would prefer to have a virtual meeting via Zoom, please book a time available and let the School Office know so a meeting link can be shared. 

We would like to congratulate Riley B in Year 1, who with his brother are being Baptised this weekend in Milton. Such an important step in the lives of these boys, we wish them a wonderful day and welcome them to the Faith Community of the Catholic Church.  

This week I was fortunate to listen to a podcast on the ABC, ‘Conversations’. The interviewee was Pasi Sahlberg, an educational expert from Finland. He has become one of the most influential voices in the world of education as the Director-General of Education in Finland. Finland has consistently lead the world in global academic results. He was speaking about what makes schools successful, he spoke about schools needing to be a child’s favourite place to be. He also emphasised the need for regular and child-directed play and for children to develop and pursue their own individual passions. As I was showing families through our school recently I saw so many students pursuing and developing their passions in many varied ways, these included film making, Lego construction, Robotics, Drama, Social Justice Initiatives, music, visual arts.  The passion that children have in play activities drive their learning through rich experiences and making connections with real-life learning. The joy and energy of our children gives me hope and excitement for their wonderful futures.  If you have time this week, this podcast is well worth a listen for all parents. Pasi Sahlberg — making school the happiest place to be

Today in the newsletter you will find a proposal fro the adapting of mass times within the parish, our Parish community are seeking feedback on these changed times. If you would like to make a suggestion or comment please feel free to contact the school or the Parish Office. We look forward to restrictions lifting so we can return to our pre-COVID mass celebrations as a school. 

Lastly, locally a number of services have received funding to provide counseling in light of the Bushfire situation. Locally,  Milton TLC in partnership with Treading Lightly Inc were successful in obtaining a grant to implement Bushfire Trauma Recovery Programs to support our local community, this will be in the form of Art Therapy for children and adults at no cost to participants. (Details of which are included in this newsletter.)  Catholic Care are also providing additional counselling, these are great services if you believe your child would benefit from this extra support please contact TLC or Catholic Care directly. 

Have a great week, I look forward to seeing you at our school gates. 

Yours in partnership

Laurinda Nelson 

Principal