NEWSLETTER Issue 15 – 9 September 2015

Hello Everyone,

For my sons on my 43rd Birthday. I want to talk about Time.

Time matters. They say that men are given the gift of time.

That's true.

In my case the time I've had with my boys is short. I hope we have treasured it. Be thankful everyday that you have more time to appreciate and love the things that matter to you.

For me - that has been you boys. Time has been precious since I became your dad.

Time is one thing that you can never get back. Once it's gone, it becomes our memories-make sure that you build great memories with your time.

When you boys grow up, make the most of your time.

Love your Dad.

This is the message Sheldon gave to Krystopher, Lukas and Matthew on his birthday when he presented them watches. The message is a very important one – spend time doing things which are important to you and the ones you love most.

A celebration of Sheldon’s life will be held at New Life Centre which is located at 75 Evans Ave Nth Mackay at 1pm on Thursday 10 September.

ST BRENDAN’S KINDY DIRECTOR I am very pleased to announce that the inaugural director of our Kindy will be Mrs Lyndal Trims. Lyndal brings with her an extensive knowledge and experience having been the director of St Francis Xavier Day Care Centre for the last 16 years. She is a very passionate educator who is looking forward to providing stimulating learning experiences for our children. I am sure you will join with me in welcoming Lyndal to our community.

Mr David Paul Principal

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CALENDAR 6-12 September Child Protection Week

Sunday 13th September – St Brendan’s School Children’s Mass 7:30am

at St Brendan’s Church. All families are invited to attend.

Friday 18th September – last day of Term 3

Finding God in All Things

Prayer for the Healing of Victims of Abuse

God of endless love, ever caring, ever strong,

always present, always just:

You gave your only Son

to save us by the blood of his cross.

Gentle Jesus, shepherd of peace,

join to your own suffering

the pain of all who have been hurt

in body, mind, and spirit

by those who betrayed the trust placed in them.

Hear our cries as we agonize

over the harm done to our brothers and sisters.

Breathe wisdom into our prayers,

soothe restless hearts with hope,

steady shaken spirits with faith:

Show us the way to justice and wholeness,

enlightened by truth and enfolded in your mercy.

Holy Spirit, comforter of hearts, heal your people’s wounds

and transform our brokenness.

Grant us courage and wisdom, humility and grace,

so that we may act with justice

and find peace in you.

We ask this through Christ, our Lord. Amen. (Prayer: U.S. Bishops Conference)

ST BRENDAN’S CLASS MASS – Thursdays 9am at St Brendan’s Church. *No Thursday Mass during school holidays

Prep D -17th Sep. **No mass this week (Fr Johnson is unable to attend)**

Prep D now on mass next week (Thur,17th Sept - Week 10) and Yr 4,5

mass postponed until Thur, Week 1 of Term 4**

Reflection on the Gospel of

Sunday 6th September, 2015

Mk 7:31-37 God in our lives.

Such courtesy and sensitivity! The deaf man when brought to Jesus by his friends probably didn’t know what was going on. Being the centre of attention in the midst of a group of strangers would have only added to his confusion and embarrassment. So Jesus takes him aside and there, one on one, mimics what he intends to do – unstop his ears, heal his tongue. Jesus doesn’t just foist healing upon the man. Touching a person’s ears, anointing the tongue are acts of familiarity and one can imagine the tenderness with which Jesus would have done them. No wonder he groaned. He probably saw in the man’s face the depths of loneliness he had suffered. Those watching at a distance may have misinterpreted his actions as magic but Jesus’ look to heaven showed the true source of his power. All it took was a single word of command to overturn the years of loneliness and isolation.

Scriptural commentators interpret the initial verses of this reading to mean that Jesus spent some time in Gentile territory and that this miracle was typical of the healings that Jesus did during his wanderings over the Decapolis region. Though he performed many miracles, each was a unique encounter for the individual. One on one, heart reached out to heart. This gives us the courage to ponder: “If Jesus came to me, how would he take me aside and what would he heal?”

Source: Sr Kym Harris www.prayasyoucan.com

ST JOSEPH’S CATHOLIC PARISH OF NORTH MACKAY & NORTHERN BEACHES

SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM 2015 / 2016

Preparation for the Sacraments of Reconciliation (First Confession), Confirmation First Eucharist (First Holy Communion)

Family Workshop 2

*remember to bring your completed photo sheet with you Sunday 13 Sep 10am at St Joseph’s School Hall

OR Wednesday 16 Sep 7pm at St Joseph’s School Hall

For further details, contact Parish Office ph: 4957 4855

St Brendan’s Parish Mass every Sunday at 7:30am

Please continue to keep these children in your prayers

Please continue to keep the Gakowski Family in your

thoughts and prayers

LAST WEEKEND’S READINGS: Twenty-

Third Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B

1st Reading: Isaiah 35:4-7.

