PARISH COMMUNITY AND OUTREACH
CLASS MASSES
Class Masses have resumed at both Kingston and Huntingfield with Masses being celebrated by Grades 8, 6, 4, 3 and 2. Students have been reverent and respectful and are adapting to the new sign of peace! Families and friends are able to attend the Masses in the Church of Christ the Priest but must adhere to social distancing and sign in with their name and contact number when they enter the church as per Archdiocese rules.
GRADE 2 GODLY PLAY
Grade 2 recently heard the story of the Good Shepherd and World Communion as well as having the option to role-play parts of the Mass during their response time in the convent.
HOODIES FOR HAMISH AND GRADE 1 WALK
On Friday, 18th September a very successful fundraiser ‘Hoodies for Hamish’ was held for Hamish Cullen and his family. Last year when in Prep, Hamish was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, and has been through a huge amount in the last 14 months. On Friday some of Hamish’s Grade 1 friends and his teacher Mrs Park, accompanied by Hamish’s big brother Eli and sister Jade, walked from the Kingston Campus to his house to catch up and deliver a joke book the class had made. The sun was shining and it was a beautiful morning for the children to reconnect and spend some time together just being kids.
Thank you to Grade 4s Ruby Johnson and Summer Lovell who sold lolly bags and ran a 'guess the number of jelly beans in the jar' competition adding over $500 to the Hoodies fundraiser! Well done to Trinny Wilson in Prep for winning the lucky dip of students who came closest to the total.
Thank you also to the Kingston Campus Faith and Mission Leaders who sold hugely popular bandannas at recess on Friday raising $340 for cancer charity ‘Canteen’. We will need to order even more for next time!
Hi Everyone,
We wanted to pass on a personal thank you to the whole St Aloysius community!
As many of you know we have been on a difficult journey since July 2019 and the love and support from the school, students and families has been incredibly wonderful and helped us immensely.
Hamish still continues with chemotherapy when his blood levels allow and continues speech therapy and physio. He is walking unassisted quite well now and is able to mouth some words but he still has a long way to go. We are hoping to have some visits to the school in Term 4 to start to make him feel more comfortable with those surrounds again.
It's impossible to show you all just how grateful we are so please know that we are so appreciative and feel very blessed to be a part of such a wonderful family.
Love to all,
Ben, Kate, Elijah, Jade and Hamish x
You can read updates on Hamish and make donations to the Cullen’s Go Fund Me page at
SOCIAL JUSTICE WEEK
In Week 8 the Kingston Campus ran Social Justice Week taking on a different form to previous years. In response to the recent Catholic Bishops Social Justice Statement, To Live Life to the Full: Mental Health in Australia Today, they focused on healthy bodies, minds and spirits. The aim this year was to raise awareness, it was not about raising funds.
Each lunchtime there was a different activity with a positive well being focus including mindfulness colouring and glitter jars, ‘dance, groove and move’ run by the Parish Associates and Huntingfield Vinnies group, prayer rocks in the prayer garden and culminating on Friday with the hugely popular option to run the Kingston Campus cross country track. Leanne Prichard from the Catholic Education Office taught Christian Meditation sessions with every class and some classes had the option of walking the labyrinth in prayer and meditation. All in all, it was a very refreshing and positive week!
Social Justice Week at Huntingfield looked more in depth at well being and mental health, also focusing on the Bishops’ Statement title, ‘To Live Life to the Full’. Lunchtime Zumba and HipHop sessions were provided and, on Tuesday and Thursday, the Chapel was open for personal prayer and reflection.
On Wednesday in periods 4 and 5 and over lunchtime, a highly successful Well being Expo was held in the gym. This was manned by a number of groups who support the positive mental health and growth of young people. Stalls were manned by organisations such as Carers Tasmania, The Link, Headspace, Girl Guides, Libraries Tasmania, Eddie Rice, SETAC (South East Tasmanian Aboriginal Corporation), Karadi (Meeting Place), and a student led stall on inclusion at our College.
Well done to Scott Blackett who won the Deadly Choices tobacco survey prize pack out of over 130 entries, Dominica Matuszak winner of the Libraries Tasmania lolly jar and Jake Marsh winner of a wireless charger also from Libraries Tasmania.
