Official Opening and Blessing

Friday Nov. 19th: Today at 10.30 the fun started. It was a great day. Bishop Connors attended (ancestors from Clare) among other dignitaries and many of the local principals. We started with a Smoking Ceremony where the dignitaries walked through smoke made from gum leaves following the ancient Aborigine tradition. Robe Lowe, an elder from the local Peekwhuurong tribe performed the ceremony followed by the Acknowledgement of Country when all the local tribes were acknowledged and we were all welcomed on their behalf.

We then proceeded to the catholic part: an opening hymn, opening prayers, enactment of the Gospel, prayers of the faithful, prayers of blessing and various speeches interspersed. Plenty of pageantry and mime. The Gospel was Mark 10.13-16 followed by a hymn written by a past Chairperson of St Mary's Trim BOM, Fr Kenny R.I.P. "Let The Little Children Come to Me". It was an appropriate connection between the two schools on such an important occasion. Some Grade Six boys played guitars and drums and our Parents' and Friends' had supper for all. We finished up with 'Say To The Lord I Love You' and got all in the hall including Fr Bill and Bishop Connors to do the actions. (see photo above0 Although if you look at the kids who were doing it right you can see that the timing of the two lads was a little off!

We now have a Library and teaching area, a Computer Pod, three new withdrawal rooms, a Reading Recovery Room, Librarian’s Office, Archive Room and Staff Preparation Room. That was all the ‘official stuff’ but we also refurbished two full classrooms and made other 'unofficial' purchases. All under the BER (Building the Education Revolution) funding.:a stimulus initiative of almost $15 Billion which the Australian Government invested in primary schools this past two years. Every primary school in the country got a new hall or new library or new classrooms (in some cases whether they wanted them or not!) They also made a similar investment in hospitals and it worked. No recession here. Other factors like having a load of valuable minerals and a bank regulator who did his job, also helped.