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Dear Parents and Community,
This week we celebrate the Feast of St Joseph. The Sisters of St Joseph have a long history with the school and we join with them to celebrate this day.
Some of our school history which highlighting the Sisters of St Joseph
St Mary's School, Williamstown, is the oldest continuously operating school in Victoria. School commenced at St Mary's in May 1842 in a timber chapel. Mr. John Wilson was the first teacher/principal. The earliest available record of enrolment figures is six boys & eight girls in July 1844.
For the first time in the school's history, a religious community took charge of the school when the Sisters of the Faithful Companions of Jesus arrived on 1 September 1897. Blessed Mary MacKillop was known to the parish and school community in these later years of the 19th Century and in 1900, the task of continuing the education of Catholic children of Williamstown was taken on by the Sisters of St Joseph.
Since the school opened in 1842 there have been three school buildings erected. The present building was officially blessed and opened on 19 January 1926. A major refurbishment of the school was completed in 1994, with a further extension of the administration building in 2007. An extension to the East Wing, with the addition of three classrooms was completed in 2010 as part of the Australian Government's Building the Education Revolution.
The Sisters of St Joseph taught in our school for 99 years until 1999 and although not teaching in the school today, they are still living in our Parish community and attend school celebrations. Their founding Sister is St Mary of the Cross MacKillop. St Mary of the Cross is Australia’s first Saint.
Ride to School Day: This Friday, last chance to have a practice ride, this Friday is Ride to School Day. We will set up some areas for more bike parking as we usually have a big response to this day.
Clean Up Australia Day: Wow.. what an effort the students did. We collected a huge amount of rubbish which is now being sent to land fill and recycling centres. Thank you to everyone who helped us on the day.
National Day of Action Against Bullying: We had a very successful day last week as we worked with the students. Both staff and students asked if we could do it again, so we will have more activities planned mixing our students across the school.
Learning Expo's: We are excited to announce that our Learning Expo's will return in Term 2. Parents and Guardians will be invited to visit our classrooms to see the wonderful work your children are doing... we will get some dates to you soon.
Parking in "No Standing," zones. We are having a few parents using the 'No Standing' Zones around the school at drop off and pick up times. There is a reason why these areas are no standing and a lot of it comes down to the peripheral vision of students at that age. Those areas are no standing so children can see crossings points clearly. So can we ask that families do not park in those zones please.
Finally, congratulations to our Year Three students who not only had their family Mass on Sunday, but they were also presented to the community as they about to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time. We wish them well next week.
This year marks 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia.
God Bless and Stay Safe
Anthony
Feast of Saint Joseph - March 19th
St. Joseph, watch over me and care for me just as you cared for the child Jesus; and by your help, may I come to know your Son, and so grow in strength and wisdom and the favor of God. Amen.
St. Joseph was the husband of Mary, the mother of Jesus. According to the earliest Christian traditions, he was a carpenter or woodworker. The Gospel of Matthew calls him a “righteous man,” meaning he was an observant Jew who obeyed God’s law.
A Story about St. Joseph
by Maria LaVoy
Jesus looked up at him. No words needed to be spoken. In the silence, they understood one another. As Jesus waited for Joseph’s approval, Joseph chuckled to himself. He didn’t doubt that one day the student would surpass the teacher! It was clear the skills of Joseph’s trade came naturally to Jesus.
“Your mother will love it!” Joseph said with great affection. As the earthy smell of wood shavings filled the air, Joseph thought about how much he treasured the simple time they got to spend working alongside one another, perhaps even more now.
Reconciliation Information for Year 3 Families
Thank you to all of the Year 3 families who have booked a time for Reconciliation.
If you haven’t done this yet, please log into:
https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/ and use the code: 87hsp
A time slot of 10 minutes is allocated for each family. If your child is not making
their Reconciliation, please contact the front office or email your child’s teacher to
let them know.
Upcoming Events
Date/ Time |
Event |
Reconciliation Tuesday 23rd March, Wednesday 24th March, Thursday 25th March 3.50 - 6.30pm
Friday 26th March, 3.50 - 5.30pm |
Sacrament of Reconciliation (Year 3 children and their families). |
Friday 26th March, 3.15pm |
Lenten Liturgy |
Tuesday 30th March |
Stations of the Cross Children - 9.15am to 10.05am |
Stations of the Cross
Dear Parents/ Guardians and Parishioners,
The 5/ 6 students at St Mary’s would like to warmly welcome you to view our
portrayal of the Stations of the Cross. The Stations will be performed by our
students in short dramatisations with reflective prayers and prompts to guide
audiences into a deeper appreciation of the Passion of Jesus. The Stations of the
Cross for parents and parishioners will commence at 10.05 am on Tuesday 30th
March outside the front of the Parish Centre.
