Dear Parents and Carers,

This week marks the beginning of Advent, this is the time that we prepare for the birth of Jesus at Christmas time. During Advent, which is the church liturgical season leading up to Christmas, we are encouraged to do things above and beyond what we usually do for each other. We understand that there are so many things we do to prepare for the Christmas season, many of which are focused on presents, decorations, plans for gatherings, and travel. Our Catholic faith tells us the true preparation for Christmas is the thoughts and acts that prepare our hearts and minds to understand the miracle that Jesus’ birth was and remains to this day. In the busyness of your days, take a leaf out of the shepherds’ wise books, ensure you make time to be in places of silence, look around you, and reflect on the world around you and within you. This may be the beach, your backyard, or the church, go where you find God and spend time there. 

Thanks to the families and staff that attended the Parish Fun Day last Sunday, it was a perfect opportunity to stop, reflect, and listen. It was a wonderful celebration of Eucharist as a community, thanks to our children and choir members who supported the Mass so beautifully. 

As we enter the final weeks of school, there will be a busy schedule that contains many significant events for many people. You will receive a calendar of the events of the remaining weeks soon, outlining what is required and when we invite our parents in to join us. We will send a hard copy home to put on your fridge for easy reference. 

Next week, we will be hearing from our School Captains' nominees in the lead-up to voting next week, this year the model of student leadership has been adjusted after consultation with parents and students to the following:

• Two School Captains 
• Two Vice Captains 
• One House Captain for each team. 

We wish all of our nominees the very best of luck.

Next week we will be walking to Milton Pool for swimming lessons and skills. Please ensure your child has a hat and sunscreen to keep safe while walking to and from the pool. Ensure also that everything is labeled, we are looking forward to the fun pool day on Friday. Enormous thanks to Mrs Reid for great organisation. 

Thanks for all you are doing to support our school and your child in the Advent Season.

I look forward to seeing you in our school next week, 

Yours in partnership 
Laurinda Nelson

Last week Stage One went to the Woods Farm in Jervis Bay as a part of our Geography Unit of work Country to Coast. We were guided through the farm, Seeing the goats, sheep, pig, horses and camel! The students were able to feed hay to the animals and feel the hair from the freshly clipped goats. They were taken to the hen house and were able to feed the chooks- we even saw a blue egg! They asked Deb, our guide, lots of questions and had a play in the playground before we jumped back on the bus. We had a fantastic time learning about our rural environment and how it needs to be cared for!

In Stage Two, we have been learning about magnets and how they attract and repel. To explore this and demonstrate our learning, we have made board games. We invited Kindergarteners to test our games.