Dear Parents, Looking for something worthwhile to do for yourself during the coming season of Lent? How about having a look at how you participate as a member of our single human family that is equally marvellous, fascinating and perhaps threatening in its diversity. Lent is often a time given over to “holy” words of repentance and promises of self-reform but: “However many words you speak, what good will they do if you do not act on them?” Buddha. The challenges of our times are not only political and social, they are spiritual: “The modern world is ‘desacralised’, that is why it is in crisis. The modern person must rediscover a deeper source of personal spiritual life.” Carl Jung. It is difficult to grow spiritually, morally or ethically, if we fail to give due recognition that all people are equally valuable and important. We can’t grow spiritually, morally or ethically if we belittle people different to us in their appearance, manner and customs in order to make us feel more important as human beings. We will begin to grow spiritually, morally and ethically, when we are ready to sincerely embrace the truth and fascination of our differences and welcome the common yearnings we have about life. Stephanie Dowrick expresses this sentiment beautifully when she writes: “Seeing life itself as sacred - yours, mine, all of life - makes our differences far less frightening. More importantly, it makes sense of how like one another we are in our simplest and most profound longings. Whatever our culture, religion or language, we want food, shelter and good health. We want to be able to get up in the morning, enthusiastically, and sleep safely at night. We want health, safety and happiness for our loved ones. We want to know that our lives are purposeful and sometimes gracious. We want to feel part of something greater than ourselves. We want and need inspiration and meaning.” Extract. Seeking the Sacred. St Paul in his inspiring letter to the people of Philippi encouraged them to, “Show an agreeable attitude to everyone”. He suggested how they might be able to do this: “All that is true, all that is worthy of reverence, all that is holy and good, all that is lovely to look at and beautiful to hear, all that has virtue and all that deserves praise, let that be the content of your thinking.” Phil. 4: 5,8,9. Our spirituality is as personal as our breath or our fingerprint, but, as we move through the forty days of Lent, we might on occasion, surrender freely to the quiet within us, to rediscover the resources and strengths that are there. We might begin to see better and appreciate more, the value of our existence, to see ourselves with more gratitude and respect and to see others in a like manner.

PROUILLE NEWSletter

Prouille Catholic School 5 Water Street Wahroonga NSW 2076 Phone: 02 9489 3233 prouille@dbb.catholic.edu.au www.prouilledbb.catholic.edu.au

21st February 2017 Week 4 Term 1

On Ash Wednesday, our foreheads will be marked with ashes to remind us that life passes away on earth: “Remember you are dust and unto dust you shall return”. The ashes are made from the blessed palms left over from the Palm Sunday celebration of the previous year. These ashes are “christened” with holy water and are scented by exposure to incense. Whilst the ashes symbolise penance and contrition, they are also a reminder that God is gracious and understanding to those who are of goodwill: “For generous and merciful is He, slow to anger, rich in kindness.” Prophet, Joel. 2:12. If we are not careful, Lent can be so dreadfully boring if it focuses only on the negative, for who wants to mourn their sins and shortcomings for forty days! Father James Martin S.J., author of My Life with the Saints, has some good advice to offer: “When it comes to religion, joy has a lousy reputation. When you hear of someone described as “religious” what usually comes to mind is someone who is terrified that somewhere in the world somebody might be having a good time. St Teresa of Avila even prayed, ‘From sombre and solemn people, deliver us, O Lord.’ So on Ash Wednesday, instead of going around with a sad look on your face, have a laugh, for God’s sake!” Adapted. Mourning our sins is about calling attention to them so that we can discard them; it is about improving our spiritual lives and seeking a closer relationship with God. We should observe Lent, because we want to accentuate the positive influence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and to eliminate the negative influence of sin. So, we have to “Accentuate the positive, Eliminate the negative, Latch onto the affirmative ….” and be happy about it! God, our Father, we ask that You accept us as we are, vulnerable, flawed and in need of Your love. May Your Spirit be powerful within us so that joy, love and peace may be expressed through the actions of our lives. Amen. Thank You Thank you to all the parents who joined us for our “Commencement Mass” on Friday. I especially wish to thank Miss Russell and the teachers for organising such a beautiful liturgy. Also thank you Fr. David Ranson for such a memorable mass to commence the Educational Year of 2017! Congratulations to our school leaders for 2017 who received their badges. School Captains: Cooper Mezgec and Libby Tomkinson Vice Captains: Molly Montgomery, Max Graham SRC Executive: Greta Andersson, John Maskery, Luca Goorevich, Isabella Jones Mission Leaders: Georgia Lloyd, Sophia Fachkha, Savannah Stenhouse, Candela Nahra, Gabriella Ribeiro Colour House Captains: Jennings:, O’Brien:, Rawlings:, Crawford: . ICLT Leaders: Liam Hayes, Michael Kirby, Patrick Nahra, Thomas Willett Library Leaders: Georgina Littleton, Sarah O’Donnell, Imogen Dinnar, Camilla Brillembourg-Avila Environment Leaders:Oskar Mulders, Chloe Kil, Young Yoon Oh I am looking very much forward to sharing the Prouille leadership with you.

