Happy Holidays!

As a Roman Catholic convent school, it is very easy sometimes to forget that other peoples also have celebrations. Today for billions of Roman Catholics, Eastern Orthodox Catholics and other Christians is Easter, the commemoration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

This week is special also for the world's Jews as they honour the tradition of Pesach, or Passover. This 7 day festival begins on the 15th day of the Jewish month of Nissan,and celebrates in remembrance of the Angel of God "passing over" and sparing the houses of the Jews when he was slaying the firstborn of Egypt.

One thing all of these days have in common, is the emphasis on sharing them with one's family. So, whether you are rejoicing in the risen Lord or commemorating the ancient Israelites being freed from slavery out of Egypt, I wish everyone a great weekend of celebrating!

Habemus papam Franciscum!

  

When many of us returned home after J'ouvert, to discover that Pope Benedict the First had stepped down, our school as community reeled in shock. Many of us put off really considering what it meant for our Church until Ash Wednesday when the full impact of this decision really hit home.

In the library, we got to work creating an exhibit about the workings of the college of cardinals, the traditions of the conclave and the presumed papabile. And to make sure we got the most in depth and current information, we went online. It was the most blogged about event all month, even eclipsing Carnival! Our display took a lot of time to research, assemble and mount, but when it was done, judging on the duration of past conclaves, we figured that it would be up until the end of term...

So just imagine our shock, when at about 2 o'clock on only the second day, our Skype and Twitter accounts blew up with the news that there was smoke from the chimney of the Sistine chapel and... it was white! Teachers and students rushed to the library, checking for details on the desktops and their laptops and smartphones, while watching the television with baited breath.

This term our Form 1s have been looking at the importance of digital media in their lives. They've described it 'like air, all around , all the time and essential to our lives'! So this shouldn't have surprised us at all, but it still did... 

Check out video above from France24 and share the digital media reactions of the world!

Conserving water is important!

Today is World Water Day. It is a day co-ordinated by UNESCO, as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. Each year, World Water Day highlights a specific aspect of freshwater and this year it is dedicated to the theme of cooperation around water.

Water is of course, essential to human life and easy and equitable access to clean water greatly improves everyone's living conditions. We know that in the dry season, sometimes our reservoirs run almost dry and we have to ration water. Then you are only able to get water every other day or only for a few hours. That can make it hard to bathe and clean and cook every day and you don't get to water your plants. So we all recognise that conserving water is very important.You should try to make a difference in your home too!

We are a part of the great World Water Day project organised by Mr Graffin's class at West Leederville Primary School in Perth, Australia. Click on the picture above to visit it and leave a stickie to share how you feel about water co-operation and water conservation! And don't forget to check out 'Save it, share it!', our amazingly informative video (above) featuring the really fun song written by our own SJCPOS Young Leaders!