Dear Friends,

Yesterday our community participated in Ash Wednesday ceremonies, marking the beginning of Lent- a period of forty days, mirroring Jesus Christ's forty days of fasting and prayer in the wilderness. It is a time of spiritual preparation leading up to Easter, the celebration of Christ's Resurrection.

As we embark on this Lenten journey, let us embrace the invitation to focus on prayer, fasting, and serving others. Let us seek to deepen our relationship with God through heartfelt prayer, fasting from those things that distract us from God's presence, and reaching out to those in need with acts of love and compassion.

In the midst of our busy lives, Ash Wednesday invites us to pause, to turn inward, and to reorient our hearts toward God. It is a time to acknowledge our mistakes, seek forgiveness, and commit ourselves to lives of service.

Last Friday we also celebrated together our Opening School Mass, focussing on our 2024 school theme, "Come Holy Spirit", and acknowledging our Year 6 leaders.  Fr John blessed our school badges and each of our classes, prayer cloths. 

Last Friday an announcement has been made that there will be a new direction in governance for Catholic Education within the Archdiocese. A link to the announcement is below for your information:

https://cgcatholic.org.au/about/our-archbishop/addresses-and-statements/new-era-in-governance-of-ce/

It is intended that very little will change within schools as a result of this governance change. Further updates will be provided as the initiative progresses.

On Monday night we held our first P and F meeting, including our AGM for 2024. The Holy Trinity Parents and Friends Association (P&F) is the key parent group in the School. It provides a forum for parents to:

• Work closely with the Principal and staff
• Support the School Board and its priorities
• Raise money for resources and collaborate with the School Board in determining the priorities for the disbursement of P&F funds
• Provide student services (e.g. uniform shop, canteen)
• Provide support for school programs (e.g. literacy programs, working bees)
• Provide opportunities for social interaction and for parents to form supportive networks

Holy Trinity has a long and well-regarded sense of belonging and community. It is for this reason that many families choose to enrol their children at the school.The Holy Trinity Parents and Friends Association (P&F) has existed for over 30 years, relying on the skills, time and goodwill of parent volunteers to not only administer the governance of the Association, but also to reflect the culture and identity of the school. 

On Monday night we thanked and farewelled Josie as our current president of the P and F-  many of you would know that Josie and her family are moving soon on a posting to the United States.  Words cannot express enough my gratitude for all Josie has given to our community, especially in her role as president. We wish her, Tim and their beautiful girls a wonderful trip and experience overseas. A huge thank you to Courtney Cooke, who has accepted the President's position and to Steph McNulty who has accepted the Vice-president role. Below in our P and F News there are some other important roles that we need some volunteers for.  I please encourage you to read this and to contact the P and F if you are interested or would like more clarification, thank you.

At the P and F meeting we also decided to postpone our Welcome BBQ as we currently do not have access to our oval.  This community event is now postponed until March 22nd, when we will have our oval ready and our class coordinators allocated, to be able to contact families about this event.  Our P and F will also be hosting a sausage sizzle for families at this community event. 

This Sunday at our 9:30am Parish Mass our staff will be commissioned, along with the staff of our other Parish school, St Peter's and Paul, with Fr John. 

Have a wonderful weekend and a peace-filled week ahead with your beautiful families.

Philippa