Dear Parents and Carers,

Last Sunday’s Gospel told of the miracle of the loaves and fishes. The actions of Jesus in this parable align to the “big picture” of His intentions on earth. We look at the abundance that He brought the people on that day to the abundance He brought and still brings us through the Eucharist. The loaves and fishes story foreshadows the Eucharist in the “blessing”, the “breaking” and the “giving” to the people. The story brings to mind the spiritual hunger of so many in a world who are looking for answers, support and peace. This spiritual hunger can be filled by communion with God either through the Eucharist or through recognising God’s presence in our lives.

Our students have enjoyed their class visits to the church. Each class has a scheduled visit this term with Mrs Lozina, Mrs Edwards and their class teachers. They have explored the church at their appropriate level and learnt about the various signs, symbols and statues at Sacred Heart Mosman. Our students are also returning to class masses with each grade scheduled each week. This is of course subject to physical distancing in the church.

This Friday St. Mary of the Cross Mass will be live-streamed into classrooms. Year 2 only will attend mass to ensure the numbers are kept low in the church. The mass will celebrate our Australian Saint Mary McKillop. As Mary has been associated with the Mosman and North Sydney parishes it is an important mass for us to celebrate. The livestream link is below. Mass will begin at 9.15am on Friday 7th August.

https://scscatholic.zoom.us/j/95258248306

A number of teachers are currently enrolled in the Autism Spectrum Disorder course online. This gives us great insight into the needs of our students with ASD but also helps us further support them and other students with techniques that help all students manage their emotions, help teachers scaffold student’s work and have a better understanding of the range of students in our classrooms today.

Thank you Miss Allen who met with teachers last week to ensure that we have the correct balance in our Mathematics curriculum and classroom lessons. Miss Allen is our Mathematics co-ordinator and is supporting teachers in the development of extension and support programs in Mathematics.

Mr Brierley has been dealing with a number of issues related to iPad use at home of late. The school highly recommends strong parental controls of iPads. We recommend that iPads be locked in a secure place at home after completion of homework or on their return home. Parents are more than welcome to request that iPads be stored at school if students are using them inappropriately at home. iPads should not be used in bedrooms of students as this seems to be the place where most issues arise; out of the eyeline of parents.

Additionally, students in Years 3-6 were recently made aware that Sydney Catholic Schools can access their Gmail and Google Drive (incl. Docs, Slides and Sheets) at any time. This should come as no surprise to our parent community, but is a great reason for our students to ensure that they are responsible and respectful when working and playing online. 

Finally, all students have been asked to not create or participate in whole grade message chat groups via iMessage, Whatsapp, etc. on their iPad.  We have been made aware of a number of significant issues around the use of messaging apps by students and do not endorse or encourage their use. 

The NSW government has advised that masks should be worn in shopping centres etc. If you would like your child to wear a mask to school or carry one with them please send them with one. We will start talking about this at school as a sensible precaution as this may need to become our new norm and we need to “normalise” it by having this as a sensible option at school for teachers and students if needed. 

Regards

Julie Caldwell

COMPASS: