{"id":5306,"date":"2026-03-13T13:25:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T02:25:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mce\/?post_type=article&#038;p=5306"},"modified":"2026-03-13T13:25:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T02:25:12","slug":"week-7","status":"publish","type":"article","link":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mce\/article\/week-7\/","title":{"rendered":"Week 7"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>13 March 2026<\/p>\n<p>Dear Parents\/Carers<\/p>\n<p>As we move deeper into the first term of 2026, our school is buzzing with the energy of young men eager to learn and grow. During Lent our focus shifts toward the interior, the development of the heart and the conscience and we reflect on the spiritual significance of Lent.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Season of Lent: A Time for Connection<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>We are almost half way into the sacred season of Lent. In a world that often demands &#8220;perfection&#8221;, constantly curated through screens and social media, Lent focuses on what we can do for others rather than our self-gratification.<\/p>\n<p>Lent is not merely a period of &#8220;giving things up.&#8221; It is a 40-day journey of preparation that calls us to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Prayer:<\/strong> Strengthening our personal relationship with God.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Fasting:<\/strong> Creating space in our lives by removing distractions.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Almsgiving:<\/strong> Reaching out in service to the needs of those less fortunate than ourselves.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>For our boys, Lent is an invitation to be authentic. It is a time to leave behind our self-centred thoughts and move to be other-person centred.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Navigating the New Digital Frontier: Under-16 Social Media Laws<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>As many of you are aware, significant legislative changes came into effect in late 2025 regarding social media use in Australia. Children under 16 are now restricted from holding accounts on major platforms including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, and X.<\/p>\n<p>What this means for our families:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Platform Responsibility:<\/strong> The legal onus is on social media companies to prevent under-16s from accessing their services. They face heavy penalties for non-compliance.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Parental Role:<\/strong> While parents are not legally penalised if a child bypasses these systems, we have a moral and &#8220;duty of care&#8221; obligation to mentor our sons. The law is designed to give young people more time to develop the emotional maturity and digital literacy required for these complex environments.<\/li>\n<li><strong>The &#8220;Level Playing Field&#8221;:<\/strong> This law helps remove the &#8220;social FOMO&#8221; (fear of missing out). When the whole cohort is in the same boat, it becomes easier for you as parents to set firm boundaries at home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We encourage you to visit the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esafety.gov.au\/?utm_source=google&amp;utm_medium=cpc&amp;utm_campaign=brand__%7C_esafety_%7C%7C_aus_%7C_phrase_%7C_search&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&amp;gad_source=1&amp;gad_campaignid=22874835030&amp;gbraid=0AAAAAqKZzLSCwQyQbhSWoC7xtBr0TD_Kr&amp;gclid=CjwKCAjwpcTNBhA5EiwAdO1S9kTtJ5_8CSkEV71oMXFgaqTq94SHYruDSu0u17uHpYAoEPET39vIOBoCdpAQAvD_BwE\"><strong>eSafety Commissioner\u2019s website<\/strong><\/a> for resources on how to transition your sons away from restricted platforms toward safer, educational, or interest-based digital spaces.<\/p>\n<p>Parents must also consider that Marist College Eastwood has no control over Social Media Platforms and does not have the ability to shut down pages that are created and posts made by individuals or groups. So whilst we encourage you to inform us of any concerns you or your son\/s may be experiencing so we can support them, but for the most part, the school is unable to control the outcome or have any impact on changing what has occurred online.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The Year 12 Retreat: Nurturing &#8220;Good Christians and Good Citizens&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Next week our Year 12 cohort attend their Senior Retreat. While many school camps focus on teamwork or physical challenges, the Senior Retreat is different. It is a cornerstone of our formation program, designed to help our Year 12 students grow into men of faith and integrity.<\/p>\n<p>The retreat provides a rare &#8220;circuit breaker&#8221; from the pressures of the HSC. Over three days of reflection, the boys explore:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li><strong>Self-Knowledge:<\/strong> Understanding their own strengths and vulnerabilities.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Brotherhood:<\/strong> Moving past surface-level friendships to support one another deeply.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Spiritual Foundation:<\/strong> Contemplating their role in the world through the lens of the Gospel.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Watching young men share their stories and pray together is a powerful reminder of our mission. We don&#8217;t just want them to graduate with a high ATAR; we want them to leave these gates as &#8220;<strong>Good Christians and Good Citizens<\/strong>&#8220;, compassionate, resilient and grounded in faith.<\/p>\n<table width=\"602\">\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td><strong><em>Message from Fr Pawel &#8211; Parish Priest at St Kevin\u2019s<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I kindly remind families that the church\u2019s disabled parking spaces are reserved only for those with an official disabled parking permit. The church driveway is also not to be used for drop\u2011off, pick\u2011up, or parking at any time. Please use neighbouring streets or the school car lines for drop\u2011off and collection. Recently, the driveway has been blocked during pick\u2011up, creating an unsafe situation for children and drivers.<\/p>\n<p>Thank you for your cooperation in keeping this area safe and accessible.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>Respice Finem<\/p>\n<p>Mr David Sullivan<br \/>\n<strong>Principal\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Letter from the Principal<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","class_list":["post-5306","article","type-article","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article\/5306","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/article"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/article"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thebuzz.net.au\/mce\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5306"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}