Principal News

Dear All,

Over the break, I read with great interest that there is now a national day to celebrate your neighbour. Whilst it would be easy to laugh at the notion of a National Neighbour Day, there is also a deep sadness that attaches itself to the occasion – the fact that we now need a day a year to try to build relationships with our neighbours.

Loneliness is an epidemic around the world. Although we are surrounded by people, there is also a seeded emptiness of others not truly knowing who we are at our core, and how we are doing. Mother Teresa recognised this many years ago when she said, ‘loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty.’ It is for reasons such as these that three of our core values at St Saviour’s Primary School are commitment, compassion and service.

We have an amazing opportunity at St Saviour’s Primary School to be known as a school committed to building community with others through loving, respectful relationships. It is our hope and desire that every young person in our community would experience this love every single day from their teachers and peers, invoking the courage within themselves to live truly loving lives and to “strive for goodness” as our motto states.

Each year in some way, time is spent discussing the Parable of the Good Samaritan. The parable tells us that all people are in fact our neighbours, and that we are to show love, respect, kindness and forgiveness to all people. If we can teach our children to have this attitude and then, in turn, work to ensure the rest of our community are living out these truths, we could really call ourselves an inclusive community. Therefore, although National Neighbour Day may have passed, I would encourage our community to continue to make loving thy neighbour a regular way of life. In mentioning the above, it is heartwarming to note, that as I walk around the classrooms…....it's worth mentioning in this newsletter regarding the way your children are re-engaging in their learning at school.

The rooms are abuzz with interest and excitement with the work that they are doing. The connections they have with their teachers are strong and warm. So often, the media is filled with stories of negative behaviour of children and stories where children show little regard for others. It is a privilege to be able to wander the rooms and playgrounds of our school and see and hear children being respectful, caring people, learning how to relate with each other and solve their problems.

I can only say that the future will be in great hands with their hopefulness, their vitality and their creative ways of dealing with their lives and respecting the lives of others. Christ, our Healer, in these days of uncertainty, may we become the healing hands of your compassion and mercy that you stretch out to us from the Cross.

Warm regards,

Madonna Sleba