Dear Parents, Caregivers and Families,

Last week we saw our students shine as they performed in the Joey’s Presents… Star Search. What more can I say! The kids were fantastic, and their acts were highly polished. Again, I acknowledge our staff for getting the acts to this level, with special mention to Mr Tim May for his drama and performance expertise. I also thank our families and friends who attended both the matinee and evening performances, adding to the spectacular. I thank you all for the positive feedback given to staff.

At our last assembly I spoke to all the students about humility and how important it is to be humble. I outlined how humility allows you to see the world through a lens where you are not at the centre, placing others before yourself. People with humility are courteous to other people and are always respectful.

Learning humility allows you to listen to other people’s perspectives, and accept new ideas. It allows you to feel grateful for what you have, not regretful what you don’t have.

Again, I repeated the theme that it is OK to make mistakes, and encouraged the importance of admitting that you made a mistake.

Having humility, or being humble, is living a life that’s fulfilled from the inside.

This brings me to talk about our wonderful staff. All of our staff are focussed on one thing, and that is your child, and their education and wellbeing. I thank our staff for their humility in ensuring that all of our children are known, loved, cared for and made to feel unique at St Joseph’s.

I wish all of you who might be going away over the spring break a great holiday with your family and look forward to seeing our community back in Term 4 for another term of learning.

Uniform reminder

It is important that all students wear the School Uniform and take pride in their appearance, as this is a very public way of exhibiting our school identity. It is the responsibility of parents and families to ensure that our children wear the correct uniform to school every day.

To all of our families, I thank you for your support in regards to your child’s ongoing learning. I look forward to welcoming our students back to Term 4 on Tuesday, 15^th October.

Guy Campbell
Driving Excellence in the Macleay

In this Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus hands down a beautiful lesson in integrity. “If it’s your hand that causes you to stumble, cut it off”. This is very extreme, but it draws a parallel of when the woman, caught in adultery is about to be stoned to death. In this instance, Jesus kneels and writes in the sand and then says, “whoever of you is without sin cast the first stone”, and no one can.

What did He write in the sand? This will always remain a mystery. Perhaps he wrote down all their sins? This parallel is deeply important, because whenever we are confronted with something that we deem as “not right” we need to be challenged to hold a mirror up to ourselves, to see what is possibly going on within us first and foremost. This is a call to integrity. Let’s believe that integrity will always win, no matter what is spoken against you. The way we respond and hold ourselves will be what is measured. If this is the way Jesus responded to His disciples when they were (in good faith) pointing out the way others were going through life, I wonder how He would respond to our time today in the eyes of inclusivity and human dignity.

Reflection taken in part by Corinne Lindsell

“Whoever is careless with the truth in small matters cannot be trusted with important matters.” - Albert Einstein 

Prayer

Heavenly Father, Open our eyes, help us to see you in all we meet.

 Amen 

Sourced from: https://cms.vinnies.org.au/media/5mjf0s5q/srg_sept_dec_2024_web.pdf?folder=nsw__spiritual-reflection-guides&path=5mjf0s5q%2Fsrg_sept_dec_2024_web.pdf