Faith and Mission
As we approach the end of our school year we give thanks for the blessings we have received as we await the coming of our Saviour who came down into the world to be one of us. This time of the year is a beautiful time, where the world comes together to celebrate our Lord’s birth. As we drive around the streets, adorned with Christmas lights and see trees in shopping centres decorated from head to toe, we gaze upon the joy and hope that the coming of Christ brings to our world even for those who do not call themselves Christians, Christ is for all. Lord help us to imitate Mary’s FIAT, her yes to your will at this wonderful time, and to always trust in you as St Joseph did on the Journey to Bethlehem.
I would like to share with you our Advent movie, and give thanks to the students and staff who were involved in the project. Kaydence Wells and Joey Ghattas represented Mary and Joseph on their way to Bethlehem. Swanthi Edirisinghe, Dominic and Julio Tatupu and Sharlene San Pedro who provided the music for the video. Thank you also to Mr Chiappetta and Miss Lee for preparing our musicians.
I hope you and your families have a Blessed Christmas from all of us on the Mission Team.
Mr Andrew Hoare
Director - Faith, Mission and Learning
Year 9 Youth Ministry Training with Catholic Youth Parramatta and SAC YOUTH Event
This term, a group of Year 9 students were able to undergo training with Raimie and Eleanor from Catholic Youth Parramatta. These students were able to learn essential skills in youth ministry, participating in workshops that demonstrated ways to lead prayer, run small group discussions, and giving your personal testimony. The Year 9 students’ enthusiasm and willingness to serve others was excellent to see.
The Year 9 students were able to collaborate with the Year 10 Youth Ministry leaders, who underwent the same training with Eleanor and Sebastian from CYP earlier in the year. They were able to share their experiences and give their advice to their younger Year 9 peers, as they will be embarking on a similar journey of service to the school community next year. Together as a Year 9 and 10 Youth Ministry leaders team, the students planned the final event for the year for SAC YOUTH, a celebration of gratitude for the year that has just passed. The students discerned the theme to align with Jesus’ call to St Andrew to ‘come follow me’, as the SAC YOUTH event fell on the eve of the feast of St Andrew.
The final SAC YOUTH event allowed the Year 9 and 10 students to put their faith and newfound skills into action, as they put together a student-led event for their peers. The youth ministry leaders worked in teams - MC’s, advertising/promotions, session leaders and sharers, small group leaders, icebreaker leaders, and our SAC music ministry band also participated in the event. We’d like to thank all our youth ministry leaders and congratulate them on their first time putting together an event for their school community. We would also like to give a huge thanks to the SAC media team for providing media coverage for the event as well.
Miss Olivia Tan
Faith in Action Teacher (FIAT) Coordinator
SRE Catechist Training
This term, a group of Year 9 students underwent training to become SRE (Special Religious Education) Catechist volunteers for the local nearby public primary schools, Quakers Hill Public and Marayong Public, for 2025. The way the students conducted themselves and showed a real willingness to learn and participate in the mission of serving our local community was to be highly commended. We’d like to thank Connie Cassar for coming in to conduct the training for all our students. We look forward to seeing them in the primary school classrooms next year, and having a chance to run activities and lessons for the students.
Miss Olivia Tan
Faith in Action Teacher (FIAT) Coordinator
Vinnies Christmas Appeal
We’d like to extend a big thank you to our students, staff and our entire St Andrews community for their generous donations for the Vinnies Christmas Appeal. We’d also like to make a special mention to the Social Justice Society (SJS) students on both the junior and senior campuses, who worked very hard this term to promote the Christmas Appeal, and made a big contribution to its success. Students on the junior campus made handmade Christmas cards to be sent to Vinnies along with the donation baskets, while students on the senior campus amplified the awareness by doing things like chalking up the pavements at the front gate, or recording a song and creating a lyric video by Year 12 students Sharlene San Pedro and Lorraine Layug, to encourage people to donate.
We’d like to keep in our hearts those who may not be able to experience joy, love and peace this Christmas due to hardships. We pray that God blesses them during this Christmas season and that our hearts are opened to be more generous in word and deed.
Miss Olivia Tan
Faith in Action Teacher (FIAT) Coordinator