Mary MacKillop

In Religious Education, Year Five have been learning about the early church in Australia. As part of their learning, the students have researched important figures including Mary MacKillop. Year Five have been lucky enough to watch a play about Mary MacKillop’s early life and visit Mary MacKillop Museum. St Felix has a very special history with Mary MacKillop as she and the Josephite Sisters took control of St Felix in 1887. Blessed Mary MacKillop purchased the land where St Felix school presently stands.  The sisters continued to teach at St Felix and helped the school to grow until 1983.

At St Felix, our school community is based on our Catholic faith which is nurtured in the tradition of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, where learning opportunities inspire and empower all to be people of hope who can make a difference in the world. Mary MacKillop was an amazing person and we should all aspire to be like her and pray to her in times of need.

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What have you learnt about Mary MacKillop and the early church?

What need can you see at home and at St Felix and what can you do about it?

St Mary’s Cathedral

On Friday 1st August, Year Five attended St Mary’s Cathedral in order to learn about the Early Church in Australia.

Below are some interesting facts about St Mary’s Cathedral.

• The Cathedral is dedicated to Mary Help of Christians.
• St Mary’s Cathedral was built with a gothic structure and there are 200 heads in the building.
• Two churches were destroyed in fires before the Cathedral was built.
• There are two large statues of Mary Magdalene and Jesus inside the Cathedral.
• There are many altars within the Cathedral.
• Priests used to say Mass with their backs to the congregation (the people attending Mass).
• There are beautiful stained glass windows that each depict a story.
• The stained glass windows make it easier for people to raise their minds to heaven.
• There is a large organ inside.
• It is made of sandstone which requires a lot of maintenance.
• The crypt can be found underneath the Cathedral. The bishops are buried in the crypt.
• Some people get married in the crypt.
• The floor of the crypt is decorated with the creation story.
• The floor of the crypt is made of smooth stone that has had dye poured onto it.

Click here fore more information about St Mary’s Cathedral.

Take a look at the photos below!

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What did you learn and enjoy about St Mary’s Cathedral?

Pentecost

The Church is united through the Holy Spirit. 

To continue the research you completed in class, click on the image below and select an organisation to research.

In a comment, include:

• the name of the organisation,
• what they do/their mission
• what fruits they demonstrate (use the previous blog post to review the fruits of the Holy Spirit).

The Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Spirit

Year Five have been learning about the gifts and fruits of the Holy Spirit.

Galations 5:22-23 “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control. Against such things there is no law.”

What do you think the Bible verse above means?

The Fruits of the Holy Spirit

• Love – the basis of Jesus’ teachings.
• Joy – a Christian person creates and gives joy to life.
• Peace – the way of Jesus is peace.
• Patience – Jesus was always prepared to spend time with others in need.
• Kindness – Jesus is a model of kindness and compassion.
• Goodness – People were attracted to Jesus because of his goodness.
• Faithfulness – Jesus is faithful to himself, his Father, family and followers.
• Self control – We, as Christians, are challenged to be responsible for our actions.
• Charity – helping those in need.
• Generosity – being kind and generous. Sharing what is yours with others.
• Gentleness – being gentle with others.
• Modesty – not being too proud or confident of yourself.
• Chastity- being pure in your thoughts, words and actions.

The Gifts of the Holy Spirit 

• Wisdom
• Understanding
• Right Judgement
• Courage
• Knowledge
• Reverence
• Wonder and awe in God’s presence

How do you show the fruits and gifts of the Holy Spirit?

What do each of the gifts and fruits mean?

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National Sorry Day

Sorry Day has been held every year on 26 May since 1998. The purpose of Sorry Day is for all Australians to remember the Stolen Generations and the impact it had on the children and their families. Many Australians participate in memorial services, meetings, celebrations and gatherings to honour the Stolen Generations.

It is important to learn about the experiences of the Stolen Generations and their families and to give them the respect they deserve.

Pray the prayer below.

What do you think? What questions do you still have?

Challenge: Teach someone outside of Year Five what you know about the Stolen Generations. You might tell a student in another grade, family members, a teacher or family friends.

Leave a comment below which includes who you told and what you told them.

Easter Holidays

Miss Azzopardi and Mrs Elchaar hope Year Five are having a lovely Easter holiday. Easter is a time to grow and be more like Jesus. Take a look at the YouTube video below and share it with your family members. Perhaps you could encourage them to leave a comment!

Q1: How is the man in the video acting like Jesus?

Q2: What can you do during the holidays and at St Felix in term 2 to be more like Jesus?

While the holidays are a great time to relax and spend time with your family before school resumes, take some time to also complete the following.

• Practise writing a Narrative. Click here for tips about writing an imaginative text and don’t forget that you can use Google Story Builder.
• Practise writing a Persuasive text. See the checklist below for some tips. Feel free to use a Google Doc and share it with your teacher or your friends.
• Read for at least 20 minutes each day. See the image below which illustrates the difference 20 minutes a day makes! Think about which student (A, B or C) would be the better writer and reader. Keep filling in your cats or dogs sheet. 
• Complete activities on Mathletics.

 Q3: Leave a comment explaining what you have been working on during the holidays!

Happy Easter!

The season of Easter follows Lent. Easter is the season of joy, hope and new life when we celebrate the resurrection of Jesus, God raising Jesus to new life. Easter is the greatest season of the Church’s year.

It is a time when we remember and listen to stories from Scripture, about the disciples’ experiences of the risen Jesus. Easter is a time when we remember that Jesus is always with us. Click here to see the St Felix reflections of Holy Week.

Watch the YouTube video about Holy Week below.

Miss Azzopardi and Mrs Elchaar would like to wish Year Five and their families a very happy Easter and say a huge thank you for all the lovely Easter gifts!

Congratulations to the students who won a prize in the Easter raffle!

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What do you like about Easter?

How do you celebrate Easter?

Scan the QR code above for a surprise! Hint: Ensure your volume is up! Click here to make your own, we will be using Audioboo in Term 2!