National Sorry Day and Reconciliation Week

Staff and Students of Holy Name gathered together on National Sorry Day to pay our respects to the Stolen Generations and to remember and recognise the loss and sadness they have felt and continue to feel today. We listened to the words of aboriginal people to help us understand more and how this day connects with the commencement of Reconciliation Week.

National Reconciliation Week (May 27th-June 3rd) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.    

The theme this year is Bridging Now to Next, reflecting the ongoing connection between past, present and future- learning from the past to look ahead and push forward together on the reconciliation journey. We then joined together in prayer for Reconciliation, praying that we together can build a bridge to peace in the future. 

Catholic Schools Week

This week we celebrated Catholic Schools Week. Beginning on Monday with our Student Leadership Team leading us in a prayer reflection, our Holy Name community were reminded of three areas to show God's love:

1. For us all each day to be inclusive, this means to include others in our games and show that they belong in our community.

2. For ourselves to see the value in learning and to do our best to become good learners.

3. For us all to serve others in our homes, our classroom and playground, our community and the wider world. 

Celebrating Catholic Schools Week on Thursday with a whole school liturgy, we particularly remembered that Jesus calls us to open our hearts so we are ready to serve. Yr 5 helped us to celebrate the gift of Catholic Education, sending us out from the hall to be God's helpers in the world. Our actions show others how much God loves them.  

Thank you Yr 5, Mrs Loring, Miss Frost and Mrs Allport for leading us in prayer. Mrs Loring congratulated the school for their participation during the liturgy, particularly their singing of the song "We are your Instruments". Our choir master Miss Reynolds was extremely pleased with the choir and wider audience of singers from Year 6 who led us in song. It looks like our choir will be expanding its numbers!