Dear Parents and Carers, 

Last Wednesday, the Nazareth community celebrated Grandparents’ Day with mass, morning tea and open classrooms. It was a beautiful event, and the staff and students enjoyed sharing their classrooms with the many parents, carers and grandparents who attended. Thank you to Fr Joe for leading the celebration of the Eucharist and Mrs Mammone for her support in preparing the mass.

On Thursday and Friday last week, the Year 6 students had the privilege of an overnight excursion to Canberra. It was a wonderful educational experience for the students to learn more about our Nation’s history, while enjoying time away with their peers. Once again, the children were outstanding ambassadors for our school. A special thank you must go to the staff; Mr Messner, Mrs Carlon, Mrs Rowles, Mrs Johnson and Mrs Warfield for the additional time and care they provided the students of Year 6, without their support and the volunteering of their time these overnight excursions would not be possible. 

This week is Bullying No Way – National Week of Action. The theme for 2024 is 'Everyone belongs'. When we all feel like we belong, bullying struggles to find a place. It's about embracing who we are, respecting everyone's differences and standing up together against unkindness. Belonging means we all have a role in preventing bullying. We're encouraged to speak up and create a safe place where everyone feels supported and respected, and our voices are heard and valued. This week there have been many conversations about what this looks like, in our classrooms, playgrounds, online and at home. For further support and advice go to Bullying No Way for Families. If your child is experiencing bullying please contact their classroom teacher or a member of the school leadership team so it can be dealt with in a timely manner. 

One of our school priorities this year is to review and realign our vision, mission and core values. The purpose of this review is to ensure that everyone associated with the school are clear about our purpose and direction, so that we are providing the best possible Catholic education for your child. Mr Gary Quinn, CEDoW Leader for Staff Spiritual Formation and foundation Assistant Principal of Nazareth, has been engaged to work with our school community to comprehensively review the school’s mission, vision and core values. To assist in this process, we encourage all families to complete the Vision and Mission Parent Feedback Survey. It will only take a minute or two to complete and all feedback is greatly appreciated.  

A reminder to all families about the collective responsibility that we all share in relation to road safety in and around the school precinct. Please ensure that speed limits, parking restrictions and road rules are always adhered to. When arriving at and leaving the school site please ensure you do so safely. That includes accessing the supervised pedestrian crossing on Glider Avenue when crossing the road with your child. Attached to this newsletter you will find some road safety reminders from the NSW Government – Keeping Our Kids Safe Around Schools. 

Wishing you a wonderful week ahead,

Mr Matt Downes 

(Acting Principal)