News

Mother’s Day Celebrations, Mary and Fatima
Thank you to the mothers, grandmas, godmothers, aunties, big sisters and all those who provide motherly care to our students and were able to attend the Mother’s Day Liturgy and morning tea in the staffroom last Friday. Once again the Sugarloaf Café and Hospitality students ensured that the event was well catered.

As we celebrate motherly care of those who are with us and those who are now enjoying their heavenly reward we also acknowledge that during May we as a Catholic Church offer our devotion to Mary; our model of devoted motherhood, grace, unconditional love and maternal integrity.       

The media also reported that this weekend marks 100 years since the first apparition of the ‘Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima’ and to mark the occasion, the Holy Father, Pope Francis, travelled to Fatima, Portugal where he declared two of the shepherd children saints.  Francisco and Jacinta became the two youngest, non-martyred saints in the history of the Church. Father Michael, in this week’s Church bulletin told of his experience of these miracles.

“Fatima Centenary"
As a child growing up, I always enjoyed watching the many religious films that would be broadcast on television on Good Friday. It’s amazing how this has changed in such a short time! Nevertheless, one film in particular captivated me. It was the 1952 Warner Brothers film, ‘The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima’ which recounts the events that took place in Fatima, Portugal between May and October 1917. During this period, Our Lady appeared on the 13th day of every month to three shepherd children urging them to pray the Rosary and to do penance for the conversion of sinners.

The film is an accurate portrayal of the events, except for the insertion of a fictional character called Hugo. Hugo is an agnostic and comical friend who seeks to protect the children. Some may object to such a fictional character in an historical film, however, in some way Hugo represents all of us in the story. We can be doubters, cynics, skeptics or reluctant to give ourselves fully to God and we can be content ‘doing our own thing’ without God. After the ‘Miracle of the Sun’ which was witnessed by 70,000 people, Hugo removes his hat, looks to the sky and says, “Only the fool says there is no God.” Hugo’s journey with the children changes him and so it should change us too.

This    weekend    marks    100    years    since    the    first apparition and to mark the occasion, the Holy Father will travel to Fatima where he will declare two of the shepherd children saints, Francisco and Jacinta. They will become the two youngest, non-martyred saints in the history of the Church. The third, Lucia, lived to be 97 and died in 2005.

The Catholic Church is extremely cautious in approving claims that Jesus or Mary has appeared somewhere. After rigorous investigation, most claims are dismissed, but some, like Fatima are approved as authentic because the central message is nothing different from what the Church has always taught. The message of Fatima is a great summons to penance and conversion of life. The Pilgrim Statue of Our Lady of Fatima which is visiting the homes of our parish families is a tangible expression of our desire to take up Our Lady’s call to pray and to be converted to her Son.

Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us!

God bless, 
Fr  Michael Romeo.
 

Harry Kewell
We are delighted that Australia’s ‘Greatest Ever Footballer’ Harry Kewell, will be visiting Tenison Woods College in June as an official guest of the High Performance Sports Program.

Harry will be conducting an exclusive closed training session for the students currently enrolled in the Tenison Woods College HPSP/IGNITE football program. 

The visit, which will be a highlight on the HPSP calendar will provide the opportunity for our athletes and their families, as well as the wider community to hear first-hand, from Australia’s ‘Greatest Ever Footballer’ what it takes to reach the very top and will include a Gala Event, ‘A Night of Inspiration with Harry Kewell’, to be held in the Barrie Holmes Stadium on Saturday 3 June. If you are interested in booking a ticket for this event, please contact the College.

China Trip: 14 – 29 April 2018
I invite members of our community to express interest in a trip to China in 2018. The trip is being organised by Snowie Aarts in collaboration with Annie Clifford and will be a great chance to reconnect with some of our Chinese sister schools. What a wonderful way to experience China as part of a delegation that is being greeted by our warm and enthusiastic Chinese friends who are keen to repay our hospitality during their recent visits.      

Catholic Education Week
Catholic schools have been educating students in South Australia since the 1860s and today 20% of South Australia's students attend a Catholic school with 6000 staff teaching 48,000 students. 

Our Catholic schools are much more than simply places where children learn Maths, Science, English or Geography.  While we take great pride in doing that with excellence, we do much more. We also teach more than simply social justice values, care for the environment and compassion for humanity. While these are all critical to a well-rounded development of our young, there is still much more which sets us apart from other school communities.

Critically, our Catholic schools are places for our students, our teachers and their families to experience the love of God revealed to us in the person of Jesus Christ, and lived out in His body, which is the Church. So in essence, Catholic Education Week in South Australia is an opportunity for us to celebrate the way we are hope-filled communities; communities in which each person is invited to a deep relationship with our God and expresses that relationship by the way they serve one another and our broader global community.

It is fitting that Parent-teacher-student Interviews will take place during Catholic Education Week as they accentuate the relationships which are at the heart of our service to families.  I trust the discussions which take place will assist in evolving the personalised learning of each child and adolescent in our care.

And as I have often indicated, what sets us apart as a school is that at Tenison Woods College every student has a place, every student has a pathway, every student will shine.  That is at the same time our challenge and what we celebrate daily.

Carpark Care
I remind families of the care required in the carpark area. The speed limit of 15km / hour is designed to assist with maintaining the safety of all community members, particularly those walking and riding bikes to school. Please keep in mind that the one metre distance between car and bike still applies within the school grounds.

The smooth running of the ‘kiss and drop’ area depends on the courtesy of all users to keep the traffic moving. Should children not be at the ‘kiss and drop’ area ready for pick up, I ask parents to complete another cycle of the area to ensure others can collect their waiting children.

Parish Planned Giving Rebate
I remind families that parents contributing to the St Paul’s Planned Giving may claim a rebate from Tuition Fees of 50% of their contribution up to a maximum claim of $750. Official Parish receipts are to be presented to the Business Manager after the 30 June 2017 for a deduction to be made.

Staff Professional Development Days – 8 and 9 June
Staff are looking forward to the staff professional development days on Thursday 8 and Friday 9 June, when they will look at two specific areas:

Wellbeing and Resilience in our Community – Scoping and Sequence of EY-12 Program with the support of SAHMRI
Our Whole School Action Research Project, informed by workshops conducted by Rowena Ulbricht that will consider 21st Century Learning Design – Self-regulation and knowledge.

I trust students and parents will experience the benefits of the days through our service to students and families throughout the College.  I remind families that these days are student-free days. 

God Bless,
David Mezinec | Principal

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