Stella Maris Catholic School Burnie

24 Futuna Ave
Park Grove TAS 7320

Phone: 03 6431 4004

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Welcome to Term 1 Week 7 2024

Principal Report
RE News
Uniform Update
Student Safety & Car Park Concerns
Assembly
Just Like Jesus Awards
Uniform Shop
Stella Stars
St Patricks Day
The Green Team News
NWCSSA
BNA Winter Netball
Parent Resources
Important Upcoming Dates
Outside News

Principal Report

Palm Sunday of the Lord's Passion, Cycle B

Sunday, March 24, 2024

Gospel Reading
Mark 14:1—15:47 (shorter form: Mark 15:1-39)
Jesus is sentenced to death and crucified. The centurion who witnessed his death declared, “This man was the Son of God.”

Family Connection

Palm Sunday, also called Passion Sunday, marks the beginning of Holy Week. During this week, we prepare ourselves for Easter by prayerfully reflecting on the events of Jesus’ passion and death. During this week, your family might display a crucifix in a prominent place as a reminder of the salvation that Christ won for us. This can also serve as the focal point for family prayer during Holy Week.

Because of the length and complexity of the passion narrative, it is difficult for children to remain attentive when it is proclaimed in its entirety. Families can make it a tradition to read a portion of this Sunday’s Gospel each day of Holy Week, providing ample opportunity for children to ask questions and respond to the events described there. In this way, the entire week can become a “way of the cross.”

Each day during Holy Week, the family can gather in a prayerful space with a crucifix as its focal point. The passion as found in Mark’s Gospel might be read as follows throughout the week:

Sunday	Mark 11:1-10 (Gospel at the Procession with Palms)
Monday	Mark 14:1-11
Tuesday	Mark 14:12-26
Wednesday	Mark 14:27-52
Thursday	Mark 14:53-72
Friday	Mark 15:1-41
Saturday	Mark 15:42-47

After reading from the Gospel each night, the family might reflect on the reading together. Conclude your prayer time together by praying the Lord’s Prayer.

RE News

Reflection on the Sunday Gospel

Fifth Sunday of Lent - John 12:20-33

The word ‘heart’ occurs almost a thousand times in the Bible, more than three times as often as the word ‘soul.’ Perhaps this is just another item of trivia, but surely it gives us a clue about Christianity. It is a religion of the heart. It gets our blood pumping.

As we approach the climax of our Lenten journey, this week’s readings ask questions about our hearts. The psalm begs, ‘a pure heart create for me, O God.’ Those words invite the Lord to come right inside us, into the very core of our being. The prophet Jeremiah quotes the Lord as saying, ‘Deep within them I will plant my Law, writing it on their hearts.’ In other words, we won’t find God’s most intimate whisperings to us just in books or lectures. We will find it when we are genuinely in touch with our core, our most intimate space. God’s love is inscribed on our hearts.

In his letter Fratelli Tutti, Pope Francis speaks against ‘a culture of walls.’ He asks us to treasure the hope found in every heart:

Hope ‘speaks to us of something deeply rooted in every human heart, independently of our circumstances and historical conditioning. Hope speaks to us of a thirst, an aspiration, a longing for a life of fulfillment, a desire to achieve great things, things that fill our heart and lift our spirit to lofty realities like truth, goodness and beauty, justice and love... Hope is bold.’

The word ‘caritas’ means love. The work of Caritas Australia is a heartfelt response to the needs of the world, one that expresses our shared hope. Caritas always works in partnership with others. During Lent, as we have listened to the experiences of people we have helped through our support of Project Compassion, we will have noticed that life-giving partnerships with groups on the ground in many countries make this possible.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus speaks of the grain of wheat that must die to create a rich harvest. Of course, he is referring to his own passion. But there is a message here for us all. ‘Anyone who loves their life will lose it.’ We are called to wear our hearts on our sleeves. To be led by love for others.

Michael McGirr

https://www.caritas.org.au

Commissioning Liturgy

To mark the beginning of another school year, the school community gathered to pray and celebrate. It was wonderful to have Fr. John attend and lead us in celebration.

The focus of this year is that we all strive to be the person of Jesus. It is our year to let our light shine, being Brave, Curious, and Kind to all those we greet, meet, and treat.

Within the Liturgy, staff and students collectively made pledges for the year ahead.

The response was I do.

Will you strive to be the best that you can be at school each day?

Will you strive to be the voice of Jesus to everyone you speak to?

Will you strive to be the hands of Jesus to everyone you encounter?