Psalm: Ps 145:7-10, R.v.1.

2nd Reading: St James 2:1-5.

Gospel Acc: Mt 4:23. Gospel: Mark 7:31-37.

NEXT WEEKEND’S READINGS: Twenty-

Fourth Sunday In Ordinary Time, Year B

1st Reading: Isaiah 50:5-9.

Psalm: Ps 114:1-6,8-9. R.v.9.

2nd Reading: James 2:14-18.

Gospel Acc: Gal 6:14. Gospel: Mark 8:27-35.

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ST BRENDAN’S CLASS MASS – Thursdays 9am at St Brendan’s Church. *No Thursday

Mass during school holidays.

**No mass this week (Fr Johnson is unable to attend)**

Prep D Mass now on next week (Thursday,17th Sept - Week 10) and Year 4,5 Mass postponed until

Thursday, Week 1 of Term 4**

Get organised for Christmas!

To help you with your Christmas planning (and to earn more books and teacher resources for our school) we have organised two fundraising events. The first will be another Scholastic Book Fair with a new range of books and activity packs. The Book Fair will be held in the second week of next term, 12th to 16th October. More information and flyers will be sent home next week.

The second event is the Chalk Educated Toys fundraising catalogue. The catalogue is a great way of doing your Christmas shopping and 20 cents of every dollar you spend on toys is donated back to our school. The catalogues will be sent home to families in the next few weeks.

We are now accepting Prep enrolments for 2016. If you have a child who will be attending Prep next year or know someone who does, enrolment packs can be collected from the office or emailed. Please contact Mrs Faloon for any enquiries. St Brendan’s Pre-Prep expressions of interest are available at the office for 2016 and beyond. Pre-Prep and Kindy spots are filled in the order expressions of interest or applications are received. A reminder to parents we have now set up a closed parent group only for parents of enrolled students only to assist with sharing information in a secure way. The settings only allow information on this site to be seen and shared with others within the group. The page has also been renamed ‘Parents of St Brendan’s Mackay’ to avoid confusion. The link for the closed parent group is:

https://www.facebook.com/groups/stbrendansmackaynorthernbeaches/

We will be re-establishing our public page to promote our school to the wider community. Your assistance with sharing posts will be greatly appreciated. The link for the public page is: https://www.facebook.com/pages/St-Brendans-Catholic-Primary-School-Mackay-Northern-Beaches/638968652870460

We have been busy purchasing many new books for our school. For our children to use them we need your help to cover them. Next week, after your children go into class, if you have some free time come along to the library to cover some books. Mrs Mortimer will be there to help if you are not confident. There is also the option of taking books home to cover.

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School Holidays are approaching fast! Copies of the OSHC Holiday Program are available at the Office. Some of the exciting activities on offer…….Zumba, Movies, Gymnastics, Alpacha Farm , Cooking & Craft…..you won’t hear “I’m bored” ! For more information contact Lynda Waye on 0447 819235.

At the beginning of next term an information session will be held to inform parents about the structure our school will adopt in an attempt to maximise parent involvement. A school executive will be also elected to lead this exciting process. If this is something that interests you please consider nominating for one of our positions.

Parent teacher Interviews are being held next Tuesday, 15th September. These interviews are designed for a quick overview of how your child is progressing. Interviews can be booked through Parent Lounge. If you cannot make it next Tuesday or would like a longer interview please contact your child’s class teacher directly to make an alternative time. PARENT LOUNGE LOG-IN INFORMATION: Username: Your ‘Username’ is the Account number located on your School Fee Account. Password: If you don’t know your Password there is a ‘Forgot Password’ option on the following Link. RUGBY LEAGUE AND NETBALL

Next week we will be sending students from Year 3 and Year 4/5 to Gala Days to compete against other schools in our district. It is an opportunity for our students to learn the skills of the sport and play in a competition. PREP AND YEAR 1 SWIMMING

During Term 4 PE Lessons our Prep and Yr 1 classes with be doing swimming lessons on Friday afternoons. A letter with more details has been sent home this week. The Rockhampton Catholic Education Office held a competition for students to design posters to promote Student Protection Week. The poster of one Primary School Student and one Secondary Student was chosen from all Schools throughout the Diocese. I am very proud to say that Jaide Magro from Year 5 was chosen as the Primary winner and she will receive an IPad Mini as her prize. Congratulations Jaide!