Thank you for supporting and attending our Parent Information Night last Wednesday evening. It was great to welcome so many parents. I would also like to thank the teachers for the time and effort they put into preparing these valuable presentations. If you were unable to attend please see your child’s class teacher in order to obtain the necessary information. Swimming Carnival Thank You Thank you to the many parents who were so generous with their time and efforts to assist us with the running of our Swimming Carnival yesterday. It was a perfect day and it was mainly due to the assistance we received from parents. Thank you also to Miss Townsend and Mr.de Villiers for organising our Carnival which was a great success. Thank you also to the teachers for their valued assistance. Congratulations and thank you to all of the Prouille students for their great sportsmanship and achieving their personal best. Congratulations to the Rawlings Team on winning the Carnival and to the Jennings Team for being awarded the spirit trophy and the O’Brien and Crawford teams for the fantastic competition.

Champions and Cluster squad to be announced at assembly on Friday 24th February at 2.30pm.

Congratulations to our Kindergarten students who had a fun water activity day with their teachers! Chess Coaching Chess coaching for students at Prouille Primary School is held on Thursdays from 12.40pm – 1.40pm in the Library. Term 1 lessons commenced two weeks ago. Learning and playing chess helps children develop their logical thinking and problem solving skills, improves their concentration and focus, while also being a great source of enjoyment. Activities include group lessons on a demonstration chess board or interactive whiteboard, puzzle solving and fun practice games. Students earn merit awards by making checkmates, or by displaying skills and positive qualities, which all good chess players strive to develop. This is an extra-curricular activity and will incur a small fee. If your child is interested in taking part, you can collect an enrolment form from the school office, or email enrol@sydneyacademyofchess.com.au for a copy. For all enquiries, please contact Sydney Academy of Chess on (02) 9745 1170. Welcome Event I look forward to meeting everybody a the welcome event on Saturday 25th February. It commences at 7.30pm. Angela Chappel, Laura Munce and their fantastic volunteers are doing an amazing job in preparation for this event. P&F General Meeting Everybody is welcome to join us for the P&F General Meeting to be held in the library on Wednesday 22nd February @ 7.30pm.

Sunglasses If you lost a pair of sunglasses please come and see the school office Farewell Tomorrow we farewell our very talented Learning Support Teacher Cathy Chapman and wish her every happiness and success in her new venture. We also thank Cathy for the valuable contribution she has made to quality Learning and Teaching at Prouille. We are currently involved in the recruitment process of selecting Cathy’s replacement. Yours sincerely

Sue Bevan Ms. Sue Bevan PRINCIPAL

UPCOMING DIARY DATES

FROM THE ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL Congratulations to all the children who received awards last week

CLASS KR Emma Murray, Gabriel Edmunds KB Samuel Hatton, Meika Kiprioti 1P William Antoun, Hugo Groom 1E Justin Lee, Yohann Pereira 2D Jack Gibbons, Milly McCallum 2T Evie Kirby, Archie Wright 3/4DS Christina Vella 3/4C Marcus Brown, Evan Littler 3/4G Charlotte Bull, Lily Carolan 5/6R Libby Tomkinson, Jordan Feurtado 5/6 F Young Yoon Oh, Thomas Fraser 5/6O Georgia Lloyd, Ellie Taylor

God Bless Karen Townsend Karen Townsend

Special Dates for your Diary

Friday 24th February • Assembly and announcement of Swimming

Champions and Cluster Team @ 2.30pm

Saturday 25th February • Welcome Cocktail Party

Tuesday 28th February

• Parents Information Night for Reconciliation Wednesday 1st March- Ash Wednesday