Will you strive to be the heart of Jesus to everyone you meet, greet and treat?

Will you strive to be brave, curious and kind in all that you do?

Each class were presented with a new Spirit of Jesus lanyard and staff with bookmarks with the quote;

Be Brave, Curious and Kind

“Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom.”

Colossians 3:16

Welcome BBQ

It was a beautiful day for a gathering to connect, share stories, and enjoy a delicious gourmet Sausage and Veggie burger. Thank you to all new families, Fr. John, staff, and Board members who joined us in welcoming our new families into our school community.

A big thank you also to Sharman’s Butchery for their delicious event catering.

Easter Meaning

Many parents have a hard time talking to their children about the true meaning of Easter. We have attached a parent handout that may help. Inside, parents will learn six easy ways they can help their kids appreciate and understand Holy Week (Palm Sunday—Easter Sunday).

Holy_Week_Parent_Handout.pdf

Uniform Update

19 March 2024

Dear Families,

We are in the final stages of completing the design of our new uniform. We recently met with Midford staff to examine our new uniform samples and discuss the finer details of materials, colour matching, styles, stocking, and ordering processes.

At this stage, we are tracking well toward providing the new uniform for the second half of this year. Actual dates are yet to be determined.

We want to provide some guidance around potential challenges as we wait for the new uniform to be available.

Polo Tops

We have started running out of specific sizes of our current polo tops. In response to this, we suggest the following options:

Sourcing a second-hand polo top
Wearing an all plain (no logos) yellow or blue T-shirt

School bags

If your child requires a brown school bag while we wait for the new blue ones to arrive, please access these at the Uniform Shop at a significantly reduced cost (while stocks last).

School shoes

All black sandshoes/sneakers will be the required footwear for all students by Term 1, 2027.

School photos

School photos are scheduled for Monday, 1st July 2024. The uniform for photo day will be our current sports uniform (black shorts or tracksuit) with the rugby top on. We will provide a rugby top to any student who does not have one for their photos on photo day.

We want to acknowledge the number of students currently wearing the PE/Sports uniform in preference of the formal uniform. We have heard great feedback about how convenient and practical it is to be provided with this option.

We will contact you very soon to share the finalised design board, updated uniform policy, and dates for when the new uniform will be available for families to purchase.

Please see our previous uniform communication attached below.

Uniform Letter 27th September 2023

Please note (as previously communicated): Up until the end of the 2026 school year, all students at Stella Maris Catholic School can wear the current PE/Sports uniform (subject to availability), the formal uniform or the new Smart Play uniform (once available).

Student Safety & Car Park Concerns

Dear Families,

Please help us keep your children safe at school.

Dogs on School Property

We ask that families refrain from bringing their dogs to school drop off and pick up.

Car Park Safety

We have had some safety concerns occur in the school drop-off zone recently.

We want to remind families that:

1. The speed limit in the drop-off zone is 10kph
2. Children should exit vehicles on the left-hand side only in the Drop Off Zone
3. Chains across the driveway, at the end of the day, are only to be removed by Stella Staff
4. Please observe the No Parking zones in the car parks

It is essential for the safety of our students that vehicles do not move through the car park between 2.40 pm - 3.20 pm.

Thank you

Assembly

Just Like Jesus Awards

Congratulations to the students that received the "Just Like Jesus" award in our recent assembly. It means that they have been 'caught' treating others in an extra respectful manner.

Uniform Shop

Opening Hours

Each Tuesday, 8.30 am - 12.30 pm

Orders placed via Qkr after 10.00 am on a Tuesday and before 10.00 am cutoff the following Tuesday will be processed when the shop is open and sent home with children on the day.

Alternatively, orders can be collected after 11.00 am on Tuesday during opening times.

Stella Stars

Sessions: 9.15 am - 10.45 am & 12.00 pm - 1.30 pm

Bookings through Facebook: Stella Stars Early Years Learning

St Patricks Day

The Green Team News

The Green Team has been busy refreshing our school worm farms and compost tumblers. We have two new compost tumblers and three worm farms. Thanks to Michelle from Bunnings Burnie for providing us with worms, matting and a compost twister.

NWCSSA

Well done to all the children who attended the NWCSSA Swimming Carnival on 12th March. It was, as usual, a very busy event, with all the Stella children showing fantastic swimming. There were many strong and inspiring swims, with Stella's children placing in almost all of the events. Thanks to the parent and family spectator group, your presence greatly supported the children. This event has no results, as the emphasis is on participation.