Principal’s Report – Issue 38

Dear Parents

As we prepare for Christmas let us ponder a while on three human beings like ourselves: Jesus, Mary and Joseph. We try to imagine how they reacted to the extraordinary events in their lives. In a vulnerable, fragile and beautiful new-born baby, God’s gift of love was made known to us. The baby Jesus challenges us to live with the tenderness he stirs in our hearts.

How will Christmas be this year? Hopefully, it will be a family celebration that builds treasures of memories for our children which will include a respect for Christ’s humble entry into our world. As Christians, we are a community that should be known for its compassion, care and love without discrimination. Christ came for all people but especially the disadvantaged; we need to be bearers of his attitude to the people who come in and out of our lives.

Where will the gift of Christ be born this Christmas?

in the retelling of a well-loved family story?
in a reconciling phone call to an estranged family member or friend?
in the giving up of the commercial excess of the day and sharing with those in greater need?

Perhaps we could give the gift of ourselves this Christmas, in all our vulnerability, fragility and beauty.

God, our Father,  we ask the Spirit to, “clothe us with compassion, humility, meekness
and patience and to let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts”, so that we,
“God’s chosen ones” will give true witness to the message of Christ.
Amen. (Colossians 3. 12:15)

May the Christ Child bless whatever we bring to him, and may we carry that blessing with us to all the people that we meet in the year ahead.

Christmas Prayer
Lord, in this holy season of prayer and song and laughter,we praise you for the great wonders you have sent us:
for shining star and angel’s song, for infant’s cry in lowly manger.
We praise you for the Word made flesh in a little Child.
We behold his glory and are bathed in its radiance.
Be with us as we sing the ironies of Christmas
the incomprehensible comprehended,
the poetry made hard fact,
the helpless Babe who cracks the world as under.
We kneel before you shepherds, innkeepers, wiseman.
Help us to rise bigger than we are.
Amen.

Christmas Concert – ‘THE BEST EVER!’
These were the words of many parents I spoke with after the Christmas Concert on Tuesday night. It was an amazing atmosphere and it was sensational to see so many parents, grandparents and family members in attendance.

I would especially like to thank the staff for their support and effort with the Christmas Concert this year. It was wonderful to see the enjoyment on all of the children’s faces … they really had a fantastic night sand they will be talking about their teachers for years to come! From the children and the passion for all things musical – you really shone; to the staff who really showed their commitment to the children and celebrating at the end of the concert.

We were also fortunate that Santa and his merry elf came for a show stopping visit.

A special THANK YOU to Miss Claire Condipodero and Miss Yen Wong for coordinating and choreographing the concert this year. It all ran like clock-work and the music was most entertaining.

Year Six Graduation & Dinner Dance
Thank You to the Year Six Parent organising committee consisting of Ardrian Gonsalves and her many helpers (Deanna Alvaro, Rosanna Monastra, Katy Petrolo, Nella Colonico, Stephanie Thuang, Maria Bellesini & Elisha Wallace) who spent numerous hours planning and preparing this special evening. The school hall looked AMAZING – It really did. The organising committee and the band of helpers did a BRILLIANT job – the children were very spoilt. The food was delicious, and the music and dancing were entertaining! We also would like to thank Carlo Petrolo who assisted with the catering and to the staff who came along for the students, serving them their meal and joining in on the odd dance. The children had a fantastic time!

Student Reports
Semester Two student reports will be distributed today to all parents via SEQTA. Parents are reminded that this report is a summary of what has been achieved throughout the second semester of 2018.

Students can be commended for their efforts throughout the semester and we thank the parents who have supported us by ensuring that students are continuing in their learning and development as a whole person.

I encourage parents to take the time to discuss the Semester Two Report with their child/children and, if there are areas of concern, to make an appointment tosee the class teacher.

Please be reminded that SEQTA Engage can be either accessed through the web or through an app for both Apple and Android devices. It is important that you remember your log-in details if they are not saved into your device.

