Dear Parents and Carers

Thank you for your ongoing support as we continue to settle into the new school year. Kindergarten have been very impressive in how quickly they have adapted to the expectations and routines of ‘big school’. Yesterday they gathered with the whole school community for our beginning of the school year mass. Thank you to Fr Joe and Mrs Mammone for the beautiful celebration. At the conclusion of mass, we announced and formally congratulated the student leaders for 2024. The student leadership roles play a crucial part in fostering a positive school environment, encouraging teamwork, and promoting the development of leadership skills among students. Congratulations to the following students: 

On Wednesday, 14 February, we marked the beginning of Lent with an Ash Wednesday mass and liturgy. The forty days of Lent, not including Sundays, reflects the time that Jesus spent in the wilderness strengthening his own relationship with his Father. For us, Lent is a time of reflection, prayer, and giving. A time for us to practice good habits and to make ourselves a little bit more in Christ’s image. One question we often ask the children is, “What can you do to be a better person? How can you help someone today?". Lent provides the opportunity for all of us to reflect on our actions and how we can be more like Christ in our daily interactions.

As I mentioned in the Week 2 Crossroads, one of our annual improvement goals for 2024 is that ‘Students, staff, parents / carers have a shared understanding and a lived experience of the vision, mission and values of the school.’ To help develop a shared understanding during each newsletter I will share some historical information around the formation of our school. This week’s focus is the naming of the school library as the Loyola Library. Nazareth embraces the spiritual tradition of Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Saint Ignatius of Loyola, was a Spanish Catholic priest and theologian, who founded the religious order of the Society of Jesus. Ignatius envisioned the purpose of the Society of Jesus to be missionary work and teaching. Finding God in all things is at the core of Ignatian Spirituality and is rooted in our growing awareness that God can found in every one, in every place and in everything. When we learn to pay more attention to God, we become more thankful and reverent, and through this we become more devoted to God. 

I would like to acknowledge the newly elected P & F executive and their dedication to building an inclusive school community for the betterment of all the children. 

President: Emma Till 
Vice President: Kattra O'Brien
Secretary: Catherine O'Brien
Assistant Secretary: Gabrielle O'Flynn 
Treasurer: John O'Brien 
Assistant Treasurer: Kattra O'Brien 

I am truly grateful for their service and look forward to working with them throughout the school year. The next P & F General Meeting will be held on Thursday 21 March at 7:00pm in the school library, please save the date. 

Thank you for taking the time to view the parent / carer information videos and complete the Parent are Partners input forms. If you haven’t had an opportunity to view the video for your child’s grade the links can be found below. 

I wish you a wonderful week,

Kind regards, 
Mr Matt Downes
(Acting Principal)