Dear Parents and Carers

Schools are places of surprise, joy, anxiety, frustration, tension, laughter, forgiveness and sometimes tears. In a school, the full range of emotions can be experienced on a regular basis. However, with children and young adults stillness, tranquillity and deep reflection are rare but are possible with training and persistence. The art of meditation most certainly has a place in schools and at home. With the rapidly changing pace of life in the age of digital technology, making space for stillness is becoming more important to support our mental health and general wellbeing.

With the arrival of Spring I encourage all families to get outside into nature and look again at the beauty of new life emerging. Listen to the sounds and take in the smells, the beauty of God’s creation is endless and a great nourishment for our souls.

Tomorrow Joanne and I will be travelling to my home country, Merriwagga near Hillston in Western NSW. Many of you would not be aware that my Mother died recently and her funeral is on Friday morning.

At the beginning of this piece, I referred to both surprise and tears. Year 10 caught me off guard today while I was replying to a condolence card from a friend. The whole class crammed into my office to present me with a Sympathy card they had signed and added written comments. This gesture of compassion moved me to shed a tear. The parents of Year 10 have raised beautiful children be very proud.

Reflection:    You don’t choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them.” Desmond Tutu

Kind regards to everyone. 

We offer our deepest sympathy to the Little family at the loss of Mrs Isabelle Little, mother of McAuley’s principal Mr Rod Little. We ask that you keep Mr and Mrs Little and their family in your thoughts and prayers during this sad time.

Dear Lord, May we find comfort in knowing that when God calls His children home, He leads them along a shining path into a place of love, light and peace… into everlasting joy of eternal life with Him.

‘May God hold her in the palm of His hand.’

- Anita Mason, Religious Education Coordinator. 

The McAuley Art Show - featuring the beautiful art works from the students of McAuley Kindergarten to Year 10 students, will be held on 18th-20th September. 

Official opening will be by Kerrie Bellette on Wednesday 19th September with light refreshments and entertainment. Please save this important date now.

Students are busy preparing their artwork and they look fantastic.

As reported in prior newsletters, McAuley Secondary Students have been involved in the "Cheese Your Own Creation" Competition. The students had a great experience - designing a food product, shopping and then creating their food. Finally the students had to produce a calendar page with their recipes etc. 

This competition will be judged in September - best wishes everyone.

- Julie Greacen

CHISHOLM HOUSE - Rocking Red Day raised $330 for Blakeney Lodge. Thanks all families for your support! 

Patron of Chisholm House - Caroline Chisholm came to Australia in the early 1800s along with many others new settlers. She was married to a sea captain called Archibald. Although originally from Britain, Caroline and Archibald had worked in India, helping British soldiers and their families. They were very excited as they left India to come to a new land. The first European settlers had arrived in Australia only 50 years before.

"Where will we be living, Archibald?" asked Caroline. "We will be at Sydney, the largest town. My duty will be to help guard the convicts who have been sent out from the over-crowded prisons in England."

When they arrived in Sydney they found it to be a busy, bustling sea-port with narrow, unpaved streets. The horses and carts had churned up the dirt roads so much that they were scarcely useable. Some of the people were rich. They had fine horses and elegant carriages. There were also some wealthy land owners with well-built homes, but most people had tumble down shacks, or small dingy houses to live in. However, hundreds had no homes at all. They slept under trees or in the shelter of rocks. This is what worried Caroline. She was especially concerned for the young women and girls who had no home.

"Why are there so many young girls on the streets all day and night?" Caroline asked the wife of an officer.

"Oh, my dear, the government in England sends out these immigrants. They are expected to find work and a home when they arrive in Sydney, but there's not enough work for all the people who arrive here," was the reply.

Caroline decided that she wanted help the young women. She took as many as she could into her own home, but there were hundreds more sleeping on the streets and in the parks.

"Something must be done!" she said to Archibald. "These girls need a big home where they can be sheltered and protected. I'm going to see if any of our friends can help me do something for them."

At first no one was helpful. Then after a lot of persistence, Caroline finally persuaded the governor to allow her to use an old building for the girls. The walls were cracked and it was rat infested. The only light was from her own candle. 