If you do not remember your password, you can request a reset email password by clicking on the Forgot your password? Link on the log-in page. Please note that the emailed link will expire in 1 hour from the time it has been requested. Sometimes the email may also be found in your Junk/Spam folder. To change your password, you do need to know your Username and have provided an email address to the school.

If you have any issues with your account, please do not hesitate to contact the school. Please do not contact SEQTA directly as their policy is that they will refer you back to the school.

Staff Farewells
At the end of the year is also a time to farewell staff who are leaving the Infant Jesus School Community due to retirement, moving to another school or completing a contract.

We acknowledge and thank the following departing staff for their service to Infant Jesus School and we wish them all the very best for their futures:

Miss Jasmine Ziino – accepted a teaching position at Good Shepherd Catholic School in Lockridge
Mrs Mary Barclay – returning to Our Lady’s Assumption after six months secondment
Mrs Penny Storey – who is retiring after 18 years of service.

We wish many blessings for the following staff who will be taking a year of leave:

Maureen O’Neill
Leanne Griffin

I am sure that both these ladies are looking forward to the year of leave and pray that they both return safely to our community.

We thank all these teachers for their contributions to educating the children at Infant Jesus School. We hope that they have found their time here both enjoyable and rewarding and they take some of the spirit of our community with them in their future roles. We wish you all, every happiness for the future.

New Staff for 2019
The following staff will be joining the Infant Jesus School Community in 2019:

- Miss Leesa Hermans – many parents would know Miss Hermans as she has had some short-term contracts in the past yearsat the school, as well as plenty of relief. Miss Hermans is currently teaching at St Anthony’s in Greenmount. Staff and parents always speak very highly of Leesa and we look forward to Leesa becoming part of the staff from 2019.
- Miss Penny Mulholland – is a young teacher who certainly impressed the panel with her level of enthusiasm and passion for teaching. Miss Mulholland had a wonderful understanding for the vision of the school and the areas in which we were focused. We are sure that Miss Mulholland will be a tremendous asset to the school.
- Miss Sandra McMullen – is currently a teacher at Our Lady of Mercy in Girrawheen. Sandra has been most industrious in her time at OLOM taking on a number of various teaching and leadership roles, including Acting Assistant Principal. Sandra is highly motivated educator and will be a welcome edition to the Infant Jesus School staff.
- Mrs Dianne Scoble – joins us from Our Lady’s Assumption School in Dianella. Dianne comes to our school with a wealth of experience, having been the Assistant Principal at OLA for the past 10 years, as well as serving some time as a short-term Principal in two schools within Catholic Education WA this year. We look forward to welcoming Dianne to our school.
- Mrs Julie Merrells – is currently a school social worker from Our Lady of Mercy in Girrawheen. She has been a school social worker for many years and is excited to be making her move to Infant Jesus School in 2019.

Staffing 2019
Attached to this newsletter is a copy of the 2019 School Staff.
2019 Staffing

Best Wishes
We also take this opportunity to wish Miss Sophie Houston all the best for her forthcoming wedding that will be celebrated during the school holidays. This is a very exciting time for Sophie and her fiancé, Matthew. We wish both of them all God’s blessing and for a life-time of love and happiness.

School Annual
All families will receive a copy of the 2018 School Annual today. We hope you enjoy the reflections and review of the year.

Congratulations

Victoria Mok: she received a Bursary for her Year 7 piano at Perth College in 2019. Well done, Victoria.
Allyra Quartermaine just won the State Championships MVP Basketball Under 13’s. An outstanding achievement.
Georgia Mammone of 3B for qualifying and being selected to represent Kingsway Little Athletics at the State Relay Track andField Championships this past weekend. Georgia and her team won Gold in the 4x200m and Silver in the 4x100m making them the fastest Under 10 girls relay team in Western Australia!!!

P&F Back to School Picnic – Friday 15 February
Our Back to School Picnic will be held on Friday 15 February on the school oval. Please put this date into your calendar. This is a fantastic way to commence the year and welcome new families to the school.

