Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends of St Mary’s School,

As we begin ‘Holy Week’ and move through the end of Lent and into the season of Easter, it is a good time to focus on how the ideas of Christianity are visible in our modern world.

Each time we come into contact with other people we need to think of some of those important themes that Jesus spoke of: the ‘golden rule’ (do to others as you would have them do to you); let he who is with-out sin cast the first stone, and to learn that forgiveness is a key to moving on for both the sinner and the sinned against.

If we can apply these ideas into our lives we will become for more optimist and happier in our own lives. We will develop far more positive relationships with others and people will see us in a more positive light.

To really attempt to live a life close to Jesus we need apply all of these. Key thoughts all of the time and not just to pick out the bits we want to apply.

Treat other people as you want them to treat you, don’t hurt other people even if you think they have done wrong and to genuinely forgive people who do thing that hurt us.

If we do this then we don’t waste our time and energy on things that we really can’t change. But rather we change how we react to these things, in a positive way.

So as you celebrate Easter it is a great time to reflect on how the Christian message can help us to lead happier lives.

Have a happy and a holy Easter.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends of St Mary’s School,

Last week I was looking through some old files and I found a photograph of a class of children that I taught in London. The children in the photo were all aged about eight at the time.

Incidentally I was speaking to a friend who had also taught at the school at about the same time. We were talking about some of the pupils in the class and she said that she had heard that one of the boys in the class had joined the British army. This is not a boy who you would expect to be a soldier. When I googled this boys name a sheet came up from the British Military saying that this officer had been killed while on active duty in Afghanistan. The article was in the form of an obituary and it spoke in some depth of his schooling, his tertiary studies, his travel and his career in journalism and in the army.

Tragically he was only 27 years old when he was killed while on an infantry patrol by a roadside bomb.

He was obviously a young man who had achieved a great deal during his short life and judging by the

tributes that were paid to him he affected a great number of people in a very positive way.

Paul, as this was the boys name, led a life crammed full of action and achieved more in his short life than many do who live to be a hundred. He was born into a life of some privilege but rather than be content to live a comfortable life in this setting he challenged himself in many ways.

As a teacher, that is one of the attributes that we would like all of our pupils to possess; the confidence to challenge ones self and to become truly life long learners.

Lieutenant Paul Mervis

2nd Battalion, The Rifles

Born London 30/09/1981

Died Sangin Afghanistan 12/6/2003

RIP

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan

Dear Parents, Caregivers and Friends of St Mary’s School,

During the last two days of last week Mrs Dillon and I were at the Diocese Principals and DRS

conference. This was a very informative couple of days lead by Brendan Spillane. One key message that came out of the conference was to remember to celebrate success.

In this busy world it is always so easy to focus solely on the negative, the glass is half empty, but the glass is also half full.

In life it’s not how we deal with our successes that part is usually easy but rather what we want to teach our children, is how we deal with the times that we don’t get the result we desire.

When we aren’t selected in a team, how do we react.

My daughter Grace has enjoyed a lot of success in her sporting endeavours, but the time I believe that she gained the most as a person from sport was a time when she didn’t get selected into a team that she trialled for. She on missing selection, had two options: suck in her pride and aim to be the best player in the B Team or throw her toys out of the cot and refuse to play for the lower team. She chose I am pleased to say, option A. She was the team MVP and has gone on to enjoy a lot of success. But the key lesson was she celebrated being in a team, being a leader, being well coached and winning. She didn’t focus on the negative.

Our school National standard results are a huge source of pride for us so this week to help us celebrate successes I have included them for you also to also share in this success.

Have a great week

Mike Brosnahan
National Standards Data Summary

Year	Writing	Reading	Maths
2014 – Whole School National Average	80% 71.1%	86.9% 78%	79.2% 75.2%
2015 – Whole School	81.8%	89.2%	82.6%