School Vision
St Matthew’s School empowers children to embrace life-long learning, and grow and develop as God intends.
On All Saints Day and All Souls Day we remember that we are members of the People of God. United with God, we are also united with all Christians who have come before us in the Communion of Saints.
Immortal God, holy Lord,
Father and Protector of all You have created,
we raise our hearts to You today for those
who have passed out of this mortal life.
For all the faithful who have died we pray,
but in particular for those dear to us,
parents, relatives and friends.
nor do we forget all who did good to us while on earth,
who helped us by their prayers, sacrifice and example.
We pray also for any who may have done us harm,
and stand in special need of Your forgiveness.
Amen
Dear Parents & Carers,
On Friday, Australia acknowledged the hard work of teachers with World Teachers’ Day. I am very proud of the amazing teachers we have at St Matt’s and would like to take this opportunity to publicly thank each and every one of them for their commitment and dedication to our beautiful children. I would also like to thank the wonderful P&F for providing the staff with a yummy morning tea – very much appreciated!
Mary Poppins – 18 Sleeps to go
Date: Friday 18th November (11:30am Matinee or 6pm Evening show)
Cost: Free (Gold coin donation appreciated. Proceeds go to local charities)
Mary Poppins Tickets
There are only 5 tickets left for the evening performance. However, I am happy to say there are many tickets still available for our Matinee performance.
Use this link to secure your tickets:
https://www.trybooking.com/CCJMZ
Costumes
All students need their costumes at school by Monday, 14 November. Please see the school app or your emails for information about costumes specific to your child’s year level and/or lead role.
Parent and Caregiver Survey (PaCS)
Thank you to all of our parents who completed this survey. These responses, in conjunction with those from staff and students, help guide future decisions in the best interests of our school.
Uniforms
Today, via the school app, parents will receive a Uniform Update that outlines current uniform expectations and some changes for the coming year. All decisions have been based on the findings from the uniform surveys and conversations with staff, School Advisory Council, and CEWA Representatives.
First Reconciliation
9 of beautiful children will be celebrating the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time on Wednesday 9 November at 6:00pm. It would be wonderful if as many schoolmates as possible could attend this service to support their friends.
Alternatively, families could attend Sunday Mass on 13 November at 9:30am where the children will be presented with their certificates. We request that all families bring a plate of morning tea to share.
Staffing 2023
It is with sadness that we will be saying thank you and goodbye to Miss Dellaca and Miss Skerritt at the end of the year. Both of these wonderful educators will be returning to Perth in 2024. We wish them all the best with their future endeavours and hope they will visit us often.
Parents will be informed about all staffing for 2023 in the last newsletter of this term – 28 November.
Principal Focus – Children and Grief
As parents, we all wish we could protect our children from hurt but unfortunately, at some point, many of our little people will have to face the pain of losing someone they love. The following is taken from Maggie Dent’s, Death through the Eyes of a Child:
Death hurts. When we lose someone or something we love, every level of us hurts and is affected. There is nothing that can prepare us for exactly what happens when a sudden loss occurs because every single person responds differently. There is simply no one right way to respond … One thing you cannot do, no matter how much you wish you could, is take their pain away.
The difficulty when a death occurs in a family, is that all the key players in a child’s life are all struggling to meet their own needs at a very difficult time. Therefore, I encourage families to bunk down together. By this I mean bring in grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins to all come together, with mattresses everywhere and people everywhere for at least two weeks. This ensures that vulnerable children will find someone to hold them, hug them or take them to the park to give them a break. It can be very chaotic; however, the closeness allows everyone to help each other. Grief is random and influences people differently and with lots of people around who have already been a part of children’s life, they will find someone to meet their needs. For them to feel abandoned at this highly challenging time, on top of losing someone they love, would make their journey of recovery even more difficult.
What other comforters and soothing strategies are helpful? Continuing with their normal routine and boundaries is important. Stress is caused by a perception that we have no control over what is happening in our life and so to help children who are grieving, routine brings predictability.
It is also very helpful to create a special place, real or imagined, or both, where children may go whenever they want to have a chat with their loved one. They can imagine being there and then invite their loved one to play, have an imaginary meal or simply chat with them. The brain can’t distinguish between real or imagined images so it feels real to the child, very real. This can ease the profound sense of loss that accompanies a death. These imaginary activities soothe and calm the brain just like the previous strategies.
Allowing children to participate in the preparation for a funeral can also be helpful. They can write letters saying the things that may not have been said, or say them again. Essentially their loved one is about to go on a journey that they will not return from. This last journey metaphor gives parents a chance to engage the child. What would they like to accompany Daddy? Some want to include photos of them, special paintings or drawings, small toys or teddies, little cars, favourite chocolates, cans of beer – anything that they knew were a positive part of that persons life.
Change, loss and death will happen to everyone at some point in life. The ability to cope with and conquer these adversities is what resilience is all about. Children are children, not little adults, and they need to be allowed to experience setbacks as children.
I would like to extend my own heartfelt sympathies to any family who is coping with loss. Whether old or young, this is always a difficult time and I hope that you find strength in God’s love,