2019 Term Dates
Please find below the listed Term Dates for Infant Jesus School for 2019. Included in these are the scheduled Pupil Free Days for the year. Please note that the finishing date is yet to be confirmed, but at this stage is the 13 December.

Term 1 Monday 4 February – Friday 12 April
Term 2 Tuesday 30 April – Friday 5 July
Term 3 Tuesday 23 July – Thursday 26 September
Term 4 Tuesday 15 October – Friday 13 December (To be confirmed)

Pupil Free Days 2019
Monday 29 April
Tuesday 4 June
Monday 22 July
Friday 27 September
Monday 14 October

School Uniform
We remind all parents that all students attending Infant Jesus School in 2019 are required to wear the Summer School Uniform on the return to school next year. All uniform supplies are available at Lowes Uniform supplies at the Mirrabooka Shopping Centre.

Parish Christmas Mass Times
Monday 24 December– CHRISTMAS EVE
7.00am Mass – Monday of the 4th Week of Advent
9.00am Mass – Monday of the 4th Week of Advent
6.00pm Christmas Vigil Mass – Carols from 5.30pm
12.00pm Christmas Midnight Mass – Carols from 11.30pm

Tuesday 25 December – CHRISTMAS DAY
Christmas Masses at 7.30am, 9.30am & 11.30am (Italian Mass). Carols 30 minutes before each Mass.

Wednesday 26 December – Boxing Day Public Holiday
8.30am Mass of the Feast of St Stephen, the first martyr

Saturday 29 December
6.00pm – Mass of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph

Sunday 30 December
Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary & Joseph – Masses at 7.30am, 9.30am 11.30am (Italian Mass) & 6.00pm

Tuesday 1 January – New Year Public Holiday
8.30am Mass of the Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God.

Sacramental Dates for 2019
The following proposed Sacramental dates have been planned and booked for 2019. All sacraments will be held at Infant Jesus Parish Church. In 2018, Infant Jesus School will continue the ‘Parish Based, School Supported Program’ which is designed to support families with the faith formation and sacramental preparation of their child.

Sacrament of Confirmation – Saturday 8 June 2019
First Eucharist – Saturday 7 September 2019 and Sunday 8 September 2019
First Reconciliation – Monday 4 November 2019 and Thursday 7 November 2019

Did You Know?

The Christmas tree made its way to America in the 1830s but wasn’t popular until 1846, after Germany’s Prince Albert brought it to England when he married Queen Victoria. The two were sketched in front of a Christmas tree and the tradition instantly became popular. Royal fever was real even back then.
Santa Claus comes from St. Nicholas, a Christian bishop living in (what is now) Turkey in the fourth century AD. St. Nicholas had inherited a great deal of wealth and was known for giving it away to help the needy. When sainted, he became the protector of children. One of the reasons we leave milk and cookies for Santa is because Dutch kids would leave food and drink for St. Nicholas on his feast day.
Though Santa Claus has worn blue and white and green in the past, his traditional red suit came from a 1930s ad by Coca Cola.

Thought for the Week
“Let us remember that the Christmas heart is a giving heart, a wide-open heart that thinks
of others first. The birth of the baby Jesus stands as the most significant event in all history,
because it has meant the pouring into a sick world the healing medicine of love which has transformed
all manner of hearts for almost two thousand years…

On a personal note,
To the families who are leaving us today . . .

Thank you for allowing us the privilege to teach your child.
Thank you for all that you have contributed to Infant Jesus School.
We hope that you will also hold fond memories of this school in your heart for many years to come.

To our Year Six Students who will be leaving at the end of the year – we hope that the faith and values you were taught at Infant Jesus School will always be part of your daily lives and wish you God’s guidance and happiness for the future.

I also thank all staff, the students and the parent community for the amazing contributions you have made over the course of the year. Thank you for supporting Infant Jesus School as we continue to #ExpectGreatThings of ourselves and one another.

We hope all families enjoy the time they have together over this Christmas break and pray that each and every member of the community returns safely in 2019.

Merry Christmas!
We will see you all in 2019!