Dear Parents and Carers,

We have had a very busy few weeks with the visit from our local kindergartens. The children have had a wonderful time experiencing life as a Foundation student. It has been such a pleasure to have the children, their teachers and parents visiting our school and, with more groups still to come, we will be busy over the coming weeks too.

A reminder that we have a whole school closure day next Monday, June 16. This provides the opportunity for staff to engage in professional development to support them in their roles. I thank you for your understanding and support.

As we approach the end of Term 2, our staff are finalising mid-year reports for all students. These reports provide a valuable snapshot of each child’s progress in their learning and development so far this year. They are designed to celebrate growth, highlight areas for improvement, and guide the next steps in each student’s learning journey.

Our teachers have thoughtfully assessed each student’s achievements in line with the Victorian Curriculum and have taken great care to provide clear, meaningful feedback. We encourage families to read through the reports with their children, recognising both the successes and the opportunities for continued growth.

The reports will be sent out before the end of this term, and we look forward to following these with our upcoming parent-teacher conversations. These discussions are a wonderful chance to work together to support each child to reach their full potential. The parent-teacher conversations will take place early in Term 3.

Thank you for your ongoing partnership in your child’s education. Your support is always appreciated.

The pies from our recent Pie Drive will be delivered on Tuesday June 17. Thank you for your support with this drive and for the support you continue to give to our fundraising. The proceeds from our fundraising throughout the year goes to resources for the children. In the past year we have successfully resourced our school with the latest take home books, more chrome books and many other important resource materials. The fundraising work that makes this all possible is the result of hard work and dedication from some of our wonderful parents. If you have any ideas regarding fundraising, you are most welcome to join our Parents and Friends group. We meet one Wednesday per month.

Kind regards
Lisa

Pope Leo XIV provided a most powerful reflection that was shared through Vatican News.

Pope Leo: Compassion is a matter of humanity, not a religious issue

Reflecting on the parable of the Good Samaritan at the weekly General Audience, Pope Leo XIV challenges everyone to not let our busy lives “prevent us from feeling compassion” towards others.

Continuing his reflections on the parables in the Gospel during his Wednesday General Audience, Pope Leo XIV recalled the “learned and well-prepared man - a doctor of the Law” from Luke’s Gospel. The Pope says this young man is too focused on himself and ignores others.

The doctor of the Law speaks to Jesus, inquiring how he can inherit eternal life. But Pope Leo exposed “the deeper need for attention” behind this question as the young man asks Jesus to explain the word “neighbour.”

Whom have I loved?

To answer this, Jesus recounted a parable that changes the young man's question entirely from "Who loves me?" to "Whom have I loved?"

The Pope explained the first is immature, “while the second is the question of an adult who has understood the meaning of life.” The first is inactive, while the second requires action.

Jesus then shares the parable of the Good Samaritan, whose setting is the road a man takes to travel from Jerusalem on a mountain to Jericho, which is at sea level. Pope Leo likened this journey to life, calling it a “difficult and dangerous road.”

On his journey, the man is beaten, robbed, and left for dead, which can happen to us when “circumstances, people - even those we’ve trusted—strip us of everything and leave us out in the open.”

It is not a religious issue:

But, the Pope pointed out, it is in these encounters with others that we come to know who we really are. When we meet someone in need, we are faced with a choice: “to care for them or to look the other way.”

In the parable, two people, a priest and a Levite, who we would imagine would stop and care for the hurt man, simply choose to ignore him. This, Pope Leo highlighted, shows that "religious practice alone does not automatically lead to compassion.” It is not a characteristic of religion but one of being human. Human beings are called to be compassionate, no matter their religion.

The priest and the Levite represent all of us—in a hurry to get home. This hurry can keep us from being compassionate because, the Pope warned, people "who believe their journey takes priority are not willing to stop for others."

Compassion = taking risks

Only a Samaritan, “someone from a people traditionally despised,” stops to help the wounded man. The Samaritan helps, not out of a religious requirement, but because “he is one human being in front of another human being in need.”

Compassion, Pope Leo stressed, takes form through concrete actions, because in order to help someone, “you cannot stay at a distance.” To be compassionate, you have to get involved and be prepared to “even get dirty, perhaps take risks.”

The Samaritan is an example of compassion because he physically takes care of the wounded man. The Pope underlined that truly helping someone “means being willing to feel the weight of another’s pain.” He pointed out that only when we recognize that we ourselves are the wounded man can we truly feel compassion.