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https://304sbnm.rok.catholic.edu.au/parentlounge

Remember, Tuckshop is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Student Specials for Term 3 MEALS $5.00 Curried Sausages, mash Potato & Peas Honey Soy Chicken & Fried Rice Chicken Noodle Soup & Bread Roll Meatlover Pizza Pocket with BBQ sauce

SWEETS $3.00 Chocolate Mousse Cup (Gluten Free) Apple Crumble & Custard

Are you are interested in becoming one of our Tuckshop Volunteers? Volunteering is a great way to meet new people and to be an important part of your children’s school. Contact Sonya Raisbeck your Tuckshop Convener on 0409 848092. Pop in for a coffee and chat anytime you are always WELCOME!

St Brendan's have engaged Lowes as an alternative supplier of uniforms. They will only supply the sports shorts, sports shirts, unisex shirts, boys shorts and skorts at this stage. Uniforms expect to be in their Mt Pleasant store before the end of October. Uniform Solutions will still stock all items of our uniform. This will give parents two options and hopefully avoid any delay with the supply of our uniforms. Thank you very much for your patience in this area.

As you know, our school has been participating in the Woolworths Earn & Learn program. The program has now finished for this year, so a big ‘thanks’ to everyone who supported our school. We're now at the important stage of the program where the Sticker Sheets are collected and lodged as our Earn & Learn claim. We will then be able to get new educational equipment for our school. The more we collect, the more we can redeem. So this week, please send in your Woolworths Earn & Learn Sticker Sheets and any loose Earn & Learn stickers you may have. Remember to check your handbag, the car glove box or the front of the fridge. Every little bit helps. Thanks again for all your support!

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STUDENTS OF THE WEEK 2015 Week 7 Term 3

LEVEL REASON NAME

Prep V For the amazing ideas that you come up

with and the interesting facts that you

share with the class. Well Done!

Lucian Mah

Prep D The way I can always rely on you to be

doing your very best in class.

Congratulations, Emmey.

Emmey Camilleri

Year 1 For the wonderful effort you have given to

presenting your work neatly. Well done

Imogen!

Imogen Paul

Year 2 For the excellent effort you put into your

work. Well done Rory! Rory McPhail

Year 3 For your excellent effort you have put into

your imaginative narrative. What a

sensational story writer you are!

Lucas Clelland

Year 4/5

For your outstanding effort towards

school. You’ve been trying super hard in

all subject areas, especially in reading.

Well done!

Galilee Zaloumis

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STUDENTS OF THE WEEK 2015 Week 8 Term 3

LEVEL REASON NAME

Prep V For working so well in Prep. You have

made lots of friends in Prep and we love

having you in our class.

Harper Hearne

Prep D For the brilliant way you came and told me

the way you noticed another one of your

classmates doing the right thing. I was so

proud of you, Bonnie!

Bonnie Flanagan

Year 1 For the wonderful effort you have put into all

of your work this week. You have worked

so hard. Well done Bealy!

Bealy Philp

Year 2 For always trying and the wonderful effort

you put into your work. Keep up the great

work!

Shannon Wood

Year 3

The excellent effort you put into all of your

work. It is wonderful to see you giving all

tasks a go and never giving up. Keep up the

great work!

Harshdeep Kaur

Year 4/5 For the effort you have been putting into

your English rotations. I can see you

concentrating more on your work. Well done

Tristan Filocamo

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MAKING JESUS REAL AWARD

LEVEL REASON NAME

Year 3 Making Jesus Real by always saying ‘Thank You’

Lilly Uhr

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How does my school benefit? Community Kickbacks allows us to support your school by giving back 5% of all member sales. It's that easy! How does the School benefit? By joining Team Amart loyalty program, you will enjoy heaps of great benefits and rewards, such as preferred member pricing and access to exclusive member shopping offers. In addition, members can also support the School by linking your Team Amart membership to your registered school, to ensure that EVERY dollar you spend at Amart Sports is helping to fund their community. So how does it work? Every time your members shop and swipe their Team Amart card, we'll capture your transaction under your account and 5% of that sale will be credited back to you. Your members can shop in any of our stores nationally and online at amartsports.com.au. As long as you have selected your club or school as the nominated group on your loyalty account, you'll be on your way to earning credits with us. DEADLY CHOICES Community Day – Tuesday 22

nd September – 10am to 2pm

WALK FOR WILLIAM – Saturday 12

th September