Dear Parents and Carers

“If you say to someone who has ears to hear: ‘What you are doing to me is not just,’ you may touch and awaken at its source the spirit of attention and love. But it is not the same with words like ‘I have the right […]’ or ‘you have no right to […]’ They evoke a latent war and awaken the spirit of contention. To place the notion of rights at the centre of social conflicts is to inhibit any possible impulse of charity on both sides.”

Simone Weil

Simone Weil was born into an agnostic Jewish family in France in the early years of last century and she died in early 1940s. She was an intellectually gifted woman who trained as a philosopher and, throughout much of her life, wrestled with ethics and moral philosophy. Although she developed a deep Christian faith, Weil never converted to Catholicism. She contributed much to the world. One of her ideas was that the notion of ‘rights’ is not strong enough to describe the relationship between all human beings and what we owe one another. She preferred the term ‘obligations’. It is a term that speaks a great deal to the manner in which a Catholic school is called to live its vocation. We all have obligations to each other, obligations that exist by virtue of the fact that all human beings are precious. This preciousness, our faith teaches us, is underwritten by God and is granted without merit. Iit is grace. Love is that which reveals the worth of a person to others. The preciousness of each child at Sts Peter and Paul is something beyond measure.

Feast of the Transfiguration

Last Friday, we celebrated the Feast of the Transfiguration with our sister school, Holy Trinity from Curtin. It was a great day. Staff and students from Holy Trinity joined our students and staff for class buddy activities and two joint school Masses (one for K – 2, the other for 3 – 6). The teachers from both schools shared lunch together, and all children from both schools enjoyed a hot dog for lunch. My thanks to Monsignor John Woods for celebrating our Masses, and to Fron Garrett-Rumba and Emily Capper (REC at Sts Peter and Paul and Holy Trinity, respectively) for coordinating the whole day.

COVID and Remote Learning

Undoubtedly, all parents are very well aware of the escalating cases of COVID-19 in NSW, as well as the incidents of some cases in Victoria and Queensland. We have been very fortunate so far in the A.C.T. Nonetheless, schools in Canberra need to be prepared for the possibility of remote learning, while also hoping that situation does not happen. We are currently preparing for both a short lockdown and a long lockdown. Children’s work will be differentiated according to whether the lockdown is a short lockdown or a long lockdown. Should Canberra go into any type of lockdown period, your child’s teacher will be communicating with you as to the nature of the work. In broad terms, however, it will not be dissimilar to last year’s remote learning, in terms of the mode of delivery. Online work will necessarily be a feature, Seesaw and MS Teams will also feature, and teachers will check in with their classes twice a day. Students will be encouraged to work from home. My hope of course is that the situation will not lead us to this point, but should the need arise, the school will be in a very good place to ensure the ongoing education of its students.

Canteen Week

This week we celebrate Canteen Week. I would like to thank Lauretta Raccosta, our Canteen Coordinator extraordinaire, for all of her wonderful work and service to the community. My heartfelt thanks too to all of our wonderful volunteers and their service. We cannot live without you. A special thank you afternoon tea is being held this afternoon to celebrate and thank our volunteers.

Have a wonderful week with your families.

Best wishes

Cameron Johns

Principal