“It’s great to see people from all different areas joining together as one” Lucy Willis, Grade 7
“People don’t know when other people are struggling so always be aware and just be kind to everyone.” Amelia Ellis, 8 Gold
“We all need to be well, but we need to know how to be well.” Tim Harrington, Grade 6 Teacher
Kids Helpline offers information to parents about how to care for children and young people aged 5-25 years. For example, factsheets are available about a range of topics, such as this one advising families about considerations and supports during family holidays. Kids Helpline provides free online and telephone counselling service for young people aged 5-25, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
Headspace provides free online and telephone support to young people aged 12 to 25, and to their families and friends. The website offers links to group chats, capacity to personalise online space and resources into “your space”, one-on-one support, and other information about mental health and wellbeing. For example, this page contains tips for young people about staying healthy over the holidays, whilst this page gives family and friends information about 7 ways to help a young person have a healthy headspace.
Smiling Minds provides information and support for individuals, families, professionals and schools to access mindfulness exercises and meditation, including a free app for daily programs. The website also contains links to a variety of additional resources, including Mindfulness in the Home page containing a guide for parents and carers, a family program and family toolkit. There is also a digital care pack for families to use in supporting children’s mental health and with links to self-care resources for parents and teachers.
For older students (aged 12-18, but with a particular focus on those aged 13-16), the Black Dog Institute have developed a free online mental fitness challenge, Bite Back, to help improve happiness, reduce stress, and improve friendship and focus.
For further online information or support, parents can also go to the Healthy Families space by Beyond Blue, or the Raising Children network, or call parent line on 1300 808 178.
VINNIES WINTER APPEAL FINAL TOTAL
A grand total of $569.90 was raised through the various Vinnies Winter appeal fundraisers. With this money, we were able to purchase three full sets of bedding including new doonas, pillows and blankets in time for winter for children in need in our local community. Thank you to Oakley textiles for their assistance. We have also purchased three birth to age 4 car seats for Vinnies as this was identified by them as a priority needs in our community. Thank you also to Mother Goose baby shop in Kingston for their assistance and support.
We are very fortunate to have received a donation of a large box of brand new sunglasses from one of our College families. This prompted the Vinnies students to come up with the idea of sun-safe summer hampers to give to families in need. We now are on the lookout for items such as new drink bottles, sun hats and sunscreen for all ages that individuals or companies can either donate or that we can purchase with the remainder of our fundraising money. If anyone has any contacts please get in touch with Head of Mission, Polly Marriott at pauline.marriott@catholic.tas.
SACRAMENTAL PROGRAM
We are pleased to announce our Sacramental Program is back up and running!
For interested Grade 3 families or Grade 4s who were unable to attend at the beginning of the year, our information evening is Tuesday, 13th October at 7:00pm. A family preparation session will then take place at 4:00pm on Saturday, 7th November followed by 6:00pm Mass and a sausage sizzle. Both of these events will be held in the Church of Christ the Priest, Kingston. Our Parish First Reconciliation services will take place on December 1st and 3rd with Confirmation and First Holy Communion following in 2021.
If there are any families who have enquired or those who attended the sessions at the beginning of the year and have not heard from Mrs Marriott please get in touch.
pauline.marriott@catholic.tas.edu.au.
TRAILBLAZERS YOUTH RETREAT
The Sisters of the Immaculata spoke with Grade 5, 6 and 7 students this week to invite them to a retreat they are running during the school holidays;
A retreat for 10-16-year-olds.
Come join us these school holidays for an adventure of a lifetime, as we discover what it means to be set ablaze with the love of Christ and be a light to the world.
The retreat includes games and activities, times of prayer, talks and share groups.
Details are:
When: 3:00pm on 29th September - 2nd October 2020
Where: 3448 Huon Highway, Franklin 7113.
Cost: $60, includes all accommodation, food and activities.
(If you have any difficulties with costs, please feel free to contact us, as we don’t want this to be a hindrance).
To register contact:
immaculatamissionschool@gmail.
0406 372 608
