Paul Martin

The Paschal Triduum begins the evening of Holy Thursday, and ends the evening of Easter Day.  The word Triduum comes from the Latin word meaning "three days."  The Triduum celebrates the heart of our faith, salvation, and redemption:  the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Jesus’ challenge was to offer himself out of love, duty and service, without being resentful.  He was asked to give up his life and freedom to save us.  This is our challenge each day; to give our love and service to family, friends and neighbours, freely without resentment.  Pope Francis in a Palm Sunday homily prayed that as the Church sets out on the path of Holy Week, faithful would commit to following Jesus’ way of humility with determination and “immense love” for him, saying that it is this love which “will guide us and give us strength.”

This week at Holy Spirit we value generosity which we know as the quality of being kind and giving to others.  It is a quality that is a lot like unselfishness.  Someone showing generosity is happy to give time, money, food or kindness to people in need.  When we show generosity, we give away things or money or put others before ourselves.  This week we pray that our students and families recognise the needs of others and be generous toward others, especially those who need our help.

Thank you to all our families who have purchased raffle tickets for 

Project Compassion.  There will be many children excited for the draw on Thursday hoping to win one of these wonderful prizes.  Your generosity in supporting this fundraiser is much appreciated.  All Project Compassion boxes can be returned to the Office or class teacher to be included in our donation to Project Compassion.

Have a safe and enjoyable break. 

God bless.

Caroline Fuller

Congratulations to all our Year 5 and 6 choir members who sang at our Stations of the Cross performance on Friday night.  Well done and congratulations to our Year 5 and 6 students who performed the Easter story.  The children worked very hard as a group to be prepared to deliver and excellent re-enactment of the final days of Jesus.  Thank you to all our family and friends who joined us on Friday night to see our students at their best.

Mulkadee will be held at the Townsville Entertainment & Convention Centre (TECC) from 19-23 July 2021. 

The student google registration form went live on Monday 8th March. Registrations will close tomorrow (Thursday) 1st April.

Children will be transported to and from the Entertainment Centre by bus Monday to Friday.  The transport cost for students in Grades 5 & 6 is $30.

The transport cost for students in Grade 4 is $15.

All students are encouraged to participate in this wonderful event.

The student google registration form is now live HERE. 

Please keep Fr. John and his family in your prayers,. His elderly mother and sister-in-law are seriously ill. As Fr. John can’t be with his family at this time I am sure he will appreciate your support.

Seasons for Growth offers children and young people a safe space to come together, and share their experiences of change and loss.

It is a confidential program organised by Tegan Towler (Guidance Counsellor) and Kerry Donlan (Pastoral Chaplain), student companions.  

The program is not designed to counsel but assist young people to cope with some of life’s big issues, e.g. separation, divorce or the loss of a loved one. Many families experience such change.  The program is designed to cater for students after a period of time, at least 12 months has passed.

Another important point to consider is that for some children, they are quite resilient and coping very well without additional support opportunities.  The Seasons Program equips children with strategies to deal with the variety of emotions, caused by grief and loss.

Program delivery will occur at a set time each week for 8 weeks, each session is approximately 45 minutes in the Pastoral Chaplain’s room.  If you would like to know more and feel that your child/children would be interested in participating in our Seasons for Growth Program in Term 2, please contact me by email kdonlan1@hsstsv.catholic.edu.au  

I can also be contacted via the school office ph. no. 47794255

More information about the program, please visit the Seasons for Growth website.

The tuckshop team would like to thank everyone who contributed this term. 

   You are much appreciated.

Wishing you all a Happy Easter and see you all back in term 2.

When self-ishness is a strength

POSITIVE PARENTING by Michael Grose

“Share your things with your brother. Don’t be so selfish!”

If you, like me, still have this message rattling around your head then you’ll know how much kids’ selfishness is frowned upon parents. It sits alongside negative terms such as spoilt, bratty and mean-spirited.

I’ve long sung the praises of parents who promote a sense of generosity and giving in their kids. I hold the firm belief that one of the central tasks for parents is to socialise children so that the next generation has a strong sense of civic-mindedness.

There’s a place for developing self-ishness in children, but not the mean-spirited variety. Here are some aspects of self-ishness that help ensure kids become happy, successful and contributing community members.

Self-awareness

Young children have few social filters. They’ll blurt out comments at the worst possible moment that are guaranteed to embarrass you, your neighbour or relative. Embarrassing comments may be cute in toddlers but they lose their shine when children reach the school years. Parents can encourage self-awareness by drawing children’s attention to the requirements of different social situations, varying their social experiences and keeping behavioural expectations high. The socialisation process means that kids need to be aware of how their words and actions impact on others, and modify their behaviours accordingly.

Self-regulation

A child’s awareness of their emotional world is a wonderful gift. A rarer gift is the ability to regulate emotions such as anxiety, sadness and anger. Being able to identify their feelings, or at least, have the sense of awareness that something doesn’t feel right is central to emotional intelligence and is a requirement if they are to develop empathy.  Parents can encourage self-regulation in children by drawing attention to feelings, creating moments of stillness and giving them tools to calm themselves down when they’re upset.

Self-knowledge

My daughter came back from a six-month student exchange in Denmark as a sixteen year old with a remarkable sense of maturity. The challenge of living away from home for so long had given her what so many teenagers lack – self-knowledge. The experience taught her a great deal about herself, her strengths and vulnerabilities. She arrived home with a sense of ‘this is who I am’, which is one of the central tasks of adolescence.  Parents can promote kids’ self-knowledge by helping them identify their strengths, encouraging a wide range of interests and providing challenge opportunities during the last years of primary school and throughout the secondary school.

Self-discipline

Could your child sit at the meal table with food in front of them and wait until everyone has been seated before eating? I hope so, because little acts of denial such as this encourage the self-discipline required for later success. The ability to delay immediate gratification whether ‘to do the right thing’ or to ensure greater and later success is needed in every aspect of life. Self-discipline, like a muscle, needs to be exercised or it deteriorates. Parents can develop self-discipline in their children by encouraging small acts of delayed gratification such as saving pocket money. Help them understand that some desirable outcomes such as achieving good academic marks, gaining sporting awards and helping others generally require them to give up something in return.

Self-leadership

Leadership is a hot topic at the moment, particularly in the political sphere. The seeds of great leadership are sown in childhood by parents who teach kids solid values such as respect, accountability, kindness and empathy. They encourage skills such as emotional smarts, clear articulation and developing independence. In many ways self-leadership is the sum of these traits combined. Importantly, it comes before successful leadership in a public sense such as leading a school group, a sporting team, a workplace group or a family.

In closing

Kids’ abilities and attitudes vary, and they shift at different stages of development, which makes raising kids according to templates such as the one above tricky. It’s generally not until adulthood that we see the lasting impact of our parenting efforts and it’s the big ideas such as developing positive self-ishness traits that have the most lasting impact on kids.

https://www.parentingideas.com.au/blog/when-self-ishness-is-a-strength/

We are open Tuesday, Thursday and Friday 8am in the Hall.

Your support with donations of bread, spreads, vegemite, jam etc. (excluding peanut based spreads) would be appreciated.  

Thank you for your kind donations in Term 1.

  EASTER 2021

HOLY SPIRIT PARISH - CRANBROOK

All uniform supplies are available at The School Locker, Domain Central (close to Bunnings).

Phone 1800 826 155

The School Locker

Uniform days for students:

Monday and Wednesday - Formal uniform
Tuesday and Thursday - Sports uniform
Friday - own choice
Senior shirts may be worn on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.

If your child is going to be absent, please enter the details through Compass, as this is the most efficient way to inform the school.