Throughout this week our community has focused its attention on celebrating Reconciliation Week which was highlighted by a special assembly on Wednesday morning.  As a community that celebrates the diversity of our students as a source of our great strength, Reconciliation Week is a time to remember the rich heritage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and celebrate the contribution they have made to Australian society and culture.  It is also a time to acknowledge the past and seek healing. 

Holy Father, God of Love,

You are the Creator of this land and of all good things.

We acknowledge the pain and shame of our history

and the sufferings of our peoples,

and we ask your forgiveness.

We thank you for the survival of indigenous cultures.

Our hope is in you because you gave your Son Jesus

to reconcile the world to you.

We pray for your strength and grace to forgive,

accept and love one another,

as you love us and forgive and accept us

in the sacrifice of your Son.

Give us the courage to accept the realities of our history

so that we may build a better future for our nation.

Teach us to respect all cultures.

Teach us to care for our land and waters.

Help us to share justly the resources of this land.

Help us to bring about spiritual and social change

to improve the quality of life for all groups in our communities,

especially the disadvantaged.

Help young people to find true dignity and self-esteem by your Spirit.

May your power and love be the foundations

on which we build our families, our communities and our nation,

through Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen

 

God bless

Simon Dash

Principal

 

 

 

It was lovely to be able to enjoy another long weekend of beautiful sunshine and maybe a visit to the Fraser Coast Show over the weekend.

 

After a process where feedback was sought from both students and staff as well as an interview with members of the College Leadership Team we are very pleased to announce the following:

​Captains	​Alexandria Pronk	​Jack Buckley
​Vice Captains	​Grace Lunn	​Hayden Kubler

 

It was an action packed week with all the fun activities that Dirum organised for us last week. Apart from the Donuts they also ran a number of competitions with the following taking home the prizes:

​Lolly Jar	​Raemah Krause	​Year 11
​Toblerone Raffle	​Charlotte Brydges	​Year 6
​$50 Board	​Daniel Morgan	​Year 6

 

 

These Reports were uploaded to the College Portal this week. We encourage all parents and students to log in to look at the reports to celebrate any successes and have a discussion about where improvements can be made for the next trimester. Look out for the email that will give you instructions about accessing your reports.

 

On Wednesday the first of the State of Origin games will be played and I'm sure there will be many fingers crossed for their team to play well. As we had the Jersey Day last week as part of Dirum Mission Week we not be having one for this event. Instead we will be able to show our colours on the day of the second game – Wednesday 21st June, the last week of the school term.

 

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is celebrated across Australia each year between 27 May and 3 June. The dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey; this year we celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the 1967 Referendum and the 25th Anniversary of the Mabo Decision.  The week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements and to explore how each of us can join the national reconciliation effort.

May 27, marks the anniversary of Australia’s most successful referendum and a defining event in our nation’s history. The 1967 referendum saw over 90 per cent of Australians vote to give the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recognise them in the national census. On 3 June, 1992, the High Court of Australia delivered its landmark Mabo decision which legally recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a special relationship to the land—that existed prior to colonisation and still exists today. This recognition paved the way for land rights called Native Title.

National Reconciliation Week is not a time for blame or anger. It is a time to reflect on our past and to grow together. This year during National Reconciliation Week, let us go beyond kind words and actively encourage everyone to get involved in the reconciliation journey. Let’s take the next steps, and work together for a great future for all peoples of this great nation.

 

 

This world was given to all of humanity to be cared for and protected from harm, so that it may be here for generations to come.  Christian Brotherhood/Sisterhood calls us to care for all in our world, both creation and humanity.  This week we recognise and learn about Australia’s first people and the inequalities that they have suffered by white Australia. World Environment Day will be held soon, to remind us of this gift and our part as stewards for its future. Later this term we will acknowledge National Refugee Day and note the enormous fight they enter each day of their lives.  It is hard to imagine that humanity finds it difficult at times to see the other as themselves.  Pope Francis informs us that when one of us is suffering, we all suffer.  In the Gospel of John, it is not by chance that Jesus’ first public act is the expulsion of the merchants from the temple (Jn 2:13-21). Jesus calls us to respond with mercy and justice to the growing needs of our world.  Pope Francis recently lamented about the growing globalised indifference to suffering and how it is destroying our society.  We all suffer when people are forced into poverty and compelled to rely on charity when justice is the preferred outcome. How can we make a difference to the lives of others?  Taking time to examine our own lives, choosing to live more simply so that others may simply live is a great way to start.  As Christians, we are called to be living witnesses to the teachings of Jesus in a world that often builds walls instead of ramps for those who are marginalised, excluded and condemned by inequalities of life.  Let us continue to pray for a world that welcomes all into our lives with love and generosity as brothers and sisters, one human family co-existing with God’s gift of nature. 