• K-2 Liturgy @ school 9.15am • Years 3-6 attend Parish Mass

Wednesday 8th March

• Open Morning 9.00 -10.30am

Dear Parents and Friends, Opening School Mass – Thank you! THANK YOU so much to all who joined us for our Opening School Mass last Friday. It was an incredibly special occasion whereby our new Kindergarten children were acknowledged as becoming part of our Prouille family as well as our wonderful leaders in Year 6 for 2017. We are extremely grateful to be part of such a warm, inviting place. Parent and Staff Prayer - Reminder On Wednesday 22nd February (Week 4) of this term, we will be holding a ‘Parent and Staff Prayer’ opportunity in our Chapel at 8:20am. It will be a chance for you to share and unite in a short prayer with some of our staff members. If you get the chance, feel free to pop in! SRC Representatives – Assembly on Friday 24th February At this week’s Assembly we will be presenting the chosen SRC Class Representatives with their badges. We are extending the opportunity to be an SRC Representative by voting in a different child each term. This will see us congratulate and involve 4 children per class per year. We would like to acknowledge our Term 1 Class Representatives; KR Blake Hagarty 3/4C Charlize Smyth KB Harrison Duque 3/4S Sienna Phair 1E Sienna Mezgec 3/4G Natalia Alvarez Lopez 1P Carla Bayldon 5/6O Joshua Moait 2D Juliet Maskery 5/6F Willow Fitzgerald 2T Macy Kiddle 5/6R Hannah Cook Year 2 Liturgy with Fr. David Our lovely Year 2 group will have had the opportunity to attend a liturgy with Fr. David on Tuesday 21st February (Week 4) at 2pm in our Chapel. We are hoping it has been a beautiful experience for all! Prayer Table Cloths We know we have many talents in our community of Prouille and we would LOVE to hear from anybody who is able to hem some prayer table cloths for our classrooms! I have the material ready to go but would appreciate an experienced hand to assist with the hemming of the cloths! If you are able to help, we would be so grateful. Please contact Miss Russell through the office. PROJECT COMPASSION – Semiti Visit – Monday 27th February 11:30-12:15pm Veritas Hall We are fast approaching our Lent season in the liturgical calendar and within this special time of ‘turning back to God’ we will be fundraising for the influential ‘Project Compassion’ Caritas campaign. This year, our focus is ‘Love Your Neighbour’ – a life principle we try to instil each and every day. Project Compassion demonstrates how love for our neighbours can transform lives this year.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND PASTORAL CARE NEWS

Caritas Australia share stories on their website which demonstrate the impact that Project Compassion can have on various communities. These stories inspire and humble us and display how these people are able to build better lives for themselves, families and communities. This year they look at stories in Philippines, Timor Leste, Indigenous Australia, Vietnam and Fiji. We have been lucky enough to have one of these inspiring people, Semiti, join us for a short talk on Monday 27th February from 11:30-12:15pm in Veritas Hall where he will be discussing with the children aspects of his family and community as well as the influence Project Compassion has in Fiji. All are welcome to join and listen to his fascinating story! Your child will bring home a note next week with ideas on how the children might like to bring in their donations for this incredibly worthwhile cause. Pre-Reconciliation Liturgy (Stage 3) with Fr. David – Tuesday 28th February, 2pm Chapel The children in Stage 3 will be participating in a pre-reconciliation liturgy with Fr. David on Tuesday 28th February at 2pm in the Chapel. This is a time of reflection and a journey in ‘turning back to God.’ Reconciliation Parent Evening – Tuesday 28th February, 7-9pm Veritas Hall Our Holy Name Parish Sacramental Coordinator, Sally Oong, will be facilitating an information evening for parents of children who will be making their Reconciliation from Year 3. There will be a delightful cuppa for you, too! Sally will be discussing the process and important dates that will be coming up in preparation for this sacrament. We hope to see you there! Quote of the Week Wishing you blessings and joy, Jessica Russell Religious Education Coordinator

"I'm grateful for the "care pack" the teachers had prepared for parents of Kindy children on the

first day of school. It was a beautiful thought and my husband and I are

blessed to be welcomed into such a caring

community."

- Rebecca Lowrey Boyd, Mum to Harry Boyd,

Kindy.

HAVE YOUR

PICTURE HERE!

Many of us like to document our blessings

in photographs that last a lifetime. Each

week/fortnight I would like to feature one here, with your name, in order to share the blessings that we identify in our

lives. It may be a flower, a moment, a laugh or

anything you are grateful for.

Please send your photo to Carol at our School Office as a jpeg via email and it will be passed on to Miss

Russell. If you don’t see yours straight away, stay

tuned!

This is for both parents and

children! Happy snapping!

