Welcome back, everyone. I hope you all had a lovely Easter and are refreshed for the term ahead! On the church calendar, we are now in the Season of Easter which began with Easter Sunday and the resurrection of Jesus. It is seen as a time of new beginnings, joy and thanksgiving, a celebration of the risen Lord, a period of fifty days ending with the coming of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost Sunday. 

One of the Gospel stories told at this time is the story of the two disciples who met Jesus on the road to Emmaus after His death and Resurrection. They were telling others what had happened when Jesus suddenly appeared among them. Jesus reassured them telling them not to be afraid, and convinced them He was real and alive, despite His wounds, by eating a piece of fish. Jesus told His disciples to go out and tell the world that He had died and risen to new life. They were to be His witnesses to all that had happened. As members of the Christian family, we are called to follow Christ and be a witness for Him every day of our lives by living God’s way.

As we begin a new term, this week at Holy Spirit we value hospitality. Hospitality is about people welcoming others into spaces where they spend their time. It is making sure everyone is comfortable and offering help or guidance to those who need it. Therefore, our hospitality to others is a sign of our love for God, for God is always present when guests are present at the table. With the start of the new term, we often welcome new students and staff to our school. The value of hospitality will definitely be at work this week as we open our school to welcome new people. 

At the end of last term, students from Grade 4, 5 and 6 presented Stations of the Cross for our school community. The students – both choir and actors – were outstanding in their singing and performing on both the Tuesday night and Wednesday morning Liturgy. They are to be congratulated for their dedication over the last couple of weeks of the term as they practised for the performances. Thank you to all our families who came along to see the students. It was lovely to hear so many positive comments that have been passed on to our students.

Next Thursday is ANZAC Day, a day to remember the courageous men and women who have served our nation during war, those who have died, those who have returned from war, those who are still in peacekeeping teams and those who have died while helping with humanitarian aid in war torn countries. On Wednesday at our Assembly, our whole school will gather for ANZAC Day Prayer and we invite everyone to join us in the Hall.

Project Compassion 2024 – FOR ALL FUTURE GENERATIONS
During Lent, we were asked to help raise funds to send to CARITAS to support their mission work. Your generous support can help change lives today - and For All Future
Generations. Words cannot express how wonderful it was to see such generosity shown by our students and families for this year’s appeal. Well done to all who contributed to the Project Compassion boxes at home and at school. A little bit goes a long way and it is great to share with our community that we raised just over $1200 for this worthy cause! Congratulations to our winners in the Easter Raffle. Well done to our Crochet Club who got themselves together to make bracelets for students to wear. This money was also raised for Project Compassion. What a great little initiative by students!

Welcome back and God bless.
Caroline Fuller