Dear Parents and Carers,

The key word for preparing ourselves for Christmas in the third week of Advent is Joy. This may be difficult at present for many families locally and more broadly. We are asked to stop to remember and look forward to the joy that is to come, when we celebrate the feast of Christmas. We rejoice that God is always with us, a rejoicing that is deeper and more constant than the sometimes fleeting emotion of joy.

In amongst this joy is Hope. We pray for those particularly suffering in any way that they may always have Hope. Celebrating the birth of Jesus at Christmas time has brought Joy and Hope to many over time. 

Here we are in our final school week of 2020. Wow- what a year it has been. This year has been like no other.

Words cannot express enough the gratitude, love and respect I have for our whole learning community. The extra challenges presented this year, further endorsed the strength of our community and how blessed we are, as we all worked together in Faith, Hope and Love. Our students, your children, have been incredible. We are so proud of the enormous resilience and grit they have shown as they continued their learning journey, whether it was onsite or remotely.

As a learning community we have been resilient, flexible and endeavoured to stay connected. It is wonderful that at this stage of 2020 we can feel a greater sense of Hope and Gratitude. I  thank you all for the support you have shown, not only for your children this year but also Our Lady Star of the Sea staff and the broader community.

To our Year 6 children who are leaving, we could not be more proud of this class of 2020. You have continued a challenging year with hope, optimism, courage, humour, resilience and grit. We will always remember you with fondness and gratitude. We thank you for the time you have had at Our Lady Star of the Sea and the positive contributions you have made. Each and every one of you have shared your strengths over the years. We thank your parents for the enormous privilege and pleasure of facilitating your learning and allowing us the privilege of being an extension of your family.

Farewell and thank you to the following families: who have been a part of Our Lady Star of the Sea learning community and have their youngest child moving on the Year 7: Bermingham, Berriman, Bibby, Britt, Buttler, Casey, Dawson, Devine, Eales, Edwards, Fleet, Grant, Grogan, Harrington, Holmes, Honner, Howell, Johnstone, Kelly, King, Maier, McCosker, McGuane, Messina, Mills, Mitchell, Morgan, Muir, Paraska, Pitt, Rushton, Short, Standen, Teague, Wallbank, Warren, Whitaker, Wolter, Womersley.

Thank you for your positive contributions to Our Lady Star of the Sea and all the very best for the secondary school years ahead.

Farewell also to the following families who are moving on new locations and to other primary schools in 2021:Quayle, Mobbs, Murphy, Fanning, Jarman. 

We wish you all the best in your new adventure.

We have two staff members leaving. Taliah Plumb is going off to have her second child due in February. Mikaylah Thomas, a Year 3 LSO, will be finishing off her teaching degree early next term and graduating. We wish Taliah and Mikaylah all the best with their next chapter.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our staff. Their passion, commitment and integrity is truly valued. The way they place the student at the centre of all learning is to be commended and the nurturing and care shown is greatly appreciated. I feel so blessed to work with such a wonderful team.

Victorian School Gardens Award : Please read the Sustainability news below with a link to Our Lady Star of the Sea winning 3 more amazing awards. Many thanks to all in our learning community who contribute to our school grounds and allow our students to learn outdoors. 

St Vincent De Paul Fundraiser: 

Many thanks to you all for your donations on Friday for casual clothes day.  $942.70 was raised and will go a long way to brightening a few families Christmas.

As the school year draws to a conclusion, may we all find something to celebrate, to be grateful for, to rejoice in. I warmly wish you and your families a very safe, happy and blessed Christmas and holiday period.

Stay well.

Kerryn