Swimming Carnival

P & F

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND PASTORAL CARE NEWS

Thank you to the parents who have already offered their services and help for our annual

'Welcome Event'.

We need lots of parent helpers in order to make this the fantastic night that we have enjoyed in the past. Please help out if you can! If you can assist in any of the following areas, or are happy to come along and help where required, please let us know ASAP; • Decorating the hall on the day • General set up on the day • Picking up of drinks, alcohol/ice and Eskies (need a large vehicle or van) • Running the welcome table on the night (distributing name tags etc) • Selling raffle tickets (at the welcome desk and also 'roaming' sellers) • Clean up crew • Small final clean up Sunday morning A planning meeting for all helpers is scheduled for next Thursday 9th February at 9am after school drop off. Please come along and by all means, bring your toddlers or little ones as they are welcome also. Any questions, or let us know if you can help but can't make it to the meeting; Ange Chappel angechappel@gmail.com or Laura Munce laura.munce@outlook.com

Donations towards Prouille’s Fundraising Raffle Required

Welcome to 2017!

The P&F are busily planning our Welcome Event for 2017 and look forward to seeing you there! In order to achieve some of our fundamental goals for the school, such as teaching resources, pastoral care and wellbeing initiatives, the P&F organise a range of fundraising activities throughout the year. Where possible we like to gather the support of local organisations and businesses, such as yours, to assist in achieving the goals to support our school. We are asking for donations of goods or vouchers to be used at the Welcome Event, Mothers Day Celebration and Fathers Day Breakfast. As one of our generous supporters of the school your company name will be advertised throughout the raffle and in the weekly school newsletter leading up to the event. If you are able to donate goods or vouchers to be used as raffle prizes next year please contact me via e-mail on laura.munce@outlook.com Kind regards Laura Munce and Ange Chappel Prouille Parent and Friends Committee (P&F)

Last but not least...... Raffle Prizes! We need lots of donations of prizes for our raffle. If you have a business, use a business or know of a business that would be willing to provide goods, vouchers or services as prizes, please collect on our behalf. All business' that donate will be announced on the night and also thanked in print after the event and then again at the end of the year. Some prize suggestions include; Hair/beauty vouchers, cafe/restaurant vouchers, gym/personal training vouchers, photography vouchers, wine, Books, digital or technological items, home cleaning/maintenance vouchers, accommodation vouchers. Please contact Laura Munce to arrange raffle donations laura.munce@outlook.com Many thanks! Ange Chappel 0401906106

COMMUNITY NEWS

Water Street Netball – Registration Update

A huge welcome to all the new and returning players who registered on the weekend! We will now group all the players and send out team lists by the end of February.

PLEASE NOTE: For all players turning 9 this year – there is a grading round robin at Lofberg courts on Sunday morning, March 12 – we will be in touch to provide details etc.

Just a reminder how to pay registration fees:

The fees for 2017 are: NetSetGo Competition – (6-10 yrs) $185 Juniors (11-17yrs) $210 Payment can only be made by Direct Debit. Direct Debit details are: Account Name: Water St Netball BSB: 112-879 Account Number: 043525907 Reference: Surname and Class

If you still need to arrange a uniform, please contact Lee Harrison on andrewandleeh@gmail.com.

Also – if you are on Facebook – please search for the private group “Water Street Netball Club” and ask to join. We post match reports and updates, and its great for Grandparents to join too!

For our Kindy families – KNA normally run a skills course in April/May – when we get details of this we will send around further information.

Mary Weaver President

Prouille is excited to continue to offer the Commonwealth Bank School Banking program to all students in 2017. School Banking is a fun, interactive and engaging way for young Australians to learn about money and develop good savings habits. Children who deposit money into their Youthsaver account through School Banking earn Dollarmites tokens, which they can save up and redeem for exciting rewards. The rewards available during 2017 are:

• Cyber Handball • Colour Change Markers • 3D Chalk Set • Tablet Case • Smiley Emoji Keyring • Volt Handball • Pencil + Tech Case • Epic Earphones

School Banking is also a great fundraiser for our school. Our school receives $5 when a student makes their first ever School Banking deposit and 5% on every deposit made through the school (to a maximum of $10 per individual deposit). School Banking day is WEDNESDAY. Each week you need to place your banking wallet in the classroom School Banking Satchel. If you are interested in opening a Commonwealth Bank Youthsaver account for your child you can visit commbank.com.au/schoolbanking and click on the link to open a Youthsaver account or visit your local Commonwealth Bank branch.

Thank you for supporting the School Banking program! Regards, The School Banking Team