Dear Parents and Carers

Catalyst

I have written about Catalyst in other newsletters, dating from the second half of last year. Catalyst is system-wide initiative that is based on the science of learning. All schools have the opportunity to undertake some PL in this area of teaching and learning. This Friday, we welcome to the school Toni Hatten-Roberts, who will work with some of the staff around what is called High Impact Teaching Strategies. Toni will coach the Leadership Team, and some other staff, in some of these practices. In time, these practices will be adopted by the whole school. This initiative from CE highlights and celebrates that education is a dynamic profession, in that ‘best practice’ is something that is constantly evolving and being refined.

Book Fair

This week, we held our annual Book Fair in the library. It has been a great success and highlights the great love of books and of reading that exists amongst our students. I would like to thank Amanda Basedow for her support of the book fair, and for her coordination of the event. My thanks too to all staff for their support of the fair, and for their willingness to volunteer some time to assist with it.

National Simultaneous Story Time

Yesterday at 11 am we participated in the annual National Simultaneous Story Time event, with an astronaut reading 'Give me some space!' from the International Space Station (the event was pre-recorded). All schools across Australia who were participating in the event heard the story at the same time. It is a celebration of reading and the power of books, and coincides nicely with our Book Fair. My thanks again to Amanda Basedow for coordinating our involvement in National Simultaneous Story Time.

Christian Meditation   

On Tuesday, Helen Bramanathan visited Sts Peter and Paul. Helen works part-time for both the Catholic Education Office and St Thomas More’s Primary School, and teaches Christian Meditation to students in our Catholic schools. Helen visited all of our classrooms and worked with our students and teachers. Helen was struck by how receptive our students were, and calm, and how easy they were to work with. In turn, the students benefited a great deal from Helen’s gentle wisdom and guidance. My thanks to Fron Garrett-Rumba for coordinating Helen’s visit.

Siloam

Next week, I am away on Wednesday afternoon and all day Thursday, at Siloam, a mini-retreat for principals that takes place each term. We are gathering in small groups at Galong Monastery, for two days. Galong is approximately 1.5 hours from Canberra. It will be the first time we have gathered since Term 4 2019, due to Covid restrictions which were in place last year. Sean Rutledge will very capably lead the school in my absence.

Disco

A reminder that our school disco is being held next Friday (end of week 6), for all ages (K-2 and then 3 – 6). It will be a great night for the children and much fun. I would like to thank the Community Council for their organisation of the night and for their great support of the students and the school.

Have a wonderful week with your families.

Best wishes

Cameron Johns

Principal