 

The link below connects you to some of the work that JRS does in supporting refugees to live life to the full.  It is a series of videos that tell many different stories.  The #JRS #MercyinMotion campaign aims to provide 240,000 refugee children and youth with access to education by the year 2020. The campaign was launched on 8 December 2015 with the Holy Year of Mercy. To know more please visit www.mercy-in-motion.org. 

 

On the 14th of June, just a few Wednesdays away, many students across the entirety of Xavier will be participating in a Circle of Silence. The purpose is to express solidarity and support with people seeking asylum. Students will give up their lunch time to raise awareness for the hardships refugees face every day. These students will arrange themselves in circles in different parts of the school, and sit in silence for the entire lunch break. Our contribution to such an event will not go unrecognised, as this event is held nationwide alongside other passionate communities. Details of our contribution to the event in 2016 are below.  We hope to extend the number of participants in 2017. We encourage fellow students to join us on this day, to stand in silence and raise awareness for those who do not have a voice.

 

Students from Year 4-12 have been invited to sit the Australian Mathematics Competition in Term 3

on Thursday 27th July Lesson 1 and 2.  A permission form was given to students who were interested on Monday 22th May, if your child has missed out on a letter and wish to participate in the competition please email me on jritter@bne.catholic.edu.au and I will give them a form.

The competition cost $6.50 to enter.

 

Next term, on Friday 21 July, (second week back), all Xavier students will be celebrating Bastille Day, France’s National Day. All students will be encouraged to come in costume – either as a French personality, a combination of the French colours (red, white and blue) or an outfit reflecting a period of French culture or history. Prizes will be awarded for the best individual and group costumes in each year level.

 

The day will begin with a special parade, the singing of the national anthem and group presentations reflecting the significance of this special day. Secondary students will be involved in a range of rotational sporting activities like petanque (French bowls), lacrosse and French waiter’s races during the day. There will be a separate program of activities organised for the Junior School students. Morning tea (chocolate éclairs and croissants) will be provided for all students. Lunch (quiche and garlic bread) will be provided for all Year 6, 7 and 8 students and any students studying French in Years 9, 10, 11 and 12. The afternoon will be devoted to athletics events in preparation for the athletics carnival.

 

In order to assist with the catering, we need to appeal to your generosity to provide us with donations of quiches and garlic bread for lunch for our Years 6-12 French students.

If you can assist by making either a Quiche, a garlic bread or both please email the details of what you can provide, along with your childs name and class to lynette.pritchard@bne.catholic.edu.au by Friday July, 14.

 

Un grand merci,

Lynette Pritchard – French Teacher

 

Monday 5th June

GOA Foyer

2.30- 6pm

 

SPORTS UPDATE
Junior Athletics
At the athletics carnival, for field events, only those students who have qualified will participate in the event on the day. Qualifying will happen before the carnival as will some actual field events. If a student is away on the day of qualifying they will need to come and see to arrange a time for them.

 

Junior Athletics Pre-Carnival Qualifying Field Events

​High Jump	​Monday 5th June	​11 Years Girls and Boys 12 Years Girls and Boys
​Long Jump	​Wednesday 7th June	​10 Years Girls and Boys 11 Years Girls and Boys 12 Years Girls and Boys
​Long Jump	Thursday 8th June​	​8 Years Girls and Boys 9 Years Girls and Boys
​Shot Put	​Monday 12th June	​8 Years Girls and Boys 9 Years Girls and Boys 10 Years Girls and Boys
​Shot Put	​Tuesday 13th June	​11 Years Girls and Boys 12 Years Boys

Discus	​Monday 5th June	​9 Years Girls and Boys
​High Jump	Tuesday 6th June	​8 Years Girls
​High Jump	​Wednesday 7th June	​8 Years Boys
​Discus	​Thursday 8th June	​10 Years Girls and Boys
​Discus	Friday 9th June​	​11 Years Girls and Boys
​Shot Put	​Friday 9th June	​12 Years Girls
​Discus	​Monday 12th June	​12 Years Girls and Boys
​High Jump	​Tuesday 13th June	​9 Years Girls
​High Jump	​Wednesday 14th June	​9 Years Boys
High Jump	Tuesday 20th June	​10 Years Girls
​High Jump	​Wednesday 21st June	​10 Years Boys

 

WB Cross Country Results
Congratulations to all of our students who competed and represented the College at Monday's Wide Bay Cross Country event. Special mention to the following, who finished fast enough to earn a Wide Bay representative position.

Todd Baldwin – 1st

Toby Powers – 1st

Lochie Armstrong – 3rd

Chantelle McCarthy – 5th

Jeremy Hinton – 6th