St Mary’s Primary School - Batlow
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Selwyn St
Batlow NSW 2730
Subscribe: https://stmarysbatlow.nsw.edu.au/subscribe

Email: office.stmarysbatlow@cg.catholic.edu.au
Phone: 02 6949 1270

FROM THE REC

Welcome back to Term 4.  We seem to say each term ‘this one will be busy’. It will be…

October and May are the traditional months in the Catholic Church in which the Rosary is highlighted.

Below is a brief history of the Rosary. Each day in class for this week a decade of the rosary will be prayed; activities related to the story will be completed.

The rosary name comes from the Latin word rosarium which means ‘rose garden’. In the Middle Ages, Mary was often called ‘Rose’ and the name eventually became rosary.

In olden times, people who couldn’t read or write couldn’t say the official prayer of the Church which consists of the 150 psalms of the Bible. So they replaced the psalms with 150 and then 50 Ave Marias / Hail Mary's and they used bags of pebbles to count them. They then used beads on a string or knots tied in a cord. In between the decades the priests used to preach to the people about the happenings in the lives of Jesus and Mary.

Major religions have for centuries advocated the use of prayer beads as an aid to prayer. Since the earliest of times, people have used pebbles or a string of knots or beads on a cord to keep track of prayers offered to God. Muslims use a set of 99 beads with each bead representing a name for God in the Islamic faith tradition. Other examples are the Hindu “Mala beads’” and the Buddhist prayer beads.

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Seasons for Growth is a programme for children, young people or adults who have experienced significant change or loss in their lives.  The feelings centred around change are normal and are often fought against as we don’t realise that they are normal.  If you are interested in your child being part of this program could you contact the school for further information.

Seasons for Growth programs use a person centred learning approach. This approach doesn't use specific group processes or position the facilitator (Companion) as the expert, but instead aims to create an environment where participants become aware of their own strengths and resources, and decide on their own solutions. Companions model empathy, understanding and acceptance in the group in order to empower participants to be true partners in learning.

Thank you to parents who have indicated they would like to know more about this program.  We will begin our first session Thursday 24th October 3:30 pm in the top classroom. The session runs for an hour.

Mission Month is also in October.  We will celebrate with midday Mass next Thursday 24th  with the K/1 Class.  The children will be given a plain coloured t-shirt to wear as we will take part in an interactive Rosary after Mass. The Mission Rosary is a way to pray for the needs of the whole world. Each of the decades is coloured to represent a different region of the world.

Africa is green; Americas red; Europe is white; Oceania is blue and Asia is yellow.

The t-shirts are of no cost (the children can take them home after Thursday) we will be asking for a gold coin donation for our fundraising which you will hear more of next week.

As we all grieve, in our own way for Miss Clark and her little family, may we find love. Love is kind, it listens, it bears all things. Love never ends…

We continue to bloom and grow at St. Marys

Anne Saunderson

REC