Welcome of Week 3 of the school term. I am currently writing this newsletter from my study at home during my quarantine period, having tested COVID positive last week. No doubt many of you have already experienced this journey and in each and every case individual circumstances vary with the severity of symptoms, the impact on your family and the inconvenience of being stuck at home.

Surprisingly for me, the emotion I have felt most during this time is one of gratitude. I feel blessed that I haven’t been too unwell, I am lucky that I have great support from family and friends and due to my circumstance with my wife and I both testing positive, I can move around my house with freedom, enjoy some sunshine and fresh air in the confines of my yard and when I have felt up to it, to even do some exercise. I think back, especially to the early days of the pandemic and wonder how families of 4 or more managed to survive being in medi-hotels in isolation for 10 days without access to fresh air or a separate room to chill in.

A life lesson that I am learning from this experience is to always take the opportunity to be grateful for what you have and can do rather than lament what you can’t do or are missing out on!  Some would say it was good luck that I couldn’t go to the Crows game last Saturday night. My view is that it was a blessing to be able watch the game on TV with a hot cup of soup and a warm fire to keep me comfortable.

Our Social Justice programs and activities at SFOA are very much about providing the children with an understanding of the needs and plight of others and to reflect on how lucky we are to live in relative comfort, with a warm bed, a roof over our head and food on the table.  Project Compassion, the Vinnies clothing drive, Catholic Charities month in September are all examples of such opportunities for us to have a positive impact on the life of others and pause to reflect on all the gifts we are blessed with. I hope for all our families that when the challenges of COVID have or do impact on you that there are some positives to draw from the experience.

My congratulations and best wishes are extended to all our 39 candidates eagerly awaiting their celebrations for the Sacraments of Confirmation and The Eucharist this coming weekend. My prayers are with all these young people from the school and parish as they make their final preparations for receiving these Sacraments at Mass this coming weekend in the presence of Archbishop O’Reagan, and their families. These are significant and important milestones in the faith journey of these young people, and I wish them every joy and blessing as they experience the love of God in this most intimate and powerful way.

It has been wonderful to see the re-emergence of a few soccer teams at SFOA and I know there are a number of children who are very excited in having the opportunity to play sport for the school. We also have a handful of basketball and netball teams playing competition, which is a great way for children to try out different sports to see what inspires and catches their interest. School sport is a great way to experience participating in a team and learning what it means to be part of a group with a common goal. My thanks and appreciation are extended to all our coaches who have taken on these roles during 2022 to enable our children to have these formative learning experiences. See our link in this newsletter for Auskick, which will happen on our school oval every Thursday for the remainder of this term. It’s not too late to enrol your child. There were 16 participants in the first session last week and by all accounts, the children loved it!

I look forward to being back at work later in the week. See you then.

James Meiksans

This weekend 39 students from our school and parish are making the sacraments of First Holy Communion and Confirmation with Archbishop O’Regan. The Sacramental Program looked much different in Term 1 due to COVID restrictions however we were able to hold a family workshop last week for the first time this year. It was a great chance for families to gather together and prepare for this special event. We continue to pray for these students on their faith journey to full initiation into the Catholic Church.

Last week our Mini-Vinnies leaders met for the first time with our Vinnies Newton Conference coordinators, Charlie and Mary-Liz, who spoke to the students about the important work of the St Vincent de Paul Society. Our Mini-Vinnies are excited to plan a fundraising event for the Winter Appeal so watch this space!

May is the month of Mary. For centuries Catholics have devoted the entire month of May to our Heavenly Mother. We are encouraged to pray the Rosary during the month. We are reminded that as Catholics we have two mothers – our earthly mother who gave us life and our heavenly mother. The Blessed Virgin Mary is our heavenly mother who is truly tender, compassionate, caring and merciful.

Wellbeing

Yesterday we had our first assembly for the year with R-2 students and families. At this assembly some students received St Francis of Assisi Values Awards. This term our wellbeing leaders have launched our School Values. These values are based on Catholic Education SA’s Key Capabilities and link to our Catholic Identity. As a Franciscan school we value faith, respect, stewardship and a culture of acceptance and excellence. These school values reflect our vision - ‘Empowered by Hope Inspired by Curiosity’. Our hope is that every student leaves St Francis of Assisi with these values embedded in them.

Rock and Water

Our Chaplain Philip Matthews has begun The Rock and Water Program with Year 3/4 Classes this term. The Rock and Water Program uses psycho-physical teaching methods is physical in nature and it uses games and exercises to stimulate the students abilities to develop wellbeing through strong physical and emotional awareness (mindfulness), mental strength (including practical and effective strategies for developing and maintaining positive mental health, reduction of anxiety, resilience) and social competency (communication skills, assertiveness, dealing with bullying/violence, acceptance of others etc).

Rock and Water is aimed at the fundamental basic needs of the child (safety, love, social contacts, respect, self-realisation) and the basic skills associated in meeting those needs. In this program children play life skill games where they learn life skills to develop positive communication skills and raises awareness. The awareness is of their own feelings and emotions (expressed and felt in the body) and self awareness, self control and self confidence.

Melissa Canil

Please follow the link to the latest issue of the Southern Cross Newsletter 17/05/2022

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