Each year level will be viewing the stations throughout the morning at appointed
intervals.
We hope to see you join in this solemn experience for Holy Week.
Sacrament Dates for 2021
Reconciliation (Year 3)
Tuesday 23rd March, 3.50 - 6.30pm
Wednesday 24th March, 3.50 - 6.30pm
Thursday 25th March, 3.50 - 6.30pm
Friday 26th March, 3.50 - 5.30pm
First Eucharist (Year 5)
Saturday 29th May, 6pm
Sunday 30th May, 8.30am & 10.30am
First Eucharist (Year 4)
Saturday 19th June, 6pm
Sunday 20th June, 8.30am & 10.30am
Confirmation (Year 6)
Tuesday 27th July, 6pm
Wednesday 28th July, 6pm
Thursday 29th July, 6pm
Easter Mass Times and other Ceremonies at St Mary’s Church
Please note the ideal (for Government purposes) is to sign up on signupgenius.com/go/stmarys but families can sign up on the day with QR Code or sign-up pad on side front table of church.
March 27thReconciliation Service (forgiveness of sins) 5:30pm followed by 6pm Mass
March 28th PALM SUNDAY/ PASSION SUNDAY 8:30am + 10:30am Mass
April 1st HOLY THURSDAY 7:30PM – MASS OF THE LORD’S SUPPER
April 2nd 10:00AM – GOOD FRIDAY - STATIONS OF THE CROSS
April 2nd 3PM – GOOD FRIDAY - CELEBRATION OF THE PASSION OF THE LORD (Main celebration of Good Friday throughout World)
April 3rd HOLY SATURDAY EASTER VIGIL 7:30PM Mass ( Service of Light starts on front lawn of church at 7:30pm )
April 4th EASTER SUNDAY 8:30AM + 10:30am Mass
April 10th Saturday 6pm Mass (continuation of normal Mass times throughout year)
April 11th Sunday 8:30am Mass + 10:30am Mass
Best Regards
Fr Greg
CLEAN UP AUSTRALIA
Thank you to everyone for their support and efforts on Friday, cleaning up Williamstown.
Thank you too, to the parents that generously offered their time to come along and help.
I had the privilege of taking photos of the children and as I went to each site I could hear a number of locals and visitors to Williamstown remarking on how nice it was to see the children involved and active in the community. So, a big thank you to the children for their efforts and for being so responsible. Despite having to pick up other people’s rubbish, I hope you enjoyed your time out of the classroom, doing something for your community.
NUDE FOOD WEDNESDAYS
Last week's newsletter announced the introduction of ‘Nude Food Wednesdays’ at the instigation of the Sustainability team.
This week the Sustainability Team reps in each class will be recording the number of children in each class with nude food. Each week the class with the most ‘Nude food’ lunches recorded will be presented with a trophy - ‘The Golden Lunchbox’ to have in their class for a week.
SUSTAINABILITY TEAM
The sustainability team have been busy behind the scenes doing a lot of work to promote sustainable practices at St Mary’s. These ideas and challenges will be introduced over the coming weeks and will hopefully be up and running by Term 2.
All schools
In very exiting news, after a year away last year, the College musical production returns in 2021. This year’s performance will be the renowned stage musical – Godspell. Our students and staff are preparing for auditions and getting ready to start rehearsals. Look out for opportunities to come and see the production in May this year. Most of our primary schools come long and see a matinee performance and we are feeling very positive about his again being an opportunity this year. We wish all students involved in auditions the best of luck – we won’t say ‘break a leg!!’
A reminder that applications for Year 7, 2023 are now being accepted. Prospectus Packs containing application forms can be requested via the College Website, www.ecmelb.catholic.edu.au under the enrolment information tab, or by contacting our College Registrar on 8325 5119 or emailing, enrolments@ecmelb.catholic.edu.au
There are many ways to see the College. Regular tours occur and the next event is the College Open Day which is in May. Details and registrations are available on the College Website under the Tours and Events tab on the right hand side of the Homepage.