Caroline poisoned the rats and cleaned up the old building as best she could. Soon she had ninety young women to care for. She asked friends to give food to feed the girls. She then tried to find jobs for the girls. Many of the jobs were on farms in the country. The girls, who had come from the crowded cities of England, were too afraid to go to the country on their own, so Caroline went with them. The roads were rough and there were rivers without bridges to be crossed. The hot sun would beat upon them and the rain poured into the open cart. Bushrangers made the journeys dangerous. These men would often hold up travellers in order to rob them.

As time went on Caroline worked at bringing together again the families of convicts. Many people had been imprisoned for small crimes like stealing a loaf of bread. As punishment, these people had then been sent to Australia to work. They were therefore separated from their families. Caroline arranged for wives and children who had been left behind in England to join their fathers and husbands in the new colony.

Caroline is remembered most of all today for her kindness to needy young women, at a time when their troubles were ignored by everyone else. She loved God and shared His love with others, giving up her own comforts to help those in need. 

Thank you to generous families for their support with our Father's Day Stall. Your donations were really fantastic. Hopefully all dads were surprised with a lovely gift last Sunday morning. The stall raised $1335 which is a wonderful result. Many thanks to the ladies who helped on the stall: Sam Phillips, Karen Clarke and Jamie Hood - with a special thanks to Narissa Watts for her time and efforts coordinating this event. 

Thanks everyone :) 

How fantastic are McAuley's new refrigerated bubblers (funded raised by our SRC) with one on both Primary and Secondary campuses.  Students are also able to refill their drink bottles throughout the day just in time for the spring/summer weather. 

THANK YOU - Dave Mullins - TAPS Plumbing Services and Gus Ashby - GEA Electrical kindly installed the bubblers at no charge, so a very big thank you to both of these businesses for their generosity and support of McAuley.

Our Primary Campus continue with their Peer Support sessions each Monday during Term 3. This week the children looked at rights and how we as individuals have rights and so do other people. Activities will also remind children that although they may find themselves in a difficult or awkward position, they still need to remember to do the right thing.

Discuss with your child a situation you were in that was potentially difficult or awkward and explain the decision you made and why it was the right thing to do. 

Keep an eye on all upcoming events with our calendar. Click on the link below:

The K-6 students really enjoyed the "Shekere Beats African Musical Performance" last Friday. What a great way to finish off a busy school week!

Thank you to our wonderful volunteers who continue to support and keep our canteens operational.

Next week we have the following lovely ladies rostered on our Primary Canteen:

Monday 9th: Toni Laney, Wednesday 11th: Susie Peacock, Friday 13th: Sylvia Flynn.

We also require a volunteer for our Primary Canteen for the FIRST MONDAY OF EVERY MONTH. We take this opportunity to thank Kristy McPherson for generouslly donating her time for the last year or so to this position. 

Slushie cups made from 99% fruit juice are now available from the secondary canteen selling at $2 per cup.  Great for the warmer weather now coming up.

Congratulations to all the students who participated in Trent Barrett Shield in Gundagai last week. They all showed great sportsmanship and skills. Two McAuley teams have made it through to the Regional finals in Wagga later in September.

Our 'no hat - no play' rule has come into effect this week.  Please make sure your child/ren has his/her school hat at school every day.

The following days have been allocated for Kindergarten Orientation: 
Tuesday 29th October, Wednesday 6th November, Thursday 14th November from 9:30am to 3:00pm. Interviews are currently underway with Principal, Parent and Child. Please contact the school to make a suitable time for your interview if you have not already done so.

Recently some of our own McAuley students featured in the local Tumut Performing Arts Society "Skeleton Crew" at the Montreal Theatre.  Well done everyone, great to see so much young talent.

Tumut Swimming Club will be holding an information session for the 2019-2020 season on Thursday, 19^th September at Club Tumut between 4pm and 6pm.  Parents/carers of all renewing members need to come along to collect the handbook and details for registration. New members are welcome and parents/carers are encouraged to attend this information session to express their interest in joining. For any registration enquiries please contact Registrar Le Wickman on 0400 164 700.

GUITAR LESSONS - are available with an accredited instructor. Contact Anna on -419 472 568 or email her on jounama@tpg.com.au 

BRUNGLE HALL - Market Day - Saturday 9th November 9am to 2pm. To book at stall please call Kelly 0405 957 322.